Surprise!
Friday afternoon
JAG Headquarters
"Ma'am, can I have a word with you?"
Surprised Mac looked up from the file she was working on. Harriet's voice had sound a bit strained and she had made a point of closing the door.
"Of course," she said, shoving the file aside and wondering what was wrong. "Sit down."
"Permission to speak freely, Ma'am?"
"Granted." Now Mac became worried.
"Do you and Commander Brumby have plans for the holidays, Ma'am?"
"No, not that I'm aware of." Mac shook her head in not understanding. "Why? You know I plan to attend your Christmas dinner and then there is the pageant."
"I probably shouldn't tell you and I certainly don't want to spoil a surprise, but I thought you should know Commander Brumby arranged for some days of leave for the two of you and ordered two plane tickets to Australia."
Mac's jaw dropped.
"Thank you for telling me," she said, after she had regained her composure. "I appreciate it. That will be all?"
Harriet stood up.
"Yes, Ma'am."
Second weekend of December
Sunday afternoon
Mac's place
"Any plans for the holidays?" It sounded casual and Mic didn't think much of it.
"Not really," he answered, his eyes fixed on the book he was reading.
"Really?"
Now he looked at her.
"Why? Do you think otherwise?"
Mac sat straight. She had waited for forty-eight hours, they had spent Friday and Saturday evening together and he hadn't as much as hinted to his trip to Australia.
"You're sure you have nothing to tell me?"
"Yes, I'm sure," he replied, with a wide show of patience.
"Nothing about a week of leave for both of us, nothing about two plane tickets to Australia?"
She heard his breath hitch. He hadn't expected her to know. Now he put his book aside and sat straight too.
"Harriet," he stated. "She gave it away."
For a moment Mac thought about denying, but even that second of hesitation was enough for him to have his suspicions confirmed.
"Squealer," he growled. "That tart, always meddling in other people's affaires!"
"When were you planning on telling me?" Mac's voice sounded calm, but it was the calm before the storm. A message that didn't reach Mic.
"Harriet should have kept her big mouth shut. She shouldn't have spoiled my surprise. The bitch!" he fumed.
His words didn't much to placate Mac. To the contrary.
"Don't call my friend names!" she said in an icy voice. "She warned me! And you didn't answer me: When were you planning on telling me?"
"It was supposed to be a surprise!"
"The kind of surprises you know I don't like at all," Mac retorted. "So, when?!"
"Didn't know yet! Just before we would leave, I guess!"
"You know I'm helping Lena with the pageant. And you know I want to attend the Christmas dinner at Bud and Harriet's," Mac reminded him. Her eyes flashed. "You should have discussed it with me!"
"And having you say 'no'? You're never in for surprises. You're just a controlling …" Seeing her facial expression he failed to finish the sentence. "You're not in charge, you're just helping Lena. They will manage without you," he said in a quieter voice. "Besides, if an investigation interfered, they would have to do without you as well."
"There is a difference between being forced to cancel and to choose to," Mac reminded him. "A big difference! I want to be there! And I want to attend the Christmas dinner. Those things are important to me!"
"And my family is important to me!" Mic spat out, temper flaring again. "So is celebrating Christmas at home. In Australia!"
"I won't stop you from going. But I'm not coming with you."
"But I want to introduce you to my family. We are engaged ..." and at her angry look, "well, as good as."
"We are not engaged!" She fought to keep her self-control.
"We will be. Soon."
His ill-founded confidence was the last straw.
"No. We will not." She pulled the ring he had given her almost a year ago off her finger and handed it to him. "It's over."
Mic's jaw dropped and he failed to grab it.
"You what?! Why?" Hadn't been the situation this serious, his reaction would have been comical.
"It's over. Take it. I'm breaking up with you," Mac repeated to drive the message home. A message that slowly started to land. Mic's face grimaced in an ugly grin.
"This is about Harm, isn't it? That bastard can't leave you alone and wiggled his way back in. That asshole!"
"It's not about Harm," Mac told him. She felt the tension in her shoulder muscles and she knew she was not speaking the complete truth; her relationship with Harm was a major factor.
But this decision was based on her own feelings and Mic's behaviour, she once more reminded herself. Including his behaviour towards Harm – and her other friends – and his attempts to keep her exclusively to himself.
"Right!" It was clear he didn't believe a word she said. "So just a bit of coincidence you're breaking up with me the week after he broke up with his girlfriend."
"His girlfriend broke up with him," Mac corrected him.
Mic laughed contemptuously.
"So even his girlfriend can't get along with that guy," he sneered.
Mac rolled her eyes.
"Mic, I'm breaking up with you because I don't see a future for the two of us. It's my decision, do you understand?"
She could see her words began to penetrate. His anger wasn't able to mask the pain any longer. He grimaced and for a moment Mac thought he would yield to it, but then the ugly smile reappeared on his face and she knew he would cling to his anger.
He clenched his fist around the ring,
"You will be sorry, bitch," he hissed, before turning around and striding out of the door, slamming it close with a bang that made the windows vibrate.
Mac heaved a massive sigh. She hadn't enjoyed causing him pain, but she knew she had made the right decision. There was no future for the two of them. Slowly she forced her muscles to relax. Only now she felt how tense she had been. Running her hand through her hair she walked to the kitchen to fetch herself a drink. Chocolate with marshmallows it would be, the ultimate comfort drink. She would have loved something stronger, but that was not going to be.
Back on the couch she let her mind wander. How would Harm react? Would he make a move now? Or were his feelings those of a friend or a brother? After all, they had talked about why he had reacted as he had, back then in Sydney, but not about his feelings now. Or her feelings for him, for that matter.
Her thoughts went back to the previous Tuesday. They had been in the cafeteria, having lunch when suddenly, out of the blue, he announced, "Renée and I are over."
She had gasped.
"How? Why?"
"Last Sunday, when I picked her up from the airport, she wanted to talk. That was when she told me she wanted to break up. She did some thinking while visiting her parents for Thanksgiving and she felt there was no progression in our relationship. She was right; there wasn't."
He redirected his attention to his plate and for a while they both ate in silence..
"How do you feel?" Mac asked after a few minutes.
Harm sighed.
"Difficult to say. Bit empty. Sad for I hate … I mean, I didn't start this relationship without serious intentions."
Mac nodded; she knew.
"But also in a sense … relieved. I mean, she was right and I was already thinking about ending it. But I hadn't figured out how and I didn't want to hurt her feelings. Not more than necessary, that is. I'm glad we could find closure without things turning sour." He looked at her to see whether he had explained enough and received a soft smile.
"Thanks for sharing," Mac said.
He took the large pear lying on his tray and started to peel it. When he was done, he offered her half of it. She took it and started munching. She had only one question left and was she brave enough to ask? She was.
"Why are you telling me this now?"
His eyes widened, but then he swallowed his last bite and answered, "Because … last year I kept major changes in my life from you and it brought a strain to our relationship. I don't want to make that mistake again. I needed a few days to come to terms with our break-up, so I didn't tell you right away. Calling you straight away, when Mic might be at your place, didn't seem the best idea either. But I didn't want you to hear it via scuttlebutt."
"Thanks," Mac said once more.
JAG Headquarters
Monday morning
8.15 local time
Mac was early. As was Mic and it was clear his anger hadn't subsided. As soon as he spotted her, he strode towards her. She held up her hands, in a non-aggressive gesture.
"Mic, whatever you're going to say, this is not the time nor the place."
But it didn't calm him down. It seemed he had 'figured it out' and was now ready to tell her he 'knew' why she had broken up with him
"You bitch," he hissed, putting a step closer. "You've been cheating on me. That's why you broke up with me! And you're fraternizing! This will be on you, whore! And on your little backup-boy! Don't think the Admiral won't hear …"
Suddenly his rant was interrupted by said man's voice.
"What's going on? Commander, this is not a way to address a fellow officer. I'll speak to you later. Colonel, my office!"
Moment later Mac stood in attention before her CO's desk.
"Well, what's going on?" he repeated his question.
"This weekend Commander Brumby and I broke up our relationship, to be more precise, I broke up with him and he is not happy with it," Mac came straight to the core.
"I guess that 'little backup-boy' is Commander Rabb?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Sit down and tell. From the beginning," Chegwidden ordered. "Be reassured that what you tell me is confidential."
Mac took a deep breath.
"Sir, from the moment Commander Rabb and I met, we had a massive click."
Her CO nodded; he clearly remembered that first encounter and also that he had warned them not to become too close.
"Over time we became best friends. We went through a lot together and even his failure to mention his eye surgery and his decision to go back to flight status didn't really alter that. When we were in Sydney, I asked him to bring our relationship to the next level."
"But you came back wearing Brumby's ring," Chegwidden couldn't help uttering surprised.
"Yes. I did. In hindsight, one of my major mistakes. Harm …" she ditched the formal 'Commander Rabb', knowing she would be mistaken each time, "Harm is not an very articulate speaker when it comes to his own feelings. I ambushed him and he asked me for time. But I felt rejected and there was Mic … He told me he had fallen in love with me right away and persuaded me to take his friendship ring. I'm a sucker for men telling me they want me," she ended a bit wryly.
Chegwidden nodded encouraging.
"A few weeks later Harm finally had figured out why he needed time. He wanted to talk to me, explain, but something interfered and before we could schedule another meeting, it was the Justice/Navy Ball and Mic turned up. And it went from there."
"The Commander dated Miss Peterson," Chegwidden noted.
"He did, but at that time they had only dated once or twice. Anyway, over the past weeks Mic hinted several times it would be his best Christmas present if I would allow him to move my ring to my left hand. It forced me to have a good look at our relationship and what I really wanted. I realised I had serious doubts. The way Mic reacted to a few situations … it made even more clear that getting engaged to him would not be a good idea. Harm and I finally had that conversation."
She went silent and Chegwidden waited patiently. He was not a counsellor, but he wanted to know what went on in his office. When Mac failed to continue, he asked "What did Commander Brumby meant by 'backup boy'?"
"As you said, he referred to Harm, Sir. For the past weeks I've been involved in helping a friend and her husband with their church's pageant. My friend's husband needed some extra hands making sets and props. I took Mic to see if he could be of any help, but he didn't want to. And it was clear he felt ill at ease with the kids."
'To say the least' she thought.
"So I asked Harm and he is lending a hand now. He is good at DYI and loves children." She looked pleadingly at her CO. "You see, Sir, we had each other's back for so long, both professionally as well as friends."
Chegwidden bit back a smile; he could name one or two of those occasions, if asked.
"Right. That leaves the accusation of fraternization."
"That's a lie. We never crossed the line!" Mac was adamant.
"Right. Never kissed, hugged?"
"We kissed, yes, birthday kisses or to wish each other a happy new year. Once under the mistletoe. Hugs, only to express sympathy or to console, hugs between friends, without sexual implications."
Her CO nodded; had she denied it, he would have become suspicious. But before he could go on, there was a knock on the door. In came Tiner.
"Sir, everyone is waiting for staff meeting."
Both looked surprised, not having noticed the time. Chegwidden rose to his feet and Mac did likewise.
"I'll let you know," he said.
When they walked to the conference room, Harm just slipped in. Chegwidden frowned; being this late was another point he would have to discuss with his subordinate. In the meantime he discussed and handed out cases like usual. But when most people had left, he ordered, "Commander Rabb, my office."
When Harm was standing in front of his desk, the Admiral said "You were late at staff meeting. Any explanation?"
"I'm sorry, Sir. One of my key-witnesses happens to be a CEO in a large bank and out of town a lot. I only managed to contact him this morning and since he was on his way to Europe and only could spare me a few moments in between, I rushed to Dulles and had my interview there. Hence being late, Sir."
"Was it worthwhile?"
"It was, Sir. I can cross off one or two motives and I have a new lead on four possible witnesses. I also made sure he is in the country when this case goes to trial."
"Right." With one of his characteristic short nods the Admiral closed this subject.
"This morning you were accused of fraternizing with one of your co-workers, Colonel MacKenzie."
Harm looked shocked to the core.
"That is not, I repeat, not true, Sir."
"Did you ever have sex? Did you ever kiss or hugged her?"
"We never had sex. I did kiss her occasionally, with her birthday or to wish her happy new year, or when she was promoted, to congratulate her. Or a hug to comfort her or when she was down. We are friends!" His eyes flashed. "Who accused us? Commander Brumby?"
"What makes you think it was him?"
"He doesn't like that we are friends and wants me out of her life."
"It seems he is out of the Colonel's life now," Chegwidden said matter-of-factly.
"What!" Now Harm's jaw dropped.
"They broke up their relationship. Or better, she broke up with him. I take it you didn't know yet?"
"No Sir." Harm sounded flabbergasted.
"Right. I know enough. Dismissed. And keep personal stuff out of the office, also during lunchtime," the Admiral ordered. He had wasted enough time; there was work to do and he didn't want another emotional outburst.
Still stunned Harm went to his room. Only the knowledge that he had some major cases to prosecute made him grab his briefcase and fish out the contents. Moments later he was engrossed in his reading material.
At half past twelve Mac stopped by his office.
"Want to grab a bite?"
Harm looked up.
"Come in," he beckoned. But when Mac had closed the door behind her, he said, "I'm sorry, but better not. I understand there was quite some commotion this morning. AJ forbid me to discuss personal stuff in the office. Including during lunchtime, I'm afraid."
Mac's face dropped. She so much wanted to talk to him. But orders were orders.
"Why don't you come for dinner?" she heard Harm say. "We can talk then."
"Okay. I guess I'm having lunch with Harriet then."
But when Mac retuned from her lunch break there was a note on her desk.
'I'm so sorry, but an investigation came up. I have to cancel for tonight. I hope to be back on Wednesday, but it can be Thursday or even Friday. I'll call you. H.'
Mac suppressed the urge to curse. It wasn't his fault. Harriet, who had followed her into her office to receive some paperwork, saw her glum face.
"Something wrong, Ma'am?" she asked.
"No. Just Harm telling me he is away for a couple of days. We were to have dinner at his place tonight, but now he is on an investigation."
"Why don't you join us for dinner tonight? There might be something I have to show you," Harriet suggested.
"Sounds like a plan," Mac readily agreed. At least she wouldn't be alone that evening and she would love a cuddle with her godson.
"Fine," Harriet smiled, picking up the papers she had come for. At her desk she grabbed her phone. There was someone she had to call.