Deaded Deals II Legot
Who: Margot Robbie ( @marg-robbie ) and Leonardo DiCaprio Where: NYC What: After a run-in at a local bagel shop in New York, Margot comes across pictures of Leo with her dad. The conversation leads to closed deals and a new found maturity between the ex-couple.
Margot: Being in NYC always felt like home. It had been awhile since Margot had lived there, but every time she came back, it just felt right. It was way more comfortable for her than LA. She loved everything about it: the hidden gems that had the best food, the hustle and bustle, the liveliness, the New York Rangers (who didn’t make the playoffs, sadly), the diversity. It felt like home, but during this trip, not so much. That could be largely due to the fact that she left Conor and their son behind in Ireland, what with Conor still trying to lay low ahead of his court date and not wanting their 8 month old to do any unnecessary traveling (nor did they want to expose him to the harshness of the paps. With the recent events, they were more brutal than ever right now) That’s probably why she found herself in a familiar spot: her favorite bagel shop. A way of trying to cheer herself up and ease the homesickness. “Everything bagel, toasted, with cream cheese and a small coffee, please.” She was more of a tea girl, but when in Rome, right? The blonde handed over her credit card to pay, then made her way to the other end of the counter as she waited for her order. Looking down at her phone, she opened a text from Conor. Her lips instantly spread into a smile as a picture of CJ smiled back at her on the screen. God, she missed them.
Leo: After a few days in Australia, Leo felt at ease being back in NYC. It was home, it always will be home. He loved the fact that he could walk around or bike in the city without being bothered. It was a lifestyle he genuinely took to because at the end of the day, Leo was a private person who hated being in the limelight unless he purporsely placed himself there. The weather was gorgeous out in the city, and Leo wanted to take advantage of that since in a few months, he'd be starting filming again. Not to mention, he'd be producing a new movie as well. It seemed like he only had a handful of free days left. Grabbing his wallet, Leo walked outside and down the street to the local bagel shop. He loved that everything he could possibly need was literally around the corner it seemed. As he walked inside, he placed his order of a small black coffee with an egg and cheese on a plain bagel. He paid the cashier and and made his way down to the end counter. He wasn't paying much attention, his gaze focused on his phone as his assistant texted him about his upcoming schedule the same time. It wasn't until the cook at the back called out Margot's name to give her her food that Leo's head lifted to notice the younger blonde. "Fancy seeing you here, kid" He said with a smile as his blue eyes landed on her.
Margot: If Margot hadn’t been so focused on her phone and texting back Conor about CJ, she would have heard the familiar voice. But she was zoned in. Hearing her name being called out for her order, the blonde looked up and smiled. “Thank you,” She told the man behind the counter as he handed her the order. Just as she was turning to grab a seat, she practically ran into someone. A familiar someone. An apology was about to escape her lips, but then she realized who she nearly bumped into. Letting out a small laugh, she held up her bag a bit to motion to the bagel inside. “Still the best in New York, I can’t help myself..” Thanks to Leo, this was her go-to place to grab a bagel ever since the first time they came to NYC together. Even after they split, she still found herself stopping here every time she was in The City. Bagels in LA, or anywhere else for that matter, just couldn’t compare. The Aussie tucked a piece of her short blonde hair behind her ear, and glanced over to the counter as Leo’s order was called. Margot stepped aside, allowing him to get his food before they continued a conversation. They had run into each other in LA recently, just before the Oscars. Before that, they hadn’t seen each other since just after they filed for divorce - that night in Australia where they (very drunkenly) spent one last night together, despite the two of them knowing it was over. Coincidentally, that was the night before Margot had met Conor - or, well, messaged him without any shame. “Think they’ll ever set up shop in LA?” Margot questioned as Leo rejoined her, talking about the bagel company. It was small talk, and she really didn’t know what else to say, despite having some normal conversations lately. Perhaps it was good to get all of that out of the way before they had to work together again.
Leo: As Leo made eye contact with Margot, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself as she mentioned it was the best in NY. "It is, it is. This place really is a diamond in the rough" He said, looking around at its worn down demeanor. As he grabbed his food, he thanked the cook and left a hefty tip for the man before he nodded his head in the direction of an empty booth off to the side. "Wanna join me?" He said with a friendly grin as he walked over and placed his items down. "They might. But it won't be as good. Bagels taste good because of that New York water" He said in a thick brooklyn accent, trying to lighten the mood as bit as he sat down and took a sip of his coffee. "It's nice to see you though, you look good, kid. How've you been?" He asked, noticing his phone buzzing off with a million messages from his agent, but he decided to ignore them.
Margot: “Sure,” Margot smiled, accepting his invitation to eat with him. Might as well, since they’d be seeing a lot more of each other soon. The actress took a seat across from her ex- husband, placing her food and coffee down. She couldn’t help but laugh and sarcastically roll his eyes at his comment about the water. “Pretty sure they said the same thing in Entourage. You New Yorkers are all the same.” Which wasn’t shocking since his best friend was part of the cast. “It’s good to see you, too. I’ve been good, I’ve just been-” Leo’s phone was buzzing, which was a bit distracting, but not far off was her phone. “Sorry,” Pulling out her phone with one hand, she took a sip of her coffee with the other. It was terrible table manners to be on your phone or allow it to make as much noise hers was making, no matte how well you knew the person you were dining with. Margot went to switch off the volume, but Veronica’s name was all over the screen. “..just one sec..” It had to be important if she was going this crazy. The paps had caught her leaving Ireland yesterday, but nothing too crazy happened. They just yelled some stuff about Conor’s court date and asking how she felt about it. Besides that, everything was relatively chill lately, what with Conor and Margot laying low. Reading over what Veronica sent her, she almost couldn’t believe it...but then there were the pictures. The man sitting across from her, the man she called her ex husband, pictured with her...father? Her father whom she didn’t speak to, whom she hadn’t seen in years. There was no way to explain this. Her blue-green eyes looked at Leo, unsure what to say. She didn’t want to cause a scene, nor did she have it in her to fight with him right now. “I can’t believe you’re still talking to my father,” A laugh of disbelief, rather than humor, escaped her full lips. “All those years and I didn’t even know you two were friends behind my back,” She corrected with a low, non angry tone. Her tone was soft, yet filled with confusion and hurt. With a shake of her head, the woman stood up, not even bothering to take her uneaten food or her coffee with her. “I have to go,” With that, Margot turned and walked out of the bagel shop, her head reeling from the news. Raising a hand as she saw a taxi approach, she quickly got in and gave the man the address of the Manhattan condo she shared with Conor. She was in disbelief, feeling betrayed after all this time. They weren’t even together anymore, nor had they been for years, yet Leo still found a way to hurt her.
Leo: Some things never changed, considering both their phones were going off like crazy. As Margot took the chance to check her phone, Leo decided he'd do the same. Instantly his heart dropped as his agent began to send him pictures of himself with Margot's father. "Fuck.." Leo said under his breath, closing his eyes as he pressed his lips together and shook his head slightly. If his phone was going off with this news, he knew right away what Margot was looking at as well. Maybe they weren't as off beat as they thought. At her words, it came as no surprise to Leo. The pictures looked bad, but it wasn't what she thought. It was far from it, actually. Just as he was about to reply, Leo saw the younger blonde get up and scurry away. No matter where they were in their lives, seeing that image of Margot just leaving was not only deja vu, but it still stung just like the first time. Letting out a sigh he didn't know he was holding, Leo grabbed his cup of coffee, as well as Margots, and quickly followed behind the blonde actress. He couldn't let her leave without knowing the truth behind those pictures. He watched as she got into the cab, and he quickly maneuvered himself to the other side of the backseat. He opened the door and slid into the car - just as the driver pulled off heading to Margot's destination. "You left this behind." He said calmly as he handed Margot her cup of coffee. "Can you please just... hear me out?" He asked, his tone soft and full of regret. "It's not what you think, I can assure you that much."
Margot: The last thing Margot expected was for Leo to get into the cab with her. Before she could get out or protest, the cab was already in motion. She silently and hesitantly took her cup of coffee. /It’s not what you think./ The photos looked pretty bad. Maybe not to anyone who didn’t know who the older male was in the photos, but for Margot, what else would she think? It looked like two pals, hanging out. Her ex husband and her father, for lack of a better word, who had left her and her family when she was only four. However, here they were, in the back of a cab with no where to go. With the years that past came maturity. The blonde wasn’t the same woman she was back when she was married to the man beside her. She had grown up. She didn’t have the urge to fight him on everything..or anything at all. So, as Leo asked to explain himself, she nodded. Margot wasn’t about to ask the cabbie to pull over so she could find another ride home, nor was she about to yell at the man for betraying her. And the fact that Leo was in the cab with her, trying to calmly explain himself, meant that he had matured as well. “Okay,” One simple word, and she allowed him to tell her his truth behind those photos.
Leo: The older actor was bracing himself for a complete screaming war - even though he didn't have the energy to do so. But when he heard Margot simply said okay, he was surprised. Time really had made both change their ways, and it was for the better. "Not that this is going to sound any better than the word 'friends'.... but..." Leo's voice trailed off, clearing his throat as he sat up straighter, a lame excuse to buy a few more seconds of time. "But ever since that night you saw your father with me last year, well, he walked away that night because I paid him off to leave you alone." Leo's head lowered, as he played with his fingers out of anxiety. "Then... he kept contacting me and kept saying he was going to see you. So, I've been consistently paying him off to keep his distance from you."
Margot: It was obvious Margot’s dad came back around a couple of years ago for the wrong reasons. He wanted to conveniently come back into the actress’s life just as her career was skyrocketing. She had two summer blockbusters coming out that year, and suddenly, the man who walked out of her life when she was just a kid was wanting to reconnect? Margot didn’t buy it, and she even offered to pay him off that night. However, instead, she had run back into her hotel room, needing to get away from the man. Little did she know, Leo had actually paid him off that night. If it stopped there, she wouldn’t be surprised or upset, but the fact that he was continuing to do so, despite their divorce? That wasn’t normal. “You’re still paying him off..” She said out loud, trying to comprehend it. Paying him off kept him away, but it didn’t stop Doug Robbie from talking to the press about her. Not long after CJ was born, he was telling the tabloids that he knew Margot was a great mum, and he always knew she would be. Talking about her was one thing, but when he brought her son into it? That pissed her off. “Leo... I’m engaged. I have a son. You’re my ex husband. Don’t you see how inappropriate this is?” There was no doubt Conor wasn’t going to be happy about this, and she knew she couldn’t keep this kind of information from him. Letting out a sigh, her blonde head shook. “Look, I know you’re still trying to protect me in a way, but this has to stop. You can’t keep paying my father off to leave me alone. Protecting me isn’t your job anymore, Leo..” The funny thing was, Margot knew this wasn’t some ploy for Leo to try to win her back. It was obvious he was trying his very best to keep this a secret from her, to protect her because he knew her history with her father. They had both moved on after years of trying to make their marriage work. Margot found the person she was meant to spend her life with and started a family with him, and Leo had moved on in his own way. Whatever the man’s intentions were for doing what he did, it was still inappropriate in Margot’s eyes and, in a way, disrespected Conor...even if that wasn’t Leo’s intention. "He's a manipulator.. he manipulated you into giving him more money. I know money isn't an object for you, but still. He doesn't even deserve that. Trust me when I say he's not getting anywhere near me."
Leo: Hearing Margot's words, Leo nodded. In no way was he ever trying to hurt Margot or win her back. He just wanted to make sure that the man who caused her the most pain would stay away from her. He didn't really keep up with her dad and what he said in the tabloids aside from the man calling whenever he was 'running low'. Which always seemed to baffle Leo because what exactly was the man doing with all the money in the first place? It wasn't his business regardless. "No, I understand. And I hear you. I'm gonna stop, alright? It was never meant to cause any harm. Just a way to make sure he kept his distance is all." He said genuinely, taking in a deep breath. He tapped the cab drive gently on the shoulder. "May I get off here, please?" He asked, quickly paying the cab driver. As he stepped out of the cab, he looked bad at Margot. "Congrats on the engagement by the way. I'm happy for you, honest to God" He said, giving her one of his charming smiles before he closed the door of the cab, making his way over to one of the citi bikes a few blocks away.
