Eric kept looking at her
- … How much?
- Well, putting all the costs to go to Brazil, making my good friends and...
-... How much? - He interrupted her
She wanted a small fortune.
- I'm not gonna pay you this kind of money.
- Well, think about it. I do know for a fact you and your family have this kind of money and I much rather have this kind of money than publish this story, maybe getting ten percent of what I’m asking you and get the fame of a gossip reporter. You got me? You can contact me by this e-mail – She gave him a business card – I’m staying in Paris for the next three days. Give me your final answer before I head back to the States, will ya? - She paused, they kept looking into each other’s eyes, then she finally smiled, proudly feeling she had won her day, perhaps her year - Don't worry about me, I know my way out...
She left the envelope to Eric.
Tom was sitting in front of Eric.
- Uau, fuck....October hasn't been our month… - Tom said
- So what are you going to do? - Tom
- I don't think I have many option, right?
- I guess not … Fuck man, I can't believe she got this kind of documents...And she even talked about your family influence? What a joke, she probably broke like ten laws to get to the bottom of this story...
Eric shrugged his shoulders
- Right...
Silence.
- I don't know what to do, Tom. What a fucking mess. First Mike's problem, now this... - Eric still didn't know about the whole Katherine situation.
- You should pay, Eric...
- But, Tom...
- I know, Eric. I know. But believe me, this kind of thing finishes people careers, man. Depending on the reaction of the public, you'll be done. I saw that happening several times in my career man... They even tried to bring me down once with this kind of shit, remember?
- ...But Tom, I'm not what she's accusing me to be, I'm not... Fuuck, I'm not
- I know. But you can't prove it, that's the thing. You are just going to stay in this “she said he said” thing. You won't win anything from this, while they'll kept selling this story... Besides, people want to believe in this kind of bullshit...
- But why, man?
- Because that's how things work, man. That's how society work. Unfortunately this kind of shit sells, because frustrated people with frustrated lives need to read about other people's lives in order to distract themselves from their shitty problems. They go to a pharmacy or a gas station and they see this, and your scandal is going to make someone's Sunday a bit more bearable. That's how it works Eric. A week later they will buy another scandal to read...
- ...But... I don't even know if I can pay this kind of money, if I had this kind of money available I would have already helped Mike...
- We'll find a way, Eric. Besides, it doesn't seem like Mike is going to accept money from anyone anyways, so we can just focus on your problem for now...As horrible as it sounds, that is the truth, man: You should pay, Eric
- … I guess I'm gonna have to talk to my dad...
- I guess so...
Tom, Eric and Eric's dad settle a teleconference meeting on the conference room for the same day. In a few minutes they gave Eric's dad as many details as possible of what was going on.
- So Mike is basically with a debt of the size of his house and you'd have to pay so this story doesn't go public...
- Yeah, I guess that sums it up pretty well...
-.... Ahn...
- ...
- Well, as I’m understanding, Mike can always sell his apartment to pay the big junk of his debt...
- He doesn't want to sell it, apparently he got a really good price on it and all... and with everyone living there, and all the money we put there to make it our home...
- ... Yeah Eric, he doesn't want to do a lot of things: sell the apartment, take rent from you guys, accept money from you guys, go on tour again, find another investor for the center... I told him I could even give him some more money for all the time Gustavo and Isadora lived there with him, and he refused it... - His dad seemed frustrated: He was tired.
- And?
- I love him, Eric, but he's not being practical, and in a situation like this you don't act with that much idealism, son. You do what you have to do...
Tom was discretely nodding in agreement.
-...All right, what about the journalist?
- Depends on what do you want to do... Do you want to pay her?
- I... I don't know...
-You should decide it, soon...
- Hmmm do I have money for that?
- Hmm technically no, but... - He sighed - I think we can...try to get a good loan in your name if we are very lucky...I don't know. I'll have to check.
- ...What about Mike? So you just want me to wait until Mike loses his house or his school so he can pay his debts?
- Hmm... One way or another they'll have their money back. I warned Mike about the amount of the debt he was getting himself into, he was aware of it. And he actually got more without telling me about it... It's not like the economy is booming and banks are being nice about loans these days...I don't know Eric, now he's just having problems accepting that we are trying to save his school....
-... Shit
Silence
- So what about the journalist?
- I... I don't know
So Tom spoke:
- You don't have many options, Eric...
- What if I sue her for blackmailing me?
- Nah...What kind of proofs do you have? Nothing...
-... Hmm... Can't I prove the envelope was hers? Fingerprints, I don’t know... Well, I actually touched it too, but anyways she probab-...
Tom cut Eric's talking
- Envelope? What envelope? … Eric, did she leave all the documents with you?
- Yeah, I told you, copies of them, but yeah
- NO, you didn't man... Fuck, man. You really have to work in your communication skills... let me see it... - Eric didn't say anything, he just got the envelope and gave it to Tom
Tom analyzed it for several minutes, which seemed to be an eternity for Eric and his father.
- Ha, fuck … People these days don't even know how to blackmail someone....
- What? What? ...Tom?
He just smiled and kept reading the pages
- Ai, it's ok Eric, you've been a bit naive, but nothing compares to what this Yankee did...
-What?
Tom grabbed several papers and put it on top of the table.
- She had all this documents, right? She needed to understand all the details, right? She needed to understand all the details of the documents she illegally got, right?
-Yeah...
- And she doesn't speak any Portuguese, correct?
-Yeah, so she translated it, I don't get the big deal...
- Eric...She had to translate documents she i
llegally got. She is forbidden by law to have access to this kind of documents, man... and this translator decided it was a good idea to translate it for her...
-Yeah, so? How the hell are we gonna prove this?
Tom pointed at something on the papers.
- FUCK, Are you serious? Does that mean what I think it means?
-Yeah-p... The Yankee is a moron.
- What's going on, guys? - Eric's dad asked
- … In the end of every translation...official translation, there is the notes from the translator where the translator explains some terms, and puts everything related to their qualification...well, this one left her name on it, qualifications and how to contact her in case of any problems with the translation. It's probably an automatic thing that nobody realized they shouldn't have put on it... It’s not in every single copy though...
- Are you serious? - Eric's dad
- Yeah... at least they weren't dumb enough to put their stamps and signatures on these papers... But they signed here, and here...and here, see? Not that it matters now anyways...
Silence
- So now what?
- Well, now you have one more option, Eric... Her advantage is...or was... that it was an exclusive story, and that you wouldn't be able to prove you were blackmailed. People would be inclined to believe you hid this story because you were guilty: It's appealing, and it makes sense.
… If you go public and release this story before her, with your own words, in the right way and say that... I don't know, we think about it later. But if you say she tried to blackmail you with these illegal documents.... And we are able to prove it was hers...
-Yeah...?
- We prove she was in Florianopolis, we can prove no one of us were there for a good while... Maybe we cannot prove how exactly she got the documents, but our version will be way stronger than hers. She was in Florianopolis, now she is in Paris. You two have been in the coffee place here, right? If we got a good angle with the camera we have in the lounge, and if by any chance we can see she had this envelope in hands...Maybe she will be able to sell her version of the story to someone, but at this point her credibility will be dead... It's better than nothing, man. If we find the translator and we are able to prove that these documents shouldn't have left the police station in the first place...
Eric's dad stared at him
- How hard do you think it would be to do all of that?
- A bit, but I’ve already dealt with harder things... We should check her social media situation, we can use it as proof she was dare, if anything... Let’s see... - Tom opened everything at once and looked her up. He stalked her like a professional detective in a speed almost humanly impossible. In less than two minutes, they had everything opened up about her on the big screen, across the room from where Eric's dad's was facetiming: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, you name it. They just had to browse her pages for more thirty seconds or so and boom: Florianopolis's beauty had been their best friend: She had shit tons of pictures on Instagram and Facebook on the beaches, near their famous bridge, on the public market. Yeah, the Yankee had definitely enjoyed her vacation. They saved everything they could before she could realize that and take it off the internet. Tom put it all in a couple of different usb keys, and send the pictures to five different emails. Just in case - There you go.... - Tom smiled – We should go check downstairs for the security cameras recordings, if we are lucky enough, we'll find her with this envelope in hands...
- Eric...?
- Hmm?
- What do you think?
- Seems...good
- You need to be certain of this, Eric - Tom
- I know...You know that that implies I’m gonna have to tell this story to the whole world, right? - Eric
They all went silent
- We know, son.
Eric thought for a while
- I guess that would've happen one day anyways, right?
Nobody said anything for a minute, then Tom said:
- Let's do this in the right way, Eric... It will be hard, but when all is said and done, that's gonna be in the past, once and for all... It might even help you to get over it.
Eric slowly agreed with his head.
-... You are with your family now, Eric. We'll have your back. - Tom smiled at him.
Eric smiled.
- I know... I'm gonna try to help Mike then. I mean, try to get the loan and all...
-You think he is going to accept it?
Eric shrugged his shoulders, but then Tom spoke:
- I think it’s time for me to talk with Mike...
Both Eric and his dad looked at him
- Ok...
- All right. Eric, are you sure about this? - His father
He looked at them both for a second. He ran his eyes through the room, the view, through whatever piece of school they could see from where they were. He needed to do that for so many reasons.
-Yeah, I am sure, dad.
Tom nodded and finally said with a smile on his face:
- Great then...let's go crush that stupid bitch, bro.
Eric smiled
-Thanks, Tom
They wouldn't have much time to do all of that:
Tom and Eric would right away start to work on the release of that story. Tom decided to call Alice to help them to write everything they needed: They worked the whole night, and in the next morning they would have hired one of the most respected lawyers on France to represent Eric. After meeting with him, they still needed to make a few preparations: The story would be release in that same day, in a few hours, and Eric was trying with all the strength he had to not think about it.
Eric was afraid of the reaction people would have around him: He wouldn't care if half of the world rejected him, but he was deadly afraid to see the reaction of Mike, Liam, Jack, Jan, his siblings, and … Marie, especially Marie’s. From the students, teacher and employees...
He was in panic because he couldn't stop thinking about Marie's reaction. Her family would reject him for sure. Marie would get hurt because he had never told her? Would she try and comfort him, saying that she understood him? He couldn't accept any of those reactions and was feeling very uncomfortable with the thought of any of them...
Even worse, he had asked for Alice's help in the matter and left Marie completely in the dark. Would she understand why? Would she understand that it had nothing to do with his feelings? Or maybe he was just lying to himself. Maybe he was just scared shitless of Marie's reaction.
Minutes before they released the story to a journalist, they had gathered everyone in the office: Marie, Mike, Liam and Jack (through conference), Isa, Gustavo, Jan - who didn't know about the story- And Alice, Tom, Eric and his parents – who flew to Paris to be there- Isabella and Lucas – who already knew - and even Marie's father, because somehow Eric decided he wanted her father to listen to that story from him. Fifteen people, eight of them who had absolutely no idea what was going on.
Because Eric said he had something important to tell them, everyone in the room was staring at him, and the whole room was getting incredibly tense.
Moments went by and Eric was still looking for guts to tell all of that to them.
- Alright then...
But he didn't want to open his mouth. He didn't want to say anything. Everything in his body was begging him not to. Tom should speak for him, his father.... Anything but opening up himself like that.
He was missing words; he was missing experience on how to say important things in the right way. He was shaking.
The time was feeling heavy over his head: an internal pressure for Eric, clouding his vision, making it look like his head was being crushed... Making him feel like he wasn't really there, and at the same time, his whole life had stopped at that moment, at that place... He didn't want to say anything at all...but he had to.
He had a knife pressing his neck, and suddenly he felt an infinite anger against everyone who was there: It was their fault. They've finally been able to put him against the wall. All that bullshit about opening up the past, caring about your family and friends had put him in that situation.
Caring had put him in that position.
… If he was still Eric Meirelles, touring, everything would have been fine: He would have paid the journalist or destroyed her would've been way easier. He wouldn't have to worry about Mike's fucking problems.
But no. He was in Paris, without much money, finally feeling stuck in that city, in those streets, in that fucking country and in that fucking room with people looking at him, waiting for some kind of redemption for his life, his mistakes and his addictions. What a fucking joke.
His life, so far from what he had imagined for himself ten years ago, that now he just had lost any ability to dream. His life that just didn't look like his. The blood in his hands that would probably never go away.
But he was woken up from his anger by a known face on the back of the room: Samuel.
He was there, as clear as if he was alive. There was something different about him, though... His face: it was not showing anger, pride, irony or anything like that. He had an expression that Eric had never seen on him: He was truly happy.
They looked at each other for an eternity. Samuel looked at everyone on the table, walked a little bit on the room, and finally stopped behind Marie. He put his hands very gently on her shoulders, then on her head, and finally gave her a little kiss on the top of her head.