Page 86 of Honest With You

My head ping pongs between them and I feel like I’m third-wheeling a conversation I’m not supposed to witness.

Ava raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, let’s start with you deciding to leave all your successful, established relationships to come work here, when you can easily do your job as COO from our London office. That you seem convinced that coming back to LA, a city you all hate I might add, is the right move.”

“Not to mention your brother quitting medicine, leaving San Diego and buying a condo here.” He shakes his head. “I appreciate you all worrying about me, but I’m concerned you are putting your lives on hold to work for a company you had no desire to be involved with in the first place.”

Ava taps her fingers on the desk, her gaze thoughtful. The movement is subtle but I catch her glancing at me out of the corner of her eye, as if unsure about my presence but then she takes a deep breath and continues, her tone placating.

“Dad. I would not be here right now if it weren’t for our company, you know that. These last few years learning the ins and outs of our companies with you have made me fall in love with this business. I’m here because I love it. And as for Stephen, I speak for both of us when I say it’s high time you realize we would never do something we didn’t want to do. It may seem like we didn’t care back then but we were kids. We’re adults now. Granted, we’re both still growing and learning, but we can’t do that if you don’t take a step back and let us help.”

“How do you do that, sweetheart?”

“Do what, Dad?”

“Put everything into perspective leaving no room for arguments?”

Ava bursts out laughing and with that sound, the warmth that was missing from my life for the last six years comes back, taking up residence in my chest.

“Who do you think taught me?” But then she sighs, her smile slipping. She abruptly gets up and goes to hug Uncle Luke. “Daddy, I was so worried about you.”

Uncle Luke looks over her shoulder at me, tipping his head toward the door and I take that as my cue to leave. I catch Ava’s eye as I close the door and it reignites a flare of hope inside of me. I’m hoping she’ll at least let me be her friend now that she’s here.

It wasn’t easy but between myself, Reese and Stephen, we managed to convince our dad to lessen his workload. He will remain the CEO until both Stephen and I complete the transition into our positions. My brother will serve as the Entertainment Director while I take over the role of interim CEO for TEG.

After which, my dad will be able to actually enjoy the fruits of his labor or maybe even date someone for a change.

Color me surprised when I found out that Jesse had been working here this whole time. I had heard from Reese that our dad was mentoring him and he had a hand in writing and producing some of our biggest charting hits over the last year, but I had no idea how involved he had become in the company. Since I was interim CEO, music production fell under my branch of responsibility and without a competent COO, I will have to take more of an active role, very much like I did in London, which means we will be working closely together.

I exchange a look with Stephen as he follows our dad to get ready for a press conference to announce our newest movie franchise. His gaze flitters over my shoulder and even without that the warm feeling seeping into my bones, I’m still so attuned to him that I know exactly who I’m going to find in the conference room.

I suddenly wished I had convinced Reese to stay back instead of letting her skip out after our family meeting. She is no doubt raising hell on the fourth floor and bothering Ryder at his studio.

I paste on my most professional smile, hugging my tablet and phone to my chest as I enter the room. Mickayla bounds across the room to me, leaving her conversation with Jesse unfinished and I stifle my laughter at his astonished expression.

She practically skids to a stop in front of me, her arms flailing about as she rambles on, clearly excited.

“This place is bloody wicked! I am chuffed to bits!” Her British slang took some time getting used to, but since she only really uses a handful of them, it didn’t take me long to pick it up.

“Brilliant,” I reply with a laugh as I gesture back towards Jesse, who’s gaping at us, bewildered by our exchange.

I tip my head, greeting him and Mason, who is still playing around with the keys. He doesn’t even bother to pick his head up to greet me back, which completely irks me. He’s one of those men who think women are beneath them, who has an ego trip whenever he’s told what to do.“Ava! Your British needs a lot of work.”

As we make our way to the boys, Mickayla starts talking about a song they’re writing together but as I set my tablet and phone down on the conference table, I check the time and note that her manager’s still nowhere to be seen.

“Uh.. Mickayla, is Chuck running late? I’ve got a few meetings I need to attend today, so I’m a bit pressed for time. Is there any way we can conference him in while we get started?”

Mason’s head whips up and he clears his throat. Mickayla’s demeanor changes and she quickly masks it with an awkward chuckle.

“Drat, I must have fudged and forgot to tell ya. I fired Chuck last week.” She gives me a bright smile, so wide I can tell it’s forced, as Mason moves to stand beside her with his hand on her shoulder. “Mason is my manager now–”

I cut her off with my hand and gesture at the table, silently asking them to take a seat.

Jesse shoots me a concerned look. We both know where this is going. He rounds the table, pulls the chair out beside mine and takes a seat.

He presses the intercom. “Mr. Figgs, can you come up to the glass door conference room please?”

Mickayla bites her lip, concern etched on her face. Mason rolls his eyes, folding his arms in front of him, seemingly not giving a care in the world that I’m about to fire his ass. He’s just self absorbed enough not to read the temperature in the room. He simply stares at me, almost mockingly.

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