Airemese had a lot of fun when she was with TJ in Japan. It was like their own little getaway where neither of them had to worry about any responsibilities. Aire liked to work as much as the next person but everyone needed a break every once in a while. With everything the way it was at the time, that trip was really what they needed. When they got back only to find out Dakari was back in the hospital, it was just as tiring as ever. She had took it upon herself to visit her dad at least once a day and bring Arius along with her. Anniken and Dakari hated the hospital but it wasn't like her father had much of a choice. Anniken did though, and so she literally never showed unless absolutely necessary. It was like she just didn't care, there was always some important meeting, vital affair, a flight to wherever that was nothing short of mandatory. Her father sat in a cold hospital all day, dying, and all her mother could do is worry about everyone else's lives. Aire could tell how much she annoyed her mother whenever she asked for more time off but she never expected to get such a strong no on the day her father died. Airemese didn't even ask, thinking like a normal person that time to mourn was just a given but Anniken, being as far from a normal person as humanly possible, handed Aire her schedule for 2017. "No, absolutely not. You've been pulling this shit for 4 years, grow up." Who just says that?? To someone who just lost someone important? As someone who lost the same person? The thought of the whole situation infuriated Airemese,all she wanted was a little more time to herself and of course Anniken just had to fuck that up.

When Aire heard one of the maid's cell ring, she looked over at her. "Is that TJ?" She asked. The maid nodded, handed her the phone. "Hey you still at the store?" She asked. At this point, all she had left in her life was TJ. She was never not thankful for having him. Aire had no idea how she'd survive without him.

She smiled while hearing TJ's voice. "No, I'm good. You sound like you're busy, go handle your business babe." She said making a kissy sound before he hang up. She was relieved to talk to TJ even if just for a short while.

Anniken was sitting at a small cafe with a glass of wine and her laptop in front of her. TJ had asked to meet up with her so she set up exactly 30 minutes for them to talk. She was a bit early, using these few minutes to herself. When you're as busy as her you learn to make the most out of the small stuff like this. She typed away on her laptop, talking about how the last few days have gone for her. You could say it was like a journal. She deleted it as soon as she was done writing though, she wasn't stupid. It was just another way to pass time.

When Anniken heard TJ's voice she looked up from her laptopand slowly closed it. She smiled at him, laughing lightly. "You still greet me like a stranger. Do I look that unapproachable?" She asked, taking a sip of her wine. "Unfortunately not, it just wouldn't be appropriate and I.. Don't want to deal with any more questions than I already have. The worst part about secrets has got to be all the questions people have when it's out." Anniken sits back in her seat and waits for him to ask her his question. She put her glass of wine down and looked at TJ. "Can I talk numbers with you, TJ? You run your own label, don't you? This should be an easy one for you then. 30. That's about how many people are signed onto my management company. 8 of them have gone ghost on me, just disappeared mysteriously into the night and popped up several weeks to months later. It's been a horrible trend going on with my talents but when they return they understand that from there they are to suffer the repercussions, this includes fees, a renegotiation of terms in their contract and paying off whatever amount they cost the company. 7 of the said talents have suffered these consequences and have paid or are paying off their debt. Guess which one isn't." She paused at TJ, looking at him and making sure he was following. "I know how my daughter can be. She was very close with her father and is of course going to miss him but that man had one foot in the grave for a while now. Everyone griefs differently but Nicole will just have to adapt. It's not fair to my clients or to my account that she gets to go and show up knowing that I won't put my foot down." she picked her glass back up looking up over him. "Maybe next time you two want some personal ice off you wait for when you actually need it and not for when it will piss me off the most." Anniken smiled passive aggressively.

"I swear, I'm a sweetheart on the inside." She said with a smile. That was a lie. Anniken listened to his advice, taking a deep breath and nodding. "I suppose. I guess I just wasn't strong enough to. Whenever I tell anyone anything it's always a statement. A neatly written, well executed and perfectly timed statement. How do you do that when all you have to say is, 'My family's falling apart'?" Anniken was serious about her family though it was the one thing in her life that she never got quite right. She sighed softly, looking at the table and clutching at her glass.

She finally picked it up when TJ was done talking. "I respect your decision to reach out to me and express your concerns for my daughter, I know how much love you've given her and as a mom, I am ever so grateful. That doesn't change the fact that it is just a firm no. I've given her the last 4 years to spend time with him.. to prepare. I let her leave Rum & Coke's world tour, pushed back their fourth album an entire year and she skipped out on all promotion for her own solo album. I'm even giving her until second quarter before she even has to do anything public again. If that's not enough time for her, then I will have to take real action against her. I'm putting my foot down, and I'd very much like everyone to comply so no one gets stumped on."

When TJ mentioned the possibility of a grandchild, she stops for a minute. Anniken sipped slowly on more wine, thinking. By the time she put the glass back down, she had her response. "TJ, how do you honestly feel about Nicole's career? If she was dropped from her label today, would you sign her? What would be the first thing you do with her on your roster? Where would you suggest she take her music? Do you think the GP would connect with her? How much would you expect an album of hers to sell in the first week?" She asked all at once, expecting an answer to all of them.

Anniken had a good laugh when TJ called her a rattlesnake. "That bad?" She asked. The truth of it all was that there was no "personal" Anniken. She was passionate about her job and her clients so on the inside of that tough business woman there was just another business woman who cared significantly less about things. Significantly.

"See, you started off right and then veered off from reality. Yes, Airemese is extremely talented, probably more talented than everyone else on my roster, but she still has not developed that.. Factor. The one that's makes you interested in her, not as a celebrity, but as a person. The one that makes people just infatuated with you and your life, the one that attracts those real fans who want to know what she's up to at all times. The one that brings in the kind of money her talent deserves and requires. She does not live a life any of her fans can relate to and even if she did, you've probably noticed by now that Nicole is so used to writing songs about everyone else that she's still trying to figure out how to write about herself. 500k in the first week? Maybe after extensive promotion that costs money she probably won't be able to make back anyway." Anniken leaned in as if she was about to tell TJ something private. "You want know a secret? I had Nicole's album leaked and threw Nina's name in the mix. Nina has that obsessive factor, people wanna know what's going on with her when the curtains come down. People want to know who she's with and who she hates and what kind of music she's making, Nicole has been in her shadow this whole time. By doing what I did, it was no longer, 'Rum's partner-in-crime just released an album', it was 'Coke betrayed by Rum after album leaks'". She leans back, exhaling as if she achieved something. "Just like that, Coke became her own name. After 4 years of fame, she finally has something people want to know all the details about! The ball is rolling and now we just need it to land in our park. This is a crucial time for her and we may never get this chance again. She doesn't see that, but now you do."

Anniken's tone suddenly changes, this is the part where she always seemed to get her way. "If Nicole has a baby, in everyone's eyes she goes back to having a perfect life that they're not the least bit interested in. She loses all of her momentum, all of it. I see it, you see it.. She doesn't. And she won't, until she's 40 something wondering why her career never panned out the way she always dreamed it would." Anniken looked TJ in the face. "She's gonna want someone to blame and she's not going to blame me, I'm not the one who knocked her up in the prime of her career. She may be the woman you love but she's the woman I raised first and I raised a spoiled brat so that she'll neve turn out as cold as me. Her love for you is one she's had for about 4 years. The love she has for music she's had all her life. I'm not saying she's gonna choose it over you but she will resent you in the long run and it could very well be the death of your marriage." She paused, looking down. "Or worse," Anniken really knew how to be dramatic. "She blames herself much more and it ends up being the death of her. Her medication already makes her prone to... that." Anniken sips some wine out of her glass, slipping that last part in because she knows good and well that TJ knows nothing about Airemese's medication.

Anniken nodded her head when TJ started to explain the wrestling metaphor, already having her response. "You're absolutely right, we're aware that this little story is only a short term solution but no matter how small, it's still a window of opportunity. Yes, we're viewing this from different perspectives but we're completely on the same page. Has she shown you any of the new music? So far she's really been opening up, she's talking about the things that's gonna have her viewed as much more than just a girl who grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth, raised by a mom who was too involved. Opening up about the real side of her is what she needs to take her career to the next step and that's exactly what she's doing. Can't you see? You agree with me, you know releasing the music that will show her true colors is just what she needs and yet Nicole sent you here to try and convince me that she needs more time off. She's not trying to spend more time mourning over her dad, she's trying to hide from her most personal work. She's scared of exposing herself and being vulnerable in front of millions, she's running. I don't have time to chase her, if she really wants this she has to grow up." Anniken smiled at TJ. "You want people to notice her joy and feel her lows and yet you're sitting across from me, demanding that I push back the music that's gonna do just that. You're smart, TJ. It can't be hard for you to see that starting a family right now is only going to hinder her greatly."