PART THREE – Dinner
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2005
Excited to see Mac and unable to stop pacing his quarters, Harm left for the restaurant and arrived at 1800 - a full half-hour early.
Harm ordered a drink to calm his nerves while he waited. As he worked on emptying the glass of bourbon that he'd ordered, he wondered why he was nervous. He'd had dinner with Mac lots of times. There was no reason to be nervous, he thought before a grin started to form on his face. He'd had dinner with Mac, the Marine, his friend, but never with Mac, his future bride.
Harm was staring off into space, wondering why and for how long Mac was going to be in London and hoping that tonight wouldn't be the only night that he got to be with her when his "Mac sense" alerted him that she was near.
Harm looked towards the door and saw her walking towards him. Their eyes met, and they smiled warmly at each other. The urge to run into the other's arms was held easily in check because of their years of practice, but they never broke eye contact.
Mac reached the table where he was sitting, and he stood as they exchanged the same "hey" and quick brushing of the lips in greeting the way they'd done at McMurphy's weeks ago.
Soon after Mac arrived, so did the waiter with menus and to get Mac's drink order before he disappeared.
As Mac scanned the menu, his eyes could focus on nothing but her. He knew that he'd missed her, but this was ridiculous. He was acting like a love struck teenager who had little more than one thing on his mind.
Once the waiter had taken their order and whisked away the menus, Harm looked into her eyes.
"Do you want advice now or later?" Harm asked, hoping that engaging in a conversation would snap him out of his adolescent mode and focus on having a nice dinner with the woman he loved, like an adult.
"Now is fine." Mac paused for a moment. "I told Mattie that, while I was on assignment, I'd call if I could, but that was before I knew that I was coming here. She's struggling enough. I don't know what damage might be caused to her recovery if she finds out that I was able to see you when she can't, so I don't know if I should call her."
"I guess my advice depends partly on if you're doing something classified or not."
"What I'm doing is, but too many people know where I am for my location to be classified," Mac answered, curious as to why it mattered for his answer.
"Then it makes it a little tricky because, if you tell her where you are, she'll be curious about what you're doing, and you can't tell her." Harm paused for a moment to give the situation some thought.
"I'd say that, since the two of you have been trying to establish a relationship, a call to Mattie to say that you've arrived safely would be in order," Harm began. "As to whether you should tell her where you are, I think that, if she asks you, you should tell her. If that leads her to ask what you're doing here, you should be truthful and tell her that you can't divulge that. If she doesn't ask where you are, then I think it might be best to wait to tell her where you've been when you're there with her to gauge her reaction to the news that you were in London."
Moments after Harm had dispensed his wisdom, the waiter arrived with their meals and placed them in front them. Harm's dinner smelled delicious, but he didn't want to take his eyes off of Mac in order to eat. It took him a few moments before he could force himself to look down at his plate and pick up his fork.
When the first fork full neared Harm's mouth, he realized that he was staring at her again. He was really feeling and acting like a smitten schoolboy, he thought as he pushed his fork into his mouth.
During dinner, Mac asked Harm about work, and he asked if she'd heard anything about the Joint Legal Services project. After telling him that she'd heard nothing new about JLS, she told him about getting a call from Cresswell while she was visiting Mattie, about her overnight flight across the Atlantic and going straight to work when she arrived here.
After the table was cleared of their dessert plates, Harm still had some questions that he wanted to ask, but if what she was doing was classified, he needed to seek the information without being too direct. The questions that he wanted answers to were: how long she was going to be in town, if she thought that they'd be able to see each other again while she was here and was she staying somewhere that would allow them to spend the night together.
"Are you staying in a room that's big enough for two?" Harm asked suggestively. Well, there went being indirect and getting his mind off that one track.
"I'm sorry, Harm. I'd love to spend the night in your arms, but I'm staying inside the embassy, and security is so tight that I couldn't sneak an ant into my room without being caught," Mac said with a chuckle.
"You're staying in the embassy and not in quarters on the grounds with the other Marines? Isn't that a little unusual?" Harm asked.
"Well, I questioned that, too, and the corporal who's been helping me said that he didn't know of any other military personnel who'd been assigned a room inside the embassy, but that's where I am, nevertheless," Mac explained.
"I was hoping that we could spend our nights together, but I can't very well take you to the BOQ with me either. Now I really wish that I'd found someplace to rent last weekend," Harm said with a sigh.
"Harm, we'll be together as soon as we can be, I promise," Mac said, reaching across the table and squeezing his hand.
"Would you have any time to come by to check out my office? I'd even be willing to buy you lunch." Harm had struck out with an overnight visit, so he was fishing for information about being able to at least see her again, but his tone was more that of a lawyer than a boyfriend or a fiancé.
Mac played coy. "Are you suggesting a date, sir?" Her voice had a playful lilt.
Harm heard the playfulness and tried to match it in his reply. "Yes, ma'am, I believe I am."
"I'll be free on Friday. I have the day off. Will you be able to get away for lunch?" Mac asked.
"I'll make sure that I'm able to get away."
She smiled at him in anticipation. "Then it's a date. If I come by around noon, is that good?"
"Noon is good." He paused. "Is your schedule full or do you have some time before Friday?"
Mac giggled, and he looked at her. He didn't understand why wanting to see her was so funny.
"Are you trying to speed date?" He looked puzzled, so she elaborated. "This dinner makes only two dates that we've ever had, and now you want to squeeze in one tomorrow before our lunch on Friday."
She was messing with him, and he knew it, but he had to try to defend himself. "We've had dinner more than twice before, Mac."
"I didn't say two dinners. I said two dates, tonight and the date in Sydney. Any other dinners we were working…can't count those as dates," she said with a shake of her head. "Of course, the one in Sydney probably shouldn't count either. We did go to a crime scene and act out the crime scenario." She paused and watched him squirm for a few moments. "After consideration, I'll allow it to be called a date. It wasn't our case. It was yours. I was on leave, so I'll let you have that one, but I don't have to say that it was a good date."
"Oh, I see." Harm raised an eyebrow. "I have to know then, Ms. MacKenzie, what makes a good date? Since first dates are usually awkward, they aren't really known for standing out in one's mind as a good date, so I'd have to pose the question, is the first date ever really a good one?"
"Well, Mr. Rabb, I didn't say that the date didn't stand out in my mind. I mean crime reenactment and you turning me down cold certainly made it memorable."
"Wait a minute. I didn't turn you down cold. I said not yet."
"Please explain the difference," Mac urged.
"Turning you down cold would mean that I hadn't thought about it or that I didn't want anything to happen. I said not yet meaning that I'd thought about it, but didn't think that the timing was right. Your defense to which was 'we weren't in Washington any more, we weren't even on the same continent'. That said to me that you hadn't thought it through. We weren't in Washington, but we'd both be going back there, and I didn't want anything to happen in Sydney that we couldn't continue when we got back," Harm explained.
Her stomach had butterflies. "You'd thought about us back then?" she asked.
Harm looked her in the eye, hoping to clear up any misunderstanding that had been created on the ferry that night. She'd really thought that he hadn't been interested in her, hadn't she?
"Yes, I'd thought about us." Harm sighed. "I guess I know why you went to Mic so fast now. You thought that he was the only one who wanted you. That isn't what I meant at all."
Harm looked hurt. Mac hadn't wanted to upset him or make him feel remorseful about it. She hadn't thought about that night in Sydney Harbor and the hurt associated with it in a long time. She didn't know why she'd allowed herself to bring up the subject now, and she quickly became lost in thought.
Unsure of what was going on inside that pretty head of hers, Harm just watched her for a few moments. Eventually, he'd be the one to break the silence that had fallen over them.
"I guess we've established that I'm a lousy first date and that I don't always make myself clear, at least with you. I'm not sure with the way the night's going so far that you're going to think that I'm much of a second date either."
Mac flashed him a reassuring smile. "Then I hope that lucky number three is going to be really something. I don't know what time I'll be able to get away tomorrow, so I'll call you as soon as I know if I can make dinner tomorrow night."
Harm had just acknowledged his understanding of her schedule when the waiter appeared with the check, and Harm promptly paid it.
They made quite a nice looking pair standing together on the sidewalk outside the restaurant. Harm had worn slacks with a casual shirt and sports jacket, and Mac's outfit mimicked his look with slacks, a tank top and tailored jacket.
Mac took in a few deep breaths of the fresh air before pulling out her cell phone. She wanted to make a call to Mattie before she and Harm parted company for the evening. Mac knew that it wouldn't help Mattie, but it would help her to have Harm near when she called in case she said the wrong thing or needed more advice on what to say to her.
Harm could hear Mac's side of the call. "Hi, Mattie"…"I made it safe and sound."…"I'm working on a project that I can't tell you about."… "Yeah, I'm in someplace pretty safe."…"I should be back soon, about two weeks."… "Yeah, I'd better go."…"Bye"
Mac handled the call like a pro. Out in the brighter light of the street lamps as opposed to the softer light of the restaurant, Harm could see that Mac looked tired. It's probably a result of her red eye flight, Harm thought.
"No one gets any restful sleep on a plane, so why don't we call it a night? The embassy is only a few blocks this way," Harm said, grasping her arm and turning her in the correct direction.
"I'm really tired tonight and I don't think that I feel up to walking even a few feet let alone a few blocks, so, if you don't mind, I'd like to take a taxi back to the embassy," Mac said with a yawn.
"I'll ride with you," Harm said, pulling her close.
In the taxi, they sat spaced apart, but when he reached for her hand, she didn't pull away. The ride wasn't long, enabling her to resist the impulse to lay her head on his shoulder.
When the taxi pulled up in front of the embassy, Harm started to exit the taxi, but Mac gripped his hand tightly. "You don't have to get out. You can see the gate from here," she said smiling at him.
He smiled back. "I'm looking forward to seeing you again, so I do hope that you can get away for dinner tomorrow evening."
"I'll let you know." Mac got out before the taxi driver opened her door.
Mac released Harm's hand, climbing out of the taxi too quickly for him to kiss her.
Harm told the driver to wait until Mac disappeared behind the gates of the embassy.
Harm chuckled to himself as the taxi pulled away from the curb. If this was only their second date, maybe a kiss wasn't the gentlemanly thing to do.
Back at his quarters, Harm lay in bed for several hours without falling asleep, thinking about this dating thing that Mac had brought up.
Harm thought that surely in nine years they'd had more than two dates. He'd think of something, but have to dismiss it. For instance: he'd taken her flying once, but he dismissed that one. Even if he got her to allow it to be called a date, it wouldn't be any better of a memory - getting shot in the leg by poachers - than the one that she counted as their first date.
Harm would come up with something that they'd done together, like going to see Mattie, but in the end, he had to agree that none of them could really be called dates.
Harm drifted to sleep without ever coming up with any 'real dates' of which to remind her.
Mac fell asleep, thinking about their discussion of Sydney Harbor. She woke after less than three hours of sleep, but feeling better knowing that Harm had wanted her that night in Sydney.
THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2005
Mac had called late in the afternoon and asked Harm to meet her at the same place for dinner.
This time it was Mac who arrived first. She was seated when he arrived at the restaurant, though not at the table that they'd occupied last night.
The lighting at the table location tonight lit Mac's face differently than last night, and, when he'd reached her, Harm could tell that she'd tried to conceal the dark circles under her eyes with makeup.
Mac was surprised when he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek instead of the lips like last night to greet her.
Their dinner conversation revolved around Harm's search for housing. He talked about his unsuccessful search last weekend, describing one place as the illusion house. He said that the entry door was fine, but once inside, he had to duck or he'd hit his head on every doorway in the place.
Mac laughed. "How many times did you forget to duck before you were able to get out of the place?"
Oh, her laugh, her smile, how he'd miss them, he thought.
"I'm not sure. If I thought you could still see them, I'd let you count the number of lumps on my head to get a number," Harm answered.
Mac stifled another laugh. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Harm said with a smile.
Mac was feeling a lot better and more at ease until Harm sprang news on her that she wasn't ready for, causing that uneasy feeling to flow through her once more as Harm told her that he'd made arrangements for them to see three apartments tomorrow when they went to lunch. He gave her the brief descriptions that had been given to him about each place, as well as his hopes that they'd find one that they liked while she was here.
Mac seemed to lose interest in either dinner or him part way through their date - so much for the third date being a good one - so Harm wasn't surprised when Mac ate hardly anything or when she wanted to cut the evening short, saying that she was tired and wanted to go back to the embassy to see if she could get some sleep.
Harm didn't want the evening to end so early, but he couldn't dispute the fact that she was tired because he could see it in her eyes, so he was willing to get a taxi and take her.
Since he suspected that he'd done something to upset her, he was surprised when Mac said that she didn't think that she had the energy to walk to the embassy alone and asked him to escort her. He was even more surprised when, once they were outside the restaurant, she slipped her arm around his waist.
She must not be too upset with me if she wants to be close to me, he thought as his arm went around her and, in response, she leaned against his side.
They walked until Mac stopped abruptly on the sidewalk just as the fence of the embassy compound came into view, but nowhere near the entry gates. Her arm dropped to her side, and she turned to face him, but he spoke first.
"Mac, are you okay?" Harm asked.
"I'm just tired."
"What can I do?" Harm pleaded, his concern evident in his voice.
"I feel better just knowing that you care." Mac looked up at him with such sadness in her eyes.
He risked the possibility of injury and placed a quick peck of a kiss on her lips. "I care very much."
Mac stepped into him, his arms immediately seizing the opportunity to embrace her. His warmth surrounded her, and she felt lighter as she felt his lips place a kiss on the top of her head.
Harm held her, just thankful for the contact. She tilted her head back and, when her eyes met his, he couldn't help himself. His lips moved towards hers until their lips met.
The kiss was sweet and loving, lasting long enough that the participants knew that they'd shared something and short enough that they weren't making a public scene.
When the kiss ended, she pulled from his embrace.
"I'm still to come to your office tomorrow at noon for lunch, right?"
"Yes, my office at noon, and we'll have lunch," he replied.
Mac put her hand in his and started to walk again until they were near the entrance of the embassy, at which point they stopped, said good night and shared a brief touching of the lips before Mac entered the embassy compound, hoping to find sleep tonight.
While in Washington, Mac had thought that her sleeplessness had been caused by missing Harm, but she'd seen him, and sleeping in London wasn't any easier. In fact, it seemed worse here because, here she'd get to sleep, but her sleep had been more restless, and she'd wake even more tired than when she'd gone to bed.
Tonight, Mac had gathered strength from being in his arms, even if it had been for a brief time, and his kiss had eased some of her feelings of anxiety or confusion. She wasn't sure what to call it. In this more relaxed state, she managed to drift to sleep quickly, but tonight would be no different. She'd wake and check her internal clock to find that she'd slept for three hours and twelve minutes, and the relaxed feeling that she'd had when she'd lain down was gone.
