7th Floor West | JF

Chapter 35

I felt myself roll around and groan as I heard a soft voice say to me, "Hey Meg, are you awake yet?" I groaned again and rolled over so that I was further away from Jimmy. I heard the laugh that was all too familiar to me, and he said, "You never were a morning person... I have breakfast downstairs when you're ready. It's waffles and ice cream."

I shot out of bed and grabbed my sweatpants, and I smiled widely as I followed Jimmy downstairs. "Wow, now I know how to wake you up for work every day." We both laughed as we made our way downstairs. "Oh, crap... I forgot my medicine, hold on-" Jimmy smiled widely at me and said, "No you didn't." It finally clicked with me that I didn't need medication to make me happy anymore. I had my own antidepressant, and it was stronger than any other medication. It induced laughter, happiness, joy, and fun. That medication was Jimmy.

*

I joined the rush in the hallways on the sixth floor as all of the writers met for the creative meeting with Jimmy in the conference room. I saw Higgins there, along with Jimmy, and I saw that Higgins had saved a seat for me. John Haskell came and sat on the other side of me, and tons of other writers began to shuffle in. I saw AD Miles, Patrick Borelli, Arthur Meyer, Dan Opsal, and Mike Dicenzo, to name most of them. I had grown close with a lot of the writers over the course of my job here at the Tonight Show, and it truly felt like a family. As everyone talked amongst themselves quietly, Jimmy came over to me and said, "Are you sure about this, Meg?" I took a deep breath and said, "Yeah. I'm sure." Jimmy squeezed my shoulder and smiled at me, and then he went back to his seat at the head of the table. We began the creative meeting, and it went pretty well. We came up with some new game ideas, some new segments with the Roots, and we made some new Thank You Notes. As we were all about to be dismissed, Jimmy said, "I just have one more important thing." Everyone paid full attention to him, and he continued. "Megan would like to say something to everyone, so I'm turning this over to her." He beckoned for me to come up by him, and I stood next to him. I took a deep breath and began.

"I just wanted to say thank you. You guys really are like another family to me, and it makes me so happy that I can come to work every day and have the opportunity to work with amazing people like you. You guys make me love coming to work every day..." I paused and looked at Jimmy, and his eyes gazed at me in admiration. I could tell that he was proud of me already. "Since we're like family, I think that you guys deserve to know something about me that only Jimmy knew, and I didn't even tell him- he found out. When I was in college, I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. It was a struggle that I've been dealing with up until a few months ago, and I've been cleared and taken off of my medication... I just want to thank all of you for helping me through this, even though you had no idea that you were. You're all just so kind and encouraging, and it really helped me get through this. Since we're a family, I just figured that you deserve to know."

Everyone looked up at me with huge smiles on their faces, and I heard Higgins say, "Meg, we're all so proud of you. You're an amazing, talented writer, but you're an even better person. You're right, we are a family, and the fact that you decided to tell us this was really awesome. We're all here for you, every step of the way, and we're all a family. We help each other out through thick and thin." I smiled up at Higgins as Jimmy dismissed everyone else- but nobody left yet. Higgins gave me a huge hug and said, "I'm so proud of you, kiddo." I thanked him and let go of him, and I saw all of my co-writers each waiting to hug me. I could already tell that today was going to be a great day.

*

"Thank you, Snapchat logo, for showing me what it would look like if the Liberty Bell had sex with a ghost." The entire studio erupted in laughter as Jimmy did his infamous Thank You Notes, and I looked over at Mike Dicenzo and punched him playfully. "Was that you?" I asked him, laughing. He began laughing along with me as he replied, "How'd you know?" Mike put his arm around my shoulder and said, "Ah, I love you, Meg. You're the best." I smiled and looked up to Deej. "Nah, you're the best... But thanks."

The show went by really quickly, and I watched as the NBC Pages led all of the guests out of the studio. I noticed that Tariq and Questlove were joking around playing some beats and rapping, and I made my way over to them. "Hey Meg!" Questlove greeted me as I approached them. I fistbumped them, and they began talking to me about the show. Out of nowhere, I heard Jimmy yell, "Hey Tariq, did you know that Megan is really good at rapping?" My head shot around as I looked for Jimmy,  but I couldn't find him. Quest and Tariq exchanged looks, and Tariq led me over to the microphone. I was laughing hysterically, because I hadn't rapped in a long time- not since college. "If I'm gonna do this, can I at least do one of your songs?" Frank and Kirk were watching from the front seats in the studio audience, and Quest asked me, "Do you know the lyrics to The Fire?" I scoffed at him and said, "Are you kidding? That was the song that I would listen to before every NYU Volleyball game!"

As Quest began playing part of the song, I couldn't help but shake my head and smile. Everyone at the Tonight Show really was family to me.