the blue anchor | george mackay fanfic

4. a terrible adult

George's plans changed halfway into his walk the next morning. He was again going straight for his favorite coffee place, with the script in his hand, but decided to walk a few minutes more to look at houses around that neighbourhood. He had decided that it was definitely time to move from his parent's house and live alone. This thought did not leave him for one second.

But he had no idea how to do that. Could he do that alone? Did he have to talk to a realtor?

"My god. I'm the worst adult person ever." He mumbled after stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. There was a cute little white house across the street. It was for sale. The windows were black, one of the glasses broke and the gate was dark blue.

There was no one around. No cars passing. No pedestrians walking by. Just a dog a few meters ahead, looking in his direction probably trying to understand why that tall person was looking suspiciously at a house.

George turned around and started to walk back to his original route to go grab the much-needed cup of coffee. He would definitely ask his agent for some guidance. He was a better adult than him. For sure.

A cup of hot steaming tea and a cup of now cold coffee were perfectly aligned on the dark wooden table. Keys and cell phones were also there next to them, but they were thrown and forgotten.

George didn't even notice the time passing. His eyes were glued on the pages in front of him, eyebrows furrowed and lips parted. He was completely focused on reading and highlighting that new script.

He loved that coffee place because it offered him the peace and quiet he much urged. It was small, with not many tables, in the mornings' people would grab their cups and leave so it was never crowded. Also, he loved reading with the noise of coffee being made in the background.

He took his eyes away from the script when the table vibrated along with his cell phone. George used this opportunity to take a break. He fixed his posture and read the notifications from last night and this morning. He usually slept away from his phone and only checked it after reading or working out in the morning.

As he went through his emails, the actor raised his eyebrows and took a sip of the tea with a tiny smile on his face as soon as he read the name, Celeste Nash. His smile got bigger after he saw that she wanted an interview with him to apologize.

Since he doesn't know much about the site she worked for and any interviews had to be scheduled first with his agent, George forwarded her email — being careful to delete all the previous ones where they were being assholes to each other — asking if he could do it. He wanted to. He really wanted to.

From: Mackay, George.

Subject: How's that an apology?

Date: November 28, 2019 9:36

To: Nash, Celeste

Dear Miss Nash,

How's that an apology? From what I see I'll only make your site more famous :)

Just kidding, okay? I would love to do it. But I can't decide on these things myself, so I'm already in talks with my agent. He'll give you an answer asap.

Sincerely,

George Mackay.

Exchanging emails with her was already becoming a daily habit for him. He hoped they could keep a lighter tone to each other because he regretted those first emails with every single fiber of his body. George would find a way to apologize.

Then, he remembered that he would need his agent help to find a place for himself and quickly typed another email explaining the situation and asking for some guidance.

Nate, George's agent, was with him since 2008 when the actor was only 16. They always had a great work dynamic and friendship. Nate was almost family at this point. His career was now going places, and he only had Nate to thank for.

Not even 10 minutes later he received two emails reply from him. His answer about the interview was "I'll ask her some questions first" and about the house hunting was a phone number with the word realtor next to it.

George saved the realtor's number to call him later today as soon as he had some time. The actor was in a rush, and although he loved living with his family, he was a 26-year-old man, it was time to move.

He went back to his script reading. The cup of tea was also cold now, but he didn't mind.

His parents were staring at him in awe with their hands holding their forks midair. George tried to be as nice as possible when telling them that he was planning on living alone. But that wasn't enough. The dinner plates were forgotten on the table while they both looked at him like he had just confessed a murder to them.

"But why? Have we done something?" His mom was the first to ask.

"No, mum. No. My god, no." He replied in a rush. "But I'll start traveling more now and will have to arrive and leave the house in weird hours. It'll be a complicated routine for all of us."

His parents exchanged glances. "There's nothing we can do, huh?" His dad asked while putting his fork down with more force than necessary. The loud noise from it hitting the ceramic plates reverberated in the entire house.

"The Mackay's will always be the Mackay's even if we are living a few blocks away from each other." George also put his fork down.

The three of them shared a loud breath. His sister was out with her boyfriend and friends today so the table that was usually set for four people was only set for three, and the dinner that was always filled with conversation and laughter about their days was just this uncomfortable silence right now.

"I'm starting to look for places. I called a realtor today, told him what I was looking for and next week we will visit them all." He pushed his plate forward indicating that he was done eating. "It may take days or it may take months. Nothing to worry about now."

"And depending on the place you'll have to renovate some things here and there." His dad replied. "You can count on us if you need any help."

"Thanks, dad. I appreciate it."

George knew this was not going to be easy for his parents. They had a close relationship, but it was more than expected for him to move any time soon now. He just felt sorry for his little sister, she would have a lot of trouble moving in the future.

His parents were already talking about something else when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He took it out and unlocked it still paying attention to the conversation, but he completely lost focus when he saw the message from his agent.

Interview scheduled with that movie critic. I'll email you the details. It will be in person so you guys need to figure out a location. Talk later x