by Zoey Derrick
“You said a board meeting?”
I look at him. “What? Oh, yeah, we need to go.”
We step into the boardroom, and sitting there are Trinity and every member of the board, along with Bold’s attorney. I take my spot at the head of the table, and Rayne comes in right behind us; she is carrying a large stack of rather thick packets and begins passing them out.
“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.” I get quiet greetings back, and I suddenly wish Tristan were here with me. He’d offered to come, but I told him no. “I’d like you to take a look at what Rayne is handing you. This is an updated business proposal pertaining to Bold and Bold’s clientele.
“Starting off the package you will find a list of actors, athletes, and musicians. On this list you will also see who their agents currently are, and then next to that you will see the date that their contracts are expiring. We are going to begin by making contact and recruiting these individuals to bring them to Bold when their contracts expire.” I look at Vinnie, who has a very ‘Proud poppa’ style look on his face, and I smile at him. But I continue. “On the subsequent pages you will find a list of agents and industry professionals who are either looking to get out of their existing agency or who are struggling under their own weight. With each agent there’s also a list of their current clientele. We are going to enter into some negotiations and decide which of these seventy candidates have what Bold needs, and we’re going to bring them, along with their clients, under our umbrella.”
“When do you plan to start putting this into place?” Al Pierce, one of the board members, asks the question that I was expecting.
“Beginning January fifteenth. The day that I step into my role as full-time CEO.” I look at Vinnie, who, like Trinity, is quietly applauding. “We are going to revitalize what we have and where we go from here. Bold International has been a staple in Hollywood for more than thirty years, and it is time that we turn that staple into a stamp. I want Bold back to the premier company our clients turn to for anything they need. My stepping up also means that Vincent and Trinity will no longer have clients under them, with a small exception of our two biggest clients, Tristan Michaels and one I am going to tell you about momentarily, whom Vincent will still continue to manage. Trinity is hereby relieved of her PR duties and will be in charge of Bold’s PR Department, overseeing everything underneath her now, and nothing more.”
“We are not staffed to handle this kind of client influx,” Al says.
“You’re right, we’re not. But it is my goal, over the course of the next two years, to increase Bold’s clientele by fifteen percent and increase its employees by at least thirty percent. It is time that we grow bigger and stronger, and these are the steps in the right direction to do so.”
“How can you be so confident that this will work?” Al asks.
“I’m not.” There is an audible gasp from everyone in the room. “Relax. But what I am confident in is Bold’s longstanding reputation and its ability to hold some of Hollywood’s finest in their arsenal. I want directors and studios to come to us first before running off to some little-known agency who got lucky with one good client, and that starts with recruiting. Bold has picked up another amazing contract from none other than Travis Jackson, bringing two of Hollywood’s hottest stars under one roof. I will be holding a press conference in about an hour to announce my ascension into the CEO position, along with Bold’s acquisition of Travis Jackson, which means that everyone in this room and in this building needs to be on their toes. I will lay odds that we receive at least five phone calls from that list of talent looking for new representation, thereby growing our reputation and expanding our business.”
Vinnie stands up. “This won’t be an easy road, and just like anything in this industry, we have to work for what we want. I believe that Cameron has given us the tools we need to make this happen and make it happen quickly. I’m very confident in the work she’s done and will continue to do going forward. I think right now we need to give her our support and begin what will be the beginning of a bigger and better Bold International.” I look at Vinnie and realize that either he is really good at blowing smoke up the board’s ass or he really believes what he’s just said, but either way, it works for me.
“Let’s get to it,” Al Pierce says, and the room applauds.
“Well done, kiddo,” Vinnie says as he winks at me. Everyone files out and I plop down in my chair at the head of the table. I take a few deep breaths and then Vinnie comes back into the room. “I’m very proud of you.”
“Oh.” I jump. “I was scared shitless.”
“You didn’t show it. Never doubt what you’re capable of. Are you sure this is the right time to step up?” he asks, but I can tell there is no malice in his voice, and he looks at my stomach and then back to my eyes.
“Probably not, but if I’ve learned anything from this whole damn mess it’s that Bobby laid the groundwork of a great business, a business he trusted me to run one day, and I’d like to be able to pass that on to my child one day.”
“This company tore your father apart.”
“I understand that, and I won’t let that happen. I will not allow this business to eat me alive, and I will be home every night for dinner, whether it is with Tristan or my family. I will be there and I will be the best damn mother I’m capable of being. This company has a strong foundation, and an even better structure. I have no doubt that I can run this business without allowing it to eat me alive.”
“I have confidence that you can do that too, and I will do anything I can to help you with that.” I stand and walk toward Vinnie.
“It won’t be easy and I’ll need your help.”
“You have it, one hundred percent.”
FORTY-TWO
I return to Tristan and my hotel room at the JW around five-thirty, and he is there with a table full of food for dinner. I smile, and he hugs me, kisses me, and then bends down to kiss my bump. “How’d it go?” he asks as he leads me over to the table. He pulls my chair out for me and I sit.
“It went amazing.” I smile so huge, and Tristan’s smile mirrors my own. “I spoke to Trinity and told her that what she and Bobby do is their business and that I don’t want to know about it or hear about it. I also told her that what happens in that office stays in that office and does not go back to him.”
His eyes widen fractionally. “How’d she take that?”
“She agreed, but then took it upon herself to inform me that Bobby has left the country.”
“Shit, Cams, I’m sorry.”
I put my hand up to stop him. “It’s all right. It is probably better this way anyway. I don’t need his influence over the way I run my company, and I know he’d do anything he could to keep up that pretense. So if he’s gone, then he’s gone.” He frowns at me. “Really, I’m okay,” I remind him. “I spoke with Vinnie too.”
“Oh dear.”
“No, nothing like that. I actually apologized to him. We worked through it. We reached a level beyond professional.” Tristan’s eyes grow concerned. “I think that if he’d known about me sooner, things between Bobby and us may have been different, and I think, along with the trickery, he holds that over his own head.” I take a sip of the sparkling cider on the table. “He gave me a hug.” I watch his face. “He felt my stomach and asked. He knows, but he’s the only one, and I’ve sworn him to secrecy.”
“What did he say?”
“To be honest.”
“Uh oh.” I smile at his expression.
“Telling Vinnie and seeing his excitement was...it was...I don’t know, it was exhilarating. For the very first time I actually felt a large amount of joy and excitement over the fact that we’re going to have a baby. It almost made me want to send out a memo.” He laughs. “Then we went to the board meeting.”
“Oh boy.”
“I was nervous, and Al, the one I feared, was the only one asking all the questions, which I expected, but when it came down to it, Vinnie got them
on board by telling them that he believed in me and my plan. So it was settled. After the room cleared out, I plopped into my chair and let out a huge breath. Vinnie came back into the room then, scaring me.” I realize right now how much I am loving telling Tristan about my day, and I smile. “He asked me if now was really the right time, but his intentions were good. I told him what I told you, about how Bobby built it and left it for me, and how I wanted to do the same. I also told him that I wouldn’t let Bold eat me alive, and he said that he’d be sure that never happened.”
“Wow. I’m really impressed.”
“Me too. The reactions I had out of Vinnie were...they were the types of reactions my father should’ve had to things, and I take a strange comfort in that. But I know it won’t be all cupcakes and roses going forward. Eventually we will clash, and it will suck, but we can make it work.” I take a bite of food. “Mmm, this is really good.”
We both eat for a couple of minutes. He regales me with his exploits of boredom for the day. “I’m glad we live in Phoenix. I hate being trapped because I don’t want to be seen.”
“I know, I’m sorry. You could’ve stayed in Phoenix.”
“Nope,” he says through a mouthful of food. “Not a chance.” He smiles.
“I have something for you,” I say as I stand up, and I walk back toward my bag, which I dropped on the floor when I came in. I bend down and pull out the contract and the script. I turn back toward him and he is staring at me, watching me walk and move, and I love it. The only thing that has changed about our bedroom relationship is that he’s more gentle now, despite my arguments about not being made of glass, and the fact that he worships my belly any chance he can get.
“What’s all that?”
“A contract.”
His eyebrows scrunch together. “For what?” I hand it to him. I watch as he looks at it. “Did you read this?”
“Not all of it.”
“Come here,” he says, and I go to him; he spreads his legs for me to take a seat on his lap. I do, and he hands me the contract.
I begin reading it. I see where it says Tristan’s name, Vincent’s and Bold’s names, along with a bunch of other stuff.
For the role of Tyler Garrison, main character. “Additional contract attached.”
I look up at him then flip the page.
Again, Tristan, Vinnie and Bold are named.
For the role of producer.
I squeal. “Ohmygod, Tristan! You got it, your first producing gig.” I hug him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted to surprise you. But they also didn’t have much of a choice.” I scowl at him. “You never looked very closely at the script. You, like me, became fixated on the date.” He reaches for the thick stack of papers I’d set on the table. “Look at it. Very closely,” he says, and I flip back the cover.
Finding Forever
Directed by Alexei Silverstein
I gasp.
Produced by: Tristan Michaels and Arnold Alberts
Written by: Tristan Michaels
I cry.
He doesn’t say anything to me for a minute while I take in what I’m seeing.
“Baby?” he says.
I look up to him, our eyes meet, and I feel a swelling sense of pride wash through me, knowing that the man I love is seeing his dreams come true. “I’m so proud of you,” I breathe, and I kiss him. “When did you write this?”
“A couple of years ago, but it holds a strange resemblance to the way things happened between us. So to see this—” He points to the script. “—just gives me the opportunity to portray how much I love you on screen.”
We don’t talk too much the rest of the night. Instead we wrap ourselves around each other and enjoy one another’s company.
FORTY-THREE
******
Tristan
******
“Is everything all set?” I ask Beau on the phone.
“Yes, we’re here and we will have the entire island to ourselves, excepting the staff, come the twenty-third, just as you’ve requested.”
“Good. We’re about to head to the airport.”
“She still doesn’t know?”
“No.” I smile at my little secret. “I have to go.” I hang up just as Cami comes out of the bathroom dressed in a blue sleeveless baby doll top and black cotton capris. I love her in the baby doll dresses and tops; I am so ready to announce this to the world, but it will have to wait until after we return.
She comes out of the bathroom, and sitting in the middle of the floor are all our suitcases. “What’s going on?” she says, looking at me.
“You have a doctor appointment in thirty minutes. We need to get going.”
“I know that, Tristan, but where did all these suitcases come from? We only came with one between the two of us. Tristan Michaels, what are you up to?” She smiles at me.
“Later, we have to go.” Knock, knock. Saved by the knock.
Tyson stands on the other side of the door. “Ready?”
“Yep. Come on, love. We need to go.”
“Tristan?” She scolds me with her eyes.
“Doctor appointment. Let’s go.”
“You’re up to something, mister.” Though she is trying to be angry, she is excited and I can tell.
We rush out of the hotel and we’re off to the doctor’s office. We get there with only moments to spare, and we get called back almost immediately.
Cami is up on the bed, naked from the waist down, and seeing her lying there, and her beautiful bump visible, is an amazing sight to see.
Dr. Burgess comes into the room. “Hello, Cameron, I’m Doctor Burgess,” she says, and she extends her hand to Cami and then over to me. “Nice to meet you both. So, Cami, you think you’re about sixteen to seventeen weeks along?”
“Yes,” she says to the doctor.
“Is this your first time seeing a doctor?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “I have a doctor in Phoenix, but when the time comes, we will be living here in Los Angeles, so I wanted to get a start on prenatal care here.”
“Good choice.”
We go through the initial exam, and then it comes time for an ultrasound. Dr. Burgess wants to take a look to be sure. She goes through the initial setup and gets Cami ready, and my heart starts pounding. We haven’t had an ultrasound since she was in the hospital and I’m excited to see our baby again. After a moment or two, Dr. Burgess asks us the all-knowing question. “Do you want to know the sex of the baby?”
“We’ve decided we’d like to wait,” Cami says, but I secretly want to know.
“Okay, that sounds good. Let’s take a look.” She goes to work on the ultrasound machine and I can vaguely make out the grainy black-and-white images from the angle I’m at, but after only a few minutes Dr. Burgess turns the monitor in our direction. “It’s got a great profile.” She points out the features, which are a little easier to see this time around — more solid structure — and I wipe a tear from my eye. “Want to really see what your baby looks like?” Dr. Burgess asks us, and Cami and I both look at each other then back to Dr. Burgess.
“Sure,” Cami says, and we watch as she moves the wand a little, and then all of a sudden the image changes from grainy black and white to a sepia-colored image where we can actually see the baby’s eye sockets. “It’s sucking its thumb?” Cami asks as we both watch the baby move.
“Sure is, did you feel that just now?” I look away from the monitor at Cami.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Might be a little early, but sometime over the next couple of weeks you should be able to start to feel your baby move.” Oh, wow. “I’ll snap a couple of souvenir pictures for you to take with you.” She does that and then leaves the room.
I stand up, kiss Cami on the forehead and put my hand on her belly. “That was...wow,” is all I can say. We’re both fighting tears. “Are you sure you don’t want to know?” I ask her. “We haven’t talked about it, really.”
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“Do you?” she asks me.
“I want to know what you want to know. If you don’t, then we will leave it a secret until it comes. If you want to know, then we can know.” She smiles at me.
“You make this too easy sometimes.” She smiles and sits up, sliding off of the table to get dressed.
After a few minutes we’re back in the car and on our way to the airport. “Where are we going, Tristan?” she asks me as soon as we drive onto LAX property.
I smile. “It’s a surprise,” I say to her and smirk.
“We’re going to Tarah, aren’t we?” she asks, and I nod. She squeals and hugs me hard around the neck.
“Remember that new Christmas tradition we talked about starting?” She nods. “Well, this is the start of it.”
“I love you.”
“Ditto,” I say, and she laughs.
******
Cami
******
We’ve been in Tarah about a week and the weather is perfect. Tristan has been amazingly attentive to anything I want. But I start to notice, when we go down for dinner or to Blu, that there are not a lot of people here. I’d expected so many more people. Spending the holiday break in paradise is the ultimate Christmas; but then again, that just might be my opinion.
It’s Christmas Eve, and Tristan and I are going downstairs to have dinner. I’m very thankful that I was able to improvise on at least one of his presents. The other ones are back in Phoenix and I had no way of getting them, at least not without him knowing. When we enter the dining room, it is completely empty except for a couple of servers. Then I hear a lot of commotion coming from behind a wall to the left, and I suddenly feel better about keeping the servers busy on Christmas Eve.