On the screen, a pretty young girl in a custom-made gown, her styled hair crowned with a sparkling princess tiara, clung to the arm of a successful middle-aged man. Surrounded by admirers, she smiled as if she were the happiest girl in the world.
“Hey, beggar, no panhandling here. Get out.”
Holding a thermos in my hands, I hadn’t even looked away from the hotel lobby’s TV before I was shoved back two steps.
Clutching the frayed hem of my worn shirt, I lifted my head to the scowling security guard and quietly corrected him, “Sir, I’m not a beggar. I came to find someone.”
“Find who?”
I pointed at the man on the TV, pleading earnestly. “Could you please just tell him I’m here? I only want to give him something, then I’ll leave. It won’t take long.”
The guard glanced at the screen, then scoffed. “Do you know who that is? Richard Carter, chairman of Carter Corporation and the city’s richest man. Tonight, he rented the hotel to host his daughter’s celebration. No outsiders are allowed near. Who do you think you are, to ask to see him?”
I lowered my head. I wanted to say he was my father.
But with my calloused hands, torn sneakers, and faded white T-shirt, I would only embarrass him.