We’re
done.
I’ve never heard words spoken so
coldly, with so little feeling. They still rang through the loft, long after
Ross had left and, at first, it didn’t sink in. I didn’t realize what it meant.
By the time I finally did, it was already too late; he was gone.
Only now did I fully grasp what I’d
done and there was little I could do. What; call him? He’d never talk to me, I
knew that much.
It had become fully dark by now and I
was still sitting on the couch, feeling numb and still not believing it. What
could I do to make things right? Call Sofia? Like hell I would. She’d blast me
into orbit for not listening in the first place, and thinly repeat what Ross
had said; ‘We’re done’.
She’d be right saying it. They’d both
been right. They warned me, repeatedly and I just didn’t listen. Nooooo, I will
decide for myself who my friends are and who aren’t. I don’t need anyone, no,
of course not. I’m so independent. Big applause for me. NOT!
There was nothing I could do.
Correction; there was one thing I could do.
**********
As soon as he opened the door I threw
the pictures into Kyle’s face. With barely constrained, violent, anger I
confronted the man who destroyed my life.
“Why?!”
I pushed passed him before he could
react, but it seemed like he was ready for a confrontation; he calmly closed
the door.
“Why don’t you come in?” he replied
sarcastically.
The door closed with a decisive click
and he turned towards me.
“Before you even think about it; as you
now know, everything is taped. Attack me and you’re on the first prison
transport out to enjoy Uncle Sam’s hospitality.”
Oh, I wanted to. I really, really did; to hit that face, to wipe
that smug look from his face. What? I wish I brought a gun. Now the real Kyle
showed and I, for the life of me, couldn’t imagine not ever seeing it before.
But instead of launching myself at him, I repeated my demand.
“Why?
“Why? You have to ask why?” he sneered, tearing into me with a
vehemence that had me backing up a pace or two. His posture was pure aggression.
“You’re a fool. A fool in love. An idiot, a romantic. ‘Oh, I love Ross’.
Boohoo. Like you know what real love is, you…you child!”
His otherwise handsome face was
contorted into a bitter grimace.
“So maybe you will hurt a little;
you’ll forget him, eventually. It hasn’t been that long. Before you know it,
he’s just a wisp of a cloud, a fading memory of some fun you’ve once had.
You’ll get used to it.”
I stared at him. Was he completely
insane?
“It’s not like you’ve had seven years with him. Seven! One
mistake…”
“One?” I interrupted, wanting to lash
out equally vile. “From what I’ve heard, and apparently it was entirely
correct, you were the mattress of Florida!”
His eyes shot fire.
“I
am the one who made him to what he is today. I am! Not you! You’re nothing;
you’re just some piece of…”
“Oh, don’t hold back now; finally we
get to the real Kyle,” I hissed back, taking a step towards him. Somehow, he
was the one backing up now. “I gave you the benefit of the doubt; I befriended
you. And you used me. For what! To get back with Ross?”
“You probably won’t understand but
there is only one in this world for him. Me! And your being here proves it; he
saw the pictures, didn’t he? He broke up with you, didn’t he?”
“Pictures you doctored! What did I ever
do to you, to deserve this, huh?”
“You got in the way. I needed you gone;
you stole him from me!”
“Oh please, you drove him away all by
yourself. He wouldn’t touch you with a pincer! He warned me, Sofia warned me,
but noooo, I had to go prove them wrong. This is what it got me. A vindictive
queen, out to ruin everybody’s life because he screwed up and doesn’t want
anyone else to be happy with someone he once had. I’d go even as far as the
love of his life. Well, guess what; he was the love of my life!”
“Oh, you’re breaking my heart.”
“For that to be possible, Kyle, you’ve
got to have one. But I promise you this; you’re gonna pay for this. Somehow,
someday…”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No Kyle; I promise. I never threaten.”
He stared at me and smiled haughtily
“You're nothing. You can’t touch me.
But because of that…’promise’ of yours, I’ll destroy you. You’re finished in
this industry.”
I stared back, and each of us was
slightly hunched towards the other, like tigers ready to attack, claws out.
“Bring it on, Kyle. Bring. It. On.”
At that, I turned and pulled the front
door open and stalked out. But as I was leaving, the promise I made felt empty.
How the hell was I ever going to make him pay for what he had done?
CHAPTER
44
The next day I made sure I was at
Warner Gaming before anyone else, waiting for Walter Warner himself. I tried
calling him at his home but got no answer.
He arrived early and didn’t seem to be
surprised to find me waiting for him, so early.
“Mark, what can I do for you?”
“We need to talk. It’s about Kyle.”
He sighed and nodded to his office. I
followed him inside and sat down on the chair upon his offer.
I quickly told him what had happened,
leaving nothing out and ended with telling him that I couldn’t work for him
anymore. Not as long as Kyle was here.
He sighed again, deeper this time and
slowly nodded.
“I knew most of this but only Kyle’s
side. He called me last night, of course. I decided to give you the benefit of
the doubt and explain your version of what had happened.”
Somehow, I didn’t surprise me that Kyle
had called him. But Walter surprised me.
“It sounds like Kyle to make threats of
that nature. He’s a petty man, sometimes, especially when it comes to Ross
Forester.”
I frowned. Huh?
Walter smiled sadly and shook his head.
“I thought that he’d changed his ways.
It seemed like it for a long, long time. I should have known that he was still
up to his old tricks when he came to me, urging me to hire you. This is my
entire fault.”
“Walter…you didn’t make me befriend
Kyle. I did that all by myself, against advice from both Ross and Sofia. I
thought their judgment was colored by what had happened between Ross and Kyle.”
“I’m sure it is somewhat colored, and
yes, you did that by yourself, but I should have equally warned you. I didn’t
because he had fooled me into believing he’d changed. I wanted you to see that
too, and yes, to make the Forester’s see that he had changed, for the better.
In hindsight, he fooled us all, it seems. And for the last time, I can guarantee
you that.”
“Walter…”
“But I’ll deal with him when the time
is right. Now, there still remains the matter of you continuing working for us.
I’m no idiot and I do understand that you won’t be able to finish the project.
What has happened is regrettable, but I can’t have that reflected in your work.
And it would, we both know that.”
I sighed and nodded. Yeah, the way I
was feeling right now, it sure would result in a gloomy piece of work.
“I’m sure the two of us can come to
some sort of arrangement that will free you from your obligations. Shall we?”
**********
In the end, it cost me my advance, less
the costs I had made on behalf of the company. Walter assured me that he’d have
the papers drawn up and send someone over to get my signature before the end of
the day.
“For what it’s worth, Mark; I am very,
very sorry. Is there any chance that you and Ross…”
His voice trailed when I started
shaking my head. No way. Not after the way Ross had looked at me when he’d
finally left; like I was some piece of filth by the side of the road.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Do you want me to call him?”
I shook my head.
“No, what good would that do? And I
don’t think he’d accept your call, anyway.”
Walter gave me a sour grin and nodded
once.
“Probably. Well then… all that remains
now is for me to wish you the very best. Have you decided what to do now?”
I hadn’t given it much thought yet. I
had received some offers from several companies, out of which I had chosen
Warner Gaming. Perhaps one of those offers was still on the table.
“I have some options. I’ll be fine. Who
knows, I might go score a movie or a TV-series.”
Walter smiled warmly and extended his
hand.
“I am sure that someday, I will see
your name in bold, on some screen. Mark, it’s been a pleasure working with you.
Perhaps, someday, we will meet again.”
“We might. And thank you for making
this possible.”
I shook Walter’s hand and left.
**********
It was about 10am when the phone rang.
It was Jodie, even though she didn’t announce herself; she simply started to
talk as soon as I picked up, not giving me the chance to get a word in.
“I’m
having an argument with Mason, I’ll put you on speaker. Help us out, will you,
hon? Mason’s sitting opposite from me, so just shout the first thing that comes
to mind, he can hear you; what do you call the thing between the cunt and the
asshole? That area?”
“Your
desk,” I answered dryly.
“Oh,
very funny, ha ha. You’re no help.”
I
could hear her picking up the receiver again, taking me off the speaker.
“So
what’s going on? Something’s up; Kyle disappeared into Walt’s office and he’s
been there for almost an hour.”
“I
think you’d better wait until Walter informs you guys.”
“Hold
on, something… oh wow…”
My
curiosity got the better of me, especially after hearing a very loud BANG.
“Oops,
someone’s pissed.”
“What…Jodie?
Talk to me!”
“I’ll
call you right back!”
With
that she hung up, leaving me staring at the horn.
I
thought I could guess what had happened, and a slow smile crept onto my face.
Walter had made good on his promise. Ten minutes later, Jodie called back,
confirming it.
“We
heard. Walter sacked Kyle’s ass just now. They just escorted him from the
building. What! Happened!”
“It’s…private,”
I sighed, deciding not to tell her everything. “Maybe someday I’ll tell you. If
we’re still talking at that time.”
“You
better believe it, Mister! Alright, don’t tell me. So what are you gonna do
now?”
I
shrugged and then realized she wouldn’t be able to see that.
“Dunno.
I have some options. I’ll let you know.”
“Okay.
Don’t be a stranger, you hear? You’re the first guy I actually got along with
for a long, long…OUCH!”
She
gasped pained.
“Jesus,
Mason, I think you just dislocated my vagina. He elbowed me!”
I
couldn’t help but snicker.
“Alright.
You two try and not kill each other, ok? I’ll be in touch.”
I
don’t think she heard me; she was too busy giving Mason an exact description of
what she was about to do to his manhood. Poor guy.
CHAPTER 45
“Why
do you always pull this crap?”
The
words entered the loft before my mom was actually inside.
“I
swear, sometimes I wish you had a little less of your father’s genes. He was a
putz, and guess what; people’s exhibit A.”
She
jabbed a finger into my chest.
“Why
don’t you come in?” I answered sarcastically. “So you heard, huh?”
“Yeah,”
she said, smacking on the chewing gum. “Queen Sofia filled me in.”
Uh-oh.
So Sofia knew. That wasn’t really a surprise but a sudden dread ran up and down
my spine.
“She’s
mad at me, huh?”
“No.
I am the mad one. We’re playing good Queen, bad Que… of course she's
mad, you cockjuggling thundercunt! What
were you thinking!”
“Ma…”
“Don’t
you ‘Ma’ me. I should give you a good smack, for ruining the one good thing you
had going for you. You know what’s funny?”
“Well,
I heard this joke about a priest and a goat…”
smack
“Shut
up,” she continued, without missing a beat, “what’s funny is that if I ever
pulled a stunt like this, I wouldn’t hear the end of it. What? If my mother
were still alive, you’d be looking at a woman with a three inch heel sticking
out of her forehead, for giving birth to the densest bozo in town. Tell me what
happened.”
I
sighed.
“I
screwed up. As usual.”
“Ah,
self pity. Wonderful stage. You get to wallow and feel sorry for yourself, and
console yourself with chocolate ice-cream.”
Smack
“What
the hell happened?”
It
didn’t take me all that long to tell her the main points.
“Oh,
where does this guy live? I got a three inch heel with his name on it. What a
piece of work.”
“Yeah…”
“Still,
it does confirm what I actually already knew…”
“What’s
that?”
I
held up my hands in case she wanted to smack me in the head some more, but she
smiled.
“That
you’re a good kid. An incredibly stupid one, but that’s part of my gene pool,
so I can’t really trash you about it. So what are you gonna do?”
I
shrugged.
“Did
you call Ross?”
Only
about a thousand times.
“Yeah,
he doesn’t wanna talk to me.”
“Gee,
I wonder why.”
She
ruffed up my hair affectionately.
“Sorry.
Okay, so you’re one hundred percent sure that nothing happened between you and
that guy?”
“Oh
come on, Ma. I may be the densest bozo in town but you know better than that. I
love Ross. That jackass doctored those pictures to make it look like something
that didn’t happen.”
“Did
you tell Ross that?”
I
nodded.
“Yeah,
but it’s not about that. I think he actually does believe that part. It’s about
me lying to him, and continuing to see Kyle after making a promise not to do
that. They warned me about Kyle, a gazillion times. I just thought he wasn’t
the guy they were making him out to be. I was wrong.”
“Tell
him that!”
“No
Ma, it’s over. The sooner you accept that, the better. I have. Well, not
entirely but when Ross doesn’t want to even speak to me, what use is there in
waiting? He won’t come around, I know that much. So, I think I’m skipping town
for a while. I got some opportunities…”
“Skipping
town?” she echoed, her eyes widening. “What… Mark…”
“I
have a few offers from Canada. Some producer called me about a new TV-show. I
was thinking of heading up to Vancouver and see if that’s something I can do.”
“Vancouver?
Christ kid, if you wanna see Santa, buy a Hallmark card. You don’t have to
actually go live with the guy.”
“Mom…”
“I
know, I know, I’m just trying to get my head around the idea. How long would
you be gone?”
I
winced a little, not daring to look her in the eye.
“Umm,
that would be… umm… like per-cough-ma-cough-nent.”
Her
hand came up and I got out of the way before it connected.
“Exactly
like your dad!”
“Listen
Ma, if the job is great, why not move there? This could be my big break!”
“I
got a big break right here for ya,” she growled, picking up a decorative
rolling pin.
“Please
wait, dear. At least until I’m done,” a familiar voice spoke up behind me.
Great.
Just what I needed.
Sofia
Forester.
CHAPTER 46
“You
going to tear into me as well? Whack me over the head some more? Because if you
are, I’m buying a helmet. I saw a great one on sale just the other d…”
“Quiet.”
How
the hell did she do that? Make it sound all royal and such? I wanted to say
something but when she raised a perfectly curved eyebrow, I swallowed whatever
I wanted to say.
“That’s
better. Now what is this nonsense about moving to Canada?”
“You
heard that, huh?”
“I
heard some drivel to that effect, yes. So you’re running away?”
I
spread my hands.
”What
else can I do? I tried talking to Ross. Hell, I even talked to Kyle, trying to
get him to confess that he doctored the pictures.”
“Ah
yes. Kyle. You’ll leave him to me. I have some…unfinished business with him. He
won’t be any trouble before long. Meanwhile, you going away is not helping
matters. You need to stay here. You will stay here.”
That
tone again and a gesture with her hand.
“Whatta,
you thinka you’re some kind of Jedi, waving your hand arounda lika that?” I said,
copying a line straight out of the movies. “Don’t boss me around, Sofia. You
know better than that.”
She
smiled.
“Still
the joker, I see. Yes. Like I said; you will stay. We’re going to clean up this
mess you made of things and then you will give my son back his heart. According
to him, you still have it.”
I
felt a flutter in my lower belly.
“He
said that?”
“Yes.
Mind you, he was roaring drunk at the time…”
Ross?
Drunk? He never drank that much.
“How
is he?”
“He’s
fine. If working eighty hours a week constitutes for ‘fine’, that is. What were
you thinking, Mark? Did anything we told you about Kyle, even find a way to
your ears? I told you he couldn’t be trusted. Ross told you the same thing.
Several times, if I recall.”
“There’s
nothing you can say I haven’t already heard, or told myself, Sofia. It’s my
fault. I know that. But I have no idea of how to fix it. I got him fired, but
that was just a small victory.”
“Yes,
I know.”
“And
I quit.”
“I
know.”
“Is
there anything you don’t know?” I asked, rolling my eyes.
“No.
I know everything.”
She
smiled.
“But
I need something from you. Two things.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll
need those pictures and I need your promise, not to leave Denver.”
“Sure,
for the first, hell no for the second. I did okay, but I’m not as loaded
as you people. I have to work for a living.”
“I
see. Fine. Then at least tell me where you are when you get there. Can you do
that?”
“Sure.
I’ll tell Ma, when I get there, and she’ll contact you. What are you going to
do?”
“Don’t
you worry about that. You just be ready to grovel through the dust, when the
time comes.”
“Grovel?
Sofia, I will eat said dust, if that’s what it takes.”
“Good.
I’ll take those pictures now, if it’s not too much trouble. I’m running late as
it is.”
I
got the envelope for her and handed it over. She took a peak inside and raised
an eyebrow. I blushed.
“It’s
not what it looks like.”
“That
also depends on who’s doing the looking. You can’t blame Ross for reacting the
way he did. But it was lying to him that broke his heart. So I will make you a
promise as well. If this works, and I am quite sure that it will, then it’s a
one strike, you’re out. I will make your life a living hell if I ever catch you
lying to Ross again. Understood?”
I
wanted to crack another joke but the look in her eyes was dead serious. I
swallowed and nodded.
“Yes
ma’m. Understood.
CHAPTER
47
I
missed Ross. Terribly.
It had been two months since the
break-up and I felt even worse then after it had just happened. I couldn’t stop
thinking about him; what he was doing now, and with whom. According to Sofia,
he'd buried himself in work, which was what I was doing as well, these days.
I arrived at the production offices of
the new SciFi TV-show “Star Crossed” in Vancouver about a month ago, and they'd
been piling the work on me ever since. And I didn't mind; it kept my thoughts
away from Ross, except when I was listening to the slowly but surely developing
theme. As I was doing now.
“Stop it, you fool,” I chastised
myself, hissing the words softly.
It was driving me insane to even think
about Ross, especially during this section, with the gentle strings; I pushed
the volume up a little. It was a love-theme, written for the main character and
an alien woman. The mental picture that came with it was almost too much to bear.
Writing this was kind of a sweet pain.
Every time I closed my eyes to listen, I saw Ross and me together, instead of
the duo on-screen. Heck, even when I blinked, all I could see were a pair of
stormy grey eyes, darkened by desire and lust. Well, at least I wasn’t seeing
him on every street anymore. Not to mention the very embarrassing grabbing of a
total strangers’ arm, thinking it was Ross. That had been a particularly nasty
day.
Nights were the worst, though. Then he
haunted me in my dreams, naked and seductive, turning me on more and more, and
I would wake up with my arms tight around a pillow and excited beyond belief.
Or nightmares, where I was running after him and he stayed out of reach. Then
Kyle would come and grab my hand, who then dragged me to his lair, laughing
maniacally. I usually woke up sweating, then. How sad was that, huh?
I never imagined it getting this bad.
In the US, I'd felt bad but out here, without anyone real to talk to...
Yes, I felt sorry for myself. Maybe I
got what I had coming, I wasn't contesting any of that; I just wish I would
stop feeling this way. Enough was enough!
**********
The fun thing about this show was the
budget. Normally, for a pilot, a network reserves about two million, but this
being a science fiction show, with special effects and all the works, that
budget had been doubled upon review of the first episode, the pilot. The
network had been very involved in the production from day 1, and I had to say;
it showed.
I usually got the untreated scenes to
work with, scenes to write a temp track to, but occasionally I got to see a
fully developed reel and those were amazing and it really helped with getting a
feel of what they were trying to do.
The first theme I wrote was for the
antagonists on the show, a bunch of ruthless aliens of the lizard kind.
Developing it came kind of easy; I felt like shit and it poured into the theme
like hot metal. Lots of drums, metallic tones, deep wooden sounds, a bit exotic
but definitely evil. Still, when I listened to it, I couldn't really believe
I'd written it, but the shows' producer loved it from the first few seconds he
heard.
The second one I wrote was the
love-theme. Ethereal, flighty and a bit on the emotional side; I wrote it the
day I thought I'd finally had gotten Ross out of my system. I hadn't, of
course, but still; when the first episode had been completed, the entire cast
and crew got to see it and these days, half of them were humming it whenever I
walked past. It did bring a smile on my face these days.
And as the show developed, and got a
full season order, I gradually started to feel better. I still wasn't over Ross
and I didn't think I'd ever really get over him, but I came to terms with it.
I could listen to the themes now
without shooting up in silence; I could make variations of them without feeling
like I was tearing it all apart, all over again. I started to come alive again,
so to speak, and finally felt like I was going to be okay. Until half a minute
ago.
I'd been called into a meeting with
several producers, a network executive and an outside party, and I had no idea
why. Something about a spin-off or so I'd heard on the lot. So I went to the
production-offices, waiting outside the exec's office until I was called in.
When his secretary finally told me I
could go in, half an hour had gone by. She held the door open for me,
announcing me by name, and I stepped inside.
That's as far as I got. I froze
instantly when across the room, a pair of stormy grey eyes met mine.
CHAPTER 48
Events are now told from Ross's point of view.
“Where is he, Gloria. Tell me. Now.”
“Now you be a good boy and say
‘please’, honey,” Gloria replied, a corner of her mouth turning upwards.
“Please?” I sighed, impatiently raking
a hand through my hair. “Just tell me where he is. I need to talk to him.”
“Why do you wanna know? To yank him a
second asshole?”
I had a few ideas for that area, but
yanking wasn’t what I had in mind.
“Let’s see,” I said, holding up my
fingers. “One; I love him. Two; I love him. Three; did I tell you that I love
him?”
“Canada. Vancouver. And stop making a
fool of yourself; people are watching.”
I could care less. Canada. What the
hell was he doing in Canada! Oh no… had he met someone else? I guess she read
it on my face.
“No, you big baby, it’s not another
guy; it’s just work. Some TV-series he’s working on.”
She’d scribbled something on an order
block and handed it to me.
“That’s the name of the TV-show. I
guess you can take it from there?”
I nodded. Shouldn’t be too hard to
contact the studio and find out where Mark stayed. He was on their payroll, I
gathered.
“Thanks… I…”
“What are you gonna do, hon?”
“Get him back.”
She grinned.
“You go, girl!”
I frowned when she said it Oprah-style.
“Yeah, that sounded kinda weird, but I
always wanted to see how it felt. Sorry. Won’t happen again.”
I snickered.
“Right. Would you mind if I…”
I thumbed over my shoulder. She waved
her hand.
“Go, go! Get outa here. Go get my kid.
Give him a whack over the head from me.”
**********
Finding out where exactly Mark was
wasn’t as easy as I thought. The network was pretty tightlipped about their new
show. So I tried a different approach, when I was stonewalled by the twelfth
secretary I spoke to. I beeped Janice.
“Janice? Could you get me Michael Black
in Las Vegas, please?”
About half a minute later, she
connected me with him.
“Michael, it’s Ross. Fine, and you?
How’s the Mrs? Oh, he’s fine? Surfing? Where? Christ! When did he take that up? Desert surfing… that actually
exists? He’ll break his neck, one day.”
I grinned when he told me he’d
forbidden J.J. from doing it, which had resulted in a few silent days. J.J.
knew exactly how to handle my strong willed friend.
“Yeah, actually, that’s why I’m
calling. We umm, we broke up. Yeah, it’s a big misunderstanding on my part, so
I’m about to grovel. Yeah, tell me about it. Anyway, he’s working up in Canada,
for one of the networks and they’re stonewalling me. I can’t get through. SciFi
channel. Ahuh. You do? Great! Could you… aww, thanks man, I owe you one.”
Fifteen minutes later, I received a
call from SciFi and this time, they were more than happy to give me the
information I sought. If there was anything else they could help me with? Hmm…
“This TV-show… the demographic is young
teens, correct?”
Yes, it was.
“Then perhaps I should speak to someone
from Marketing, because I just got an idea. What if we were to develop a game
at the same time?”
They had indeed thought about it but
not really given it a lot of thought. The main focus was on the show.
“Alright, well…tell you what; let’s
schedule a meeting. Throw some ideas around. And I’d like Mr. Norcross to sit
in on that meeting. He scored our last game and it’s been a huge success. I’m
sure he has some ideas. But don’t tell him I’m coming. I want that to be a
surprise.”
This way, he had to see me, if he
wanted to or not. This could actually work! I’d get Mark back and maybe get a
lead into a very lucrative market.
But
I was hoping for just one of the two.