concerned about the emotional impact on Dev. Kenny and I talked about Dev and Paul.”
Teri flinched slightly at hearing Paul ’s name. Flynn hesitated, seeming to gauge her reaction. She nodded and he continued.
“Dev ’s upset because you’re hurting, which is normal, but that’s not the only reason. Kenny said he and Paul didn’t get along.”
Teri looked at Flynn, but his expression was unreadable.
“Paul told me much the same , Teri. He cared about Dev. If Dev’s attitude bothered Paul, I didn’t see any indication of it.”
“Paul talked to you about Dev? ”
“He hired me to help get the band on their feet. We talked about all of them. ”
Teri nodded. That made sense , she just didn’t really think about it before.
“Kenny mentioned Dev felt guilty about his relationship with Paul. Rather than being forced to deal with Tim , and the memories of Paul associated with him, think about letting me take him instead. I’ve got an apartment in New York. We can meet up with Tim for lunch to test the water for the future.”
“Tim knows Oskar though. ”
“ I’ve met Oskar in passing, but it doesn’t matter. Oskar won’t care who’s bringing Dev as long as he’s there. I also want to start looking into Dev’s shyness and it seems as good a place as any to start.”
Teri choked back a laugh. “The expression on his face in those pictures is genuine. ”
“I figured that ,” Flynn answered dryly. He didn’t seem particularly happy about it. “You’re a photographer, you can set up a situation to get a specific response from your subject. You know the concept, you did it to me.”
Teri laughed at the memory of the first time she met Flynn , his boyish grin when she caught him in the bushes with two scantily clad women. “That seems like so long ago, but it really wasn’t.”
“No , it wasn’t. It’s nice to hear you laughing again.”
“That ’s not where you were going with this though, was it?”
“No. I want to see how much is being set up. Also if they ’re conditioning this response in Dev.”
“Making him worse? ” Teri’s stomach hardened.
“I want to check it out. Don ’t worry about it yet. From what I understand Dev was already —”
“But what if they ’re making it worse?” Teri couldn’t think. She didn’t like Dev flying back and forth to New York, but never considered the photo-shoots could actually be hurting him.
Flynn reached out and softly stroked her hair.
“I’ll talk to Tim, ask him to be there for a second opinion. Teri, if we think it’s a problem, we’ll talk to Oskar.”
“He won ’t want to give up his spokes model and Dev is under contract.”
Flynn smiled softly at her. “If that ’s the case, Dev is a fifteen-year-old boy that his company would then be knowingly traumatizing. I’ll ask nicely. I’ll let Tim play hardball, he has Kyle behind him. I suspect we can work something out.”
“He wanted to do this ,” Teri protested, thinking back to just last fall when her son made the decision on his own.
“I ’m not saying we need to get Dev out of the contract, just change the focus a little. It might not even be an issue, but it’s a concern. According to Kenny he’s not getting any better. If nothing else, it’ll open the door for me to communicate with Dev about the problem naturally. I don’t want him thinking everyone’s talking about him behind his back.”
Still trying to breathe , Teri reflected on Dev’s photo-shoots. Dev hated her fussing over him and didn’t want her there. She always suspected it was because he didn’t want Paul there, so she didn’t argue with her son. They compromised and sent him with Tim. But Tim didn’t have kids and wouldn’t necessarily see what Flynn suspected.
“Okay , you take him,” Teri nodded.
“Thank you. I promise to bring him back without lipstick stains on his collar. This time. ”
Teri laughed lightly through her tears and hit him playfully.
“Back to
Teri flinched slightly at hearing Paul ’s name. Flynn hesitated, seeming to gauge her reaction. She nodded and he continued.
“Dev ’s upset because you’re hurting, which is normal, but that’s not the only reason. Kenny said he and Paul didn’t get along.”
Teri looked at Flynn, but his expression was unreadable.
“Paul told me much the same , Teri. He cared about Dev. If Dev’s attitude bothered Paul, I didn’t see any indication of it.”
“Paul talked to you about Dev? ”
“He hired me to help get the band on their feet. We talked about all of them. ”
Teri nodded. That made sense , she just didn’t really think about it before.
“Kenny mentioned Dev felt guilty about his relationship with Paul. Rather than being forced to deal with Tim , and the memories of Paul associated with him, think about letting me take him instead. I’ve got an apartment in New York. We can meet up with Tim for lunch to test the water for the future.”
“Tim knows Oskar though. ”
“ I’ve met Oskar in passing, but it doesn’t matter. Oskar won’t care who’s bringing Dev as long as he’s there. I also want to start looking into Dev’s shyness and it seems as good a place as any to start.”
Teri choked back a laugh. “The expression on his face in those pictures is genuine. ”
“I figured that ,” Flynn answered dryly. He didn’t seem particularly happy about it. “You’re a photographer, you can set up a situation to get a specific response from your subject. You know the concept, you did it to me.”
Teri laughed at the memory of the first time she met Flynn , his boyish grin when she caught him in the bushes with two scantily clad women. “That seems like so long ago, but it really wasn’t.”
“No , it wasn’t. It’s nice to hear you laughing again.”
“That ’s not where you were going with this though, was it?”
“No. I want to see how much is being set up. Also if they ’re conditioning this response in Dev.”
“Making him worse? ” Teri’s stomach hardened.
“I want to check it out. Don ’t worry about it yet. From what I understand Dev was already —”
“But what if they ’re making it worse?” Teri couldn’t think. She didn’t like Dev flying back and forth to New York, but never considered the photo-shoots could actually be hurting him.
Flynn reached out and softly stroked her hair.
“I’ll talk to Tim, ask him to be there for a second opinion. Teri, if we think it’s a problem, we’ll talk to Oskar.”
“He won ’t want to give up his spokes model and Dev is under contract.”
Flynn smiled softly at her. “If that ’s the case, Dev is a fifteen-year-old boy that his company would then be knowingly traumatizing. I’ll ask nicely. I’ll let Tim play hardball, he has Kyle behind him. I suspect we can work something out.”
“He wanted to do this ,” Teri protested, thinking back to just last fall when her son made the decision on his own.
“I ’m not saying we need to get Dev out of the contract, just change the focus a little. It might not even be an issue, but it’s a concern. According to Kenny he’s not getting any better. If nothing else, it’ll open the door for me to communicate with Dev about the problem naturally. I don’t want him thinking everyone’s talking about him behind his back.”
Still trying to breathe , Teri reflected on Dev’s photo-shoots. Dev hated her fussing over him and didn’t want her there. She always suspected it was because he didn’t want Paul there, so she didn’t argue with her son. They compromised and sent him with Tim. But Tim didn’t have kids and wouldn’t necessarily see what Flynn suspected.
“Okay , you take him,” Teri nodded.
“Thank you. I promise to bring him back without lipstick stains on his collar. This time. ”
Teri laughed lightly through her tears and hit him playfully.
“Back to
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