Rising to the Occasion

Editors note: Some fellow I met awhile back related to me the essential details of this story. I don't remember the fellow's name anymore, but his experience stuck in my mind. I have taken some artistic license in presenting it to you. Hope you enjoy it.

Let me introduce myself to you. My name is Tom Sullivan. I am a factory rep whose territory covers most of the southeast US, so I do a fair bit of travelling throughout the year. Last year I found myself in Houston, about the end of May. I was staying at the airport Marriott and that night the hotel was hosting the Senior Prom for some local high school. All the guys were decked out in tuxedos and the girls were in their formal gowns and the place was crawling with high school kids.

I was hiding in the darkest corner of the hotel bar to escape the mayhem that was taking place in the lobby. I was nursing my third or fourth glass of Chevis Regal. I was in the middle of some pretty hard-ball negotiations with one of our biggest clients and at the end of the day, my nerves were a bit frazzled. So the presence of all these hormone-driven teenagers wasn't helping my state of mind one bit.

From where I sat, I could look out into the lobby and determine when it was safe to venture out again. After awhile and two scotches later, the lobby looked to be reasonably clear and the prom mob seemed to be thinning out. So I called over the server. She was a good-looking twenty-something with a great figure and a killer smile. "Hey, sweetie. My check please."

"Would you like some coffee before you head out, sir?" she asked me.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Just want to pay my tab," I replied.

She returned with the bill. I added a tip for her, totaled the check signed it. I got up and feeling a lot more mellow, walked out of the bar and made my way across the lobby over to the elevator. I pressed the button for my floor. I waited for awhile but none of the elevators came. I grew impatient and looked for the nearest stairway. Locating it, I opened the door into the stairway and was making my way up to the third floor. Above me, I heard someone crying.

As I made the turn up to get to the next flight of stairs, I saw one of the girls from the prom sitting there. She was a pretty girl in a black shoulderless formal gown. She looked absolutely forlorn and as I approached she put her head in her hands and continued to cry as if her heart were breaking.

I stopped a few steps below her and as soberly as I could, I asked her, "Are you okay, young lady?"

A little apprehensively, she took her head out of her hands and looked up at me. "I'm just fine, thank you. I am just fine." She didn't sound terribly convincing when she said that to me.

I reached the step she was sitting on and I sat down, leaving enough distance between us so I was as unthreatening as possible. "Well, you don't sound like you are okay. You know, people say that I am a very good listener. Do you want to tell me what has brought you to tears?"

She looked at me, uncertain about this slightly drunken fellow sitting next to her. And then she decided that maybe it wouldn't be so bad just to have someone to talk to at that moment.
"What's your name?" she asked me.

"My name is Tom." I answered. "And what is your name?"

"I'm Sarah." she answered and having said that, looked back down at her hands in her lap.

"Nice to meet you, Sarah. So tell me, why is a pretty girl like you sitting in the stairwell of this hotel? You ought to be with your date, having a really good time."

Softly, forlornly, she said, "My boyfriend and I had a fight tonight. We broke up. On the night of our prom." As if that was too much for her, she started crying again.

I leaned against the wall behind me. I was little woozy and I was trying very hard to keep my head clear. "So that's what this is all about. So where is he now, your boyfriend?"

She seemed on the verge of tears all over again. "I don't know. I don't know where he is. He headed out the front door about an hour ago and I haven't seen him since. And I was so embarrassed that all I could think of doing was going somewhere where no one would see me."

I didn't say anything for a bit. "Well, that probably wasn't great idea. Kiddo, most of the kids have left the hotel and unless we can find your prince charming, that leaves you kind of stranded."

She looked at me with a most unhappy face. "What am I going to do?"

Now at this point, a lot of possibilities went through my mind. You must understand that I am not against arranging for a lovely, warm body to share my bed when I am out of town. And I am usually successful in finding someone who is willing to oblige me. And looking at this pretty young thing, I knew if i played my cards right, I could talk her into my bed. That was the first possibility that I could propose to her.

However, beyond the legal ramifications of doing that, another thought crossed my mind. This kid was hurting. She looked like a pretty good kid to me. She was going through the painful endings of a teenage romance. I have been there myself and I know for a fact that it hurts like hell. As much as the scotch had compromised my judgment, moral and otherwise, I was still sober enough to know I couldn't hurt this kid like that.

After having mulling over what I wanted to say to her, I did say, "Sarah, call your Dad and have him pick you up."

She looked absolutely mortified at the thought of doing that.

"Okay, Sarah, if it will make it easier for you, I will call him for you. Sarah, your dad loves you and the only thing that he wants is that you are okay... that you are safe. Right?"

She nodded her head to indicate "yes".

"First, young lady, let me get a cup of coffee and clear my head. Would you like some coffee, too?"

"Okay," she said.

We walked down the stairs and walked back into the lobby and over to the coffee shop. We sat down at a table and when the waitress came over I placed our order.

A young fellow in a maroon tuxedo jacket walked towards us, definitely concerned. He approached our table. "Sarah, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to leave you here like that. I really am." And then he glanced at me. "Hey, Sarah, who is this guy? Is he bothering you?"

At this point, I looked straight at him. "Son, you really screwed up tonight. Right now, Sarah and I are having some coffee. And when we are through, I am going to call Sarah's dad and find out if he wants to come pick her up or if he wants me to put her in a cab, so she can go home."

He protested, "I am her date and I am going to take her home." He looked genuinely concerned that her dad was being brought into this situation.

I cut him off, before he could say any more. "Sorry, kiddo. You blew it tonight. Take a hike before I call the manager."

Now he looked really alarmed. "Sarah!! Are you going to let him talk to me like that."

All of the sudden, Sarah had a look of fire and resolve that I hadn't seen in her face until he said this. "No, Sam. I am going to talk to you like that. You have been a total jerk to me tonight. How dare you just leave me stranded here like you did! What were you thinking? Did it even occur to you that after you left I had no way to get home. I guess I don't really know you very well at all. I don't think I want to anymore. Now get the hell out of here. I don't want to see you again. Got it?"

The young man was stunned, unable to speak. He stood there for what seemed like an eternity, and then he turned and walked away, clearly shaken and worried about the fallout that was to come for him later.

Sarah turned to me and said, "Tom, thank you for speaking up for me. No one has ever done that for me, except my dad. If it is okay with you, I will call my dad myself."

"Sure, Sarah. I'll stay with you until your dad gets here to make sure you are okay till then."

Sarah smiled for the first time since we had met. "Thank you, Tom. That makes me feel so much better. You are a really nice person." She leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.

I actually think that I blushed a little when she did that.

Anyway, I let her use my cell phone and she called her dad. He told her just to take a cab home, when he found out what had happened and he asked her to give the phone over to me.

"Hi. Who am I talking to please?" her dad asked.

"My name is Tom Sullivan, sir. I found your daughter a little shaken up after her dustup with her boyfriend. I got concerned because I have daughters of my own. I knew that she needed some help to get through this. I didn't want her to get into any situation that she couldn't get out of safely."

"Mr. Sullivan, I cannot tell you how grateful I am that you were there for Sarah. Thank you so very much for being her guardian angel tonight." her dad said.

"Well, sir, it was my pleasure to be of assistance. I will see her to the cab and make sure she gets out of here okay."

"Again, Mr. Sullivan..."

"Please, call me Tom." I laughed. "I am too young to be called Mr. Sullivan."

"Tom, for my wife and myself, we will be forever in your debt."

"Tell you what I''ll do. I will have her call you when the cab gets here, okay?"

Her dad said, "I really appreciate that. Thanks again."

And with that the conversation ended.

Now the truth is that I am about 38 and single and hopefully, I have no daughters of my own anywhere out there in the world. But it sounded good to say that... you know, gave me credibility. Oh, well. Look, even if it wasn't true, nobody got hurt by my saying that. Right?

"Sarah, let's get you home now."

She was much more composed now. We called the waitress over and paid the check.

I walked with Sarah over to the Concierge Desk and asked the gentleman there to call us a cab. While we waited, I listened as Sarah told me about herself. She was a cheerleader and an honor student. She wanted to travel and to see the world. She wanted to go to Princeton and study political science and become a teacher. I was right. She was just a good kid who had simply had a bumpy night.

When the cab arrived, Sarah gave her dad another call.

"Thank you, Mr. Sullivan. You have been so kind to me. I will always remember you." She smiled as she said that and then she got into the cab. She waved goodbye through the window. I watched the cab drive away into the early morning darkness. I turned and walked back into the hotel lobby.

The bar was still open for another half-hour so I headed back in that direction. Maybe I might still be lucky and find some pretty young thing to share my bed tonight.

Now I am known to be a pretty formidable guy to deal with and some have said that it is not a real good idea to mess around with me. Not a good idea at all. But sometimes... occasionally, I can rise to the occasion. I can be a good guy too. Like tonight.