Disclaimer: I own neither the show nor the characters. I don't earn any money; I just do it for fun.
Author's note: Written for melpomenethemis back in December for the Secret Santa at leveragexchange. The prompt was: "Sterling gets ready for a date with Maggie, Olivia tries to be helpful". The title comes from Coldplay's "The Scientist". This is set post-series, but no real spoilers. Many thanks to my beta, csiangel.
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When he asked Maggie to have dinner with him, Sterling hadn't thought much about it. It wasn't like it would be the first time the two of them had dinner together, alone. It had happened several times in the past, both during and after her marriage with Nate. It had even happened more recently, when they found each other working in the same town again. They were friends, and things like having dinner together happened.
And so, it wasn't until he told Olivia about tonight's dinner that he realised that, this time, things might be different. At least to other people's eyes.
It was Olivia who uttered the word first: date. He hadn't presented it that way to Maggie – and until today, he had never even considered it that way – but he guessed now that, to other people like his daughter, it might look like a date. And maybe the dinner they had the week before could be seen this way too. And the one before that.
Neither he nor Maggie might have seen them that way, but, in retrospect, these dinners certainly felt like dates. He picked her up, took her to a fancy restaurant, paid for the both of them while ignoring Maggie's protest, and drove her home. So yes, to an outsider, it might look like they were dating.
He just wished Olivia hadn't told him this right before he started getting ready for his dinner with Maggie tonight. Now, he felt nervous; and if there was one thing he hated, it was to feel nervous. But he had no reason to be; in spite of what Olivia had said, both he and Maggie knew that these weren't dates, but merely dinners between two good friends. He tried hard not to think that it was how things really started between Nate and Sophie, mainly because he tried never to think about them when it wasn't work-related. And his relationship with Maggie was nothing like the one between the two thieves.
As his fingers fumbled with his tie – he seemed to have forgotten how to tie a Windsor knot – he spotted Olivia leaning against the doorjamb, a small smile on her lips.
"Something on your mind, darling?" he asked, although he was already certain of what prompted this particular smile.
She shook her head no, before walking towards him. Taking pity on him, she batted his hands away from his tie. His eyes fell on her face, and he smiled at the look of concentration he saw there. It didn't matter what she was doing – playing chess, studying, reading or even cooking – she would have that look on her face. It was a look that he had often seen on her mother's face in the past, and he knew what was coming next.
As he expected, once she succeeded in tying his tie in a perfect Windsor knot, she smiled at him. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. His daughter wasn't a little girl anymore, and he was reminded of that every day. He had missed so much of her life when she was away from him, and he was still missing so much because of his work, but at least now, she was here with him. When he came home after a long day – or a long week – away for his work, she was here, ready to take his mind away from it with tales of her days.
The last thing he wanted was for something to change.
And with this thought, his mind came back to Maggie and their upcoming dinner. And while his nervousness had taken a back seat since Olivia appeared in his doorway, it was now coming back full force. If he was still like this when he went to pick up Maggie, she would know that something was going on, and would ask questions he wasn't sure he wanted to answer. He needed to forget that Olivia had even used that word in the first place; tonight's dinner was just like all their other dinners over the years, there was nothing different. Nothing had changed.
Except that he knew things were different.
Neither he nor Maggie were the same people than when they met years ago anymore. They weren't married to other people anymore, and they weren't working for IYS anymore either. She wasn't only his friend's wife anymore. Strangely, he was closer to her now than he was to Nate, something he hadn't thought would happen all those years ago. (But then, he hadn't thought either that Nate, of all people, would become a thief. Life was full of surprises.)
But that still didn't mean that he and Maggie were dating. Or that he even wanted to date her in the first place. Alright, that last one was partially a lie; he was attracted to Maggie, you'd have to be blind not to see that she was a gorgeous woman. But he would never do anything to jeopardize their friendship. It meant a lot to him, probably more than some people might think.
"Daddy?" Olivia said, jolting him from his thoughts.
"What is it, darling?"
"Stop thinking about what I said."
He had to smile at her words; he hadn't needed to say a word for her to know what was on his mind. It was further proof, if he needed it, that his daughter was too smart for her age. But of course, in spite of what she might think, it was easier said than done. Now that his mind had gone down this road, it was difficult for him to stop thinking about it even though he should.
"For what it's worth, Daddy," Olivia continued, "I like Maggie."
"I like her too," he replied.
And he really did. He was glad that Olivia shared his opinion, and did from the moment the two met. The first time they had met, a couple of months after Olivia came back home, they had immediately hit it off, finding out that they had common interests. Of course, Maggie, just like Nate, had wanted to know why he had never told her about Olivia before. He had explained to her, and she had understood, although he had still noticed some hurt lingering in her eyes.
But that was all in the past. Since that day, Maggie had always tried to be there for Olivia when she needed her, even when they lived on opposite sides of the country. He was grateful about that, because, although he was willing to help his daughter any way he could, a woman he was not. And there were just some things he couldn't help her with. She had found in Maggie the person she needed in these situations.
Things would be very different if her mother was still alive, he knew that. Maggie wouldn't be such a strong presence in the teenager's life. And he realised that he would regret it.
Olivia handed him his jacket and straightened the lapels.
"There, all set," she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek.
"Thank you, Olivia," he replied. "Now, if you need anything, I'll have my cell phone with me," he said, patting his pocket to check that he did have it.
"Don't worry about me. Just focus on your date with Maggie."
"It's not a date," he said, narrowing his eyes.
"Alright, it's not," she conceded. "But if you want it to be, I'm okay with it. I'm just saying," she added, as her father opened his mouth to speak.
He closed his mouth at her words, finding nothing to say. Olivia meant well, he knew that. She wanted him to be happy, and, with her back in his life, he was. She was imagining that he needed to be in a relationship to be happy, but that wasn't the case. Right now, he had everything he wanted.
"What are your plans for tonight?" he asked her as they walked towards the front door.
"I have a test on Monday I need to study for."
"Don't work too hard, and don't stay up too late," he said, as he did a hundred times before, only to find her still awake when he came home.
"And you have fun tonight, but not too much fun," she replied as usual. "And don't forget to say hi to Maggie for me."
"I will."
He kissed her forehead and walked outside their apartment. He waited until he heard her lock the door behind him before leaving the threshold, assured that she was safe.
His nervousness had not yet left him, and it wouldn't any time soon, but he pushed it away for the time being. There was no need for him to worry about it now; he couldn't influence people's opinions, and if they wanted to think that he and Maggie were dating, then so be it. These people didn't know the truth, but he and Maggie did.
And that was enough.
Fin.
Author's Note #2: I might write a sequel with the actual date.