“Exactly.” I take a deep breath. “So Morgan, please do me a favor. I’m going to leave Brooke a message on her cell phone, but as soon as she comes back from HR have her call me. I desperately need to talk to her and they escorted me off the premises. Will you do that?”
“Of course…whatever I can do to help, Nathan.”
“Thank you.”
“Brooke will figure this out. She’s smart as hell and she loves you.”
“I hope you’re right,” I say softly. On the first and last counts, I think. For as much as I can’t stand it, I have to be realistic. After the bomb that was dropped on Brooke today, I can’t be so sure of her feelings for me anymore.
I sit in my car for a minute trying to calm myself down, before giving up and tapping her name on my screen. Her phone goes straight to voicemail. I clear my throat and begin to stutter.
“Brooke…it’s me…”
I pause, my mind racing to think of how to explain what’s in my heart.
“I’m so sick with worry right now…I’m panicked, and I desperately need to talk to you, hear your voice….I need you.”
My free hand grips the car door handle tight. “By the time you get this you will know about the camera in the conference room. Fuck it all…I don’t even know what to say about that. I’m just sick as hell that all those fuckers saw us like that. They can accuse me of whatever they want, all that matters to me is that you’re okay.”
I feel myself start to break down and my voice cracks with my next words. “I need to know that you still love me…”
I can feel my eyes fucking tearing up. I feel like such a loser.
“Knowing you still love me is the only way I’m gonna get through this.
“You do, don’t you?…you know…love me? Cause the way you acted in his office…well I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried.”
I take a deep ragged breath.
“I’m so sorry about B-Girl. I wish I’d told you that the character was you in the very beginning. But I was so afraid you’d think I was a creepy freak for worshiping you from afar so long. Was I wrong about that?”
My stomach flips over. I hope I was wrong. Was I?
“Anyway, I can’t undo all of this shit, and now I’ve messed up not just my life, but yours too. Damn…I can’t believe this is happening. Everything was so perfect last week and now it feels like the end of the world.
“I love you so much, and I’m here waiting for you.
“I need to see you. I need to hold you.
“Please, Brooke…
“Call me.”
Animate Me / Chapter Twenty-Six / Calling on Wonder Woman
“Kill my boss? Do I dare live out the American dream?” ~Homer Simpsonxxv
“No, fucking way!”
Dani looks like she’s going to kill somebody, well, Mojo to be precise.
“Can he do that?” Nick asks, looking sick to his stomach.
“I’m not sure. If I fight it—even if he doesn’t win the lawsuit—it sounds like he’s going to drag me through court for a long time. I think he’ll keep it going until he breaks me financially and emotionally.”
They both stare at me with horror etched across their faces.
“But in some ways he’s already broken me. If you could’ve seen Brooke’s face…”
“Fuck,” whispers Nick, shaking his head.
“And the asshole is like, ‘Brooke I’m so sorry for what this sniveling loser has done to you…’ like he’s going to comfort her from my freaky exploitation and abuse.”
“Mother fucker,” Dani gasps. “You’ve got to fight this Nathan!”
“I will,” I say with determination. “What choice do I have? If he wins and steals B-Girl I don’t think I’ll survive it.”
“What’s Brooke say about it?” Nick asks concerned.
“I haven’t been able to talk to her yet. They must still be talking to her.”
“Talking? You mean breaking her down,” throws in Dani.
“And I’ve called her several times but her phone’s still off. Morgan’s on alert to call me as soon as she’s out of there. I just need a chance to explain everything to her.” My head falls. “I need her.”
“I know, man…I know,” Nick says. “She loves you. No matter how bad it looks right now, she’ll come around.”
“I hope you’re right,” I say, trying not to crumble inside. “I know Mojo is going to keep messing with her, and that kills me.”
“The mother fucker needs a message,” Dani announces cryptically.
Nick lights up. “What we talked about earlier?”
“Yes, yes. Let’s go see my brother after we leave here. This will be right up his alley.”
“You’re a genius,” Nick says with admiration. “The army is building as we speak. It will be epic.”
“I know,” she acknowledges. “And together we will rock this thing.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask warily. “What are you going to do?”
“Nothing you need to know,” Dani informs me.
“You guys…seriously, I don’t want you getting into trouble on my account.”
“It’s not just you, Nathan; although of course your situation has inspired us. This is for all the artists and creative people that get fucked over by the suits. This is for all of us.”
“Okay, just be careful,” I implore. “I can’t take anymore guilt right now. If you lost your jobs too, I don’t think I could handle it.”
“We are super-sleuths, we are ninjas,” she hisses. “By tomorrow…”
“Honey, realistically we’re thinking the day-after-tomorrow…”
“By the day after tomorrow,” she continues, “Mojo will see his future with the very people that make his worthless ass look good, and believe me, Nathan, it won’t be bright.”
After Nick and Dani leave I call my Dad and give him the bad news. As if it wasn’t horrible enough to tell him about Arnold stealing B-Girl, my humiliation is complete in having to describe Brooke and my conference room antics. He asks about Brooke, and I explain that I haven’t talked to her yet, that I’m not sure how she feels about me after the big reveal. With a heavy heart I finally tell him about her lack of response when I called out to her before she left the meeting.
I’m grateful he doesn’t lecture me, just remains quiet as I try to rationalize my reckless stupidity. When I’m done, he offers to call Walter on my behalf. I can sense how worried he is about me when not even a single calculation or deduction is worked into his quiet words.
Only moments after we hang up, my phone rings. I answer it so quickly I don’t even check my screen for who it is.
I hear the cries first and my heart clenches. My fingers tighten over my cell phone.
“Brooke?” I gasp.
“No…Mor…gan,” she stutters.
“Are you alright, Morgan? What’s happened?” I ask worry flooding through me. Our tough friend has cracked. This is bad.
She takes a deep ragged breath. “Everything’s fucked, isn’t it Nathan?” she asks.
“Yes,” I admit solemnly.
“Brooke’s gone,” she offers. “She left and I have a feeling she isn’t coming back.” She starts to cry again, and I feel sick with worry for her and for me.
“Where are you?” I ask. “Do you need me to come get you?” I have to get to Brooke, but I need to take care of Morgan too.
“No, I need to stay here and watch the fort for Brooke just in case. They just came and took her computer.”
“Fuck.” This is really happening.
“What did you mean, Morgan…when you said she’s gone?”
“She gave me her phone and said she was going to disappear for a while. She told me that she considered me a cherished friend. And that she was going to miss me.” She starts crying again.
Why would she give Morgan her phone before she even called me back? Did she even get my message?
“Disappear? What did she mean, ‘disappear’?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen her like that. She was crying. She looked awful and scared… like she was about to walk through fire.”