Chapter 2 – The Aftermath

Porsha initially prided herself on how she handled the situation. Once the meeting was over, she thanked Celeste Cassidy for her time, and walked out of that office and Crystal Entertainment with her head held high, no sign of weakness or distress in her strut. It wasn't until she got back to the Crystal Tower Theater and saw all her friends in rehearsal that it crashed down on her like the colossal waves of an angry ocean. In a way, she was kicked out of this weird little family she found. She couldn't let them see the tears streaming down her face; she'd been the needy, overly emotional member of the Moon Troupe ever since they accepted her, and she was beyond tired of this status quo.

Ducking into the empty dance studio, Porsha let the tears flow. She recently made the discovery that the studio was a great place to isolate and think when it wasn't in use, and she figured she'd cry her eyes dry here before going out there to tell everyone what happened.

Porsha was startled when two voices began approaching. She squeezed herself down against the piano and the wall, trying to make herself invisible as she wiped away the tears.

A moment later, Johnny and Ryan entered the studio, and the gorilla seemed just a bit manic.

"Alright Johnny, why'd you drag me in here?"

"Things are too normal between us! It's weird!"

The tiger's brows furrowed in confusion. "It's weird that things are normal?"

"You bloody know what I mean!" Johnny let out a long sigh that felt like his body was deflating. "You kissed me that night after that Crystal blunder. And not like a little kiss, you kissed the hell out of me! And then we never talked about it again."

"I told you then that we'd pick things back up when you figured out your feelings," Ryan said. "I can wait. I think you're worth it."

There was something sincere and tender in the tiger's gaze that sent warm tremors throughout Johnny's body.

"But I don't know how to figure out my feelings! It might not look like it but I'm huge mess inside! I've never been into guys... but the more I think about it, maybe I never gave myself the chance."

"I'm sorry if I pulled you out of the closet or something. That wasn't my intention."

"That's the thing. I didn't know I was in a closet! But I didn't hate that kiss..." Johnny scratched the back of his neck, his cheeks growing hot just thinking about it. "Actually, it was pretty great. Maybe I've been too scared to even think about what something like that meant."

"No rush, man," Ryan said, rubbing Johnny's shoulders, though his attempt to sooth him just got the gorilla even more flustered. "Some people spend their whole lives trying to figure this out."

"When did you figure out you were into guys?"

"Puberty."

For some reason, that didn't surprise Johnny. "Just like that?"

Ryan shrugged. "There was a guy in my class, a wolf with jet black fur. Quiet, smart and fit. Sometimes I'd catch him after school on the bench press in the weight room. One night I had a dream about him on that bench press. Naked."

"I think I get the pic—"

"But he wasn't lifting weights." Ryan leaned in, a salacious grin on his face. "He was bench pressing me. Naked."

"Alright, I get it!" Johnny tried to keep that image from invading his head while Ryan snickered. "I'm not as certain about all this as you were but what I do know is that... I like you."

"So, what are you saying?"

"I think I want to explore this... see where it goes, you know? But at the right pace... I don't want to rush it."

"I'm cool with that. Like I said, I think you're worth the wait."

Hearing those words, seeing Ryan's eyes drink him in like he was the only guy in the world, left Johnny's heart feeling as light as a feather. He was scared of breaking new territory but knowing how much Ryan liked him emboldened him. Before he could second guess himself, he pulled the tiger in close and planted a kiss on him. It was short and chaste compared to the last time, but it was his choice, and it was like he put all his wanting and needing into the language of his lips, and Ryan responded in kind.

"Sorry," Johnny apologized once they pulled apart, blowing heat into each other's faces. "I'm not as good at this as you are."

"No sweat. We've got plenty of time to practice from here on."

They shared a smile. Then Johnny said, his voice so low even Ryan's acute hearing barely picked it up, "Let's not tell Nooshy about this just yet."

"What? Why do you—"

"Yaaasss!"

Ryan and Johnny nearly jumped out of their fur when Porsha launched herself from beside the piano with an ecstatic squeal.

"It's about time! Rynny is finally happening!" she sang, pulling them together so she was sandwiched between them. "I approve this ship! It's so cute!"

"W-were you here this whole t-time?" Johnny stammered. "And does it have to be Rynny?"

"Jyan isn't much better," Ryan said, then he noticed the smudged mascara under Porsha's eyes. "Were you crying?"

"No..." she lied before wiping her eyes again. "Yes."

"What happened? Wait, you had that meeting with Cassidy this morning, right? What did she do?"

"I'm out," Porsha said, pulling away from them. She did a listless spin across the floor like the beginning of some poignant ballet dance. "She fired me. I took a huge gamble to be a part of this. I blew up my life, I stabbed my dad in the back. It's all over, just like that."

Johnny gawked. He had an ominous feeling when Jimmy stepped down. He didn't want to be right but couldn't help but feel a sickening vindication. "She just fired you like that? Did she say why?"

"Something about cleaning up the company image and nepotism."

"Oh, that's rubbish."

Little feet galloped down the hall and Buster slid by the open door. "Have you guys seen...!" Buster underestimated his momentum, shooting past the door and falling to his face. He crawled back to the doorway and spotted the wolf girl, jumping to his feet and running over to her.

"Porsha! I just heard! Don't worry, I'll fix this!" Buster promised, looking more frazzled than usual.

"Can Cassidy do that?" Ryan asked. "Just go over your head and fire anyone from the production?"

Buster gave a slow nod. "There's a clause in the contract that gives Crystal Entertainment unilateral power to remove anyone they feel is problematic or damaging to their reputation. It's actually not that uncommon in show business, it's just that..."

"What qualifies as problematic varies from person to person." A chill snaked down Ryan's spine like a freezing river. There was the feeling that any one of them could get the axe next if they crossed Cassidy. What qualified as a stain on the image of the new and improved Crystal Entertainment?

"And firing anyone from the show brings negative attention," Buster said. "Cassidy must think whatever points she gains from this move will outweigh the negative news stories it'll generate."

Porsha's voice filled the studio with a loud gasp, nearly choking on her own saliva. "Oh my gosh, my dad! You remember what happened last time! He's been working on himself, but when he finds out what Cassidy did, it'll all go out the window!"

"Literally," Johnny said. He realized he was the center of some wary and disapproving looks. "What? We were all thinking it!"

"I have to pick him up from therapy soon," Porsha said, wringing her hands. "How am I going to break it to him?"

"Maybe... he doesn't have to know?" Buster suggested with a shrug and sheepish grin.

Johnny grimaced just thinking about the ensuing drama. "You really want to start lying to him again? After everything that happened last time?"

"Okay, okay. You have a point. Honesty. Gotta remember to work on that," Buster murmured that last part is if making a mental note. "Porsha, how about I go with you and help smooth things over? Besides, it's better for him to find out now than to get some sensationalized version from a viral news story like before."

"Thanks," Porsha said. She was still dreading telling her dad but knowing Buster would be there made her feel a little better. "We should leave now. I don't want him to already be upset because I was late."

Porsha and Buster stepped into a waiting room that was small but cozy and inviting, decorated in warm colors. At a small desk was an alpaca secretary, and across from her was Jerry on a burgundy couch keeping himself occupied with a trashy celebrity magazine.

"Well howdy there!" the secretary greeted them. "Do ya'll have an appointment with Mr. Schwartz?"

"I'm here to pick up my dad," Porsha said.

"Mr. Schwartz should be finishing up with Mr. Crystal soon. Ya'll can take a seat over there."

"Hi Porsha!" Jerry said enthusiastically, but most of that enthusiasm vanished when he saw the koala stepping around her legs. It was subtle, but Buster noticed the feline's lip turn up in a moment of judgment. The truce he struck with Jimmy clearly didn't extend to Jerry.

Porsha waved. "Hey Jerry!"

Jerry patted the spot next to him and Porsha sat down. He picked up a stack of magazines from the coffee table and said, "Grab a magazine. Now that you're here you can help me look for any articles about Mr. Crystal."

Porsha took several from the top. "I thought he didn't care about tabloids?"

"Back when he was running Crystal Entertainment, he used his power to squash the worst stories... and, uh, the editors that ran them," Jerry added with a pitchy, nervous laugh. "But things are different now. He's much more vulnerable."

Buster reached for a magazine and grabbed a fistful of air as Jerry deliberately pulled the stack away.

"Okay, Jerry. You have to acknowledge me eventually."

"No, I don't."

"Well, you just did."

Jerry responded with a quiet growl that wiped the smirk off Buster's face. Porsha took a magazine and handed it to Buster.

As he flipped through the pages, the koala asked, "What's Mr. Crystal even afraid will show up in these tabloids?"

"Maybe he just doesn't want another Underweargate," Porsha rattled off casually, then caught the dangerous glare Jerry threw her that made it clear she crossed a line.

Buster's eyes bounced between them, begging for an explanation. "What's Underweargate?"

"He'll find out eventually!" Porsha said, almost pleading with Jerry. The cat folded his arms to show complete disapproval as she began to elaborate.

"Okay, so, a few years ago one of the maids stole a pair of my dad's underwear, the silky expensive kind he likes to wear. She sold it to the Redshore Sun, and they ran a news article on it."

"They did a whole news story on your dad's underwear? Must've been a slow news week," Buster joked. Even so, he couldn't help but feel a little pang of sympathy. He'd be mortified if he opened a newspaper or magazine and found an entire article dedicated to mentioning his unmentionables.

"My dad went nuclear when that article came out."

"Anyone would after such a gross, heinous, perverted violation of privacy like that," Jerry hissed in defense of his boss.

"I can't imagine he'd just let that go," Buster thought aloud.

"He didn't," Jerry said. "I was with Mr. Crystal when he went down to the editor's house that night to set things straight. Have you ever heard a grown hippo sob like a baby? It's a sound I'll never forget." He fought back an involuntary shudder.

"What... what happened next?"

"Long story short, Mr. Crystal got his property back. The maid fled town and the editor resigned the next day. Last I heard he runs a news stand in the bad part of town."

A morose kind of silence blanketed the room until Porsha chose to break it with optimism.

"Now that he's in therapy, at least he can learn better ways to deal with his problems, right? Right?"

Like a divine response, the sound of furniture moving came from inside Mr. Schwartz office, followed by a terrified shout.

"My goodness gracious, what was that?" said the secretary, jumping out of her seat. She went to the door to Mr. Schwartz's office and pushed it open with Porsha, Jerry and Buster pressed behind her.

They stepped into a diorama of frozen chaos. On the floor was the otter Oliver Schwartz, his cardigan ruffled, eyes filled with terror behind askew glasses, one hand up in defense. In front of him was Jimmy brandishing a velvet armchair overhead.

"Daddy, no!" Porsha cried.

Jimmy craned his neck just enough to see his daughter in the doorway, his eyes widening in surprise. "Porshaaa, babyyy... It's not what it looks like."

"I don't care! Put the chair down!" she demanded with her finger aimed at the floor. Jimmy begrudgingly complied. "What's gotten into you? Isn't getting sued by one person enough? You want to get arrested again?"

Jimmy pointed accusingly at the otter. "He called me a dumpster fire with skinny legs!"

Schwartz sat up and explained, "I said that sometimes you might feel like a dumpster fire."

"With skinny legs!"

Porsha winced. "You probably shouldn't have said that to my dad." Then she grabbed Jimmy and forced him to face her. "But that's not an excuse to bash your therapist's head in with a chair!"

"I wasn't gonna bash his head in, I was gonna put the chair through the window. I thought that was better than putting him through the window."

"I... hate how much sense that makes," Porsha admitted, and Jimmy smirked as if he made a great point.

Schwartz got up, dusted himself off, and said, "I hope you know I charge double for a hazard fee."

Jimmy's eyes flashed with outrage. "Why you little weasel!"

"I'm an otter."

"You're a rat bastard! What kind of amateur practice is this? You're supposed to make me feel better. I want my money back!" He cornered Schwartz against his desk before pointing to the open door. "Better yet—get out of my face!"

"B-but this is my office!"

"GET. OUT."

Schwartz scrambled out of the office, nearly bowling over Buster and Jerry in the process. He grabbed his secretary and let out a garbled, distressed, "Whackjob!" as they fled the building.

"I heard that!"

Drained and aching all over, Jimmy collapsed in the velvet seat he almost put through the window. His face sank into his palms and Jerry patted his leg. What few people acknowledged about his rage was how that level of emotion often took a toll on his body.

As much as Porsha wanted to scold her father for his behavior, she couldn't help but feel pity. She always assumed he leaned into his anger, used it to his advantage to frighten and coerce his adversaries. It never occurred to her that he might not be completely in control, that such an explosive, hair-trigger temper could be debilitating. He always had his moods, but she never remembered him being this angry when she was a child.

And now she was risking triggering him again.

Jimmy saw the slither of a red bow tie through his fingers and finally took notice of the koala in the room for the first time.

"Moon? What the heck are you doing here?"

"About that..." Buster said with an anxious laugh.

"Oh, great. You saw that whole thing, didn't you?"

Porsha took a deep breath and finally broached the issue. "Daddy, we've got something we need to tell you. Just promise you'll try to stay calm, okay?"

Jimmy's gaze bored into his daughter. "People only ask you not to get upset when they're about to tell you something that should upset you!"

"Pleeeaaaasse?"

"Alright, but I ain't making no promises."

"I had a meeting with Cassidy today and... she... well, she fired me."

Jerry gasped, but Jimmy was deadpan as he asked, "It's real this time, right? You're not just trying to get me riled up?"

"It's true," Buster said. "I can corroborate it."

Suddenly, Jimmy exploded out of his seat and was bearing down on Buster. "Moon! How could you let this happen?"

"But—I—huh!?" Buster sputtered.

Porsha jumped between them. "Daddy, it's not his fault this time!"

"Yeah!" Buster retorted. "Wait, what do you mean 'this time?'"

Jimmy set his jaw in an attempt to curb his anger. "What exactly did she say when she fired you?"

"She was talking about nepotism and cleaning up the company's image," Porsha said. "And after she fired me, she... she called me a nepy baby."

"Do you mean a nepo baby?" Jerry asked.

"Yeah, that! She kept calling me a nepo baby." Porsha leaned her head on her father's shoulder. "Daddy, I'm not a nepo baby, am I?"

"Of course, you are," Jimmy cooed. "But you're my nepo baby. The thing you have to understand about people with inadequate parents like Cassidy is that they see people like you with a dad that can make anything happen for his daughter and they get jealous and angry. Instead of confronting her underachieving parents for not providing enough opportunities, she goes after you and cries nepotism."

"Actually, nepotism can be a pretty big problem in many aspects of our society," Buster said. "When a person that's not really qualified gets into an important position just be... cause..." From the almost disgusted looks he was receiving from everyone, Buster realized he failed to read the room properly. "Or maybe Cassidy is just a jealous harpy."

Gently, Jimmy pulled Porsha from his shoulder and she could tell from his eyes that he was still pissed.

"I can see why you came to me with this. Don't worry, I'll do what Moon can't and handle it." When her father cracked his knuckles, Porsha knew what was coming next.

"Daddy, please! Whatever you do, don't throw Ms. Cassidy from the roof, okay?"

"Porsha... I'm not gonna throw her from the roof. I'm gonna throw her into the sun!"

Jimmy stormed out of the office with Buster and Jerry clinging to each leg and Porsha pulling at his waist, dragging them along like minor inconveniences as they begged him to stop. It wasn't until he was outside and garnering strange looks with all the animals attached to him that Jimmy slowed down.

Buster made a dangerous play and jumped ahead of Jimmy with his arms out at his sides to stop him. If the wolf wanted to keep going, he'd have to step on him. Jimmy briefly considered it but decided to give the koala a chance to explain himself.

"Mr. Crystal, please, don't! You have to think this through. Cassidy has all the power. If you go there and attack her, it's going to end very poorly. I've got a meeting with her in a few days. Just give me a chance and I'll fix this, I promise!"

Jimmy looked down on him with heated skepticism. "Don't make promises you can't keep. Besides, your word don't carry all that much weight with me. And don't feed me any of that crap about you being besties with optimism."

"Daddy, this is my problem and my decision," Porsha said, her tone remarkably stern. "I want to let Mr. Moon handle it. Do you understand?"

It took a moment, but Jimmy relented. "Alright," he grumbled.

"You have your own problems to deal with. You need to find another therapist, right?"

Gaze falling to the ground, Jimmy let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders sagging. He said, barely above a whisper, "What if they can't fix me?"

"But you're not broken, sir," Jerry tried to reassure him.

"That's right," Porsha agreed. "You don't need to be 'fixed,' you need to be better."

"I wouldn't sweat this, Mr. Crystal," Buster said. "You just have to find the therapist that's right for you. Don't get discouraged just because the first one didn't work out."

"Schwartz was the third," Jimmy said through clenched teeth.

Buster let out a distressed chuckle. "I see. Guess I'll stop putting my foot in my mouth, then."

"This was never going to be easy," Porsha said, rubbing her dad's arm. She noticed he was wearing the holographic tie from her Cyberpunk Chic ensemble. Even though her father refused to wear any of the other outfits she put together for him in public, the fact that he was willing to hold on to that and work it into his normal attire gave her hope. It was proof that he was open to change and acceptance, even if it came in baby steps.

"Don't forget that we're all rooting for you," she told him, the warmth of her voicing melting away some of the doubt and anxiety in his heart.

Jimmy pulled out his gold-plated phone and opened its internet browser. "Guess I'll start looking for number four."

"Maybe I'll help you look this time. I'm going to have a lot of free time now that I don't have anywhere to go or anything to do..."

"Actually, I may have a way to keep you involved," Buster said. "Cassidy may have fired you from the show, but she never said anything about you working for me directly."

Jerry let out a grunt of judgment. "This sounds like another scheme waiting to go sideways."

Buster ignored him. "I am officially making you my intern."

"Yay! You hear that? I'm an intern!" Porsha lifted Buster off the ground and pulled him into a hug as part of her celebratory hopping dance. Once the excitement calmed down, she asked, "What's an intern?"

"Free labor," Jimmy remarked, tapping away at his phone.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm just glad I'm not losing you guys."

Buster appeared taken aback. "Lose us? No way! It doesn't matter what Cassidy says. This troupe is a family, and you're part it whether you're in the show or not." He found himself wheezing after Porsha hugged him again, this time so tightly the air escaped his lungs, accompanied by the uncomfortable shift of his back cracking.

Jimmy knew he should feel happy for his daughter seeing Buster go to such lengths to keep her in the fold, but where that feeling should have been was a twisting black hole of lingering sadness. Divorced from his company, ostracized by the media, and discussing his suppressed feelings and experiences with strangers, Jimmy didn't realize it at the time, but he was grieving the loss of his sense of community.

A/N

I'm looking forward to the next two chapters. They're Jerry-centered, and I think that's been a long time coming.