Chapter 4
four
LOS ANGELES, CA
“Let’s go with the checkered-flag option for the save-the-date, but with the red text,” Avery directed the graphic designer over the phone.
“I will have it to you by Friday at the latest,” the graphic designer promised. “Thanks, Avery.”
Avery hung up the phone and took out her earbuds.
She was at her desk in the family office near the beach in Santa Monica plowing through her to-do list, and her heart jumped as her calendar reminded her of her next call - the annual grant-making meeting of the Silver Racing Foundation board of directors.
Namely, her mom, dad, brother, and brother-in-law.
It had the potential to be life-changing…
or soul crushing. Ready or not, I’m about to find out.
She stood up from her desk and placed one hand over her heart while she drew in a big breath. In, two, three, four, five. Out, two, three, four, five. The image of Teddy’s abs in his undershirt filled her mind as she tried to relax. So much for lowering my heart rate.
Her parents had always stressed the importance of giving back to the community, but when it came to dispersing the foundation’s funds, they were happy to just rubber-stamp the same grants year after year.
Which were all perfectly reasonable causes, but not particularly inspiring.
Sure, funding a new lecture hall at USC was a nice thing to do.
But it was so indirect. And Avery wanted to help kids now.
Not maybe help kids who might benefit at some later date if they happen to go to that school.
Plus, she suspected that her parents really did it because they liked seeing “Silver Racing Lecture Hall” in big bold letters whenever they were on campus.
And now was her chance to shake things up.
She was a college graduate and the paid director of the foundation.
This was her job. She’d devoted every working hour she could since she’d gotten back from Bahrain weeks ago putting together a proposal that they would vote on today.
Hours of researching programs and visiting with non-profit leaders had led to Avery crafting a vision for the future of the foundation.
A future with a clear mission: supporting diversity and equity in sports.
And since I’m the only one in the family who seems to care about doing the actual work, maybe they will let me make some actual decisions too.
She walked to the office kitchen to shake off her nerves. She was too jittery for caffeine. She’d have to let the adrenaline coursing through her body keep her sharp.
She grabbed a sparkling water out of the fridge, the office so quiet she could hear the refrigerator’s hum.
The only person in the office today was Caroline, their executive assistant, and one of her closest friends.
Avery made it a point to work in the office at least a few days a week when she was in town, but her parents and older brother rarely did.
It had been a gargantuan task to find a time the whole family could meet via video call.
Ben, her older brother, lived near their parents in the San Fernando Valley suburbs with his husband, Adam, and their daughter Sadie.
Ben had gone all in on his suburban stay-at-home dad life, and Avery couldn’t blame him.
Adam, her brother Ben’s husband, was the first to join the call, dialing in from his law office in Sherman Oaks. His diplomas and State Bar license were prominently displayed behind him on the screen.
“I can’t believe we haven’t seen you since Bahrain! How was it?” he asked cheerfully.
“Bahrain feels like a thousand years ago already,” Avery replied.
“I’m just glad the team recovered from that disaster of a weekend.
” After the disappointing results from the first race, Silver had managed to snag some points in the following two races in Saudi Arabia and Japan.
Avery had reluctantly stayed in LA instead of criss-crossing the globe to watch those in person, spending most of her time preparing for today’s meeting.
“Seriously. But what I really need to know is whether Teddy is as gorgeous in person as he is in photos? I hear he’s a shameless flirt and has women following him wherever he goes.”
“Yes, Teddy is equally attractive in person,” Avery replied.
Smoking hot was more like it. And I’ve thought about him about once an hour since we met.
“Dad and I saw him at the hotel bar after the race, and he really worked the room. I think I actually saw his teeth sparkle and heard that cartoon winky sound when he winked at every woman between the ages of 18 and 80.”
Adam snickered in response, “Oh my god, he sounds like a cartoon character.”
“Oh, looks like Ben is logging on,” said Avery. “Hold on, Dad is texting me. He and Mom can’t find the link to join the meeting”
“Hi, everyone,” added Ben. “I only have about forty-five minutes until I have to pick up Sadie from pre-school and take her to ballet, so let’s get started.
” Avery squeezed her fists in her lap, knowing that the camera was centered on her face.
She loved Ben dearly, but it was just like him to think that the world revolved around him.
As if it would be the end of the world if Sadie were five minutes late to ballet.
As if my own time isn’t more valuable than a three-year-old’s extracurricular activities.
Avery emailed her parents the link to the meeting once again, and a moment later she could see the top of their heads, her dad’s jet-black, closely cropped hair and her mom’s honey-colored highlights, as they crowded around the computer in their home office. Finally.
“Mom, lower the camera so we can see your faces and then we can get started,” Avery said, attempting to get the meeting started in a timely fashion so they could maybe get through one proposal before Adam got interrupted by a client or Ben left for baby pilates.
“Honey, are you saying something? I can’t hear you. This isn’t working,” her mom yelled.
“Ugh,” Avery groaned to her brother and brother-in-law. “They probably have the volume turned down and don’t realize it. Type in the chat box that they need to turn up the volume from their keyboard.”
“Yeah, I don’t think they know to look at the chat box,” added Ben. “I’ll call them and describe what they need to do.”
Avery took a deep steadying breath. This was really going to use up all of her patience today.
Five frustrating minutes later, Michael and Sharon Silver had both video and audio components settled, and Avery felt steam coming out of her ears, “Dad, how do you run a successful business and a racing organization with over a thousand employees, yet you can’t figure out how to log on to a video call! ”
“I think I do just fine and have provided a pretty nice life for you kids without any of this new gear,” answered Michael a bit defensively, his frown lines showing. “I didn’t hear any complaining about my management style when I took everyone to Lanai over the holidays.”
Avery rolled her eyes in her mind again, “Okay, fine, now that we are all here, can we get to work?”
It was her first time leading the annual grants meeting; she'd always been a vocal participant before, but now she was running the show, and she wanted her family to take her, and her proposal, seriously.
She tugged on one of her curls and set it behind her ear before she cleared her throat and began.
“As you saw in the annual financials on page one of the deck I sent yesterday, last year Silver Racing Foundation gave away nearly $750,000 to worthy causes. About $300,000 of this was raised from the annual gala, and the rest came from the company, and our family's bottom line,” Avery said. “I anticipate we will have approximately the same amount to disperse after this year’s gala.”
Her dad nodded along from his corner of her computer screen, while her mother’s eyes had already glazed over at the first sign of math. Adam had already turned his camera off, his square black.
Avery took a deep breath and picked up the squishy, dumpling shaped stress ball she kept on her desk. She squeezed it through her fingers, trying to shake off her aggravation with her family’s lack of attention.
“Given that we will likely have $750,000 to give away again this year, as the director of the foundation I recommend we allocate our funds this year as follows…” she suggested, her voice shaking.
She ran through the slides highlighting the organizations she thought they should support: Women in Motorsport Scholarship program, and the construction of a new gym at the Southside Youth Sports complex.
No one said a word as she explained how the scholarships would benefit young women trying to break into their male-dominated sport and how many kids would benefit from the new construction.
She got through her points and let out a big exhale, “Sound good?”
“Darling, those are nice ideas. But, I don’t see a line item for the annual gift to the Screen Actors Guild Museum? Or the Motion Picture Retirement Fund?” Sharon asked, squinting at the screen down her nose through her reading glasses.
Avery tried to ignore the crushing blow of rejection that her mom’s easy dismissal sent through her chest. “That’s because they aren't there this year. I think now is the time to turn over a new leaf and really focus on mission-driven gifts.”
Sharon pursed her lips. “Well, they are counting on us, and we can’t just leave them high and dry after supporting them for over fifteen years. It wouldn't be a good look,” her mother cocked her head in that way that sent Avery through the roof.
“How we’ll look? Mom, come on, aren’t there more important things than what people think of us?”