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All I can do is grimace.
“Don’t worry,” Cody says, seeing my expression and patting my leg like I’m a small child. “I can help. I’ve been hearing wedding bells for a long time now. Just waiting for the right time. This will be a good trial run."
Cody starts rambling about colors…wouldn’t royal blue look nice! …and caterers… it’s all about the food! He promises to send me vendor contacts and a link to his Pinterest board.
He just… doesn’t stop. I appreciate his enthusiasm, and it’s kind of entertaining seeing Cody get so in the zone about my wedding, but it’s a bit overwhelming on my end.
“Maybe we can talk about it after we come back…” I manage to slip in, and it gets him to completely stop talking, thankfully.
“Come back? From where? The Australian film premiere with Kira Nichols?”
I remain silent for a second, realizing that I haven’t even really explained to Leo what I need to do for this plan to actually work. Yes, he’s already making moves on the U.S. side of things, but we’re still missing a vital part of this.
“Y-Yeah. There’s still a lot of work to do here, you know?” I lie once again, kind of not wanting to think about what I need to do and the people I need to face in order to save my spot in this company.
Chapter 8
Leo
Itdawnsonmethat I never really thought everything I worked for within this company could ever end. As I read through my father’s will for the hundredth time, I still don’t quite understand what he meant to achieve with these conditions. We always talked about me running the film studio one day, but when I learned that his will would revoke my ownership of Camden Studios if I fail to marry by the age of thirty-six, I couldn’t help but feel a little confused.
I’m positive it isn’t a betrayal of some sort, but it’s not something I can figure out by myself. If only I'd known about this special little stipulation while he was still alive, then I could’ve asked him.
But now, I’m steeped in anxiety as I read the letters and words that have lost all meaning. Part of me hopes that if I read it enough, the words will float out into the air and explain what this all means for me. But this isn’t a movie. It’s real life. With real life implications and rules that I’m bound to, especially within the context of the law.
Laws. That thought is hilarious as I’m literally thinking about marriage fraud. With my assistant, of all people.
“Bound by law. What utter nonsense, Leo,” I whisper to myself, slowly and carefully filing away my father’s will back into my desk drawer. A part of me thinks that maybe I was a bit too hasty in this plan — if you can call it a plan when it just fell out of my mouth. Maybe it is my fault that I forgot that clause in my father’s will, and maybe I shouldn’t drag my assistant into this mess. And since it’s my fault, then I deserve to have this film studio taken away from me.
But goddammit, I don’t want to lose this place to Peyton. He’ll bungle everything up and only go for the cash grabs. Peyton will destroy everything my father worked to build.
I take a deep breath as I lean back on my chair. Well… my father’s chair. It’s a custom hand-stitched leather seat from the finest manufacturers of the twentieth century. As a kid, I just saw it as a simple chair and I remember swiveling around in this very seat, pretending that I’m a big shot Hollywood director or something. It’s crazy to think that I really am in a similar position, and as I look out the panoramic window where I can see some of the crew members hard at work in between the studios, I just feel this overwhelming sense that I can’t let this all go. I can’t let it go for my father’s sake, but also for mine — for that little kid who played in this room and had a dream of making an art form thrive with dignity after seeing his father build this whole thing from nothing.
“I must say this is out of character for you,” a familiar voice booms from the door. I grimace when I see Teresa. I know she’s not here for a friendly visit.
“You really don’t expect me to believe this is all just an attempt to save everything you have, is it?” Teresa grills, sitting down in the chair in front of me as she runs a hand through her graying hair. I can’t help but imagine the countless times she has also done this with my father.
“What do you mean, Teresa?” I ask, playing dumb, but I know it’s futile. You can’t ever pull the wool over her eyes.
“Please, Leo, spare me the nonsense. This marriage with Isa — it’s not something I was expecting from you. The timing is rather advantageous, isn’t it?” Teresa smirks, and I fight the urge to turn away from her. “Isa’s visa extension gets denied, and then magically, she’s engaged to you when even you said that you can’t do anything about it and you didn’t seem to care, either.”
I raise my hand, feigning innocence still. It’s my only move, however weak it might be.
“Am I not allowed to process these things in my own time? Am I not allowed to feel overwhelmed about upsetting news and initially react badly?” I counter. “There will always be some form of negative light being shed about my relationship with Isa, so is it not logical to keep it under wraps? Besides, you made some excellent points.”
“And you’re bringing it out into the spotlight now because she’s about to be deported? Just like that?” Teresa’s eyebrows furrow.
“Well, my girlfriend — no, my fiancée — is having an issue that I can help solve. My mind has calmed down, and we talked about it, and we agreed to go through with this, come hell or high water,” I say, crossing my fingers under my desk. The tension in my chest is almost unbearable as the lies stack up.
I need to get better at this. There can absolutely be no faults and holes in our story moving forward.
The senior officer still looks at me, unimpressed.
“I’m not one to bullshit around, Leo. I know that you and Isa haven’t been in a relationship all this time, but…” she stops herself, but all I’m doing right now is making sure that I don’t cave under her unconvinced scrutiny. “I will admit… it’s kind of sweet that you’re willing to put yourself through this for her,” she adds, and something twists inside of me.
Of course, Teresa wouldn’t really be aware of why I’m doing this — to save my father’s film studio from the wrong hands. But if that weren’t currently an issue, would I still go to this length to try to save Isa from deportation? Would I be willing to go that far for her? I have to admit; I did feel a bit sad when Teresa first informed me of Isa’s situation, and while I initially said things that made it seem like I didn’t care, that was just me thinking logically.
Maybe too logically.
