Chapter 25
twenty-five
LOS ANGELES, CA
The next morning, Avery dragged herself to work.
She was the very first person to arrive at the Silver Foundation office, the sleek wooden reception desk empty and dark.
Like my mood. She’d finally given up on sleep at five am after a night of tossing and turning.
The sound of Teddy’s voice calling for her to wait as she tore down the beach played in her head on repeat all night long, leaving her tired and achy.
She flipped on the lights and watched the space come to life.
Trophy cases and plaques of recognition were displayed on floor-to-ceiling shelves, partly to impress visitors, partly because her parents had received so many awards and honors over the years, they simply didn’t know where else to store them.
It was a glaring reminder of the legacy she had to uphold, the institutions that were counting on the financial success of the gala.
At least it was quiet; the only sounds were the buzzing of the fluorescent overhead lighting and the whirring of the HVAC system gearing up.
Though the office was well-designed and modern, it was modestly outfitted.
It was still a non-profit after all, and it went against her family’s ethos to have lavish offices for an organization that was supposed to be using its resources to help the underserved.
You couldn’t exactly tell a youth sports complex you didn’t have the funds for a new building while sitting in office chairs that cost thousands of dollars each.
I can’t imagine telling them I don’t have the money, even if I were sitting on a chair with three legs.
Avery rubbed her temples as her computer booted up. Over 200 unread emails. Ugh. She scanned the subject lines, triaging - lots of newsletters, several funding requests from charities, cold asks for meetings with her and her dad, nothing too crazy or urgent, at least. And then her eyes stopped.
Monarch LA RE: You’re Invited! Grand Opening - February 1, 2025
Her stomach dropped. February 1, 2025?! The gala was scheduled for December 15th, 2024.
Is it official then? The hotel is really not going to be ready in time?
Why didn’t they call me before putting it on blast?
They’d warned her, of course, but it hadn’t seemed imminent.
Shouldn’t she have at least gotten a courtesy call?
Fingers shaking, she picked up the phone on her desk to call Sofia, the hotel manager. Between her mental fog and shaky fingers, it took her a few tries to find her contact details in her phone.
“Monarch LA. Sofia Alarcon speaking.”
Avery swallowed, trying to get rid of the sour taste in her mouth. “Hi, Sofia. It’s Avery Silver. I just saw your grand opening announcement in February. Does that mean you won’t be ready for the gala in December?” She cut to the chase, too anxious to make small talk.
“Avery, hi. I’m so glad you called,” Sofia said with genuine relief. “I’ve been trying to reach you for days. I didn’t want you to find out through a mass email, but your cell phone kept sending me straight to voicemail and your mailbox was full.”
“You did? She looked at her settings. Seriously, how could I have missed multiple calls?
Fuck my life. There it was, international cellular data roaming- OFF. Her ears burned with shame. She hadn’t gotten a call in nearly a week, and she hadn’t noticed. I’ve completely missed important news, and for what? To entertain some self-centered jerk? The sour taste returned to her mouth.
“Oh my god, Sofia. This is totally my fault. I was out of the country. How does this affect the gala?” Avery asked in a near whisper. She squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for a reply from the other end of the receiver.
Sofia let out a whistle-like breath. “I’m afraid that the hotel, including the ballroom, won’t be ready until the new year.
I’m so sorry for the inconvenience,” she said apologetically.
“We will happily refund your deposit, and you will have the first choice of all December 2025 event dates without a deposit fee.”
Avery had known this news was a distinct possibility. But hearing it was a punch straight to the gut. She’d let her guard down one freaking time. For once, I crossed my fingers and hoped everything would work out. And it hadn’t.
“Um, okay,” Avery squeaked out. “I will have Caroline call you later to work out the refund. Are there any comparable venues around town that you could recommend? Since you’re in the business?
” The task of finding a back-up venue was going to be gargantuan, and she could use all the help she could get.
“Gosh. I recently moved here myself to help corporate get this new property up-and-running. So, I don’t have any suggestions off-hand, but I will certainly ask around, and get back to you,” Sofia said.
So much for that lead.
“Yep, thanks, bye,” Avery ended the call swiftly. There wasn’t anything left to be said at this point.
She put her head down on her desk, a wooden mid-century modern piece she’d found at the Rose Bowl flea market a few years back, letting her vision fill with the blurry grain of the cherry-colored wood.
When she picked her head back up, she could see that the lights down the hall in her dad’s office were on. She took it as a sign that she should just bite the bullet and tell him about the venue. In an alternate universe I’d be coming to him with a plan B ready to put into action.
She’d be able to say, “I know I wanted to shake things up this year with a new venue. I knew we were cutting it close on timing with the Monarch, and it turns out it won’t be ready in time.
But, fear not, I have it all worked out and here’s what I propose.
” Her parents would rubber stamp plan B and she’d be off to the races.
But nope. Instead, I have to say “Hey mom and dad, ya know that plan I had to freshen up the event with a new venue? Well, it totally backfired. And I need your help to fix it.” My role as an important person who gets shit done in the Silver family is over before it began.
She wished she could fast forward to the end of the day, or at least through the next hour. But there was no avoiding it. She smoothed her pants and trudged down the hall, feeling clammy.
Her dad was seated at his desk as she had expected, the day’s newspaper splayed out in front of him.
He still liked to start his day reading the physical papers, and Caroline always lined them up on his desk each morning, no matter if he was scheduled to be in the office or not.
She wouldn’t have been surprised if Caroline ironed them like he was a duke in the English countryside.
The TV on the wall across from him was muted, a series of headlines scrolling across the bottom of the screen.
“Avery, darling!” Oh, fantastic. Her mother. Now that was a surprise. She had not expected her mom to be perched on the leather couch in the corner of the room, doing a crossword puzzle on her tablet, her pleated mid-length skirt splayed out tastefully around her.
Well, at least I won’t have to repeat my embarrassing, shameful admission again later to my mom. Let’s rip that band-aid right off.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” she asked, feeling an internal pang.
“I could say the same to you. We thought you were in Mexico with Teddy? I have lunch in Beverly Hills, so I thought I would drive into the city with Dad,” her mom explained as she rose and gave Avery a somewhat reserved hug and a peck on the cheek.
“Avery! Hello my girl,” her dad greeted her next, “I didn’t know you would be here today.
” He rose and enveloped her in a big hug.
Avery hugged him back tight. She wanted to bury her head in his chest and let his large frame block out the rest of the world for a moment.
Her dad had always been her safe place, her refuge after a bad day as a little girl, and now, even at twenty-three years old, she longed to let her guard down and just spill everything to him.
“You look pale. Come, sit,” her mom said with concern, gesturing to a spot next to her on the couch.
“Why aren’t you frolicking on the beach with your handsome race car driver?
” While her relationship with her mother could be complicated, at the end of the day Avery knew her mother loved her deeply, and of course, she’d been able to tell right away that something was wrong.
Avery was tempted to lay down on the couch, put her head in her mother’s lap, and let it all come pouring out.
But, if she wanted to be treated like a respected professional, she had to act like one.
She’d save the Teddy drama for later, but fill them in on the gala.
She sat down on the edge of the couch, took a breath, and tried to pretend they weren’t her parents, but simply business colleagues who she had to update on a less than ideal situation.
“Well, I came home because I need to get to work on the gala.” It wasn’t a complete lie, even if it wasn’t the whole truth.
But admitting things were over with Teddy would send her over the edge, and right now she was trying to keep her cool.
“There’s an issue that I need to update you both on, and I may need your help,” she took another deep breath to steady herself.
“The Monarch let me know this morning that they aren’t going to be open in time for us to have the gala there.
So, we need to find a new venue. Quickly. ”
“Oh is that all that’s bothering you?!” Her mom gave a dismissive wave of her hand, “I’ll just call over to the Four Seasons and we will move it there. We’ll re-use the layout and menu from last year, and it won’t put us too far behind.”
Avery knew the Four Seasons wasn’t available. She’d inquired before she left for Mexico—the one responsible thing she’d done in the last week.
Avery let out a controlled exhale. “I thought of that already, and their ballroom is booked that evening with a massive holiday party. In fact, they are booked solid right up until Christmas,” she explained. See Mom, it’s not that easy.
“Well, they were booked when you asked, but maybe if Daddy calls over they can work something out,” Sharon said. She patted Avery on the knee.
“Mom! They can’t just make another ballroom appear or kick-out the couples who have weddings planned. It doesn’t matter how much money you can offer or who you are, if they are booked, they are booked,” Avery huffed.
Why weren’t her parents taking this problem seriously? This was a big deal, and while maybe she should be grateful that they were taking it in stride, she was actually looking for them to match her level of concern.
Her dad finally looked up from over his newspaper, which he’d gone back to skimming while half-heartedly listening.
“Well, I’m sure your mother has lots of other event contacts in the city, and yes, I’m always happy to make a phone call and work my magic, if you need me to.
I know that you will get this sorted by the end of the week, Avery. ”
“I also have a very exciting gala update,” he continued, folding his newspaper. “You remember Ron from Aurelia Strap? We had drinks with him in the hotel lobby after the Bahrain race? He called me yesterday…”
“And?” Avery asked impatiently. She was not in the mood to hear some crazy event idea from a sponsor. They didn’t even have a venue, which apparently, was not a problem as far as her parents were concerned.
Her mom shot her a warning glance from the couch and mouthed “be nice” but her dad had either not noticed her snappish comment or had chosen to ignore it.
“They are releasing a special edition watch for the holidays, and they want to officially debut it at the gala. We will get a ton of extra press for the event because of it, and they will give us one to auction off, which should bring in several grand,” he said, his eyes sparkling.
Avery forced herself to smile. “That’s great, Dad.” It was kind of cool, but the auction was the least of her worries right now.
“I haven’t told you the best part,” he looked over at her mom, who was beaming, clearly having already heard the announcement.
“The best part is they want Teddy to be the face of the campaign. They’ll get a bunch of shots of him at the gala to use for the ads. They even want a few shots of the two of you together. They adore what they’ve been seeing from the two of you online.”
Avery saw spots as her vision swam. Her parents looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to be absolutely delighted.
I wish a hole would open up in the floor below and swallow me whole.
She wasn’t even sure Teddy would attend the gala at this point.
And if he did, it certainly wouldn’t be for a loved-up photo shoot with her.
“You’re speechless. Don’t worry about it, I’ve always known you were beautiful enough to do some modeling,” her dad assured her.
No, it’s not my looks I was worried about, but thanks for giving me something else to keep me up at night, Dad.
She couldn’t find the words to tell her parents about the breakup with Teddy, that it all had been fake, then real-ish, and now nothing at all.
Instead, she said nothing, wondering how long she could go without telling her parents the truth.
She would stick to her plan, nail down a new location and then deal with the Teddy Aurelia Strap situation.
“Let’s call Teddy and tell him right now,” her mom said, her cheeks rosy pink. “Put him on speaker.”
“No. I’ll have to tell him later. He’s flying to Mexico City today, probably mid-air right now.” At least that much was true. Whether she’d get up the nerve to call him later to share the news, or whether she’d use Stacey or James as a messenger remained to be seen.
“Well, then. I’m headed to lunch, and I’m sure the ladies will have some venue ideas.
Between them, they must have hosted nearly half the charity events and weddings in Los Angeles last year.
I’ll call you after and let you know what we’ve come up with.
Really, dear, don’t stress over it,” her mother said as she stood to usher Avery out the door.
And there it was. End of conversation.
Dismissed.
It’s like I’m a teenager all over again with my parents not noticing that all I need is their emotional support.
Instead, they did what they had always done: tried to make problems disappear by throwing their weight and money around.
Her insides went soupy. What would it take for them to realize that she was more than just stressed, that she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown?
Is it not enough that I’m heartbroken, my family doesn’t notice I’m at my wits end.