“But I started this. I can’t act like that now with him. It wouldn’t be right.”
I sit down across from her and pull my chair as close as I can, than reach over and take her hand. “Brooke, even if I didn’t care about you, which I really, really do, I’d never want to hang you out to dry when you stood up and made the choice to do the right thing. You’ve stuck your neck out and risked a lot by giving us the information we needed to pull this off. We care about our viewers and have pride in our work, and if we pull this off today, our dignity will be preserved. Jerks like Arnold will do anything for money, even if it’s being sensational at the expense of innocent kids. If he wants to do edgy controversial cartoons, he needs to do deals with adult-centric channels like Adult Swim.”
Brooke silently nods in agreement, and then takes a deep breath. “Okay, so you’ll be there for me when he kicks me to the curb and I’m jobless?”
“You’re so respected in this field that you’ll never be jobless, but yes, I will totally be there for you.”
Morgan knocks sharply on the door and then opens it before Brooke can reply, but we’ve already released our handhold. “It’s time,” she barks.
Brooke nods and we both stand. I give her a final hug, and whisper in her ear, “Now go wave your magic lasso and do your thing, Wonder Woman.”
She winks at me and walks with a confident gait right out the door. As I exit, Morgan gives me a puzzled look and I smile at her. “I think I need some Starbucks, Morgan. Can I get you something?” And just like that her suspicious look melts into a smile.
“Thanks Nathan. A grande mocha with whipped cream.”
“Got it.” I reply and head toward the elevators.
For the next forty minutes the building is quiet as a tomb. After I’ve returned from Starbucks it occurs to me that everyone must be holding their collective breaths. I hope no one is second-guessing their involvement with all of this, but I’m confident with this group that everyone is still convinced we’ve done the right thing.
We have a group What’sApp chat set up and suddenly it’s buzzing with posts.
Chester: Nadia at the front desk said the group of top execs just stormed out the front door.
Katie: Morgan just told me that there’s lot of yelling coming out of Arnauld’s office.
Nathan: Does Morgan know if Brooke’s all right?
Katie: Morgan said it doesn’t sound like he’s yelling at Brooke, just yelling about firing assholes or something.
Chester: Nancy in HR said there’s going to be a company wide meeting.
Joel: Oh hell no!
Chester: It’s not sounding good. Do the animation teams that weren’t on the project know what happened?
Joel: Yes, and they support us with what we did.
Nathan: At least there’s that. Look no matter what happens, we know we did the right thing.
Dani: No regrets!
Bruce: I liked working here—the staff was cool, but yes. No regrets!
And then my phone pings over and over as everyone shares the same sympathy that quickly becomes a hashtag: #noregrets.
It’s agony waiting until three p.m for the company wide meeting. Not a single bit of work is done. When we finally file in, no one dares to sit in the first few rows. Everyone is somber and wondering where they should send their resumes as soon as they’re updated.
We sit there awkwardly until Arnold finally graces us with his presence, marching on stage like a general. His level of rage is quite evident, with a scowl so fierce his eyebrows have met in the center of his forehead. Brooke and Nancy walk in behind him and take seats facing the audience to Arnold’s right. No one in this auditorium, including them, looks okay with being here.
“So I’m sure by now you’ve all heard about the unbelievable abomination some of your teams executed to destroy our fine studio. Our executive group was not pleased at all by this lack of respect for our company, and the blatant disregard for the quality of our cartoons. We will not stand for such outrageous behavior and those involved will be immediately terminated.”
Sonia, a Hispanic digital colorist, boldly stands up and challenges him. “What about your lack of regard for respecting women and people of color in our cartoons? The content of that pilot was offensive and a disgrace, and you had no regard for that fact.”
Arnold angrily points his finger at her. “You will be taken to HR when this meeting is over.” He turns to look at Nancy. “Make note of her.”
Sonia waves her hand at him disregarding his motion for her to sit back down. “I’ll head up there now so I don’t have to listen to any more of this garbage.”
I get an adrenaline rush so strong that I feel like I should drop my head between my knees, but I don’t want to miss anything. I turn to watch badass Sonia throw the auditorium door open and sashay right out. “Wow,” I whisper.
I look up to the stage and Brooke and I lock gazes. She looks stoic and I’m glad for it. She’s going to need to be strong for what is coming up ahead.
“So you all need to know that we won’t stand for traitors among us. Each of you that participated in this fiasco will not just lose your job, but all your respect in the industry. I’ll make sure of that. So right now I want you to stand up if you were a part of what happened today.”
There’s a long silence where not one person stands or says a word. Arnold barks a laugh. “So no one will own up to what they did to our company? None of the traitors will stand up?”
Dani suddenly rises and crosses her arms over her chest, and Chester is right behind her. I follow next, and then people are standing up in groups of twos and threes until it looks like our entire group is standing.
Arnold nods his head with an ugly sneer. “Okay, you losers will follow Nancy upstairs to HR when we’re done here, and the rest of you are welcome to stay as long as you don’t support these rebels.
Josh from Ricky’s team stands up. “I support them.” I want to hug the guy, I’m so proud of him.
“Then you can get in line with them,” Arnold commands.
And just like that, this amazing energy suddenly fills the cavernous room as one by one, and two by two, people stand to join us in solidarity, until there isn’t a single seated person left. Quietly everyone moves to the center aisle and starts to line up for the march to HR. It looks like there won’t be any creative staff left at Sketch Republic by the end of the day, and Arnold looks like he’s been hit by a truck.
As we slowly move forward the tone is somber but powerful as people hug and thank the supporters for the stand they are willing to take on our behalf. I can only hope I’d be that brave for them. When I’m near the door I look back at Brooke and see her dabbing her eyes with Kleenex while Arnold storms back and forth across the stage muttering curses. Nancy from HR has apparently already headed upstairs. She sure has a long night ahead of her. The whole thing feels like a dream.
Over an hour passes, and people stop standing in line and just start sitting on the floor wherever there’s room. Groups make vending machine runs until there’s no junk food left to buy, so everyone shares what they have. Some people are scrolling through job boards on their cell phones but most are just hanging loose and chatting since it’s been a day like no other.