Page 28 of Between the Lines

I run my free hand along my jaw and look back out at the people milling about on their lunch hour.

“That’s a very good answer.”

She gives a surprised little chuckle. “Well… thank you. What about you? Why do you enjoy doing what you do?”

It’s an innocuous enough question. Butenjoy?

I meet her blue gaze. “It’s a family company. I have a responsibility to my employees, to my family, and to my grandparents’ legacy to ensure it operates to the best of its ability.”

Her eyebrows draw together. “That’s a powerful motivation.”

“It’s a life sentence,” I say.

CHAPTER 11

AIDEN

“A life sentence,” she repeats. The sunlight glints off her wavy hair. “Do you see it like that?”

She looks at me like I’m a puzzle piece she needs to make fit. A problem to be solved and a mystery to be unraveled. It’s been a long time since anyone looked at me like that.

I want to talk to her, stupid as it is.

“Not always in a negative way. But it’s not like I can do something else, no. This is it for me.”

“What part of your workday do you enjoy the most?” she asks.

I look away from Charlotte to the crowd of people. The line to the food trucks grow ever longer.

“Strategy meetings,” I say.

It’s the truth, even if the one today had been frustrating. And I do have to give her something, just not enoughsomethingsto string together the kind of salacious memoir the Board wants from me.

“Strategy meetings,” she echoes. “Is that where you plan programming for the next year or two?”

“Yes, among other things. Expansions. New hires. Upcoming projects. Financials. Strategy is at the core of most of our decisions.”

“You like making those long-term decisions.”

“I do.”

She blows out a soft sigh, and my gaze is drawn back to hers. To the slight narrowing of her eyes. “How involved are you with… the various shows you produce?”

“It depends. Most often, I’m not involved at all in the storytelling or production. Only in the big-picture decisions. Which shows to continue, which to ax, which to invest in more.” But I’d rather talk about her. “How do you decide what to keep and what to toss when writing a memoir? You must get more information than you know what to do with.”

“I get a lot, yes. All too often.” She shrugs lightly. “It depends on the story the subject and I want to tell.”

That word makes my lips curve. “Thestory.”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t memoirs meant to be true?”

“Ah, but whose truth?” she asks. “That’s for one of our future meetings. I’ll give you a few narrative options, and you can choose which one you want me to go with.”

“Narrative options?”

“The hero’s journey, for example. An antihero perspective. The David and Goliath story.” She inclines her head to me, a wry smile on her face. “My guess is you want a hero’s journey. But we’ll see.”

---