I gulped and fought back the urge to dig into the crowd anyway. With more control than I thought I had, I walked out the front door and waved to the valet for my keys, already feeling oddly depressed.

In the morning, I was in a much better mood and had put the uncomfortable events of last night behind me by the time I walked through the front door to work, the Hammerstein Clinic for Reconstructive Surgery. Seeing my name listed as a junior partner still sent a glow to my cheeks. It reminded me that all of this around me, my work, and the career I had built through hard work and sacrifice, that was what was important in life.