Page 68 of The Summer Arrangement
“Yep! if he’s lucky, I’ll makehim and his daughtertheir favorite meal. Itmightinclude my infamous potato salad, asparagus, and quite possibly either steak or ribs.”
“Mmmm… That sounds delicious. I’d better get to work, so I can hurry back and make that happen.”
Leaning down, I brush my lips against hers. It’s way too short but necessary as we have an audience, and I don’t know how long Milli will be.
When I pull back, she pats me on the chest. “Go! Lord over your minions and make things happen today.”
“Ohmigod.” I crack up. “I can’t even with you.” This girl is too much. “Lord over my minions…”
*****
As I step out of my first meeting and head back to my office, I’m relieved to know things for the festival are on track. We’ve got spectacular talent lined up and an experienced staff who work together like a well-oiled machine when it comes to task management.
I barely get my ass settled in my seat when Merna buzzes in, scaring the shit out of me. “Cameron, I’ve got Marek on the line. He says it’s urgent.”
Marek Mindar is the CEO of Smashing Waves Records and more importantly, my boss. We have regular remote meetings as he is based in LA, but he rarely makes urgent calls. “Put him through.”
The moment the line connects, he skips all preamble and pleasantries. “Hey, Cameron. I’ve got a situation here, and I need your help.”
“What do you need?” I offer immediately.
“Tatum has a family emergency and will be out for the foreseeable future.”
“Everything okay with him?” I ask, wondering why I’m not hearing this from him.
“Yes. He has some family things he must attend to and can’t make the meeting scheduled for tomorrow afternoon with the members of Sienna Flames. It’s a potential multi-million-dollar deal, and I need my best on this.”
“Okay, give me the details, and I’ll get on the call.”
“No can do, Cameron. I need you in LA tomorrow by noon. I’ll send all the details to Merna. She’ll make the arrangements to get you here and help get you up to speed on this deal.”
“The festival is just weeks away,” I remind him.
Clearly, I have things here in Seaside I need to be doing.
“Look, Cam, I know the timing sucks. But it’ll be one, maybe two days tops, and you’ll be back before you know it. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t necessary to meet in person. Tatum would be here, but his father just had a heart attack, and he needs to be there for his family.”
“I understand. But I’ve also got Emilia to consider,” I pointedly remind him. Tatum’s not the only one with family responsibilities.
“I can have a sitter service available to you around the clock, if need be, but I need you here for this. If I weren’t in our London office this week, I’d take this meeting myself.”
Shit. “I’ll make arrangements on my end and hop on the first available flight out of Portland.”
“I’ll send over all the details you need to know. I’ll be in touch.”
The line goes dead, and I’m left staring at my phone.
What the fuck just happened?
Needing to get my shit together, I buzz Merna.
“Yes, Cameron?”
“Hey, Merna, I need to be on a flight to LA this afternoon. Can you make that happen? I’m going to head home now to make arrangements on my end. Marek is sending you the details.”
“His email just came through. With PDX being more than two hours away, I’ll do my best to schedule one for this evening.”
I hear typing on her end, then she says, “There’s a four-fifteen flight, or six thirty. The latter is non-stop.”
