Resignation

The first rundown meeting was over, and Mac was just about to meet the graphics team to give them a heads up on tonight's stories, when Nina Howard entered the bullpen. Unfortunately she was already so close to the door that there was no way to avoid her, so Mac straightened her back and took a deep breath. „Hello, Nina."

„MacKenzie, how nice to see you." Nina smiled, but Mac always felt that she looked like a cat sitting in front of a bowl of cream, licking her whiskers in anticipation. Somehow, while being nice and not saying anything directly, Will's girlfriend always tacitly played out her upper hand and let Mac feel with almost arrogant condescension, that she had lost him for him good. „Is Billy in his office?"

Mac paled, but managed to force a smile. „He should be. Excuse me, I'm late for a meeting."

Nina nodded and headed for Will's office, while Mac continued to the exit and left the bullpen. However, instead of directly walking to the graphic's lab, she stopped and leaned her back against the wall once she was out of sight, shaking from head to toe.

Understandably she had never liked to meet Nina, starting when she was a major part of taking down Will, herself and their show, and of course now that she was part of his life.

Mac had never had a major problem with all the young women Will had been dating after she had come back into his life. It had hurt, of course, but she had taken it as what it was meant to be: A punishment for stomping on his heart.

But Nina was different; this was a serious relationship.
They had been seeing each other for months now, and hearing her calling him ‚Billy', as she had always done, had cut into her like a knife. She had thought that had been her thing, knowing full well that even his parents never called him that, when he was a little boy. Will, Wills, for whatever reason his mother had sometimes called him ‚Teddy', but no one had ever called him ‚Billy' before her. Realizing that he didn't mind Nina calling him by this name, only showed that he had moved on.

Maybe it was time for her to finally do the same.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::

„Will, do you have a minute?" Mac poked her head through the door to his office.

When he waved her inside she closed the door behind her and stepped in front of his desk. She waited until he looked up from the paper in his hand, but when he did, she didn't know how to start. Fidgeting with her hands it took him frowning and asking „Mac?" for her to take a deep breath.

„I can't do this anymore, Will."

„What are you talking about?" He looked confused.

This." She gestured between them. „I can't… Look, I know Nina hates me, and I'm really not that fond of her either, but apparantly…" Mac forced herself to go on. „...she makes you happy."

Will had not expected any conversation along these lines, and at least had the decency to look somewhat ashamed and also a little uncomfortable, but Mac only focused on what she had to say, trying to hide the pain in her voice. „That's a good thing; it's what I want. I want you to be happy, even if it's with her. But... I can't stick around anymore to watch it, I just can't."

Will didn't say anything, but his eyes grew imperceptibly larger and he seemed to pale.

Mac looked at him, biting her lip while knowing that the consequential words were yet to come, and she choked. „You will find my letter of resignation on your desk after tonight's show."

„Mac…"

She turned around to leave the room, but stopped when she reached the door. „Please… Don't tell anyone before the end of the show; they need to focus."

Will could only stare at the door, that was slowly closing behind her, completely dumbstruck and his heart racing. After a couple of minutes he catapulted himself out of his chair and walked over to her office with giant strides.

„You will not resign. I won't accept it."

„You'll have to, Billy." Mac looked at him, trying to hold back a tear that threatened to show in her eye. „You may have the right to fire me at the end of each week, but my contract does not prohibit me to leave of my own volition."

„But… Why? Why all of a sudden? I've been seeing Nina for more than three months now."

She gave him a sad smile. „And it hurt like hell every single day. And now…"

„What now?" Will's gut painfully tightened at her admission, but he defiantly raised his chin. „Do you really want to leave all this behind? The show? The team?" He didn't need to add ‚Me', that was implied.

Mac's answer was only a quiet whisper. „ I have to… She calls you Billy…"

Fuck

„I told her not to do that, I hate it." Before Mac could take his words as another attack on their own past, he continued. „I only liked it when you said it."

His thoughts were racing.
He didn't know what Nina was. A friend? His girlfriend? Definitely not his partner. She was company, yes, a comfortable way not to be alone, and he didn't feel bad about it, because she knew it. She must have known from the start.

But now… He had to make a decision.

„MacKenzie… Promise me to not just disappear tonight after the show. I… I need to talk to you. Please."

He saw the insecurity in her eyes. She didn't want to drag this out, but he also knew that it had never been easy for her to refuse him, and he was counting on that fact now.

Mac was fighting her inner self. She was at a breaking point and knew that she couldn't take any more pain, if she wanted to get out of this with her heart more or less intact. She frowned. Who was she kidding? Her heart had been broken a long time ago and had never fully recovered from it. Leaving him, letting Nina win, would give it the final blow.

Will saw the turmoil she was in, but still he repeated. „Please."

After a long moment of silence her shoulders slumped and she sighed, resigned. „Okay. I will come to your office."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Mac used her lunch break to prepare her letter of resignation. The letter itself was written within a couple of minutes, so she spent most of the time thinking about her decision and Will's earlier words in her office.

At the same time Will was out to meet with Nina for the lunch date she had come by to confirm that morning. They hadn't seen each other for a few days, because she had been out of town to chase a story, and thinking about it on the way there, he realized that he hadn't missed her at all. He had spent the evenings at home after joining the crew at Hang Chew's, strumming his guitar, dwelling on his thoughts and enjoying the quiet. Funny, when he had been together with Mac, he had never wished for her to leave him a alone for even a minute, that alone should have clued him in from the start.

When he arrived at a small Italian restaurant Nina was already waiting. He felt a little sorry for her; after seeing him this morning a break-up only a few hours later was surely the last thing she expected, but he decided to go about it like ripping off a band-aid.

„Nina, we need to talk."

The smile disappeared from her face. „Well, in the history of mankind those words have never bode well… What's going on, Billy?"

„Don't call me that." The words came out reflexively, and he immediately shook his head. That was not what was important right now. „I'm sorry, Nina, it's not going to work. Us. You know all too well that I'm in love with someone else."

She blinked, but didn't avoid his eyes. „MacKenzie."

„Yes." One simple word that carried all the weight of the world for him.

„You do know that she will cheat on you again, right? Once a cheat, always a cheat." Nina's voice was like ice. „I've heard that she's been sleeping her way around the city this last year."

„That is a lie, and you know it. But even if she had, it wouldn't be my place to judge; she's single. And in regard of the past… I trust her."

The moment the words left Will's mouth he knew that they were true. He didn't know how it had happened, but with her work and the loyalty she had shown since her return she had convinced him, that she wouldn't betray him again, and he was absolut certain that this would also apply to any private relationship as well.

"Look at it this way, Nina: Sooner or later you would have tried to convince me to go on one of those stupid morning shows, making a total ass of myself, and that wouldn't have bode well."

"It wouldn't be the worst thing for you to do, you know?"

He shook his head. "I'm not the rating's whore that I was anymore... I'm sorry, Nina, I really am."

Nina grabbed her purse and got up. „Don't expect me to wish you a happily ever after."

Will watched as she walked away. He was relieved that it was over, and her last words just showed him the difference between her feelings for him and Mac's, who put his happiness above her own.

Suddenly he couldn't wait to see her and haphazardly threw a large bill on the table to cover Nina's drink.

It didn't take him long to get back to ACN and he immediately walked into Mac's office.

„I'm sorry, MacKenzie. And I love you."

Mac had looked up when he had rushed in, and he could see the sad look on her face make place for utter surprise and shock. „What?"

„I'm sorry," he repeated. „I'm sorry for hurting you, and I will never do it again. I love you."

„What in the fuck is happening right now?"

„I love you." It had to stick sometime, and if necessary he would repeat it until he was blue in the face. „I have never stopped loving you."

When he saw the disbelief in Mac's eyes he went on. „The voicemail. I told you exactly that in the voicemail that got hacked."

He stopped talking when she got up and slowly walked around her desk to stand in front of him, closely studying his face. „Are you serious?"

When he nodded she struggled for words, and when they didn't come she finally poked his chest hard. „Why did you never say anything?"

He shrugged. „At first I thought you were ignoring me, and when I found out that you never got it, I couldn't say it again. Remember, I had been high that night."

„So… You didn't mean it back then."

„No!" Will stepped closer and carefully took her hand. „The weed just lowered my inhibitions, but I had meant every word of it."

„You are an idiot." She didn't pull her hand back, and her careful, hopeful smile betrayed her words.

„I know." He relaxed a little, but knew that they weren't out of the woods yet.

„So what made you speak up now? My resignation?"

Will nodded contritely. „I can't lose you. I don't want to lose you. I'm sorry it has taken me so long, but seeing that you just want me to be happy… It's shown me that… I've forgiven you a long time ago, and I know I can trust you. I want you to be happy, too. And you were wrong."

When Mac frowned at his rambling, he continued. „She didn't make me happy. She was a distraction and kept me from feeling lonely, but there has never been a future for us in the cards. The only woman, who can make me happy, is you."

„Billy…" Mac couldn't believe that her desperate act from this morning had led to this. She had been convinced that this day would be the last she would be working with Will, that she would never get to see him again, except maybe from across the room at some official function. And now he was standing in front of her, declaring his love and offering her the future she had dreamt about for so long.

She didn't care about the tear that ran down her cheek and lifted her hand to cup his cheek. „ I love you, too."

A relieved sigh escaped Will and he moved his free hand to her waist to pull her closer. Not taking his eyes off of hers he then lifted the other to press a tender kiss to Mac's fingers, causing a shudder to run over her body. But when he leaned in for a real kiss, she moved her hand from where it was still resting against his cheek and pressed her fingers against his lips.

„Talk to her. Then you can come over to my place tonight."

Will smiled. „I already have. I broke up with her before I came here."

„You did?" Mac's face lit up, and this time she didn't object to him kissing her.

He gently covered her lips and let his memories wash over him. The softness of her lips, her hand that had run around his neck to tease the short hairs with her thumb, the quiet humming sounds she made… It all came back to him in an instant, and when she willingly opened her mouth he didn't hesitate to explore it.

After a long while he broke the kiss and looked into Mac's face; her eyes closed, lips swollen, her cheeks covered with a delicate pink. He couldn't resist and placed another couple of tender kisses onto her lips, before pulling back completely. „Ready to go back to work?"

„You mean I should shred my letter of resignation?"

„You have written it already?" When she nodded he steadfastly looked into her eyes. „It doesn't matter, I would not accept it anyway. I will never let you go."

Mac knew that he wasn't only talking about work and threw her arms around him. „Then you really should come home with me tonight."

„You've got yourself a lifelong deal, Honey."