Animate Me

“Yes, he was Chief Financial Officer and a great guy. He was kind of a father figure to me. He took me under his wing when we worked together, and taught me a lot about financing projects and how the industry ran.”

I nod, actually feeling good for Brooke that she had someone besides Arnold teaching her things.

“Well, after a period of time I could tell that he didn’t like that I was with Arnauld. He never said why, but I sensed that he had issues with him and thought I deserved much better.”

“Good man,” I say quietly.

“In the months leading up to his departure he kept suggesting things, encouraging me to get another job, subtly suggesting distancing myself from Arnauld. Then one day we had a closed door meeting, and at the end, he suddenly gave me several files and flash drives and told me to keep them somewhere safe, just in case I ever needed them.”

“Whoa.” Now we’re getting somewhere.

“The next day, he resigned. He still checks up on me once in a while. I’m sure by now he’s heard on the news about the uprising that’s going on over there.”

“You know about that?” I ask, surprised.

“I found out today when we showed up for the meeting. Morgan met my lawyer and me outside before we headed in. She didn’t tell me about it yesterday when she gave me your sketchbook. I think she was worried how I’d handle the drama of it all. She knew I was on the edge and working so hard to get ready for this meeting with Arnauld and the lawyers.”

“She cares about you so much, Brooke.”

“I know. I’m so grateful. She’s been an incredible support to me. I knew she had my back, and I knew she was watching out for you, too.”

“She is, and she did. She’s such a good friend.”

“Yeah, today she gave my lawyer and I the lowdown before we went inside. She showed me the news clip.”

I smile at her. “Pretty amazing, huh?”

“Well, it helped explain why Arnauld was completely unglued when we showed up. He normally has a powerful game face. Anyway, thank God I took those files out Monday right after everything blew up and before they searched my office. I was an idiot not to take them home the day Bob gave them to me. Will I ever learn, Nathan?”

“You’re trusting, Brooke. I understand why you wanted to believe in Arnold.”

“I guess so. But I was such a fool.” She curls into her pillow looking defeated.

I need her to stay focused. “Come on, tell me…what happened next?”

She nods. “So when I finally picked myself up off the floor Monday afternoon, I called my lawyer, Erika. She’s another person like Bob, who I’ve looked up to and trusted. She’s been amazing. She actually insisted I stay at her house this week, even though that seems pretty unorthodox.”

“I’m just so glad to know you weren’t alone in this.”

“I don’t know what I would have done without her. You know, after Bob had given me the folders I checked them out, but the first part was financial spreadsheets that didn’t make sense to me so I just locked it away. Erika has this forensic accountant guy that went over everything for two long days, and believe me…it wasn’t pretty.”

“What had Arnold done?”

“All kinds of illegal kick-backs with the broadcasters, and skimming from profits into his personal accounts.”

“He could go to jail,” I say, trying to contain my delight.

“Well, Erika wanted me to turn him in, but that would’ve put your case with B-Girl into limbo for who knows how long.”

“Oh, no,” I say, concerned.

“And I couldn’t have that. All I wanted was to get B-Girl back to you, and for Arnauld to be out of my life.”

“Oh, Brooke.”

I look at her and my heart hurts for all she’s been through to try and help me. “So how did Arnold handle the news?”

“Oh, it was as awful as I’d imagined. He wouldn’t look at me, but he yelled repeatedly at Erika. And man was she powerful…the louder he got, the quieter and more fierce looking she got. Ruiz had to keep barking at Arnauld to get him to calm down. He was wired and kept getting up and pacing. I was a nervous wreck.”

“Were you scared?”

“Yes, but not as scared as I was earlier in the week. As I started to learn about his activities, I became afraid he would come after me to protect himself. I had a lot of crazy thoughts…I mean here’s a man I had naively trusted for years, and I couldn’t believe what he’d done. With his temper, who knows what he’s capable of?”

I’m stu

“But more than that,” she continues. “I was really afraid that he’d do something to you if I’d gone to you after the meeting Monday. If he had, I couldn’t have lived with myself.”

“Is that one of the reasons you disappeared and didn’t contact me?”

“The only reason,” she says with a sad sigh. “I knew it kept you safe, and he would’ve done anything to find me, once he thought I wasn’t with you anymore.”

“How could you even go back to Sketch Republic and see him knowing what you were up against? You must have been so freaked out.”

“What choice did I have? Yes, I was panicked, but that feeling was jumbled up with a whole bunch of emotions. I really just wanted to get it over with so I could get out of there for good. Once Erika finished laying it out and our conditions, Ruiz took Arnauld to his office to discuss what they were going to do.”

“How long did you have to wait?”

“About fifteen minutes. Luckily, Erika was confident enough for the two of us.”

“That must have been the longest fifteen minutes of your life.”

“You have no idea…besides the horror of facing Arnauld… I swore I would never go in that building again. Who knows how many people saw that tape with us half-naked in the conference room? It was hard to look anyone in the eye. I’m still so mortified that people would have watched something so intimate that was just between us.”

“Oh, Brooke, I’m so sorry.”

“Well, Arnauld was very subdued when they came back. It was as if Ruiz had tranquilized him. Thinking it over now, I am sure the uprising at Sketch Republic had really torn him apart. He had deluded himself into thinking he was popular with the staff. So he was coming from a place of weakness before we walked through his door.”

“What’d they say?”

“Ruiz stated that they would agree to drop the case and relinquish any claim to B-Girl, but it was under two conditions. The first, of course, was that we would agree to never disclose the information we had presented in our demands. The second was that Arnauld wanted to talk to me privately.”

“No,” I insist, a little too forcefully. “Please tell me you didn’t agree to that.”

“Erika didn’t like it either, but I just wanted to get it done and leave. Besides, part of me wanted to tell him face to face how much he had hurt me. So she and I stepped outside for a minute and came to an agreement.”

“What was that?”

“First, he had to sign the agreements she had brought with her. Secondly, the conversation had to be there in the conference room with the door open so she could view from the hall.”

“Oh, I bet that infuriated him. Brooke, if I’d known about this ahead of time I wouldn’t have let him be alone with you.”

“I know. But wait there’s more. As the final insult, Erika wanted his jacket removed.”

“She knew he was a threat and wanted to make sure there were no weapons,” I think, out loud. “I like this woman. She’s damn smart.”

“Yes, she is. He was so offended when she made him turn around after the jacket was off…he almost stormed out, but he knew I was willing to walk if he didn’t cooperate.”

“So what did he say?” I try to keep my voice calm even though my heart is racing.

“You won’t believe it.”

I don’t like the sound of this. “What?”

“He opened by saying that he was hurt that I was scared of him. All he ever wanted to do was make me happy,” she says with an edge to her voice.