Chapter 429: A double viewing
The reporters were far better than Andrew thought, and even Maxwell had to give them their flowers. They worked overtime to get the interview prepped and ready. By the time that Kim received a copy of it, it was pretty much done. They just wanted to get the opinion of Andrew, and Maxwell, before they slotted it into their network release schedule.
Andrew was a little concerned about how quickly they could do that, but Maxwell reminded him that this was a big story. A very big deal, and Andrew could only feel uncomfortable about the whole thing. It was...embarrassing to be a big deal after meaning pretty much nothing to others for so long.
It was scheduled to be released on Wednesday, giving them a day to advertise that it was coming out, and to get the rest of the reporters off of their backs. Some did, but most didn’t, and that was fine with Maxwell. Richard was also okay with it, having been resigned to having to deal with this for a lot longer than a few days.
When Wednesday came about, Andrew and Richard switched places. Andrew worked from home while Richard went in with Maxwell. Andrew was worried how others were going to take it, especially since it was releasing relatively early in the day.
Andrew was right to be afraid to come in.
Maxwell was a seasoned veteran when it came to dealing with the media, and most people had no damn clue who Richard was so he wasn’t as interesting. If anything, he was treated more like a live-in assistant at the moment than another omega living in the house with them. If Andrew had gone in with them, he would have been swarmed by the reporters.
They were like hungry vultures, hyenas, desperate for more information. Maxwell was able to keep his cool, telling them to listen to the two interviews that they had done for this very reason. Andrew felt that if he had been faced with the same situation he would have fainted from the stress.
He was glad that Maxwell was so much stronger than him. Emotionally and otherwise.
Andrew stress baked, making delicious meals while also working away on the files that Richard had given him access to. He obviously was going to watch the interview when it came out, like he was fairly certain the whole company was going to have a watch party. Maxwell’s interview was directly after Andrew’s. A good ole one two punch from the reporters and their teams.
Andrew was interested to find out how his father was going to respond, while he also didn’t want to give a fuck at the same time. The man had earned this backlash, and it wasn’t a bad thing that Andrew was responding the way that he was.
Andrew had it on the t.v. in the living room, his laptop on the little side table that they had for that kind of thing in the living room. When he saw the two chairs pop up on the screen, Andrew froze. He hadn’t expected them to get a shot like that, and the transition when Andrew sat down nervously across from the reporter?
It was good. Really good. Alarmingly good, and Andrew felt shivers run down his spine. His phone began to ring and it was Maria. Andrew picked up.
"Are you watching? Are you at home?" She asked quickly, the sounds of kids playing in the background filling Andrew’s ears.
"I am at home and I am watching." Andrew confirmed and she exhaled sharply.
"Andy, why didn’t you tell me you did a tell all interview? Fuck, this is going to destroy them. Good for you." Maria was encouraging, in fact, she sounded really proud.
"I...a lot has been going on, and-"
"I’m only teasing." She cut him off with a chuckle. "Okay. I’m going to hang up. I feel like you should be with Maxy while you’re watching this." She said, hanging up. Andrew glanced around the empty house. Maxwell was at work, and that was okay.
Then his phone rang again and Maxwell’s cute name flashed on the screen.
"Are you watching?" He asked seriously, and Andrew let out a soft exhale.
"Yeah. I am." He told his fiancé and Maxwell grunted.
"I’ll be here the whole time. I’m watching it too." Maxwell told him, and that was how they watched the interview. Andrew wanted to hide away when it got to the parts that he’d okayed, but were still hard to watch. Him getting mad, him telling them what happened to his Mom, what his father meant to him and how he didn’t even know his name growing up. It wasn’t easy to hear, but it was important that others heard it.
They even added the parts that they had discussed after Andrew had needed a moment. The conversations about how Andrew had a hard time coming to terms with his latent manifesting, and what it meant. How he had to deal with being a latent true alpha, and all the downfalls and perks that had given him.
It was...eye-opening. Andrew and Maxwell remained quiet over the line the whole time, the time ticking up on their call. That changed when they started talking about Maxwell.
Andrew’s expression lit up on the screen, his shoulders dropped, and he looked genuinely excited on the screen. Maxwell tsked and Andrew let out a startled laugh.
"What? You don’t like this part?" Andrew asked him and Maxwell sighed.
"No. I like it, I just hate that everyone else gets to see you like this." Maxwell muttered and Andrew blinked, before he laughed loudly.
"I love you." Andrew told him and Maxwell grumbled, but remained quiet as the interview continued. It was soft, sweet, and gushy. They kept a lot of the fluff that Andrew had said, especially about Maxwell, and Andrew thought it was a great way to end the interview. Especially since they were going to go to the corporate interview after this.
It would really show that there were two sides to Maxwell. The soft, sweet man that Andrew spoke of, who was considerate and kind and a great friend, and then the ruthless man that ran a business in a field that was dominated by alphas. Yes, he had help from his father and brother, but not as much as others expected.
The finisher of the interview was the fact that Andrew was far more tied to the upper echelons than was expected. That he knew the Proctors, that he knew the Becketts-was marrying into them, and the incredible story of Andrew’s Mom and how she overcame everything that was put on her plate.
Andrew didn’t realise he was crying until they pooled on his glasses. He had to take them off to clean them, as the reporter let them know that Maxwell Beckett’s interview was coming up next.
"How are you doing, Baby?" Maxwell asked softly and Andrew let out a shaky exhale.
"I’m...holding up." Andrew told him and Maxwell made a soft noise. Andrew wasn’t sure what it meant, if it was him exhaling or something else, but it was soft enough that he almost missed it.
"Good. I’m having a hard time too. Your interview was just so much more interesting compared to mine. I think that everyone is going to agree with me on that." Andrew let out a laugh.
"Well, it is kind of hard to compete with my Mom’s story." Andrew told him confidently, and Maxwell laughed lightly.
"That’s right." He agreed before the t.v. began to hum with Maxwell’s interview.
Maxwell was right. His was a bit more...serious. It was in his office, and he looked like a King in his castle. The interviewer looked intimidated to even be talking to him, and Andrew could understand why. A sense of pride filled him as Maxwell sat on the screen, staring the camera down in a way that Andrew hadn’t been able to muster.
Maxwell’s interview was far more...factual. Not as led as Andrew’s had been. You could easily tell who grew up knowing how to interview and who hadn’t. It was quite interesting to see the differences between them. One thing that was similar about them was the fact that Maxwell made sure his ring was in full view. Showing it off proudly.
Doing exactly like Andrew wanted him to.
When the interviewer went off of the cards and asked him about the ring, Maxwell’s demeanor shifted slightly. His shoulders straightened, and his blue eyes brightened. He began to list off all the things that Andrew had told him about the ring, who it was from, where they had gotten it, and how long Andrew had worried about it.
Then, it happened. Andrew gasped.
Maxwell smiled the smile that was normally reserved for Andrew. That soft, sweet one that melted his hard, pretty shell into one so startlingly beautiful that no one would be able to resist him.
Maxwell had been talking about the ring, talking about their joint proposals, when he had stopped to smile. When he looked up at the interviewer, who was doing a great job at keeping his cool, he spoke about how he had met Andrew, and how much that meant to him.
How much Andrew meant to him.
There would be no doubt in anyone’s mind about how much Maxwell cared about him, and Maxwell even laughed and admitted that he’d made up reasons to have Andrew in his life, whether that was as his ’body guard’ or his best friend, he had just wanted to be near Andrew’s joyful personality, and easy kindness. How he wanted to protect the man that held his heart.
Andrew was crying for a completely different reason now. He was just too sweet.
"Maxy." Andrew sobbed. "I’m going to die over here. That’s too much. How can you say that my interview is going to have more impact? I just want to hug you, right now." Andrew told him, sniffing, and Maxwell laughed.
"I wanted to leave it as a surprise. You didn’t stick around to watch my interview since you needed to help Richard with something, so I thought it would be a good surprise. Are you surprised?" Maxwell asked and Andrew let out a wet laugh.
"What do you want for dinner? I’ll make you whatever you want." Andrew asked instead and Maxwell let out a loud laugh.
"Whatever is easiest since I want to spend the rest of the night in your arms."