She wanted to see him at ten thirty. Aubrey winced and looked at the clock. “Me first, I guess.”
Nate looked ashen. “You want to ride in together?”
Honestly, if this was going to go down the way Aubrey thought, he’d prefer to go home alone after and sulk. “I’m going to drive myself, I think. Text me after?”
Nate nodded, somber, hands clenching and unclenching around the phone. He looked like he wanted to say something—or do something—but in the end, he just stood up. “I’ll, um. I’ll see you later, then.”
“Yeah.” Aubrey swung his legs out of bed, but Nate was already halfway out of the room. “Later.”
No one had ever broken up with Aubrey before, but he thought it probably felt a little like this.
The feeling persisted as he walked down the hallway toward Jess’s office. The corridor was otherwise deserted. This floor was mostly offices, so Aubrey assumed everyone else was on set of whatever was currently filming. That suited him fine, though. He didn’t need any witnesses to what he was sure was coming.
Jess’s office door was open, and she waved him inside when he knocked. “Close the door, please.”
Yeah, this wasn’t going to go well. It had been nice while it lasted, though. He closed the door and took the chair across the desk from her, the same one he’d sat in last night.
“I know you’re probably anxious to get started, so I’ll cut to the chase. I met with the ESBN show liaison first thing this morning.” She had the dark circles under her eyes to prove it too.
“Show liaison,” Aubrey echoed.
Jess grimaced. “My opinion? That’s what you get when you buy a show wholesale from another network and need someone to implement changes but aren’t ready to let the current showrunner go.”
“Ouch.” Whatever was coming, it wouldn’t affect just him. And unlike many other people who worked on the show, Aubrey had a fat trust fund and a job lined up. “So these changes. Let me guess. It’s the end of the line for me.”
Slowly, Jess shook her head. “I’m really sorry, Aubrey. If it’s any consolation, I thought you were great. A lot of people did.”
“But ESBN wants to go in a new direction.” It came out sounding only a little bitter.
“Technically speaking, I think they want to go in an old direction, but they’re afraid the show’s new fans will riot if they bring back John.”
Aubrey snorted. “Thank God for small mercies, I guess.” At least Nate wouldn’t have to go back to working with that asshole.
“I guess,” Jess echoed. Her shoulders slumped. “I have to say, you’re taking this better than I thought.”
He was, Aubrey realized with a start. Therapy must really be good for something. “I mean, the writing was on the wall. The good ol’ boys at ESBN, they’re not ready to cede serious hockey air time to a flamboyant former figure skater. Frankly, I’m surprised they’re keeping Nate.”
Then again, they didn’t know Nate like Aubrey did now. Maybe the new Nate would end up canned just like Aubrey.
“Yeah,” Jess said, somewhat grim. But then she made a visible effort to rally. “Look, I know you and I, and you and Nate, got off on the wrong foot. But I just want to let you know how much I appreciate the work you put in since then. The show finally became all the things I knew it could be. It sucks that it’s ending like this, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t feel great to get here.”
Aubrey’s throat felt suddenly thick. “Thanks for giving me a chance, and then a second chance. This has been… the best kind of challenge, and I appreciate everything you’ve taught me.”
They shook hands.
“What about the rest of the crew?” Aubrey asked. He genuinely liked the staff. He hoped Carl wouldn’t be suddenly jobless at his age.
“My understanding is they’re keeping everyone until after the Cup Final, just because it’s too much hassle to change things midseason. I have the impression they want to move filming to New York or LA.”
“LA would make sense if they want to cover all the night’s games from start to finish.”
“Plenty of studio space there too. HQ’s in New York, though.”
Would Nate like New York? He barely drove in Chicago; driving in NYC would make him nuts—though he wouldn’t really have to. But his staunch Midwestern friendliness would suffocate and die.
Aubrey wondered what Nate would think about Vegas.
“Aubrey?”
