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even go that far.
    At least, she hadn’t been obsessed with the idea of being judged. One thing at a time. First she had given her best into cooking, and now, it was time to get feedback from all these demanding people. In a way, it was an excellent opportunity to see whether or not she was up to the challenge. It was a good way to know if she just needed a bit of practice to improve or if there was no hope.
    She heard the ring of the elevator, signaling her that they were arrived. She felt her heart beat accelerating and her palms getting wet. Her throat suddenly became tight and dry, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion. It was the moment of truth: Jennifer and her dream against the rest of the world. It wasn’t that dramatic in reality and she knew it, but in her mind, it was that big of a deal. She wanted to make an excellent first impression with her first attempt. Now she was cooking for business and she had to pay attention to what people had to say.
    Calm down... Don’t listen to your ego if anyone complains or has something bad to say. Just listen and suck it up. That’s how Bruce taught you to behave in the professional world. Don’t be emotional even though you’re clearly involved personally. It’s not personal. It’s just business...

Chapter Six
    A s soon as she stepped inside the huge conference room, Jennifer knew that her own problems and concerns were nothing compared with the amount of tension and stress she could feel in the air. She had been in that room before and she knew there were forty seats: two rows of twenty chairs on each side of a wooden table. It seemed to her that there were as many men as women, all aged between forty and sixty. She felt her guts twisting and her hands imperceptibly started to shake. She quickly realized it and tried to control herself but she couldn’t help it. The anxiety was slowly overwhelming her.
    The men had rolled up their sleeves and their ties were loose around their necks. They were frowning, furiously reading thick stacks of papers and moving their lips as if they were talking to the documents in front of them.
    Most of the women were wearing glasses, hunched over the table and also reading, scribbling down notes on their legal pads and tucking their hair behind their ears.
    Nobody seemed to notice that Jennifer was in the room. Actually nobody did realize she was there at all. She belonged to the background, just like a plant in the corner of the room or a painting on the wall. Jennifer quickly gave up any hope to impress anybody tonight with her cooking. Good or bad, these people would probably not pay attention anyway. They were too busy trying to save a billion dollar company and Jennifer grasped the huge gap of responsibilities and expectations between her and them.
    Her dream meant a lot to her but it was nothing compared with the reality of the situation: Bruce was about to be broke. As she walked along in the room, she glanced at all the documents sprayed all over the long table. She could see charts and graphs, most of them red and going down. There were also spreadsheets, press releases, newspapers with Bruce’s face on the front page with alarming headlines. This was serious business.
    Bruce was sitting at the end of the table. He was still wearing his jacket and his tie was perfectly fitted in the collar of his white shirt. He didn’t looked like the others but there was no doubt in her mind that he was the most worried in the room. He was the one who was risking everything. He was the talk of the town, but not in the glamorous and complimentary way he was used to. Jennifer had read the papers: now, he was the next big flop , the falling Golden Boy , the captain of a sinking empire , and other sensational titles to attract readership.
    Bruce’s face was dark and wrinkled. The lines of his faces seemed to have multiplied and looked deeper than ever. He was on the phone and raised his index finger in the air when he saw Jennifer and