Page 95 of Honest With You

“Not who you expected?”

I let my face fall. This is her dad, after all.

“She’s avoiding me.”

He takes a sip, his finger tapping on the glass before he regards me with an arch of his eyebrow, urging me to continue.

“I told her I still loved her.”

Another smile tips his face.

“What do I do, Uncle Luke?”

“Well, what do you want to do Jesse?”

I sit back, unsure how to respond. Beyond telling Ava, I didn’t really have a plan.

He sets his glass down and simply nods. “Let me rephrase that. What do you want to happen?”

I cup the back of my neck and squeeze it hard, suddenly feeling self conscious.

“I want another chance but clearly she’s done with me if she refuses to even be alone in a room with me.”

He scoffs. “I know my daughter. She’s stubborn, but she also has the purest heart I've ever known. She wants to be loved like everyone else. She’s just scared, Jesse. Give her time.” Then, his face lights up as he looks at Mickayla’s concept art sitting on the table. “All you need is an opportunity.”

“San Diego?”

I bite back my smile at Ava’s outrage.

When Ava finally showed up to the meeting, she was surprised to see Uncle Luke sitting with me, going over the details of Mickayla’s upcoming music video shoot.

Uncle Luke wasted no time in expressing his dislike for our plan. Currently, he’s standing at the foot of the table, a frown marring his face as he looks over the concept photos and storyboard we had come up with.

It was pretty simple, one that Ava had conceptualized and sent over to me to storyboard. It’s a tried and tested concept, involving Mickayla walking around downtown, eating at diners and riding the streets of NYC in a taxi. She wanted Mickayla to appeal to the American audience and give her more of that city girl vibe, but apparently Uncle Luke had other ideas. Starting with a complete overhaul.

“Dad,” Ava repeats. “Let me get this straight. You want us to overhaul this entire thing and shoot in San Diego?” She looks at me bewildered and I return it with my most casual shrug, trying not to seem conspicuous. “Why on earth would we change everything at the last minute when we’ve already been working on this for months?”

Uncle Luke straightens, and with his glasses perched on his nose, he looks over at us with a sigh. “I get what you’re doing here. But this is too… What's that word that Reese always uses? Ah, right. It’s toobasic. I trust you, Ava, but this feels too… safe.”

Ava’s eyebrow arches and her jaw tenses as she looks back over to me then to her dad.

“Dad. We’ve tested this concept with her before. It’s perfect for her single.”

“But this isn’t her first single.”

“It might as well be.”

Uncle Luke holds a hand up, effectively shutting her down.

Whoa.

“Ava. I don’t want to play it safe. I want to play it smart, while still appealing to our target audience.” He looks over at me and points at my tablet. “Play the song starting at the pre-chorus.”

I do what he says, but then he holds a hand up ten seconds into the music playing. “Stop it right there.”

I hit pause.

“That guitar riff right there. Imagine her standing in front of the fountain in Balboa Park with her guitar.” He points at me again. “Play the bridge.” When the music plays, he grins. “Now here. We can have her singing this part on Crystal Pier or on that boardwalk at Coronado.”

---