The Antisocial Network

"That's great!" she exclaimed and jumped up. "Don't go anywhere, Wes, I'll be right back." With that she ran out of the office and down the hall.

Bemused by her reaction, Wes wandered over to the futon and plunked down. Now that the adrenaline was draining out of his system, he felt exhausted. He was half asleep when Dash returned.

She came over and sat down next to him. "Oh, Wes, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I knew Phase 2 would be provocative, but I didn't think your firm would act so precipitously."

She reached out to take his hands in hers. "This was the worst of it, Wes, I promise. We'll let things settle tomorrow and then we'll launch Phase 3."

"Oh, God, what now?"

"No, no, this is when your arc starts rising. You've hit bottom; it's all up from here. Oh, and that reminds me, my Uncle Winston says whatever you do, don't cash any checks from your firm. Okay?"

"You talked to your uncle about this?"

"That's right. And he was very emphatic: don't sign anything from your firm without his approval."

Wes looked at her blankly. "That's easy for him to say, but I'm going to run out of money very quickly. Paying for that dumpy motel room, eating out every meal, buying new clothes - all that stuff adds up."

She frowned. "Right - I hadn't thought about that." Then her face brightened. "Hey, I know what: you can move in here."

"You want me to live in your office?"

"Sure. It's where I live. There's an office back through that door that I converted to a bedroom, and we turned the restroom into a three-piece bathroom."

"But I can't do that. I mean, where would I . . ." he hesitated.

"Oh, don't worry about that. You can sleep on the futon - just until we get your situation worked out." Seeing his hesitation, she squeezed his hands. "Look, it's silly to waste money on a motel. And now that you've been fired, you'll probably be down here most of the time anyway, so it'll be a lot more convenient." When he didn't answer, she pressed on. "I tell you what: let's go out and get some dinner and we can talk about it."

She took him out to a little bistro, and over wine and dinner he told her all about what had happened at his office. She listened to him sympathetically, not saying a lot. When they finished, she insisted on paying the check. Back in her car, she turned and looked at him brightly. "You know what, we're actually pretty close to your motel. Why don't we swing by there? You can grab your things and check out, and I can take you back to the office."

He still had reservations, but he was too tired to argue with her so he let her drive him to the motel. He had little in the way of possessions, and it took no time to settle the motel bill and return downtown. Once he'd lugged his bags up to her office, she helped him make the futon into a bed. Then, while she went back in her bedroom to put on her night clothes, he stripped down to his t-shirt and boxer briefs and got under the sheet.

When she came back out, he was amused to see her wearing a long t-shirt covered with video game characters. "Got everything you need?" she asked.

He nodded and she turned to go. "Dash," he stopped her, "thanks for doing this. I'm glad I'm here and not in that damned motel."

She smiled. "Me too, Wes."

After she turned out the overhead lights, he lay back in the half-light coming from computer screensavers and small LED lights on the processors. He closed his eyes and a wave of depression rolled over him. What has happened to my life? I've lost my marriage, I've lost my house and I've lost my job. My friends have deserted me and now I'm trying to sleep in a strange office on a strange bed. What in the hell did I do wrong? He kept trying to answer that question until he finally dropped off to sleep.

He woke up the next morning when Dash came in the office door bearing coffee and sweet rolls. He was still in a melancholy mood but she soon distracted him, getting him to search various social networks for any mention of him and his situation. It didn't take long to find some. When Wes typed "Humiliated Hubby" into the search engine, he was astonished at the sheer volume of tweets, TikToks, Instagrams, Facebook links and other hits that came back. Someone had even created an entry in Wikipedia, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

When he remarked on how much he'd found, Dash gave him an embarrassed smile. "I have to be honest with you, Wes. I spent most of yesterday posting images, comments, feedback and links so other people would be sure to see your story." When he frowned, she hurried on, "But it didn't take much on my part. The 'inter-verse' picked it up and began to run with your story on its own. I've even found comments about you on websites in other countries and in other languages."

"Swell," he muttered sarcastically. "So now I'm infamous internationally."

Even more disturbing to Wes was the bitterness and even hatred anonymous responders expressed towards him. Dozens of commenters urged him to "do the world a favor and kill yourself," or words to that effect. "I'm going to have to hire a bodyguard before all this is over," he moaned, shaking his head.

Dash wouldn't let him sink into self-pity. "The farther your fall now, the higher you'll bounce on the rebound," she promised.

"I sure hope you're right," he said dejectedly, "because I'm falling like a rock right now."

Marlene

Sitting behind her computer at the house in Fair Oaks, Marlene was reading some of the same comments in response to Gossip Gertie's latest revelations. With a puzzled expression she called her lover. "Jack, this thing with Wes has really gotten out of hand. I want to be rid of him, not destroy him. He never hit me or did any of the things these people on the internet are accusing him of. I almost feel like I need to say something."

"No," he said sharply, "you need to let this thing play out just the way it is. All this publicity is going to ensure that your divorce sails through without a hitch, plus you'll probably get a more favorable settlement out of it. And once we go public with our relationship, this guarantees no one will say anything negative. After your terrible experience with Wes, our friends will all say you deserve a chance for a little happiness. We couldn't have scripted this any better."

"Do you really think so?"

"Absolutely, baby. Wes has a great big bullseye painted on his chest, and there's a ton of people who want to take a shot at him. He's never gonna recover from what hits him!"

Wes

That afternoon, Dash got a phone call, and when she realized who it was, she put her phone on speaker so Wes could hear. "Hey, Gertie, I'm glad to hear from you. Did that latest info on the Humiliated Hubby get a good reception" she asked, winking at Wes.

"Good reception? Girl, that story blew up the Internet! That's the best shit you've ever sent me - I've gotten 50,000 new subscribers in the last day. Any chance you've got something more on the story?"

"Talk about good timing, girlfriend, I've just been putting some more stuff together. I should be able to send it to you by the end of the day. If you like it, you could probably use it in tomorrow's show."

"Really? What have you got this time?"

"You're not going to believe this, but what if it turned out that Humiliated Hubby isn't such a bad guy after all?"

"Are you freaking kidding me?"

"For reals."

With that, Dash outlined the new material she'd put together. When she'd finished, Gertie was agog. "OMG, what a turnaround - my subscribers are gonna go wild! You know what: let's make this into a two-parter - even more bang for the buck! Get both of them to me as soon as you can so I can start promoting."

When the call ended, Dash turned happily to Wes. "Are you feeling a little better now?"

"It's good Gertie liked it, but we still have to see how her subscribers react." He gave her a wry smile. "I have to admit, though, I'm starting to feel a little more hopeful."

Dash worked into the early evening getting everything put together the way she wanted it. Wes continued to keep an eye on the various social media for late incoming reaction, but mostly he stayed out of Dash's way, letting her do her thing.

When she was finally satisfied, she uploaded the package to Gertie. Only when she got Gertie's thumbs-up back did Dash relax and turn her attention to Wes. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving. How about we order pizza? I've got some more beer in the fridge, so we can kick back and relax."

"Sounds good to me."

When they had finished their meal, he stretched and turned to look curiously at his temporary roommate. "So how did you and Gertie get to be such good buddies?"

"We got to know each other when we were freshmen at Cal Tech."

"Cal Tech!"

"Yeah. To look at Gertie on YouTube, you'd never guess that at one time she wanted to be an electrical engineer at some high-tech company."

"And you?"

"Oh, I was majoring in computer science, but I never graduated. Other stuff happened and I dropped out and never went back."

He could tell from her expression that she wasn't keen to go into detail, so he tried another question. "How'd you get a nickname like 'Dash'? Did you run track or something like that?"

She shook her head and grinned. "Actually, Dash is short for Dashiell, as in Dashiell Hammett. My father always loved detective novels, and he's a big fan of The Thin Man and The Maltese Falcon."

Wes nodded. "Okay, so how about 'Daniels'? Where did that come from?"

The smile from her face vanished. "'Daniels' was the name of my asshole ex-husband," she spat.

"Oh, wow, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to open up an old wound."

She shook her head. "No, it's okay." She gazed off into the distance. "When I went off to college, I was the typical rebellious, emotionally immature girl ready to break away from stodgy old Sacramento. Joey - that was his name - was a real bad boy, and I was dumb enough to be attracted to that type. He got me into some bad stuff: drugs, parties, all the usual stupid shit a lot of kids that age do. But I was crazy about him. When the school year was almost over, the thought of being separated was too much so we eloped.

"My father was really upset, but he was desperate for me to get my degree so he found us an apartment in Pasadena and helped with our expenses. What I didn't know was that Joey was spending a lot of that expense money on drugs. I also didn't know that he was spending the rest of it on some skank he'd found. But everything became clear the day Joey walked in with this dyed-blonde tramp by his side and told me he and she were leaving."

She looks like she's having oral surgery, Wes thought, staring at Dash's face.

"It really hit me hard" she went on. "I kinda went to the dark side. The money was gone, the rent was due, and I wound up living on the street for a while. Fortunately, my father found me and brought me home. It took me a long time, but I pretty well got my act together, found something I could do to support myself, and here I am."

"That sounds just horrible, Dash. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that, and I'm even sorrier that I brought it up."

"No, that's okay. It's long enough ago that I'm mostly over it." She paused. "Oh, and in case you're wondering why I kept his name, I did it because I didn't want that prick to be able to erase me. I wanted my last name to be an ongoing reminder of what he'd done." She made a dismissive gesture. "If I had it to do over, I'd probably go back to 'Samuels,' but I'm used to it - so whatever."

"That must have been so painful for you."

"Yeah, but at least I can honestly say I can appreciate what you've been going through."

Impulsively he got up, went over and hugged her, and after a moment of hesitation she returned the embrace. "Ain't we a pair?" she laughed ruefully when they'd separated.

The next day the two of them were in front of Dash's big flat-screen when the new Gossip Gertie was scheduled to post. Wes was impatient at the slow load time, but Dash reassured him that it was likely due to network traffic. "Those little teasers she posted on Instagram must have really built up a lot of interest."

Finally, the familiar image of Gertie behind her picket fence desk appeared, and it was obvious that the net personality could hardly contain her enthusiasm. "Have I got a good one for you today, gossip lovers! The saga of the Humiliated Hubby has taken a new and startling twist."

The screen behind her filled with an image taken by the doorbell camera across the street from Wes' home. "Here's the house you've all seen before: Casa Humiliated Hubby. And look: there's a Silver BMW pulling into the driveway and then into the safety of the garage," Gertie paused dramatically, "but not before we caught the license plate. "Who owns that car, you ask." The screen filled with a publicity photo of Jack Mackenzie, the head of the Mackenzie Agency.

Gertie's voice changed suggestively. "Isn't that nice? Mr. Jack Mackenzie, whose advertising agency buys so much artwork from the wife of Humiliated Hubby, has come by to console the poor woman, to help her through the turmoil of her divorce. But wait! Let's go back and look at the time and date stamp on that security footage." She pointed dramatically at the corner of the screen behind her. "That's three months before Mrs. Hubby filed for divorce. And guess what: it seems that Mr. Mackenzie was 'consoling' the distraught lady several times per week that whole period." Behind her, the screen showed image after image of the sports car pulling into the garage.

"Now I'm not judging Mrs. Hubby for fooling around behind her hubby's back. What I am saying, Gossip Lovers, is that it looks like there's a lot more to this story than we first thought. And better yet, Gossip Gertie has more dirt to share with you next time, so be sure to check this YouTube channel for our next sensational revelation."

With that Gertie sequed into her next topic, and Dash shut off the program. Spontaneously, both of them leaped to their feet and cheered. Wes grabbed his partner in a bear hug. "That was amazing," he exclaimed. "You're amazing!" He stared at her a moment as if seeing her for the first time, then leaned in to kiss her. After a moment's hesitation, she returned his kiss hotly. In an instant the mood shifted from elation to passion.

But before the temperature could rise any higher, there was a knock on the office door, and the pair hastily pulled apart just as Winston Samuels' secretary poked her head in. "I hope I'm not interrupting. I was looking for - oh, there you are, Mr. Hardaway. Mr. Samuels was hoping he might have a word with you if you're not busy."

"No, of course not," Wes spoke up hastily. "I'd be glad to meet with Mr. Samuels." Wes gave one last glance back at Dash before following the matronly woman down the hall to the attorney's office.

Winston Samuels was waiting for him and led the younger man into his office. "Since you have chosen our firm to represent you, I was most interested when my niece informed me about your dismissal." He cocked his head at Wes. "I trust she passed along my recommendation that you not cash any checks from your former employer nor sign any other materials they might send to you."

"Yes sir, she did and I didn't."

"Good," the attorney went on, "because doing so might imply acceptance of a settlement, and you do not want to accept any offer from them at this time."

"Okay," Wes said hesitantly.

"As I understand it, you were dismissed from your job because you violated the firm's policy on spousal abuse, is that correct?"

"Yes sir, my former boss made that clear in no uncertain terms."

"And is there anyone else who can corroborate that?"

"I could probably give you at least a half-dozen names of other people who were there and heard what she said."

"Excellent. On the assumption that was the case, I have prepared a lawsuit on your behalf against your former firm for unlawful dismissal. You did not abuse your spouse" - Wes shook his head vigorously - "and they had no reason other than some malicious gossip to believe otherwise. Moreover, the way you were publicly dismissed and escorted off the property slandered your good name The firm should be held liable for that as well. Finally, I have reviewed the online edition of your firm's employee handbook and determined that your superior failed to follow company procedure in the handling of your termination. Accordingly, I believe you have solid grounds for a lawsuit. With your permission, I'd like to file suit asking the firm for cumulative damages in the amount of $10 million. Does that sound fair to you?"

Wes gasped. "$10 million? Yes sir, that sounds very fair to me. Do you think we can get that much?"

A smile flitted across the older man's lips. "I think we would stand an excellent chance, but it would mean going to trial and would probably take three to five years."

Wes' face fell.

"But," Samuels went on, "the firm will have no taste for the unfavorable publicity such a trial might entail. And from what my secretary has been telling me, your stock in the court of public opinion is on the rise, something they will also be aware of. My guess is that they can be persuaded to settle out of court very quickly for about half that amount - plus my legal fees, of course."

"$5 million would be fine with me," Wes said quickly.

The smile was broader. "I hoped you would feel that way. Accordingly, if you'll sign this document, I'll get the process under way."

Wes signed and stood to leave, then turned back. "Mr. Samuels, will this affect my divorce proceedings? To be honest, I don't want Marlene to benefit from this."

"I don't believe you need be concerned," the attorney said. "All these events took place after the petition for divorce was filed. Moreover, it was your wife's actions that resulted, at least indirectly, in your wrongful dismissal. Under the circumstances, she should not be entitled to benefit."

Wes was excited about the news and hurried back down the hallway to Dash's office space. When he went in, he found her bent over her keyboard, and when he tried to tell her she cut him off. "Can it wait, Wes? I'm on a deadline for another client and I've got a ton of work to do." Without waiting for his response, she turned back to her monitor.

He stood there for a few moments, disappointed not to be able to share his good news. But what really stung was the sense that Dash was avoiding him. Finally, he cleared his throat. "I think I'll go out and take a walk," he told her. When he got no response, he turned and left the room.

Down at street level, the young man headed off in the direction of the Capitol Mall. When he reached it, he turned west and walked along the sidewalk until he came to the Tower Bridge, where he stopped and gazed out over the Sacramento River. His thoughts, however, were not on the view.

Dammit, I shouldn't have pushed myself on her like that. No wonder she doesn't want to have anything to do with me now. Still, I thought she responded to me. I don't know, maybe it was just pity. Maybe she was just trying to be nice to the poor cuckolded husband.

Idly he watched workers taking supplies aboard the Delta King sternwheeler.

Why did I kiss her, anyway? She's so different from any girl I've ever been interested in before. Still, there's something about her. But it doesn't matter - she's obviously not into me. I'm just her client, nothing more.

She was still deep in her work when he got back to the Samuels Building, and the distance between them didn't shrink the rest of the evening.

Marlene

While Wes was walking on the Capitol Mall, Marlene was angrily calling Jack Mackenzie in his office. When he answered, she didn't even say hello. "Have you seen that damned gossip show on YouTube?" she demanded. "How in hell did they get that video of you pulling into my garage? You told me you were careful."