Thursday...
Harm hung his head after the hard defeat to Mac in court. The occupants emptied out gradually, but he didn't budge from behind his desk and sighed; the noise was audible even to Mac who stood putting her files away in her briefcase more than three meters away.
"You okay?" she asked uncertainly and put a tentative hand on his shoulder.
"You told Mattoni?"
She sighed and prodded him in the shoulder. "Hey, in my defense, this was before you warned be about avoiding all the Vandelay related questions, and it was completely unintentional."
He shot a dubious look in her direction and went to arranging his files neatly in front of him.
"When I told Sturgis, Alan was co-counsel, he overheard. I swear, Harm, I would've corrected the assumption if I'd known better," she continued, "but other than those two, my lips are sealed. Sorry."
"It's ok," he said, "he would've found out anyway. It's not like he'll use the information against me maliciously."
"Oh, Commander Mattoni can be unbelievably devious behind closed doors," Mac smiled.
He got up with a start and frowned grimly. "Just today and tomorrow, then I won't have to deal with Elizabeth for the whole weekend."
"I don't think she'd appreciate that," she laughed and pulled him bodily from the room towards the bullpen. "Come on."
She let go of his arm as he finally started to move himself. She caught sight of a distantly familiar person enter from the halls. He spotted them and broke into a slow jog towards them, finally settling to slap Harm on the back.
He snapped up to meet a grinning face. "Hey!" he snapped.
"Harm," laughed Jack Keeter as he eyed Mac insinuatingly, "Colonel Mackenzie."
She smiled and inched towards her office with a small wave. "I'll leave you boys alone."
"How are you?" Harm grinned, letting his grim façade melt away, and pushed him to his own office. "It's been so long."
Finally, a break from Liz Vandelay and the annoyances of the workplace gossip. Keeter was a breath of fresh air.
"Let's go out to lunch," Keeter said as he glanced at the clock. "Tell you all about it."
Harm jogged back into the office beside Keeter, in fear of taking far too long a break from work. He headed towards the safety of his office, and spotted Chegwidden standing beside the photocopier within earshot.
"I need to leave now, Harm. Have a dentist appointment in twenty. I was late for my last two, and the hygienist said if I did it again, she'd pull out my wisdom teeth, sans anesthetic," Keeter sighed as he took a long look at his watch. "But I need to ask you something." Keeter took a step back, eager to get out the door and on the road to the dentist, "Two tickets, Ravens versus Steelers."
Harm's mouth gaped open, and he saw Chegwidden's back straighten in the corner of his eye. "That sounds great!"
"Sunday, you and me, Harm," Keeter said with a lopsided grin. He took another step towards the door and raised his eyebrows.
"I…" Harm began. He hissed in a breath, wracking his brain for a way to covertly say yes to Keeter. "I've already made plans with someone," he said, which clearly meant 'no, sorry buddy'. However, Harm also nodded at the same time, hoping that Keeter would notice and follow him into the office.
Chegwidden relaxed visibly but Keeter shook his head fervently. "Re-schedule," he said simply.
"I can't. It's not like a dinner reservation or anything, it's…away," Harm sighed.
He knew he looked like an utter fool; he continued with the affirming nods of his head, which became increasingly forceful and eager, and tipped his head urgently towards the office door every once in a while. After ensuring Chegwidden was not looking his way, Harm quickly jerked him thumb to the office, and his eyes went wide as Keeter continued with his journey out the JAG door.
"Suit yourself," Keeter shrugged, clearly not getting the message, "I'll call you later, and maybe we can catch a beer." He dashed out and left without another word.
Harm tried to inch into his office and call Keeter's cell phone to re-accept the generous invitation, when Tiner came up behind him. "Commander Turner wants to meet you, Sir. Conferencing for the Joseph case?"
He squeezed his eyes shut. "I almost forgot." He squared his shoulders and trudged off.
Two Hours Later…
"Hey," Harm said into his telephone quietly, scared slightly that Chegwidden would blow into his office and hear the covert conversation. "Is that second ticket still available?" Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes, buzzed the mantra in his head.
He heard Keeter click his tongue on the other line. "Sorry, I already offered it over to my flight buddy, Harm. What happened to your plans?"
"Never mind," Harm said through clenched teeth as he shook his head. "I'll…see you around."
"Bye," Keeter replied. An audible click was heard as the line terminated, and Harm buried his face in his hands with a drawn out sigh.
Liz Vandelay was costing him more than he ever thought possible. If he simply had not fabricated the story, he could have been at a NFL game, thereby enjoying the weekend, getting a break from work and avoiding Meredith Cavanaugh.
Lying was bad.
TBC (My intention was definetely not to make Mac appear like the villain. I hope this cleared up her intent.)