The Cunningham's and the Montgomery's have since long been feuding with one another. Dating decades back, the two families separate advertising companies in New York City have been competing to win over the most clients and become the most acclaimed...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"I don't want to speak with my family tonight," Ava said while Nic walked us over in the direction of the Cunninghams, "I just want them to know that I'm here. Mainly, I want my mother to see that I'm here, do her usual icy glare, and then I can find Malcolm fucking Gladwell."
"He's very insightful," Nic said. "Don't worry, we're just going to make sure your mother sees us walk by, you can give her and your dad a little wave, and then we'll be on our way. I'll help you find Gladwell. Last time I checked, he was chatting with Mary Barra"
"Who's that?" I asked, eyebrows furrowed. Ava and Nic gave me a look like they couldn't believe I didn't know who she was. "I don't speak business."
Ava grinned. "The CEO of General Motors–"
"–one of the most influential women in business to date," Nic chimed in. "A badass woman. And there's a heap of badass business women here. Indra Nooyi of Pepsico, Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, duh, and Maryllin Hewson of Lockheed Martin. Etcetera, etcetera."
Ava's face practically lit up at all of the names I didn't even recognize. Now, I recognized their businesses. Facebook obviously, Pepsi (Coke is better), and Lockheed Martin (still wasn't sure what that business actually was, but I knew the name). Either way, it was obvious how excited Ava was to be here.
I squeezed her hand and looked down at her. "I assume you act like this every year you've been here?"
She smiled up at me. "Oh, abso-fucking-lutely," she said. "There is nothing more exciting to me than these business events. And women in business. Especially women in business. A bunch of badass females with high titles and leadership positions, all making their own significant mark in business history? Sign me the hell up."
I chuckled at her enthusiasm and she nudged me.
"Hey, this is what excites me, Theodore. If you're in this for the long haul, you better be prepared for me to get overly excited about everything like this," Ava said.
My heart sparked at her words: If you're in this for the long haul. In the past, I would have been like, fuck no, I'm not in this for the long haul, please sign me up for the shortest haul possible! But getting to know Ava, being around her entrancing presence, falling in love with her more and more each day as we accepted each other as we were, I knew I was officially signing up for the long haul. And I hoped the haul was interminable.
"I love that you're passionate. I love everything you love," I said. "I mean kind of. I love that you love the things you love."
Ava grinned. "I'm twisting your balls. But I appreciate that."
"Please, by god, twist his balls. I think he's gotten too romantic and mushy," Nic uttered. "Cunningham family to the left in 5. Smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave."
