Chapter 9
Asia 1st Birthday
I make it back to America with days to spare before we all fly out to Boise for Asia's 1st birthday and yes I do mean all of us, Christian started to visit her sometime in January or February, at first he kept it very quiet and none of the family knew he was visiting with her, needless to say mom is ecstatic, over the moon that he is going to have a relationship with his daughter.
I have made her cake, it's the first special cake I have made, yes I have been doing simple cakes for my brothers for years but this one is something special. For a while I have been taking sugar craft classes and am really keen to show off my skills, I now know how to do some things that are quite simple to do, but look magnificent.
Asia's cake is a ladybird cake with red velvet and white chocolate inside and the top tier includes a cute red ladybird with a white sign reading "Happy 1st Birthday!" The ladybird is sitting on celadon leaves and additional smaller ladybirds dot the side of all three tiers. A red band with black dots decorated each tier and the bottom tier includes white daisies with celadon stems. I am really proud of it and extremely happy with the way it turned out.
I have also been shopping for presents for her, what do you get the one year old only daughter of a billionaire? More clothes of course, I giggle to myself, as I think of the hours spent in toy stores and on the internet, and every time I saw something I liked I would ring Rose only to be told "sorry sweetheart, Christian already bought her that"
Tuesday 14th May 2013
I have been at the studio's all day putting ideas for shows together with Cynthia and talking to chef's and producers, my head is ringing and I am so glad to be out of there, I am on two week leave from now, I have nothing planed, Grant is working the party scene of the Mediterranean sea for the next eight weeks, working most nights so I'm not sure about joining him or whether to just stay in Boise with our angel.
Just time for a quick shower and change before I have to meet the rest of the family at the plane, I am already packed; I just have the cake to finish packaging up, then it's out of the door, Mike is driving me then he and Elsie are off on a short holiday.
By the time we arrive in Boise Asia is already in bed which is a shame but we all agree when Rose suggests we go to there house in the morning to have breakfast with her
~0~
Chapter 10
Cynthia says I have some great ideas which will take the station into the future and make it one of the most watched and talked about cable channels, she has asked me to put these ideas on paper and put together a proposal to present to our esteemed leader at the next three monthly forward planning meeting, apparently he doesn't suffer fools gladly and if I am to present this to him, I must be sure it will stand up to scrutiny, he is known for giving staff the hair blower treatment. I laugh to myself, as I wonder if he can be as volatile as Christian and maybe I have something to be grateful to Christian for, I should be able to handle anything he throws at me, after all I can handle my brother apparently.
I have spent the last week preparing for my presentation, Kate has read through everything many times for me, pruning my more artistic flourishes as she calls them and after yet another read through and forcing myself not to e-mail it to Christian for his approval, I really must start to be more sure of myself, I think as I read it once more.
I plan my outfit for tomorrow and after a long leisurely bath wishing Grant was here instead of in some 'boring town miles away from anywhere that wasn't worth it's space on the map' as he described it while reminding me I have to be on my game for this meeting, it could give me a say in what programs are commissioned, what chef's we want to work with, if it goes to plan the world will be my oyster.
I wake up just after 6am and grab myself breakfast of pancakes and blueberries, I am the only one at the apartment at the moment Kate and Elliot are off on another pre-wedding honeymoon, Kate wants Ana to be her maid of honour and so they are waiting. They left yesterday morning after hugging me and wishing me luck they are going to phone me tonight.
I drive myself to the studio with Mike following I am one of the first in the building, I love this time of the morning, before it really gets busy, I make myself a coffee and read through my correspondence before taking a call from Rick, he is back in Australia at the moment but we talk at least once a week, I am planning to go out there sometime soon if I ever find the time in my schedule.
Then before I know it its 10am and time to make my way to the boardroom, apparently 'his lordship' will arrive at ten fifteen sharp and woe betide anyone who is not in place waiting for him, I take my seat next to Cynthia, there are another twelve people in the room, people from various departments, Accountants, PR, Legal, Advertising Revenue Analysts, Sales team and little old me Mia Grey, god knows what I am doing here, can I do this? Can I sell my ideas to him without being laughed out of the room? I know some of the people in the room have looked at my proposals and Cynthia said if even one of them had reservations I wouldn't be here.
At ten fifteen sharp the door opens and in he walks, oh god I am going to be sick, how the hell am I going to get through this? Do the whole family know how pathetic and what a joke I am? I will not cry, I will not cry, I am here on merit 'oh ye you really believe that' my subconscious chirps up
Cynthia stands as we all do and say's "Mr Grey may I introduce one of our fastest rising stars, Miss Mia Grey, Oh I've just realised the name, any relation" she laughs
"No" he replies "pleased to meet you Miss Grey" So that's how he is going to play it I think to myself, Cynthia continues "Miss Grey has put together some proposals in regard to the future direction of the channel and I must say I think they are fantastic"
Christian takes his seat and opens his copy and then before I know it he is throwing question after question at me, have I costed this, have I foreseen that, how did I come to my conclusions, do I really think a star of that magnitude would be interested in our little cookery channel? I answer all his questions; he is no longer my big brother humouring me but the boss I need to impress if I don't want to look a laughing stock.
I finally get back to the apartment; my head is still reeling, is that how I got my job in the first place? Is that why I have had all the wonderful opportunities I have had in the last eighteen months? Have I any real talent or friends?
In a vain attempt to deflect these thoughts, I pick up the celebrity rag that Kate orders and is lying on the mat behind the front door, and right there on the front page is a photo of Grant, obviously at some celebrity do with a blond model hanging off his arm, I giggle to myself while shaking my head, god he's gorgeous and all mine.
I then proceed to read the piece about him,
Today Seattle celebrates as celebrity DJ Grant Taylor was awarded
World Dance star Award U.S.A.: Best International DJ
"My year's been another super one, seeing how, in the US, dance music keeps growing and growing and to be one of the ambassadors of the sound here has been very rewarding,"
"I've DJed in nearly every single country in the world this year," says 27-year-old DJ/producer Taylor. "And I really feel as if people - both the crowds and the DJs and producers too - are becoming more open-minded about dance music."
After the year he's had, Taylor should be tired. But, he says, it's the raw energy he gets from the music that keeps him going - pushing the boundaries for that next gig, and that next studio session.
Since he first started DJing aged just 14-years-old - the Seattle DJ hasn't let up.
This year his DJing stepped up a notch. With gigs all over the world including Saudi Arabia for Prince Abdulla's 21st birthday, as well as New Year in Cape Town and a 6 week stint in Ibiza "It really has been unbelievable to play in some of the places I have"
Over the next year Taylor is hoping to focus more on his own productions and his Revelation Recordings label. His 'Lovers' Album has had huge success
"I never expect to get recognition for DJing or my productions," he says. "For me it's just about doing what I love."
Taylor told Seattle Nooz while snuggling with his wife of six years, Norway's top runway model Marianne Iglesias.
I pull the waste bin to me and throw up, heaving and heaving till there is nothing left, I am numb, do I have mug, idiot, fool tattooed on my forehead? I sit on the floor with the waste bin between my knees, my make-up streaked across my face while thinking what am I going to do? I can't stay here; everyone will either think I'm a slut or an idiot, which one is worse? I don't know, and then there is my 'career' fat baloney, that was, something to keep me busy, sober and out of peoples hair, and the tears start again, I sit for hours and hours ignoring my phone, I look at the bottle of Hendricks's my brothers have left for when they are here and the bottle of pain killers.
NO, I will not, my god I can't believe that thought even crossed my mind, even for just one second OMG I feel sick just at the thought. And then I make a decision yes my life is over, my life in Seattle is done, finished, gone.
I open my laptop and find the first plane out of Sea-Tac I can make it on to, book a seat and throw a few bits in a bag including my laptop, I had given Mike and Elsie the night off so don't have to worry about them, I get changed, wash my face, reapply my make-up and without a backward glance I walk out of the door locking it behind me and post the keys. I then hail a taxi to the airport.
* To Be Continued *
A/N thank you so much for taking this journey with me, what happens to Mia, where does she end up? Will she ever get her happy ever after? I do have plans for a second book and eventually when I do start it I will put an epilogue here but first a certain Miss Asia Grace Gray has been nagging she wants her story told.
