Page 98 of A Bossy Surprise

“I’m just saying this isn’t a normal situation. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to act.” Adam doesn’t respond. So she says, “Anyway, I’ll go say goodbye to Brady and head out.”

“Sure,” is all Adam says.

She turns to me. “Kayla, it was good seeing you again.”

“You too, Mrs. Grant.”

“Please, call me Sandrine.”

I nod and she walks from the room.

When Adam and I are finally alone, he says, “Can you believe them? Especially Mom. I expected Dad to be an asshole, but I never thought she would come to his defense like that.”

“Well, she might have a point,” I say.

“Not you too.”

I laugh, stand up and walk over to him. “They are still processing all of this. I kind of understand what they’re feeling. I denied your family that critical bonding time with Brady. That wasn’t cool and this is the effect of that.”

“I could choose to be angry about all that, or I could focus on the fact that Brady is in my life now. I have chosen the latter, and I expect the same from my parents.”

“Like your mother said, you can’t tell people how to feel. All you can do is give them time.”

He pulls me into a hug and kisses the top of my head. “You are more magnanimous than I would be in this situation.”

I laugh. “I just don’t want there to be tension between us and our families.”

“Fine. I’ll do what I can to not escalate things.”

“Thank you. That’s all I ask.”

Although tonight didn’t go smoothly, at least it was a step in the right direction. Adam’s parents and I may not be on the best of terms right now, and I don’t think I will ever get along with his father, but I don’t want to deny Brady his father’s side of the family.

Things will get better. I’m sure of it. All we need is time.

28

ADAM

“Ithink we could do much better thanMore Boldas an advertiser,” Arthur says.

I stand up from my chair and look through the floor-to-ceiling window behind my desk. “Why? What’s wrong with them?”

“There’s nothing wrong with them. It’s just they’re an energy drink company. We are trying to appeal mostly to the 35 to 65 year old age group. Why should we have an advertiser whose main customer base is teenagers and college kids?”

“I understand what you’re saying, but the whole point of getting as many advertisers onboard as quickly as possible is to prove to the Grant Media board that GNN, even though not wildly profitable at the moment, will be in the near future. We do that by bringing money in.”

“Shouldn’t we focus on bringing in the right kind of money?”

“Not right now. Right now we can’t afford to be picky with the money we take. As far as I’m concerned, if it’s not illegal it’s good enough. Maybe when we are more established we can be choosy then. However, until such a time, we have to accept whatever we get.”

“My concern is that if we take on any Tom, Dick and Harry advertiser it could confuse our brand image. I’m just thinking of the 50-year-old business executive who switches to GNN and sees an ad for bubblegum.”

I chuckle. “Isn’t that a little bit of an extreme example?”

“I don’t think so, considering what you just said.”

“Of course, we’ll have limits. I’m just saying that for now, we will be as inclusive as we can get away with. I thinkMore Boldis a brand that we can afford to associate ourselves with for now.”