Six ways to sunday.
Idiom
Meaning: Thoroughly or completely; in every possible way; from every conceivable angle.
Six Ways to Sunday
Chapter Five- Lose to Win
Riley feels his eyes on her from across the room. It makes her feel to hide in her turtleneck sweater and disappear. It felt like he hadn't looked at anything else but her in the last two weeks. She couldn't get a break. It's exhausting keeping up the façade that she didn't care he and Desi were still together.
She really did expect this outcome. Sure, she had hoped this time would be difference but when had she ever been that lucky?
Every time Mac and Desi seemed to be on their way down, they always got back together. Always.
How much longer did she have to endure this? Whatever torture game she and Mac have going on had to end. One way or the other.
She looks down at the tablet in her hands and feels his eyes following her.
She wishes she could hate him. For all that he put her through. But, how could she? When he's staring at her like it was just them two in the world.
"Okay, let's get this right." Matty said once the briefing came to an end.
Riley is out of the war room first and she's on a mission to get as far from Angus MacGyver as possible. Naturally, he follows her out.
"Riles wait up,"
She spins around and before he can get a word out she feels her own anger rising to the surface.
"Can you stop?" she said.
"Stop?"
"All of it! The calls and the text…and stop looking at me like that...when you're with somebody else." she said.
"I've been trying to talk to you. I just need a little more time-" He looks around to make sure they're not in earshot of anyone else then pulls her to a corner.
"Let me go, please." she said. He immediately releases the grip on her hand but that's not what she's referring to. "If you're with her...you have to let me go. Please Mac."
She walks away trying to hold back tears and turns her face away when she sees Bozer coming her way.
She wants to be the cool girl. She wants to tell him she understands and that she'll be there for him when he's ready. But she's tired of it all. She's been doing the cool girl thing and she has nothing to show for it. At this point, she wants out.
"What's up with Riley," Bozer said. Mac was still reeling from her words and could barely think of anything else. The only thing that resonates in his head was that he was too late.
He clenches his jaw tightly as the realization hits him like a train.
"Riley told me she still has feelings for me." Mac said in a somber tone.
"And how do you feel about that?" Bozer said, with a grin he failed to hide. Bozer has never told him who he prefers Mac with. But Mac knew.
"I feel the same way about her." Mac said. Bozer is the first person he's said it out loud to. It sounds strange but also...right?
Bozer beams brightly at the news, he can barely contain his excitement. "I can't believe this. So how did Desi take the news?"
His mouth flattened into a thin, grim line. "Ugh, that's the complicated part." Mac said.
"What are you doing man?" All the enthusiasm Bozer had from before completely evaporated. Mac's guilt takes over him and he feels as though he's being pulled in two different directions. Split right down the middle.
"I tried to but Desi is not in a good place right now. It didn't feel right to break up with her when she was so upset. I can't hurt her." Mac said.
"But you can hurt Riley?" Bozer said. His words stop Mac in his tracks. Damn. It sounds so simple coming from Bozer's mouth. But he can't refute it. It's what he's been doing.
Angrily, Bozer said, "She's like my sister Mac."
"I know...I know..."
"Then chose."
Mac is at a crossroads. He had spent his entire life trying to save and help people. He didn't want to cause pain. He never wants to cause pain. Especially not for people he cares about. He doesn't know if there will ever be right time to end things with Desi.
Bozer was right. So was Riley. He has to decide.
He heads straight to the war room but Desi is gone.
"Where's Desi?" he asked Matty. She looks uncomfortable, and that's enough to worry him. Matty's poker face is iconic. So what has her rattled?
Matty sighed. "She's...on a mission. You probably just missed her."
"What mission? Alone?"
"I gave her the option to tell you to tell all of you. To bring you in. She must have decided against." Matty said.
"Matty tell me what's going on?"
"You need to talk to Desi about this. It's personal for her. This isn't my place." she said.
"Then tell me where you sent her. I'm going after her."
Matty lowers her tone even though they're alone. "I don't think you do..."
He needed to talk to Desi. The next time he showed his face in front of Riley he wouldn't hurt her. He would show her how much she meant to him. And if he had to fly across the world to end things with Desi then so be it.
"Please Matty, tell me where I have go," Mac said.