by Hamel, B. B.
Finally, my father calms down. “Want to know what the last contest was?” he asks.
“No,” I say.
“It was an eating challenge. You know, gross stuff? Except I was going to have these enormous fancy meals, two of them, one for each of you. More food than a single human could consume. You’d both eat as much as you can, then at the end, we’d weigh what’s left. Whoever ate the most, wins.”
“I hate eating challenges,” Shaun says. “They’re disgusting.”
“I know!” Dad cracks up again. “You would’ve lost for sure. My Klara here would’ve kicked your ass.”
“Are you going to sell to me, Dad?” I ask, my voice soft.
“Show me the contract.”
“First, we have one string.”
He groans. “Of course.”
“Dad, you have to leave LA. If you agree, Shaun will throw in another million as a signing bonus.”
He snorts. “Leave LA? Where the fuck would I go?”
“Your own private island? Who fucking cares, Aldo,” Shaun says. “You’ll be filthy rich. Live on a goddamn mega-yacht for all I care.”
Dad stares at me for a long moment. I can see some self-awareness, some sadness. I didn’t expect it, and for a second, he breaks my heart.
But I hold it together.
“Well?”
“You really want me gone?” he asks. “You want me out of here?”
“I do,” I say, and it hurts. It hurts so bad, but it’s right.
He’s a bastard. He’s been holding me back for years. I’ve been cleaning up his messes and succeeding despite him. Maybe moving somewhere else, getting away from this town will help him. It can’t hurt, at least. He can’t get worse than this, that’s for sure.
He nods once. “Give me the contract.”
Shaun slides it across the table along with a pen. Dad takes the pen, flips through, and signs at the end. He then goes through and initials each page without reading. When it’s done, he pushes it back.
“Congrats,” Dad says. “You got what you wanted.”
I want to cry. That’s what I really want to do. But I nod once and stand. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank that asshole. Did you know that he punched me the other day?”
I look at Shaun. “Really?”
He shrugs. “Are you surprised?”
“I guess not,” I say.
“I deserved it,” Dad admits. “But he’s the reason I’m selling. Because I know he’ll do what’s best for you in the end. And I’m a washed-up has-been, aren’t I?”
“Yes,” I say. “You are.”
He nods and sighs. “Anyway, at least I’ll be rich.” He stands, walks to his cupboard, and takes out some whiskey. He fills his coffee cup and doesn’t bother adding coffee. “Now leave me alone. I’m going to get drunk and celebrate my newfound wealth.”
Shaun stands and walks to me. He helps me up and takes my hand. “Come on,” he whispers.
“Dad,” I start, then stop myself. I take a deep breath. “Dad, you need to leave LA as soon as possible. You have thirty days.”
“Fine,” he grunts.
“And I just want you to know… if you get sober, come find me. I’d love to have you back in my life.”
“We’ll see about that.” Aldo Funk grins at me, and I know I’ll likely never see him again.
I follow Shaun from my father’s kitchen and out into the front yard. Once we’re away from the house, I turn to him and he takes me into his arms.
“It’s done,” he says.
“Why doesn’t it feel good then?”
“Because your father is a bastard and you’re finally moving on from him.” He sighs. “It’s a hard thing to do.”
I look up into his eyes. “I love you. You know that, right? I didn’t say it back.”
“I know you do.” He smiles, tilts his head. “You don’t need to say it. I’ll love you anyway.”
I kiss his lips and I know in that instant that I’ve made the right choice.
I’m going to have Truth Hurts. I’m going to own the franchise I helped create. I’m going to have a baby. And I’m going to be with this incredible, amazing man.
I’m losing my father, but I think I lost him a long time ago.
In Shaun’s arms, I realize I’m happy. Even if things aren’t perfect, I’m so happy. I can build something with him, we can build something together. We’ll make Truth Hurts into the reality TV production studio I’ve always dreamed it could be.
And we’ll build a family on top of that.
I snuggle against him and feel right.
22
Klara
Two Years Later
“Higher!” I watch the crane raise the sign up into the air. I shade my eyes and take a step back, waving my arms in the air. “Left, left, left!”
Slowly the sign falls into place. I cross my arms and smile, staring up the words emblazoned on a huge office building… and I own all of it.
“What do you think?”
I look back at Shaun and Melanie. My daughter struggles in his arms before I take her. She laughs and hugs me and I hug her back.
“Hi, baby,” I say.
Shaun gives me a kiss. “Well?”
“It’s perfect,” I say. “Surreal, but perfect.”
We stand there, a perfect little family, as we stare up at the words Truth Hurts Productions. I lean my head against Shaun’s shoulder and he puts an arm around me.
“Dadda,” Mel says and squirms until she gets into his arms. He hefts her up into the air and she screams with laughter. I watch him throw her and catch her, wincing a little bit each time, but Shaun’s such a good father. I know he’d never let her fall.
“Come on,” I say. “Let’s go inside. They’re waiting for us.”
He nods and we walk together toward the office. I can’t help but smile as we step inside and are greeted by all the Divas franchise signage. There’s a large cutout of busty, beautiful women wearing space suits and grinning like goddesses, and another of beautiful blondes wearing farming outfits. So far there are three spinoffs, with two more in the works, not to mention all the online-only content.
In my first year in charge, Divas took off. I mean really, really took off, even more than I ever thought it would. There are versions of Divas in fifteen countries, with another ten currently filming, not to mention all the merchandising.
And I couldn’t have done it without Shaun.
All through it, he was there by my side. When Mel was born, he took over as the primary parent. He was in the office watching our girl while I did my work. He’d bring her in for feedings, take her out, play with her, put her down for naps. He had his own little office, but we’d joke that it was really Mel’s office.
That first year was insane, but things have settled down since then.
We take the elevator up to the main office and once we step out, we’re greeted with clapping. I laugh and grin at the whole office standing around. They have cake and champagne, and everyone’s excited to see me and Shaun, but I think they’re really here for Mel. She struggles out of Shaun’s arms and goes running around giving everyone high-fives and hugs.
Shaun follows after her and my assistant Carl taps on his glass with a knife. “Speech!”
“Oh, god, no, don’t make me,” I say, laughing.
More calls for a speech ring out and I sigh.
“Okay, fine, I’ll make it short.” I take a deep breath. “I took over Truth Hurts two years ago. In two incredibly long, difficult, and insane years, we’ve more than tripled in size. That’s because of you. Each and every one of you. I mean that, totally and utterly. I wouldn’t be here without all of you. Thank you all for your work, and I hope we make some amazing shows together.”
I grin and everyone claps. I wade into the group, hugging, shaking hands, saying hello, doing the rounds. I spot Shaun and Mel doing the same thing, although it’s mostly Mel doing the talking and the hugging.
/>
When we make it through everyone, I duck out into my new office. It’s a little bit bigger than my old one, but not by much. I didn’t want some huge monstrosity like every other LA production studio. I want Truth Hurts to be different, approachable, real.
I almost wish my dad were here to see this. I can imagine him smiling at me, proud of what I’ve done.
Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll ever see my father again. Last I heard, he was living in Florida and drinking and gambling away all that money. I’m betting he’ll either run out of cash or die in the next few years, and I can’t say I’m upset about it.
He deserves worse. But this’ll have to do.
I sit down at the desk and frown at a folder. I don’t remember putting a single folder there, but my name’s written on it. I recognize Shaun’s handwriting.
I open it up. Inside are sketches. Set designs, some preliminary copy, some scripts. I go through it all and when I look up again, Shaun’s leaning against the door with his arms crossed.
“Hey,” he says.
“Hey. Where’s Mel?”
“Carl has her for a few minutes. I saw you disappear in here and I wanted you to myself.”
I hold up the folder. “What is this?”
“Well…” He walks over and sits down. “Remember when we first met and you talked about a real reality show, like Terrace House? You’ve been making other comments these last couple of years and I sort of just… kept it all. Wrote a lot of it down. And I gave it to some writers and some of the production artists to create… that.”
I stare at the folder. “This is mine?”
“It’s rough,” he admits. “Very rough. It’s mostly just a collection of your ideas. But I think there’s a real show in there, Klara. If you want to make it, that is.”
I stare at the folder then back up to him. “You did this? Really?”
“Really.” He grins at me. “Believe it or not, I listen.”
I stand up, walk around the desk and hug him tight. He holds me and kisses me. “I love you,” he says.
“I love you too.” I blink back tears. “What did I do to deserve this?”
“You were good and beautiful. What else do you need?”
I laugh and hit his chest. “Thank you,” I say. “But do you think the board will sign off?”
“Oh, don’t worry about them. I already spoke with most of them and they’re on board to make whatever you want, so long as it doesn’t detract from Divas.”
I grin. “Of course.”
“You know them. Money over everything.”
“You’re a board member too, you know.”
“Oh, I am?” He looks innocent. “Huh, I guess I forgot.”
“You’re the head of the board. And the largest part owner. Did you forget that, too?”
“No,” he says, smiling. “I guess not. Turns out, the board does what I tell them to do.”
I laugh and kiss him again and his arms wrap around my body, holding me tight.
This is heaven. I don’t know what else it could be. We have our beautiful daughter, we have our company together. We go home to that gorgeous house Shaun bought when he first moved here, right on the beach, and we’re happy.
My body wakes up aching for him and goes to sleep satisfied every single night.
“What’s next for us?” I ask him.
“You know what’s next,” he whispers.
I feel him reach into his pocket and step back. I stare as he gets down on one knees. “This is overdue,” he says. “Will you marry me?”
I gasp. He opens the box and the diamond is huge. It’s perfect, incredible… expensive.
“Shaun,” I say.
“Come on, just say yes.”
“But… your family… can we… ?”
“Klara, you’re mine, and you always will be. Marry me.”
“Yes,” I whisper.
He slips the ring on my finger. A perfect fit, of course.
I throw myself at him and we kiss for a long, long time.
* * *
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