by Nia Arthurs
I glanced at Drew’s face again. He didn’t look impressed.
Finally, Lysani conquered the enemy and vanquished him with her strong tail before shifting back into her regular form. The teenager’s short brown hair and cocoa colored skin returned to her dress of light battle gear. After a short dialogue with her friends, the episode ended.
I turned to Drew.
“So,” I said lightly, shifting between nervousness and insecurity, “What did you think?”
He sucked in a deep breath and I cringed.
Drew hated it. He absolutely hated it.
I didn’t care.
So why was my heart beating out of my chest?
CHAPTER NINE
Drew stretched his arms above his head, his lips in a thin line.
Were his lips always in a thin line? Did most white guys have thin lips?
“Well,” He began and I leaned closer. “That was…” I nearly fell off the sofa as I threw my weight forward, “really good.”
Whoo!
In my exuberance, I threw my arms in the air and tumbled to the floor.
“Oh my gosh, are you okay?”
I got up quickly and shoved my hair away from my face. “I’m fine. I promise, I’m not usually this clumsy.”
“I’m sure you’re not.” He grinned, “But yeah, I really liked it.”
I felt excitement building in my gut and my heart returned to its normal pace.
I wasn’t that worried. I know my work is good.
“Well,” I added, trying to be humble, “I can still work on the in-between animation.”
He glanced at me like I’d grown two heads.
“The in-between animation is like extra movements and backgrounds that allow the scenes to flow.”
I’d lost him. I could see it in the glazing over of his eyes.
I laughed, “Think of the anime production like a comic book. Wait a minute,” I held up a finger in command and rushed to my bedroom to produce my rather pathetic sketches of Lysani. “This is called the key animation.”
There were sketches of Lysani transforming into various creatures and fighting against humans, aliens, and other beasts.
“I’m not very good.” I admitted, “But these scenes are like images in a comic book. They only show the key pictures, the ones that explain what’s going on in that particular moment.”
He nodded, slowly as understanding bled into his eyes.
“That’s the key animation.” He repeated, regarding my sketches with a new light.
“Right. But an anime is more than the key scenes. The in-between scenes are just as important. When Lysani is walking from one place to another or when she’s talking or sneezing or blinking, I need to have a drawing for that.” I flipped the page and revealed some more atrocious squiggles that, when one squinted their eyes and tilted their head, resembled the magical girl on my laptop.
“You do this all by yourself?”
Drew seemed particularly taken with that fact.
“Yes,” I smiled, “But I have to admit, the software and programming offered today makes it ten times easier for chumps like me who can’t draw to produce their own anime.”
Drew turned his waist so that his body was completely toward me. Now his face was anything but expressionless.
“I can’t believe you told me that you can’t write. That episode was really interesting. And the way she acted with the boy… what was his name again?”
“Satuhi.” I grinned.
“Him. That was funny.” Drew chuckled.
“Yeah, they’re cute together.”
“Why do we need a team down at the station? You’re capable of producing these shows all by yourself.” Drew quipped.
My eyes widened. “Ha! Oh no. I have a ton of other stuff to do. I can’t keep up with the Channel Six cartoon every week.”
He frowned and then accepted my response. “I guess you have a point. That means we’ll need to hire writers and in-between animators. Is that what they’re called?” I nodded and he continued, “So that you can focus on the key animation. It’s a little different from creating a video game but I think we can work it out.”
“Great!” I stood and he followed my lead. “Sounds like a plan.”
“When do you want to set up the meeting with Sharon?”
I touched a finger to my lip in thought. “How about Friday. I have this deadline on Thursday that I’ve got to meet.”
“Sure.” Drew nodded in understanding and stood to leave. “I’ll set it up.”
“Thanks for the burgers.” I mentioned as I opened the door.
Drew stopped in front of me and grinned, “Thanks for the company.”
I leaned my head against the door as he turned to walk away.
“Hey, Darcy?”
He whirled around. “Yeah?”
I smiled, “You’re okay.”
He dipped his head. “Thanks, Reyes.”
He winked and then continued down the hallway.
On Thursday afternoon, Melody called to meet up for lunch. I’d finished up my client’s code and only needed to email my suggestions to their office. Since my sister also sweetened the deal by offering to pay, I was ready early and Black Herbie and I trotted down the road to Senor Coconuts to get some grub.
It was another beautiful day in this beautiful country. I honestly could not imagine myself living anywhere else. Yeah, Black Herbie and I bounced down to the pits of hell every time we crashed into a pot hole and tried to climb our way out. Yeah, we had our problems with our neighbors stealing our logwood and our government selling off our preservations to fund their own pockets, but this was Belize. This was home. The coconut trees watched over me as I grew up from a baby to a teenager to a woman. The Sea saw my first period and washed away my tears after my first beer bottle cut. The sunshine anointed my first laugh and followed me all the way to New York while I studied.
And the food was to die for.
I happily spotted the green and blue painted building proudly declaring Senor Coconuts. The restaurant was tucked beside residential homes a few streets down from the sea. I parked Black Herbie, patted his dashboard to reward him for a successful drive without shutting down or stalling once and hopped out of the vehicle. I stepped forward, narrowly missing a rainwater filled pothole in the middle of the road. My black tennis shoes thanked me for my quick reflexes.
I entered the restaurant and was immediately greeted by the fragrant aroma of fried fish and stew beans. The place was filled to the brim but I spotted Melody near the back. She waved at me and I waved back, picking my way through brown tables and brown people to her table.
“Hey!” I smiled at Ally.
“Pepsi!” She grinned at me with her adorable face.
Seriously, this baby’s face could sell anything. Stick her face on vegetables and the world would see an immediate increase in vegetable purchases.
“Hey Lexi.” Melody urged me to sit and I did. I gave my sister a once over. Today, she wore a white short pants and a frilly pink blouse. Ally was dressed just like her mama except her hair wasn’t long enough to stuff into a proper messy bun. Melody was just biding her time until that day came.
“What’s up, chica.” I leaned in and stole Ally from my sister’s lap to deposit her in mine.
“I wanted to talk to you about a family trip.” Melody said.
I glanced up in surprise.
“Hello!” A cheery Latina woman shrieked.
I startled and she laughed a hyena pitched sound.
“Welcome to Senor Coconuts. Let me give you your menus.” She handed us the engraved books and bent down to play with Ally.
“Well,” The waitress said, reaching out a thick hand and pinching Ally’s cheeks. “Aren’t you just adorable?”
Ally grumbled angrily. Just as I was about to tell the lady to stop accosting my favorite niece, the baby raised her arm and slapped her soundly across the hand.
“No,” Ally scolded like a grownup, “no.
”
I withheld a snicker as a look of surprise came over our waitress’s face. She stood slowly and walked away from our table.
“High-five, Ally!” I slapped skin with my niece. “We don’t let people bully us. Nope, we don’t.”
“Really?” Melody quipped when her jaw had reattached itself to her face, “Don’t encourage her.” Mama Mel gave Ally ‘the Look’. “Alexis Grace, that was rude.”
Ally’s eyes began to water and I shot Melody a mad glare.
“Look what you made the baby do. You made her cry.” I moaned.
I gave Ally my phone to play with before she could burst into tears and make me sad.
Melody shook her head as a smile played across her lips. She was proud of Ally’s spunk. Who cared about good parenting when your baby was just naturally awesome?
“Now,” I replied to my sister when Ally was settled and happily pressing buttons on the game that I’d put on for her. “What about this family trip?”
“I wanted to go zip-lining next week at the Blue Jaguar.”
The Blue Jaguar was forty-five minutes outside of Belize City limits. It had the highest zip lining ropes in the Belize District and the coolest cave tubing floaters in the world. They were orange and inflatable and they glowed in the dark. I’d only been there once on a class trip but it was an experience I wouldn’t mind repeating.
“Why’d you come to me first?” I inquired.
“Because you’re the one that’s always too busy to come along. I wanted your agreement set in stone before I went to anybody else.”
“I’m not too busy.” I admitted, “I just feel like I’m attending a marriage retreat when I go out with you guys.”
“And that’s the second thing.” Melody grinned. “I wanted to ask if you minded if we invited Drew. Persia’s bringing her new boyfriend along too so that he and Joshua can get to know each other in the company of family and friends. You know, less pressure.”
“Well, if it’s for Persia and Josh, I don’t mind.”
“Cool.” Melody nodded, “So what do you think about Drew? He’s hot right? I mean, the guys pecs are like…” She indicated the size of his arms, “And his eyes and his hair… I love my man but Drew is a dream.”
“Melody Reyes Braden, you are married!” I gasped horrified.
Ally giggled as she continued to play quietly.
“I have eyes.” Melody defended, “And I’m not asking for me, I’m asking for you. We’re not sure what he believes yet and if you’re seriously interested in him then we’re going to have to sift out his heart. But it’s more fun to talk about how he good he looks. So, spill. What do you think about him?”
I shrugged and played with the napkin on the tabletop. “I guess he’s good looking.” I admitted, “He’s got these blue, blue eyes that are so intense. And his hair is so cute. He liked my anime.” I listed.
“You let him see your anime?”
“Yeah,” I shrugged like it was no big deal.
“Lexi, you haven’t even shown me your anime.”
“Because you’re not interested in that kind of stuff.”
“So,” Melody countered, “You didn’t even offer.”
“It’s not a big deal. So what, I showed him my anime.”
Melody grinned like a Cheshire cat. “Wow, you really like him.”
“I–”
“Hello?” I froze.
Hm, talking about Drew had me imagining his voice in my head.
“Hello?” Drew’s imaginary voice came again.
“Do you hear that?” I asked Melody.
I glanced down and gasped in horror.
“Lexi?” Drew’s voice sounded through the tiny speaker of my smart phone.
Ally laughed and pressed more buttons, putting the phone on speaker.
“Drew!” I yelled and half the restaurant gazed at our table. At that moment, the waitress arrived with the food. She slammed the plates on the table and sent Ally an evil glare.
“Hey, don’t look at my baby like that.” Melody scolded the waitress loudly.
“She shouldn’t have slapped me then.” The waitress defended.
Forgetting about Drew for the moment, I jumped into the argument.
“You were pinching the baby’s cheeks what did you expect her to do?”
“Someone pinched Ally’s cheeks?” Drew’s voice shrieked from the phone. “Where are you? Do you need me to come over there? Lexi?”
The waitress quieted.
I leaned over and whispered, “Drew, calm down. There’s no reason to come over here. I’ll explain everything later. Bye.”
“Wait-but,”
I ended the call on his protestations.
“Is there a problem here?” The owner of the restaurant quickly trotted up to our table and asked.
“Yes,” Melody explained what had happened.
Slowly, the buzz of the restaurant returned to its normal volume as the owner listened to our complaint.
“I’m sorry ma’am.” The owner apologized on behalf of her waitress. “We’ll give you another server.”
“Thank you.” Melody huffed and resumed her seat, her mama-bear mode slowly dissipating as she picked Ally up and deposited her gently into the child friendly baby high chair. Ally, completely oblivious to the hullabaloo that she had caused sang a song about Black sheep and drool.
Melody gripped the empty bowl that she had ordered from the kitchen and spooned a bit of rice and stew beans into the plate. She placed the dish in front of Ally who clapped happily and gripped the spoon in an attempt to feed herself.
I watched her as I forked my rice and beans into my mouth and I smiled. My pressure returned to normal.
Until it sped up right back again.
I grasped my phone from the table and checked the time that Ally had called Drew.
“Mel,” I started hyperventilating, “You don’t think Drew heard us discussing him, did you?”
“I’m sure he didn’t.” Melody said, tearing into her stew beef and ockro.
“What if he did?”
I strained to recall what I had said about Drew.
It came back to me with painful clarity.
I talked about how good looking he was and about his smile and his hair.
I might as well paint a sign in the sky declaring that I had a crush on him. I felt like banging my head against the table. My life was completely normal up to this point. I worked. I hung out with my family. I plotted ways to kidnap baby Ally and raise her as my own.
Why did things have to start getting complicated now?
Instead of throwing myself on the floor and erupting in the biggest adult temper tantrum this world had ever seen, I simply groaned.
“This is bad. This is so bad.”
“Relax.” Melody tried to console me as she helped Ally who was perched in the baby chair to feed herself another spoonful of rice and beans. “Maybe he didn’t hear it. And even if he did, you didn’t say that you loved him. Having a crush on someone is as common as the flu.”
“But this isn’t just someone. I have to work with him! What if things get awkward and weird?”
“Puh-lease.” Melody stopped me. “He’s a guy. If anything, his ego’s gotten a size bigger, but that’s it. Men are way cooler about stuff like this than we are. Trust me.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. This calm, cool, collected lady speaking to me was the married Melody. The single Melody would have been having a heart attack if the roles had been reversed and she’d accidentally told Spencer about her crush on him.
Hmf.
Melody fed Ally a piece of her stew beef, “Does this change the way you feel about the family trip.”
I stuck my tongue at her and covered my face with my arms.
Please God, take me now.
CHAPTER TEN
The next day, I awkwardly kept my gaze away from Drew when I stepped into the station’s elevator.
“Hey,” He spoke to me.
“Hey
,” I spoke to the floor.
“Is everything okay with Ally?”
“Yeah.”
He seemed to pick up on my reticence and said nothing more.
The elevator beeped when it slid open and I raced out of that cramped space as if my life depended on it.
Stupid cell phones. Stupid, non-baby proofed cell phones.
We trekked to the conference room and Drew’s hand brushed mine. I jumped like a skittish dog.
He glanced down at me. “Are you okay, Lexi?”
“Me?” I laughed, “I’m fine. I’m dandy. I’m swell.”
“Oh, okay.” He accepted my behavior and opened the conference door for me so that I could enter.
Mrs. Freemont was not in the conference room so when Drew locked the door, I jumped again.
“Lexi,” Drew said slowly as I rounded the table and glanced out the windows. “If this is about yesterday-”
“Yesterday? Why would this be about yesterday? Did anything weird happen yesterday?” I blurted.
“Uh, I guess not.”
I could hear the hesitation in his tone.
As awkwardness descended, the conference door popped open and Sharon stepped in. Today, she wore a piping red jacket over a white button-down blouse and a red penciled skirt. Hopefully, when I grew up I looked as put together as that lady.
Yeah, that’s probably not going to happen.
I glanced down at my own black slacks, wedge heels and cream blouse. I’d decided that since I’d already gotten the job, there was no need for me to fancy down again. Drew, on the other hand, had nothing to prove to anybody. Today, he wore a blue T-shirt with the green lantern insignia blazed on the front of it, along with knee length khakis and his ever present Vans.
“How are my two co-producers doing today?” Sharon beamed. “I hope you both have good news for me.”
“We do.” Drew cleared his throat and stood. “The first step in any process, whether it’s animation, video game designs, or cartoon shorts, is creating the story board. Lexi and I finalized the story and did a rough draft of some episodes that we’d like to pursue and I had a Belizean street artist sketch our vision.”
His phone buzzed and he placed a hand in a gesture for us to wait, “He’s right downstairs. I’ll be right back. Lexi, would you…” He swept his hand indicating that I should take over and I did so hesitantly.