Parenthood~ Continuation of Love Conquers All

IRL • part 560

I head into the office of Ian and mine's shared manager. Before I leave back to New York for work, Ian asked me to have a meeting here with him and Nikki so I can find out the truth. I think it's about damn time.

As I walk into the room, I am met with both Ian and Nikki already sitting with one another in front of my manager's desk. Behind the table are both my manager and Nikki's manager. God, this is intimidating.

Instantly Ian stands up to greet me. "Hey," he smiles, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

"Hi," I reply shyly as he takes my hand. He leads me over to the empty chair beside him and before I sit down I quickly greet myself, shaking the hands of both managers.

"It is so nice to see you again, Ms. Rose," my manager smiles.

"Great to see you too," I nod. "It's been a while."

"It has," she agrees. With the clearing of her throat, I sit down and join the group.

"Ms. Rose, I know we haven't met before but all of us here agreed to finally fill you in with all of the information we have been withholding from you for the past several months."

I purse my lips nodding, "I appreciate that. It is long overdue."

"We agree," my manager holds her hands together on her desk. Her head then turns to Ian. "Mr. Somerhalder, would you like to do the honours?"

"Of course," Ian nods. "Thank you." He situates himself in his seat to face me. "Tess, I promised you everything will be explained in due time and I know I owe you a lot but I just want to thank you, firstly, for being so patient."

"I told you I would wait," I nod with a short smile.

Ian reaches for my hands and holds them on my lap. "When we began dating, do you remember the company I tried to start and was heavily investing in?"

"Yeah," I nod. "The one that was giving you trouble since day one."

"Yes. And I swore to you I was going to end it because it was taking a toll on my mental health," Ian continued to explain, "but I didn't and I deeply apologize for that."

"So where does Nikki come into all of this?" I ask with a hint of irritation in my voice.

"As you know, Tessa, Ian and I have been friends for many years," Nikki starts. "In the middle of your pregnancy with Selena, your manager reached out to mine."

"While you were staying in California with your family, I had to be hospitalized from overwhelming myself with the stress of this company. I was losing hundreds of dollars daily."

I gasp, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you were extremely pregnant and dealing with filming two shows and one movie."

"That's when I agreed to help him," Nikki adds. "I studied business and management in my younger years."

"Tess, do you remember the argument we had because I was travelling weekly booking jobs left and right?"

"Of course, I do," I nod, not liking where this is going.

"When I did the convention in Spain I got rushed to the hospital again," Ian says, ashamed.