Author's note: I'm sorry it took me longer than usual to update… and I'm sorry if this chapters bores you a little bit. This chapter is more like filler… it's mostly memories about Rod and Mac's past… at the end Mac discovers the secret, but some of you might feel disappointed about it… anyway… hope you enjoy this chapter anyway!
Chapter 8:
The box with memories and surprises.
Residential part of the White House. A day later. Very late that night.
It was very late at night. Horace was having problems to get sleep so he got up to have some warm milk. He was surprised when he walked by the Guest Room in which his father was supposed to be sleeping and he saw that the lights were on. He wondered why his father was still up, so, after knocking shyly, he entered in the room. Mackenzie was there, completely alone, and she was looking inside Rod's closet… apparently looking for something. She startled when she heard Horace entering in the room.
Mac- oh God…
Horace- mom? What are you doing here? And where is dad?
Mac- in a plane… or maybe he already landed in New York… I'm not sure… what time is it?
Horace- is two AM… What are you doing in this room and why did dad leave to New York so soon? He had just came back...
Mac- we had an argument…
Horace nodded understandably. He had seen the newspapers.
Horace- is it because he had dinner with his ex fiancé?
Mac- and because he didn't even tell me… Kelly did…
Horace- but mom… that doesn't explain what are you doing here in the middle of the night.
Mac felt suddenly very silly. How was she going to explain what she was doing? She decided to go with the simple truth.
Mac- well… I was looking into your father's stuff because I was looking for…Horace- evidence of his infidelity…
Mac couldn't help to laugh nervously… Mac- yes… well, actually I was hoping to find evidence of the contrary…Horace didn't know what to think or what to do… His mother wasn't the kind of woman who would do such a thing. It became more obvious to Horace that Mackenzie wasn't acting like her self lately… she had been weird (to say the less) ever since the separation. However, he didn't think it was such a bad idea to search in Rod's stuff to make sure that he wasn't cheating. Mac noticed that Horace was looking at her thoughtfully…
Mac- I know! You are thinking that I'm becoming an embarrassment to women and that my weakness and vulnerability when it comes to your father it's not Presidential at all…
He was actually thinking that if Rod could see that weakness and vulnerability they wouldn't be having any problem. He shook his head and said…
Horace- no… I was thinking that if I help you we'd finish with this sooner…
Mac smiled weakly, thanking God for Horace's support. They both searched into Rod's stuff not finding anything that Mac hadn't seen before. It looked like Rod had no secrets, until Horace found a shoebox that didn't contained precisely shoes. Horace opened it and saw some old papers, a movie ticket, a very old rock, a napkin with Yale's logo in it, an official White House pen with the Presidential Seal on it, and a picture of a bunch of young people in a party, Mac was in that picture wearing a short red dress. Horace was very interested seeing all those objects… Mackenzie noticed his interest and wondered what was he looking at.
Mac- Tell me… what did you find?
Horace handed Mac the box and she almost cried when she saw it.
Mac- oh God… this is your father's "Yale box"…
Horace- he has a "Yale box"?
Mac- yes… here he keeps everything that reminds him of our happy years in college…
Mac picked up the picture and looked at it… then showed to Horace.
Mac- in this picture I'm wearing the red "Oscar de la Renta" dress he liked so much… and that your father is that one on the left…Horace looked stunned at the picture and then at his mother.
Horace- THAT one is dad!
Mac- yes…. why are you so shocked?
Horace- well… he was wearing the only clothes in the word that would make Stanford from "Sex and the City" say: "Wait a minute! Nobody is THAT gay!"
Mac laughed at the joke. Then he noticed the Movie ticked in the box and handed it to Horace, feeling very exited about sharing all those memories with her son…
Mac- look! This is a movie ticket from my first official date with your father…
Horace read the movie ticket and then looked at his mother surprised.
Horace- "GHOST"? Seriously, Mom?
Mac- what! You think your father and I don't enjoy some corny romance from time to time?
Horace- I know dad does… but you are the woman who yelled "Finally!" at the of "Titanic"…
Mac rolled her eyes and defended her self…Mac- I'm sorry… it's just… THREE hours of "You jump, I jump" and at the end she wouldn't even share a piece of wood with him so he wouldn't freeze to dead! Come on! That was just insulting.
Horace had already heard that like 20 times… so he simply ignored it and continued looking at the objects in the box. He found a small piece of paper with a number on it and he showed it to Mac.
Horace- what's this?
Mac took it and then stared at it in disbelief.
Mac- wow… this is my phone number…
Horace- what?
Mac- yes… when our father and I had just became friends I wrote my phone number in this little piece of paper and gave it to him… this is the first thing I've ever wrote to him… I can't believe he kept it all this years…
Horace smiled… sometimes his father could be so sweet.
Horace- of course he kept it…
Mac- this number is from like ten places ago, I think if you call now they tell you the weather report.
Horace picked up something else from the box… a couple school reports from Yale, he looked at then amazed and shaking his head he said…
Horace- Oh sweet lord! This is impossible!
Mac- What's impossible?
Horace- the grades you and dad got in college! You two are not human… nobody gets this many "A's in Yale…
Mac- we did… and so will you if you apply your self… by the way, are you studying for your LSAT?
Horace rolled his eyes… he was in Senior Year, and in his school people seemed not to have another topic of conversation than the LSAT test and college applications. Even his boyfriend Tim, who was freaking out because he was desperate for getting into Harvard, and Horace felt a little left out because he was the only one he knew (except for Becca) who wasn't concerned about getting into college. He could get in any America college he wanted just by using his name.
Horace- yes… but what's the point?
Mac looked at him worried, forgetting her search for a few seconds.
Mac- Horace! I know what you are thinking, but you have to do good in your LSAT… Horace have her a "Come on!" look…Horace- Wanna bet the Air Force One that no University will reject me?
Mac looked at her son seriously…Mac- that doesn't matter… you still have to work very hard, harder than anyone else, so you can prove to everybody, AND to your self, that you actually DESERVE getting into a good college… you have to became worthy of any advantages you may have.
Horace knew his mother was right. Deep down he had known it all the time. He nodded, feeling so glad that he could talk to his mother about everything and that she was so understanding.
Horace- yeah… you are totally right…
Mac- by the way… where would you…?
Horace knew what was next… so he answered cutting his mother off.
Horace- Tim wants to go to Harvard, if he gets in I'd like to go with him…
Mac- oh, that's ok…
Horace- I know… it's kind of silly choosing the University where I'll be studying for the next four years because of my boyfriend…
Mac- I don't think is silly… it's just…
Mac looked sadly at Rod's "Yale box" and now Horace felt guilty.
Horace- oh mom, are you mad because I'm not going to Yale?…
Mac- no… I'm not mad; I want you to be happy… I really do…
Horace- do you think dad is going to be too upset? Going to Yale it's a big tradition in his family…
Mac shook her head.
Mac- maybe he will feel disappointed at first… but then he will be complete ok with your life choices, with ALL of them…
Horace smiled weakly. Knowing exactly what his mother was talking about and realizing that he will have to tell his father about Tim very soon.
Horace- mom, I'm sorry that I put you in his position… I will hate it if he got mad at you because you know everything and didn't tell him…
Horace felt clearly very guilty. He didn't want to cause more problems between his parents.
Mac- don't worry about it… I'll handle your dad whenever you decide to tell him…
Horace was now a bit uncomfortable talking about him "coming out of the closet". So he looked into the box again, looking desperate for something that might help to change the subject of conversation. He found a plastic bag with some letter tiles that were obviously from a Scrabble game. He showed then to Mac… Who looked at the letter tiles feeling really touched…
Horace- what? What is it?
Mac- this letters tiles are from a very special Scrabble game…
21 years ago. Yale University.
Rod and Mac were 24 years old and had been dating for almost a year. Both of them were in their last year of college and even when they were incredibly busy, they managed to have fun together doing all kind of things… at that moment they were just playing Scrabble. It was Mac's turn. She looked at the letter tiles she had in her rack and at the words that had already been formed in the board… She was completely lost… she had not idea what word to form and Rod was winning by just 10 points. Suddenly, inspiration hit her. She noticed the word "Goat" in the boarder and looked at the letter tiles in her rack… she took the letters I, L, S and T and combined them with the G of "Goat" to form the word GLIST. Rod was shocked and a bit annoyed…
Rod- you can't make up words!
Mac- I'm not making up anything!
Rod gave her a "Come on!" look…
Rod- please! Are you expecting me to believe that GLIST is a real word?
Mac- yes… because it is…
Rod shook his head in disbelief.
Rod- use that word in a sentence…Mac thought for a few seconds… she just wanted to win so badly, but so did Rod.
Mac- all right… here it goes: "Today I won a scrabble game by using the word glist"Rod- you are such a competitive freak…
Mac- well… you are such a "glist"..
Rod- that's not even a word!
Mac- yes it is…
Rod rolled his eyes. Every time he argued with Mackenzie it was the same thing… they both were so stubborn and they both wanted to be right. It could be such a pain some times… but he wouldn't have it any other way.
Rod- you know what? I don't care that you always cheat or lie to win a game; it's just that you are so bad at it.
Mac faked being completely offended…
Mac- I never lied to win a game! Name one time I did that…Rod- Other than right now? Well… let's see… the other day, we were also playing Scrabble and when I challenged a word you said you didn't have a dictionary…
Mac- I don't have a dictionary!
Rod- I saw one in your bookcase…
Mac- well… I admit that what you saw might look like a dictionary for the untrained eye…
Now Rod was really pissed of. Did Mac think he was stupid?
Rod- it was a dictionary, you crazy woman! You think I don't recognize an Oxford English Dictionary when I see one!
Mac knew when she had lost… she was just too proud to admit it.
Mac- ok…. I'll go to get that dictionary and I'll prove to you that "Glist" is a real word… but you will feel really stupid when I prove you wrong…
Rod- frankly, my darling, I don't give a "glist"…
Mac stood up very angry and went to get a dictionary. The truth was that she had totally made that word up, but she was hoping that, by a miracle, it would appear in the dictionary anyway. Maybe it was a word after all… she took the dictionary and then went back with Rod. Who was now a little nervous. Mac walked towards him saying…
Mac- well, Rod… Get ready to feel really…
Mac gasped when she saw game board and froze… instead of the words they had formed, the letter tiles were now combined forming the phase: WOULD YOU MARRY ME… Mac couldn't believe it. She was completely shocked… Rod seemed just as surprised, since he hadn't planned it at all… it had just came off in the moment. Rod stood up and walked towards Mac… they looked in the eyes and Mac said….
Mac- YES!
Then she practically threw her self at Rod's arms and started kissing him passionately. He kissed her back feeling overjoyed... he was finally engaged to the woman that had "stolen" his heart a year ago and he couldn't feel happier.
Back to the present…
Horace heard the story amazed and then Mackenzie simply putted the letter tiles back in the "Yale box" trying to act like she wasn't about to cry. When she was doing that, she noticed something very strange in the box, something she had never seen before. It was a very old envelope with a handwritten letter inside. Mac was really confused.
Mac- what the hell is this?
Obviously, Horace was even more confused than his mother.
Horace- it looks like a very old letter… What are you waiting for? Read it!
Mac went to look for her glasses and then she came back and starting reading the letter andout loud so Horace could hear what it said too.
Mac- this from Cristina Macalister to your father…Horace got exited, he sensed than his mother had bumped into something interesting…
Horace- oh… I bet is an old love letter… cool.. Mac gave him an angry look…Mac- you are not helping!
Horace- sorry, well… what are waiting for? Read it…
Mac- it starts saying: "Dear Rod…"
Horace- well… that's original!
Mac wasn't in a mood for Horace sarcasms, so she gave him an angry look again…Horace- still not helping?
Mac ignored Horace's comment and continued reading…Mac- "Dear Rod: it's with a lot of pain in my heart that I'm writing you this letter today. Ever since you left me, a year and 4 months ago, I've been waiting for you to come around and realize what I big mistake you made. But now I realize that it's my duty, just because I still love you, to open your eyes and make you see what a terrible mistake you are making. I'm sure that Mackenzie Allen is the right girl for someone… but not for you. She won't be able to make you happy, she just won't be able to love like I do. Let me tell you, that I tried really hard to get over you, but I've failed miserably. I don't understand how could you fall in love with another woman when we were so happy. I'm convinced that you and me belong together and that you just got scare and confused because of the big step we were about to make. All I can do now is hope that this letter, somehow, brings you back to me before it's to late. I never saw my self as the kind of woman who would do this… but I can't stay in my room crying and doing nothing while you are, unwillingly and without noticing it, ruining both of our lives. I understand that my timing it's terrible since you are…"
Mac gasped and covered her mouth with her hand… she couldn't say out loud what was next…Horace- what?
Mac continued feeling incredibly angry…Mac- "Since you are getting married tomorrow" TOMORROW! That bitch gave him this letter ONE day before MY wedding!
Horace couldn't believe that either… He just shook his head in disbelief…
Horace- she asked him to leave in the altar.
Mac corrected her son, feeling her rage growing inside her…Mac- she BEGGED him to leave me in the altar! She begged him to leave me in the altar one day before the wedding and he never told me… he just kept this letter for 20 years and now he is having dinner with her!
Horace- mom, this doesn't mean…
But Mac ignored him completely. She just kept talking…Mac- I don't believe this… here I am, looking at our memories like an idiot, and he thinks our marriage was a mistake!
Horace was now lost… that was no how he saw everything.
Horace- mom… dad doesn't think your marriage was a mistake… Cristina wrote that…
Mac- but your father secretly kept the letter… and now he is having dinner with that woman! That has to mean that he is having serious doubts about whether he made the right choice 20 years ago…
To Horace that didn't made sense at all… and e couldn't believe that his mother was acting so irrationally. It just wasn't her.
Mac- Well… fuck him! I had enough…
Mac threw the letter and she stormed out the guest room, leaving Horace very shocked and extremely concerned about his mother.
To be continued…
Thanks so much for the reviews I received and, PLEASE, send me some more! (I'm making begging eyes now) I really enjoy receiving them!
My first language is Spanish (I'm from Argentina) and I know I should have a beta but I don't thing I would feel comfortable with that…
By the way… I know Mac's birthday party is due shortly… but I just came out with a couple of things to include before it… so it might take one more chapter… SORRY! I just don't like to rush things too much…