Author's Note: This came out of randomly remembering an old story I'd read on here. I reread "Murray's Interview," by Lola-2011, and I began to wonder how it would be for Murray to see Lou and Mary again, knowing that they're now married. The idea stuck with me, so I knew I had to do it. I hope this does justice to the original story. I've had mixed feelings on Lou/Mary over the years, but doing this made me see they actuallly could've gotten together. :)
"I can't believe we're really doing this," Murray said to his wife as he rang the doorbell. "We're going to have dinner with Mary and her husband – Lou!"
"I know," Marie replied. "I guess a lot happened while we were in Boston. But it's nice to know we've got friends here."
The door was opened, and Murray found himself standing in front of his former boss. "Lou?"
Before Murray could say another word, he found himself pulled into a tight hug. "Murr! It's so good to see you! When Mary told me you came to see her about a job, I couldn't believe it! Last I heard, you two had moved to Massachusetts."
"Yeah, well, we wanted to come back to our roots," Murray said with a shrug.
"Hello, Mr. Grant," Marie said.
Lou rolled his eyes. "Not even Mary calls me that anymore. Call me Lou."
"OK, Lou," Marie said.
"Marie!" Mary said as she came in from the kitchen. "You haven't changed a bit."
Marie blushed. "Thank you. And you look even prettier than you did the last time I saw you."
"Yeah, Marie's right," Murray said, thinking of how in love with her he'd been. Even now, those feelings weren't entirely gone.
"Oh, Murray," Mary said, coming over to kiss his cheek. "I'm so glad you guys could come. Besides Ted, everyone at the station now is under thirty. If it weren't for Lou, I'd probably go crazy."
"I still can't believe it, Ted's been working at WJM for almost twenty years now," Murray said, shaking his head in disbelief. "If I were you, Mary, I'd have fired him the second I became executive producer."
"Believe me, I told her the exact same thing!" Lou said. "But Mary said she couldn't do that to Georgette and the kids. Ted's never going to give Walter Cronkite a run for his money, but he's not a half-bad field reporter."
Murray made a mental note to watch one of Ted's segments to see if his old friend had learned how to read any better than he had as anchorman. "This is a lovely place you've got here," he said, finally looking around. The living room seemed to mostly have Lou's furniture, a well-worn couch and a recliner, but there were a few knickknacks and details that were unmistakably Mary's. "I see you still have that 'M' on your wall."
Mary looked over at it, smiling. "Yeah, Lou insisted on putting it here when I moved in. He said it wouldn't seem like my place without it." She laughed.
"For seven years, I saw that thing on your wall, even after you moved. What kind of husband would I be if I didn't let you keep it?" Lou asked.
"I still can't believe it, you two are really married," Murray said.
Mary held up her hand, where her wedding ring sat. "We are. I know it seems strange, but now that we don't have that boss/employee awkwardness, it just kind of felt comfortable, you know? I still can't believe I spent all those years looking for the right man, and he was right there!" She kissed her husband, causing him to blush.
"Mary," Lou said, pulling out of the kiss. It was clear he was embarrassed.
"Oh, don't be ashamed, Lou. I think it's nice to see that you guys are so in love," Marie said.
Mary smiled at Marie, grateful for what she'd said. For years, she'd been trying to get Lou to open up, but it wasn't easy to teach an old dog new tricks. After a beat of awkward silence, Mary looked at the table, which she'd carefully set for their guests. "Sit. I'll just go get the roast from the oven."
Lou, Murray and Marie obeyed. "So, Murray, what were you so busy doing in Boston that you couldn't pick up a phone?" Lou asked.
"Well, raising our kids, for one," Murray replied. "And, well, I just couldn't get over being fired. I mean, we all worked so hard, just to have it taken away like that? It just wasn't fair. And they kept Ted!" Even now, the anger came flooding back.
"Murray, honey, you're back at WJM now, and you're working with Mary again," Marie said sweetly, squeezing his hand.
"You're right." He kissed her cheek. He couldn't be more grateful that she'd stayed by his side through everything. "I'm sorry, Lou. We said we were a family, and I just forgot about that."
Lou waved his hand dismissively. "What matters is, you're here now. You're still the best news writer I've ever worked with. You're like a brother to me."
Murray looked at the table, knowing such a statement from Lou was rare indeed. Perhaps that was Mary's doing. "Thanks," he said, his voice barely audible.
"Now, here we are," Mary said, finally returning with the roast. "I actually got this recipe from Sue Ann, if you can believe that."
"Oh, yeah? What is the Happy Homemaker doing these days?" Murray asked. He hadn't thought about her in years.
"Still writing cookbooks. She talked me into letting her do some promos for her books on the news. Last I heard, she was thinking of branching out into fiction. I don't even want to know what that's going to be like!"
"Yeah," Murray said. "I'm frightened enough by what she does in real life, who knows what her imagination would come up with?"
Mary laughed. She'd forgotten how much she missed his sense of humor. "Oh, and something else you might be surprised to hear – WJM decided to bring back the Chuckles the Clown show. They hired someone new to play Chuckles, of course."
"I was going to say," Murray said. "The last one's dead and buried! I can never look at an elephant the same way."
Mary gave Murray a look. Chuckles' death, and the events surrounding it, were something she'd tried her best to forget over the years, but even Lou couldn't help teasing her now and then.
"Come on, Mare, do you really expect any of us to forget how Chuckles died, or what his funeral was like?" Murray asked.
"Well, I guess not," Mary said, in her usual sheepish way. "At least most of my coworkers now aren't even old enough to know about that."
"Yeah, that's probably one of the perks of your job," Murray agreed. "So, how do you like being the boss? I never really pictured you running a newsroom."
"Neither did I. But I saw the job was open, so I went for it. They hired me, so here I am." She shrugged.
"Don't be so modest," Lou said. "You're more than qualified. Nobody knows that better than me." He smiled at her, remembering the day he'd met her, when she interviewed for a job all those years ago.
Mary gave her husband a grateful smile. "I don't really think of myself as 'the boss.' I'm just there to put on a news show, the same as everyone else. I won't say it's easy, but I learned everything I needed to about how to lead a team by watching the best." She squeezed Lou's hand. There was no doubt in her mind that she'd never be in the place she was now, in her work or personal life, if it hadn't been for him.
Murray looked at the two of them, and suddenly, a thousand memories flooded his mind. Even with the low ratings, and dealing with Ted each day, those seven years were easily the happiest in his life. So much had changed now, for all of them. But one thing remained certain: he and his coworkers were a family. It wasn't the building, or even the work which brought them all so close. It was the love they felt for each other. Murray looked over at the other couple, and he could tell they were feeling it, too. He was home now, for good.
The End