Not Like the Movies

Chapter: 2

Rating: PG

After escorting Jack up to the next floor, Mary came back down to the newsroom to finish her work. But her concentration was no longer her own. Her mind kept linger on the tall, handsome stranger she had just met. They had made light conversation on the way up and from what she could tell he was fun and witty and his personality was truly one of a kind.

Mary looked back down at the budget sheet in front of her. She had to get with it, she had to get this done. Mr. Grant had a meeting in about an hour with the station manager and she needed to go over it with him. She pushed thoughts of Jack out of her mind and forced herself to focus on the task at hand.

She got up from her desk and walked over to the coffee pot. The newsroom door opened and Jack Callison walked in. "Hi." he smiled. "I'm glad I was able to catch you before your meeting. I was wondering if by any chance you were free for dinner tonight?"

Mary smiled. "Yeah." she sat the coffee cup down on the table. "I don't have any plans."

"Good." he said. "Wes said that he had a date with your friend and I thought we could double. Unless you would rather go out alone."

"No, it's alright." she assured him. "I don't mind going out with Rhoda and Wes."

"Then it's a date." he said. I'll pick you up around seven thirty?"

"Sounds great."

He was about to leave but turned back around. "I need your address."

"Oh, Rhoda and I live in the same building."

"I'll just follow Wes then." he said. "See you later."

"Bye."

Murray came back into the newsroom. "Who was that?"

"Hmm?" she asked, still in her state of dreamland. "Oh, Jack Callsion."

"Callsion?" he repeated. "Is he related to Wes?"

"His brother." she picked up her coffee cup and walked back to her desk. "We're going to have dinner after work."

"Hopefully things will go better with him than with his brother."

"Yeah." she smiled. "We're going to double date, Jack and me and Wes and Rhoda. It should make for a very interesting evening."

"To say the least." he replied. "He's not a comedy writer too, is he?"

"No." she said. "He's in advertizing and he's moving to Minneapolis." she thought for a moment. "Hey, Mur, you don't think it would be awkward because I dated Wes, do you?"

"Well that depends." he replied. "Do you still have feelings for Wes?"

"No."

"Does he still have feelings for you?"

"No." she replied. "And besides he's going out with Rhoda."

Murray nodded. "Then no I don't think things will be awkward." he said. "Not unless you let it be awkward."

xxxx

Dinner wasn't as nearly as awkward as anyone thought it would be. Because in the back of everyone's mind that's what they thought, even if they couldn't admit. Rhoda and Wes really seemed to hit it off well. They were alike in a lot of ways and but there was still enough difference for the two of them to work well off of each other.

Wes walked her up to her apartment. "You really don't mind going to the hockey game?" he asked. "Because you can back out."

Rhoda smiled. "No, Wes, I wanna go." she unlocked her apartment door. "Really I do."

"Okay." he replied. "We can go grab a pizza afterwards."

"Sounds good." she leaned against the open doorway. "I had a really good time tonight, Wes."

"Really?" he asked. "You're not just saying that?"

"No, I'm not just saying that." she replied. "I wouldn't have agreed to go to the hockey game with you if I had an awful time tonight."

"Yeah, I guess not."

Rhoda stepped inside her apartment. "You wanna come inside for a drink?"

"Sure." he said, following her inside. "How come we've never done this before?"

"I don't know." she closed the door behind them. "This is the best date I've had in a really long time."

"You flatter me." Wes said, looking around. "It's certainly bright in here."

"I like color." she said. "And the red has a lot of personality."

He sat down in the wicker chair. "It certainly does." he agreed. "It's a good color for you, vibrant and full of life."

Rhoda uncapped the brandy. "You certainly know how to compliment a girl."

"Do I?" he asked. "I'm afraid I'm a bit out of practice."

"That's quite alright." she poured two glasses. "You can practice on me all you'd like."

~Mary's Apartment~

Mary poured two glasses of wine and brought them into the livingroom where Jack was sitting on the sofa. She handed him a glass and sat down beside him. "So what prompted your big move from Chicago?"

"I needed a change of pace." he replied. "With both Matt and Hannah in college now I didn't really see any reason for me to stick around. Donna and I have been divorced for about three years now but we were separated for about five years before that."

"Why so long?"

"To be honest I'm not really sure." he took a drink of wine. "I guess mainly because we wanted to try and hold on to whatever we could for the sake of our kids. We're both much happier people now that we're apart. What about you? Ever been married?"

"No." she replied. "I have a few broken engagements. I actually moved here to Minneapolis after I left the guy I was living with."

"What went wrong? If you don't mind my asking."

"We just grew apart." she told him. "He was studying to be a doctor and we didn't really spend any quality time together."

"So you just packed up and moved to Minneapolis?"

"Yes." she took a sip of wine. "It was the best decision I ever made. It was also the scariest, leaving my friends and family behind. But I needed to start over somewhere new, I needed to prove something to myself."

"And have you?"

"Yes." she replied. "I've found out that I'm strong and independent and that I don't need the support of a man."

Jack smiled. "It took a lot of guts to do what you did."

"I just knew that I needed a change." she said. "And I've never regretted coming here."

"You know I think I'm going to like it here too." he took a sip of wine. "Especially if you're going to be around. That is if you'll see me again."

"I don't know, that depends." she said. "Are you asking me out?"

"Are you free for lunch tomorrow?"

"I believe so, yes."

"We don't have to take Wes and Rhoda with us, do we?"

Mary laughed. "Of course not."

He sat his wine glass down on the coffee table. "I'm glad I worked up the courage to ask you out tonight." he said. "I almost didn't, you know. Sometimes the presence of a beautiful woman intimidates me."

"I had a really good time."

"Yeah, me too." his smiled was worth at least a million bucks. "I hate to run out on you like this but I have an early meeting tomorrow morning." he got up off the sofa. "What time would you like me to pick you up for lunch?"

"Around twelve thirty."

He walked toward the door. "I'm counting on you to show me where all the great restaurants are." he said. "And that includes the pizza places."

Mary followed behind him. "I think I can handle that."

"I'll see you tomorrow." he opened the door and started to walk out but turned back around. "I forgot something."

"What's that?"

Jack gently cupped her face gently in his hands, his thumbs brushing against the delicate skin, pulling her closer and closer to him. His lips parted slightly as he leaned, his lips brushing against hers. It was like electricity, like magic, like nothing he had ever experienced before. And they kissed. Slowly and softly and sweetly. And for what felt like forever.

"Goodnight, Mary."

"Goodnight."

tbc...