After three days of practically zero to none sleep, Mackenzie was about to go stir crazy. She got through the day thanks to huge amounts of coffee and an occasional Red Bull. She knew it wasn't healthy but she had a job to do and she wouldn't let whoever was after her take that away from her. But it was beginning to affect her job; the staff had noticed something was off with her, Sloan had cornered her that same morning to ask what the hell was wrong with her, Jim had been sending her confused looks all day long, even Jenna - the poor intern that was still scared to death to be working at News Night - had asked after Mac had zoned out during a conversation.
The only one who had seemed unaware of everything had been Will, but that had quickly changed after Mac had screwed up during the broadcast. Halfway into the C-block, during an interview with a Senator, Mac had distractedly grabbed the wrong paper and had given Will the wrong information. Once she had noticed it, she had quickly corrected the mistake but it had been too late: Will had had to apologize on air to the Senator and everything had gone to hell.
Once the broadcast had been over, she had quickly grabbed her things and stormed out of the control room.
"This is News Night. I'm Will McAvoy. Good night."
Once he heard the "We're clear." from the control room, Will took out his earpiece and leant back in his chair. He took a minute to calm himself down before getting up and leaving the studio. He needed to have a serious talk with his EP. He was walking towards his office to change but he changed his mind. Instead, he went to Mac's office and stormed in without knowing.
"What the hell happened tonight?" Will loudly asked as soon as he stepped in. Then, he noticed Mac wasn't alone. "What are you doing here?"
"I was asking Ms. McHale out on a date." Lonny replied, dead serious. For a few seconds, Will believed him until Mac bursted out laughing while Lonny wickedly smiled at him. "You should have seen the look on your face." He teased him.
"Very funny." Will told him.
"I'll wait outside." Lonny said and, without waiting for an reply, he left them alone.
Before Will could say anything, Mackenzie raised her hands to stop him. "I screwed up. I know, and I'm sorry, but can we leave this discussion for tomorrow morning? I'm not in the mood to be yelled at."
It was then when Will noticed how tired she looked. His face softened a bit, showing some concern. He closed the door and sat down in one of her visitor chairs before loosening his tie. "What happened?" He softly asked her.
"I was distracted and grabbed the wrong notes. It won't happen again." Mac replied without looking at him.
"When was the last time you slept?" Will questioned her, eyebrow raised.
"I'm fine." She quickly told him.
"Not what I asked." Will reminded her.
"I know." Mac simply said.
"Thank God you're not the one in front of the camera or you'd be thanking people for washing us." Will said. Mac raised her eyes to look at him and smiled slightly. "Are you going home?"
"In a bit. I have to finish something."
"Don't stay too late."
"I won't." Mac told him with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
Will got up and, after sending her another concerned look, got out of her office and left her alone. Mac sighed deeply and closed her eyes, leaning back on her chair and taking deep breath after deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She needed to sleep, she was pretty aware of that, but every time she closed her eyes her mind began to wander about the fucking creep - as she had taken to call the guy - and she ended without being able to sleep.
Her hand reached down to open one of her desk's drawers. There, at the back, was the bottle of sleeping pills a doctor had prescribed her when she came back from the Middle East and that she had never opened. Mac took it out and stared at it: she didn't like it but she knew she had to sleep. She looked at the clock hanging on the wall and did a quick calculation: if she took the pill right before leaving, it would start to kick in just after she had something to eat back at the hotel.
"Fuck it." She said to herself before opening the bottle and swallowing a pill with a bit of water.
The next morning, after a good night's sleep, Mackenzie feel half-human again. She stepped out of the elevator into the hotel's lobby, her eyes glued to her Blackberry, and walked towards the doors. Just when she was walking by the front desk, the receptionist stopped her.
"Ms. McHale!" He said out loud to gain her attention.
Mac changed directions and went to the desk. "Good morning, Josh." She smiled at him.
"Good morning, ma'am." He told her, returning the smile. "You've got mail." He said, handing Mac a white envelope.
Mac hesitated for a moment before accepting it. "Thank you."
"Have a good day." He said.
"You too."
Confused, Mac left the hotel and stepped into the waiting car. She wasn't sure if she should open the letter or not. She carefully observed the envelope: her name was printed on it but there wasn't a return address. Against her better judgement, she decided to open it and, once she did, she wished she hadn't.
The pitch meeting was running longer than it should: too many stories and too little time. Mac had work to do and she was getting tired of the bickering between some of the staff about what they should pursue or not; it didn't help that Will was encouraging them. She was about to interrupt them (or ask them to shut the fuck up, she wasn't sure which one she would pick) when Jenna gently knocked on the glass door.
"Mac?" Jenna said.
"Yeah?" Mac replied.
"Charlie wants to see you."
"Thank you." She said, smiling at her and grateful for the interruption. Then, she looked around the table: the staff was waiting for her instructions. "Work on your stories and show me where you are at the 2 o'clock rundown meeting." Mac told them while she gathered her things. She could feel Will's eyes on her and she could imagine the look he was sending her. Instead of acknowledging it, she grabbed her things and left before he could say anything.
Mackenzie stepped into Charlie's office and looked at the three men waiting for her: she expected Charlie and Detective Johnson to be there but the sight of Lonny made her really nervous. She shook Mark's hand and smiled at Lonny before sitting down in one of the chairs. The men looked at each other, unsure where to begin or who should be the first to talk. Charlie gestured to the Detective to start.
"Ms. McHale." He said.
"Mackenzie, please." She corrected him.
"Mackenzie." He began again. "Mr. Skinner gave me the note you found this morning. I spoke with the hotel's manager: it was ordinarily delivered by certified mail at 5:15 this morning, the night receptionist signed it. We'll look for fingerprints but, if he's been as careful as the last time, we provably won't find any." He explained. "Who knew you were staying at The Plaza?" The Detective asked her.
"You, Lonny and Charlie." Mac replied.
"Did you notice someone following you?" He asked next.
"No, I would had said something. I've been using the car service, I don't know how the hell did he find out where I'm staying." Mac told him, slightly irritated.
Detective Johnson looked at Charlie and Lonny, clearly inviting them to intervene. They knew how Mackenzie would react once they told her the news and neither wanted to be on the receiving end of Mackenzie McHale's rage.
"What?" She asked them. Mac felt she was being left out of something important and her irritation was growing inside her, threatening to spill out at any given time.
"We think you should have protection." Charlie finally said. He mentally counted to three and, right at that moment, Mackenzie jumped out of the chair.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" She loudly exclaimed. "I don't need a bodyguard!" Mac firmly told them before she started pacing around the room, looking at the floor, breathing heavily and running her hand through her hair.
"Ms. McHale." Lonny said, trying to gain her attention. He wasn't sure if she was ignoring him or if she didn't really hear him calling her name. He tried once again but got the same result.
Finally, Charlie got up and went around his desk to step in front of her, blocking her way. Mac raised her head and he gently grabbed her shoulders.
"Need a drink?" Charlie asked her.
She wasn't sure if he was kidding or not. "It's too early for that."
"It's never too early, dear." Charlie replied, grinning. He accompanied her to the chair she had been previously occupying and helped her sit down before pouring an small amount of scotch into a glass and handing it to her. Mac drained it in one gulp and gave the glass back to Charlie. While he returned to his seat, Lonny took the other visitor chair and sat down in front of Mac.
"Ms. McHale." He said again, this time getting a response from her. "We think this guy is serious even if, right now, he's not directly threatening you. He'll provably escalate and things could get much worse. Your situation is different from Mr. McAvoy's, we can't force you to accept protection. If you want it, we'll have someone here in less than two hours. It's your choice." Lonny explained.
"Let's wait and see, ok? I don't want protection." Mackenzie firmly told them.
"Mac, they're the experts. You should consider they recommendations." Charlie said.
"And you should find another place to stay." Detective Johnson added.
"I'm going back to my flat. It'll be ready tomorrow." Mac told them.
"You really should reconsider that." The Detective said.
"I'm not going to live in an hotel room until you catch this guy and I'm not changing hotels every time he finds out where I am. I bought one of those very expensive high security doors, I got an alarm installed and my doorman is aware of what's going on. I'm not going to lie to you and say that I'm not scared, because I am, but I'm not going to let that creep take control of my life. I'll continue using the car service, I'll be extra careful, but, tomorrow, I'm going back home."
Mac stormed out of the elevator and quickly walked her way through the newsroom and towards her office. The staff, after seeing the angry look on her face, stepped out of her way. She forcefully opened her door and she wasn't really surprised to find Will waiting for her.
"Take your dirty shoes out of my desk." She told him, sounding more annoyed than she wanted. Will complied but didn't get up from her chair. "Don't you have your own office?" She asked him, not expecting an answer.
Will, who didn't want to make her angrier, got up and let her sit down on her chair. Instead of taking another one, he perched himself on her desk and looked down at her.
"What did Charlie say that got you so pissed off?" He asked her.
"Nothing." Mac quickly replied while putting her glasses on. She grabbed a newspaper and a highlighter but Will took them out of her hands and left them on the desk, out of her reach. She let out and exasperated sigh and looked at him, daring him to say anything more.
Will ignored her glare. "What's going on?"
"Nothing. Everything's fine." Mac replied.
"You'd tell me if there was something wrong, right?" He asked her, concerned.
For a moment, Mac thought about explaining him her situation but she quickly dismissed it. Instead, against her heart, she lied right into his face. "Of course." She said, smiling to ease him but feeling really guilty.
"Ok." Will said, not sure if he should believe her. "I'll let you get back to work." He told her before getting up. He stopped by the door and turned around. "Want to grab lunch later?"
Mac raised her eyes from the article she was reading to look at him, surprised at his invitation. "Uhmm, yes, of course."
Smiling, Will left her office and she got back to work.