FEBRUARY 14th 2011
Mackenzie stood by his office door as the realisation of what was happening appeared on his face. He gave her a look that said he didn't believe this was happening, before he stood and slowly made his way across the office towards her. The clapping and cheering from his team and the whole staff of ACN started the moment he stepped foot outside his office and continued as he strolled towards the middle of the Bullpen, all the time shaking his head ever so slightly in disbelief. Mac watched with a huge sense of pride – and probably love - welling up inside of her.
The events of today and Will wiring the money for Khalid was what Mackenzie had meant all along on the day back in April last year – that horrendous day when she had sent the dreaded email to god knows how many people. She had always insisted that Will had a huge heart – that he'd do anything for his team but he so very rarely showed it in public. Well today, today she had been determined to show everyone the real Will McAvoy and the huge amount of human kindness he possessed.
She very slowly followed a few paces behind him – her heart almost bursting inside as he took in the scene… He muttered a few words to Don and then, as the line of staffers kept flowing into his office he very slowly turned towards her…. Mac's breath got caught in her throat as she saw the look on his face – it was a look she hadn't seen for so very long and it was a look that almost knocked the breath out of her…
"You did this?"
He asked the question so quietly and as always when he was feeling something deep, so simply… At that second so many different thoughts rushed around Mackenzie's head…. How should she reply? What should she say? Things had improved so much between them in the last month since the Gabby Gifford broadcast that she didn't want to rock the boat here. It was like they'd come to some sort of peace – some sort of un-spoken understanding that they didn't want to hurt each other anymore… that they wanted to move on to a future where neither really knew what it held for them on a personal level but they wanted to move on anyway…
"Happy Valentine's Day." She answered quietly, hoping that he could see the sincerity in her eyes and that she meant it with all her heart. He did.
Will hesitated for only one second before he closed the small distance between them and pulled her into him, his arms instantly wrapping around her shoulders and holding her tightly to his chest. For Mackenzie - it finally felt like she was home. She took a deep breath, determined not to think anything more into this than friendship, but she couldn't help but close her eyes briefly and let old memories of him holding her wash over her – she had waited five long years to have his arms around her once more and it was a feeling she never wanted to lose again. After a moment or two Mac rested her head against his chest and she was certain she felt him squeeze her just a little tighter.
Neither really knew how long they stood there holding each other - neither really wanting to move from the other's embrace and both knowing the other was thinking back to Valentine's days past…. Finally Will started to pull away and Mackenzie sighed at the empty feeling that engulfed her as they separated….
"Thanks for this Mac…" he whispered a moment later, his arm immediately snaking around her shoulder and pulling her into his side.
"My pleasure." Mac whispered back, her own arm wrapping around his waist as the rest of the staffers strolled in and out of his office. She watched the happy smile that spread across his face as he observed the scene and for the first time since she'd returned to ACN ten months ago she really felt like this was starting to work between them. There was no doubt whatsoever that the show was working – that was getting stronger by the day but personally, this moment was the best they'd been since late 2007 and for that Mackenzie was hugely satisfied with the way her little plan had worked out.
Sadly the 'Rudy' moment came to an end all too soon and for the next hour Mackenzie was finding it hard to concentrate. Every email she opened she realised she had scanned without even taking in one piece of information, the report she was attempting to write was no further along than it was sixty minutes ago and the temptation to get up and go see if he was still in his office was getting more and more with every passing minute. Sighing, she stood up and made her way over to the office window and watched the city below go about its normal business….
"Join me in a drink?"
Mac heard the voice from behind and spun around to see Will standing nonchalantly, leaning against the door frame, bottle & mugs in his hand…
"Hey…" she said shyly, still relishing in the feeling of his arms around her an hour or so ago…
Will smiled as she slowly nodded and he made his way to her desk and poured some scotch into the two ACN mugs… He handed one to her as he joined her by the window, gazing out on the city below…
"Cheers." He whispered and clinked his mug against hers.
For a minute or two nothing was said but it was never awkward – silence had never been awkward between them….
"That was some stunt you pulled…" he said a moment later and Mac looked at him to see he had a sparkle gleaming in his eye and a smile on his handsome face…
"Well, that was some stunt you pulled first…. You didn't have to do that for Khalid but I'm ever so pleased that you did… I'm proud of you Billy…"
Will nodded and took a sip of his scotch…. "As I said…. he was one of our guys…. I couldn't let anything happen to him… I wouldn't let anything happen to any member of our team Mac…"
Mackenzie took a long look at him while he stared out of the window and then smiled to herself as she made her way over to the sofa and sat down. This was her point all along – he had a heart as big as a range rover and the way he'd just said 'our' team a moment ago had made this whole stunt worthwhile…. This was the old Will back – the one she had first met years before and the one she had fallen completely and utterly in love with. She kicked her shoes off and tucked her legs underneath her and patted the seat next to her a moment later when Will looked her way….
He had only been seated a moment when Mac turned to him… "Will - tell me the truth…. You didn't pay that woman any money to protect me did you? It's blackmail…"
"You think I'll answer that when you've already said you're going to beat me senseless?!"
"Will – I'm serious…. You can't do this…. Whatever happens - happens… I won't allow this to happen…"
"She can't get away with it Mac – can you believe she calls herself a fucking journalist? She's nothing more than the garbage she writes…"
"But what she writes is generally true – you can't take that away from her… It does look like I was trying to get my boyfriend elected to Congress… I did get my team in trouble in Baghdad - not that it was my fault – but I was still in charge of the team out there... I was responsible for them…."
"She still can't get away with it Mac – the like of her give our profession a bad name… You're a journalist, Jim, Maggie – they're journalists – we're all journalists on this team – she's not. We report the news – she sets out to wreck lives of people who don't' deserve it - people like you and I won't let her do it to anyone on my team…"
Will stood and retrieved the bottle of scotch he'd left on Mackenzie's desk…. He topped up both their mugs and then sat back down next to Mac… Again, nothing was said for a few moments as they both sat back and enjoyed the silence together…
"What are you doing here so late on Valentine's night?" Will asked a moment later….
"Don't change the subject Will… did you pay her?"
"Campbell's not taking you somewhere for dinner? He should be…"
"Did you pay her?"
"A girl like you shouldn't be sat at work late on Valentine's night…"
"WILL…" Mac shouted, her frustration with him growing more and more by the second…
"NO – I didn't pay her but YES I was going to until she pissed me off…."
"What happened?" Mac asked gently, extremely relieved that no money had passed hands…
"We ended up having words – I told her she could come after me all she wanted to but to leave my team alone… Why aren't you on a date with your boyfriend?"
"Because, I don't have a boyfriend any longer…." Mac replied quietly, not even able to meet his eye… "We've split up."
Will paused for a moment, feeling like a first rate jerk - he honestly had no idea….
"Mac… I'm sorry… I didn't know…" he said quietly, laying his hand gently on her arm….
"It's okay…"Mac answered, finally looking at him… "It's not your fault… It was always doomed to fail…"
Will sighed and exhaled loudly…. both of them took a large gulp of scotch…. "Why do I get the feeling it probably is my fault though?"
"Don't be silly… He was using me – you know that…" Mac replied dejectedly…
"He's a fucking idiot…" Will said, rubbing her arm, trying his best to comfort her…
"I'm not putting up with that from anyone least of all Wade Campbell – he can go to hell…" Mac said, sounding a lot more confident than she felt…
Will shuffled sideways slightly so he was nearer her and leant back against the sofa, wrapping his arm around her shoulder for the second time that evening… Mac laid her head down against his shoulder and instantly Will rested his head on top of hers…
"He's a fool and you deserve better…." Will mumbled a minute or two later…
"I got what I deserved… I always get what I deserve…"
"No you didn't…. That's not the actions of a man who loves his girlfriend…. You deserve the best Mackenzie and don't you even dare to think anything less."
As the words left his mouth, Will knew he sounded hypocritical – he had been no better than Wade Campbell over the past few months but that was all going to change – from now on in that would change. Mac hadn't answered him so Will pulled his head away to see if she was okay….. He noticed the single tear that rolled down her cheek and pulled her tightly to his side, wiping her tear away with his spare hand….
"Hey, come on - he's the idiot okay…. Mac, Please don't cry…."
Mac let her head rest down on his shoulder again and closed her eyes… How could she tell him that her tears weren't for Wade and that they were for him – just because he was being so damn nice to her…. How could she tell him that no other man ever stood a chance at winning her heart when he already had such a tight hold over it? She couldn't. She knew he still hadn't forgiven her and all the months of her working away at their new found friendship would be for nothing if she screwed this up now…. So instead she said nothing for a few seconds until curiosity got the better of her….
"No date for you either?" Mackenzie asked a few moments later, sipping her scotch and liking the warm, fuzzy feeling it was beginning to create in her head….
Will shook his head and sighed… "I made up my mind many, many years ago not to take a girl out on Valentine's night… way too risky…!"
"Risky?" Mac asked giggling lightly and lifting her head from his shoulder…
"Yeah…. Too risky…" Will replied, feeling brave…. "If you take a girl out on Valentine's night it means you're serious doesn't it?"
"And what? And the great Will McAvoy can't be seen to get serious with a girl eh?" Mac teased, feeling a little more tipsy with each sip of scotch…
"Only with the right girl….." he replied softly…. "I've only ever been out twice on Valentine's night since college… This girl I was seeing a few years ago…. she was special…."
Mac sighed and felt a lump rise in her throat – knowing exactly which two Valentine's days he was talking about of course….
"I'm sorry…" he whispered a moment later, hearing her sigh and feeling her tense in his arms…. "I shouldn't have said that - I was out of line Mac…"
"Forget it…" Mac replied in a whisper, taking a large gulp of her scotch… "They were good dates though weren't they? Those two years?" she added feeling pleased that they could at least talk about the past – even if they did have to have four or five scotches first…
"The best ever..." Will replied as he sighed slightly and pressed the softest of kisses to her temple… "You've always been the best date I've ever had Mackenzie…"
Mac didn't say anything for a moment, just taking in the feel of his lips on her skin, longing to turn around and kiss him properly but realising they were both under the influence of quite a lot of scotch now...
"Enrico's 2006 was the best night of my life.." Will whispered, feeling braver than he'd ever felt before and feeling terrified at the same time…. He didn't let her answer though…. "Top up?" he asked a moment later when neither really said or did anything…
"I'm feeling a bit squiffy…" Mac replied….
"You always were a light weight when it came to scotch Kenz…."
The use of her nick name shocked Mackenzie slightly – not that she minded him using it…. It was the first time he had used it since they'd broken up and Mac gazed across at him wondering what was going through that head of his - she wasn't even sure he'd realised he'd said it…
"We're a couple of old saddo's aren't we?" Will said, topping up her mug anyway… "At work at ten pm on the most romantic night of the year…"
Noticing his slightly slurred words, Mac looked across at him, a goofy grin appearing on his face… "Billy… Are you drunk?"
Will looked up, shocked at the accusation and then chuckled…. "shhhh! Maybe a little – don't tell anyone!"
"And you call me a light weight!"
"Yeah – well… I might have had three or four of these in my office before I plucked up the courage to come into here!" he replied, grinning…. "That and I try to blot out Valentine's Day these days…."
"Me too…" Mac whispered quietly, even more regret than usual showing in her voice… Will took a couple of deep breaths and leant his head back against the sofa…
"I'm so sorry I fucked everything up Will…" Mac whispered a minute or so later, reaching for his hand… "Will, you need to know I never meant to hurt you with everything that happened…"
"Mac - not now…" Will tried to interrupt but she carried on regardless….
"No Will – I need to say this – I've wanted to say this to you for four years….. I let the best thing that ever happened to me get away from me and I regret that every single day – you have to know that and you have to know I'm sorry… If I could do anything to turn the clock back I would…. I'd do anything to take us back to Enrico's in 2006 or Paris in 2007…."
The words were out of her mouth before Will had the chance to stop her…. He shook his head and stared down at their hands joined together, he wasn't ready to have this conversation but the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her – not when things had improved so much recently…
"Mac… I can't talk about this…" he whispered, hoping to God it wouldn't have her running from the room… "I really can't…."
"I'm sorry…." She replied a couple of seconds later, her voice barely a whisper….
Suddenly the silence that was usually so natural between them became awkward and embarrassing….
"We should be getting home…" he said, ignoring her apology once again – he had ignored so many over the past few years it felt natural to him…
Mac nodded, knowing she'd maybe taken things a bit too far but she could never pass up the opportunity of letting him know she was sorry – he had to know and he had to forgive her eventually – she wouldn't stop apologising until he did forgive her. Will reluctantly pulled his hand from hers and together they both stood, Will gulping down the last of his scotch….
"You'll be okay getting home?" he whispered, regret and sadness showing on his face… "You'll get a cab?"
Mac nodded again – she suddenly had no idea what to say to him…. He looked up at her and smiled slightly and started to make his way towards the office door… She looked so lost and so forlorn standing there just watching him and he so wanted her to know he was grateful for the Rudy scene earlier and that he was trying to sort out his muddled mind…
Feeling braver than he had in years he turned and marched back towards her, pulling her into his arms once again and burying his head in her shoulder…. Mackenzie instantly wrapped her arms around him again and pulled him as tightly into her as she could…..
"I'll work on it… I promise…." Will whispered so quietly that Mackenzie wasn't sure if he'd said it or she'd dreamt it…
Will wasn't quite sure what was happening - why he had gone back for another hug he had no idea, but he did know this last hour or two had gone someway to fixing his hatred of Valentine's Day a little – hopefully hers too - he so wanted her to be happy….
After a few moments he pulled away slightly and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear….
"Happy Valentine's Day, Mackenzie…" he whispered softly to her, totally unable to resist the temptation he had inside of him to brush her cheek with the softest of kisses…
Standing up straight again, he saw Mac smile a smile so wide it hit him straight in the heart and sent a tingle right down to his toes…. Slowly she let her hands slide down from their resting spot on his shoulders and she held onto both of his hands…
"Happy Valentine's Day, Billy…."