Catfished - COMPLETED

CHAPTER SIX

       Max walked through the hotel hallway toward his room. How could every hotel look so similar? After so many years staying hotel after hotel with the Catfish crew, they blurred into long, carpeted hallways with generic paintings hung on every wall. Max usually felt numb to changes in environment, too accustomed to it. Tonight was different. He began noticing details around him. But what he really noticed was how much he missed Lucy. Recalling the feeling of holding her during their dance, he smiled to himself.
      He made it to the door of his room. He pulled the room key card from his back pocket and skillfully slid it through the reader. The green light flashed and he opened the door. When he walked through the door, he saw the lights were already on and one of his producers was waiting for him.
      This producer, Brad, was a nice guy. He joked off camera with the everyone a lot. He was easy going and made the show go smoothly. Max was surprised to see him but assumed he was there to hang out and relax.
     "Hey, man." Max dropped his jacket into a chair and reached over to shake Brad's hand.
      Brad took his hand and shook it. "Hey, Max."
     Max headed to the mini fridge. Fishing around in it for a bit, he turned around and offered Brad a beer. Brad took it. Max took one for himself. He sat on the edge of the bed facing Brad, ready for some guy talk.
    Brad took a swig from the bottle. After a brief pause, he said, "So you can guess why I'm here."
    Max shrugged. "To hang out," he replied.
    "I wish. No, man. You know you haven't been doing as good of a job as you usually do. You've been pretty distracted on this episode."
    "I guess. I don't think I've let anything slip through the cracks. You know I got Lucy to agree to go tomorrow! That wasn't Nev."
    "I know, but have you shot anything off regular  camera? Have you prodded the girl to give us anything juicy? You know that's how we get good ratings. That's what people want to see. Not how cute this girl is. Or how nice she may seem."
    Max silently fumed. But he couldn't deny it. He had taken a lot of care of Lucy. Usually he pushed and pushed. He got the confessions. He felt no remorse when they cried. His fists balled tight, Max shook his head no.
    "You know I can't push this girl," Max admitted. "Have Nev do it."
    Brad rubbed his neck. "Nev is already doing more than he should be. You guys are supposed to be a united front. Not mean Nev and passive Max. You come at investigations together."
     "I can't." Max was exhausted and he refused to make Lucy any worse than she was. He knew she was barely veiling her emotions as it was.
     "Listen. The others producers are pissed. They've been following the episode so far. They don't like what we've got. They were going to come at you together but I asked to talk with you alone. Tomorrow you had better give them more of what they want." Brad finished his beer and walked out of Max's room.
      Max sat in shock on the bed. He couldn't move. He kept picturing how hard Lucy had cried when she had seen Jeff's picture on the laptop earlier that day. He didn't want to see her cry like that again.
     Max fell back in the bed. He pulled the covers around him and settled into what he knew would be a sleepless night.

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     It was too early. The sun hadn't risen yet. But the Catfish crew were up and readying for the day of travel.  Lucy met them outside of the hotel. She was bundled in a coat, fluffy scarf, and beanie. Max couldn't help but notice how the cold made her cheeks an adorable shade of pink. While the crew packed away the luggage into the cars and finished making last minute arrangements, Max, Nev, and Lucy huddled in a tight circle. Lucy bounced in a goofy little dance to keep warm. She rubbed her arms, trying to increase the blood flow. Nev and Max laughed at her.
      "Shut up! It's freezing," she yelled.
       "Whoa! Someone is not a morning person," Nev laughed.
       They got the okay to get in the car and head for the airport. Lucy sprinted to the car, hopping over a duffel bag. Nev followed suit with a laugh. Max keep thinking about what Brad had revealed to him last night. He had to step it up or there would be consequences. Shuffling his feet, deep in thought, Max slowly made his way to the car.
     "So glad you could join us," Nev teased. He and Lucy were both buckled up and ready to go.
       Max pulled his seat belt on. After some hesitation, he pulled the hand held camera out ad got back to work. "Lucy." Max pointed the camera at her face. "How are you feeling?"
       Lucy answered quickly. "I feel fine. I slept well," she dodged the question. "How about you?"
       "We're not here to talk about me. Are you anxious about meeting Jordan?"
       Nev looked at Max in the rear view mirror. "What are you doing?" he mouthed.
      Max acknowledged Nev with pursed lips.
       "I am trying not to think about why we're making this trip, honestly. I'm trying to just get through it," Lucy confessed. She kept her gaze out the passenger side window. She wouldn't look at Max.
      Max could tell she was upset. He could tell she didn't want to talk about it. But he had to get some emotion for the episode or it would be a boring one. He also knew that avoiding the issue wasn't healthy for Lucy. He focused on the latter reason as he continued his interview.
     "It must be hard- not knowing what awaits you in Seattle."
      "Mm-hmm."
       "If it ends up being the brother, Jeff, would you be interested in furthering your relationship?"
        Nev's eyes shot wide open. Lucy spun around in her seat. She was suddenly in Max's face. She was fuming.
Max sat back in the seat. Lucy's jaw was clenched and rage poured from her eyes. "What do you think, Max? Do you think I want to continue talking to a man who has lied to me? Who told me he loved me over and over again knowing full well that he wasn't being honest?" Her voice caught at the end of her question. She strained to keep going. "Do you think I'm going to run into his arms, accepting him for the deceitful villain that he is? Do you think I can ever forgive him for playing with my head and my heart?" Her last question came out as a whisper.
       There was an ache in Max's chest. He wanted so badly to reach out and comfort Lucy. Why had he done that? That was too far. He could feel her pain. He knew that he had caused it. "Probably not," he murmured.
       Lucy turned back around. She stared straight ahead. The car was silent aside from an occasional sniffle from Lucy. It was a long drive to the airport.

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       Lucy didn't speak to Max while they waited for their flight. She didn't speak to him on the flight. He felt horrible. That was exactly what he had wanted to avoid. Nev tried to goof off. But even his mood was brought down by Lucy and Max. Nev had known that the producers would hate a mushy and sweet Max. He was just surprised by how much Max had cranked up the mean dial.
       Once they had landed and settled into the new rental car, Nev took over interviewing Lucy. Max had carried his camera to be ready since he settled into the car. He pointed it at the front passengers when he heard Nev start asking questions.
    "So what does Jordan do in Seattle?" Nev began with an easy question.
     "He's a barista. That's actually one of the first things I found out about him. I am very coffee addicted- so finding someone who can professionally caffeinate me was very appealing," Lucy joked. Max glimpsed how Jordan had made Lucy happy. Talking about the good times, she was all smiles. Her grin was back in its proper place and she was pushing the hair out of her face.
      Nev laughed at Lucy's joke. "Sounds like you guys meant a latte to each other," he countered.
      Lucy giggled. "Yeah."
      "So what did you guys talk about?"
      "Um. Everything. Nothing. We never talked about anything meaningful. Just books, movies, hobbies, our friends... After awhile, we just developed such a comfortable rapport. The bond that we formed felt natural." Lucy trailed off wistfully. A moment later, she continued, "I can't believe he was lying. It seems unreal, impossible."
      Nev put his hand on her shoulder. "It will be alright."
      "The big What If. Just remember that is why we're here. Closure," Max finally spoke up.
       Lucy smiled weakly.
      Nev's phone started ringing. He picked it up off of the console and glanced at the caller ID. "It's Jordan," he announced.
      Lucy's eyes resembled saucers, they were so wide. Max reached into the front and took the phone from Nev. He answered the call.
      "Hey, this is Max.... Yeah. We landed a few minutes ago and we are heading to the hotel.... Great. Thanks for calling.... Yeah. Just send us the address... Okay. Thanks. Bye."
      "What did he say?" Lucy was the first to ask.
      "You busy in an hour? Jordan wants to meet you."
      "Wow... Do I still have to go?" Lucy forced a faux pleading smile.
      "Well it would be awkward if we showed up to your date without you," Nev lighted teased.
        The car ride to the hotel was a relative silence. Everyone had too much to consider to make conversation. Nev was piecing together what the future held for Max and Lucy. He knew they liked each other. This was just too weird of circumstances to facilitate a relationship. Max was trying to pinpoint where he stood with Lucy. He knew he had pushed her too far- and he would apologize for that- but he felt like she forgive a slip up like that. Lucy was consumed with what she would say to Jordan, how she would react to seeing him, who he could be, and how she would handle the whole thing.
      When they pulled into the hotel, everyone split up. They headed to their respective rooms. There wasn't enough time to do much. No one wanted to unpack, not knowing how long they would be there. Lucy changed her clothes from the travel worn to a fresh outfit. She told herself that she wasn't changing for Jordan. She was changing for herself. Within the hour, the crew met up and headed for the meet up location to see who Jordan would turn out to be.

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I made it!!! Didn't think I would finish this in time to post tonight but YAY!
Also you guys are getting me so many views! Thank you so much! Keep reading and voting and commenting! You are the best!