Animate Me

At noon a bunch of us head over to Subway. I lag behind to walk with Dani whose spirits seem a little low.

“You okay?” I ask.

“I guess,” she replies, looking down and picking at her blue nail polish.

“Nick?”

She makes a face. “I don’t think he wants me, Nathan. When he took me home from the get together he didn’t even kiss me and come inside.”

“Did you ask him to come in?”

She grins. “Yes, as seductively as I know how.” But then her expression falls. “He must be over me. He’s probably into someone else now.”

“No. He would have told me that.” I say with conviction. “He wants to be with you. I think he’s just afraid that it may not work out again.”

“Yeah, well to hell with that! Why is everyone so goddamned afraid? Sorry, but I’m getting really tired of pussy men who don’t just say what they want and go for it. The bottom line is that women need to know they’re wanted.”

Could it really be as simple as Dani says it is?

Just then we reach Subway, and I pause before I pull the door open for her. “Shall I tell Nick that?” I ask as I try to imagine what Brooke would say to all of this.

“Be my guest,” she says, looking determined. “He only has so many more chances before this ship sails.” I’m not sure if she actually means that. With the smile she gives me, it’s hard to say for sure.

Women can be such a mystery.

• • •

I call the lawyer, Walter, right after lunch and go over the proposal. I’d already prepped him with my insistence of holding onto my character rights. I agree however to give them exclusive publishing rights for three years and their production company first look for any television or film deals. All of that sounds ridiculous to discuss at this point, but Walter insists that it must be determined up front or we’ll regret it later. By the time we get off the phone I can’t imagine this deal getting settled, but it’s certainly worth a try.

At three-thirty I get a text from Brooke.

No coffee for me today handsome, I’m still in bed.

Handsome? I grin ear to ear and text her back. No special delivery?

That’s very tempting, but I’m sure you should be at work.

Well, Joel is waiting to see this scene :- (

Yes, you be good. There will be other times to be bad :-)

Okay, rain check then?

Yes, and I’ll call you tonight. xoB

My heart soars as I sign off, so happy that she not only remembered to contact me but she flirted with me as well. My bliss lasts for a solid hour until it is shattered with a phone call from the ice princess, Alana, Arnold’s assistant.

“Arnauld wants to see you right now.”

“Now?” I question. “I’m supposed to meet with Joel to go over my scene.”

“Do I really need to repeat myself? Arnauld wants to see you now.”

“Okay, I’ll be right up.”

“Hurry,” she snaps before hanging up.

So many emotions surge through me as I ride up the elevator that I’m sure I’m flushed by the time I reach Alana’s desk.

“He’s waiting,” she hisses. “Go right in.”

This is bullshit. I’m not going to let him intimidate me.

I half step into the royal chambers. “You wanted to see me?”

He gives me the Arnold glare. Who does he think he is, Lex Luthor? Hey, he sort of looks like him, now that I think of it.

He flicks his wrist and points to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Sit,” he commands.

So now I’m a dog. Careful Arnold, I may bite.

I fold my arms over my chest as I sit down. “What’s up?”

He shifts in his seat and the door magically closes behind me, just like it did my last visit here.

“How’d you do that? I ask pointing to the door.

He ignores my question. So I lean over to peer under his desk and notice a foot pedal not far from his fancy shoes. Ah…so he is the Wizard in his own little Oz, pretending he has magic powers but in reality it’s smoke and mirrors.

“What’d you do to her?” He growls and I sit up quickly.

What the hell? “What do you mean, what’d I do to her? Is something wrong with Brooke?”

He studies me carefully, and I’m getting the makeover stare. He narrows his eyes. It’s ironic that he doesn’t seem to like the change with my haircut and new glasses since he’s the one that prompted it.

He finally speaks up. “She’s not coming in today, and she never misses work.”

“I didn’t do anything to her,” I state firmly. “She just seemed really tired when I left. That was a big, stressful night for her. She was nervous.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Well you sound like quite the expert on Brooke’s feelings. You better not be fucking with me, Evans.”

He knows my last name.

“Have you talked to her?” I boldly ask.

“Of course I’ve talked to her. We’re having di

I sit quietly and wonder if Brooke will tell him everything. How does an open relationship work exactly?

“You didn’t try anything with her, did you?”

Screw you, hairy back. I’m not giving him anything. I want to protect Brooke.

“Would it matter if I did? As you pointed out before, I’m a total dweeb. She’d never want to be with me. So what are you worried about? Who am I compared to you…the president of this company?”

He eyes me suspiciously and flips his computer screen toward me. “Explain this.”

I study a picture that was taken of Brooke and I right before we went inside for the show. She’s so beautiful and I’m frankly stu

Yet on the other hand, I can’t get past the fact that it’s creepy that Arnold tracked the picture down and has been studying it. I guess the way Brooke and I are gazing at each other with adoration doesn’t help the situation.

Wow. We really look like a couple in love. Worried, I try to play it off cool. “What about it? That’s right before we went into the auditorium for the show.”

“What the fuck is she doing in that dress? That isn’t the one I picked out for her.”

“You’re really asking me why she’s wearing that dress? Shouldn’t you ask her that?”

“Oh, you can bet I will,” he glowers.

I lean in towards his screen. I know I shouldn’t but I open my mouth anyway. I just can’t resist.

“What the problem anyway? I think she looks really great.”

I get the death glare again. He’s really good at that.

“You know Evans, a good friend of mine was at the Emmys and he didn’t like the way you were looking at Brooke.”

“What did he mean by that?”

“He said you looked like you wanted her,” he states, an ugly edge to his voice.

I don’t like any of this. I can’t let him intimidate me. “Really, like I want her? All that in a look that he observed a big packed event?”

“I just want you to know that I’m watching you. Every move you make. I know you’ve been Brooke’s cute little project, and she loves your computer help, and how you bring her coffee every afternoon. But bottom line—you’re distracting her. I don’t like it, and if I decide to, I will stop all of it.”

My stomach drops. “Stop it?”

“I don’t want Brooke distracted. I need her focused. So just be aware that you’ve been warned. Time to make other plans for your Starbucks playtime.”

“But…” I start.

“That’s it.” He says abruptly, cutting me off. “Get back to work.”

I rise with hesitancy. I want the last word, but I know I can’t have it. He has control right now over the two greatest passions in my life, Brooke and my work. He can easily crush me. So as I stagger out of his lush office and back down to my crappy cubicle I vow that somehow, someway I will change things so Arnold no longer holds in his grubby hands all that I consider most precious. I have to figure out how to protect the two parts of my life I know without a doubt that I can’t live without.