Chapter Three
Comfortable
By Ducks
Disclaimer: None of the JAG characters are mine
Author's Note: Thank you all for taking time to review and to read my story. It just brings me such a joy to know that other
people spend time actually reading my work. So thanks a lot.
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The rest of the early afternoon passed quickly after Mac made her appointment. Before she knew it, it was time for her to be heading over to Dr. McLean's office which, ironically was in McLean. Mac settled herself into her Corvette and proceeded to drive through the streets of D.C. She was getting on E Street to get onto Theodore Roosevelt Bridge when it hit her.
She smacked the steering wheel and exclaimed out loud, "I said WHAT in front of the Admiral? I…he…heard…things…"
"Oh my GOD! I said 'fuck' in front of him…I talked about my really weird relationship with Harm in front of him…I just committed career suicide by telling my CO that there is more than just a friendly working relationship with Harm. I am going to get sent to Russia or some other equally bad place for someone working at JAG to be…"
"Wait, Harm isn't part of the Navy or JAG anymore. Well at least he wasn't part of either when I divulged certain leading information so I am not held in contempt for fraternization. God! I am such a lawyer, thinking of all these damn loopholes."
"But if there was anyone to tell, it would be the Admiral because he is just one of the good guys who, not unlike my friends, wants to help, but doesn't meddle or get all emotional like Harriet, or just overbearing like Harm. The Admiral takes what you tell him in confidence at face value and tries to help you solve the problem."
"I guess I was missing companionship. I haven't spent anytime with anyone outside of the CIA debriefs since I have gotten back home…I haven't even visited Clayton in the hospital." Mac stops thinking out loud because she is brought up short in traffic. "There is no way that there can be traffic on the TR Bridge on a Thursday afternoon. It's barely even afternoon, it's 3:02. Rush hour doesn't start for about another hour or so. Why am I then stopped?" She looks ahead and sees the construction that has been ongoing on the bridge for the last five years. "When are they ever going to finish with this damn right lane? How many times can they take it apart and put it back together with those huge metal strips? My car's alignment is permanently messed up because of them. All because that George Washington Parkway exit is right over the bridge…"
"So I get to sit in traffic. Let's hope that there is something decent on the radio." Of course, when she turned on the radio, it was on WTOP, traffic and weather together on the eights, but she could not handle any more bad news about traffic. She hit the FM button and searched for something decent on. There was nothing but DJs counting down until the workday was over, at five. It was barely after three and already there was a countdown. Mac definitely had a higher appreciation for JAG because it kept her away from the madness that ensues during a boring afternoon.
She finally gets onto the Parkway and shuts off the radio. Again she is left to her own thoughts. Normally she would think that talking to oneself is a sure sign of insanity but she craved noise and the sound of someone's voice, even if it was her own. But she is driving in the quiet and her thoughts pounced on an unsuspecting Colonel. She fully realizes where she is going and what she is doing, so nerves set in. So she starts thinking out loud again. "Why am I even going again? Is there any need for me to all of a sudden after living my life for thirty some odd years by myself and with myself as my only council, to go get help and advice from some outside person, a professional none the less? I don't really need to share my emotions with some stranger. I know how to live my life and talking to someone so openly that I don't know really freaks me out."
"But the Admiral asked me to do this, well strongly suggested it…I guess if he can admit when he, the big bad SEAL needs help, maybe I can too. Ugh, I am already in McLean and I have at least a half of an hour before I have to be there. Sometimes I just hate being me and having all these annoying quirks like being early." Mac continued ratting on herself as she came up upon a Starbucks in a shopping center on Old Dominion. It was the largest Starbucks that she had ever seen. "Starbucks is the perfect place to waste a good half of an hour."
She got out of the car and walked inside the mammoth coffee place. At the counter she was greeted by this teddy bear looking man. He was taking the orders in an obviously fake Scottish brogue, but he definitely lightened her mood. When it was her turn the teddy bear man looked at her and asked, "Now what'll yah have, lass?"
Lass! I am easily ten years older than him and he's calling me lass. Goodness. "I'll take a grande skim latte and a cranberry orange muffin please."
"Calling: Lorelei." The man called to the Asian guy on bar who looked up.
He asked the teddy bear, "Where is she?"
"I was just saying that it was her drink, I didn't mean to imply that she was here." Just when he finished a woman walked through the door and both men turned. Sarah just rolled her eyes thinking, men. All they care about is a pretty face. She is probably one of those tall leggy blondes like Renee who are all looks and no substance. And the teddy bear called out, "LORELEI, DAWLING! How are you? I haven't seen you all day!" Mac looked over at the woman to see if she was correct about her assumption. She's my height, maybe a little taller. She is blonde but not the annoying type, platinum. Is young, but professional looking with a little personal flair of style. I really like her skirt. Someone else had taken me over, giving me my muffin and collecting my money while the teddy bear picked up Lorelei.
"Hey Looper." 'Lorelei' said laughing. "Hey Ron!" She called over to the man on bar, making the drinks. Mac was waiting for her drink by the bar and was watching this all take place. "Looper can you please put me down? You know I do know how to walk and I am wearing a skirt. No wrinkles, no wrinkles."
He put her down and she settled herself near Mac and was talking to who Mac discerned as Ron.
"I can't believe he picked me up! I need to look nice because I am meeting a senior lawyer here today. I didn't get to really make an impression of him or on him before he went on some sort of trip but I need his help and he just got back. I need to look professional and unrumpled. Ahhh I am so nervous. How are your classes? I can't believe that you are finally in your last year of law school already."
"Honey, don't be nervous. You look gorgeous, but check your eyes in the bathroom in a few. You know I don't like the fact that you are years younger than me and you are already a lawyer and I still have a year…"
"But I don't have my masters like you do in Biology…"
"But still…anyway, my classes aren't too bad. I am so glad that I am going to George Mason…" the conversation continued but Mac zoned out, still waiting for her drink as Ron foamed the milk. Mac started thinking again, this is just amusing to watch. It seems so monotonous and mundane but after the month that I have had, I think the boring and regular are just fine with me.
Mac got her drink as the Lorelei woman stated, "He's here. I am not going to trip or freak out. I will be professional and chill."
Ron replied just as Mac was turning around to see the guy, "Wow, can I work with you? DAMN! He is so fine. Why has he never been in here before…" and Mac realized who it was – Harm. What the hell is he doing here meeting this random person? No it doesn't work this way.
Mac didn't want Harm to realize she was there. She turned to face Lorelei, who was still at the customer side of the bar, and told her, "Don't worry about your eyes, they are fine, your friend was just being a perfectionist."
Lorelei laughed one of those loud honking laughs that garners attention and replied, "Thanks. I should have realized but I was a bit too nervous. I have to go meet a colleague but thanks again." She turned to leave but said, "Oh yeah, I forgot my manners but hi, I'm Lorelei Dougal." (pronounced Doogal)
"Very nice to meet you, I am Sarah Mackenzie." When Mac told Lorelei her name, Lorelei's eyes went up to her eyebrows, with a quizzical look on her face, as if she was thinking about the name, but it only lasted a second before her expression returned to a smile.
"It was very nice to meet you but I have to…"
"Don't worry about it, go meet your colleague. Good luck," Mac added as she bypassed Harm and Lorelei, who had met him to the counter to order, while Mac, by averting her head, made a beeline for the stairs to the second floor. As she walked past Harm, he got this strange look as if he had sensed something and turned around to see the back of Sarah's head as she went around the corner. He thought, that woman looks exactly like Mac, but she wouldn't be in McLean, it's too far into the boonies of Virginia for her to venture. But she sure does share a lot of physical qualities, from what I can tell, with Mac. I wonder how she's doing. Will she call? Should I call?
Harm was interrupted by Lorelei who greeted Harm, 'Commander,' and Mac ducked into the stairwell as Harm corrected her and told Lorelei that since they were off-duty, that they didn't have to be so formal. Mac was in the basically sound-proof stairwell and missed Lorelei telling Harm that they should order, her treat, and go to the upstairs because they could get better work done up there.
Mac was just settled into a chair with her latte so she could whittle away the 20 minutes that she had left when she heard Harm's booming voice exclaim as he opened the door to the second floor, "I can't believe the Admiral has just thrown you to the sharks and it's what, your second week?" Mac quickly swiveled around in her chair thanking God that she hadn't chosen to sit in one of the plush chairs because she would have been noticed and she just wasn't ready for that confrontation. I need to find out what's going on with him. I left him after things were said in the heat of the moment and as strong as I think and I know I am, I can't help but wonder if I was too premature in my conclusions. Mac did not want to get into it with herself right before her first appointment with the psychiatrist. She didn't want to give off the impression that she was weak and all emotional.
Mac looked out over the railing to the first floor of the store, trying to look nonchalant as she was eavesdropping on their conversation.
"Sir, how was your trip?" Lorelei asked.
"It's Harm when we are off-duty ok? And you aren't even…" He shakes his head. "And the trip…it was fine." He replied at first in a nice tone but once he spoke about his time in Paraguay, his tone turned terse and dismissive.
"Ok, so we're done with that topic. Ok I am taking the Dayton case. I am prosecuting against Commander Turner's defense. Dayton is so guilty. He allegedly raped another lieutenant while they were on shore-leave. He claims that she threw herself at him and he warded off her advances so she went and I quote 'got some' from a rough and tough guy."
"Well you are really going to work hard trying to prove his guilt. Sturgis will make you earn each and every point. But I definitely think that you should get him up on the stand as soon as possible because he does not sound like a very smart guy. You could get him riled up and have him slip up. Was there any physical evidence?"
"She didn't go to a doctor while there was still semen inside of her but she did go within 48 hours. Doctors did take the pictures of her for evidence so I can use them. I also have witnesses that put the defendant and the plaintiff together on the night in question and that saw him lead her out of the bar."
"So it seems like you have a strong case. Did you bring the files with you?"
"I think so. Let me check." She tore through her briefcase. "Umm, yeah, I don't think I have it." She gave a sheepish look. "Whose case was it before it was reassigned to me?"
"Mac. It was supposed to be her case but then she left and you got here to replace Singer." Mac thought, man I knew why he became my best friend. I mean I knew who she was to a point but I needed the explicitness. Smart Rabb. Oh I hope that she doesn't ask about me.
"What is 'Mac's' full name? I know she's a colonel but you only refer to her as Mac and everyone else refers to her as 'the Colonel' and I haven't met her yet."
"Colonel Sarah Mackenzie, USMC. She should be getting back to work next week I think."
"Oh. Ok. When are you getting back to work?"
"That's a bit of a sore subject. I don't really know if I have a job when I get back. I have an appointment with the Admiral tomorrow to talk."
"Good luck, Harm. We are a bit behind on the caseload with you and the Colonel gone so he'll welcome you back with open arms."
"You obviously haven't been at JAG long enough to know the Admiral, his moods, and his grudges. If you need anymore help, you can email me. Oh, Sturgis does his killings in his closing, more so than his opening. But I have to go. Sorry to help and run but, yeah. I have to get over to Bethesda Naval and visit a friend."
"Thank you so much. I didn't mean to bother you but as you know anyone else left in the office is part of the opposition, so this means a lot to me. I hope your friend will get better soon. I think Bethesda is very drab, not a cohesive environment with getting better."
"No problem, Doug. I like helping and sticking my nose into other cases, helping Sturgis lose. You know what I just thought, all the nicknames of people in the office, well three, are masculine even though two of the three are female. Sorry I am just random. But I do have to be off. So I will see you tomorrow. I'll stop by your office and see about the case…yes and I will tell you about the meeting, don't worry."
"See you later, Harm. Thanks again." Harm went downstairs and left the Starbucks. If he had looked back he would have seen Sarah looking down at him, longing for him to turn around, look at her and talk to her. In her revere, Mac didn't realize someone had come to stand right behind her.
Lorelei, a.k.a. Doug, had noticed Mac upstairs the moment she and Harm had opened the door. Now that she had finally realized who Mac was, Lorelei had to say something. "Colonel? I am so sorry that I didn't realize who you were downstairs. I am Lorelei Dougal, JAG corps in Falls Church. Even though I am not in the Marines or the Navy, the Admiral felt that I fit the job, so I am a civilian lawyer. I just started a few weeks ago while you were away." Lorelei waited with one of those expressions on her face, like she was expecting the worst.
Mac, being pulled out of her own world shook her head and said, "It's nice to officially meet you. I didn't know that we were getting a new lawyer on-staff but I guess since Singer…and that I was away, I wasn't consulted. But it is nice to meet you again. I'm Colonel Sarah Mackenzie, USMC, as you know that I know Harm told you. I don't get back to JAG until Monday."
"Oh ok. Well I have an appointment at four and it's almost 3:50 and I need to get there on time. It was really nice to meet you. I can't wait to work with you because I have heard great things about you from Commander Rabb." Good things from Harm? Interesting, Mac thought. "Oh yeah, and everyone calls me Doug, you can if you want. I will see you on Monday." Doug turned to go downstairs, but turned back to Mac as she reached the door. "Oh yeah, I hope you took notice, ma'am, who mentioned you, at least twice, in just this conversation that took place up here this afternoon." Lorelei turned on her heel and went down the stairs and left the building.
Mac just sat there. First of all she was not pleased that her internal clock forgot to warn her that she needed to leave now to get to her appointment. Secondly, she was curious about Lorelei Dougal. This woman is replacing Singer, has replaced Singer. I see the same ambition in her but not the maliciousness. She is also kind of sassy, with the whole mentioning who brought my name up in the conversation with Harm and assuming that I was listening. I think I'm going to like her.
***
Mac made it to Dr. Brianna McLean's office with seconds to spare. She was impressed at the location of the office, it was a town house in the middle of a very nice development. When Mac went into the house she saw how well decorated and how comfortable some of the rooms looked before she found the waiting room. She wanted to explore all the rooms and see the themes and what nots. She didn't have to wait at all because she was ushered back out into a room right off of the front door landing but now instead of being open and easily visible from the door, the room was in its own cocoon, blocked off from the rest of the world. It was done in bold colors and overstuffed sitting areas. Mac realized that she should have known that the Admiral wouldn't have gone to a regular by-the-book psychologist. She silently thanked him for that because the room gave off such a comfortable aura that she couldn't help but relax. But as soon as she heard the door open her entire body tensed up, ready for battle.
"Hi Sarah, I am sorry to keep you waiting. I am Brianna McLean, it is so nice to finally meet you. I have always wanted to put a face with one of the names that AJ kept bringing up."
"It's nice to meet you too."
"AJ warned me that you would be a hard nut to break through. But that's ok. If I can handle him, I can take on the world. You know, it took me months for him to finally be able to open up and trust someone. And this was when he was coming to me on a daily basis. It was incredible. But once he trusted me, it was all worth it. The way he talked about JAG and all of you, I felt like I knew you. Oh, if you hadn't caught on by now, which AJ would scoff and say, 'of course she has caught on, she's Colonel Mackenzie my chief of staff. I wouldn't hire someone who wasn't just book smart but intuitively smart as well,' well, I ramble and tell stories a lot. I just want to get you comfortable with me before we even start talking about you. So I wanted to tell you one quick story about AJ. This didn't happen in one of our sessions because we haven't had one of those in years, but this was at lunch about a month ago. He was tossing around the idea of proposing to Meredith. So we went out to lunch to talk about it. He thought he was ready but you know how indecisive men can be, and he was all worried about her saying no. He wanted to make some big romantic gesture but every time he tried to describe what he wanted to do or what ring to get, he got really nervous and stuttery. Yes, AJ of all people, got the stutters and insecure. That's when I knew that Meredith was the right woman for him because love makes people act against norm. And now I have heard from him what happened when he tried multiple times to ask for her hand and all of the things that went wrong, but their finally engaged…I just can't get over AJ stuttering."
Mac laughed because she would have paid to see him get all nervous like that. Mac realized that this was a great match in a doctor for her because Brianna honed in on what was important about AJ's change in character, she must really know him well enough for him to see that side of him. "Neither can I. Well, I take that back. I have seen him stutter –when he was so mad at Harm that he couldn't see straight, let alone speak. But that's another story."
"So…Ah, abrupt segue way…I can never do this well. I heard about Paraguay very superficially from AJ; one because he wanted to tell me about the sensitivity of the nature of the subject, the whole CIA what-not, and secondly, so that you didn't have to give me any of the technical stuff about your mission since I bet The Agency has probably made you go over and over all that stuff since your return." Mac looked impressed with Brianna and Dr. McLean in turn replied, "I watch all that drama TV, specifically Alias, I know what it's all about." They both laughed.
Mac took a deep breath and centered herself. I can do this. She will help me. I can share with her. If the Admiral can, I can. "Well…I went on this mission with an agent – spook is a better name for him – Clayton Webb…"
Author's Note: Feedback would be greatly appreciated. Tell me what you think. Where do you see this going? Should it continue? Tell me tell me.