You're all going to hate me at the end considering I promised this was Trevor's debut. Hey, at least I didn't lie.
Mackenzie felt a little easier as the afternoon went on. She did receive a text from David apologising profusely about having to cancel their plans as "something came up" which made Mack feel a little strange but she wasn't scared, even though she knew she should be. She was more anxious of seeing Michael later and finding out whether he would still act weird towards her or not.
In the evening Franklin turned up at her house to drive her to Michael's place.
"I can tell my roommate, Callum, is judging me so hard right now on the fact I'm getting into a car that's not my boyfriend's." Mack said to Franklin once she got into the car.
"Aw man, fuck him. We're taking care of business." Franklin remarked.
As the drive from Mack's modest house to Michael's mansion was fairly short, the two barely had time to converse. In no time at all the two landed on Michael's door step.
Mack went to ring the doorbell but Franklin just walked in. Mack decided to just follow behind Franklin.
"Ho, hey! There you both are!" Michael joyfully remarked as he approached the duo who just entered his house.
"What's crackin'?" Franklin asked Michael, whilst Mack only gave a shy smile and wave.
"So, we all good?" Michael asked them both, but flickered his green eyes onto Mack and she knew the question was mainly directed at her.
She smiled as she let her entire body relax. She felt her theory she explained earlier to Packie was most likely correct but she was happier that Michael was no longer acting strange towards her. That's all she cared about.
"Hell yeah, we all good. We did it." Franklin proudly stated.
"Adrenaline kick for days." Mack smiled.
"Yeah, you fuckin' A-right we did." Michael celebrated, smiling wildly.
Michael already had alcohol ready so the celebrations could begin as soon as both Franklin and Mack arrived. He went and bought some nice Scotch now he knew the cash flow would be coming in - he remembered once that Mack said she was a huge fan, and Michael assumed Franklin wouldn't be opposed.
He poured each of them a glass and they accepted.
"So, here's the shot. Lester's offloading the gems, he knows a guy who can get us fifty cents on the dollar. Hell, we might actually have a little spending money left after we pay off that psychotic Mexican motherfucker." Michael explained to them.
"Apparently Lester wants me to meet him tomorrow to begin this dodgy accounting thing. This is why I was mainly involved in the heist, for the book keeping afterwards." Mack stated to the group.
"But I'm glad you were at the mission, there's no way we could have done anything without your back up plan. You came prepared and it was very much appreciated." Michael praised.
Mack beamed. That was what she was after, some kind words from Michael.
"Cheers!" Michael exclaimed and all three clinked their glasses before taking generous swigs.
"So that's so, right?" Franklin asked.
"I hope so." Michael answered.
"The whole job." An unknown male said as he entered the room.
Mack and Franklin turned behind to see a middle aged man they had never seen before. He seemed to be aging worse than Michael. His hair was thinning, his eyes were sunken in and he had more wrinkles than Michael.
Mack's eyes darted between Franklin and Michael as she wanted to know what was going on, and who this man was. Franklin however was just as much in the dark as Mack, and stared down this intruder.
"Everything about it. Anyone who knows your file... What is wrong with you?" The unknown male said as he approached Michael.
"Davey! Long time no see." Michael joyfully greeted the man.
Michael's greeting had a faux twist to it, but at the same time he was genuinely happy. Not only had they pulled off the heist and spared his life once they paid off the Mexican crazy man, Michael knew this was the most alive he had felt in a long time. He was able to forget the troubles with his marriage, and his ungrateful children. He was even able to forget his stupid crush on the girl in front of him. For the first time in nearly ten years he felt like he was himself, and didn't care that Dave Norton was here to take it away from him.
"And what about Trevor? If that fruitcake realizes, no, no, finds out you're alive, you are D-O-N-E fucked!" Dave loudly stated, very roughly emphasising the end of his sentence.
Mack flinched and was quivering a little at the intruder as she grew scared, and Franklin was trying to suppress a growl as he didn't like this person's attitude.
Michael sensed both Franklin's animosity and Mack's fear and decided to keep it calm to settle them both. He felt calm anyway, things were going to be fine.
"Don't worry about Trevor. Trevor's dead. He's gotta be. Besides, I didn't have nothin' to do with it. Whatever the hell it is you're talkin' about." Michael calmly stated.
Michael's calm demeanor was trickling onto Mack (or the scotch was taking effect) as she relaxed her shoulders and beamed. Whatever was going on, Michael could clearly handle it. Franklin was still annoyed but chose to stay silent, he knew it was the best thing for him to do for the moment.
"Really?" Dave said sarcastically as he picked up the television remote and changed the channel to a news report.
All four in the room watched on. It was a television story about the robbery and they were interviewing the person who asked Franklin to move the bikes.
Michael snatched the remote off Dave and turned off the television hastily.
"I don't know anything about that." Michael lied.
Little did anyone know that a few hundred miles away in Sandy Shores, Trevor Phillips was watching, and was about to see a ghost. Nobody in that room knew just how much their lives were about to change.
Mack was sitting in class and was chewing on her pen as she listened to her professor explain economics.
"That recent jewel store robbery is an example of economic theory at work. Because some jewels have been taken off the mainstream market and into the black market, supply has decreased. Thus, demand outweighs supply and prices increase." The professor explained.
Mack grinned widely and got her phone out to text Franklin about this. She couldn't high five anyone in the room, so texting Franklin to say they were used as an example in her university course was the next best thing.
Of course that university course had helped them all. The day after Michael kicked Dave Norton out of his house after strongly denying any involvement, Mack had driven over to Lester's and had met with his contact. Mack was expecting a sleazy criminal with greasy hair and a scar on his face but was instead met with a very nice gay man whom she got along with very well.
All three of them developed plans on how to successfully move the stolen jewels and turn them into cash, and how to do the books to launder the dirty money and make it clean. It involved a lot of complicated factors such as registering a charity and applying for tax breaks. By the end both the contact and Lester were extremely happy with Mackenzie's involvement and her knowledge of creative accounting.
As Mack went to text Franklin her phone went off. The caller ID was Tracey.
She didn't bother to look at anyone else's reaction as she raced outside to take the call. She had no idea why Tracey would be calling her right now.
"Oh my god! Guess what?!" Tracey asked Mack in an excited manner, not even waiting for Mack to speak as she answered.
"What?" Mack asked curiously.
"Ok, sooooooo. I've been on the waiting list to audition for Fame or Shame for like, ever. I got a call from the producer today. Apparently some kid who could do some weird thing with his face had to drop out because his parents got arrested for child abuse so there was a free spot!" Tracey explained in a very excited manner.
Mack took a few moments to process what Tracey was saying. She decided to ignore the part about the child and not ask any questions.
"So, when do you audition?" Mack asked her.
"This afternoon! The best part is you're coming with me. Apparently Lazlow himself said I could bring a friend for support as long as they're hot. So you should totes go home ASAP do your hair and makeup and then I'll come pick you up." Tracey responded.
Mack looked into the lecture theatre at the sea of bored students. It wasn't unusual for Mack to skip class, she always seemed to catch up. Tracey obviously really wanted her there for support and Mack thought it could be a fun experience to see.
"Alright. I'm at university at the moment but I'll go home right now and get ready." Mack stated, which caused Tracey to let out a loud squeal of happiness.
"Okay. Let me know when you're looking smokin' and I'll come pick you up. Yay!" Tracey exclaimed in a very excited manner
"De Santa, you're up." A producer with a headset exclaimed as she approached both Tracey and Mackenzie.
They were both seated outside the studio in the chairs directly next to the studio doors. They had been waiting for a while now and Tracey was growing anxious.
Mack on the other hand was enjoying her time at the Fame or Shame auditions. They had a television opposite their seats so she could see what was going on inside the studio. She was also able to see the things they don't feature on the show, such as the aftermath of people who get rejected. Mack never thought she'd ever admit it, but she was having a good time.
"Fucking hacks! You don't appreciate good music anyway." A hipster with a guitar slung over his shoulder yelled as he stormed out of the studio.
Everyone around turned to look at his outburst, and he smashed his guitar onto the ground out of anger (or for attention).
Tracey shot out of her chair and pranced into the studio, whilst Mack stepped over the hipster who was now sobbing over his broken guitar and exclaiming his "career was over".
By the time Mack trailed Tracey into the studio, Tracey was nervous again. She was fidgeting with the very short hem on her skirt and giggling nervously. She was instructed to be on the left side of the room whilst Mack was barked at by the producer to supervise on the right, away from the cameras.
Mack looked around as she took in the atmosphere. The studio looked a lot smaller than it appeared on television, and it seemed a lot more built up. On television the judges looked care free and relaxed, but Mack could tell they clearly didn't want to be there and looked stressed.
Her eyes landed on Lazlow. She always thought he was a hack and read many unflattering stories on the internet, and the theory held true. She could see the desperation in his eyes and he looked so much older in person.
There was commotion from outside and Mack broke her gaze from judging Lazlow onto the door that she and Tracey had entered previously. Mack kept her eyes hearing the thudding that was growing louder every second. She was hoping for some juicy drama, maybe that hipster guy would burst in and ironically complain that mainstream people just don't understand him.
Mack's predictions were wrong but she was certainly about to witness some drama.
Michael has burst through the front door, in tow with a man that Mack thought quite frightening. Mack braced herself, she knew a storm was coming.