…Till Death Does Us Part Chapter II – Part 2/26
Disclaimer - See part one for all important informationMonday December 1
Mac's Apartment
11:23 PM
Mac carefully surveyed her apartment. She had left JAG at 7:06 and was taking care of last minute things. Harriet has promised to take care of some of Mac's bills and other odds and ends. Mac walked into the kitchen, and started going though some papers on the kitchen table. Her thoughts were wrapped around the busy day she had as she organized the sheets.
Yesterday she spent the majority of the day writing notes and figuring out who would get what cases. She also packed up some of her office to be shipped to her new office in Naples. Harriet promised to pack the rest and she also said she would have it ready for her return, even if it meant kicking someone out of her office.
Today she spent time handing out those cases, addressing any problems, and getting a hold of last minute witnesses to place them on the proper list. That took her till about lunch where Harriet had organized a quick goodbye lunch in her honor. Mac really didn't have the time for it, but Harriet always had a way to talk people into doing things.
After the lunch she was off to the Pentagon to deal with her transfer. All the papers were in order, but there was of course some red tape. Once she was able to leave the Pentagon she had personal errands to attend to. Like calling Chloe and Uncle Matt to tell them the news, both took it fairly well. Chloe asked if she could visit, and Mac told her she would talk to Martha.
Once she thought she was done with her errands she started to drive home to finish her packing, but Bud called because there was a problem with a case she handed over. So she rushed back to JAG and dealt with the problem, which wasn't as big as it seemed. After finally finishing up there and getting her orders approved by the admiral, Coates handed Mac her travel itinerary and she was out the door.
Her hands fell upon the annulment papers and she pushed aside any and all feelings associated with those papers. She grabbed a pad of paper and wrote a quick note. Then she reached for an envelope and placed Harm's address on it, placed the papers and note into the envelope and sealed it.
"How could you forget this, MacKenzie?" Mac cursed herself. "He'll just have to deal with it." Mac placed the envelope next to her carry on bag. She would drop it in the mail before the cab picked her up at 4:35 for her 6:45 flight out of Dulles. Mac thanked her lucky stars it wasn't a military flight. The longer they were, the worse they were.
(2 weeks later)
Monday December 15
Harm's Apartment
10:23 PM
Harm swung open his apartment door and tried not to drop anything, yet. Over his shoulder was his duffel bag, a carry on bag on the floor, and his hands were overflowing with two packages and what looked like thousands of bills. He sighed heavily as he made it into the apartment, the duffle and carry on making it into a pile on the floor as the bills, letter, and packages fell across the counter top.
"It's good to be home," he muttered to himself before walking back and closing the door, then locking it.
As he walked back to the counter top of the island his stomach began to talk to him. He opened his fridge to find the light illuminate some moldy bread, something that was now a very good science experiment, water, apple juice, and some beer. Grabbing a beer he picked up the phone and dialed for some Chinese food. Luckily for him the place knew him and would deliver without costing him an arm and a leg for coming to this part of town, and so late at night.
Once the food was ordered, he proceeded to go thought the mail. There was a package from his mother and his grandmother. He opened them, pleased to see they were Christmas packages and he made a mental note to go shopping this weekend for them and a few others. He started to go though the letters; there were a few early Christmas cards. Another one was from Renee. She, Cyrus, and the twins were doing fine and everything was perfect.
"Perfect, for her." Harm smiled as he looked at the picture of the twin girls; oddly enough they looked like Cyrus with their black hair.
He piled the bills into one pile and was about to start on a few more envelopes when there was a knock at the door. He looked thought the peephole, grinned, and opened it. "Hey, Hank."
"Hey, Mr. Rabb. It will be $12.34. How ya' doing?" Hank asked as he handed Harm the bag of Chinese food.
"Good. You?" Harm asked the college kid as he reached for his wallet and pulled out 20 dollars.
"Great. I saw you on ZNN. That was a pretty cool thing you did with that plane. Are they going to give you an award or something?"
Harm grimaced as Hank took the money. "Or something. Keep the change, Hank."
"Thanks, Mr. Rabb. Have a good night," Hank said as he walked down the hallway.
Harm closed the door and moved back to the island as he tried to force Hank's words out of his head. "Yeah, the CIA was nice enough to can my six for that stunt."
Harm started to eat his late dinner as he flipped through the Flight magazine in front of him. When he finished reading the magazine he placed it off to side to reveal another letter. He turned the envelope over to reveal Mac's handwriting. His heart stopped as he looked at his name written across the front.
His fingers felt the paper inside the sealed envelope and he wondered what she wrote that would be this thick. His mind then started to scream at him for leaving that night….for leaving her. He dropped the envelope and walked into the living room with his box of Chicken and Broccoli.
As he sat on the couch trying to focus on dinner and how glad he was home, he kept finding himself glancing at the envelope from Mac. He tried to wish the letter away, but then he also wished it was Mac on the stool over there and not a letter on the table.
After a few minutes he finally gave up and walked back over to the counter top. He picked the envelope up and started to pull at the corner, but stopped.
"Not now." He then took the envelope and opened his desk drawer. He looked at the envelope again and sighed, before he tossed it into the drawer.
"She's probably just yelling at me anyways," he muttered as he walked back to his dinner, holding back the fear in is body about the letter.
End Part 2