Night Owl (The Complete Serial)

“For starters, the show will need to be pulled to appease the FCC.”

“The hell it will!” I shout.

“Fucking crazy!” Tucker yells from the other side of the table, and Dolby just holds his hands up. Casey flops back down in her seat, looking devastated.

“At the very least, Casey will be sanctioned to a time delay. Anything she records will have a five minute layover before airing on the radio to ensure such things are not broadcasted during her probationary period.”

“James, I am so sorry.” Casey is shaking her head, and I’m pissed. We may be culpable in having “relations”, as Dolby referred to them, at the workplace, but we sure as hell didn’t record it or play it on air.

“Don’t you dare apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong,” I tell her, cupping her chin in my hand.

“Aww… Looks like your little screamer is about to go radio silent, dear cousin.” Elroy stands up, adjusting his cheap suit. Truthfully, I don’t think I need a reason to beat the shit out of him, but I don’t remember anything before lunging across the table and punching him in his disgusting mouth, blood spraying both our shirts in the fray.

“James! No!” Between Casey, Tucker, and Dolby, they manage to pull me off the offending rat, but not before I get a few good swings in.

“I’ll be sure to update the board on Monday,” Elroy tells the room, a handkerchief dabbing at his blood-covered face. He limps out the door, shutting it behind him, and chaos fills the room.

“What the fuck was that about?!” Casey yells, pushing at me.

“I’m trying to protect you!” I yell back. “Casey, the FCC is involved, advertisers have been threatening to back out of multimillion dollar deals and I’m trying to protect you through all of this shit. Cut me some slack and let me do what I know how to do.” Right then, she frustrates the ever-loving shit out of me.

“Well maybe you should stop. That’s kind of how we got into this mess, you being in charge, James.” I need her more than ever, but I’m sure seeing me fight twice in twenty-four hours isn’t making my case.

She’s gathering her purse, stuffing papers inside it, and nervously shuffling things around. “Don’t do this Casey. Don’t walk away.” Tucker stands behind her, placing his hand on her shoulder. I’d love to slice it from his wrist but, again, that wouldn’t win me any brownie points.

“When you get your violent streak under control, give me a call. I’ll be busy looking for a new job.”

“Aww, come on!” I throw my hands up in the air. Dolby gives me a disapproving shake of his head, and I hate that everyone in the room is right about my outburst. The FCC is eagerly trying to crawl up my ass; I’m doing a great job with my legal counsel, who probably wants to dump me as a client; my employees look ready to shit bricks; and my girlfriend is walking out the door, and I’m pretty sure I have to let her go or deal with a restraining order.

Casey takes a tentative step towards me, cupping my face in her hand. Her finger wipes something from my cheek and we both look down at her hand. Droplets of Elroy’s blood taint her skin. I let him goad me and now I was paying the consequence.

“Please don’t go.” I say leaning into her, our foreheads the only connection between us. Her eyes glaze over with hurt and unshed tears.

She licks her lip before speaking to me. “I’m sorry James, Tucker can drive me home. I’ll call you.” She turns and, head held high, walks on shaky legs out the door and maybe out of my life…

IV

Song Bird

Love is the phoenix

rising for a second chance…

25

Casey

James Austin is in serious need of anger management. My—I don’t even know what to call James right now. I’m so… just… ugh! Boyfriend? No. Lover? Eh. Guy I see parts of at night? Cheesy. The vortex of emotions cloud my head and hurt my heart.

I feel like that little boat alone and adrift in the storm. He’s cut me loose and yet still offering me a life raft to safety. I want to take it, but can I really trust him? Just because you sleep with a guy doesn’t mean he’s got your back or willing to take a bullet for you… does it? I’m shaky and completely unsure all over again.

What I do know is I can’t be with a guy who’s going to beat up every asshole we encounter. I just can’t. I may not be terribly close with my family, but violence like that is not something I’m used to or understand. My family is a cross between Home for the Holidays and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It’s amazing I came out as stable as I did considering. They’re not bad people, I just never fit in and so I generally avoid them every chance I get. Picture me as the teenage daughter who opts out of family gatherings so she doesn’t have to deal with anything dysfunctional. Sure we put up a good front and my aunt and uncle visit every Christmas parking the RV in my parents’ driveway and typically stay until Valentine’s Day. Avoidance should have been my middle name instead of Amara. I never wanted any of this and I’m pretty close to opting out with James after this.

I’ve come up with several reasons why James needs anger management after everything that’s happened.

1) James got into it with my neighbor,

2) Tucker looks like someone tried to choke him, and