Hi everyone, Gosh it's been a long time since I've had the time to write anything and then when I had the time I found I couldn't think of a single thing to write about!
Anyway - Lilac set me a challenge of 3 prompts to include in a story and my 3 prompts were: Wimbledon, Heatwave & Red Hair! So this is what I came up with - it's probably going to be 3 parts long!
Hope you enjoy - can't wait to hear what you guys think... :)
Mackenzie was in a lovely place, it almost felt like a heavenly place – a place she didn't get to very often these days - snuggled up warm and cosy in bed and far, far away lost in a beautiful dreamland. Her dreams were wonderful as they always seemed to be these days – dreams filled with visions of a happy life, of a loving husband, a house just out of the City with a garden big enough for the family dog to roam around and of two little children filling her and her husband's lives with unbridled happiness. The only problem was that each morning that damn alarm would go off and when she woke she realised she was back to normality – waking alone with a heavy feeling in her chest and the realisation that she had been dreaming yet again about the life she could have been living if she hadn't been such a monumental fool.
Things were picking up with her and Will lately though – Mackenzie couldn't be too glum. They had become even closer friends since his stay in the hospital and her subsequent revelations about that day at North Western. There were a couple of occasions even when she was sure he was going to kiss her goodnight after a meal out – that maybe he was going to take a chance on their love once again – but each time he had backed away, looking longingly at her causing Mackenzie's already aching heart to throb just that little bit more. She'd lost count of the amount of times lately she'd begged him to give into his feelings and to just trust her that this time all would be okay but Will McAvoy would never change – he'd been hurt too much in his life and Mackenzie was starting to prepare herself that maybe they were only ever destined to be friends.
Back in dreamland though, something was bringing Mac back to normality way too early for her liking. It wasn't the usual beeping of her alarm clock – it seemed to be a banging of some sort and as the bangs got louder the more Mackenzie moaned and groaned and the more she snuggled further under the covers determined to stay exactly where she was.
Mackenzie had never liked being woken – ever since she was a child she would bury her head under the covers, forever begging her parents for ten more minutes and that hadn't changed in adult hood one little bit. These days she needed to set herself at least three alarms every morning – just to make sure she managed to pull herself out from under the duvet. The thing was though, today was Sunday so that meant not alarm needed to be set and that's the main reason why she cursed and buried her head in her soft pillows as she realised that someone was trying to break down her front door at god knows what hour on a Sunday morning.
"Oh just bugger off, whoever's there," she muttered to herself as she pulled the spare pillow over her head and closed her eyes again.
That didn't drown out the banging though – if anything it just got louder and louder and more and more frequent.
"Arggghhhhh! Sod off," she shouted just as her mobile rang a few seconds later.
Reaching out and grabbing the mobile, Mac was just about to hurl it across the bedroom until she very briefly opened her eyes and noticed the caller ID. Suddenly she was wide awake.
"Will?" she mumbled somewhat sleepily, pressing the answer button and wondering what the hell news had happened in the brief five hours she'd been sleeping, "What's happened?"
"Hey sleepy head, are you ever gonna open your front door?" the familiar voice chirped down the other end of the mobile.
Mac sat up in bed and ran her hand through her tangled hair.
"Will? What are you doing?"
"I'm knocking on your door."
"Yes you arse – I can tell that but why are you knocking on my front door in the middle of the night?"
"Just open the door Mackenzie and I'll tell you!" Will answered, hanging up the phone and immediately knocking on the door again.
As much as Mac wanted to simply snuggle back into the land of dreams she knew she could never deny Will anything – especially when he sounded so happy and was standing outside her front door. Mac stumbled out of bed and grabbed her favourite big fluffy fleece and quickly slipped it on as she shuffled sleepily towards the front door of her apartment. She slid back the lock and pulled open the door to see Will stood before her dressed in an old pair of sand coloured shorts that she hadn't seen him in for years and a snazzy white polo shirt that she had bought him on their trip to London years ago.
"Good Morning sleepy head," Will chirped, sounding far too happy and far too awake for this time of the day.
"Will? What the hell are you wearing – it's too cold for shorts!"
"Cold is just a state of mind Mac!" Will said, a gorgeous goofy grin spreading over his entire face as he looked her up and down, "And besides, it's a beautiful morning out there – sun's up – why aren't you?"
"What are you doing here Will? Do you actually know what time it is?"
"Ahh – the early bird catches the worm don't you know," Will said shuffling the heavy shopping bags in his arms.
Mac shook her head and wished she'd just thrown her mobile over the other side of the room and not answered the damn thing.
"Will – please – shut up with all the old proverbs - it's too early for those. What are you doing here?"
"Hey - can't a friend come and say hello on a Sunday morning?"
"Yes, but not at 8am Will, especially when said friend kept me talking on the phone until two in the morning!"
Will smiled at the memory of last night's four hour marathon phone-call but seemed to dismiss Mac's words with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders and another goofy grin. As hard as she tried, Mac couldn't resist that smile - she never had been able to since the day she'd met him. She stood back and let her head dip to the side indicating an invite into her apartment.
"So, you need to get ready," Will said as he winked and pushed his way past her into her apartment, all the time grinning as if he'd won the lottery.
"I need to get ready?"
"You do and quickly."
"What we doing?" Mac asked, deciding to play along with his little game for the time being.
"We're re-creating Mackenzie – that's what we're doing!"
"Re-creating?"
"Yup."
"Re-creating what?"
Will looked at her standing in her hallway in her oversized fleece with a bemused look on her face and if possible, his heart melted even more than it had been melting for weeks now. She looked utterly adorable and at that moment he was even more determined he was going to get her back than he was an hour ago when he left his apartment – even if he had to beg on his knees he would convince her that she had been right and they had to give their shattered romance a second chance.
"Re-creating what?" Mac repeated as she watched Will seem to drift away for a moment, "Come on Will, spill the beans – it's 8am on a Sunday morning. It's way too early for me to be trying to figure out what's going on in that head of yours!"
"It maybe 8am here but it's 1pm in London."
"And now he's saying even more random things," Mac muttered as she watched him make his way down her corridor towards the living area. She pushed the front door shut and blindly followed him of course. Once they reached the kitchen, she watched as Will placed his shopping bags onto the counter and then pulled out a bottle of champagne. He turned to her the smile even wider on his face, and held up the bottle to Mac.
"Champagne!" Mac squealed, biting her lower lip as she smiled, "We're celebrating?"
"No. We're recreating! I've already told you that," Will chuckled, "God, you are as sleepy as you look!"
"Argghhhh! Recreating what?" Mackenzie almost shouted, her frustration starting to get the better of her.
Will couldn't help but laugh at the look on her face - she really was so easy to tease at times. Mackenzie McHale had never been blessed with patience and he loved to watch the confusion wash over her face as she tried to figure out just what the hell he was talking about. He put the bottle down on the counter and took a tiny step towards Mac reaching out slowly, hesitantly for her hand.
Mac froze for a moment – not in fear but in utter shock. True, they were closer these days but they hadn't even so much as touched in months and here he was, standing in her kitchen looking utterly gorgeous and happy and tentatively holding out his hand for her to take. Only Will could ever do this to her – only he could send her from utter frustration to helpless sentimental fool in less than a second flat. Mac let out the breath she'd been holding and reached for his hand wholly amazed at the electricity that shot through her body the moment their fingers met.
"So what are we re-creating?" Mac asked a little gentler this time, loving the warmth that was now spreading through her entire body just at the touch of his hand.
"Wimbledon 2005!" Will whispered back in reply as he took another step closer and squeezed her fingers tightly.
It only took a moment for Mac to catch up on what he was on about and why he was dressed like he was. Their month in England in June 2005 had been easiest the best of both of their lives. They were ridiculously in love and neither had ever known happiness like they had for those four weeks. They had spent lazy mornings at the McHale family home in West London, exploring London and the surrounding Counties in the afternoon and hot, steamy, passion filled nights in bed.
They had been together for nearly a year back in 2005 and their relationship had been becoming stronger by the day, so much so it had scared Mackenzie – not just scared her but positively terrified her. But those four weeks in England seemed to relax the intensity of the relationship they shared in New York. They were both so contented and relaxed that over the course of four weeks they had become closer than ever and had even revealed to each other all their hopes and dreams for the future – hopes and dreams that had sadly never come true although they couldn't have known that at the time.
They had the most amazing work relationship two people could ever hope to have in those days but there was always a stigma as far as Mackenzie was concerned regarding work and their relationship. Will was a handsome rising star in the TV industry and back then she was convinced that everyone thought she was only with him for his fame and his money – not because they were simply in love. Their show was the real big break Mac had been working tirelessly for since she'd left University but still she felt she had to prove herself to the staid old male orientated world of TV News Broadcasting. Will had never thought that of course but as much as he had tried to convince her that people weren't thinking what she thought he had always known that her demons still invaded her mind a lot more than she ever let on.
"So," Will whispered, "You may have noticed I've been trying to ask you out on a date for weeks now."
Mac couldn't help the grin that spread across her face as she noticed a slight blush coming to his cheeks.
"Hence the four hours on the phone last night," Mac said with a cheeky glint in her eye, "And the two hour call the night before!"
"And the two hour call the night before that," Will muttered before Mackenzie could point it out to him.
"So you didn't just want me to watch the same movie you were watching?" Mac giggled, thinking back to how they'd watched the same movie whilst on the phone to each other and hardly a word had been said during the whole film. Will nodded feeling slightly embarrassed at just how contented he had felt just knowing she was on the other end of the phone, watching one of their all-time favourite films together – albeit in different beds in separate apartments.
"Yeah… Well…. I was trying to work up the courage to see if you were free today – to see if you wanted to spend the day together," Will suddenly blurted out, the blush on his cheeks getting brighter by the second.
"Surely you know I wouldn't say no," Mac whispered so quietly, a matching red patch on her cheeks soon appearing.
Will smiled briefly before Mackenzie took another step towards him and reached for his other hand… "So you can ask now if you want…"
Will hesitated for a moment knowing that everything with their relationship was about to change because he knew once he took this step he would never be able to back away from her again – he simply loved her too much. As terrified as he felt at that moment it only took one look at the hope radiating from Mac's eyes to give him all the courage he needed.
"Well, I kind of have this day planned if you're not doing anything?" Will asked hopefully, the sparkle shining from his eyes as he waited patiently for an answer, "I know how much you like Wimbledon – how it reminds you of England."
Mac had no idea what he had planned but instantly she felt the butterflies flood her stomach. They hadn't been out together, just the two of them away from work for years – well, exactly five years and 3 months (not that she was counting)!
She smiled and nodded wildly as she let her eyes wander to their hands entwined and gently swinging by their sides. For a moment they both just stood and gazed at each other - both at a loss for words.
"So…. Are you free?" Will whispered, unable to wipe the hopeful grin from his face.
Mac couldn't help herself as she pulled him a little closer to her – their bodies were so close that she could feel his breath tickling her skin, "Of course I'm free Billy – I'm always free for you."
"Good." Will whispered and fought the powerful urge he had to kiss her there and then on the spot. He wanted to and he would but not now – that pleasure would come later for sure. Slowly and reluctantly let her hands go and flashed her a dazzling smile, "But you have to go get showered now."
"Will – it's 8am – I haven't even had a cup of tea!"
"Yes – but it's 1pm in England and the Men's final starts in one hour," he answered as he turned her around and pushed her towards her bedroom. "Go Shower – we don't have much time – I didn't think I could come and wake you any earlier unless I wanted to risk my life!"
Mac giggled as he held his hands up in mock surrender at the idea of waking her earlier.
"You know I can't even function without a cup of tea in the mornings and that includes showering," Mac whined. "I need tea first Mister."
Mac turned towards the kitchen but was soon stopped dead in her tracks. "Shower!" Will said with authority, all the time pushing her towards the bathroom. "I'll make you a cup of blessed tea while you shower. Go get ready gorgeous and dress warm!"
"Billy," Mac whined petulantly even though her heart was racing at once again being called 'gorgeous' after all these years.
Will chuckled and gave her one last shove towards the bathroom all the time wondering just how she managed to whinge and whine and still drive him utterly crazy with desire.