Chapter 2
Title: Strangers in a Bar
**See part one for Disclaimer!**
~(X)~
Feeling like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar, Dana backtracked in her mind, trying to find a convincing cover story. Unfortunately, her rebellious teenage years had long since faded from her memory, and she couldn't think of a good excuse, though she wasn't really sure if her mother had believed her all those times she swore she'd never come home late, drunk, and reeking of cigarettes, or if she had simply turned a blind eye and deaf ear.
'There's no point in lying to her,' Dana thought to herself, ' After all, what is she going to do, ground me?' she laughed at the thought, and then decided to come clean with her mother.
"Mom, have a seat," she said, pointing to the large, leather sofa. Her mother sank into the couch, and Dana pulled up the ottoman, seating herself on it. She took her mother's hands, and looked into her eyes, and said,
"Mom, I want you to listen to me before you say anything. OK? Hear me out." Margaret nodded at her daughter, feeling anxious. Dana continued, " You know how Daniel and I hadn't been happy for a while, right?" Mrs. Scully nodded again. "Well, we were fast approaching an ugly divorce, and if he hadn't passed, we would be knee deep in it now. Well, after the funeral yesterday, I couldn't bear the thought of dealing with all these people, so I went to this little hole-in-the-wall bar outside of Arlington. And I got drunk off my ass, and when I get drunk, I get mean. So you called me, and I stood up to leave, and when I did, this tall, attractive guy from the other end of the bar takes my keys from me, and insists that I am not driving home. He tells me that I am taking a cab, and he is going with me, and he is going to pay for it. So we got here, and we were pulled up outside, and I told him that I couldn't do it. I couldn't go in and face all those people. And then he proved himself to be man of the century, Mom. He could have put me, a total stranger, someone he could have simply disregarded after making sure that I got where I was going safely, but instead, he put me up for the night, paid my cab fare, offered me his food, his hospitality, and his bed, saying he'd take the couch. He made me coffee this morning, and offered to ride with me in the cab to get my car. Mom, he is the most honest, wholesome person I think I've ever met," she said, smiling at her mother. Margaret Scully sat, flabbergasted at the resiliency of her daughter. Dana searched her mother's face for a reaction, feeling an inkling of fear in the back of her mind as to what her mother would feel about all of this. A smiled broke out across Maggie's face, and she held her daughter at length and looked her over before enveloping her in a loving hug.
Dana felt that if she smiled any more, her face might split in two as she walked slowly up the staircase to her bedroom, and rummaged through her closet and dresser drawers. After choosing an ensemble suitable for the day, and her mood, Dana turned on the shower, letting the water run. As she closed the door, she could faintly hear the phone ringing, but she knew her mother would answer it and take down any necessary messages. She opened the door to the linen closet, removing two blue cotton towels, and a matching blue washcloth. As she stood in the steamy shower, the temperate water cascading down her back and over her shoulders, she mulled over in her mind her past decisions, including those of yesterday and that morning. She thought back to the time when she had contemplated leaving medical school to pursue a career in the FBI.
'What really stopped me?' she asked herself, racking her brain for the answer. It came to her as she turned off the water and toweled herself off. "Daniel stopped me," she said. But she knew she couldn't blame it all on him. " I allowed myself to be stopped," she said, to her dripping wet reflection. Dana vowed to herself, though even to her own ears it sounded cheesy, never to be deterred from what she knew was what she wanted and deserved for herself ever again.
She dressed, and blow-dried her hair. She also did the other things involved in her daily morning routine, brushing her teeth, applying a little mascara and lip balm. She then gave herself a quick once over and satisfied with what she saw, Dana threw the towels in the laundry basket and took her dirty clothes to her room to put in their own separate receptacle. She paused, thinking she heard her mother talking to someone in the living room.
"It's probably just my dad," she said, "or Bill, or Charlie." She had fully come to believe this when she entered her living room and saw her mother sitting on the couch talking to Fox Mulder.
Title: Strangers in a Bar
**See part one for Disclaimer!**
~(X)~
Feeling like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar, Dana backtracked in her mind, trying to find a convincing cover story. Unfortunately, her rebellious teenage years had long since faded from her memory, and she couldn't think of a good excuse, though she wasn't really sure if her mother had believed her all those times she swore she'd never come home late, drunk, and reeking of cigarettes, or if she had simply turned a blind eye and deaf ear.
'There's no point in lying to her,' Dana thought to herself, ' After all, what is she going to do, ground me?' she laughed at the thought, and then decided to come clean with her mother.
"Mom, have a seat," she said, pointing to the large, leather sofa. Her mother sank into the couch, and Dana pulled up the ottoman, seating herself on it. She took her mother's hands, and looked into her eyes, and said,
"Mom, I want you to listen to me before you say anything. OK? Hear me out." Margaret nodded at her daughter, feeling anxious. Dana continued, " You know how Daniel and I hadn't been happy for a while, right?" Mrs. Scully nodded again. "Well, we were fast approaching an ugly divorce, and if he hadn't passed, we would be knee deep in it now. Well, after the funeral yesterday, I couldn't bear the thought of dealing with all these people, so I went to this little hole-in-the-wall bar outside of Arlington. And I got drunk off my ass, and when I get drunk, I get mean. So you called me, and I stood up to leave, and when I did, this tall, attractive guy from the other end of the bar takes my keys from me, and insists that I am not driving home. He tells me that I am taking a cab, and he is going with me, and he is going to pay for it. So we got here, and we were pulled up outside, and I told him that I couldn't do it. I couldn't go in and face all those people. And then he proved himself to be man of the century, Mom. He could have put me, a total stranger, someone he could have simply disregarded after making sure that I got where I was going safely, but instead, he put me up for the night, paid my cab fare, offered me his food, his hospitality, and his bed, saying he'd take the couch. He made me coffee this morning, and offered to ride with me in the cab to get my car. Mom, he is the most honest, wholesome person I think I've ever met," she said, smiling at her mother. Margaret Scully sat, flabbergasted at the resiliency of her daughter. Dana searched her mother's face for a reaction, feeling an inkling of fear in the back of her mind as to what her mother would feel about all of this. A smiled broke out across Maggie's face, and she held her daughter at length and looked her over before enveloping her in a loving hug.
Dana felt that if she smiled any more, her face might split in two as she walked slowly up the staircase to her bedroom, and rummaged through her closet and dresser drawers. After choosing an ensemble suitable for the day, and her mood, Dana turned on the shower, letting the water run. As she closed the door, she could faintly hear the phone ringing, but she knew her mother would answer it and take down any necessary messages. She opened the door to the linen closet, removing two blue cotton towels, and a matching blue washcloth. As she stood in the steamy shower, the temperate water cascading down her back and over her shoulders, she mulled over in her mind her past decisions, including those of yesterday and that morning. She thought back to the time when she had contemplated leaving medical school to pursue a career in the FBI.
'What really stopped me?' she asked herself, racking her brain for the answer. It came to her as she turned off the water and toweled herself off. "Daniel stopped me," she said. But she knew she couldn't blame it all on him. " I allowed myself to be stopped," she said, to her dripping wet reflection. Dana vowed to herself, though even to her own ears it sounded cheesy, never to be deterred from what she knew was what she wanted and deserved for herself ever again.
She dressed, and blow-dried her hair. She also did the other things involved in her daily morning routine, brushing her teeth, applying a little mascara and lip balm. She then gave herself a quick once over and satisfied with what she saw, Dana threw the towels in the laundry basket and took her dirty clothes to her room to put in their own separate receptacle. She paused, thinking she heard her mother talking to someone in the living room.
"It's probably just my dad," she said, "or Bill, or Charlie." She had fully come to believe this when she entered her living room and saw her mother sitting on the couch talking to Fox Mulder.