I go to campus and see the last thing I expect. The Chi Omega girls are freezing their butts off in shorts and t-shirts while trying to raise money by washing cars. A few are holding up handmade posters that have way too much glitter on them. Jenny is up front and center, trying to look sexy as she's rubbing down someone's Prius.

I grab her by the arm and ask another girl to take her place. I drag her away from the crowd. "What the hell is this?" I say, trying unsuccessfully to hold my anger in check.

"You said I could handle the fundraiser!" Jenny says, snatching her arm away from me.

"Yes, the fundraiser I already set up, the fundraiser that the girls have been handing out fliers for these past two weeks, the fundraiser that is NOT happening now!" 

"I like my idea better," she tells me.

"I don't effing care," I tell her. "When you brought this idea to the table, you were outvoted, and we went with having a barbecue instead."

"This will raise more money!" she says, now getting in my face.

My blood is rushing, and my face feels on fire. I am so livid. "Carwashes only make a few hundred dollars. If you're lucky enough to get 10 cars in an hour, you will still need to work at least 6 hours just to do 60 cars. If each car gives you the $5.00 you're asking for, you will make only $300.00, minus expenses for soap, buckets, sponges, towels, hoses, and signs, not to mention all of that work. And if that is not reason enough, it's WINTER!" I say, pointing over to the girls, who are shivering in the cold.

"It's sexy," Jenny tells me. "Something you obviously can't possibly understand."

"There is nothing SEXY about a bunch of women freezing their assess off to make a few bucks. I projected my idea to make the sorority well over $2,000.00 dollars, in a third of the time."

"A barbeque?" she scoffs.

"Yes, Jenny, a barbeque. Do you know how often a college student gets a homemade meal for under $10.00 dollars? Most eat Ramen noodles, made in their coffee pots. It's reported that they eat over 95 million servings of Ramen in a year. The company's net sales are over 3.2 billion a year. You know what that tells me, Jenny?"

"No. What?" she says in a huff.

"College students are starving and are dying for a good meal, which means they will pay handsomely for one."

"Gakusei Ryori," I say.

She scrunches up her face at me. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means Student Cuisine, in Japanese. Often what Ramen Noodles are referred to in Japan," I hear Alex say behind me. His hand is now resting on my shoulder and I immediately feel my heart rate slow down.

He pulls out the flyer from his pocket. "I thought the sorority was holding a barbeque, Cat. I'd kill for a good meal right about now."

I'm just staring at Jenny. Her eyes narrow on me like she wishes she had laser beams, and I'd burst into flames.

I walk away from her and yell, "Okay girls, last car, then pack it up and get some warm clothes on!" Checking the time on my phone I say, "I expect all of you back here in 45 minutes. Got it?!"

I am greeted with cheers and jumping up and down. They clean up everything in about 10 minutes. "God bless you, Cat," Olivia says, running over to me.

"45 minutes!" I say again.

"You heard her, girls!!!" Olivia yells. "Let's get a move on."

I walk back to Jenny. "What happened to everything I had ordered for today?"

"I told them we didn't need it, so they did not deliver it." She folds her arms over her chest. "So what are you going to do now, Hot Shot?!"

I just smile at her. "Watch and learn, Padawan."

I pull out my phone again and start making calls. "Nicky, hey! Yeah, Cat here. Sorry about the mix-up, but we really need that order for the tent with tables and chairs. I know it's last minute, but I REALLY need them. Of course, I'd never go anywhere else. You know I use you for all our events. You're an angel, Nicky."

"John! Cat! I know! I know! So sorry about the mix-up! I've been down and out with the flu and things got all screwed up at the house without me. I need you to make a miracle happen for me, John. Can you give me some good news? You can!? AWESOME! You ROCK! Yeah, see you soon."

Tables, chairs, tents, BBQ burners, paper goods, serving trays, utensils and everything we need for setup is now ready. Here comes the hard part. The ever essential food. Everything would have been already made. I hope they still have our order or I am totally screwed.

I speed dial the last number. The man on the other end answers, screaming. I cringe. "Mike, I'm so sorry." I have to hold the phone away from my ear because although he's not on speaker, he certainly sounds like he is.

Jenny is grinning ear to ear, but I refuse to let her win.

"Mike, you've known me for how long now? Have I ever canceled an order? Of course, I would never do such a thing this late in the game. You know that. It's my fault entirely. She didn't know. She thought she was doing the right thing because I've been sick and so she thought the fundraiser was being canceled. I know how much work you put into it, and I appreciate it very much! Please Mike, I really need that order."

"In about an hour and a half, I'm going to have a courtyard filled with hungry students and none of your delicious food to feed to them. I know. I know. No, it wasn't right and I swear it will NEVER happen again. Please, Mike?"

He is really upset. He isn't budging. It turns out Jenny was extremely rude when she canceled the order and insulted his cooking, which only made things worse. I decide to sweeten the deal. 

"You told me your daughter is having trouble in her Trig class. You get me this food on time and I promise I will tutor her for free for one month. I graduated valedictorian from my high school, Mike. I am here on a full scholarship. Bring up her grades should be no problem, and then they'll keep her on the track team. She's a senior, right? If she looks good on paper, you know she'll be able to land that sports scholarship you are hoping she gets. YES? THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!"

I hear Alex laughing as I spin my phone in my palm by the metal ring I have on the back. I blow on it and stick it in my back pocket. "And that's how it's done! BooYah!" 

"Um... that was impressive, by anyone's standards," Alex says to me, giving me a high five.

"If I'm going down. I'm going down swinging," I tell him.

I walk up to Jenny, who's pouting heavily. "Next time you get an idea, do me a favor and just forget it. We will all be better off without it."

She looks like she wants to spit in my face and I don't quite put it past her not to, but thankfully she just turns on her heel and storms off.

"She REALLY doesn't like you," Alex says, standing right behind me.

I turn to look up at him, which is a feat as he's so tall and I'm short and he's really close to me. My neck feels like it is about to break. I take a step back to get in a better position to look at him fully.

"The feeling is mutual," I say, but then I make a face at him. "Uh... I'm not complaining, but I thought I told you I was going to handle this on my own."

He grins. "You said that, but you also said you'd take care of all the meals at home and so..." he holds up the flyer and points to it. "I'm just here to collect on our deal."

I feel the smirk spread across my lips. "Fair enough, but this is a fundraiser so I can't have you just gobbling up my profits."

His grin gets wider. "So what are you suggesting, Miss Fischer?"

"I will give you all the BBQ you can eat for free IF you're willing to work with me."

"ME? Work on my only day off, with a bunch of sorority girls, serving food?"

I raise my eyebrow, grin, and wait.

"Hell, yeah! Count me in. I love barbeque."

In just under an hour, all the girls are back and looking much warmer. The tents have already shown up and Alex has talked several guys into volunteering to set them up, along with the tables and the chairs. I have to laugh as I watch him introducing his volunteers to my girls as they show up. So, that's what he promised them.

Next comes all the serving materials, and as I set up the burners, Olivia gets them going.

"I still can't believe you pulled this off, Cat!"

"To be honest, Olivia. I'm pretty shocked myself."

"Who's the hottie?" she asks. I follow her gaze and see her eyes ravishing Alex, who at that moment looks up and turns bright red. He looks away quickly, grabbing another guy and introducing him to another of my sorority girls.

"A friend," I say, not liking the way she's looking at him one bit. My God, am I jealous?

"A friend, huh? Then I guess you wouldn't mind if I say... ask him to the movies next Friday?"

"I... uh... I don't think that's a good idea."

"Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say," Olivia says, grinning at me.

"No, you don't understand, it's not because of me... he's a..."Damn, I don't know if Alex has outed himself and I am not about to do it for him. "He's a... taken," I tell her.

"Oh," Olivia says, looking a little disappointed "That's a shame. I was kinda hoping you two might have a thing going. It would serve Liam right after the way he's treated you."

"What?" I say, but I don't get to ask her more because the food arrives and we have to get everything heated before our customers show up.