I've always thought that Pat should go silent for a minimum of 6 months. He should buckle down, write his books, and go to the gym. He could cheat and have an AI do all the writing. He should block every call that's not in his contacts and focus on himself. In 6 months, this place will have moved on. Jackie is coming in hot, trying to steal all the attention, so now's a perfect time.
Instead, he promptly answers every text he receives and pushes the conversation forward. Someone once said that if a homeless man were sitting on the sidewalk saying "fuck you" to everyone who walked by, Pat would be the one guy who stopped, looked at him, and said, "No, fuck YOU."