Chapter 14 – The Dates I

"Dammit, Jimmy. What the hell were you thinking?"

Dressed in silky, violet colored pajamas, Cleo curled her legs up onto the couch and coiled her fluffy tail around her body like a protective circle. In her hand was a glass of red wine. On her TV was Jimmy Crystal's mugshot.

He was arrested for attempted murder weeks ago, but it was still the biggest story in the city. The way the news covered it left Cleo disturbed. It was less of a news story and more of a circus. She shouldn't have been surprised by how quickly the media turned on him, but the fall was still meteoric, especially considering that the trial was months out and he hadn't actually been convicted of anything yet.

Jimmy was a staple of Redshore City. They often praised his impact on the economy and all the jobs Crystal Entertainment brought to the city. When Porsha was born, it was an event. When Mercedes Crystal died, all of Redshore mourned. Now Jimmy was enemy number one. The news coverage held no explanation, no sympathy, and oddly, not enough questions asked to satisfy Cleo's curiosity.

But perhaps what disturbed Cleo the most was that, deep down in her bones, she knew the accusations against him were true.

She was nearly startled when she heard panicked banging against her front door. She already knew who it was.

"Cleo, please!" Jerry warbled on the other side. "We have to do something!"

"You can't keep coming here!" Cleo yelled.

"We have to save him! Please!"

She ignored him, but the banging grew so intense she imagined the feline was launching himself against the door. At this rate he might knock it off its hinges.

With much aggravation, Cleo set her glass down and went over to open the door. Jerry was suddenly in her living room without invitation.

"You've got five minutes to convince me that letting you in wasn't a bad idea," she told him.

Jerry was jumping in place as he explained to her, "Everyone's turned on Mr. Crystal! His life is falling apart! You know he doesn't belong behind bars!"

Cleo tapped the non-existent watch on her arm.

"You're the best fixer in town! If anyone can fix this, it's you!"

Cleo's tail slapped the floor and her ears pulled back from the absurdity she was hearing. "You want me to fix attempted murder? Jerry, he tried to kill somebody! There are witnesses!"

"You don't understand! That koala is a con artist and a career criminal! He just hasn't been held accountable yet!"

"That's it? That's you argument for why I should throw myself into this mess? The other guy had it coming?"

"Cleo, wait! Waitwaitwaitwait!"

Cleo started pushing Jerry out of her home until he said something that made her stop in her tracks.

"The media's not telling you the whole story! The real story!"

He might be onto something. She thought the news was a little light on details. Jimmy was meticulous about his reputation. Someone like him wouldn't just snap in such a brazen and public way without reason.

The screen of a phone was shoved in her face and she had to push it back and stand up to clearly see the video playing on it. A reporter was standing in front of the fresh ruins of a theater, saying something about a crazy koala.

"That's Buster Moon's theater!" Jerry said, holding his phone up. "This is what happens when someone like him is left unchecked."

Cleo gave in, shutting her front door. She moved back to her couch and said, "All right. I need you to tell me everything that happened. And I do mean everything. The good, the bad, and the really terrible stuff you don't want to repeat."

Jerry suddenly appeared next to her on the couch and was gulping down the wine from her glass. He gave her a sheepish grin once he realized what he'd done. "If I'm going to tell the whole story, I needed something to calm my nerves. Sorry."

Cleo rolled her eyes and refilled her glass with wine, making sure to keep it far out of Jerry's reach this time. Just before she could take a sip, she saw the face of her son peering into the room from the hallway.

"Mama, what's going on?" The young snow leopard was wearing a long t-shirt over his underwear. He yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Tai, go to bed. For real this time. I heard you playing that game."

"Aw man!" he complained, dropping all pretenses of being groggy, and slunk back into his room.

"He's gotten so big," Jerry murmured in surprise.

"Jerry," Cleo said, snapping her fingers to regain his attention.

"Right." Jerry began to weave his tale, but not before throwing a scowl at the news story on the TV.

What started as a slightly far-fetched story filled with folly began to escalate with disrespect, deceit, and fraud. Cleo had to stop Jerry before the second half so she could refill her glass once more, but it sat abandoned once things got really juicy. She heard wanton moral, legal, and ethical attacks—against Jimmy! She never imagined someone with his power and disposition could end up the victim of the story.

But on some level, it made sense. Fraud was one of the most unreported crimes, as victims of con artists were often too ashamed to report what happened, and the ones who did were often shamed by others as being gullible. There was something gross to Cleo behind implying that the ability to trust was a liability. In Jimmy's case, his ego was too fragile to report the crime, too big to admit to falling for it, and too inflated to let it go. And she had no clue if he had his panic attacks under control. It was a situation ripe for disaster, and Jimmy's solution was downright murderous.

"So what are the cops doing about Moon?" asked Cleo.

Jerry furrowed his brows, looking at her as if she asked a very stupid question. "Absolutely nothing! They treated him like he was just a victim!"

"But they know about all the things he did, right?"

"Like I told you, he's been getting away with stuff like this for years because he's never held accountable. Last I heard he signed a contract with the Majestic Palace Theater to play Out of This World there. Can you believe it? The only reason that show exists is because Mr. Crystal gave Moon and his troupe a shot, then gave them a second chance to pull the show off even though they didn't deserve it! And then they go and ruin his life and take the show he's responsible for and sell it to a rival! Those absolute animals! They even got Porsha in on it. This isn't right, Cleo. You know this isn't right."

No, Cleo couldn't believe it. No, it wasn't right. But she could tell from all the conviction behind Jerry that he absolutely believed every word he said, and that was the final push she needed.

"I'll do it," she said, and Jerry gasped. "I'm going to have to confirm some of the more fantastical elements of your story, but I'm in. You go to the jail tomorrow and tell Jimmy I'm on it."

"I... can't," Jerry said, followed by a soft whimper. "He won't let me see him. But I'm sure he'll see you! I truly believe you may be the only woman he loved after Mercy."

Well, won't he be surprised to see me, then, Cleo thought.

Cleo walked Jerry to the door and said, "You go home and try not to freak out anymore. I'm on top of this."

Jerry looked up at her, glassy-eyed. "Thank you. Thank you."

Cleo closed the door and leaned her back against it. What was she getting into? She could fix a scandal, but attempted murder was something else entirely. And then to get wrapped up in Jimmy's world all over again. The only way Jimmy would escape this one is if everyone saw things the way he did. If only she could...

... Flip the narrative!

Cleo snapped up the laptop from her bedroom and returned to the couch. A brilliant plan, maybe even a bit devious, formulated in her head. She'd have to do her best detective work, reach out to her contacts. Just as she began her work, she felt a pair of eyes on her.

"Mama?"

"Tai!" Cleo reacted, then she saw the look on her son's face. Concern. He was only worried about his mom. Making him go back to bed wouldn't alleviate those feelings. She tapped the spot next to her and Taiga joined her on the couch, snuggling into her side.

She went to work building up the framework of a dossier that would do what no one had done before and expose Buster Moon, and Jerry gave her the right starting point: the day the Moon Theater fell. Just as she started to get knee deep in her work, Taiga said something that caught her off guard.

"You love him, right?"

She looked down at Taiga, then followed his line of sight to the TV where Jimmy's mugshot had been plastered once again.

"Do you remember Mr. Crystal?" she asked.

Taiga shrugged against her. "Kinda."

"What do you know about love anyway, kiddo?"

He shrugged again. "I dunno. It's just the way you look at him. The people on TV sound like they hate him, but you just look sad that he's in trouble."

"I am sad. He did something horrible but I think he deserves another chance."

Cleo went back to digging into Buster Moon and his cohorts to give them a comeuppance they'd never see coming. Of course, it would be all for naught if Jimmy hadn't learned his own lesson. He needed the kind of help he'd never ask for. The help that would give him back all the things he didn't realize he'd already lost.

When Cleo looked down at Taiga again, he was fast asleep. She ran her fingers across the fur atop his head and between his ears.

"I hope this is a turning point for Jimmy. For your sake too, Taiga."

Cleo tried hard to stifle her laughter. She failed, laughing so hard a grape tomato rolled out of her mouth and back into her overpriced salad.

"It's not that funny," Jimmy complained.

The duo met for a lunch date at a new upscale restaurant, the Ruby Ram, petite in size with low lighting and plenty of velvet. It was a compromise; Cleo refused to go to the Chateau de Starling, and this place's clientele was snooty enough that Jimmy didn't a have a problem being seen here. The dirty looks Cleo received for her laughter was just further proof that this was not her scene.

"I just can't see you doing these wacky reality show challenges," Cleo said after her laughter settled. "What do you have to do for the space survival challenge? Are they going to throw you around in one of those centrifuges astronauts train on? I'd pay good money to see that!"

"A quick reminder: I'll have final say on whatever I do or don't do."

"Oh, don't be like that. Being able to put your ego aside long enough to do something absurd like that is a good thing. It's makes you relatable. Approachable."

"Maybe too approachable," Jimmy grumbled.

"Anyway, has anything else interesting happened in your life since the last time we saw each other?"

Jimmy took a bite of his butternut squash ravioli drizzled in white wine sauce as he thought it over. "Let's see... I told you about Porsha experimenting on me with her fashion designs. Therapy, the meeting with Moon and his troupe, Gunter, that bit of constipation I had... I think that's it."

"What about Jerry?"

"What about him?"

Cleo leaned forward and batted her eyelashes. "You sure you don't want to... kiss and tell?"

Jimmy clenched the tablecloth, nostrils flaring. "What exactly are you implying?"

"God, you're going to make me broach the subject, aren't you? He told me that he kissed you."

"He what!?" Jimmy slammed the table with his fists, drawing the attention of half the restaurant. "Why is he talking about me to you?"

"It's not like he can talk to you about you. He told me everything, Jimmy. Everything. And it's tearing him apart."

Jimmy looked like he wanted to push back, but all his bluster left him in one great sigh. "Why did he have to take something nice like dinner and a movie and ruin it with a kiss?" He sank into a glower. "I realize how that sounded while I was saying it."

"Some men would expect you to put out after that," Cleo said with a smirk.

"This ain't funny, Cleo."

"It is to me. But seriously, the things you said to him, the things he did for you... it sounded like a romantic night."

"He forced me into a position I wasn't ready for!"

"I'm hearing complaining, but I don't hear you saying you don't want him. Jerry's been pining for you for years. He's completely devoted to this. You need to figure this out and make a decision. If you're not going to reciprocate, you should stop stringing him along and let him down easy."

"You think I'm stringing him along? I didn't even know how he felt until a few months ago!"

"You know how he feels now. I get it, you're going through changes and this thing with Jerry is new for you, but have you thought about how he feels? If you did, you wouldn't be icing him out right now. I'm glad you're practicing empathy with Gunter, but there's someone even closer to you that could use a little bit of it right now."

Jimmy fell silent, his head hanging over what was left of his ravioli. "I know..."

"Is this about the bi thing? The world's a lot more progressive these days. It might even make you more popular."

"No, this isn't about the bi thing," Jimmy retorted, grouchy and sullen like a child. "You don't get it."

"Okay. Make me get it," Cleo demanded.

Jimmy paused for a moment before bringing his hands onto the table to begin a series of gestures to support what came next. "What you need to understand is that a relationship is like dancing. You find a partner, you take a few steps together, and then you start the dance. If you find your rhythm, it's beautiful. If you don't, you step on each other's toes and it's a disaster."

"I've never heard that analogy before but I'm listening," Cleo said. She rested her chin on the backs of her hands, propped up on the table by her elbows, watching Jimmy's fingers glide across the table. She saw a version of him and herself in his hands, a relic of days gone by.

"Here's the problem: I've been dancing all this time, and Jerry's been watching me. I've never danced with him. I don't know how! Everyone I've ever dated, we started on common ground. But Jerry knows me better than anyone else. He's seen sides of me most haven't. And after everything that's happened, after the things he's seen me do... he still wants me. Then I start to worry, if this thing with him did happen... what if I don't live up to his idea of what's like to be in a relationship with me? What if he bails on me?"

"That's a possibility. But at the end of the day, that's his choice."

"That's just it! Jerry's the only one in my life that's never hurt or left me. Some part of me doesn't get it. Some part of me thinks he should've ran like everyone else did. You told me once that he was the one that convinced you to help me after I got arrested."

"Yes. He practically saved your life."

"Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if Mercy was still alive," Jimmy murmured. "Would we still be married or would I be one of those divorced dads everybody hates for some reason? No amount of kissing or dating or whatever can make up for all the things I put Jerry through. Why does he choose to stay? Why would anyone stay? I just don't get it."

Jimmy shook his head and clawed at his mane with a frustrated growl. "Ugh, I don't know what the hell I'm saying! All this therapy and empathy's got me twisted and second guessing myself! Life was so much easier when I didn't have to worry about other people's feelings."

Cleo watched Jimmy with a proud glimmer in her eyes. Empathy was tough. Feelings are messy and not always easy to sort out and understand. But the fact that Jimmy was trying meant he was progressing. He was unveiling layers she always knew were there. Jimmy 2.0 wasn't just lip service after all.

"No one said empathy was easy," Cleo told him. "But if you need some help with it, I can give you some advice. First, I don't think you need to make anything up to Jerry. He's not looking for that. He's accepted you and forgiven your misdeeds. If you want to start treating him right, you can cut it out with this cold shoulder thing you're doing. Stop lashing out and start communicating with him. He deserves that much."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Second, to pick up your analogy, the best way to dance with Jerry is to take that first step and just do it. I can even help you with that."

"How so?"

"Well, how about this? We do a three person date. I'll be the buffer and keep things from getting too awkward. We can even have it at that obnoxious restaurant in the sky you like."

Cleo expected an instant dismissal of her proposal and was pleasantly surprised by the response..

"I'll think about it."

Jimmy and Cleo's conversation scaled back to more casual, relaxed subjects until they finished their meals and asked for the check. When the waiter returned with the check, Cleo yanked it away before Jimmy could get to it.

"I can cover this since I know you're still unemployed," she teased, relishing in his reaction.

"Oh, that's hilarious!" Jimmy snapped, snatching the check back out of Cleo's grip. "You know I'm still loaded. If I have to hear one more unemployed joke, I swear..."

Cleo bore a smug grin. "Good. You owe me anyway after ditching me back in Calatonia."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that."

Cleo's ears flicked from hearing the apology. It was the only external sign of her surprise. "If it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one unemployed right now."

"What? You outta the fixer business? Don't say it's 'cause of me."

"It is," Cleo retorted, but with a playful smile. "Truth is, it didn't feel great tearing down Buster Moon. We both agree he needed some form of accountability for all his transgressions, but I didn't get into this business to hurt people."

"Don't beat yourself up," Jimmy said, his voice tempered to be remarkably soothing, maybe even sympathetic. "You did what you had to do to get me out of a jam."

"That's the thing. It was the most effective plan, sure, but did I have to do it that way?" She let her thought linger in the air. "But you and Buster are only part of the reason. A couple of months ago, Taiga's class had a school assignment about describing their parent's job. I couldn't bring myself to tell him I clean up the messes of powerful, privileged manchildren. I gave him a vague, watered down version of what I do. I was up all that night in bed realizing I was ashamed of my job. I don't want to make a living doing something I can't be honest with my son about."

"So, what are you gonna do now?"

"Not sure. Still fielding my options. Maybe I'll finally do something with this communications degree."

After the meal was paid for and they were beginning to leave, Jimmy suddenly grabbed Cleo's arm.

"Oh, hey! Almost forgot. You and Taiga. Come to the theater this week. I can arrange a special meet and greet with Roxy."

Cleo froze, and after a long moment, asked, "Why would you do that?"

"What do ya mean 'why?' Remember at the hospital how you said the kid was devastated he couldn't meet Roxy after things got a little crazy during the benefit concert? Now he can."

She was still at a loss for words, which started to annoy Jimmy.

"You always get cagey when I bring up the kid," he said. "What's the problem? He's gonna love this."

"I don't want to disappoint him again."

"You know I can make this happen. You can count on me."

I hope so, she thought as they left the Ruby Ram.

"All right," she said. "We'll be there."