~~~History Lessons Part 14 c~~~
Maddie immediately noticed Mac's glance toward the door when she said 'Harm'. There is more to this than just a nightmare, Maddie thought. Trying to find the best way to extract information from her, Maddie found herself saying, "Tell me how the dream made you feel."
"I felt scared, out of control and . . . lost. What you said about unconditional love really got to me. I don't feel that anyone has ever loved me for me. Maybe some sick, bizarre attachment but not love."
"Do you think that you truly loved any of them?" Maddie asked tentatively, not quite sure where her question would lead.
Mac thought about this for a moment. It's not as if she'd never been at this crossroad before-she had been. This was different. This was acknowledging feelings or maybe the lack thereof. Feeling a little uncomfortable, she shifted her weight in the sofa, disturbing the cat on her lap. When Zoloft looked up to see what the disturbance was, Mac cupped his bewhiskered face and brought hers close to his nose. It's now or never, Marine, she whispered quietly to herself and Zolly, out of Maddie's earshot.
"Any of them? Yes," Mac said with a heavy sigh, "But not all of them." She had known it would come down to this at some point. She just never thought she'd have to say it aloud for someone else to hear. Maybe getting it all off my chest will be for the best, Mac thought. I just have to get past this.
"Chris was obviously a mistake. What I felt for him wasn't love-I don't know what you'd call it but it wasn't love. And Dalton-I think I was more in love with the idea of being a civilian lawyer than I was with the man. He made that lifestyle attractive-and I fell hook, line and sinker," Mac said, a bit of sarcasm in her voice.
"What about Mic?" Maddie asked.
Mac knew that was coming. She couldn't talk about her past without bringing him into it. Truly, being with Mic was the pivotal point in her life. He had called things as he had seen them-especially when it came to her and Harm. Try as she may to persuade him they were only friends, she was sure he'd seen something more-real or perceived.
"Did I love him? Maybe. To be totally honest with you, I'm not so sure now." Mac couldn't help but remember a night when Harm posed a similar question to her-one she never answered.
**Do you love him?
That's not a question you get to ask.**
Then who does get to ask this question? Maybe it's something I should have asked myself then. Harm knew what he was asking. Maybe it was all too obvious how I really felt. Too many questions were dancing in her head right now.
**Mac, I'm sorry. I was outta line.
Never apologize. It's a sign of weakness.
Whatever you and Brumby have between you, that's uh. . . that's your business.
Whatever's between us? I'm marrying the guy. What do you think is between us?**
Mac sat quietly next to Maddie, her mind replaying her life like someone hammering on the rewind button of a poorly directed movie. Why couldn't she flat out tell Harm that she loved Mic-was it because she didn't or couldn't? Whatever she based her relationship with him on, would it have been enough to sustain her for the rest of their lives?
"I guess I'll never know," Mac stated out loud, responding to the questions she was posing to herself in her head.
Confused, Maddie asked, "Know what, Mac?"
Realizing she had said aloud what she was thinking, Mac snapped a surprised look in Maddie's direction.
"You seemed to drift off in thought for a while. What were you thinking about?" Maddie queried. She surmised that the lingering question of did she love Mic was dominating her thoughts at the moment. Rather than push her to answer, Maddie allowed Mac to put her thoughts into perspective first in the silence that surrounded them.
Mac sat there absentmindedly playing with Zolly's collar, making the little bell tinkle softly. Getting all this all out in the open sounded like a good idea to begin with, but opening her mouth to say it all was taking a lot more effort. Deciding that she could think better if she got up and walked around, Mac stood up, placing Zoloft on the floor, much to his dismay. She brushed some of the cat hair from her shirt and watched as the disgruntled feline went back to his original napping spot on the rug. Walking over to Maddie's desk, she ran her hand over the wood, relishing its coolness against her skin before turning to face her counselor.
"I was thinking about Mic-if I loved him. Harm asked me the same question the night of my engagement party and I never really answered him. I did love Mic-but I wasn't in love with him. I know now that the love I had for him would never have been enough to last a lifetime." Mac paused for a moment. Having said it made it real for her. She fingered the bare spot on her left hand, feeling somewhat relieved that Mic had taken the decision out of her hands by getting on that plane.
"For a long time I had blamed Mic for leaving. I had told Harm he was leaving because he couldn't get past whatever was between us and that Mic didn't believe I loved him. I wanted him-expected him-to understand and accept my relationship with Harm. Mic knew it would never have worked. But was it because I didn't love him enough? Or was it because of my relationship with Harm?" Mac sighed and walked back across the room to Maddie's leather chair and sat down, looking to Maddie for her approval or disapproval or some sort of acknowledgement.
Maddie didn't move from the sofa, trying to absorb all that Mac was saying to her. It seemed the underlying note to Mac's failed relationship with Mic was Harm. She remembered them telling her that they were never a couple. From that fact, she could safely conclude that Mac didn't cheat on Mic with Harm-physically. It seemed their emotional attachment to one another had played as big a factor then as it is today. Well, now's a good a time as any to broach that subject, Maddie thought.
"How do you feel about Harm?" Maddie asked softly. Mac was finally being honest about why her relationship with Mic failed, now she needed her to be honest about her relationship with Harm.
Mac gave a nervous laugh, "There are a lot of things I feel about him."
"Such as . . ." Maddie pressed gently.
"It's complicated . . ." Mac replied. She stood up from the leather chair and began to pace the room again, attempting to channel her energy into something, otherwise she'd chew every nail off her fingers right now.
"In what way?" Maddie felt like this was the twenty questions game all over again. She must be one helluva lawyer; she is certainly making me work for my information.
Mac came to a halt by Maddie's desk and stood there looking toward the door to the room where Harm was waiting. She wanted to just spill it all and tell Maddie everything. She couldn't help but wonder, though, if Harm was standing with his ear pressed to the door, dying to find out what was going on.
"If you'd rather not tell me, I understand." Or at least I'll try to, Maddie thought. Despite her own frustration, she knew this all had to be hard for Mac. Keeping emotions buried for so long makes it hard to acknowledge them even though they were there all along.
"It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just difficult. Saying it puts it out there-although it's not like I haven't done that before," Mac said. That day she had haddadmitted it, albeit unwillingly, was clear as a bell in her mind. Thankfully, Sturgis kept his part of the bargain and never divulged her little revelation to anyone-at least none that she was aware of. Of course, the threat of pain and suffering usually is the key in helping someone keep a secret.
"Said what, Mac?"
"Said I love him." Mac chuckled a little. So this makes two people that know now, she thought.
"What did he say?" Maddie was now on the edge of her seat, eager to know how Harm responded.
"I didn't say it to him. I accidentally told Sturgis several months ago. He kept pressing me about the tension between Harm and me . . . and I just sort of . . . said it."
"How do you feel about him now?" This was the million dollar question as far as Maddie was concerned. Although she had a fairly good idea what Mac was going to say, she still needed to have her say it and Maddie needed to hear it-mostly for her own sanity.
Mac looked at Maddie and then went back over to the sofa, sitting down next to her. Once again, her heart was pounding in her chest. She leaned forward and buried her hands in her face for a moment before taking a deep breath. Turning to Maddie, her eyes were moist with tears.
"I'm in love with him," she whispered softly, trying to choke back her tears. Those five words were laden with emotion; pouring her heart into each one of them. She wished it were Harm she was saying it to, but she was too damned scared to do it. It could change everything, yet change nothing. Mac sighed, wiping a tear that had broken through the barriers of her lashes, chasing it from her cheek. She smiled a little at Maddie and shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm pretty screwed up, aren't I?"
Maddie couldn't help but laugh a little. "Nope, you're just like the rest of us women, driven insane over the love of a man."
"Now what?" Mac asked, wondering what the next step was. The unknown loomed ahead of her, frightening her just a little. Having admitted to herself and to Maddie that she loved Harm was at least putting her on the right path. Her only obstacle was Harm-where did his feelings fit into the puzzle that was her life?
"That's up to you, Mac. From my perspective, there is still a lot of baggage between you two. Not just your past relationships with men, but his past relationships with women as well. We can do one of two things-we can call it a day or we can bring Harm back in and pick up where we left off earlier, before we had our private conversation."
Mac thought about it for a moment then decided, "Let's finish our session-with Harm."
***
A few minutes earlier
Maddie's Waiting Room
Harm was getting tired of pacing the rug in Maddie's waiting room. He had tried reading through some of the magazines arranged neatly on the coffee table. Now they were nothing but a jumbled mess, Harm having gone through them desperately looking for something to read to take his mind off Mac and what was going on behind that damn closed door. The Southern Living he tolerated, but Woman's Day, Martha Stewart Living and Cosmo put him right over the edge. The hormones in those magazines were enough to give him bodily pains he would rather not experience.
Checking his watch, yet again, he decided to give them five-FIVE-more minutes and then he was busting down the door and extracting her from Maddie's interrogation. They had already been in there somewhere in the vicinity of fifteen minutes, give or take a few. Hell, I'm sure Mac could tell me right down to the second how long they were in there. Harm ran his fingers through his hair and debated sitting down again. Sure, the loveseat was nice looking, but it nowhere near accommodated his long legs. And the leather chair made him sweat. He felt like he was Goldilocks-nothing was just right for him at this moment. The only thing that would make him happy was if that door would fling open and they would call him back into that room.
He walked over to the bookcase and glanced over the shelves with its perfectly arranged books. I probably could find something there to read, but if I have to start reading a novel, that means they have been in there too long. Harm checked his watch one more time-a minute later than the last time he looked at it. What could be taking this long? There has to be more than the nightmare on Maddie's agenda. I could try putting my ear to the door, as they do in those spy movies-not that something like that would work-but would it, he mused.
Just as Harm contemplated his next move, the door to the inner office creaked open, startling him enough to get his pulse racing. Almost immediately, Maddie appeared in the doorway and announced, "We're ready for you Harm," with a smile and motioning for him to follow her. Harm gulped. He wanted to run right into that room to make sure Mac was alright, but his feet remained mired on the carpet, bound by the fear of what was coming next. Putting Mac in the forefront of his thoughts got his feet moving, although he had to keep his stride checked up enough so it didn't appear he was at a full run. He hesitated as he reached the threshold of the room, peering inside to see what lie ahead of him.
***
Mac remained seated on the sofa while Maddie went to retrieve Harm from the other room. Although her discussion with Maddie had gone well, by her standards, she still was nervous about Harm coming back into the room. Silently she hoped that those five words, 'I'm in love with him', weren't lingering in the room somewhere waiting for the opportunity to bounce off the walls like an echo. Sure, she knew she needed to tell him-to be honest with him about how she felt. "But there is no way in hell that is going to happen here-in front of Maddie," she muttered to herself. Those were her feelings-feelings that her heart had kept secret for too long. She would tell Harm, but only when the time was right. And she would only tell him when it was just the two of them-no audience, no interruptions.
Right after Maddie announced to Harm that he could come back into the room, Mac heard his footsteps cross the hardwood floor by the door and onto the area rug under the sofa. Before she could even look in his direction, he squatted down alongside the couch, face to face, his blue eyes locked with hers.
"Are you alright?" he asked gently, scanning her face for tear stains or anything that would indicate she was upset by the whole situation. He couldn't stand it if she was put through hell again today.
"I'm fine, Harm," Mac replied with a small smile, happy to see that handsome face of his again.
Still in protective mode, Harm felt the need to verify that what he was hearing was true and honest, "Are you sure?"
"Harm . . ." Maddie began before he cut her off with an irritated look.
"If you don't mind, Maddie, I'd like to hear it from Mac . . . please," Harm said pointedly. The 'please' was an afterthought-being impolite was just plain rude.
"Harm, really, I am fine-see, no scars," Mac said, holding out her hands for him to examine. He took her left hand and rubbed it between his large hands, grateful that she was all in one piece. Not that Maddie would have physically harmed her; he just needed to feel her warmth to know that she was indeed okay.
Satisfied that Mac had survived Maddie's grilling, he stood up and took his place on the sofa, this time sitting a little closer to her than to the armrest. Judging from the clock on the mantle, Harm figured they had at least a good 40 minutes left in their hour. Plenty of time to let Maddie have a piece of my mind, he thought.
Sitting across from the duo, Maddie absorbed the whole scene as it played out between the two-the knight in shining armor defending his fair maiden from the evil sorceress. I guess that makes me the evil sorceress, she thought with a restrained snicker. And I'm sure the fair maiden could kick his ass if given the opportunity. These two are something else. She loves him, he obviously loves her-just give me the room and the key right now-I'll make sure they don't come out until they've, um, communicated, Maddie mused.
The blank stares from her clients made her realize she had halingered a bit too long in dreamland. She adjusted herself in the leather chair and cleared her throat, shuffling the papers of their file for good measure. Maddie hoped her cheeks weren't too flushed from her thoughts-that would certainly be embarrassing!
"So, why don't we continue," she said with authority. Most of the pieces to their puzzle were falling into place. The largest piece loomed in front of her in the form of one Harmon Rabb Jr.
"Harm, let's talk about your past relationships with women, shall we?"
Maddie's statement caught Harm off guard, in mid-swallow of his water. He choked it down as quickly as possible to prevent spewing it across the room.
The sight of Harm, in the inevitable hot seat, had Mac trying to suppress her laughter as it threatened to bubble over. Sure, she sympathized with him, having been put through the proverbial wringer herself. However, watching Harm squirm while Maddie grilled him could be amusing to some extent. Harm never did handle stressful encounters very well, she thought, recalling all the times the Admiral chewed his butt for whatever reason. But this-the Video Princess Diaries-would definitely have him running for cover. I should have brought the popcorn for this one, she mused with a giggle, subtly covering her mouth with her hand. This could get very interesting.
Maddie immediately noticed Mac's glance toward the door when she said 'Harm'. There is more to this than just a nightmare, Maddie thought. Trying to find the best way to extract information from her, Maddie found herself saying, "Tell me how the dream made you feel."
"I felt scared, out of control and . . . lost. What you said about unconditional love really got to me. I don't feel that anyone has ever loved me for me. Maybe some sick, bizarre attachment but not love."
"Do you think that you truly loved any of them?" Maddie asked tentatively, not quite sure where her question would lead.
Mac thought about this for a moment. It's not as if she'd never been at this crossroad before-she had been. This was different. This was acknowledging feelings or maybe the lack thereof. Feeling a little uncomfortable, she shifted her weight in the sofa, disturbing the cat on her lap. When Zoloft looked up to see what the disturbance was, Mac cupped his bewhiskered face and brought hers close to his nose. It's now or never, Marine, she whispered quietly to herself and Zolly, out of Maddie's earshot.
"Any of them? Yes," Mac said with a heavy sigh, "But not all of them." She had known it would come down to this at some point. She just never thought she'd have to say it aloud for someone else to hear. Maybe getting it all off my chest will be for the best, Mac thought. I just have to get past this.
"Chris was obviously a mistake. What I felt for him wasn't love-I don't know what you'd call it but it wasn't love. And Dalton-I think I was more in love with the idea of being a civilian lawyer than I was with the man. He made that lifestyle attractive-and I fell hook, line and sinker," Mac said, a bit of sarcasm in her voice.
"What about Mic?" Maddie asked.
Mac knew that was coming. She couldn't talk about her past without bringing him into it. Truly, being with Mic was the pivotal point in her life. He had called things as he had seen them-especially when it came to her and Harm. Try as she may to persuade him they were only friends, she was sure he'd seen something more-real or perceived.
"Did I love him? Maybe. To be totally honest with you, I'm not so sure now." Mac couldn't help but remember a night when Harm posed a similar question to her-one she never answered.
**Do you love him?
That's not a question you get to ask.**
Then who does get to ask this question? Maybe it's something I should have asked myself then. Harm knew what he was asking. Maybe it was all too obvious how I really felt. Too many questions were dancing in her head right now.
**Mac, I'm sorry. I was outta line.
Never apologize. It's a sign of weakness.
Whatever you and Brumby have between you, that's uh. . . that's your business.
Whatever's between us? I'm marrying the guy. What do you think is between us?**
Mac sat quietly next to Maddie, her mind replaying her life like someone hammering on the rewind button of a poorly directed movie. Why couldn't she flat out tell Harm that she loved Mic-was it because she didn't or couldn't? Whatever she based her relationship with him on, would it have been enough to sustain her for the rest of their lives?
"I guess I'll never know," Mac stated out loud, responding to the questions she was posing to herself in her head.
Confused, Maddie asked, "Know what, Mac?"
Realizing she had said aloud what she was thinking, Mac snapped a surprised look in Maddie's direction.
"You seemed to drift off in thought for a while. What were you thinking about?" Maddie queried. She surmised that the lingering question of did she love Mic was dominating her thoughts at the moment. Rather than push her to answer, Maddie allowed Mac to put her thoughts into perspective first in the silence that surrounded them.
Mac sat there absentmindedly playing with Zolly's collar, making the little bell tinkle softly. Getting all this all out in the open sounded like a good idea to begin with, but opening her mouth to say it all was taking a lot more effort. Deciding that she could think better if she got up and walked around, Mac stood up, placing Zoloft on the floor, much to his dismay. She brushed some of the cat hair from her shirt and watched as the disgruntled feline went back to his original napping spot on the rug. Walking over to Maddie's desk, she ran her hand over the wood, relishing its coolness against her skin before turning to face her counselor.
"I was thinking about Mic-if I loved him. Harm asked me the same question the night of my engagement party and I never really answered him. I did love Mic-but I wasn't in love with him. I know now that the love I had for him would never have been enough to last a lifetime." Mac paused for a moment. Having said it made it real for her. She fingered the bare spot on her left hand, feeling somewhat relieved that Mic had taken the decision out of her hands by getting on that plane.
"For a long time I had blamed Mic for leaving. I had told Harm he was leaving because he couldn't get past whatever was between us and that Mic didn't believe I loved him. I wanted him-expected him-to understand and accept my relationship with Harm. Mic knew it would never have worked. But was it because I didn't love him enough? Or was it because of my relationship with Harm?" Mac sighed and walked back across the room to Maddie's leather chair and sat down, looking to Maddie for her approval or disapproval or some sort of acknowledgement.
Maddie didn't move from the sofa, trying to absorb all that Mac was saying to her. It seemed the underlying note to Mac's failed relationship with Mic was Harm. She remembered them telling her that they were never a couple. From that fact, she could safely conclude that Mac didn't cheat on Mic with Harm-physically. It seemed their emotional attachment to one another had played as big a factor then as it is today. Well, now's a good a time as any to broach that subject, Maddie thought.
"How do you feel about Harm?" Maddie asked softly. Mac was finally being honest about why her relationship with Mic failed, now she needed her to be honest about her relationship with Harm.
Mac gave a nervous laugh, "There are a lot of things I feel about him."
"Such as . . ." Maddie pressed gently.
"It's complicated . . ." Mac replied. She stood up from the leather chair and began to pace the room again, attempting to channel her energy into something, otherwise she'd chew every nail off her fingers right now.
"In what way?" Maddie felt like this was the twenty questions game all over again. She must be one helluva lawyer; she is certainly making me work for my information.
Mac came to a halt by Maddie's desk and stood there looking toward the door to the room where Harm was waiting. She wanted to just spill it all and tell Maddie everything. She couldn't help but wonder, though, if Harm was standing with his ear pressed to the door, dying to find out what was going on.
"If you'd rather not tell me, I understand." Or at least I'll try to, Maddie thought. Despite her own frustration, she knew this all had to be hard for Mac. Keeping emotions buried for so long makes it hard to acknowledge them even though they were there all along.
"It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just difficult. Saying it puts it out there-although it's not like I haven't done that before," Mac said. That day she had haddadmitted it, albeit unwillingly, was clear as a bell in her mind. Thankfully, Sturgis kept his part of the bargain and never divulged her little revelation to anyone-at least none that she was aware of. Of course, the threat of pain and suffering usually is the key in helping someone keep a secret.
"Said what, Mac?"
"Said I love him." Mac chuckled a little. So this makes two people that know now, she thought.
"What did he say?" Maddie was now on the edge of her seat, eager to know how Harm responded.
"I didn't say it to him. I accidentally told Sturgis several months ago. He kept pressing me about the tension between Harm and me . . . and I just sort of . . . said it."
"How do you feel about him now?" This was the million dollar question as far as Maddie was concerned. Although she had a fairly good idea what Mac was going to say, she still needed to have her say it and Maddie needed to hear it-mostly for her own sanity.
Mac looked at Maddie and then went back over to the sofa, sitting down next to her. Once again, her heart was pounding in her chest. She leaned forward and buried her hands in her face for a moment before taking a deep breath. Turning to Maddie, her eyes were moist with tears.
"I'm in love with him," she whispered softly, trying to choke back her tears. Those five words were laden with emotion; pouring her heart into each one of them. She wished it were Harm she was saying it to, but she was too damned scared to do it. It could change everything, yet change nothing. Mac sighed, wiping a tear that had broken through the barriers of her lashes, chasing it from her cheek. She smiled a little at Maddie and shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm pretty screwed up, aren't I?"
Maddie couldn't help but laugh a little. "Nope, you're just like the rest of us women, driven insane over the love of a man."
"Now what?" Mac asked, wondering what the next step was. The unknown loomed ahead of her, frightening her just a little. Having admitted to herself and to Maddie that she loved Harm was at least putting her on the right path. Her only obstacle was Harm-where did his feelings fit into the puzzle that was her life?
"That's up to you, Mac. From my perspective, there is still a lot of baggage between you two. Not just your past relationships with men, but his past relationships with women as well. We can do one of two things-we can call it a day or we can bring Harm back in and pick up where we left off earlier, before we had our private conversation."
Mac thought about it for a moment then decided, "Let's finish our session-with Harm."
***
A few minutes earlier
Maddie's Waiting Room
Harm was getting tired of pacing the rug in Maddie's waiting room. He had tried reading through some of the magazines arranged neatly on the coffee table. Now they were nothing but a jumbled mess, Harm having gone through them desperately looking for something to read to take his mind off Mac and what was going on behind that damn closed door. The Southern Living he tolerated, but Woman's Day, Martha Stewart Living and Cosmo put him right over the edge. The hormones in those magazines were enough to give him bodily pains he would rather not experience.
Checking his watch, yet again, he decided to give them five-FIVE-more minutes and then he was busting down the door and extracting her from Maddie's interrogation. They had already been in there somewhere in the vicinity of fifteen minutes, give or take a few. Hell, I'm sure Mac could tell me right down to the second how long they were in there. Harm ran his fingers through his hair and debated sitting down again. Sure, the loveseat was nice looking, but it nowhere near accommodated his long legs. And the leather chair made him sweat. He felt like he was Goldilocks-nothing was just right for him at this moment. The only thing that would make him happy was if that door would fling open and they would call him back into that room.
He walked over to the bookcase and glanced over the shelves with its perfectly arranged books. I probably could find something there to read, but if I have to start reading a novel, that means they have been in there too long. Harm checked his watch one more time-a minute later than the last time he looked at it. What could be taking this long? There has to be more than the nightmare on Maddie's agenda. I could try putting my ear to the door, as they do in those spy movies-not that something like that would work-but would it, he mused.
Just as Harm contemplated his next move, the door to the inner office creaked open, startling him enough to get his pulse racing. Almost immediately, Maddie appeared in the doorway and announced, "We're ready for you Harm," with a smile and motioning for him to follow her. Harm gulped. He wanted to run right into that room to make sure Mac was alright, but his feet remained mired on the carpet, bound by the fear of what was coming next. Putting Mac in the forefront of his thoughts got his feet moving, although he had to keep his stride checked up enough so it didn't appear he was at a full run. He hesitated as he reached the threshold of the room, peering inside to see what lie ahead of him.
***
Mac remained seated on the sofa while Maddie went to retrieve Harm from the other room. Although her discussion with Maddie had gone well, by her standards, she still was nervous about Harm coming back into the room. Silently she hoped that those five words, 'I'm in love with him', weren't lingering in the room somewhere waiting for the opportunity to bounce off the walls like an echo. Sure, she knew she needed to tell him-to be honest with him about how she felt. "But there is no way in hell that is going to happen here-in front of Maddie," she muttered to herself. Those were her feelings-feelings that her heart had kept secret for too long. She would tell Harm, but only when the time was right. And she would only tell him when it was just the two of them-no audience, no interruptions.
Right after Maddie announced to Harm that he could come back into the room, Mac heard his footsteps cross the hardwood floor by the door and onto the area rug under the sofa. Before she could even look in his direction, he squatted down alongside the couch, face to face, his blue eyes locked with hers.
"Are you alright?" he asked gently, scanning her face for tear stains or anything that would indicate she was upset by the whole situation. He couldn't stand it if she was put through hell again today.
"I'm fine, Harm," Mac replied with a small smile, happy to see that handsome face of his again.
Still in protective mode, Harm felt the need to verify that what he was hearing was true and honest, "Are you sure?"
"Harm . . ." Maddie began before he cut her off with an irritated look.
"If you don't mind, Maddie, I'd like to hear it from Mac . . . please," Harm said pointedly. The 'please' was an afterthought-being impolite was just plain rude.
"Harm, really, I am fine-see, no scars," Mac said, holding out her hands for him to examine. He took her left hand and rubbed it between his large hands, grateful that she was all in one piece. Not that Maddie would have physically harmed her; he just needed to feel her warmth to know that she was indeed okay.
Satisfied that Mac had survived Maddie's grilling, he stood up and took his place on the sofa, this time sitting a little closer to her than to the armrest. Judging from the clock on the mantle, Harm figured they had at least a good 40 minutes left in their hour. Plenty of time to let Maddie have a piece of my mind, he thought.
Sitting across from the duo, Maddie absorbed the whole scene as it played out between the two-the knight in shining armor defending his fair maiden from the evil sorceress. I guess that makes me the evil sorceress, she thought with a restrained snicker. And I'm sure the fair maiden could kick his ass if given the opportunity. These two are something else. She loves him, he obviously loves her-just give me the room and the key right now-I'll make sure they don't come out until they've, um, communicated, Maddie mused.
The blank stares from her clients made her realize she had halingered a bit too long in dreamland. She adjusted herself in the leather chair and cleared her throat, shuffling the papers of their file for good measure. Maddie hoped her cheeks weren't too flushed from her thoughts-that would certainly be embarrassing!
"So, why don't we continue," she said with authority. Most of the pieces to their puzzle were falling into place. The largest piece loomed in front of her in the form of one Harmon Rabb Jr.
"Harm, let's talk about your past relationships with women, shall we?"
Maddie's statement caught Harm off guard, in mid-swallow of his water. He choked it down as quickly as possible to prevent spewing it across the room.
The sight of Harm, in the inevitable hot seat, had Mac trying to suppress her laughter as it threatened to bubble over. Sure, she sympathized with him, having been put through the proverbial wringer herself. However, watching Harm squirm while Maddie grilled him could be amusing to some extent. Harm never did handle stressful encounters very well, she thought, recalling all the times the Admiral chewed his butt for whatever reason. But this-the Video Princess Diaries-would definitely have him running for cover. I should have brought the popcorn for this one, she mused with a giggle, subtly covering her mouth with her hand. This could get very interesting.