Page 98 of The Player's Club
Mac clearly believed I could do this. He also wanted to set the record straight. The least I could do was make sure my interview was thoughtful and insightful. No gotchas, no attempts to back Mac into a corner.
I love you, Mac. But what is your endgame here?
When I arrived at Dawn’s pottery studio in Malibu, she didn’t seem surprised to see me again. I was impressed that she remembered my name.
“I saw online that you and Mac are an item,” she said with a wry smile.
I blushed. “We’re not an item.”
“Really? Did you break up?”
I sighed. Where did I even begin? Had we even been dating in the first place?
Dawn saw the look on my face and ushered me inside. “I’m just cleaning up from my last class. You can help me out.”
I wasn’t about to protest if it meant Dawn would talk to me. When she handed me a broom and dustpan, she pointed at the front of the studio.
“Get cracking,” she said.
I did as she asked. I couldn’t help but wonder how Mac had managed to be friends with her, only because he liked to be the bossy one. Had he and Dawn butted heads as teenagers? They both seemed like people who always had to be in control.
Dawn began watering plants near where I was sweeping. “So,” she said, “why are you here?”
“I should tell you that I’m a reporter,” I said.
Dawn paused and set down her watering can. “Is this an interview?”
I shook my head. “No. This is all off the record. I’m here for a personal reason.”
“Because of Mac?” Dawn started watering a large Monstera that took up nearly an entire window. “I heard about Caroline, you know.”
“He won’t talk to me. I keep trying to call him, and he won’t pick up. I tried to warn him but I don’t know if it just made things worse.”I realized I was babbling, but Dawn just waited for me to clarify.
I forced myself to start from the beginning. I blushed bright red when I told Dawn about The Scarlet Rope and the contract I signed with Mac, but Dawn seemed unfazed. All she said during my storytelling was that I needed to keep sweeping.
“And now he won’t talk to me,” I ended, throwing up my hands. “Except he wants me to interview him. Make it make sense!”
Dawn frowned as she handed me a trash can to empty the dustpan.”You know, I only ever wanted Mac to be happy when we dated. We each had our secrets. But I could never get behind him dating Caroline. Or whatever the fuck it was. Caroline used him for her own selfish ends,” said Dawn.
“He kept defending Caroline, even to me,” I replied, sighing. “He only seemed open to hearing that maybe their relationship was wrong after Caroline’s funeral.”
Dawn’s eyes widened. “Did you go to the funeral?”
“I did. Why?”
Dawn seemed to look at me with new eyes. “I’m surprised, is all. Mac was always so closed off. Even when we were dating—well, fake-dating—and he was seeing Caroline, he never let me meet her. I mean, I knew who she was. White Rock is a small town, and I’d gone to the Bradfords’ church a few times as a kid. But Mac never let me be around Caroline. When I asked him about it, he’d get super defensive.”
“I’m not sure that I follow . . .”
Dawn shrugged. “I guess what I’m saying is that it sounds like Mac trusts you.”
That statement made me wince. “He used to trust me. He doesn’t anymore.”
“I think he still does if he’s asking you to interview him. He could’ve gone with any reporter in this city and beyond. Why you? Because he knows you. And I’d bet my bottom dollar that he has feelings for you, too.”
Those words made my heart soar. But even as I wanted to believe Dawn, I knew it would be dangerous to do so. For all I knew, Mac had decided to have me interview him to enact some weird revenge.There was no way I could allow myself to get my hopes up only to have them be shattered again.
“Mac would never have let me come with him to Caroline’s funeral,” Dawn said, breaking through my thoughts. “The fact that he let you come with him? And you met his parents?” She let out a whistle. “Yeah, that’s a whole fucking sign right there.”