I really appreciate the feedback from my first story. It has made me sit down and attempt to do another.
"He's a good man to have in love with you. I mean sure maybe he's a little gruff and unresponsive at times and he has a lot of issues, but he really is a good man to have in love with you".
Mackenzie had been staring out the window answering the previous questions about her basic info without much thought when Rebecca decided to talk about her love life. Mac looked up at her with confusion etched on her face whilst Rebecca wore a small knowing smile, which suggested she knew too much or rather she fancied she knew too much. Mac began to worry about what Will had said in his deposition. They'd agreed to keep everything private and they really didn't need things to get messier than they already were.
"I'm sorry I'm not sure what you mean?
"Will McAvoy. He's in love with you. Surely you must know this"
Mac wasn't sure how to respond to this statement she was relieved that Rebecca apparently didn't know about their newly reformed relationship. As she looked at the formidable litigator she couldn't help but feel a little proud that Rebecca was so convinced that Will was in love with her. She knew how Will would have acted when he was in the room facing the grilling from the lawyer hired to save them; he would have adopted a perfect balance of sarcasm, flippancy and passive aggressiveness and Mac felt oddly self-satisfied that even through all his clipped remarks his love for her shone through. However she also felt offended that Rebecca wasn't talking about Mac's love for Will. She knew she was being irrational as she had only just walked in the room and really hadn't given Rebecca the chance to even think about Mac's feeelings, but, still carrying the scars from five years ago, she couldn't bear anyone thinking that she didn't love Will with the same amount of passion and tenderness that he had for her. Knowing that she couldn't launch into a speech about how much they loved each other and despite what her better judgment was telling her she couldn't help but try to offer Rebecca some clue as to what she felt for Will.
"Will McAvoy isn't a good man to be in love with you, Will is the best man in the world to be in love with you. But I'm sure you, like everyone else in the world, knows our history and that Will and I are no longer a couple."
Mac was angry with herself for blatantly lying in a deposition, but she needed to let Rebecca know how much she valued Will.
"I neither know nor care if you are romantically involved now. I just know that he'd rather serve time in some 3rd rate detention centre, taking hits of the locals than have you face even one more of these meetings and I'm saying that when he's in his meetings he's good and he's fighting for all the team but mainly he's fighting for you."
"I'm fighting for him too"
"I know that Mackenzie but Will had graduated law school by 21 and had a 94% conviction rate in the DA's office. He could be sat in my seat earning $2,500 an hour which is a very good thing for you. There is no one else you could want fighting for you. Anyway you good to go?"
Mackenzie was exhausted by the time the deposition had ended for the night; but she still had that great feeling inside of her that she was getting used to again, that no matter how bad work had been or how tired she was or how frustrated the staff had been, leaving work which meant she was going home to Will. Getting back together had been a long hard process. It started with a late night confession of the damned voicemail at which time Will had told her that what he said on the voicemail was true but he hadn't told her since because he'd realised that he wasn't ready and rather than asking her to get back together he was asking if she would wait. She told him that she had been waiting five years and that she would wait another 10, 20 or 30, because she knew what it was to be with him and she couldn't settle for anything else. That was all Will could have wished to hear and slowly but surely late night drinks after the show, led to weekend dinners and movie dates, until one morning Will turned up at MacKenzie's apartment and told her that she didn't need to wait anymore. That was three months ago.
They had kept the relationship entirely private, which had been difficult but not impossible. If they were spotted out at dinner people just saw an anchor and his EP rather than Will and MacKenzie the couple and they were careful to always leave Will's building through the carpark rather than through the front door.
Tonight especially she was so pleased to be going home to Will. Not Will McAvoy, the star anchor to her EP, but her Billy who would spend the night on the sofa, an arm wrapped around her, a beer in hand and Meet me in St Louis on the tv. People might think it would be hard to be going through such a difficult time at work and then go home to someone who was also going through it and having to live it in your personal life as well, but that wasn't what happened. There was an unwritten agreement between them that they were both so content now they were back together that they didn't want to waste nights evaluating and re-evaluating the deposition and all the events that led up to it. Instead their time together at home was what was getting them both through it and for the first time in either of their lives being told they would never work again did not seem to be an utterly devastating event as they would just spend the time together, making up for the years apart.
Will was preparing food waiting for Mac to arrive. He was anxious about how the day had gone. She had assured him, when he had approached her at the end of tonight's show, that she, as she had told him many times,could handle anything and that Rebecca was on their side so there was really nothing to worry about. But that hadn't stopped him checking the clock every 7 minutes or so and spending too much energy on hoping that any moment the lock would be unopened and Mac would walk through. So now he was preparing food as a distraction. He was just cooking a pasta dish that would just sit on the stove so they could eat no matter what time Mac eventually came home. Luckily for him though she arrived just as he was setting the pan to simmer and as she opened the door and looked at him with such affection he knew it couldn't have been a total disaster.
"How did it go?"
"I'm not sure I know the answer to that. Better than I thought. Worse than I thought. She didn't push me over the edge, but I haven't left thinking it's all just going to disappear either."
Will walked across the room, wrapped his arms around her whilst saying "I'm sure you did just great and I'm very glad it's over for you now"
Mac buried her head in her shoulder, breathing him in and letting any residual stress she had from the meeting melt away.
"She's a smart lady though. She told me what a great man you are to have in love with you."
Will stepped back slightly so he could see her face.
"She knows about us?". He voice was concerned and mind starting to think about the problems that might cause.
"No, she just apparently felt that you loved me and told me that was a very good thing for me".
"I do love you"
"I know Billy, I know. She said that you were fighting for me and I know that to but I just want you to know that I'm fighting for you too and that I'm in these meetings not just as your EP but as the person that loves you more than anyone"
Will kissed the top of her head and then grabbed her hand leading her to the breakfast bar where he began to set up for dinner setting out a glass of wine for her and a beer for him.
"Mackenzie what you just said means everything, and I mean everything, but now we're going to have a drink, eat some dinner, collapse on the sofa and laugh about whatever nonsense we can find on the tv"
Mac offered him her brightest smile and in a thoroughly contented way said "that I can do Will. That I can do."
