chapter thirty-seven

chase

Sixty vendors, four panel discussions, and one C-list celebrity attracted three thousand attendees to the inaugural Woodvale Comic Con. We were only halfway through the day when Sean and I found each other at the center of the exhibit hall to simultaneously declare we’d be making this an annual event. Besides a couple of minor snags, the convention was an enormous success.

People came out in droves to meet Ethan Killian, of course, but he wasn’t the only draw. Artists stopped me and told me it had been their most successful vendor fair of their lifetime. Families walked around in matching costumes, including Erika, Sean, and Dimitri—two Ghostbusters and the cutest Stay Puft Marshmallow I’d ever seen.

Like Erika and Sean, I was wearing a Ghostbusters costume, but I’d shipped the outfit to my mom in Michigan so she could sew on a very important detail: an Egon nametag.

Meghan was going to love that. I’d hoped I could show her the costume before I had to go on stage for Owen’s live podcast recording in one of the presentation rooms, but I couldn't find her in the crowd. I knew she was there somewhere, because my last text from her said she was on her way, but I’d have to track her down later. It was time to chat with Owen.

I was used to speaking in front of a camera, sometimes in front of a crowd, but that room was filled with a hundred and fifty people. They were all here for Owen, of course, but I felt the pressure to be a good podcast guest for him. Now that Sean was giving up paranormal investigating, I couldn’t rely on his funny commentary to lighten the mood. Somehow, I had to make ghost hunting sound exciting while also appealing to the science nerds. Just before we went on, Owen slapped my back and said, “Let’s go get ‘em, tiger,” like a cool, older brother would, and it made my nervousness melt away. Oddly enough, the fact he was cosplaying as Han Solo made him even easier to talk to.

On stage, we dove into the tools I used to detect paranormal activity, and he asked a lot of questions about the video equipment we used. When he asked if I’d uncovered anything particularly fascinating lately, I shared a little bit about the sigils Meghan and I had discovered. “I don’t want to give too much away, but we have some new info on the Woodvale Witch we’ll be revealing on our blog, Woodvale Whispers, pretty soon.”

Did I just promote our blog to Owen’s thousands of listeners? I worried it might annoy him—like I was using his platform to get more views on our website—but he wanted to know more about it. “Well now you’ve got me intrigued,” Owen said, “and for those of you unfamiliar, the tale of the Woodvale Witch is one of Southern Indiana’s oldest and creepiest local legends.”

Owen went on to give a little background on the lore behind Evelyn, and I interjected to add some key details every so often. As I opened my mouth to tell him how many people attended Evelyn’s public execution, my gaze drifted to the crowd—and that’s when I saw Meghan.

Wedged between Xander and Jillian in the press area just in front of the stage, she was staring back up at me with the cutest smirk.

Because she was dressed like Wednesday Addams.

With her hair in two braids, she wore a black dress with a white collar complete with black tights and black boots. I could tell she was fighting the smile, doing her best to pull Wednesday’s signature deadpan stare, but it wasn’t working.

After a few seconds, I turned back to Owen, trying to remember what we were just talking about. “I’m sorry, I lost my train of thought there.”

Owen chuckled, clearly amused by my sudden distraction. “It’s okay, it’s hard not to be distracted by all the cosplayers in this room. I can see at least three Jokers from where I’m sitting, and it’s a little unsettling.”

He wasn’t wrong about that.

We wrapped up the interview, and Owen told his listeners—and our live audience—to check out the show notes for links to my blog and YouTube channel. I felt a buzz of excitement flowing through me as Owen and I stood up and shook hands. Thanks to him, the relaunch of Woodvale Whispers was already off to a great start. “Thank you, man,” I said.

“No, thank you—this was a blast,” Owen said, completing the firm handshake. He squinted toward the crowd filtering out the doors into the hall. “Now I have to figure out which of these Princess Leias is my wife.”

I laughed as I hopped off the platform, making a beeline toward Meghan. She was mid-sentence with Jill, but I grabbed her by the waist anyway to pull her toward me. “Look at you,” I whispered, tugging her body against mine to plant a kiss on her lips. She giggled into my mouth, putting her hands on my waist. “Is it weird that I find this really, really sexy?”

“That was kind of the point, Egon,” she said, eyeing my nametag with a grin.

I pulled back from her so I could look her up and down. “Where and when did you get this costume?”

“Costume?” She looked down at her dress, flaring it out with her hands. “I already owned everything you see. This is no costume.”

Of course it wasn’t. I kissed her forehead, watching Xander and Jillian make their way across the hall to the cosplay dance. Jill was either dressed like April O’Neil from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or she’d just decided she was really into yellow pantsuits. I took Meghan by the hand, leading her out of the room. “I hope a lot of people turned out for the dance,” I said, glancing at my watch. “It’s been underway for about forty-five minutes.”

When we got to the banquet room, however, it was like being transported back to my middle school Valentine’s Day dance. Hordes of people clustered awkwardly along the walls, sipping their drinks or pretending to text. The dance floor was empty, despite the DJ’s efforts to get everyone to throw their hands up. Only one sad guy in an inflatable T-rex costume tried, but the state of things was pretty pathetic. “This is painful,” I whispered to Meghan, sidling up beside Xander and Jill at the back of the room. They were talking to Mason and Kendall, who were dressed like Thor and Barbie. That made sense. “Where’s your kid?” Xander asked them.

“She got bored, and we had her grandpa come pick her up,” Mason said, “so we could have a wild, kid-free night.” He eyed the empty dance floor and inhaled. “Obviously.”

Abigail approached from the other side, decked out in an impressive Poison Ivy cosplay. I caught Xander eyeing her bare legs before quickly shifting his gaze to Jill. “Wow, Xan,” Abigail said, “I’m disappointed in you.”

I swallowed, fearing she was about to call him out for ogling her body, but she grinned.

“You’re the only one of us who didn’t dress up.”

“Because you all are nerds,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m not one of you.”

Meghan laughed, rolling her eyes as she interlocked her fingers with mine. “Bullshit. Did you or did you not bring your Starlight DVD for Ethan Killian to sign?”

“Shut up.”

“We just need to get you some fairy ears and bat wings,” Abigail said, giving Xander a playful shove that made Jill scoot closer to him and take his hand.

“Never say that combination of words to me ever again,” Xander deadpanned just as Graham, of all people, wandered up.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Meghan blurted.

“Thanks for that warm welcome, Meghan. I have hobbies and interests, too, believe it or not.” He dangled a swag bag in the air, scanning the row of misfits in front of him. “Damn it, I knew I should have dressed up like the rest of you. I would have at least worn my Sherlock hat.”

“Aww,” Jillian said, just as Xander mumbled, “Christ.”

Graham shook his head, adjusting the bag on his wrist. “I have some news for you guys,” he said, locking his eyes on Meghan’s as those of us who worked for the news instinctively inched closer. Graham glanced over his shoulder like he might be overheard, turning around to announce, “Silas fled.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Left town. Skedaddled. Ran away with his tail tucked between his legs.”

Meghan’s mouth dropped open. “But why?”

“Because he knows what’s coming,” Graham said, “and he probably has more to hide than we even realize. It’s not looking good for him.”

“What’s this mean for all of us?” Xander asked, glancing at Jill. “I mean, who’s taking his place? For all we know, it could be someone even worse.”

Graham stared back at Xander, a smug grin spreading from ear to ear. “Well, this might not be what you guys want to hear, but they’ve asked me to step in as the interim CEO until they—”

“No, that’s good!” Meghan blurted. The rest of us nodded in agreement. Graham could be a kiss-ass, but he had our backs when we needed him most. He understood us a hell of a lot more than the men on the board, especially in his Doctor Who t-shirt.

He blinked in surprise. “You guys really think I should agree to it?”

“Yeah, but will you still be our editor?” Xander asked.

Graham took a deep breath. “I have to choose a temporary editor,” he said, glancing from Meghan to Xander. “It would be just for the summer, or until they get things sorted out on top.”

“Oh,” Xander and Meghan said in unison, turning to each other. Were we about to witness a showdown? Xander glanced at the floor before turning to Graham. Nudging Meghan with his elbow, he said, “She should probably take that role. She’s more suited for it.”

Graham gave Xander a couple of slow blinks. “I know, that’s why I was about to ask her and not you,” he said. I had to suck on my bottom lip so I wouldn’t laugh. “Meghan, what do you say? It’s going to increase your workload, but you’ll get a temporary raise.”

I silently prayed Meghan would have enough confidence in herself and her abilities to say yes. She drew her eyebrows closer together, giving this some consideration. “Editor?”

“Temporarily. But you’ll still be able to add that to your resume.”

Meghan glanced at me, as if needing some kind of encouragement, but I kept my expression neutral. This had to be her decision. I bowed my head and stared at the floor, catching her adjusting her bangs in my peripheral vision. “Editor,” she repeated. “I mean, I do already know how to put the layout together…”

“And I’ll still be in the building when you have questions,” Graham pointed out. “Are you in, or are you going to let the dingus next to you do it?” He nodded at Xander.

“I’ll do it,” she said, and my hand shot to her back in a sort of congratulatory hold. Meghan was so hot when she was confident. She’d earned this, and she fucking knew it. We all knew it. When she looked up at me, I saw happy tears forming in the corners of her eyes as I leaned down to kiss her on the temple.

“That’s my girl,” I whispered in her ear, making her bite her lip.

When I looked up, I spotted Sean making his way across the barren dance floor, shaking his head beneath the DJ’s strobe lights. “This is sad,” he said when he reached us.

“Why did we think a dance would be a good way to close out a Comic Con?” I pressed my palm to my forehead. “These are the kinds of people who skipped their high school prom to stay home and play Dungeons and Dragons .”

“I told the DJ to play the Guardians soundtrack,” Sean said, backing against the wall so he could look out at the room, “but it’s not helping.”

“Someone just has to start dancing, and others will jump in,” Jill said, uncrossing her arms. And then she grinned at Meghan, yanking her away from me to drag her to the dance floor. I couldn’t help but laugh at the way Jill forced Meghan to dance, twirling her to the rhythm of “Come and Get Your Love.” Seconds later, Abigail, Sarah, and Kendall joined, and the five women bumped hips and pulled some of the lamest dance moves I’d ever witnessed. One of Sarah’s space buns was coming loose, but she didn’t seem to care—or notice.

Owen scooted closer to fill the gap. “Why are we with these dorky women?”

At that very second, Jill twerked against Meghan, who covered her face with both hands and backed away.

“That’s why,” Xander answered, trying not to smile as Jill waved for him to join her. He shook his head, mouthing a firm “no.” Sarah was a bit more persuasive, though, coming over to pull Owen to the dance floor with both hands. It wasn’t long before the rest of the guys, myself included, were awkwardly forming a circle around the women. Erika tapped Sean on the shoulder, and the two of them started dancing, with their chubby Stay Puft Marshmallow squished happily between their chests.

“I think it’s working, “Graham pointed out a couple minutes later, nodding at the way a lot of other people were coming to the dance floor. Ewoks, Trekkies, two Spider-men pointing at each other—the amount of nerds brave enough to come to the dance floor increased by the minute.

The song faded into “O-o-h Child” by The Five Stairsteps, its tempo keeping the crowd moving while slowing just enough to compel me to put my hands on Meghan’s waist and pull her close. “I can’t believe I’m sleeping with the editor of the Woodvale Times tonight,” I murmured in her ear.

“I’m pretty sure that transition doesn’t happen until next week, so I’ll let Graham know he’s got a hot date tonight.”

I chuckled against her cheek, inhaling the spicy, floral scent of her perfume. “I’m choosing to only focus on the words ‘hot date’ from that sentence.”

Meghan brought her mouth to my ear. “You should tell me some sexy line Egon said in Ghostbusters.”

Pulling back so I could see her face better, I raised an eyebrow at her. “You… you’ve watched that movie, right?”

Meghan threw her head back and laughed, and I wrapped my arms around her a little tighter. Just as I leaned in, preparing to thank her for giving me a second chance, she surprised me with a kiss, cramming her tongue in my mouth with her hands on either side of my face.

“What was that for?” I breathed against her lips.

With her palms still pressed against my cheeks, Meghan focused on my eyes. “I love you,” she said.

My heart could’ve burst right out of that stupid Ghostbusters jumpsuit. My hands flexed on her waist as I pulled her flush against me again, like she might slip away if I didn't hold on tight. Meghan loved me again. She loved me.

Her sudden declaration had me at a complete loss for words. Of course I loved her too, but I was too stunned to form the words right away. “Really? That’s so cool,” I laughed out.

Meghan giggled so hard she snorted. I hadn’t heard that sound in ages. When she tilted her head back to laugh even harder, I kissed her on the neck.

“I never stopped loving you, Meg.” I rested my forehead against hers, breathing her in. Our friends danced like idiots around us, but we stayed locked into our own little world for a moment longer. Nothing felt better than holding Meghan in my arms, and this time around, I’d never let her go.