Part 2
See disclaimers in part 1.
Leo and Mallory arrive at the restaurant, in plenty of time for their reservation. Mallory is surprised at the choice that her father has made tonight. Usually it's some fancy four-star restaurant, but tonight it's a hole in the wall Italian place that is one of Margaret's favorite places to eat. Whenever Mallory and she get a chance to go out, they usually wind up here. It's not too far from the White House and is usually easy to get in and out of quickly, which comes in handy since Margaret is almost always chained to her father.
"Luigi's?"
"Yeah, I thought you loved this place," Leo opens the door and guides his daughter into the restaurant.
"Yes, I do, but" Mallory stops, deciding not to make a big deal out of it. She's just glad to get to spend some time with her father. It's been harder than ever to get him out of the office since her mother remarried this past winter.
"This is the place that Margaret chose for me to take her for Secretary's...I mean Administrator's Day a couple of months ago," he corrects himself before he gets a lecture from his daughter; Margaret has already let him have it a few times when he refers to it that way. His face softens at the memory of their meal here.
"It's her favorite place to eat," Mallory adds.
"Margaret happened to mention that she meets you here occasionally, so I thought," he says, pulling out her chair for her. "That you might enjoy eating here with me, too." Leo leans over and places a kiss on the top of his daughter's red head.
"Daddy, it's perfect I love their food here, I just didn't think you cared for Italian that much." Mallory picks up her menu and looks at it.
"I like Italian, it's just that I prefer to eat... oh never mind," Leo decides to drop it. He doesn't want to get another sermon from Mallory about him eating too much red meat.
"So... Daddy... are you missing Margaret? Is that why we're here? She's not even been gone one whole day yet Daddy. Can't you run the office without her?" She teases, peering over her menu.
"Mallory Ann," Leo growls, as his ears turns a little red at his daughter's teasing, little does she know how close to home she has hit.
"What's the matter there Daddy? Is it a little warm in here," she continues on with her teasing, having noticed how her father's eyes lit up when he was talking about his assistant. Maybe there is hope for her father yet. "Should I ask them to turn up the air conditioning for you?"
"Shud up and look at the menu, will ya," he grumbles, as he puts on his glasses and pulls his menu to his face, to hide behind.
"You do miss her, don't ya? That's why you didn't work very later today, isn't it?" She catches her father flinch.
"No... I don't," he lies. "There's just not a lot going on right now, so I decided to take advantage of it and leave early so I could take my only daughter out to dinner. A decision, I might add that I'm starting to regret," he smirks.
"Daddy," she replies.
"Ya know, I really should have given you up for adoption," he smiles, as he puts his menu down.
"Yeah, right. Besides, it's too late now," she laughs, happy to see her father grinning. She glances at her menu again, then back at her father. "I think I'll have the chicken fettuccine."
"Me, too," Leo agrees. He continues to smile, cause he knows that its Margaret's favorite dish here.
"That's Margaret's favorite thing to eat here. She gets it every time." She carefully watches her father, searching for any sign of feelings that he might have for his assistant.
"Really, I didn't know that," he lies; down playing that he knows anything personal about his assistant.
The waiter comes and takes their orders. They spend some time talking about what Mallory has been doing so far during her summer break. Mallory is careful not to mention her mother and her new husband. Mallory doesn't think of Howard as a stepfather, because she has a dad.
Mallory was not happy when her mother married Howard, a long time family friend, but she kept her mouth shut. When she told her father that her mother was getting remarried, she could see the hurt in his eyes. She knew he was lying when he told her that he already knew, but she let it slide.
Mallory stares at the man across the table from her and her eyes rest upon that worn golden band on his left hand. She can't understand why he still wears it, especially now that her mother has remarried. She wants to talk to her dad about it, but isn't sure how or what to say to him. Soon, their food arrives and their discussion turns towards Margaret.
"So, what has Margaret done lately to drive you crazy?" Mallory takes a bite of her food.
"She doesn't drive me... well... maybe she does sometimes," Leo inanely grins. "Besides, you know she's in Nashville right now for that annual FEW thing," Trying to sound uninterested in what Margaret might be doing right now.
"Have you heard from her?" Mallory asks, knowing that he probably has. She knows that Margaret will be checking up on him while she's gone.
"She just left this morning," Leo informs her, taking a drink of his water.
"Did she call you or not?" Mallory persists in her line of questioning.
"Yeah, she called earlier today," he relents, with a small smile. "She wouldn't stop rambling on about the hotel and how huge it was and blah... blah... You know Margaret," Leo says, putting more food in his mouth, his face turns a little sad at the thought of the coming week with no Margaret by his side.
"Daddy, is everything okay, you seem... I don't know," Mallory asks in a concerned voice, having noticed her father's change in demeanor.
"I'm fine, really. I'm just a little tired, and I'm not looking forward to spending a week at the office with a temp," he sighs.
"Or spending a week without Margaret?" She suggests, hoping to get some sort of response from him.
"Mallory," he growls.
"What, I was just making an observation. Geez, ya'd think I was accusing you of something torrid," she smiles.
"Mallory, it's just that... well since Gaza... lets just say, I'm glad that Nashville is not overseas." Leo looks off to the left and then back at his daughter. 'Like I'd let her go overseas, without me,' he thinks to himself.
"Yeah," Mallory bobs her head.
Leo smiles at Mallory's head bob. She's definitely picked up a few of Margaret's traits over the years, especially the constant worrying about him. "So, are ya planning on going anywhere this summer?" He asks his daughter.
"Not really," Mallory answers. Her mother wanted her to go to Europe with Howard and her, but she turned them down. She's not ready to play the happy stepdaughter yet, and maybe she never will be. She doesn't see what her mother sees in Howard. He's nothing like her dad.
"Do you have room for dessert?" Leo asks, as he wipes his mouth with a napkin. "They have Tiramisu, I think." He smiles, knowing his daughter's love for that dessert.
"Daddy, you know better than that. I love Tiramisu and I always have some here," she giggles, feeling like a young child again.
They finish their dessert, and Leo takes her home. Leo gets out of his car, opens her car door and walks her to her front door, "Night, Baby. Love ya," he tells her, kissing her on the cheek and giving her a warm hug.
"Wanna come in," Mallory asks, with smile on her face. She hopes that if she gets him inside, maybe she can get him to talk to her about what's going on with him lately.
"Nah, I'm gonna go home and get into bed," he responds with a yawn, pulling from her arms.
"Daddy, you look really tired. Why don't ya come in and use my spare bedroom?" Mallory wants a chance to talk with him and knows that his office is not the place to do it.
"I don't think so," he shakes his heads as he puts a quick hand to his mouth and yawns again. "Sorry."
"Daddy, please. It'll be fun. We can watch an old movie and maybe pop some popcorn, please. It's been a long time since we spent an evening together." Her voice takes on a child like quality.
"Okay," he can't resist her when she uses her little girl voice on him. She's always had him wrapped around her little finger. "I'll lock the car and grab my spare overnight bag out of the trunk."
Leo turns and walks towards his car. He smiles to himself. Mallory is so his child. She talks just like him, even though her mother was the one who really raised her. It used to drive Jenny crazy, when Mallory used broken Chicago English, just like he did.
Mallory watches her father limp to his car and frowns. His limp is more pronounced tonight than normal. She knows he must really be tired or stressed if he's unable to hide his limp. She wonders what's really going on in his life right now.
Father and daughter spend the evening watching an old movie on the couch and eating popcorn. Every attempt that Mallory makes to get her father to open up is met with a frown and a quick change of the subject. Eventually, Mallory gives up and just tries to enjoy the rest of the evening. Obviously, her father isn't ready to talk about whatever's bothering him, so she decides to concentrate on getting him to relax a little.
Later that night, Mallory is in her bedroom, trying to get to sleep when she hears her father's cell phone ring. She hopes it's not the President calling him back to the White House, because he's so worn-out tonight. He fell asleep even before the movie was over. She gets out of bed, goes over to the wall that separates their rooms and listens to her father's distinctive gravelly voice.
"Margaret, I'm not at the West Wing. I'm over at Mallory's that why you couldn't get me at my hotel. I left right after I talked with you this afternoon. If you don't believe me, you can call her." He suggests, sitting down on the bed and toeing out of his shoes.
When Mallory hears him say Margaret, she listens even more intently. She wonders why Margaret's calling him this late at night. As she eavesdrops, she's surprised at the gentle inflection of her father's voice. He sounds like he used to, years ago, when he talked to her mom on the phone, when she was off somewhere. His voice is very tender and caring.
Mallory smiles, goes back to her bed, lies down and thinks about tonight. She remembers how her father's face lit up when he was talking about Margaret and now the phone call and his soft voice. Why hasn't she noticed this about her father before? When did this all start? She warmly smiles. She's always suspected that Margaret was secretly in love with him.
Mallory has always loved Margaret and thinks that she would be the perfect match for her father. He really deserves to be loved by someone special. Maybe, just maybe, Margaret can help him find some happiness. Now, if she can just get her father to realize what's going on. Now that Mallory is less worried about her father, she quickly falls asleep.
"Leo, It's not that I don't believe you," she responds, laying back on her bed and switching the phone from one ear to the other. "I'm just surprised you're staying there."
"Well, ya know she's always been able to get me to do things and ...well... besides she mentioned an old movie and popcorn, and that's all it took," he softly confides, as he arches his back in a long stretch.
Margaret makes a mental note about the movie and popcorn, "Yeah, she's always had you around her little finger. But, she's such a good kid, I can see why it's hard to tell her no," Margaret agrees.
"Oh, wait till I tell her that you referred to her as a kid. She'll love that," he tells her with a soft laugh.
"Leo, don't you dare tell her I said that," she protests, rolling her eyes as she sits up on the edge of the bed.
"So what's it worth to ya," he teases, as he pulls her shirt out of his pants and unbuttons it.
"Ah... well now let's see. I already come running whenever you bellow my name, I make your coffee, bring most of your meals for you, answer your phone, take your messages, keep your schedule, pick up your dry cleaning, pack your clothes for trips, and oh, I've even been known to mend your shirts," she rattles off the list quickly. "Need I go on?"
"Well, I don't recall ever asking you to mend my clothes," he slightly grumbles, trying to hold his cell phone with his chin as he pulls off his shirt.
"Leo," she quips, standing, sliding into her slippers and walking out into the living room to make sure that she locked her hotel door.
"But, it does sound like you do enough outside your job description, so you're off the hook, this time. So, I guess I won't tell Mal you referred to her as a kid," he laughs, as he unbuttons his trousers and lets them fall to the floor and then steps out of them.
"You bet your"
"Margaret," he mellifluously growls, standing there only in his silk navy blue boxers and t-shirt.
"What? It's not like you never say a bad word," sitting back down on the bed, and flipping her bunny slippers off her feet.
"When," he stops talking to quickly pull off his t-shirt. "Have you ever heard me cuss?" He asks, sitting down on the bed and pulling off his socks and throwing them on top of his shoes.
"Leo McGarry, there's not a day that goes by that some bad word doesn't roll out of your mouth and I might add that lately they have been increasing in frequency and magnitude," she informs him with a frown.
Leo's temper has been worse than normal lately. She knows that the discord between him, and the President is the cause, but she worried that his increased temper has increased his blood pressure too. She knows it has been a while since he's been to the doctor for a complete physical, unless he's been making his own appointments again, and he had better not be doing that. She quickly decides that she's going to make an appointment for him next week. He hasn't had one since Jenny left him.
"Well, if people wouldn't try their damnest to piss me off all the Gwad damn time, I wouldn't have reason to cuss as much," he informs her, as he rummages though his overnight bag on the bed looking for his pajamas. He normally doesn't wear anything but boxers and a t-shirt to bed, but he's not home tonight.
"See, there you go again," she laughs.
"What'd I say?" He pauses, thinking back over his last comments. He stands there with his pajamas in his hand.
"See, you don't even realize when you cuss. It's just second nature to you anymore," she informs him, as she shakes her head.
"Damnit Margaret, I do too realize when I cuss," he growls, as he tries to pull up his pajama bottoms, almost dropping the phone. He has to let go of his bottoms in able to catch the phone.
"Yeah right," she blows her bangs off her forehead. "And just now you said damnit Margaret, and I bet you don't even know you did it."
"I did?" He sheepishly asks, his face turning red cause he realizes he's standing there clad only in his boxers and talking to Margaret on the phone.
"Yeah, you did."
"Sorry, I" Leo is starting to get a reaction to being on the phone with her and standing there in just his boxers.
"Leo, it's okay, really," she says soothingly. "I just think you need to try to relax a little more."
"Yeah, maybe so," he concedes, looking down at himself. Not really believing how he is responding to 'her' voice on the phone. 'It's not like she can tell I'm having this kinda of reaction. Thank God for that,' he thinks to himself.
"Leo you need to get to bed... I can tell you're tired," she wishes she were there with him.
"Yeah, maybe. Look... Margaret I didn't mean to yell at ya earlier. I've just been a little stressed and I... well I..."
"Leo, it's okay. Get some sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow?" She says with tenderness in her voice.
"Yeah, okay. I'll talk with ya tomorrow. Night," he tells her, even though he knows it's going to be difficult getting to sleep tonight.
"Good night Leo," she says softly and then turns off her phone.
Leo finishes putting on his pajamas. He feels bad that he yelled at Margaret. She deserves so much better than that. He's also still a little excited and is still trying to calm himself down. He lies down and berates himself until he finally falls asleep, dreaming about his Margaret.
After Margaret talks with Leo on the phone, she spends the rest of the evening ignoring the TV and fretting about Leo. Around midnight she climbs into bed and hugs her extra pillow tight, imagining that it's him. She falls asleep daydreaming about Leo and the life she wishes they could have together.
Mallory wakes up the next morning and is surprised to hear her father moving around in her kitchen. Normally on those rare occasions when he relents and stays over, he's up and gone to the White House before its even light outside. She wanders out of her bedroom and into her kitchen, "Hey Daddy," she walks over to him and peers into the skillet.
"Morning, Baby. How did ya sleep?" He smiles at the puzzled look on her face, and then kisses her cheek. "What do you want to drink?" He asks, as he walks to the refrigerator.
"I slept fine and I'd like orange juice, please," she answers as she watches him. He seems better this morning, but his still being here is unusual, to say the least. "I'm just a little surprised to find you still here. It's not that I don't like you here, but what 'are' you still doing here?"
"Making you breakfast," he smirks, walking over to the stove and checking on the French toast, he's frying.
"I can see and smell that." She can't remember the last time her father cooked her breakfast. She's glad he is because he's a great cook. "But, normally you are up and at the West Wing by now. Aren't you afraid that Uncle Jed will bomb Canada without you there in rein him in?" She teases.
Leo face tenses at the word bomb, but he quickly recovers. "Nah, he's... umm" He doesn't continue. He can't think of a good enough lie to tell her. He keeps staring at the skillet, not willing to look at her.
Mallory notices the change in her father demeanor. "He's what, Daddy? What's going on that you have been trying so hard to sidestep? Is Uncle Jed sick? Is it his MS. Is that why you're so upset?" Mallory walks over to her father and stands toe to toe with him.
"He's fine, nothing is going on," at least he thinks the President is fine. He hasn't seen him for almost a week. Leo turns off the burner and places the French toast on the awaiting plates. He then quickly wipes his hands on a dishtowel and looks at his watch, and he heads for the kitchen door. "Man, I didn't realize it was this late. I really should be getting to work. Sorry, about the mess," as he moves to pick up his overnight bag and then to the door.
"Daddy, what's going on?" She gently grabs a hold of his arm, having finally caught up with him in the hallway. Now she's really getting scared. Her father doesn't normally just walk away like this.
"I..." Leo's tired of the charade. He's tired of so many things. "We're umm... it's just that... well we're not really talking right now," he breaths out in a heavy sigh. He's slightly relieved to have it out in the open. "It seems... he no longer needs... my advice." Leo looks down at the hand on his arm and then into the concerned eyes of his daughter.
"Is this about the car bombing?" She guesses, because it was after that event that Margaret started acting funny whenever Mallory asked about her dad.
"Yeah, well... but it really sorta started after" Leo lowers his eyes; he can't stand to let Mallory see the pain in them and he still can't talk about Zoey's kidnapping, especially now after what he said to Jed in the tunnel at Camden Yards.
"Zoey's kidnapping," she supplies. That's something that her father and she have never really talked about. She knows that he's been different since then, but she's never been able to get him to talk about it. She suspects that he blames himself for it, cause she knows how his mind works.
Leo silently nods his head.
"Oh Daddy, I'm sorry" she is on the verge of tears. It kills her to see her father this hurt. The White House has been his biggest joy and his worse nightmare.
"Baby, don't. It'll be fine, really." He tries to convince her and himself. "It'll blow over."
"Is this why Margaret is keeping closer than usual tabs on you?" She lets go of his arm, taking a step back.
Leo looks at his daughter with a perplexed look.
"I heard your umm... cell phone ring last night and... then you talking to her," she shyly confesses.
"Yeah, well ya know how she worries, needlessly I might add," Leo says emphatically as he wraps his arms around his daughter and gives her a tight hug. He's not sure who needs it more. He sighs and lets go, "Baby, I really do need to get to work. Call ya later," he says, kissing her on her cheek. He heads for his car.
"Daddy," she calls after him.
"Yeah," he says, as he stops at the bottom of her steps and turns around.
"Umm... are you still going to your... poker games on Thursday nights?" She guardedly asks.
"Mallory," he growls, as he puts his hands in his pockets.
"Daddy, it's just that" Mallory folds her arms and stares at her father with apprehensive eyes.
"I know you worry," he says as he shakes his head. "Between you and Margaret, it's starting to be a toss up as to who worries the most about me."
"Well, we have to since you don't take very good care of yourself," she politely informs him.
"I do," he argues, but he knows it's not true. He needs to get all of his suits altered, because they just hang on him.
"Daddy, you would forget to eat if Margaret didn't put food in front of you everyday," she retaliates.
"That's not true. I eat at the hotel," he contradicts.
"Speaking of the hotel," she quips with a smirky grin.
"No," Leo holds up a hand, palm first, to stop her. "Lets not go there again," he almost begs.
"Okay, but someday we're gonna sit down and have this talk," she says bobbing her head.
"I know... I know," he surrenders, waving his hands up in the air.
"Okay," she smiles. "Oh by the way, tell Margaret I said hey, if... you know, she should happen to call you today," she smugly smiles.
"If she calls, I'll tell her," Leo says with a slight frown.
"Oh, I'm sure she'll call," Mallory informs her dad.
"Well, she probably will and I'll be sure to tell her," Leo gives her a small grin, turns and walks down her sidewalk. He gets in his car and heads off to work, not really looking forward to spending the week there without his Margaret, especially with everything that has been going on lately in the White House.
Leo gets to work and finds his temp is already there. "Morning," he says, as he enters his outer office.
"Mr. McGarry," she says, jumping up from behind the desk. "Hi, I'm Sarah Miller, I'll be filling in for Margaret this week." She has never seen him this up close before. She is very nervous about meeting him. She has heard so many stories about him from the others in the pool.
"Please, call me Leo," he tells her, reaching for the lone message in his in basket. He smiles when he sees it's from Margaret.
"She just called and well... she seemed umm... sorta surprised that you weren't here yet," she tells him, awkwardly, as she notices his eyes twinkle a little when he discoveries that Margaret called.
"Yeah, I'm a little later than normal," he confirms. "I stayed over at my daughter's last night and then made breakfast for her this morning," he tells her, smiling that Margaret has already been checking up on him today. He walks into his office to return Margaret's call.
Sarah sits back down. She's pleasantly surprised by how nice he seems. Everyone down in the pool talks about how they hate temping in his office. But, she thinks that any father who makes breakfast for his daughter can't be as bad as she's been lead to believe. She breathes a sigh of relief as she quietly thinks to herself, 'Maybe this won't be as bad as she thought it would be. Besides, whatever the cologne he's wearing is absolutely wonderful smelling, and he's very handsome in that navy blue double-breasted suit.'
Leo sits down at his desk, grabs the phone and punches in Margaret's cell phone number.
"Hello," she responds, after just a couple of rings.
"You called?" He smirks.
"Where have you been?" She asks trying to keep the worried tone at bay, but failing miserably.
"I was at Mallory's, making her breakfast," he explains, as he tightens his lips at the anxious sound in her voice.
"Oh," she says, immediately calming down. "How do you like your temp?" She asks, quickly changing the subject before Leo can pick on her about being worried about him.
"She seems nice, but more importantly she hasn't bothered me with an infernal egg joke yet," he teases.
"Well, the day is still young and you just got there. I left her instructions on how to handle you," she smirks.
"I bet you did," he laughs. It's so good to hear her voice. He shakes his head at how lost he is when she's not here.
"Leo," she says, looking at her watch. "I'm sorry, but I need to go downstairs. The kick off gathering is in fifteen minutes."
"Okay, have fun."
"Bye," they both say together.
Leo hangs up the phone and grabs the briefing book off his desk that he had been trying to read yesterday. He gets up and moves to his wing back chair in front of his window. He sits down and starts to read.
He's been reading for about forty-five minutes, when Sarah knocks on his office door.
"Mr. McGarry," she says, peeking her head into his office.
"Leo," he reminds her.
"Sorry. Margaret is on the phone for you," she tells him.
"Again," he almost growls.
"She sounds like she really needs to talk with you," she says, backing out of his office, giving him privacy.
"Thanks," he says, getting up and walking to his desk. "Margaret?" He says, after he picks up his phone.
"Leo, I don't know what to do," she says in an anxious voice.
"Margaret, what's going on?" He's immediately concerned by the tone of her voice.
"I made a mistake. The forum for my branch of government doesn't start until tomorrow," she tells him in a flustered voice.
"So," he replies, nonchalantly. He's relieved that she's okay. He didn't know what to think when he first heard her voice.
"Leo, I'm here under false pretense today. I have nothing to do, and I'm on the government's clock and dime," she tells him in a panic, as she paces around in her room.
"Margaret, calm down. It was an honest mistake. It's no big deal," he tries to convince her. He's not worried about an extra day there.
"But Leo, all I did today was go to the kickoff ceremony, then networked for about thirty minutes and then came back to my room," she continues.
"See, you did some things. Now, go out and enjoy yourself," he instructs her. "Hey, isn't there a huge outlet mall right next door to your hotel and doesn't your hotel provide a free shuttle to it?" He asks, knowing that she loves to shop and find bargains.
"Yeah, there is," she says, bobbing her head. "Wait a minute, how did you know about that?" She asks, with a surprised look on her face.
"Ah... you told me," he lies. The only reason he knows about the mall and the shuttle is because he read about it on the Internet yesterday afternoon.
"Oh, I guess I forgot. But... I should be"
"You... should be enjoying yourself is what you should be doing," he orders her in his boss like voice.
"Leo you could fax me something here, and I could work on it for you and then fax it back," she says grasping straws.
"And... what would that be?" He asks, in a sarcastic voice.
"I don't know," she relents.
"Like there's enough around here to even keep me busy right now," he mutters a little louder than he had intended.
"What did you say Leo?"
"Nothing," he says. He hadn't intended on saying that out loud.
"Leo, it just doesn't feel right, shopping on the government's time and money," she argues.
"Well, I wouldn't use your government issued credit card if I were you," he laughs into the phone. Knowing this will get a rise from her.
"Leo, I know better than that and that's not what I meant anyway and you know it," she lightly huffs back into the phone. She knows he's just pulling her chain, and she loves it when they banter back and forth like this. They sorta sound like an old married couple when they act like this. Something that she wishes with all her heart was true.
"Margaret, I'm still your boss and I'm ordering you to go to the mall. You deserve some down time. You have enough time coming to you from all the long hours you keep here at work. We'll just call it comp time and leave it at that," he informs her in very boss like tone.
"Well..." She's still not convinced.
"Well nothing, now... you go girl and shop till ya drop," he says.
"Yes sir," she laughs, at his usual slang use.
"Good girl," he smiles.
"Leo," she whines.
"Oh, sorry," he laughs.
"No you're not."
Leo decides to ignore her last come back and tell her about the brilliant idea he's come up with while they've been quarrelling about her shopping. "Margaret, do you still have my credit card that I gave you, in case of emergencies?"
"Yeah, I guess so. I stuck it in my wallet. I've only had to use it a couple of times for you in the past." Margaret digs though her purse, finds her wallet and takes out the card. "Yeah, I've still got it."
"Great, well I want you to use it," he informs her.
"Okay," she says with a puzzled look on her face. "What do you need me to buy you down here?"
"No, Margaret, I want you to use it for yourself," he explains, knowing that he's going to have a battle on his hands convincing her to use it.
"What!"
"Margaret, please go out and buy some nice things for yourself... call it an early birthday present from me," he offers, hoping that she won't fight him too hard about this.
"Leo, it's your card," she adamantly reminds him.
"Yes, we're already covered that point, fully I might add," he taunts her.
"But," she protests.
"Margaret, I'm ordering you to use and if you don't spend enough money to suit me, there'll be hell to pay and you can count on that," he informs her, in a very determined tone.
"Leo, you've already been so generous and surprised me with the room upgrade," she reminds him.
"So?"
"So... that's enough," she emphasizes.
"No, it's not nearly enough for all that you have done for me over the years. Margaret, please use the card, it's only money and ya know I have more than enough, since you always read the disclosure reports," he laughs, letting her know that he's not upset with her for reading them.
"Leo!" She squeaks.
"And don't tell me I spend too much, we've already done that song and dance this week, Okay?" He banters back.
"I... don't know Leo, it just doesn't feel right," she says, raising her eyebrows and shaking her head.
"Margaret, I want ya to do me a favor."
"Sure, anything," she blindly offers.
Leo's smile goes wide at her willingness to do something for him, without even knowing what he wants. "Would ya buy something nice for Mallory, too?" Leo's voice goes soft thinking about his daughter.
Margaret is very touched by Leo's offer and when his voice goes soft, and low, and she has no other choice but to give into him, whenever she hears him use that gentle voice. "Leo, okay I'll buy something for myself too," she relents. "I really can't thank you enough, you... are too sweet."
"Nah, I just don't want you being bored on your free day down there." He expresses as nonchalantly as he can. He would love it if she were his to take care of all the time.
Margaret blinks back a tear. She knows this man far too well. He's a kind and generous man who's hit some rough spots along the way and has never really been able to forgive himself for his past mistakes. She worries that he'll never find happiness. She'd love to be the one who helps him it but isn't sure that he's interested in her that way.
"Well, I disagree, but we'll leave it alone for now. Is there anything in particular that you had in mind for Mallory?" She asks her boss.
"No, not really." He's never been good at buying gifts and has relied on Margaret to do it for him for years. She drives him absolutely crazy at Christmas time with the endless parade of presents and cards that she trots though his office.
"I'm sure you'll find something that's perfect. You always do. Oh, and if you see a good deal on the brand of undershirts I wear; would you pick me up some? The hotel laundry ruined a bunch of them again," he says, shaking his head in disgust at the huge amount of starch they used on them last time.
"Okay, no problem. Leo, I just want to say again that this is very kind of you," Margaret has a warm feeling in her stomach, from the way he's been treating her lately, she wonders if now would be a good time to tell him that she has feelings for him.
"Have a good day shopping, I'll talk with you later... I imagine," he teases her gently.
"Yeah, probably," she snickers. "I know the first thing I'm gonna do after I get back from shopping all day. I'm gonna strip down and soak in that huge sunken tub." Margaret quickly puts a hand to her mouth, as her face turns crimson instantly. She can't believe she just told him that. She's been so comfortable talking with him on the phone that she forgot she wasn't chatting with one of her girlfriends and just blurted it out.
"Okay... umm... enjoy... your day. Bye," Leo sputters out, quickly hanging up the phone as he once again pictures her sitting in that tub. He stays seated behind his desk, waiting to calm down, once again.
TBC in Part 3
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Bev (adoreleo):
Lynn (leosimpishgrin):