"Are you breaking up?" "We're talking," Marcus said. "It sounds like breaking up." She walked in and sat on the couch beside Viv with the calm of someone claiming territory. "I don't want you to break up," she said directly to Viv.
I know the people said mean things, but you already told me mean people don't get to decide. You told me that. Viv looked at Marcus over Lily's head. He was looking at his daughter with an expression that had caved open. The kind of love that doesn't leave room for pretense.
Lily, he said, go back to bed. After you say you're not breaking up, a long pause. Marcus looked at Viv. First sign that the attention is hurting her. First real sign.
We talk about it immediately. Viv agreed. You tell me and we adjust. That's a standing agreement, not a one-time concession. He exhaled, turned the compass over one last time.
Okay, he said. We keep going. Lily stood up, apparently satisfied, and headed back to her room. At the door, she turned. Viv, she said, you can stay for dinner if you want.
Dad was going to make grilled cheese. Marcus closed his eyes briefly. I would love grilled cheese, Viv said. Now, this is where I need to tell you about Reev because the article was just the opening move. 6 weeks after the diner, after the lobby, after the parking deck, after grilled cheese in a small East Nashville kitchen, Reev Callaway requested a special board session.
He framed it as a routine governance check. Viv knew what it was. She walked into that boardroom having slept 4 hours and prepared for seven. Douglas Fen, her CFO, sat three seats down with the particular posture of a man who has already decided which side of a conflict he's on and is waiting for it to become safe to show that decision. Reev looked the same as he'd always looked.
That was the thing about Reev. He wore consideration like a suit. Everything about him communicated thoughtfulness and moderation and calm, and none of it was connected to anything underneath. Viven," he said. "Thank you for being here.
I run this company." She said, "I don't have to be thanked for attending a board meeting." He smiled. Of course, I only want to raise the question as a concerned board member of whether the recent public attention, the circumstances that have generated media commentary might benefit from some kind of official statement. A clarification about personal conduct and its separation from professional responsibility.
There is no conduct to clarify. Viv said, "I'm in a personal relationship with someone who works in the building. He is not in my reporting chain. He is not in a supervisory relationship with anyone who reports to me. And nothing about my professional decisions has been influenced by or related to that relationship.