Fear:

eat the cheese

v.
1. When nobody shows to an art reception, the artist is said to have "eaten the cheese."

Origins: In the olden days, artists used to provide refreshments at their art openings. On the occasion that nobody showed, they would be left with heaps of fruit, crackers, wine and cheese, to eat what they had hoped to share with friends and family all by themselves in an act of shame. This practice is now out of date because after this became commonplace, artists stopped bringing the food in the first place.

"I totally ate the cheese at my Ridge Street Coffee Co. show."