“We need to talk, and I didn’t think we should necessarily do it standing out in the parking lot.”
“Make it quick.” Max groaned and they both climbed in.
“So,” Leo began, “would you like some good news for a change?” He looked disappointed that Max didn’t respond in the manner of a cast member from the musical Newsies—“Would I? Oh boy, Mister!”—and proceeded on, with just a little less enthusiasm. “The network is ready to bring back To the Max.”
Max’s head snapped up in surprise. “Are you serious?”
“Congratulations, my friend.” Leo smiled and slapped him on the shoulder.
“That’s . . . I mean, that’s great! I didn’t expect . . . I hadn’t thought . . . I mean, why? Why the sudden change of heart?”
“There was nothing sudden about it, Max. You’ve been putting in the work I told you to put in, and it worked like I knew it would.” He reached behind him for his seat belt and clicked it into place. Max was too lost in thought to comment on the fact that he wasn’t planning to go anywhere with Leo as his passenger.
“But seriously, Leo, I didn’t even know they were considering it yet.”
“Why wouldn’t they consider it? The overnights for yesterday’s episode of Renowned were through the roof, and you . . .” He whistled through his teeth. “Max, I tell ya, I wasn’t sure you had it in you.”
“Had what in me?”
He laughed. “The ability to be likable. But you’ve somehow managed to completely reinvent yourself. In less than six months! It’s remarkable. I really didn’t know if you could pull it off.”
Nothing he was saying was sitting right with Max, of course. But he couldn’t quite force himself to focus enough on what was being said to break it down. In the moment, all he could think about was how grateful he was to finally be walking out of the desert toward water.
But he was also skeptical that his supposed oasis was actually anything more than a mirage.
“As of the last time we talked, you’d completely written me off, Leo. You said I couldn’t possibly come back from—”
“Sheesh, Max. Can you please drive while we talk? Or at least turn on the heat? It’s freezing.”
Max started the engine and backed out of the parking space.
“So, you’re saying that in the course of a week, everything has changed?”
“Of course not. Nothing happened in the course of a week. It happened over the months of—”
“But you said I was done, Leo.” He gripped the steering wheel tightly. “You said—”
“I think the network just needed to see you in action one more time. And with week one of Renowned, they were able to see you’re still a valuable commodity for them. Simple as that.”
Simple as that.
Max scoffed as he aimlessly maneuvered the Range Rover through the Williamsburg neighborhood of the borough. “I thought no one wanted a nice and friendly Max Cavanagh.”
Leo laughed. Not ironically, but as if it were all actually funny. “I’ll confess . . . I didn’t really see it going that way. Of course, I thought you and Hadley would have murdered each other long before we ever got to this point. Way to go, sticking it out. Kudos.”
“I think Hadley’s the one who deserves the kudos. For sticking with me this long.”
That statement could not have been more factual in his mind. He thought back over it all in a way he never really had before—through the lens of “What in the world was she thinking?” What was she thinking, replying to his text that night? What was she thinking, agreeing to share an opportunity with him that deservedly could have been hers alone? What was she thinking, forgiving him, time after time? The way he had come to care for her, he knew that he would strongly advise her against ever coming into contact with anyone who had treated her the way he had to that point, and yet she’d given him the benefit of the doubt. And then she’d given him chances piled upon chances.
“Yes. Absolutely. Hadley’s a good kid. She’s going to be fine,” Leo stated flippantly. “Which reminds me, since we are apparently going with nice and friendly, you could warm up on her a little more still.”
Max turned his head long enough to observe Leo’s expression. His tone wasn’t telling him if he was serious or not.
“What do you mean? Warm up? Warm up how?”
He couldn’t imagine being much warmer on Hadley Beckett than he already was.
“Marshall told me you didn’t really speak to each other the last couple days. You may need to carry her for a while. Silence doesn’t exactly make for compelling television, Max.”
“Well, there are sometimes more important things in life than making compelling television,” he replied scornfully.
Leo laughed. “Since when?”
They came to a stop at a red light, and Max turned to face him. “What did you mean when you said Hadley’s going to be fine?”
“That she’ll be fine. She’s got a bright future ahead of her.”
Max felt his pulse quicken, simultaneously with all of the blood draining from his face. “Tell me Hadley didn’t lose her time slot so I could get mine back . . .”
Leo replied, “Wow. Ego’s still in check, I see. No. At Home with Hadley is safe. It’s got good numbers and a loyal following. Admittedly, I’m very interested to see what happens once the network’s true number-one show is back on the air. We all are. But no, all I meant is that it seems Marshall Simons has cooled on her—”
“What are you saying?” Max jolted at a car honk behind him and faced the now-green light.
“Isn’t it obvious? Renowned is yours, Max! I mean, she’ll still be there, of course, but they’re definitely adjusting the focus for the rest of the season.”
No. No, no, no.
After a quick examination of his rearview mirror, Max screeched his way onto the side of the road and slammed the brakes.
“What are you doing here, Leo? This doesn’t make any sense! Hadley’s your client too. How can you be happy about any of this? How can you just cast aside whoever isn’t flavor of the month?” That was being generous and giving Leo points for loyalty that he did not deserve. “Or flavor of the day!”
Leo turned in his seat and faced him. “How dare you! I’m not casting Hadley aside, and you know full well I have never cast you aside.”
“You told me I was done. You had completely written me off. You told me no one else would work with me—”
“Because I know you, Max! You’re the most self-sabotaging person I’ve ever met. With every new thing you accomplish and each higher level of stardom you reach, you get more and more complacent. And the more complacent you get, the harder I have to work to keep you from losing it all.”
“That’s not true.”
“Oh no?” Leo laughed bitterly. “Then you tell me how you think it would have played out if you had come back from rehab knowing that the network was actually desperate to get you back on the air. Tell me how long you think the new and improved Max Cavanagh would have lasted if you’d discovered that, as it turned out, there was nothing you could do to make the network turn its back on this multimillion-dollar empire we’ve built. I was just giving you something to fight for. It was the only way to keep you from self-destructing. Again.” He shrugged. “Renowned was the only tricky part. Simons wanted you, but he was nervous. We all were. We just couldn’t be sure at first how audiences were going to react to you. But you and Hadley? Well, that was too good to resist. Mario Borjomi got the boot—”