A longer chapter this time, with plenty going on. So keep reading and please review...

Chapter two: The new regime

Valentine's Day:

Everything was going according to plan. Foster's first annual Valentine's Day ball had been a success. Even Frankie had a date.

But of course, the real purpose of the ball wasn't to improve her love life…

Frankie looked out the window. The rain was coming down ever harder now. Not the kind of weather that Goo would send Mac out in.

Then came the phone call she was waiting for.

"Ah, hello Goo. Why are you calling now, you left just a few minutes ag….Out of gas, really? Gosh, I'm so sorry, I can't believe I forgot to check that. Tell you what, I'll hop on the bus and drive you home…uh huh, about three miles north of Foster's., got it. Don't go anywhere…no, I guess you're not going anywhere in this weather, huh? Be right there."

"Why didn't you tell them the bus broke down, like we agreed?"

"Because, grandma, it would seem a bit suspicious if I claimed that the bus broke down before I even had a chance to try and start it! I'll call them up again in ten minutes."

"Oh yes, of course, silly me", Madame Foster giggled "You are so clever, my dear."

"I still can't believe I agreed to go along with…hey, I usually keep these CDs in my car. Why are they here?"

Frankie exchanged glances with Madame Foster, who smiled broadly.

"You replaced them, didn't you?"

"Well, punk rock isn't very romantic, dear. Maxwell and Gunilla are going to need some…mood music."

---------------

"What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of"

"Burt Bacharach, Barry White, Astrud Gilberto, Sade….I didn't know Frankie was into music like that."

"She's getting old. Old people like that kind of music." Goo leaned back. "Not that it's bad", she added, and began humming.

---------------

Four months later:

Frankie spent the evening going through the finances. They were good this year, especially thanks to an increasing number of contributors. By noon the next day, when Frankie was officially made owner of Foster's Home, she had decided on a new organization chart. And at three o'clock, she arranged a small meeting. Very small; in fact, there were only two people she wanted to meet.

The first one was Wilt

"Why do you want to talk to me in Mr. Herriman's office, Frankie?"

"I'm getting to that, Wilt. But technically this is no longer Mr. Herriman's-"

"Nooo, I love you more!"

The other one was Goo, who opened the door while cooing into her cell phone, seemingly oblivious to the world around her.

"Goo…"

"Noooooo, I love you more!"

"Goo…"

"Oh, Mac - Stop it!", Goo giggled, still not paying any attention at all Frankie. "And by that, I mean don't stop it", she added hurriedly.

"Gunilla!"

That got Goo's attention. She didn't like it when people called her by her real first name.

"Yeah, that was Frankie. She wanted to have a meeting with me here at Mr. Herriman's office….I dunno, maybe one of the scribbles I got adopted last Saturday was one she had trained to scrub the toilets….No, Herriman's not here. Wilt's here, though….No, only him…Of course, I promise I'll tell you as soon as the meeting's over…well, I gotta go…Nooo, you hang up first…Noooooo, you hang up first…"

Frankie groaned. She had to control her temper. After all, she could no longer blame Mr. Herriman when she was in a bad mood. "Goo, please…"

"I'll hang up first", Goo sighed.

"So Frankie, what's the deal?" she asked while getting a chair.

Frankie leaned back.

"Well, first of all you're both wrong. This is not Mr. Herriman's office."

"Excuse me, Frankie, but Mr. Herriman's office have always been right here…"

"No Wilt, I mean, this is not Mr. Herriman's office anymore. It's mine. You are currently looking at the new owner of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends"

"Hey, that's awesome! Congratulations, Frankie! So the first you did as the new landlady was to get rid of that stuffy old bagd…rabbit, huh? Good for you!"

"I didn't get rid of him, Goo. He resigned yesterday, of his own free will. As of today, I'm taking over his duties."

"Awesome! So you're President of the house now?"

"Weeell…I don't know if I should be using that title, considering that I'm also the owner of the house. For the time being, I think I will refer to myself as the Proprietor. But the job will be pretty much the same as the one Mr. Herriman used to do."

"But how are you going to manage that, on top of the workload you already have?"

"I'm not, Wilt. I'm going to hire someone new to take my place as the estate manager. Someone I know to be responsible and reliable…someone I know is liked and trusted by all the tenants…"

"And who would that be?"

Frankie smiled overbearingly. "Take a hint, Wilt. Why did you think I called you here today?"

"You want…you want me to be the manager of Foster's? Well, I'm honored, Frankie, but…aren't I up for adoption?"

"Good question, Wilt. Are you? Cause I've been thinking…you've been here for as long as I can remember, and you've never been adopted. That makes no sense."

"Oh there must be plenty of friends who are more interesting for kids to adopt than me."

"So you say. It's even in your internet profile", Frankie said, clicking on the computer mouse. A short video clip of Wilt appeared on her computer screen. It said:

"Oh, I'm not so great. You should adopt one of the other awesome friends here."

"That clip is eight years old. I've asked you many times if you want to make a new one for Foster's webpage, and you always say no. Now is this just plain modesty or is it…fake modesty? Because you are, of course, wrong. You are so great, Wilt! You're kind, helpful, unselfish and attentive. You're impressive-looking. And you were created by a boy who later became a famous athlete! You'd think the visiting families on adopt-a-thought Saturday would be fighting over you! But then, how can they do that when you're always sitting behind the table and pretending to be part of the staff?"

"Pretending? But I've always considered myself part of the-"

"Exactly!"

"I see your point, Frankie. And I don't like the thought of ever having to leave Foster's. I can't see it happening in the foreseeable future. It's just that…well, I know that this sounds very fickle, but…I want to keep a door open."

"I understand."

"Frankie…just promise me that if I ever meet a kid who I think really needs me…you won't hold me back because of any contractual obligations."

"It's a deal Wilt. But in return - Will you agree to…"

"Yes, I will be the manager"

"YES!! He'll be a pushover!"

That was Bloo's voice. Frankie looked up. Well this wasn't very surprising. Calmly, she got out of her chair and walked toward the door.

"Uh oh, I think she heard you, Azul."

Hurriedly, Frankie opened the door to find Bloo, Eduardo and Coco standing in the hallway.

Bloo grinned foolishly. "Uh, we were just passing by. Say, if Wilt ever gets adopted, who's next in line-"

"Bloo I'm going to say this as calmly as I possibly can: Get…lost."

Sticking his head out, Wilt just had time to give Bloo a look that said: I'll remember that 'pushover' remark, before Bloo and Eduardo hurried down the corridor.

"Co coco co cococo co?"

Goo, to whom the question was directed, shrugged. "I don't know. We haven't discussed that yet."

Ignoring this conversation, Frankie pointed in the direction where the other two imaginaries had run off and said: "That goes for you to, Coco".

My first stress situation as a leader, Frankie thought as she got back behind her desk and the meeting could resume. I think I handled that pretty well.

"Now, Goo there's already a couple of people who are eager to find out why I've invited you here today, so let's satisfy their curiosity. First of all, no, I don't have any complaints about the work you do - voluntary, I might add - on adopt-a-thought Saturdays. You're doing great, which kind of brings us to the subject. But first of all, I hear you've just graduated?"

"Mm-hm."

"So what are you going to do next?"

"Well, I want to study art. But my college fund is pretty meagre. I don't know if I can afford it yet. Besides, I'd hate to leave Mac now. When we started dating, he was a sophomore and I was a senior, and he thought that was pretty cool, because dating a senior gives you status. Even when that senior is considered a weirdo, which I still am, I admit that. Not that I think he started dating me because I'm a senior, we all know he's not that shallow, in fact he's probably one of the least shallow guys I've ever met, so I don't understand how a guy like him could have created Bloo. Not that I don't like Bloo, on the contrary, I've always liked him even if he can be a jerk at times. But that's another story. Anyway, right now I'm nothing in particular, because I'm not at college and I don't have a job. So actually, maybe it would be good if I went to college now, cause Mac shouldn't have to date a loafer except there's the money problem-"

"Yes I heard" Frankie interrupted her while waving her hands frantically. She knew that Goo was short on cash. Last year, she blew most of her savings on clothes, after a particularly embarrassing adopt-a-thought Saturday when three different families had wanted to adopt her. They all refused to believe that someone who dressed up like that could possibly be human. One father was referring to her as "that rodeo clown Friend" and a couple of boys kept calling her "the scarecrow". This caused Goo to change her entire wardrobe. In retrospect, Frankie realized she shouldn't have advised her to pick up quite so many expensive brand items. But it was just too tempting to come along as a consultant on a massive shopping spree. Besides, this happened at the time when Madame Foster had just begun putting some real effort into coupling Goo and Mac. So naturally, she enthusiastically encouraged Frankie to help Goo pick out some better-looking clothes.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Now tell me, have you considered working for a year to try and save up enough money to go college?"

Goo hesitated for a moment. "You…you're offering me a job?"

Frankie nodded. Well, at least you're a little quicker on the uptake than Wilt…"How would you like the title…assistant manager?

"Ohmygoshohmygosh, this is so awesome!! Thank you, Frankie!" Goo cried, leaning over Frankie's desk and shaking her hand vigorously.

"Y-you're w-w-welcome. Just remember you have to handle much more than just the adoptions from now on. Being assistant manager basically means you'll be doing a lot of chores around the house. You and Wilt have to do all the chores that I used to, which should be enough to keep two people in full employment."

"Sure thing" Goo said as she ran out the door, picking up her cell phone again.

"You're starting Monday at 8 p.m", Frankie shouted after her "And yes, you may leave now, thanks for asking for permission", she added sarcastically.

"Got it!" Goo shouted, ignoring Frankie's last comment. "Hey, Mac, you're never ever gonna guess what just happened! Not in a million years! Well, you might, 'cause a million years is an awfully long time to spend guessing, so you'd probably get it right eventually..."

"Coco co co?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Coco, but I promised to tell Mac first. But come to think of it, I can tell you both at the same time…"

---------------

A week later:

Frankie opened the newspaper and hurried through the pages until she came to the spread where the words THE NEW MADAME FOSTER was written in big capitals. She shrugged. Well, that headline was the reporter's idea, not hers. She didn't fell comfortable about calling herself Madame Foster. It was too early for that. But the centrefold photo looked great. It showed a smiling, elegant-looking Frankie surrounded by a multitude of imaginaries.

"Good morning, Frankie!"

Frankie looked up form the newspaper and into her estate manager's gaze.

"Oh, good morning, Wilt!"

"You look like you're in a good mood today", he said, sounding a teensy bit nervous.

"I am. Can I help you?"

"You can help...someone. We just got in a new imaginary. And it's someone you know."

"Really? Well, who?"

"You know about Mac's next door neighbour, Louise, right?"

"Yes…"

"And you know about her imaginary friend?"

"Yesss.." Frankie's heart sank. She had an idea what Wilt was trying to tell her.

"Well, Louise is a big girl now. She says she doesn't have enough time for..uh…"

"I like chocolate milk!" said a hoarse voice form the corridor.

"..Cheese."

"Chocolate miiillk…."

Frankie let out a heavy sigh. Well, we have to take him, I suppose. She handed Wilt a few bills.

"Tell Cheese to come to my office, so I can have him registered. In the meantime, run out and buy a bottle of chocolate milk and a bottle of aspirins, if you please."

"Uh, actually, Cheese shouldn't have any chocolate milk. He's lactose-intolerant"

"Well, buy it anyway. I'll need something to wash down the aspirins with."

Wilt gave her a confused look.

"I know, I know, my jokes stink. But buy me that aspirin, will you?"

"I like cereal…"


A lot wrapped up in this chapter, but the story isn't over yet! In the next episode, we'll be seeing more of Bloo, both directly and indirectly. And as you might have guessed by now, every chapter will begin with a continuing flashback sequence from Valentine's Day.

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and all its characters, are created by Craig McCracken and owned by Cartoon Network.

Lyrics are taken from 'What The World Needs Now Is Love', a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and originally preformed by Jackie DeShannon.