Scripts and Old Friends

The clock on Lex's desk read 3:14 AM, but he hadn't left the brownstone office yet. The glow from his laptop filled the room, charts still flickering faintly across the screen. His trades sat untouched now, numbers frozen where they needed to be.

Lex wasn't watching markets. He was listening.

The soft hum of music still drifted faintly from the living room—Rose's track, looping quietly in the background.

His phone buzzed against the desk, cutting through the silence.

Lex glanced at the screen. Benny.

He smirked, shaking his head. Only Benny would call at three in the morning.

Lex answered, leaning back in his chair.

"Benny, if this isn't about millions of dollars, I'm hanging up."

Benny's laugh crackled through the line. "Relax, Lex. It's better than money."

Lex arched a brow. "That's bold. Go on."

"Mikey called me. He's got three new scripts. Fresh off a caffeine binge, I think."

Lex chuckled softly. Mikey was chaos incarnate—but brilliant.

"What's he working on now?" Lex asked, already interested.

Benny didn't miss a beat. "First one's wild. Inspired by Blood Circuit."

Lex's smirk deepened. "That makes sense. I hooked him up with Red Lantern this week. Paid him extra 20K to flesh out a world script."

"**Yeah, well, he went off. Benny's tone shifted slightly, more serious. "It's like he built an entire universe. Layers, Lex. I mean, you could spin this into a movie franchise easy. Red Lantern doesn't know what they're sitting on."

Lex's gaze flicked toward his laptop. Red Lantern was already gaining heat in the indie game space. The fact that Mikey had been cooking alongside them wasn't surprising—but the scale? That was new.

"Alright, that's one. What else?"

Benny hesitated for half a second. "The second one's different. It's called Elle Rose. Real-life Cinderella stuff."

Lex's smirk faded slightly, his focus sharpening.

"Explain."

Benny exhaled, almost like he was preparing for Lex's reaction. "It's inspired by Rose."

Lex straightened in his chair.

"What?"

"You were at the hook up, Mikey interview Rose about her story—housekeeping, working as a maid for you, chasing her shot while still scrubbing floors. He spun it into something tight."

Lex's grip on the phone tightened faintly.

"She still works the estate, Benny."

"I know. That's the hook. He's not making it a sob story, Lex." Benny's voice dipped lower. "It's sharp. Real. She's the one coming out ahead. I know you're protective, but this thing? It could blow up."

Lex stayed quiet for a long moment, listening as Rose's track looped softly in the background.

"Send it to me first."

"Already done," Benny replied.

Lex exhaled, fingers brushing over the edge of his desk.

"And the third script?"

Benny's tone shifted again, this time laced with something heavier.

"This one's Phantom Verge."

Lex paused, brow furrowing. "The arcade game?"

"Yeah." Benny's voice carried a faint grin. "Mikey owns two of the machines. Apparently, he started writing it as fan fiction when he was a kid—redid it five times over the years."

Lex chuckled softly. "He's obsessed."

"Obsessed and brilliant. The script's epic level, Lex. He's got it dialed into something gritty, but cinematic. Like 80s arcade meets Blade Runner."

Lex's smirk returned faintly.

"You're telling me Mikey just spun three franchises out of thin air?"

"I'm telling you he might've written the next three years of your life. Next you'll need to buy the old IP but that's easy for Mr. Latham"

Lex glanced at the documents sitting on his desk—the Vaughn deal finalized, Winterson's arcade catalog sitting untouched beneath it. 

"Lucky for him. I don't need to chase ghost. My old man sort of owns the IP."

Benny laughed. "It possible. I told him you might call with good news. Mikey's expecting to hear from you asap."

Lex leaned back, swirling the half-empty glass of whiskey on his desk.

"I'll call him in the morning."

Benny snorted. "He's probably still writing at this hour."

"Even Mikey needs sleep."

"You sure about that?"

Lex chuckled but didn't argue. "Fine. I'll give him a few hours."

Benny's voice softened slightly. "This is good, Lex. Between Rose climbing the charts, Black Wall finish, and now these scripts? You're building something."

Lex's smirk faded into something quieter.

"Yeah. I am."

And for the first time in a while, Barnie wasn't the first thing on his mind.