Nina looked David straight in the face and said, "If you don"t know what I"m talking about when I say that you"ve betrayed my trust, I will explain it to you: You sabotaged Kylie"s career. On the one hand, you fed me misinformation about her. On the other hand, you gave her the wrong times for the meetings so that she would appear unprofessional and untrustworthy. I cannot have someone like you on my parole."Furthermore," Nina continued, "it came to my attention that Kylie"s a.s.sistant"s purse was stolen. Since the real you has been exposed, I suspect that you set that up as well!"
Hearing this, David"s jaw nearly hit the floor.
Nina quickly answered, "If I had known the truth about Kylie from the start, she would have been my first choice for a lead. Now that I do know, it is a no-brainer to go with her, and to pay her to double my initial offer!"
"You are a scoundrel!" David shouted as he hammered his fist against the table. "Even if everything you say is true – which it isn"t – Khloe is still a better actress than Kylie will ever be!"
"My decision is final," Nina said smugly. "You are dismissed."
With that said, Nina picked up Khloe"s coffee-soaked contract and dumped it into the trash can. Turning to her a.s.sistant, she asked him, "Has she arrived?"
"Yes," he replied.
Khloe grit her teeth then, as Kylie entered the room and took a seat across from her. According to her father, even if Kylie came back to work on the project, at the moment, she should have been on her way to Seattle.
Aiden looked up and smiled when he saw Kylie, but David and Laurence were clearly displeased.
Nina met each of their eyes, one at a time. Then, when she was certain that she had their attention, she said, "After serious consideration, not only will Kylie be the star of season one, but I have asked her to return as the guest of honor in season two."
Nina looked at Laurence and said, "I trust that you approve."
Suddenly, Khloe stood up and ran at Kylie with her fingers spread out like claws. "Kylie Finch," she bellowed as she went for her eyes, "you are a f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h! You couldn"t s.n.a.t.c.h Aiden from me, so you"ve stolen my job instead! You"re shameless!"
Khloe tried to claw at Kylie"s face, but Kylie brushed her off easily. Laughing, she said, "Stop it. You are humiliating yourself. I have no interest in Aiden, and this job was never yours. You tried out for the part, but you didn"t get it. That is the way things go in this business. If you want to make it, you"ll need to grow some thicker skin!"
Across from them, Nina smiled, and then she began to clap. "Well played," she complimented Kylie. "It is nice to see what you are made of finally. There is nothing that I respect more than a strong independent woman!"
When Laurence heard this, he frowned and said, "I thought I told you that I wanted Khloe to be the star…"
Aiden suddenly stood up and addressed them all: "Perhaps as a compromise, Khloe could be allowed to perform, only not as a star. Later though, if she outdoes Kylie, then it would only be fair to shift the focus from Kylie and back on to her. What do you think?"
Nina smiled at Kylie and said, "I will leave the decision up to you. Khloe has done you a disservice, so it would be reasonable to have her thrown off the set right now, which I could do. If you are willing to let bygones be bygones though, and accept the terms of Aiden"s proposition then I will accept your decision."
"Thank you," Kylie replied. "I appreciate what you are doing here for me, but I think that I"ll need to think about it."
Nina: "It is not a problem, but don"t take too long. We need to start shooting soon."
Later that night, Kylie received a phone call from David. He said, "Kylie, I am writing to you on behalf of Khloe. I think it would be good if we could come to a resolution as soon as possible. You and Khloe both work for the same company but, more importantly, you are family. Even if Kylie did you wrong, can"t you forgive her? What would it take for you too, as Nina suggested, let bygones be bygones."
"I don"t know," Kylie replied. "Khloe has done a lot of bad things. She even tried to claw my eyes out. I will tell you what, though; I have one condition. I would like 10% of Garcia Entertainment to surrender to me."
"That would be impossible!" David replied. "As you know, your grandfather"s will was clear. Unless you are married, you are not to receive any of the stock. Furthermore, why would you even want to steal your father"s stock away from him? That is insane!"
"If I were to get married now," Kylie snorted, "I would receive 25% of the stocks. As it is, I only want 10%. Wouldn"t it be easier in the long run, if you met my demands today, rather than to have to hand 25% of the stocks to me eventually?"
After a moment of deliberation, David said, "As soon as I get off the phone, I will talk to your father. I am sure that I can convince him to agree to your terms. I will have the paperwork delivered to you once I am back in Seattle."
Behind her, Lucas and Faith were listening to the conversation, and they were ecstatic. Hearing Kylie speaks up for herself the way that she had, and they were very proud. Just a couple hours ago, her sister had come at her with her nails extended, intent on a physical confrontation. Not only had she been able to deescalate the situation, but she"d managed to walk away from it with millions of dollars worth of stock.