THE NEW OLD, BUT NOT THE SAME OLD
Summary: Eliza and Henry are talking about Corynn McWatters and about being 'cool'. Eliza is in #TeamFreddy. Based on events from the premature-final episode 1x13 (sob). This story would go immediately after 1x13 and before the mythical and non-existent 1x14. This story stands alone and does not depend or follow upon any of my previous stories. Rated-T with some coarse language; Heliza-friendship + some humor + minor angst.
Chapter 1 of 2 : A Burn on Corynn
Like clockwork, the alarm on her desktop and her iPhone sounded simultaneously. The accompanying message was spoken with a serious voice, each word spoken carefully with a trace of lighthearted exasperation: "It's time for your midday sustenance."
The tall redhead had been thrilled her work colleague and friend provided the voiceover. After all, lunch was a special thing they did together. Sometimes they'd have lunch in the breakroom; sometimes, others would join them. But mostly, the two would break bread in his office where she especially cherished their workday ritual.
Armed with her granola bar and an open can of Diet Pepsi, the woman got up from her desk, and walked the short distance to her destination. She knocked on the open door a couple of times before she poked her head inside. "Hey ..."
The smartly-dressed dark-haired man looked up from a set of documents, a smile on his face when he saw who it was at the door.
"Hi! I was just done with my report; great timing! I have to retrieve my lunch from the fridge in the breakroom. Please have a seat, and I'll be right back ..."
While she waited, Eliza munched on her granola while checking and going through her rounds of social media. Other than uttering the occasional "what?!" at something outrageous on Twitter, she didn't notice Henry pulling in beside her to her left on the leather sofa. Today, he brought grilled chicken with a side of rice and beans. And nary a single green leaf in sight, he thought. I wonder what she'll make of that ...
He rolled up his sleeves, careful especially to lift the right sleeve over the cast on his lower arm. In between bites, he watched her for a full five minutes until she noticed the quiet in the room, and finally sensed his gaze.
She looked up from her iPhone and found him looking at her with an amused gaze. "Oh hi."
"Hi." He lifted a forkful of chicken into his mouth.
"Is there something on my face? Or is it you simply can't stop staring at my symmetrical features?"
"Nooooo! Yeesssss! Nooooo! ... seriously though, I've been thinking ..."
"Careful, Henry; I wouldn't want your head to explode ..." She took a big sip of her drink.
"I was thinking about Corynn McWatters ..."
"Ppppfthtthththtthth ..." she choked and spit out an impressive spray, wiping her mouth with the top of her wrist. "Aahhhhh! That ass-bitch whose name we agreed we would never speak out loud again?"
He handed a paper napkin to her, before grabbing one for himself, and began dabbing at his dress-shirt.
"Sorry ..." she said sheepishly with an apologetic shrug.
"`S okay. You know what though, Eliza? I should've let you jump her ..."
"Aha! Knew it!" She pointed her index finger at him for emphasis, the napkin balled in her hand.
"Yeah, you were right. She is loathsome, despite all the good things you tried to show me on social media. I suppose I could say I told you ... er ... I told me so, but still ..."
"Wait a sec ..." Something solidified in Eliza's mind. She narrowed her eyes at him. "And just how did you come by this conclusion?"
"I might've bumped into her, and ..."
"You. Bumped. Into. Her. You, Henry Higgs. Bumping into Corynn McWatters ..." She stretched the staccato into a long drawn sentence of disbelief.
"Uh, yeah?"
"Why don't I believe you?"
"By complete coincidence, I bumped into her, and ..."
"Strike two, Henry. You are a terrible liar. Would you like to try again and avoid 'strike three'?"
"Okay, okay! I might've sought her out at another book signing. Besides, I had to go all the way out into Orange County!"
"Oh no, you poor thing ..." The tone in her voice shaded heavily into mocking, leaving little room for sympathy.
"Yes, well, I survived the trip ... and the encounter."
"Tell me everything, Henry."
Corynn continued her mini-tour of a number of bookstores throughout greater Los Angeles and southern California. He had tracked her next appearance to a bookstore in Santa Ana near the junction of Interstate-5 and highway-22. He arrived and stayed in the back, in case Corynn recognized him. Hearing her 'steal' Eliza's story once again shot a piercing shot through his heart, experiencing the pain as if the story was his own. He better understood what Eliza meant by Corynn stealing that story. Eliza had worked hard to transform herself from 'most butt' to 'social media darling', someone even a young Corynn might've approved. But with Corynn using Eliza's actual "most butt" story, Eliza's transformation had felt like a complete lie, how the tormentor had stolen the tormented's story for the former's own benefit. He fumed as he listened to Corynn, and he thought about what Eliza must have gone through as a kid and into adulthood, right up to the day when Eliza attended Corynn's book-signing. He stayed to the end of her presentation, through the banality of the Q-and-A session, right up to the last person who waited in the book-signing queue. He got up from his seat, and walked to the table where Corynn sat.
"Hello. Do you remember me?"
"Yes, aren't you the guy who was with Eliza that day ... that day in the park?"
"Yes, yes I am."
"Are you here to get a signed copy of my book? I'd be more than happy to sign one for you ... " She grabbed a copy and began signing her name.
"No, thank you ..."
She looked up in surprise. "No?"
"No. I'm here to talk about Eliza."
"Is she here?"
"No, she isn't."
"Too bad: I would totally sign a copy of my book for her ..."
"You had just about everything in school, and you have just about everything now. Eliza's had to work very hard to throw off being called "most butt"; you have no idea how it's stayed with her for years. So, I don't see why you need Eliza's backstory ..."
"Isn't it obvious? I'm a famous writer with a bestseller on my hands. No one wants to hear how I was obviously the most popular girl in high school ..."
"So, let me get this straight: you're okay with stealing someone's backstory for your own gain? Don't you even get how crazy that sounds? You made Eliza's life hell back in school, and you're still making things tough on her. Can't you see the negative impact you're having? If you could just see that, perhaps you'd realize how much an apology from you would mean to her. In fact, I think your sincere apology would mean the world to her."
"I need her backstory more than she does, and no, I don't have anything to be sorry for ..."
"You're a mom with two young children. How can you think this way? How do you sleep at night? What the hell kind of mother are you?!"
"How dare you! I don't have to take that from you. No, I'm not going to apologize: not to you, or to Eliza!"
He hadn't felt this level of frustration in a very long time. The growing headache was the proverbial 'banging head against a brick wall.' "Well then, I guess there's nothing left to say ..."
He walked away as Corynn got in a last jab. "With you here, it's confirmed what I've always known. Eliza was never able to stand up for herself. It's the same now; so she has some lackey come and defend her. She was nobody in school, and that's all she'll ever be: a nobody."
Henry stopped in his tracks, turned around, and walked back to her.
He quickly gave her his best grin. "You're amazing ..."
She smiled in return, partly out of confusion, and partly because she believed she was right. "Why, thank ..."
His smile disappeared just as quickly. "... I'm not done yet."
Her face fell, suddenly realizing the bottom being yanked out from underneath.
Henry sprung his trap. "You're married, you have a family, you have a farmhouse in France, and you now have a successful book. And yet, you cannot realize your own self-worth without having to lay into Eliza: a lonely well-meaning girl who did nothing to you, and who still has done nothing to you. That says more about you than anything else."
She wilted at this, and was about to reply when he put up his hand.
"And for the record, Corynn: Eliza Dooley was a somebody, she always was, and she always will be. She's my friend and she's very special to me."
He reached inside his shirt pocket and laid a card on the table in front of her. "Here's how you can reach us at work. If I were you, I'd make that call and soon." Without another word, he turned and walked out the door.
Eliza looked visibly moved, tears beginning to pool at the corner of her eyes.
Henry finished the story. "I told her in clear terms that she owed you an apology. It won't make up for the years of hell she put you through, but I think it would offer some measure of closure."
"You know, I don't know if I should be pissed because you did this behind my back, or if I should be grateful because you did this for me ..." Her voice was a touch on the watery side.
"Look, Eliza, I was unhappy at the way Corynn still seems to have her hooks and claws in your life. And honestly, I'm annoyed she hasn't apologized. So yes, I went out of my way, and did something about it. I think ... it's high time you got some fairness and she owes some of her success to you, because she used your story. And uh, so that we're both clear on the matter? I vote for 'grateful' ..."
"Hmmm, maybe ..." Her grudging tone was in stark contrast with how visibly touched she was by his effort. "How is she going to get a hold of me? She doesn't have any contact info ..."
"I left my business card with her, and if she wants to reach you, she can call reception. If Charmonique is on duty, you and she can decide what to do if Corynn calls. If she ever will ..."
"Knowing Charmonique, she'll likely take the bitch down ..."
"Yeah, probably ..."
"Thank you, Henry."
"You're not angry with me?"
"A little ... next time, a little heads-up? So I can ... we can go take the bitch down ... together?"
Henry chuckled with obvious relief. "Okay. I can do that. We can do that. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about me ambushing Corynn."
"Impressive, though, is how you got all stalkerish on her. I am a little pissed I didn't get to see you burn Corynn McWatters again! I would've brought popcorn for the spectacle!"
"I guess when you put it that way ... it was epic ..."
She laughed. "Anyways, I never realized until recently a little closure could be a good thing. But you've reminded me I don't need anyone to tell me how to think or what to do. So even if Corynn never apologizes, I'm okay with that; I'm really okay. Thank you though; that was like, so totes sweet of you." Eliza smiled at him warmly. "Hey, that reminds me ... what happened when I left the bookstore that night? I was halfway home when I realized you weren't with me."
He gave her a small side-grin. "After you walked off with a head full of steam, I stayed behind and chatted with the bookstore's security guard."
"What did he have to say? "
"He said when he was young, he pretended his dad invented Velcro ..." He chuckled, and so did she. "I told him I pretended to be good at skateboarding so I could look cool. Then he said I wasn't cool." He was a grown man, and yet, those three words still hurt a little, transporting him years back to his own 'experiences' in grade- and high-school.
"What did you say to that?"
"I said I wasn't cool and I never was. But you are."
"Awwww, Henry-y-y-y-y-y ..."
"Mock me all you want, Eliza, because I know you have and you always will. And that's okay, because you're one of the most aggravating and yet coolest people I've ever known, one whom I have the greatest pleasure of calling 'friend'."
She emitted a soft squeal, and lifted her 'phone hand' onto her heart.
"Eliza ..." He wrapped her hands in his. "I'm not joking. It's the truth."
"It's not entirely the truth ..."
"What do you mean?"
"Henry, we aren't just friends." She squeezed his hands. "We're best friends ... " And when I look at you sometimes, I think we could be so much more ...
"Yes, Eliza; we are ..." Henry didn't dare look too deeply at how true that was, especially where his feelings were concerned.
"Besides, Henry, you're so much cooler with me around."
"Does this mean I can't be cool on my own?"
That was too easy to pass up. "Absolutely not. You're no longer an 'old-timey long-sleeved bathing costume'; you're a turn-of-the- century-suit ... with a top hat."
"I guess that's an improvement ..."
"You're getting there, Henry. And with my help, you might actually survive the rest of the 20th-century, and arrive safely with the rest of us into the 21st ..."
"You're ... hilarious. Well ... I suppose I walked myself into that one ..."
"Yup, you kinda did ..."
"Huh ..."
"And not to belabor the point, Henry, but ... uh ... in the bookstore? You totally jumped me ..."
"I was trying to get you to stop talking!"
"A simple 'shut it' would have been enough ..."
"Are you kidding ... you were on a full hate-on-Corynn roll ... I made a snap decision ... "
"... aaaaand ...?"
"... And ... yes, well ... I jumped you ..."
And here's where she sprung her trap. "I hope it was as good for you, as it was for me ..."
"Whaaaa ... Eliza!" Henry looked suitably scandalized, which was of course her entire point.
"J.K., Henry, J.K..."
Henry had been down this road many times before. "Soooo, Eliza ... was it good?
Confused, she scrunched her eyebrows. "Was what good?"
"Was it good for you too?" He looked boldly between her eyes and her mouth.
Sometimes he could surprise her. Like, hello! Like right now, with that smolder and innuendo? Jesus!