Free The Cost Of Love And Sanity by Jaye Cheríc

little girl in the photo appeared to be shot right before a smile. Her facial expression was gentle and playful. For a minute, Alex stood there, staring at the little girl as if she were someone she recognized in a missing persons flyer.
    All her thoughts about her cousin disappeared. She could only think about her own dreams—dreams she’d held for a long time but pushed aside, figuring she would get to them later. In looking at the little girl on the poster, she now realized that later had turned into now. She really needed to get started on making her dreams a reality.

CHAPTER 11
    A lex sat at her desk, scrutinizing her proposal with a shrewd eye. There was no room for errors. Luckily for her, there weren’t any. Now she had to deliver it well. She’d practiced her points the night before and prepared herself for any objections to the idea. Management would definitely see the benefit of the job fair. She glanced at her clock and saw that she had ten minutes before the meeting started. I’d better get down there. Alex gathered her presentation and a pen.
    When she walked into the conference room, a couple of people were standing around conversing. Alex nodded a greeting to the executives she passed and sat at the table. Dan strode in and greeted others loud enough for most people to hear. He saw Alex and stopped short of heading to his seat.
    â€œHello, Alex.”
    Alex glanced up at him. “Hello, Dan.”
    â€œI hear you’re doing your presentation today. Are you ready?” He shot her a sly smile.
    â€œAlways.” Games. She hated playing these competitive games and Dan seemed to always want to play them. Despite his underhanded provocation, she maintained a neutral expression on her face.
    â€œI look forward to hearing it. Mine is going to blow Mr. Sims away. Good luck.”
    Dan walked to his seat in time for Mr. Sims to take his place atthe front of the room. The VP’s commanding presence caused a hush to fall over the room.
    â€œGood morning, everyone.”
    They returned his greeting.
    â€œWe have a bit of sad news. One of our board of directors, Tom Gidder, is retiring and leaving the board. He’s been here for fifteen years and seen the company through many changes.”
    The staff offered sympathetic expressions to the occasion.
    Mr. Sims nodded. “His influence will be missed.” He walked toward the left-hand side of the room. “On another note, I’ve continued to monitor our numbers over the past couple of weeks.”
    Alex scanned the room to see everyone else looking around, too. They all seemed to brace themselves for the tongue-lashing headed their way.
    â€œMany of you have made an effort to improve the placements. I appreciate all of the extra hours and extra calls made to help us reach our goal,” Mr. Sims paused, “But I’m afraid we are still falling short. Our placement numbers are seventeen percent lower than they need to be and this is because we have some catching up to do from last year.“Now I know our company can do much better and today Alex and Dan are going to share their ideas as to how we can turn this situation around. Every meeting, I’ll select a couple of you to present your ideas. So, get prepared. But right now, we’re going to start with Alex.”
    Alex stood up and practically flew toward the front of the conference room. She was eager to get this over with. It felt like she’d been holding on to that proposal forever.
    â€œGood morning, everyone,” Alex greeted the staff.
    They murmured a lackadaisical, “Morning.”
    â€œAs Mr. Sims has indicated, we have all been charged with makinga positive change in our numbers. Well, I have come up with a way for us to gain a load of placements in one swoop.” Alex paused for effect. “A job fair.”
    She browsed the staff and thought she saw some of her coworkers roll their eyes.
    â€œI know what you’re