CHAPTER 4: Oh, what I wouldn't do.

Sunday morning, Mackenzie's first thought was to call Will. She caught herself in the middle of dialing his number and pressed 'End' when she realized she didn't really know what she would say to him. She got up, relatively recovered from her frightful night of heavy drinking and changed clothes to go jogging along the river.

When she got to her usual jogging path, she was faced with what seemed like a myriad of PDA couples. She decided that jogging in order to forget about what happened between her and Will was an absolutely wrong and stupid choice and vowed to never do it again. She stuck her earbuds in and started running.

She had gone about a mile and a half when she got a text from Will.

'Charlie wants to see us. Come by my place in an hour.'

Mackenzie decided against going back to her place for a shower before going to his place. She wanted to show Will that she hadn't just been moping over their fight all weekend and that she was still lively and healthy as ever. She didn't admit it to herself but she secretly hoped that when he saw her, he would start thinking about how much time they were wasting.

She jogged for another half hour, stopped to grab a drink before getting into a cab and heading to his place. Charlie was already there, having an afternoon drink, while in a heated discussion that was most likely about their future.

"Hey Charlie, how are you?"

"Fine. Sorry I called you here on a Sunday. Were you jogging?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't have time to stop and change."

Charlie waved her off and poured her a cold glass of orange juice. Mackenzie accepted it with thanks and she looked at Will for the first time since she walked into the apartment. He met her eyes with an apathetic look that she knew entirely too well. She wasn't going to let herself fuss about it so she shot him a smile.

"What did you want to discuss, Charlie?" Will started, not wanting to waste any time with small talk.

"I'm going to resign."

"No…" Mac and Will both piped up at the same time. They looked at each other, now with determined looks in their eyes. Mac indicated for Will to go first.

"Come on, Charlie. It can just end with me and everybody can keep their jobs. Honestly, no one knows who you guys are and no one cares!" Before Will could go any further, Mackenzie interrupted him.

"I told Will on Friday that I was going to resign, because it's completely my fault. I can say that I totally led Valenzuela and the interview was shot from the get-go. I can say it was my fault for trusting Jerry in the first place. Neither of you have any part in the blame."

"Come on, Mac. You think the public is going to be satisfied with the resignation of some EP they've never heard of? They're going to demand my head on a plate and I'll hand it over to them, but it's just going to be my head and not anyone else's."

"That can just be done with a public on-air apology from you and a statement from Charlie."

"Oh bullshit, if it was that easy, you wouldn't have to resign."

"Will you two just stop!?" Charlie shouted, silencing the two parties. "I gave the green light. The buck stops here, with me. I am your boss, whether you like it or not. Will, Leona will not accept your resignation and I don't think she'll be satisfied with just Mac's so I'm going to give her mine."

"But Charlie…" Will muttered.

"Just shut up. That's that."

"I thought this was a discussion." Will retorted, throwing his hands up in the air in confusion.

"Well it wasn't. I wanted you guys to hear it from me now because I'm going to talk to Leona about it tomorrow."

"You know what? No. I'm going to be there with you when you see Leona and I'm going to tell her that you and I both have to go." Will replied, standing up from where he was sitting on the couch. "You can tell her you want to resign, that's fine. But I'm going to tell her too."

"What about me?" Mackenzie asked. The two men just ignored her and stood there, silent. The three of them just then comprehended the weight of what they had just discussed. None of them might have jobs by the end of the next day. Even Destiny couldn't have seen that coming. "I'm still going to resign."

"Mac…"

"Don't talk to me like I just need to sit still because I am the executive producer of your show and ultimately it was me, who put it on the air. So I'm resigning, I don't need your fucking permission!" Mackenzie replied, with a little more force than she thought she was going to use. Charlie and Will stared at her, both of them a little concerned about where this might be heading. "You both know I can't live with this. I just can't."

Will just huffed, grabbed his cigarettes from his dining table and lit one slowly. As he blew out the smoke, he looked out his wall of windows, looking for an answer somewhere in the vast jungle. Charlie just looked at the drink in his hand, swirling it slowly, the sound of ice clinking echoing in the apartment.

"Then all three of us are going to see Leona tomorrow. We'll tell her we all want to resign and see what she says." Charlie announced, with a tone that prevented any further arguments or discussion on the matter. "Anyway, sorry about calling you guys on a Sunday. I didn't want to let you know via email."

He finished his drink, left the glass on the kitchen counter and said thanks to Will. Before heading to the elevators, he looked back and forth between Will and Mac a few times.

"Now would probably be a good time to resolve those unresolved issues. We may all be unemployed tomorrow." Charlie said, matter-of-factly. The man knew how to make an exit.

Will didn't turn around from his position near his wall of windows. He stood there, smoking his cigarette, taking long, thoughtful drags. Mackenzie just looked at his frame and imagined him standing there during the lonely nights or the nights with undeserving company. She suddenly felt a pang of guilt in her heart, a feeling she was starting to get really tired of.

"Thanks for calling Sloan yesterday. She was a life-saver." Mackenzie started, not knowing what else to say. He didn't acknowledge her at all or form any kind of answer. She figured that he was still trying to decide whether he was hurt or angry. "Anyway, I'll leave you alone. See you tomorrow."

"I'm sorry I hurt you."

Mac's legs almost gave way when she heard him say that and had to sit back down for safety.

"No, it's…I shouldn't have said what I said that night either. I'm sorry I was drunk."

"Not just Friday. For punishing you, for the whole Brian thing." Will answered, turning around slightly to look at her.

"What?"

"I'm sorry...for being an idiot sometimes. That's all." He replied. She understood that he was trying to tell her he meant this apology.

"Thank you. It…it means a lot." Mackenzie replied, also trying to let him know by her gaze that she meant every word of it.

"To be honest, I don't think I'm quite done with my problem with us and I might be inclined to punish you more. But I…I want to tell you that I'll try to actually start considering your feelings."

She looked at him, grateful for his sincerity. She wanted to walk over and just slide into his arms but she knew that probably wasn't allowed. She knew he liked his personal space in times like this and she also wasn't sure if she would be able to ever leave him if she did just hug him. She kept eye contact with him and nodded. She didn't think anything else needed to be said and Will didn't stop her when she left his apartment.