Page 24 of Marriage & Mockery

And I was about to walk into the writers’ room and make everyone’s jobs harder on purpose for the next step. With that knowledge weighing on me, I pulled into the studio lot, parked, and sat with the engine off for a moment before getting out.

The room was already half full when I walked in. Conversation lulled when I came through the door, then picked back up a little too carefully.

Jordan looked up from his seat near the center table. “Morning.”

“Morning.”

Stella tapped her pen against her notebook. “Saw the statement.”

A couple of the others glanced over and then away. Maya kept her eyes on her screen. One of the newer writers suddenly became very interested in a cold open outline.

“I figured you all would.” I dropped my bag by my usual chair.

Jordan leaned back. “Network’s already asking how it affects the early October push. They’re worried about the tone of the promo.”

“They can worry all they want. The statement stands.” I pulled out my chair and sat. “If they have a problem with how I’m handling this, they can talk to my attorney. I haven’t done a damn thing that violates my contract.”

Jordan lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Nobody’s talking about coming after you, man. This show is your creation, and they know that.”

His reassurance hit differently than it would have a couple of weeks ago. I’d been so damn proud of my success that I’d lost sight of what was really important. None of it mattered without my wife at my side.

Almost as if she knew where my thoughts had gone, Mila finally looked up and asked, “How’s Laina doing?”

“Not great,” I muttered. “But Julian found me a publicist who understands the difference between protecting my image and protecting her, so hopefully that’ll help some.”

“With how that statement reads, I bet it will.” Jordan exhaled and reached for his laptop. “But we need to focus on the script for episode seven so we’re ready to shoot on Friday.”

Chairs shifted, and Mila got up to write on the whiteboard. Everyone in this room now knew I’d put my wife’s reputation ahead of mine, but I still needed to tell them about the part that would impact them directly.

I let the current discussion on episode seven run for a minute, then stood and waited for the side conversations to die down.

“Before we go further, there’s something else.”

Jordan glanced over. Stella set her pen down. Mila turned from the whiteboard.

“I cut a sequence out of the future outlines yesterday. It was centered around Sally and had roots I’m not going to use anymore.” I swept my gaze across the room, meeting each writer’s eyes so they could see how serious I was. “We’re not refining it. We’re replacing it entirely.”

After a beat of silence, Stella was the first to speak. “Which one?”

“The voice notes.”

“We can’t change Sally’s personality. It’s already been established for four seasons,” Jordan pointed out.

“If that’s what I was suggesting, I would’ve cut a fuck of a lot more than that one scene.” Leaning forward, I pressed my palms on the table in front of me. “But anything new that Laina inspired is off the table.”

Jordan frowned. “September doesn’t give us a lot of room to throw out pages and start clean.”

“I’m aware of the calendar.” I sat back down and pulled my laptop closer. “And I’m still telling you those wells are capped. We brainstorm new directions that don’t touch my marriage. If a pitch even brushes up against it, we kill the idea and move on.”

Stella leaned back in her chair. “You’re asking us to rebuild pieces of Sally while the season is already in production.”

“Yes.”

Jordan scrubbed a hand over his jaw, then nodded. “Okay. Then we stop talking about what we lost and start filling the holes.”

Stella got up and joined Mila at the whiteboard. “Constraints first. Same tone and escalation pattern, zero personal source material. Anything else off-limits?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Everything else is fair game as long as it works for Sally’s character.”