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“That’s all that matters.” I would give anything to get rid of the aching feeling in my chest that always shows up in the middle of the night. It’s a feeling that I have lived with for so long I think it’s actually become part of me. “Do you and Jayne get along with her?”
“I’m not gonna lie. We weren’t too excited about it at first, but by the time we found out we were already in business together,” he says with a roll of his eyes. “She’s a pretty innovative designer though and doesn’t seem to care about fame and fortune. So that’s cool.”
“So, Jayne is okay with her?”
“Yeah, Jayne is happy that Dad has someone. Now she can quit worrying about him and focus on raising her daughter,” Brandon replies, with a hint of concern in his voice.
“Is she married too?”
“No. She was the one who was supposed to get married, but her fiancé bailed on her about the time she found out she was pregnant,” Brandon says, shaking his head again. “It’s been quite a year.”
“I’m sure she is a great Mom. She was always so serious in school.” I think back to how we used to tease her about it.
“Then there’s me.” He glances over at Sasha and Ellie. “I think I’m going backwards.”
“Hey, you’re only young once. I had a blast at Stanford and didn’t slow down until I had to settle two paternity suits,” I admit. “That kind of made me stop and think about what I was doing with my life.”
“So, you are back now?” he asks inquisitively.
“No. I’m still in Palo Alto. I haven’t found any place I would rather live, yet. There is so much going on out there; the energy is amazing.”
“There’s plenty of energy here too, unfortunately most of it is negative,” Brandon comments hitting the nail on the head. New York City is a vibrant, fast paced city but it’s a completely different type of energy here. I’m much more relaxed and clear headed when I’m out west. The sheer noisiness of this city really gets to me.
“I’m impressed that you and your family can build a business together,” I tell him after having a minute to process what he had told me. “I never could’ve worked with Dad and now I have a feeling that Tyler is becoming a mirror image of him.”
“So you and Tyler won’t be running Addison Media?” he asks looking a bit shocked.
“God no. I’m just hoping Dad and the board have some type of succession plan in place. I have absolutely no interest in it.” Brandon seems completely surprised by my admission. “Would you have wanted to take over your Dad’s old business?”
“Definitely! It’s much easier to build on a huge base like that instead of starting from scratch,” he exclaims with surprising conviction. “Don’t get me wrong, we’re doing great, but I would much rather inherit a multi-billion dollar company than do a startup.”
“I’m your Dad’s succession plan.” A familiar voice announces from right behind me. I turn to see the beaming face of Tommy Fowler. “I just thought he would give me a little more time to make the transition.”
“Tommy… what the hell are you doing here?” I ask, completely shocked to see him.
“I came to pay my respects.” He declares with pursed lips. “Vanessa thought I would find you here. I’m sorry about Victor, he was a good man.” He leans in expecting a hug from me. I’m a bit taken back by the fact that he and Vanessa still keep in touch.
“Thanks Tommy. I appreciate it. What do you mean you are his succession plan?” I ask as his declaration begins sink in. I pull him off to the side for a little privacy.
“The day after I sold my entire stake in Firefly Productions, your dad called me wondering if I would be interested in running Addison Media for him,” he reveals. “I was in the city a couple weeks ago working out the details. He said he was going to switch around some things around that would make it easier for him to bring me onboard.”
Holy shit. Dad must have been restructuring everything in order to bring Tommy to the table. I wonder if Tyler knew that all of this was going on? I can’t imagine he would be very happy to have Tommy around on a daily basis. Maybe that explains Tyler’s foul mood.
Chapter 11
Mandy
Things are getting a bit too surreal for me. Being here with Trey was cool enough, and then Brandon Ryker shows up with a supermodel and her manager. Now Tommy Fowler has joined the fray. I’ve watched his show, Startup Entrepreneur, religiously ever since Dad turned me on to it. It is so cool to see these three guys hanging out. I really need to meet him, so I decide to slip in next to Trey.
