Chapter 17: Blitzkrieg Bop

Tamara

"Tamara!" Keith and I both whipped around to face Luka Bouchard and the army of YouTube personalities and reporters. I felt safe from any spit or projectiles in my usual plastic robe as we finished up our dinner date. I still insisted on wearing it at all times. Keith said that I didn't need it with public opinion swaying in my favor, but after seeing some of the things these maniacs were willing to do in the name of Leslie Smith, I wasn't taking any chances.

"Did you hear the latest?" the man shouted over the crowd. I sighed heavily before disengaging from my man and walking up to the media storm around my old coworker.

"What do you want, Luka?" I asked tiredly.

"Leslie fired me for sweet-talking your medical information out of your psychiatrist's receptionist! She issued this whole statement condemning my actions and talking about how she would never do such a thing to anyone. As if I wasn't acting on her behalf!" The man was livid.

"I'm sorry to hear that you are out of a job, Luka. But what does that have to do with me?" I did my best to hide my discomfort with all the media attention, but I'm not sure how well I was doing. Keith gathered me closer to him, his powerful body coiled and ready to strike.

"She expected you to be so embarrassed by the revelation of your mental health issues that you would drop the lawsuit and disappear like her other victims," he told me gently, as if the cameras weren't rolling. "I warned her that you were stronger than that, but you know how stubborn Leslie gets."

"I… I don't understand what one has to do with the other, Luka."

"Tamara, I'm here to apologize for the invasion of your privacy formally," the man announced as if this was the greatest thing I'd ever heard. "My conscience has been bothering me since I met you. I knew what we were doing - what I was helping Leslie do to you - was wrong. But I was too scared of losing everything to do the right thing. Well, Leslie has taken the choice away from me by firing me today. I want to join the winning team!"

"What?" Keith's strangled cry echoed my own. Surely this metrosexual didn't think us dumb enough to accept his help. This was likely a ploy to gather information about the lawsuit for Leslie!

"I know what you're thinking, Tammy-"

"You sure about that, Luka? Cause-"

"You're thinking that I might be a plant meant to trip you up in your lawsuit," he continued over me. "Well, here's my proof that I'm not. You know how you accused her of physical abuse? Grabbing you, yanking you around? But all you have are records of when it happened because you don't bruise? I'm your proof." The man lifted his shirt to show an ugly bruise on his stomach and another on his back. The crowd went wild, snapping pictures of the ugly marks on his fair skin. "I have eight years of documentation with pictures and everything. I'm willing to be a character witness against our old boss. This has gotten out of hand. It's time to end this."

… …

"I still can't believe Leslie threw me to the wolves like that! Eight years! Eight years of keeping my mouth shut, and this is how she repays me," Luka griped two weeks later as he searched the racks for clothing for me. I still didn't trust him - Keith definitely didn't trust him, but I had to admit that he knew his stuff when it came to clothes.

"She doesn't strike me as the type of woman who attaches great value to loyalty," I shrugged as I came out of the dressing room in yet another outfit that made my boyfriend look like he wanted to bend me over the nearest flat surface.

"Oh, Tammy, you look so cute in that," Susan Blakely commented. I blushed at the praise. Here was another surprise. Leslie's former disgraced employees had surfaced. Susan had been working in a fashion boutique in Utah, and Ginger had been working for a millionaire in Ohio all these years. Both of the quiet, refined women had told their stories to the press, garnering much attention, good and bad. Both of them had offered to testify against their old boss despite everything, renting rooms at a local bed and breakfast to be closer to the action. The trial started in three days, and all of Leslie's old employees were forced to wear those plastic robes of mine. Still, there were more hugs and well wishes than spit and throwing things now that it was clear this lawsuit was going to happen.

"Thanks, Susie. I only wish I spoke fashion like you two do. I want to help dress y'all for the trial too."

"Don't you worry about us, Sweetie," Ginger Elrich laughed, southern accent pronounced with amusement. "This is your moment to shine. Someone should have put a stop to Mrs. Smith's harassment years ago. Ah'm just glad to see you taking her down a peg. She's not all powerful anymore, thanks to you."

"Amen to that," Jubilee nodded, pulling out a pair of comfortable pumps to go with my current outfit. The afternoon progressed this way, with them pulling out clothes and adorning me using my substantial cushion. I didn't want to, but even I could admit that this was important. Since I was going after a big fish, I had to look the part.

By the time they were finished, I had a full wardrobe for the first time since I started losing weight. The outfits deemed suitable for the trial were set aside to be dry cleaned, and the rest were to be similarly washed. We donned our robes and headed out to buy makeup. No one bothered us - apparently, there was safety in numbers. Or it may have been the fact that Keith, Rampage, and Fuzzy were with us, quietly keeping an eye on things.

Once the shopping was done, we all headed to The Protein Palace for dinner. Keith often had to remind me to eat lately, something he clearly wasn't happy with. With all the stress of the trial, I was under my goal weight. It was the first time we'd been back to the restaurant since Leslie picked me as her victim. We got some strange looks as we entered the private restaurant, but no one raised a stink as we made our way to the back booths.

"You can take off that plastic, Tammy. No one will be spitting or spilling anything on you or your entourage here," Darrell Simmons assured us loudly enough to grab the whole restaurant's attention. Rumbles of agreement sounded through the shop.

"See, Sweetling? I told you that you were safe here," Keith said as he helped me out of my robe. The others followed suit, and we settled in for a good time.

"If someone had told me that I was ever set foot in a major city again, I would have called them a liar to their face," Ginger laughed as she ate her skinless, baked chicken breast.

"Hear, hear," Susan cheered. "I got so sick of my car being keyed-"

"I know, right! And once the perverts got a hold of my number…" Ginger's shudder said it all. The two women continued comparing experiences. I was content to let them vent, chiming in occasionally, as we ate our meals. The rest of the group ate in silence, listening to our stories in horrified disbelief.

"No way! There's no way that really happened," Susan said. "People aren't that sick!"

"You'd think that, wouldn't you?" I said with a sigh. "You're both lucky to have gone through this before Leslie became a megastar. There are a lot of people who feel that liking someone famous entitles them to act any old kind of way on that person's behalf. That's why I'm so determined to go through with this. To prove to the masses that actions have consequences and that no one is above the law."

"Is that right?" A new and horribly unwelcome voice entered the conversation. Susan, Luka, and Ginger suddenly looked terrified. Standing in the middle of the diner was Leslie Smith, smirking playfully as if this were all a game. She had her husband and a few people with her who were filming as if expecting a confrontation. Fuzzy, Jubilee, and half the diner patrons started filming if they hadn't been filming already.

"I don't want any trouble, Mrs. Smith," Darrell said angrily, moving as if to step between the woman and her target.

"Neither do I," she said pleasantly. "Relax, Darrell. I'm actually here bearing good news for Ms. Saunders." She turned to me, completely ignoring my entourage. "After careful consideration, I have come up with a settlement that you will find most agreeable. I brought the paperwork for you to sign. We could end this right here, right now! So, if you would just…"

I tuned her out, my gaze focused on Susan, who seriously looked like she was going to throw up. Hell, even Luka was shaking. It angered me. It angered me that this cowardly snake could hurt my new friends with her very presence.

"No deal," I said clearly over whatever excited nonsense she was spouting. Her sweet smile immediately turned to a frown, and she took a step forward.

"Be careful of your tone with me, Tammy. I'm offering a generous-"

"And I said 'no'," I repeated in the exact same tone. "I will not be intimidated into dropping my lawsuit by a selfish woman who's been hellbent on destroying my life for her own pleasure. Your offer - whatever it is - is not acceptable to me. You will be judged by a jury of your peers in three days, and that's the end of it. Move along." Leslie's face was mottled with fury at my curt dismissal. She stomped right up to me, radiating belligerence. I stood up to face her, setting a fighting stance, but otherwise waited for her next move.

"How dare you! Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, I do. And I want you to know that you have never intimidated me. I've never been afraid of you, and I'm certainly not going to fake it for the cameras. You're nothing but a bully, and I've always taken great pleasure in putting bullies in their place." She reached out as if to grab me, and I dodged. "The numbers on your company have plummeted since my interview announcing the lawsuit. Since your fashion guru defected to my side with definitive proof of your abusive ways. Since your old employees crawled out of the woodwork and shared their stories. You're bleeding money this quarter. That's where this 'generous offer' is coming from. You need time out of the limelight to set up your next victim." Her perfectly made-up eyes widened in shock before she could control her reaction.

"I won't let you do this to another person. We end this. We end this now." I stared at her shaking form coolly.

"I made you," she declared angrily.

"You really didn't," I said with a raised eyebrow. "You found me; you can't 'make' someone in a month. Besides, what would you have made? A sleep-deprived basket case? I know that you were trying to get me to exhaust my hair styles so that I would be forced to use stuff out of the binder I gave you," I revealed, shocking her audience and everyone else in the restaurant. "Wouldn't it have looked more convincing for the cameras if you could have pointed to a style in the binder and said that you'd worn it to an awards show or other appearance? That's why you have yet to show off my work to the public. But I've already released my work to the wolves to prove my innocence. Too bad you couldn't find someone talented enough to fake a style to bolster your claims. I could have done it, but I wasn't working for you by then." I winked at the frothing mad woman, carefully keeping space between us so that she couldn't touch me without it being caught on the cameras.

"You putrid bitch! One word from me and-"

"Careful. Threats against my person will be added to the list of your crimes at the trial in three days. As for descending into histrionics, I prefer witch to bitch. I'm a Woman In Total Control of Herself."

"I… I have more money than God, you… You awful peasant!"

"And you're going to need it. See, you picked the wrong target when you thought I would just fade into the night so you could get on with your life. I'm not afraid of you. And you are going to pay for what you've done to me - to us. Now git. My burger is getting cold." I loved how purple her face was getting as I calmly seated myself and went back to my meal as if she didn't matter. Because she didn't. Her fans had shown me horrors since this whole thing started two months ago. I wasn't intimidated by this small-minded woman in the least.

Leslie Smith lunged for me, only to be restrained by her husband. He dragged her screaming, protesting form out of the restaurant. Needless to say, her poise was gone, along with that perfect image she liked to project. I made a mental note to add her death threats to my lawsuit in the morning, eating a fry.

"Well… That was unpleasant." I shrugged. I looked at my friends to see them all gaping at me as if I'd transformed into some celestial being right before their eyes. "What?"

"God, I'm so glad I'm on the winning team now," Luka exclaimed, hugging me tight. "You are amazing, Tammy!" The others likewise hugged and congratulated me as if I'd won some major battle.

"What are you guys on about? She just busted in here like the second coming and had to be dragged out like a raging pitbull. Why are you congratulating me?"

"Oh, Sweetie, you are going to demolish her in court on Thursday," Ginger exclaimed. "A control freak like Leslie against someone she can't control? This is going to be more fun than Shark Week! How the hell did she end up with you as her hairstylist?"

"As I mentioned before, she was desperate for a fast fall guy. Plus, I happen to be quite talented."

"That you are," my boyfriend said, looking at me like the choicest cut of steak. I had a feeling I was getting laid tonight. As if to confirm this thought, he kissed the mouth off of me. Dizzy with delight, I moaned, melting against him. When he finally tapered the kiss, the diner noises started filtering into my consciousness. Everyone was cheering to my complete embarrassment. I got my half a burger and fries put in a takeout container and paid for everyone's food just as a large blast sounded in the parking lot. And let me tell you, it's not like it is in the movies. Keith threw his body on top of mine to protect me as the building rocked like we were in the middle of an earthquake. All the windows shattered out of their frames, and people were screaming like the world was ending.