Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 133138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
I bump his shoulder with mine, a sign of welcoming acceptance, and he smiles as our attention returns to Simon, who’s beginning his speech . . . in French. Thankfully, Tobias whispers an instantaneous translation into my ear.
“Honored guests, good evening. My name is Simon Corbin, and let me be the first to thank you for coming tonight. We are privileged to have members of Parliament in attendance tonight, and of course, the Minister of Culture. Your presence is appreciated. I would also like to extend a personal thanks to the staff and owners of this wonderful hotel for making tonight’s festivities possible. Finally, a personal thank you to my aunt, Madame Jacqueline Corbin, and her generosity in donating the items up for auction tonight. Thank you, Jacqueline.”
There’s a round of polite applause, and when it dies down, Simon continues. “Tonight’s auction is for a good cause. For as long as there has been Paris, there have been the orphans of Paris. But the reality for these unfortunate young people is no piece of musical theater or a Dickensian novel with a certain romantic charm. It is a hard, cruel life, and it is only the efforts of facilities like tonight’s beneficiary, the Sun Orphanage, that saves even a percentage of these innocent victims.”
Simon takes a deep breath, and I know how hard this must be for him. To feel so close to an issue, to have it be a seed of your beginnings, and yet to have been raised so far from it, in the lap of luxury.
He looks off to the side, and I wonder whose eyes he’s meeting, but a moment later, I realize it must’ve been Jacqueline’s because he says, “In some small way, I feel a connection with the residents we hope to benefit tonight. Many know that I was raised by my aunt, but she rescued me from the same life these orphans experience . . . because I was also left on the steps of the Sun Orphanage.”
A small murmur of surprise shoots through the room, and Simon holds his hands up, settling everyone and quieting chattering conversations of ‘did you know that?’ and ‘I had no idea!’
“Jaqueline rescued me, and for that, I will always be grateful. But not every child is as fortunate as I was. Most grow up short on funds, wearing hand me down clothing and cast-off factory seconds, scrambling for food, and hoping for opportunities, all the while knowing their future is more dead-end than Boulevard.” He pauses, letting that harsh reality sink into the people in the room who have never worried about such things.
“But it doesn’t have to be this way. The great British actor, Charlie Chaplin, in his wonderful film, The Great Dictator, said, ‘We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness—not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone.’ And it is true. So I come before you tonight because I believe in my heart that there is goodness within our collective hearts. That we can make a difference, each and every one of us. That while we might not be able to change the world overnight, we can do something tonight in the lives of the children of the Sun Orphanage.”
Simon clears his throat. “I’m a simple man, one of business, not creative fanciful dreams, but I can imagine a world where there are no hungry children. A world where . . . where the cruelties of fate doesn’t mean that a child has to grow up without hope. Where the potential Einsteins, the potential Curies, the Monets, and . . . huh, even the next Simon Corbin, won’t be denied the chance to make the world a better place. Now, if I could, I would ask you to open your hearts and minds, to see what I have seen, what these orphans see. To feel what these orphans feel. But if you cannot do that, I beg you to at least open your wallets. Give a few relative crumbs from your table, because to the Sun Orphanage, those crumbs are an untold feast.”
Tobias’s voice hitches, his translation pausing as he struggles with the emotions inside him, and I feel it too. With each word, my feelings for Simon grow, and I know that I have been blessed by fate. It’s the only way to describe what his coming into my life means. I thought the competition was my big opportunity, but as great as it is . . . it’s not why fate brought me to Paris.
Simon is my opportunity.
“As a final request, I’ve asked some of the boys of the Sun Orphanage to come tonight. These are boys I’ve worked with, mentored, I hope, and befriended for sure. I invited them so that you can see who your help benefits. These boys . . . they can become great, great men. What kind of men they become, at least partly, depends on you and what you do tonight. Boys?”