Mr. Perfect (Sinister in Savannah #2) - Aimee Nicole Walker Page 0,6
“Your entrée options today are blackened sea bass with seasoned rice and broccoli, fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, or vegan lasagna. Which would you prefer?”
“I’ll go with sea bass, rice, and broccoli. Thank you.”
The we-love-Jude club broke up as soon as the Rotarians noticed the waitstaff coming in to take orders. It seemed like they loved their stomachs even more than they did the wolf in a tailored suit. While they ate, Felix quietly observed the people and conversations around him. The first thing he noted was a lack of diversity. More than half of Savannah’s population was black, yet only one of the black business owners was in attendance. Where was the representation? There were no Hispanic or Asian members either and only a scattering of women throughout the room. The sole purpose of Rotary was to bring business and professional leaders together to further goodwill and peace around the world. In this room, it seemed that the most significant section of Savannah’s population wasn’t invited to the table.
Neal Jade spent most of the time kissing Jude’s ass during lunch, but Felix didn’t mind as it provided him the opportunity to alter his speech on the fly. He’d originally planned to talk about investigative journalism in the modern era, but he had something more important he wished to discuss. Neal only spoke to Felix when he informed him that Jude would be speaking first. What? He wasn’t saving the best for last? How shocking.
Felix planned to tune Jude out so he could map out his new speech but found himself sucked in once more by the bastard’s charisma, hanging on to Jude’s every word like all the other attendees. It wasn’t so much what Jude said because his speech was safe and dull. Jude’s superpower was in his delivery.
Some things never changed.
Jude’s voice was silky and polished with the perfect amount of timbre. He entertained with self-deprecating humor as he talked about some of his more memorable investigations from his days in Atlanta. The audience gobbled it up. Not Felix. He fought the urge to roll his eyes. Then he pondered the same question for the hundredth time since Jude moved to Savannah: why had Jude Arrow given up a lucrative career in Atlanta to move to a much smaller market in Savannah? Felix smelled a story, and he was going to get the answers. He could make a few calls and send out a few feelers, but he would prefer to torture the information from Jude.
“Now it’s time for me to hand the microphone over to a tenacious reporter whom I’ve had the privilege to know for many years now. Please give a warm welcome to Felix Franklin.”
The Rotarians clapped heartily, but Felix wasn’t foolish enough to think they were cheering for him to take the podium. Most of the audience’s attention stayed riveted to Jude even after he returned to his seat. That wouldn’t do.
Felix stood straight and proud behind the lectern and decided to speak from the heart. “The biggest threat facing Savannah citizens right now is complacency.” That got some heads turning in his direction. “What kills economic growth and progress? Complacency. What stifles the human spirit? Complacency. What encourages unrest and hatred?” Felix leaned a little closer to the microphone and lowered his voice. “It’s okay if you want to shout out the answer with me.” He nodded at the audience and said, “Complacency.” He was happy when a few of the Rotarians said it too. “What breeds mistrust of law enforcement agencies and politicians?” He bounced his hands up and down to encourage them. “Complacency,” he and half the room said. “Complacency is invisible and usually silent, but it’s deadly. How do we prevent it?”
Felix looked around and was pleased to see he’d captured everyone’s attention. Some members looked uncomfortable or pensive, a few looked pissed, but most at least appeared to be interested in what he had to say, including the person responsible for Felix accepting this speaking gig. This was why Felix never took the safe route. He wanted to reach people on a deeper level and give them another way of seeing things.
“Some of you look really uncomfortable right now. You might be wondering what the hell I’m doing up here, or how I earned an invitation, or perhaps you’re trying to guess what I’m going to say next.” Felix chuckled, then smiled at the group. “Good luck with that last one.” The members laughed at his attempt