'you're allowed to be more than just a mummy'
above all else, mara walsh is a mother. for as long as her daughter's been in her life, she's raised her all on her own and done a damn good job of it. so what happens when carlos sainz comes into her li...
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"Great job, Gracie, let's take a break," I call out from my spot beside the photographer, gesturing for the videographer to keep getting content as everyone else goes out of work mode.
When I'd found out I was pregnant with Elsie, I was twenty two, freshly out of university, and starting my own business with zero clue what I was doing.
Now, five years later, I've landed myself celebrity clients I'd once looked up to and an agency so large I've begun to consider hiring someone to take over my position as CEO.
One thing I'll never give up though, is this right here, being on set. Working with creative experts in their field and executing a creative brief handcrafted for brands by an agency I built from the ground up.
The energy on set is something I've loved ever since my very first internship. I spent the entire time running back and forth for coffees and outfit changes and camera lenses and praying I could catch a glimpse of the world of media behind the scenes.
Instead of being the intern, I've got one doing the same thing, though I'd like to think she's spending more time working behind the scenes than she is running around like a chicken with her head cut off.
"Mara, hey, good news and bad news, which do you want first?"
Amira is twitching. Which means whatever the bad news is will significantly outweigh the good... "Good first."
She hands me my iced coffee then pulls out her tablet to show off a Forbes magazine cover. With me on it. "Wait, what the fuck? I thought that shoot was for an internal article."
"Originally, it was, but everyone loved it so much that they decided to make it one of the featured covers."
She swipes through the article they've written about me, smiling from ear to ear as I read through the glowing review of my rapid rise to popularity in the creative scene.
When I come to the end of the article, Amira takes back the tablet, looking a bit sheepish as her mood changes back to its originally anxious twitching. "Bad news now."
I gesture for her to continue, sipping my coffee and glancing around at the set to determine whether or not the bad news is related to something here. Everyone's eating lunch at crafts, out of the sun and under hard blowing fans, I can't imagine there's anything that- "The nanny lost Elsie."
"For fucksake!" I'm pushing the half drank coffee into Amira's hands and off toward the craft tent before she can get another word in, shoving my sunglasses up into my hairline as I duck into the crafts tent.
Half the crew's here, enjoying the break and taking advantage of some time out of the sun. "Where's the nanny?"
A meek hand toward the back of the tent raises into the air, the woman I'd hired slowly rising to a stand.
"I'd like to have a chat with you, if you don't mind." I gesture back to the beach, outside the tent where I can address her without simultaneously embarrassing her in front of the crew.
"I'd prefer there to be witnesses, please."
I shrug, "Fair enough, I'd do the same thing. Pursuant to the termination clause of your contract, you are an at will employee and subject to immediate dismissal for any failure to ensure the safety of my daughter. I've just been told that you've lost her and, I don't know about you, but I do consider a child being lost a failure to ensure their safety."
"A car has been called and you will be leaving my set as soon as it arrives. From here, the car will take you to the hotel to gather your things and then to the airport where you will fly home."
Amira steps into the tent then, moving toward the nanny with a blank face. She hands the woman her tablet, indicating where to sign as I continue to speak.
"Salary for this weekend, including time not worked but originally contracted prior to your termination, will be paid in full. It should all be in your account by the time you land in Madrid. Is there anything you'd like to bring to my attention prior to your departure?"
She shakes her head, already picking up her bag and beginning to walk out. She whispers a quiet apology to me as she goes, one I ignore.
Amira rests a reassuring hand on my arm, giving it a light squeeze. "We'll search the beach. You go check the resort, see if she wandered over that way, yeah?"
