Page 21 of Love in Times of Contempt

Liam swallowed a bite and ground his teeth together. "Agreed. That's why we're doing our best not to be impulsive. Ely is wonderful as a person and when we chatted about the position, she had all the right answers. Her resume backed it up, too."

"She'll have to change her mindset if she's coming in from the not-for-profit world." Alex finally reached for some fruit, and added several pieces to his plate. He did not give Liam his eyes. "She'll have to adjust in a company like yours. People from NFPs think about things differently than for profits and there's a sort of cultural shock in changing worlds."

"Ely told us that it's not the case so much anymore," Ana said, "as many NFP organizations are trying to follow a profit model, to make the best use of resources."

"That's true, but she'll likely need strong guidelines to not overburden the rest of the company." Alex speared a slice of orange and lifted hard eyes at Ana. "You'll have to define what's a healthy dynamic between socially-centered departments and operational departments."

"Do you have any suggestions?" Liam asked, briefly locking eyes with Ana. She gave him a slight nod. She agreed they could go ahead with a first casual interview.

Alex shrugged. His eyes returned to his plate. "I'm sure you know, typically, the expectation is you'll allocate a percentage of earnings towards funding the social initiatives. Whatever your social focus, it should be broken down into different specific budgets, maybe even have the social impact department test or prove where they're putting the investments… or even have it apply for it, in some sort of grants setups."

Ana drank some of her coffee, a small groove between her eyebrows. "I don't like the idea of setting up the social department to fight for money. The way Liam and I, the consultants, and the lawyers discussed it, there'll be a base budget and a floating budget dependent on profit. But we could potentially use some sort of grant application system somewhere, to let the youth apply for it as part of their learning experience."

Alex gazed at Ana, seeming to be okay having a conversation with her if not with Liam. "Mom told me you had a lawyer doing all the paperwork and setting up a big chunk of the company and processes, right?"

"Yeah." Liam tracked Alex's response to his words. "We have some drafts for how all of this would work, but Ana and I agreed we wanted to see what the managers suggested for their departments."

Liam added his two cents, and it didn't surprise him that Alex continued to watch Ana instead of acknowledging him. Liam ground his teeth.

"It all sounds amazing," His dad said. "Well thought out."

"Our plan is to hold meetings with both Ely and the Manager of Operations to define the structure in detail," Liam added. He gazed at Ana for a second, relieved when she stared back at him and nodded, giving him permission to move ahead. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Do you want to be there?"

Liam studied Alex's reaction once more, steeling his back when his brother whipped his head to glare at Liam.

"You're talking to me?"

Liam nodded, nostrils flaring.

"Why would I want to be in those meetings?" Alex placed both hands on each side of his plate.

Ana put her hand over Liam's. It was only then that he realized he'd curled it into a fist. "We were wondering if you might be interested in the Manager of Operations position."

His mom gasped. "You're offering him a job at the production company?"

"That's great, Alex! Liam!" his dad added.

Ana squeezed Liam's hand.

"You're offering me a position in your company?" Alex asked, lacking the joy everyone else's voice held. "In LA?"

"Yes," Ana said. "You shared good ideas, and Liam told me about your degrees and current job. If you think your experience fits the role and has transferable skills, then we'd like to start holding meetings to structure things and get it all going."

"My experience would fit the role, especially if I'm helping set it up." Alex frowned, a small scowl on his lips. "What I'm not sure of is whether LA fits me. If a company like this is what I want. If working for Liam is what I want."

Liam interlocked his fingers with Ana's and stared at her, pleading telepathically for her to take the lead. He didn't trust himself to not get snarky with Alex. She seemed to understand.

"We plan to start with the meetings in a month or so." With her free hand, Ana took a sip of water, holding Alex's attention. "My friend is moving to LA in three weeks, giving us a week to settle in before we start with the final company set up. After that, Liam and I are flying to Toronto for the festival, and during that week, the managers are to meet to prep for the meetings we want to have after we come back to LA."

Alex turned away and stared out the window, all four pairs of eyes watching him.

Alex crossed his arms, his eyes still fixed outside. "So you're telling me you'd like an answer from me by then, am I getting that right?"

"You are," Liam said.

Chapter Seven

THE NEXT EVENING, ANA followed Liam into a local sushi restaurant. He held her hand and guided her into the building, accompanied by Logan and his fiancée, Giuliana. Liam and Logan had eaten here before; they'd discovered the place while they were roommates in undergrad, and had never stopped coming whenever Liam visited home. They liked it because the food was excellent and it had small-group rooms separate from the main dining space. It gave them the privacy they needed to enjoy their meal together without much interruption.