"People don't pay for nostalgia," he said. "They pay for an experience. You could lead the entire hospitality program. You'd finally be the person making decisions instead of waiting for Ethan to approve things."
"The school kids use those rehearsal rooms," I said. "The nonprofit can't afford another place."
Ryan shrugged. "There are always nonprofit spaces. That's not a reason to leave millions on the table."
For a moment I saw a version of him I didn't like. Then he leaned across the table, took my hand, and told me he knew how hard I had worked without receiving the recognition I deserved. My objection vanished beneath the relief of being admired. I wish I could tell you I was only being manipulated. In that moment I was also willing to set aside the children who used the rehearsal rooms because imagining a much grander future for myself felt better.
Ethan learned about Silverbank before he learned the full truth about Ryan and me. Our bookkeeper, a careful woman named Dana Ortiz, discovered a vendor record in the operating company's shared scheduling system that had no approved purchase order attached. The first entries were only preliminary, but they carried bank-routing fields and references to two events we had not contracted. Dana contacted me, because my company handled some of Alder Street's bookings and promotional work.
"Claire, can you tell me who authorized these?" she asked. "I can't match the scope to anything in our files."
I told her Ryan was helping us evaluate a development opportunity. She asked for the agreement and confirmation that Ethan had approved access to the venue's books. I said I'd send everything that afternoon, then asked Ryan what to tell her. He replied almost immediately: They always make this difficult when a company starts growing. I'll handle the paperwork.
I never sent the records Dana requested. The next day she raised the question with Ethan directly, and he called me from the studio. I was in the middle of a meeting, and I remember the impatience in my voice because it seems unbelievable now that I still thought I had reason to be impatient with him.
"I need to understand what Ryan can access," he said. "Dana says there are vendor records she can't verify."
"It's a consulting project, Ethan. We discussed it."
"We discussed getting an outside valuation. We didn't discuss giving somebody access to our systems or approving invoices."
"You never want me involved until you need the mailing list for a fundraiser. But the moment I try to make a bigger decision, suddenly I need your permission."
He was quiet. Then he said, "It's not about permission. It's about the company belonging to both of us, and about nobody moving money without knowing where it goes. Please come by tonight so we can look at it together."