Page 144 of Joey

I lead my little troop into my lobby then stop and look around.

Haven’t been in here so long, it kinda throws me.

When Johnny beckoned me home last month because Jesse was in the middle of a tabloid crisis, I didn’t even bother coming here. I went straight to Jesse’s floor and made my way up to Johnny from there.

“Everything… OK?” Huck asks.

“Yeah,” I say. “Just… weird being here again.”

“This way,” Jesse says, taking the lead.

We all follow him down the left-hand hallway until we get to the upper-floor elevator.

“What the hell?” one of Emma’s friends mutters.

“Just go with it,” Emma whispers back.

“Fuck the elevator,” I say, punching in the code for the fire door. “He might have it locked down.”

We all file into the stairs and sound like a herd of elephants as we trudge up towards Johnny’s floor.

Unless he’s not up there, there’s no way he doesn’t hear us coming.

I get to the top first and my hand is on the door handle, ready to throw it open, when I pause and look over my shoulder and find Jesse’s worried face.

He nods. “I got you.”

“Thanks,” I say.

I throw the door open and the sound of laughing fills my ears.

For a moment I can’t make sense of things, so I just kinda stand there.

“What the hell?” Wald asks, pushing me out of the way. “Brooke!” he says, rushing forward. “Are you OK?”

Johnny turns in his chair. They’re both sitting in front of the window, knees bent, feet pressed against the glass, drinking.

“Uh… What the fuck is going on here?” I ask.

“Oh, good!” Brooke says, bringing her feet down to the floor and standing up. “You’re here. And just in time!”

“Just in time for what?” I ask. Because of all the things I envisioned happening up here between Johnny and Brooke, them laughing over drinks wasn’t one of them.

Brooke walks over to us, takes my hand, smiles at me, then Wald, then Huck, and says, “The plan, of course.”

“What plan?” Mila asks. “Someone better tell me why the hell I just got dragged into this creepy Johnny Boston meeting if there’s no crisis!”

Johnny takes a step towards her with narrowed eyes.

Mila, normally not one to cower, takes a step back.

He has that effect on people.

“You’re here because you drugged up my baby brother last month, Mila Sanchez.” He kinda growls her name and I do have to admit, my brother is a scary dude.

But Mila finds her strength and takes back that cowering step. She actually points a finger at his face. “You’re the one who sent that footage to them, Johnny Boston. So don’t play your little badass game with me, OK? I’m not gonna cower in front of you.”

Everyone is looking at her when this all comes out. But as soon as she finishes, we all look at Johnny.