We arrived at the banquet hall shortly before six-thirty.
Jeremy parked near the entrance and came around to help me out.
"Careful, Mom. The pavement is uneven."
"I can manage, sweetheart."
He smiled and took the cookie tray from me anyway.
Inside, the room was already filling up.
There were round tables covered with white tablecloths.
Small red candles sat in the middle of each one.
A Christmas tree stood near the entrance, decorated with silver ornaments and flashing lights.
At the far end of the room was a low stage.
There were raffle prizes arranged beside it.
A large television screen displayed the company logo.
People were greeting one another, laughing, and taking photographs.
I recognized a few faces from the company picnic Jeremy had invited me to several years earlier.
Some of the workers waved.
One man approached us near the entrance.
"Jeremy! Good to see you, buddy."
Jeremy shook his hand.
"Hey, Mike."
Mike looked at me.
"And this must be your mother."
"Yes. This is my mom, Margaret."
"Nice to meet you, ma'am."
He was polite.
He even complimented the cookies.
I thanked him.
For a while, everything felt perfectly normal.
We found our assigned table.
Jeremy pulled out my chair before sitting down.
I placed the cookie tray beside the centerpiece.
A few coworkers stopped by to say hello.
One woman named Denise told me that Jeremy had helped her husband repair a piece of equipment earlier that month.
"He stayed late to get it finished," she said.
"That's Jeremy," I answered.
She smiled.
"He's one of the good ones."
I looked at my son.
He was pretending not to hear us.
But I saw the small smile on his face.
It made the evening worthwhile.
There was a place card in front of me.
It simply said MARGARET.
I remember thinking that someone had taken the time to prepare everything properly.
Employees were allowed one guest.
Jeremy had followed the rules.
There was nothing unusual about my being there.
At least, that was what I believed.
Then I noticed Doug Lanning.
He was the company owner.
Fifty-five years old.
He had inherited the business from his father, Ray, who had passed away in 2015.
Doug was dressed in an expensive dark suit.
His tie was loosened slightly.
He carried himself like a man who expected everyone to notice when he entered a room.
I had heard Jeremy mention him before.
Not often.
My son wasn't someone who enjoyed gossiping about his employer.
But I knew Doug had a reputation for making himself the center of attention.
He liked long speeches.
He liked reminding people who was in charge.
And he particularly enjoyed making jokes at other people's expense.
Jeremy had once told me that Doug could turn a five-minute safety meeting into a forty-minute speech about how important he was.
I hadn't thought much about it.
Every workplace had difficult personalities.
Unfortunately, being the owner gave Doug a little more freedom to display his.
He moved around the room greeting people.
At one point, he stopped beside our table.
"Jeremy!"
My son stood.
"Evening, Mr. Lanning."
Doug glanced at me.
"And who's this?"
"My mother, Margaret."
Doug looked at me for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"Well, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
He nodded and moved along.
It was a brief exchange.
Nothing unpleasant.
Nothing that suggested what would happen later.
Dinner was served shortly after seven.
There was roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, and dinner rolls.
The food was good.
Jeremy ate more than I expected.
I was glad.
He had lost a little weight since October.
I didn't mention it.
We talked about ordinary things.
My neighbor's new dog.
The broken light in my garage.
A television show I had started watching.
For a little while, I forgot about the difficult months my son had been through.
Then I noticed Doug again.
He was standing near the bar with two other managers.
He had already been drinking.
I wasn't counting his drinks.
But I remembered seeing him with one before dinner.
Then another.
And later, another glass was brought to him.
His voice became louder as the evening continued.
He laughed at his own jokes before anyone else had a chance.
Several employees seemed uncomfortable around him.
Others laughed whenever he looked in their direction.
I understood that kind of laughter.
It wasn't always because something was funny.
Sometimes people laughed because they didn't want to become the next target.
I had seen enough of that in my life.
After dinner, the company presentation began.
Doug walked toward the stage.
A man standing beside the microphone stepped aside.
Doug picked it up and tapped it twice.
The sound echoed through the room.
"All right, everybody. Can I get your attention?"
Conversations slowly stopped.
People turned toward him.
He thanked the employees for coming.
He thanked the managers.
He mentioned the company's difficult year.
He talked about rising costs, customer expectations, and the pressure of keeping the business profitable.
Some of what he said was reasonable.
Manufacturing was not an easy industry.
I knew that.
Then his speech changed.
He started calling out employees by name.
At first, it seemed harmless.
He mentioned one man who had worked at the plant for twenty years.
The audience applauded.
He made a joke about another employee's habit of drinking too much coffee.
People laughed.
Then he mentioned a supervisor who had recently become a grandfather.
More laughter.
Doug seemed pleased with himself.
He was enjoying the attention.
He looked across the room as though he were searching for another person to entertain everyone with.
I continued eating a small piece of cake.
Jeremy was sitting beside me.
His hands were folded on the table.
He didn't seem particularly interested in the speech.
Then Doug's eyes stopped.
Right on our table.
More specifically, on my son.
I saw the expression on his face change.
He smiled.
Not the friendly kind.
The kind a person wears when he thinks he has found something embarrassing to use.
"Jeremy!"
My son looked up.
Doug lifted the microphone.
"There you are."
A few people turned toward us.
I put down my fork.
I had a strange feeling in my stomach.
Doug leaned forward.
"Well, look who decided to bring a guest tonight."
Jeremy gave a polite smile.
"Yes, sir."
Doug looked directly at me.
Then he looked back at the audience.
And his next words changed the entire evening.
Click here to continue reading: PART 3: Eighty People Watched My Son Become the Punchline, While I Sat Quietly Wondering How Long His Boss Would Continue
My Son Asked Me to Attend His Christmas Party Because He Couldn’t Bear Another Holiday Sitting Alone
Part 2 of 20
