ZACH
Sitting in the front row at the prestigious Stella VIP event, I look around to see which celebrities and socialites are here.
Quite a few as it turns out.
I’ve had my eye on this company for a while.It’s not been doing well, even with a new COO.Stella isn’t an upcoming fashion brand.It’s done well for decades.It’s got history, as well as super cool, iconic products.It’s got everything going for it, but its stock value is low.The company should be flourishing, and it’s not.
I think I can help.It’s difficult to create a new fashion brand these days.The market is so crowded, but helping a struggling one to do better, that’s something I’m good at.
Most people panic when things go wrong, but that’s when I shine.The mess, the chaos, the mistakes already made, it’s a playground for someone like me.I see the gaps, the missteps, the overlooked potential, and I know exactly what to do.There’s a thrill in the transformation, watching a company faltering and bringing it back to life, bigger and better than ever.
Figuring a way into helping Stella will be good for my profile.As far as Knight Enterprises goes, it often feels like I’m living in my brothers’ shadow.Being the youngest of this set of brothers means I’m often overlooked.Dad, as much as I love him, still treats me like he doesn’t fully trust me to see something through.I’ve had to work harder to get noticed.
I had lunch with Cecil Wardley earlier today, because I wanted to sound him out, get a feel for what’s going on with the company.I was surprised when he accepted, only hours before this event.That tells me a few things.He’s a people pleaser.Most CEOs wouldn’t refuse to meet with any of the Knights—our name and reputation precede us—but I didn’t expect Cecil to agree to meet me mere hours before his company’s big event.The meeting proved fruitful, and I think we could potentially help one another.
I’m here tonight not just for research, or curiosity, but also as an act of protest, because damn it if Dex isn’t having another family get-together.
If it’s not him, then it’s Jett, and now, more recently, Rio.I swear something happens to these guys when they fall in love.They like hanging out together.
Ever since Dad fell ill, we haven’t had any more of the Knight family dinners.It’s been a few months now, but the boys have been getting together every week it seems like.Either Jett will host, or Dex will suggest we all go out to his favorite haunt.Rio likes cooking at home, with Raquel, and having pool parties.
What the hell is happening to these men?
I barely recognize them.And when I tell them that they should also invite Dad, they protest, or ignore me.I know what they think.That I’m Dad’s pet.His favorite son.That I idolize the man.
I don’t.
As for being his favorite son, I don’t think Dad has a favorite.I’m almost thirty, but even though I’m the youngest I sometimes feel like I have more sense than Jett or Dex.I’m calmer and more rational than the two of them put together, but also, I don’t see the point of holding onto a grudge for years.
Dad has his faults, but how can my brothers not remember that he lost his wife?We lost mom in a tragic way that still haunts us.She died by suicide.It’s something none of us will ever get over, something that we don’t talk about much, and something we all pretend to have moved on from.When it happened, the old world we knew, where we felt loved and cherished and taken care of, vanished overnight.
I swipe a hand over my face, across my brow.It’s starting to get hot here, under the lights.At once, the crowd hushes.
Cecil walks on stage.He’s sweating and he doesn’t look comfortable.Like he doesn’t want to be up there, with all eyes on him.He starts his presentation, but he starts blubbering, and stammering.Falling over his words.He’s not confident, but the presentation deck, the first few slides he’s shown, look good.
Very slick.
They hold people’s attention in a way that Cecil doesn’t.They certainly hold mine.
I sit back.Across the row from me, over the catwalk, the Trevayne twins wave at me.Trust fund babes.The type of women my brothers always joke about me dating.I nod at them.I dated one of them, once, but now, looking at them both sitting together, dressed identically, I can’t remember which one it was.
I think it was the one on the right.Or maybe it was the one on the left?I frown as I try to guess which one it was.I’ve never seen them sitting side by side together, and now I’m feeling unnerved.It’s possible that I might have dated both of them and not known.
Cecil freezes.He’s waving the pointer at the screen, but the slide seems stuck.
Oh-oh.
Something’s gone wrong.
Cecil fumbles, his chubby shiny face turning red.“Please bear with me a moment, I seem to have hit a little bump in the road…”
A smattering of laughter breaks out in the room.
Jesus.Is this for real?It feels like I’m witnessing the fall of Stella in real time.
My cell phone buzzes in my pocket, so I whip it out.It wouldn’t be rude because people around me are all talking among themselves.Cecil, in his jovial tone, tells the audience to bear with him.Dex calls, but I decline it.Then he texts me:
Dex: Where the hell are you?
