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With that, I walked away without another word. Andy sputtered something in my wake that I couldn’t quite catch, and I could hear the sounds of Jake’s and Max’s voices murmuring, but I just didn’t care. I made a beeline to the trailer and stepped inside, closing the door behind me.

I pressed my back to the door and rested my head back for a moment before crossing the room and placing my laptop on the desk I shared with Micah, the set designer. He was nowhere to be found so I had nobody to complain to in that moment. Abruptly, I knew what I wanted—needed—to do. I picked up a piece of paper and jotted a note to Max, but before I finished writing it, the trailer door swung open and Max stepped inside.

“Hey,” he murmured.

I glared at him.

“I’m sorry about Andy. He’s such an asshole.”

“I’m quitting.”

“Kier…”

I shook my head. “No. I’ll stick around until the end of the episode, if you need me to, but that’s it. I’m done.”

“Kieran. Don’t do this.”

I banged a fist on the desk. “Dammit, Max. I can’t work like this. Not with Andy. I just can’t. One of us has to go, and we both know it’s easier for me to quit than for you to convince the mayor to fire Andy Donahue.”

“We can’t do this without you,” he countered.

“I’m sure you can. You’ll find another interior designer. Someone who’s more tolerant. More patient. More understanding. I don’t know. Someone who’s better at playing the politics game. I don’t care. Just not me.”

He was silent for a long moment before he nodded. “Okay. I’ll figure out what to do. Maybe you take a leave of absence for the rest of this episode and the next one, give yourself a little break.”

After a moment, I nodded. “I can do that.” I crumpled the paper I’d been writing on and tossed it into the trash can.

“What was that?”

“My resignation.”

Max nodded once, mouth in a tight line. “Got it.”

“Look, I’m sure you can find another designer who wants to torture themselves by working with Andy. I probably know some. I went to school with a few masochists.”

He chuckled and nodded again, more relaxed this time. “I’d appreciate the referrals. Just… don’t tell them too much, or they’ll all say no.”

“Especially at this salary,” I said.

“Hey now,” Max said, sounding slightly defensive. “You know I do my best with the budget they give me.”

I shrugged. “Sure, but… you know, if it paid more…”

“I know, I know.”

I shrugged. “I’m just giving you shit. You couldn’t pay me enough to stay and work with Andy for another three episodes.”

Max’s mouth went back to the tight line it had been. “Understood.” He was silent for a moment. “Why don’t you head out for today? Go home. Rest. Relax. Find some good wallpaper samples and go ahead and order them. Jake and I will run interference with Andy as much as possible so you don’t have to deal with him.”

“Thanks,” I said quietly. “I think I’ll take you up on that offer to go home early.” I scooped up my laptop and stood.

“And Kier?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for everything. I love working with you and I hope you come back.”

I smiled softly at Max. “Thank you for the opportunity. Really. Besides working with Andy, it’s actually been pretty cool, all of us together.”