Ruth Cardello | Character Perspective Guest Post

Meet Brett Westerly: Interviewer: Are you comfortable? Brett Westerly: Does it matter? My grandmother wants this interview for her memories, so ask away. Interviewer: You and your grandmother have always been close, haven’t you? Brett: Yes, she essentially raised me. Interviewer: Do you support her offer to give any of her grandchild their inheritance early as long as they marry and invite all of your immediate family to the wedding? Brett (squares his broad shoulders): My grandmother has the best of intentions even if her chosen method is misguided. Interviewer: Your younger brother, Spencer, jumped at the idea and is already engaged. Brett: I am painfully aware of that. Interviewer: What do you think of his fiancée? Brett: What I think of her doesn’t matter because it’ll be a cold day in hell before I let him do anything as stupid as getting married for money. Interviewer: So, you don’t approve of Alisha Coventry? Do you feel that she isn’t good enough for your brother? Brett: My brother’s head is so far up his own ass lately that he won’t realize that he’ll never find better until after he breaks her heart. She beautiful, loyal, intelligent. She came into my office and the way she defended my brother gave me a respect for her. She deserves better than what my brother is offering her. Interviewer: She deserves someone like you? Brett: No. Absolutely not. I love my brother. I would never do that to him. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to sit back and watch the two of them make a mistake of this magnitude. Interviewer: So, you’re determined to break them up—for their own benefit. Brett: Exactly. Interviewer: Circling back to your family—your mother is still alive. In fact, your three youngest siblings were raised by her and her second husband. Was it her divorce from your father that caused the divide in your family? Brett: Next question.

Inteviewer: Your mother believed that money was the evil that split your family
in two. Do you think Spencer resents that you received everything he didn’t:
money, private schools, the family company after your father retired?

Brett: I don’t know what Spencer thinks because we barely speak. If he put his pride aside and worked with me instead of against me, he wouldn’t need to struggle financially. Interviewer: If he does feel a sense of competitiveness when it comes to you, how do you think he’ll feel if anything ever happens between you and his fiancée? Brett: Nothing ever will happen, so that’s another question that’s irrelevant. (Brett stands.) This interview is over. Interviewer: One final question. If you don’t have any feelings for your brother’s fiancée, why are there rumors you’ve spent a significant amount of time with her recently? Brett: My assistant will see you out. Good-bye.

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