When I come back to the kitchen, Michael is busy pushing my windows open, letting the grey smoke roll out of them. He laughs gently at me and points to the burnt pan of eggs on the stove. He rubs the back of his head and stands with his hip jutted out slightly.
"I'm real sorry, Maggie. It was an accident-"
"Don't worry about it." I laugh and he smirks at me. We stare at one another for what seems like eternity before he points to the table, where he's set out two plates of toast with grape jelly spread on them, a glass of orange juice, a glass of water, and some Advil.
My smile widens and I take my seat. I take the Advil and motion for him to sit down across from me. We eat in silence for a few minutes before he leans back in his chair and clears his throat.
"You've been taking it pretty harshly then?"
"My dad dying?" He nods his head. I take a sip of orange juice and set the glass back down on the table. "Yeah, I guess I have. He was a good person." I take a deep breath in. "His funeral is later today, and I've been thinking about it a lot."
"You haven't had work?"
"No, I worked double time to send in my articles, and then I'll have grief leave for a little."
"If you need a distraction you could come to work with me today? We're wrapping up filming the pilot." My Toast suddenly becomes extremely interesting, so I stare at it, blushing as I think.
"I uh- as long as I get to sit in St. Vincent's chair." Mike chuckles and takes a
Bite of his toast.
"That can be arranged."
We finish our breakfast quickly after that, and I get ready to go to work with Mike.
We pull up outside the studio and Mike grabs his leather jacket. He opens the door and runs around to open my door for me. I smile at him and thank him before following him to the studio, him flashing his pass as we walk by. We settle in quickly and because it's early we're almost the first ones here.
Mike throws his jacket over his chair and takes my hand, wordlessly leading me to the food area. He drops my hand and picks up three oranges, then starts to juggle them causing me to all but burst with laughter. I clap my hands as he finishes.
"Wherever did you learn to do that?" He chuckles.
"I don't have too much free time on set, but when I do it's a fun trick to practice." It's just then that Davy walks in rather slowly, rather prominent bags under his eyes. He shuffles over to the drinks station and fills up a mug about the size of his head. After fixing it to his liking he chugged it and slammed it down on the table. Mike and I watch all this in a comfortable silence while Mike leans against a table that held a few muffins and pancakes.
"Mornin' Dave."
"Don't bloody call me that, Mate." Davy glares at the taller man and shakes his head before pushing him over and starting to pile chocolate muffins on his plate.
"You look like you've had a rough night, you ok Davy?" I place a hand on his shoulder causing him to jump.
This forces him to notice that I was here, something he had been unaware of earlier.
"Oh, good morning Mags." He sets his plate down and hurriedly fixes his Beatle-esc hairstyle.
"Morning Dave." I wink at him, and he laughs heartily which causes Mike to frown. The two boys move to one of the tables and take a seat while I grab a cup of coffee for Mike and I. We eat and drink for around fifteen minutes joking heavily with each other before Pete walks in.
"Hey Maggie. Guys, Bob sent me to get you guys on set." He seems rather unfazed by my presence. Mike and Davy stand up so I take it as my queue to do the same, following them outside and around the building to where another set had been built. Everything was already set up accordingly so the guys take their seats in their canvas chairs. I sit down on Mikes lap before he's called onto set.
Mike slips off his leather jacket and drapes it over my shoulders, winking before he dashed onto set, leaving Micky, Pete, and I to sit there and talk quietly while they filmed. Pete takes his beads off his neck and drapes them over my shoulder and soon enough, I'm covered head to toe in items belonging to each monkee. Pete's beads, Mikes jacket, Davy's glasses and a huge hoop earring from Mickys costume. We all have a good laugh at this before they each dash onto set to film the final scene of the pilot.
Bob yells 'cut!' And then everyone is yelling and clapping, something I don't entirely understand since I'm a journalist, not an actress but they appear to be having a good time, so much so that Micky pulls
me up out of my chair to dance, all the while yelling 'we're done! We're done!'
