Chapter 12

Stephanie witnesses a new side of Archie during the press conference. This is the end of Book one. I'm currently writing book two which will be the second half of the novel, not a new novel.

Chapter 12

The door shut and all of Stephanie’s authority went with it. She slumped into her chair and rested her head on the flat of her hand. This whole thing was going to kill her, she thought.

“Boy,” said Townsend behind her, “I think that went really well. We got to him, m’man, I mean my woman,” he chuckled, “Our guy definitely knew more than he was letting on. What should we do next? My vote’s for ice cream, I hear Mr. Blake makes a mean hot fudge sundae.” He looked at his watch, “Park’s still open for another hour and a half, whaddya say?”

Stephanie rolled her head in her hand and looked in Townsend’s direction with one eye, “Is that code or something? Are we going to go there and find a grinning hit squad ready to take me or Oliver out?”

“No, well, yes that is where we keep them, but I thought you might want some ice cream to unwind after a hard day.” He said like a well-meaning parent.

Stephanie got up and left without looking at him and said, “I’ll relax when this hell is over, and besides that’s what drinking is for.”

Townsend soundlessly appeared next to her as she stormed down a corridor, “Gosh, Steph, alcohol? There are better ways to deal with your problems. Howell has many psychologists on staff that would be happy to get to the root of your anxiety.”

Stephanie stopped and looked Townsend in the eye, “Root of my anxiety?” she balked, “It’s you, it’s Archie, it’s�"it’s this f*****g place!” She shouted but somehow her words didn’t echo down the empty hallway like the park was feeding on her frustration and fear.

“This is a tough business, Steph, not everything was going to be sunshine and roses, and besides,” Townsend leaned in and whispered through the corner of his mouth, “you kinda did this to yourself.”

“You know damn well you don’t say ‘no’ to Archie Mills!” she said jabbing a finger in his chest.

“Archie’s really a swell guy when you get to know him.”

“What the hell is with you?” asked Stephanie angrily, “You sound like you’re out of the fifties or something, but it’s all a lie. Why don’t you cut the bullshit and just act like the thug I know you are. I don’t know if you think I’m dumb enough to believe all this�"side note, I don’t�"or if it’s all part of Archie’s head games, but I’m done with it. Congratulations, I’m scared, you win, now drop the act, your ‘charm’ is getting sickening. If you want to start every day with a gun to my head, then do it! You’re not as clever as you think, you can’t lull me into some false sense of security only to have your ‘gotcha’ moment. It won’t work.”

Townsend looks at her wide-eyed and innocently blinked a few times, “Wow, Steph, I appreciate you speaking from the heart, it helps the recovery process.” He put a hand on her shoulder, “Archie and I are grateful that you are facing your problems head-on, it makes for a much healthier work environment.”

Stephanie shook her head, “Wh-what no, I don’t have a damn drinking problem! Are you honestly going to keep pretending this entire time? What’s the point!”

Townsend took a step closer to more effectively look down at her, “I’ve been doing this a long time, Steph, and I know just the right buttons to make you crack,” he said tonelessly with a wide grin stapled to his face, “and I’m going to keep pressing them until Archie has decided what to do with you. Now, how do you feel about ice cream?”

From there the days dragged on for what felt like an eternity, each day getting harder. Townsend was there every morning without fail with a poisonous smile and a probably equally inedible meal. Stephanie’s days now consisted of impossibly long days and unending nights behind Howell’s walls and deep in The Tunnels�"with Townsend, naturally�"figuring out how Devon managed to break into the fortress that is Howell Park. Things had gotten bad too, Archie may have been out of the country, but his orders were still making it stateside. Through Townsend, Archie “fired” most of the security team, including Mister Graner, who simply didn’t show up one day when Stephanie called him into her office. Instead, Townsend took the role of Security Chief and his Sheep filled the holes left by Graner’s team. At every turn, Stephanie was met with Townsend’s empty smiling face.

“Rise and shine, Steph,” Townsend said staring down at her with a particularly toothy smile.

“Wha�"? “ said Stephanie in a daze as Townsend grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and forcefully guided her out of her room and set her down in front of one of his elegant death breakfasts.

“Eat up, bud!” he said.

“We’ve been over this, Townsend--” Stephanie said getting up, but Townsend held her in place with one hand.

He looked at her and said with a clenched smile, “Eat. Up.” He relaxed back into his persona, “’Cause you know what today is, right?”

Stephanie stubbornly refused to eat but grabbed the mug full of tea she had grown to tolerate over the days prior. “The press conference, so, that was planned months ago, that’s why I’m here.” 

Townsend went over to the sink and began washing dishes, “You know Archie wants you there, who do you think is going to introduce him?”

“He wants me to introduce him, why? He knows we haven’t made any progress, what, does he want to do a public execution or something?”

Townsend stopped washing and turned around chuckling, “You are funny Steph. You did all the work for the celebration and Archie feels that you should enjoy some of the spotlights and it’s a great honor to introduce Archie Mills.”

Stephanie reached for a slice of bacon and stuffed it in her face, “Can I go now, dad?” she asked.

“Your sarcasm never ceases to please, Steph,” Townsend said with practiced sincerity.

Stephanie said nothing as she casually got up and headed for the door, she was going to make a run for it. To hell with Archie, she could run for the rest of her life. She opened the door as quietly as she could and got about halfway before a hand reached in from the outside and gripped the doorframe. A second unseen force pulled the door the remaining way. It was those Red and Pink Sheep, they had become a staple of Townsend’s regime, but how long had he been using them to lurk outside her loft?

“Try again, missy.” said the red one with a growl. 

“You should know better than to act up like this,” said Pink like a parent who just pulled their four-year-old out of the ball pit after she deliberately told them to pack up.

“Where do you think you’re going, Steph?” asked Townsend who rounded the corner nonchalantly polishing a glass, “You wouldn’t want to insult Archie now would you?”

“You have goons staking out my home?” she shouted.

“Steph,” started Townsend shaking his head, “You told me yourself. You know my shtick, but I know yours�"years of experience, remember�"so I adjusted, just like you have. Which brings us here. Now, I suggest you get ready we’re leaving in twenty.”

Part of the celebration planning involved the building of a brand new amphitheater, The Mitchell Howell Memorial Theatre, to hold the press conference and most of the major events that would be announced there. Stephanie saw some preliminary drawings for the structure, but that task was handed off to one of her colleagues. This was her first time seeing the place since then. During its construction massive canvas walls were erected closing off much of the southeast corner of the park, partly to prevent gawkers staring at the crews during construction, but also keep the mystery of the job. Stephanie looked out her window every day for the last year to find a fifty foot tall picture of Wally in a hard hat holding a sign saying ‘Magic At Work’ looking back at her.

The Theater looked like the Globe Theatre by way of the Sydney Opera House. The roof swooped and curved inward toward the center of the building in waves. The largest waves on the theatre extended down to the ground narrowing to neat pillars. It was a wonder of ostentatious construction. The kind of structure that some hot shot up-and-comer architect or auteur artist would make to get their name in the papers. In any other setting the thing would be too over the top, but for some reason, it worked in the park. The reason Stephanie came up with that it added to the cartoony feel the park wanted to convey.

A sizable crowd had started to form outside the main gate, with more coming every minute. Stephanie walked passed the crowd and into the theatre. She could hear boos coming from the line as she walked in, she spun around in confusion, then she realized what they were seeing. To them, they saw a couple getting early access to, what was in their minds, one of the biggest events of the year. Beyond the front doors were a mosaic of Wally and Willa’s faces on the floor calling back to the original Wally cartoon that Archie and Mitchell worked on years ago. The room opened up to an antechamber that stretched the length of the theatre. The entire length was roped off in a way that would force its occupants into a winding line.

Townsend and Stephanie optioned to walk straight through and up the short flight of stairs and were met with a line of empty ticket booths soon they would be filled with disinterested actors selling tickets to the shouting throngs of people trying to get through in time to buy a churro and a soda from one of the concession stands beyond. Past that was the theatre proper. The seats encircled the stage and extended down. The stage was on the lowermost level opposite the main entrance. Stephanie could see a few tiny stage techs busily finishing the stage for the main event.

Townsend nudged Stephanie telling her to follow him around the perimeter of the theatre until they reached an “employee’s only” door. It didn’t have a handle just a flat piece of aluminum and an LCD panel set inside it. Townsend made a few taps on his watch the panel went from red to green, and the door opened with a ka-chunk. They entered what looked like an executive suite that sat next to the stage. Stuck in the corner was a decent sized bar filled with what Stephanie could only assume was the best booze money could buy. In another corner, there was a sleek black leather couch and matching chairs setting around a contemporary styled black end table. There were also a few rows of leather recliners in the center of the room facing a projection screen should guest wish to watch the event going on a few yards to the left of them. In one of the unoccupied corners stood Red while Pink guarded the other door next to the bar.

“Waddya think, pretty swanky, huh?” said Townsend, “You’re the first one to see this place, well, besides the rest of us, I mean.”

“It fine.” She said dismissively.

“Ouch,” came a voice from behind her, “you wound me, Steph. I designed the space myself.” She turned to find Archie hand over his heart and a trademark smile on his face. He had on brown cargo shorts and a blue and red button-up shirt. The bright colors swirled and mixed into an eye-catching kaleidoscope shirt design.

He walked up to them, “Have you two been having a good time. Getting to know each other?” he asked putting a warm hand on their shoulders.

“Boy, have we!” Townsend said, “Steph’s great! You really know how to pick’em, Archie!” 

“That’s great to hear!” Archie said, “You guys thirsty?” he said walking over to the bar as he did he made a point of going over to Red and Pink and shaking their hands, “I’m parched, Townie you still a ginger ale man?”

“Sure am!”

“Steph, can I get you anything?”

“No.,” she said quickly.

“Steph’s a pretty picky eater,” Townsend said

“Is that true? Did you try White Tiger? She’s a big fan of that place.” Said Archie with a wink as he filled a glass with some amber liquid from an ornate decanter.

Stephanie could hear a dull roar behind her as Archie walked over to the projection screen stopping to hand Townsend his drink. He took a sip of his and savored the taste. “Townie, can you do something about this?” he said waving at the blank wall.

“Can do, Bossman!” Townsend made a few taps on his watch and the screen came to life like an old tube television where the image started from a pinpoint in the center of the screen and expanded out from there. It was a bird’s eye live feed of the stage, most of the stagehands were gone and the stage was more or less set up. Below the stage, there was a mess of cables outlining the stage. In front of that was a small army of cameras emblazoned with local new network call signs and the corresponding news anchors practicing their scripts. “Flip us around would you please,” asked Archie, “I want to see what kind of crowd I’m going to be looking at.”  Another few taps and the camera flipped a hundred and eighty degrees. Thousands of people were starting to pour into the theatre.

“I’ve been doing this job for…I don’t know how long.” Started Archie distantly, “I’ve done more of these things than I can remember. I don’t ever think I’ll stop being in awe of the sheer number of people who love the work that we do. To see them come out in numbers like this to an event they could easily read about online. To show their support for something they love this much, it’s downright heartwarming.”

The rumble of the crowd grew louder as more of them filtered down to their seats.

Archie continued, “I live and breathe Howell, it’s my life, my legacy. Its successes are my successes. I take them to heart, and I take our failures to heart too.” He turned to face them.  “I love this place and I want it to succeed and I want the lovely people I employee to thrive too, and it hurts that much more when they don’t.”

“They would like you backstage in ten minutes.” Said Red from his corner.

Archie nodded and continued talking, “One of the darkest days in this company’s history�"other than when we lost Mitch�"was when that degenerate broke into the park. He violates the sanctity, the magic that makes Howell Park so special. He took a little bit of that away. What made it worse was that he was one of us. Howell gave him a home�"a purpose�"and he squandered it. I do not regret the actions I took to remedy the situation.” He took another sip of his drink.

“Tell me Steph, what would you do in my situation?” Archie asked.

Stephanie could now hear distinct conversations from the crowd. People were talking about the conference and what they hoped would be announced, but many of them were sharing things they loved about Howell’s properties and recapping their own adventures in the park. She knew Archie could hear them too.

“I would do anything to stop them,” She said, “but I wouldn’t kill them, and if you were half the man you think you are, you wouldn’t either.” The words flew out of her mouth as her brain screamed in protest. On the list of dumb things to do, this was at the top. She didn’t care, after the hell that Archie put her through she was tired of cowering to him. “You can’t fight the way of the world. The things Mitchell loved are antiquated, the world evolves and you can’t stop it.”

Archie stared at her, “I hear you Steph, but things are way different when you’re in my shoes. With me, even small decisions shake this place to its core. It’s my responsibility to use that power in a way that I feel is just. To you, it may seem drastic, but for me, it’s perfectly rational. Let me give you an example.” He set his drink in the cup holder of one of the recliners.

“I have this person. Someone so capable, so driven that I can’t help but admire them. So I invite them to join me while I do something great. I give them a job�"a tough one, I’ll admit�"and they fail. Now I’m a generous man, I give them a second chance and a helping hand, still nothing. Maybe I expect too much. Maybe I didn’t give them enough time. At a times like this, I’d generally cut the person loose. If they can’t help me then there isn’t a use for them, but here I am, stumped. What do you think I should do, Steph?”

While Archie was talking the camera in the background shifted to a standby mode where the camera moved to the top of the theatre, slowing panning around the space. The theatre was full of colorful, jittering specks, Stephanie could barely make out the individual shapes of people. 

The sound of the people would have been deafening if she were outside in the middle of it. They were excited about what the future would hold for the characters they had known since they could understand what they saw on the screen. These characters were as much a part of their lives as the family dog.

“This isn’t as easy as you think it is, Archie.” She said, “You are asking me to betray everything I believe in, maybe you could sentence a person to death, but I can’t, no sane person could. If you want me to resign, then consider this my resignation, because I’m done with this bullshit.”

Archie chuckled and shook his head, “Oh Steph, you know what executives never resign, but I think I’ll give you one more shot. This time I’ll be clearer about what I want and what’s at stake. I want you to find this person that’s trying to destroy my park, or, I will start looking for your replacement. To give you a little preview of what your exit interview will be like, please sit-in while I give Townie here, his.” In one fluid motion, he pulled a gun from underneath his shirt and shot Townsend.

Stephanie screamed and reflexively threw herself away from Townsend. The ringing in her ears and roar of the crowd blocked out all other sounds. She caught a glimpse of the screen and it was the same, the crowd didn’t hear a thing.

“Y’got another month, Steph,” she heard Archie say after the ringing died down to a manageable level, “then you’re done.”

Townsend let out a gurgling cough. She looked over and saw a growing dark red puddle soaking through his shirt at his waist. His chest was heaving at a frantic pace.

Archie walked over to Townsend, “Real sorry this had to happen to you buddy, but I needed an example and, hey, you were right there. No hard feelings?”

Townsend wheezed in response.

“Atta boy!” and Archie slapped him on the chest which caused Townsend to cough a spray of blood on Archie. He didn’t flinch or even react.

He shifted his focus back to Stephanie who was still shaking from the experience, her face wet with tears. “Now Steph, I’m going to have those two back there check on you every so often to make sure you are doing the best job you possibly can.”

Townsend’s breathing slowed to almost nothing. The puddle of blood underneath him had become thick and black.

Archie looked at Townsend and back at her, “Y’know, this is the most human I think I’ve ever seen ol’Townie act.”

Stephanie looked at Archie in horror.

“You look a little spooked, Steph, you still able to introduce me?” he asked, “I’d really like you to get some recognition for all the work you put into the celebration.” 

She said nothing.

“Oh well, it’s your choice,” he said, “Pinky, Blinky, clean-up Clyde. He’s starting to stain. This place is brand new.” He tossed the gun onto Townsend’s corpse and walked out the door Pinky was guarding.

Stephanie watched as Blinky and Pinky grabbed Townsend’s body and carry it out the same back door. She sat huddled in silence as she let the moment burn itself into her brain. She heard the rumors and now experienced Archie Mills in full force and it was something she never wanted to witness again.

The sound of pandemonium drew Stephanie to the screen. Archie took the stage taking in all the love that was being heaped on him. He waved to the crowd, smiled and blew kisses as he approached the podium. Archie stood waited for the commotion to die down. He didn’t even change his shirt, it was still covered in Townsend’s blood.

“Heeelllloooo everybody!” he shouted, “How the heck are ya?”

The crowd cheered again. After he had his fill of praise he gently waved for silence, “Alright, alright," he said with a chuckle, "I figure as much. As many of you may know Howell has been around for a long time. Fifty years to be exact and I remember when the entire company�"excuse me, family�"could fit behind the stage. It was a magical time and that magic as only grown as we have. I couldn’t be more proud of what Howell has become and it’s all thanks to you lovely people.”

The mass of people broke into cheers.

“That’s Right,” shout Archie above the noise, “give yourselves a hand, you deserve it!”

“But that’s not enough, you lovely people deserve more and I’m happy to give it to you all.”

The crowd fell silent, “Ah, that got your attention, didn’t it?” laughed Archie, “Well, starting next month and extending until next year we are going to be celebrating Howell Park, Mitchell Howell, and everything that this wonderful place stands for. We are going to have new rides, parties every night, new activities for the little ones and concerts, big ones, held right here in the brand new Mitchell Howell Memorial Theatre! I don’t want to spoil everything right now, but expect some big names to grace this stage. 

There is one last thing. You all might remember a certain loveable wolf. Well, I've been thinking he's been a bit neglected lately. So to rectify this I'm thrilled to announce the first new Wally film in over two decades! We will have more to share in the coming weeks but for right now ave you with this; I'm coming out of retirement for this one ladies and gents. This will be an Archie original!"

The theatre’s celebration reached a fever pitch.

"Before I go, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the person that made all this possible, unfortunately, she’s a bit shy and couldn’t make it to the stage herself. So I’m going to need your help, on the count of three I’m going to need all of you all to shout ‘you did this, Steph’. Ready? One. Two. Three.”

“YOU DID THIS, STEPH!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

END OF BOOK I

 

Author's Note

Thoughts on the end of Book one?

I'm currently writing the second half.