Johnny
Johnny loves how the work at the garage is coming along. They got so much done already.
Granted, there's a lot of work left to do, but the stage is almost finished - which makes them get a big step closer to the concert.
So Johnny is sure they can mount the concert in two weeks like they've planned.
Invitations are out already, and they are now trying to get the performance itself figured out, the list of songs, the order of the artists.
Yes, it's all a bit on short notice, but as soon as Johnny had the idea he just couldn't wait to get things started.
And now the concert and with it the youth center is within his reach!
It's so exciting!
There's still this concert with Meena coming up, but after that, his next concert is going to be the charity concert.
Speaking of being excited, he also managed to finish the song he turned Cia's poem into. He made a record of it with his phone and sent it to Ash.
She liked it. And knowing Ash, she wasn't just being nice, because, well, that wouldn't be very Ash.
She even asked him to come over in the next days because she wrote some new songs herself and want to show them to him.
He's actually looking forward to it. Hanging out with Ash, singing some songs, getting and giving feedback on the songs - yep, that sounds like a great evening.
But first, he has this meeting with Mr. Moon. They are going to talk about Mr. Moon's new play and Johnny's role in it, and then, of course, they are going to talk about the charity concert itself.
He's really looking forward to this meeting.
And he wants to remind Cia that she promised to come to the garage after work sometime this week. So far, she's managed to always have to have something else to do.
Which makes him start to think she's maybe making things up so she doesn't have to face her fear of heights.
Okay, he knows she's making things up.
But he's eager to help her with her fear of heights as a little thank-you for all the things she's done for him.
Besides, he needs to tell her about the song he's turned her poem into. So he has to talk to her alone. And not on the phone. That's something that needs to be told face to face.
Okay, that's the part he's afraid of.
What if she doesn't like the song? What if she hates it? What if she says she never wanted it to be turned into the song?
He's starting to understand why Cia is avoiding him. A little bit, at least.
He knows the song is good - or he hopes so.
Okay, now he's completely getting it.
Maybe he should wait for Ash to hear the song live and giving her okay.
Yes, that's what he's going to do.
But first, the meeting with Mr. Moon.
And before that he needs to ask Cia to come to the garage.
When he opens the door to the office, he's a bit disappointed that he finds Cia's place empty.
"Oh, hello, Ms. Crawly!" he greets the iguana.
"Hello, Johnny!"
He's a bit surprised by the fact that Ms. Crawly's desk isn't covered in papers. But he likes that he can actually see her.
"Ms. Crawly, where's Cia?"
"Cia?"
"Yes", he says. He's a bit confused by Ms. Crawly's reaction. Yes, he knows she's old, but senile? Not Ms. Crawly. "The other secretary?" he specifies.
"Oh, you mean Lucia!" Ms. Crawly says. "She has a meeting with Mr. Moon." She nods at the door of Mr. Moon's office which opens in exact this moment and Cia steps outside, still talking to Mr. Moon.
"There she is!" Ms. Crawly says.
Cia turns towards them.
"Lucia?" Johnny asks with a raised brow.
"I prefer Cia," the snow leopard replies.
"You do?" Ms. Crawly says. "Then why didn't you tell me?"
Cia shrugs. "Didn't seem that important."
When Johnny steps closer, she whispers, "I have, like, a hundred times."
He silently giggles at that.
"Ready for our meeting, Johnny?" Mr. Moon asks.
"Yes, Mr. Moon!"
But before he enters the office, he turns to Cia.
"Oh, and Cia, you coming to help at the garage after work?" he asks.
"I … uhm …"
He can tell she's wracking her brain for an excuse.
"I have a lot of work to do," she finally says. "I'm so sorry."
Johnny twists his mouth a little at that, but he has to give it to her. She really makes it sound like she's sorry for real. And she maybe she is.
"You know what, Cia?" Mr. Moon chimes in. Johnny can only think that he's heard it, too. "You're doing such an amazing job here, you can leave for the afternoon."
"Uhm, okay," Cia says. "Thank you, Mr. Moon."
Johnny has to admit, she doesn't sound too thankful about it.
Johnny is standing next to a ladder.
Cia looks from him to the ladder and back to him.
"I guess there's no way out yet?" she says. "Or is there?"
"Nope," Johnny says.
Cia sighs. "You sure?"
"Absolutely."
She sighs again. "Okay."
She steps a bit closer to the ladder.
Johnny takes a step to the side and Cia comes to a halt at the foot of the ladder.
She stares up - and freezes.
Johnny has seen her like this before, back when Eddie asked her to turn on the spotlight.
He very carefully places a hand on Cia's back. She jumps a little at that, and he immediately feels sorry, but he wants to let her know that he's there. And he just couldn't think of anything else.
"One rung at a time, okay?" he says.
"Okay," Cia replies, her voice a bit breathless.
Johnny adds a little more pressure to his hand on her back.
Cia carefully ascends one rung, takes a little break, then the next one.
Johnny climbs the ladder behind her, his hand still on her back.
They've already managed half the ladder when Johnny realizes the break between rungs is taking Cia longer than before.
He waits a little longer, then decides to address her.
"Cia?" he asks gently.
Cia inhales sharply.
"Let me down," she says.
"It's fine, Cia," Johnny assures her. "I'm right here."
"Let me down," she repeats, a little louder.
"Cia, you can't fall down, I'm right here behind you."
"Let me down!"
Johnny remembers what his father once said to him when he had climbed up someplace in the garage and had been too scared to climb down.
Johnny, you made it up, you're gonna make it down again. And if you have troubles, I'm right here to catch you.
"You can do it, Cia," he says. "Just a few more rungs and we're going to climb down again."
"Johnny, let me down!" Cia yells.
Johnny wants to tell her one more time that she can do it, but she's already trying to climb down. And when he doesn't react she kicks at him.
He's sure she doesn't want to hurt him. She just wants to get down. And she misses him anyway.
For a moment, he thinks of trying once again, but Cia is breathing so loudly, he just decides it might be too much. So he climbs down, letting her set the pace. And she's fast. While it took them felt ages to get up the ladder, it takes them a fraction of the time to get down.
Once down, he steps aside and Cia sinks to her knees as soon as she feels the ground under her feet.
She's breathing heavily, and Johnny's starting to think that he might have overdone it.
"Cia," he says gently as she gets up, lifting his hand to put it on her shoulder. "I'm …"
He never gets to finish the sentence.
Smack!
He places the hand he wanted to lay on Cia's shoulder on his cheek where Cia had slapped him.
With wide eyes he turns towards Cia.
It's the moment he sees the tears in her eyes. "Oh gosh, Cia, I … I'm sorry," he says. He doesn't care about his burning cheek any longer. "I was just trying to help."
"I never asked for your help!" Cia yells before she storms off.
Johnny watches her leave, letting his hand sink from his cheek. He doesn't care that it still hurts a bit.
The next day he runs to the office as soon as he can, hoping that a day to cool off was enough for Cia so they can talk. And so he can apologize because now he's completely sure that he overdid.
When he enters the office, he finds Cia's place empty again.
"Good morning, Ms. Crawly! Where's Cia?" he asks.
"Hello, Johnny!" the iguana replies. "Cia took a few days off."
"When is she going to be back?"
Ms. Crawly shrugs. "She didn't say."
"Oh."
Johnny feels his heart sink.
He has this bad feeling that this is his fault.