Letting Go
I don't own them.
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Chapter 7
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It was 7:30pm and Mac and Stella were finally alone. The moving crew had taken all day to get things situated. Or to be more accurate, for the FBI's surveillance team to get everything in place correctly. Agent McLaughlin discretely pointed out to them where the camera's and panic buttons were before he left. There was still unpacking to do though. Their own personal stuff had been dumped on the unmade bed. The FBI had assured her there were sheets for that bed in here somewhere, but she hadn't found the box yet. She decided to take a break and flopped down into the arm chair in the living room. She took this moment to consider the house she would be living in for now.
It was perfect. At least, for their purposes it was. It was in an upper middle class area with SUV's and Mercedes Benz's parked in several of the driveways. The lawns were manicured and the houses well kept. Several neighborhood ladies had been standing in small groups with young children or on their porches watching all the activity during the day. This too was good for the purpose. Word would spread about the "new" people in the area. Hopefully that would get the killers attention quickly.
As she looked around the interior of the house, she was forced to admit someone in the FBI had good taste. The whole house was decorated in strong greens, reds and golds and it all matched. Right down to the curtains. The furniture, which she had to assume was used, was in very good shape and was surprisingly comfortable. It wasn't precisely her style, but she could live with it. All in all, the place was livable.
Stella turned and looked at Mac as he walked into the room. He gave her a tired smile when he saw her relaxing in the chair. "Giving up on unpacking already?" he asked. He collasped in the the arm chair next to hers.
"Thats one of the reasons I hate moving Mac. It takes days find where everything is, then several weeks to figure out where you want to put it."
He chuckled. He didn't like moving either. "It doesn't have to be perfect Stella. Just livable."
"True. Did they stock the refrigerator for us? Or is that one of the things we're supposed to do? We haven't eaten since this morning and I'm starving!"
"I don't think so and even if they did, I'm too tired to cook."
She smiled. She didn't think he even LIKED to cook. "Me either. You don't happen to know of any good restaurants around here do you? We've got these wonderful new bank cards....." she said.
It was his turn to smile. "As a matter in fact, I know of several. What are you in the mood for?"
She thought about it for a moment and replied "How about Italian? I could go for a good seafood alfredo and a salad right now. A nice glass of wine to go with it would be nice too. Its been a long day. How about you?"
"There's Mama Gina's steak and seafood about a mile from here. I've been there before and the food's pretty good. So the wine."
"I'm sold. I hope its casual dining though. I don't feel like having to get dressed up right now." she said. "Provided I could even find something to dress up in without having to dig through all the luggage."
"No problem. We're dressed fine for there. Just grab your purse."
Stella heaved herself out of the chair. "Alright. Give me a minute to clean up and I'll be right out." She headed towards the bathroom. Once there, she washed her face and hands and re-did a bit of her makeup. She ran a brush through her hair and grabbed her purse from the bedroom. Upon entering the living room, she found Mac waiting patiently by the door, jiggling two sets of car keys in his hand. He handed her a set without comment. She immediately saw the attachment for the panic button Agent McLaughlin had mentioned. She looked up at Mac and nodded her understanding to him. He nodded once in response before he opened the front door for her.
They walked into the garage to find their "new" car and saw Mac wince. When she took a good look at the car, she almost laughed out loud. Mac was going to hate this! Why on earth had they given them a Prius of all things? She just caught Mac's eye and shrugged. She hadn't picked the car after all! He sighed in resignation then opened the door for her.
As they pulled out of the driveway and out on to the road, Mac took the opportunity to check out his partner out the corner of his eye. Since the chief had told them about this assignment, she had seemed nervous and out of sorts. Not that he blamed her. He felt the same way himself. There was a lot at stake here, beyond just the case. He suspected that she was WILLING to do this, but that she was uncertain about how to do this without causing problems. Whether she was going to enjoy it or not wasn't really his business, though he was rather hoping she would. Now that were here and alone, he admitted to himself that he too was willing.
He all of a sudden just decided to bring it right into the open. She was his best friend, right? Besides, this might be the last chance to talk openly.
"Stella, now that were HERE, so to speak, there is something I need to say before I can't say it at all." he said carefully.
Stella turned and looked at him with a startled, almost fearful look on her face. Damn. He hadn't meant to scare her. But he had to do this, to say this.
"Relax. I just wanted to say.... its okay. WE'RE okay. I know this assignment is going to involve a lot of things we wouldn't normally do with each other. I'm a bit nervous about this too. But your my best friend Stella. If I can't do them with you, who could I do them with?" He smiled encouragingly at her. "From this moment on, I'm your husband. I expect you to treat me that way. To be blunt, Not only am I giving you my permission to treat me like your husband, I'm ordering you to. I will be treating you as if you are my wife, in all ways. We both know what that means. We need to be able to accept this from each other or we're not going to be able to do this."
Stella was completely shocked. Intellectually, she knew what she was getting into with this and knew that he knew too, but this was the first time they really addressed it so openly. She took a deep breath before responding. She needed to be as blunt and honest as he was. "Mac, I just don't want to screw this up. Not just the case, but our friendship." She closed her eyes before continuing. "Our relationship means a lot to me, I don't want to lose that. But I have to confess that I find this situation...intriguing." To his surprise, she suddenly gave him a thousand watt smile. "It's that curiosity thing, you understand."
He was so dumbfounded by that last remark he almost ran a red light. "Stella, I had no idea you were that .... curious. It just... never occurred to me." He paused for a moment and gathered his courage. " I admit, I've been ... curious... too, but I thought that was just a guy thing." He blushed, just having to admit that.
Stella laughed in surprise. Did he just say what she thought he said? Did SHE just say what she thought she did? Was she really having this conversation? "No Mac, its not just a guy thing. Us women do it too. I think its human nature."
He just shook his head. This was not a conversation he had ever expected to have with Stella. Not without several drinks anyway. He slowly took one hand off the wheel and placed it over hers. "Curiousity aside, Stella you will always be my best friend. No matter what. This case might complicate things, but we'll always be friends. I was going to say that we need to keep this professional, but that just not going to be possible. If we were strangers we could, but we're not. We care about each other, even love each other, thats what friends are about. Other than the case itself, we need to not treat this as professional partners, but as friends in this. We are going to have to rely on that friendship and trust or we're going to blow this. I think I'm up to doing this... are you?"
She glanced at him, almost shyly, before answering. "With my best friend? Yes, I'm up to this." She paused. Then she gave him an out right EVIL grin. "So just how curious am I allowed to be?"
Mac choked. He was doomed. Right now, Stella was more dangerous to his health than the killer was. He decided if she was going to play that game, he was going to give it right back at her. "Depends. It works both ways. How curious am I allowed to be?"
Neither of them could help it. They started laughing. What else could they do anyway?
When they finally arrived at the restaurant, Mac went to the side of the car to open her door. But instead of just taking her hand, he pulled her into his arms. "Stella, I'm glad we're okay with this."
She looked up into his intense eyes and smiled. "Me too Mac." Then, feeling greatly daring, she leaned into him to kiss him, to find that he was doing the same thing. Their lips met, at first gently but then with a passion they hadn't expected, despite what they had just said. When they finally broke apart they were breathless. Yes, Stella decided. She was certainly okay with this!
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I know, I'm so evil! Don't worry folks, we are certainly getting somewhere!
To Catherine and Fruitbat: Your right, I messed up the Flack thing. I went back and fixed most of it. I need Flack in there somewhere as "part of the team" though.... I've got plans for him.......LOL!
To all of you wonderful people who have reviewed this... I think I love you!! For those of you who haven't yet, please do!
