A pause, then: “Start at the beginning.”
I fill Margie in on everything, from my taunting Jack about needing the wall fixed so I could bring someone home (and him not caring) to Jack cleaning my apartment at some point between the time he climbed back through The Hole and me waking up this morning.
“He thought Lucas was attacking you and forcing you to—” Margie repeats it slowly, as if not quite believing what she’s hearing. “And then he decided to just…fucking Kool-Aid Man his way through the wall?”
“Margie. No joke. Exactly that.”
“Well, they’ve cancelled today’s shoot because of Lucas. No one—besides me, now—knows exactly what happened to him, except that he spent the better part of the night in the ER. I hope he’s not out of commission. The show can’t really keep going without the titular character.”
“Oh God. Margie, I’m so sorry…” The horror in my tone does nothing to capture what I feel. If I killed Margie’s big break through my own stupidity, I’ll never forgive myself.
“Let me call you back. I need to call… I need to call a shit ton of people. Bye.”
The sunshine and the brilliant sky somehow make me feel worse about everything. Yesterday’s rain would’ve suited today’s mood perfectly. I’m almost grateful when I get past my work building’s bright lobby and up to the mahogany confines of the Evadon offices.
I make myself some terrible coffee, needing the additional caffeine, and wind my way past the cubicle maze, throwing my headset on and resigning myself to hours of conference calls and sedentary blah-ness.
We make some progress on the global project, mainly because Anthony is on “holiday” for three weeks. But even that isn’t enough to lift my spirits.
I text Margie and ask if she has an address for Lucas.
She texts back:
Why? Want to finish the job? Make sure to hold the pillow down over his face way past the point when he stops moving. He might be faking. He’s a good actor.
Funny. Can you help or not?
She texts back an address, and I order some flowers and a get-well balloon. At the last moment, I splurge and add a corny teddy bear holding a sign that reads “I feel crappy when you ain’t happy.”
I sit back, gnawing at my lip, and then pick up my cell, dialing Lucas’s number.
“Hello?” His voice sounds garbled through the phone.
“Lucas, it’s Penelope. I am so sorry. I can’t believe this happened. How are you? What have the doctors said?”
“Who— Oh. Penny.”
“Yes, I— I wanted to see how you’re feeling.”
“Broken jaw. Wired shut. Sprained wrist.” He says it through gritted teeth, and it comes out mumbled and stunted and barely intelligible. “That. Fucking. Asshole.”
“He thought he was protecting me, and…” I trail off, thinking that maybe reminding Lucas that he fell through The Hole himself isn’t the best thing to do when apologizing.
“Why was there a hole in your wall?”
“It’s a long and wild story…” And then I amplify my crazy by wobbling my head like I’m in an old talkie film and affecting a Bette Davis kind of voice. “Maybe I can…tell it to you over a smoothie, handsome?” I smile weakly, cursing my babble. “A smoothie… Because the jaw…”
I clear my throat. “Anyway, he jumped through and… I just feel awful about this, Lucas. Truly. I know Margie’s upset, too. What can I do? Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Stay. Away.”
I swallow, blinking back tears.
“Ah. Okay, then. I— I’m sorry.”
“Wait,” he grits out, but I end the call. He doesn’t try me back.
I’m sweating, and my breathing is rough. I’m having a hard time keeping the waterworks at bay.
