Brooklyn Monroe Wants It All by Karen Booth

Chapter Twenty-Five

It turnedout that the weather did end up messing with Alec’s Thanksgiving trip, but not in the way he’d first thought. His Sunday afternoon flight home was delayed due to a freak early-season snowstorm marching east across the U.S. He’d stupidly forgotten to check his flight status or the forecast before going to the airport and returning his rental car. He supposed he’d been too eager to get home and finally settle things.

He called Brooklyn when his scheduled arrival time was moved for the fifth time and he knew he was going to be incredibly late.

“Hey, you,” she said when she answered. “Where are you?”

“The airport. My flight is delayed. This storm looks nuts.”

“I know. I’m so glad we took tomorrow off, too. They’re saying we could get six inches, and you know how the city gets when it snows. Everyone loses their mind.”

In the background, he heard voices. “Where are you?”

“Since we already weren’t working tomorrow, Virginia invited my mom and I over. We’re having a glass of wine and talking and playing Candyland with Dallas.”

“Wine?”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I’m having seltzer. I have not gotten my period.”

Alec’s heart nearly went into palpitations. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I wish I had an answer.”

“Okay. Well, I’m not going to get in until super late. Can I see you after my meeting with the network tomorrow? I should be done by ten. If we’re getting snow in the city, it looks like it won’t hit until noon.”

“Sure. I’ll meet you at your house at eleven?”

“I might need a nap, but that sounds fantastic. I really want to talk.”

“Ant Bwookwyn, it’s your turn!” It was easy to identify Dallas’s voice, even when he wasn’t on the call.

“Sorry. I should run,” Brooklyn said.

“Tell everyone I say hello. See you tomorrow.”

“Safe travels.”

As he’d anticipated, he landed in the wee hours Monday morning at JFK after being rerouted from LaGuardia. He checked his phone as soon as he could take it out of airplane mode. He was waiting on a return text or call from his agent, Olivia. He’d promised he wouldn’t leave her with her dick in her hand, and he intended to hold up his end of the bargain. But it was only going to work if she got back to him in time.

The network sent a car to pick him up, but there was no real time for him to go back to his house, so they headed straight to the Good Day studio. Outside, it was cold and still pitch dark, and he tried to grab some sleep, but he couldn’t quiet his mind. So with his eyes wide open and his head resting against the car window, he watched the city go by.

It was eerily quiet when he arrived at the studio. It would be a good half hour until it would really get buzzing. This was the first time he’d ever caught the actual changing of the guard, when the overnight security team left, and Maddie and Jerome took over.

“Good morning, Mr. Trakas,” Maddie said, chipper as ever. “You’re here early.”

“Morning,” Alec said. “Long day of travel, but I’m here, even on no sleep.”

Jerome slid Alec a sympathetic glance. “You and me both. Our new baby is beautiful, but she’s eating every two hours. It’s a miracle I can stand up. Thank you for the gift, by the way. You’ll probably get a real thank you card in six months when we’re all sleeping better.”

“Please don’t worry about that. I do not need a thank you card,” Alec said. “And you’re welcome.”

Alec made it down to his dressing room and fought the urge to curl up on the couch. He knew he’d just be groggy. Luckily, one of the production assistants had spotted him and brought him a big cup of coffee. “You are a saint,” Alec said, inhaling the comfortable aroma.

“No problem, Mr. Trakas. See you on set.”

A pair of surprising faces appeared in his doorway fifteen minutes later—Tilly Ann and Renata. They never came to see him outside of the set. Most mornings, they didn’t talk to him at all until the cameras were rolling. “Can we steal you for a minute before we head into makeup?” Tilly Ann asked.

“Yeah. Of course.” Alec got up from his chair and offered it to her. Then motioned for Renata to take a seat on the sofa.

“We can stand,” Renata said. “We aren’t going to make this a big thing. We just felt like we needed to say something.”

“About?”

“We know you’re leaving,” Tilly Ann said. “Everyone’s talking about it. And I suppose it’s not a big shock. That Barry Millner interview you did was spectacular.”

“It was,” Renata said.

“I’m sorry you two had to hear about it through gossip. I was planning to talk to you once the contract was sewn up.” Or, at this point, if it was sewn up. “I’m actually waiting to hear from my agent so we can talk about it.”

“We just want to say that we understand why you might want to move on to greener pastures, but we’re still going to miss you when you leave,” Renata said.

“You are?” He was legitimately surprised. Renata and Tilly Ann were so close, and he’d always felt like the odd man out.

“Of course we are. You’re a total pro. And we’ll be sorry to see you go. But we get it.” Tilly Ann looked over at Renata and they both nodded. “You know, I tried to get my own talk show once. The network turned me down after months of back and forth. They made me think I had it, and then boom, nothing.”

Alec then remembered what Tilly Ann had mentioned at the Lavaman premiere. “You warned me about that. The bait and switch.”

“Exactly.”

“I was stupid enough to think I could vie for a nightly anchor spot,” Renata said. “But nope. They held that carrot in front of my face for almost a year. Then they yanked it back at the last minute.”

“Kudos to you for getting this far,” Tilly Ann said.

Hearing that Tilly Ann and Renata had similar aspirations, and that they hadn’t worked out, only made him feel more at peace with what he already knew in his heart. “I really appreciate this. Both of you. So much.”

“We’ll see you on set in a bit,” Renata said as they both wandered out the door.

Alec was on his way into the hall when he finally got a text back from Olivia. Or, as it turned out, Olivia’s phone. This is Olivia’s husband. She had to get an emergency root canal. She’s still planning on meeting you at 8:30. Can’t talk before then.

Alec had his answer for now. He was just going to have to sort this out after his stint on the show.

Between his surprisingly kind conversation with Tilly Ann and Renata and the sense that everything in his life was about to change, Alec found himself feeling quite melancholy while he worked his way through segments on topics like Ten Tailgating Must-Haves and a viral video about an adorable sleepy owl. But much of the show that morning was about the storm, putting Wesley, with his perfect mid-twenties face and two percent body fat, at center stage. It was a lot for new on-air talent to deal with, especially since Wesley was expected to take over from Alec at 8:30. He was getting serious coaching from the production team during the commercials.

When it was time to pass the baton, Alec made a point of shaking Wesley’s hand. “I’d wish you good luck, but you’re a natural. You’re going to do great.”

“I’ve got some big shoes to fill, but I’m a fast learner.” Wesley grinned wide with his ultra-white teeth.

“What’s the latest on the storm?” Alec asked in parting.

“Looks like it’s going to be a doozy. If I were you, I’d head home and hunker down.”

Alec wasn’t quite sure how that was going to play into his day. A lot of things had to fall into place, and the weather had the possibility of disrupting it all. “Good to know. Thanks.”

He rushed down the hall, spotting Olivia outside his dressing room. Her cheeks were puffy and swollen, and quite frankly, she looked miserable. “Are you sure you should be here for this?” he asked, opening the door for her. “Can I get you anything? An ice pack? Something to drink?” A boatload of Advil?

She shook her head. “I’m fine.” It sounded a little like “I’b fide”, but Alec ignored that. Like all good agents, Olivia was pretty indestructible.

“Okay. Well, have a seat.”

“I have a feeling you’re going to screw me, Alec, and I’m not a delicate flower, so I’ll stand for the screwing if that’s okay with you.”

He did appreciate that Olivia was direct. “Okay. Sure. Well…”

“Look, I just endured two hours of a guy with his hands in my mouth. I have had a million clients tell me shit I did not want to hear. You’re not inventing the wheel here. Just spit it out.”

“I can’t take the job in news.”

“Can’t? Or won’t?”

“Is there a difference?”

“There is when I’m trying to smooth things over with the network. I do have other clients, you know.”

Alec drew in a deep breath through his nose, battling guilt and doubt, the emotions that seemed to follow him everywhere. He’d known this was going to be a difficult conversation. And he had to power through it. “Okay, fine. I won’t take the job. Some very important things have come up in my personal life. Things that aren’t compatible with that sort of schedule. I’m incredibly sorry, and I’ll do whatever I have to do to make this right, but I will not be signing a contract for the news division. I’ll be staying on with Good Day. We’ll just move forward like none of this happened.”

“Well, that’s going to be a problem. Because right after we go upstairs and they don’t quite give you everything you want, they’re going to tell you that they already have your replacement. And they’re ready for him to start January 1.”

Alec felt like he’d been stabbed in the heart. “Wesley?”

“The pretty weather guy himself.”

Of course.Tilly Ann and Renata must have known all along what was going to happen. Everyone’s talking about it. That was why they’d come to his dressing room a few hours ago. “Are you serious right now?”

“Dead serious.”

“Did they tell you this directly?”

“I started hearing rumblings over the weekend. But then I stopped and talked to Maddie and Jerome in security. You should chat them up. They literally know everything that happens here.”

Alec shook his head in dismay. He’d just talked to Maddie and Jerome. Neither of them let on about a thing. Traitors. He expected this kind of betrayal from Jerome, but Maddie?

“I also got a text from Georgia Carle’s assistant saying she wasn’t going to be at the meeting,” Olivia continued. “They always make the underlings do this sort of thing.”

“Can the network just get rid of me like that?”

“They can do whatever the hell they want. That’s why you need a pit bull like me for an agent.”

“What about my contract?”

“They’ll buy you out. Believe me, the network sneezes and millions of dollars come out. It’s nothing to them. Nothing.”

“So what do I do?”

“Well, the good news for you is that they have no idea you and I just had this conversation. So everything you were thinking about over Thanksgiving? The important things that have come up in your personal life? You might want to mull all of that over one more time before you’re out of a job.” She pulled her phone out of her handbag. “You have seven minutes.”

Alec’s stomach sank. He’d just gone from being the guy with too many professional options, to the guy who had none.

“No pressure, Alec.” Olivia patted him on the shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll do the right thing.”