Chapter 5

At almost 3 a.m. in the morning Will was still sitting on his terrace, cigarette in hand and a glass of Bourbon next to him. He had tried to go to sleep after returning from his date with ‚Morgan', but his mind didn't let him get any rest.

He had been surprised that taking on the persona of Duncan had actually allowed him to calmly talk to ‚Morgan' about the past. Of course, at one time he'd had to leave the table to steel himself, before they really got to the chore of the problem, but otherwise he thought he had handled the situation surprisingly well. It seemed like Habib's advise hadn't been useless after all.

What did he say? He shouldn't focus on himself but see everything from a different point of view?

Well, he had certainly done that tonight. He was even a little proud of himself for calmly listening to Mac (Morgan?) trying to explain her cheating, for not lashing out at her, even if he had to take this one break and excused himself to regain composure.

Now he had to take stock of what he had learned.

Mac had seemed sincere in her answers, and he had actually been caught off guard by her insistence that they just been dating early on. For him it had never been a question that they had been in a committed relationship after the first two or three dates, so apparantly they had been on completely different pages at that time.

Why hadn't he noticed?
Why hadn't he seen that Mac had been struggling so much?

On the other hand he had to ask why she hadn't talked to him about it. Had he maybe come on too strong, so that she hadn't felt comfortable to open up?

Will sighed. If that was the case, then maybe he had played a role in what had happened, and that thought didn't sit well with him. So far he had always laid one hundred percent of the blame for their break-up on Mac, but now he knew that he should have listened to her when she had tried to explain.

He would have to let simmer what she had told him, see if in the end it made sense and could be the first step towards forgiving her.

But there was one thing he knew he would do first thing Monday morning.

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Mac was certain that it was only a matter of time until Sloan would come to her office to start questioning her about her date. The only reason why she hadn't already recevied a call from her friend over the weekend was that she had been out of town to cover a conference on some economic subject Mac couldn't remember if her life depended on it. But now she was back and there was no escaping her.

She had spent the whole of Sunday thinking about her date with ‚Duncan' and had decided that she could be happy with it. Of course there were some things she could have expressed differently, but she'd had the opportunity to explain what had happened back then, and that was progress. She only hoped that Will had been able to take something out of it.

She smiled.
Apart from the fact that she'd had to carefully choose every word she said, she had actually enjoyed their little role play, especially the second half when they had talked about anything and nothing. It had almost felt normal, like it had all those years ago, and she was definitely looking forward to Tuesday night, when they would meet again.

At that thought her smile became even wider, and of course Sloan chose that exact moment to walk through her open office door.

„Well, somebody looks happy today."

Not seeing any reason why she should hide her good mood, Mac simply shrugged. „It's a lovely day. How was your conference?"

Sloan let herself fall into the chair in front of her desk. „I could tell you about the newest developments on mathematical methods in economics or bore you to death talking about international trade and macroeconmic dynamics with heterogeneous firms, but I'd much rather hear about your date instead of putting you to sleep… See, your eyes are glazing over already!" Her tone was accusatory, but then she focused on the reason for having come in the first place again. „So, how was it?"

Mac smiled, as she knew that Sloan wasn't simply asking out of curiosity but because she genuinely cared for her as a friend. „It was nice. He seems to be a good guy."

„I know, I know, you won't talk about any details. But at least tell me if you will meet him again?"

„I might." She leaned back in her chair and suddenly smirked. „Tomorrow."

„Kenzie!" Sloan squealed excitedly. „You like him!"

Mac blushed lightly, but before she could answer there was a knock at her door, which was opened by Will at the same time. „Mac, could I…"

When he saw that she wasn't alone he paused in his step. „Sorry, I can come back later."

„No, no, it's fine." Mac hastily waved him in, glad that the conversation with her curious friend had been interrupted. „Sloan was just about to leave."

The economist reluctantly got up, but not without shooting an annoyed glare at her. „For now. But I'll be back, MacKenzie. I want to know everything about..." Her gaze challengingly shifted to Will as she passed him. „...your date tomorrow!"

Watching her as she left the room he waited until the door closed behind her and then stepped closer towards the desk. „You're going on a date tomorrow?"

Mac hid the smile that was threatening to show on her face and caught her lip between her teeth. „I am."

„Well, I hope you'll have a good time…" Will looked directly at her, and she could have sworn that she had seen an amused sparkle in his eyes, before they turned serious.

„Listen, Mac. I was thinking… I don't t believe I've ever said it, but I want you to know how much I appreciate what you do here." Will gestured towards the bullpen. „With the staff. The show. Me... So… Thank you for that."

Not being able to prevent the smile from breaking through anymore she felt her cheeks getting warmer, especially when he didn't break eye contact. „It wouldn't be possible without you, but thank you for telling me."

„You're welcome." Will returned her smile. „I should have told you sooner."

„Better late than never." She got up and walked around the desk, squeezing his arm in passing. „Ready for the pitch meeting?"

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For Tuesday night ‚Duncan' had made a reservation at a different restaurant, which wasn't close to Hang Chew's, to not risk running into anybody from their team, but also wasn't too far away from ACN.

They had left separately after the show, and while Will had not changed out of his suit he had worn during the broadcast, Mac had traded her normal office outfit for a sexy, but understated designer dress she had brought from home that morning.

As they had also taken separate cabs to the restaurant to keep up their role play, this time it was Duncan who was already waiting when Morgan arrived.

His eyes approvingly ran up and down her length and remained on her endless legs a little bit longer than was probably appropriate, before he got up from the bar stool and approached her. „Hello Morgan, you look beautiful."

Mac blushed and nodded her thanks, but when she wanted to head for the bar he took her arm to divert her to the seating area. „Our table is ready, it's over there."

Leading her with his hand in the small of her back he smiled down at her. „I hope your anchor behaved tonight?"

„My pain in the ass anchor, you mean..." Her inital smirk changed to an outright laugh, and she shook her head. „No, he did behave nicely tonight. It was a good show."

„I'm glad to hear that." Duncan pulled out the chair for her to sit down and then walked around the table to take a seat himself, while signaling the waiter. After placing their drink order they studied the menu and and were ready to order, when the wine was served.

Throughout the meal they engaged in a flow of conversation, talking about books, current plays, politics and more. There was hardly a quiet moment between them, and smiles and laughter were shared abundantly. Mac almost felt like she was transported back in time; back to the time when she and Will had been blissfully happy. Will seemed to show no aversion towards her at all, and if it weren't for him calling her ‚Morgan' throughout the evening, she would have thought everything between them was finally alright again.

After a last espresso Duncan insisted on walking her home. It was only a few blocks and the temparatures were nice, so despite of the late hour they leisurely strolled along, staying close to each other.

When they turned around the last corner Mac suddenly felt his hand carefully searching for her own and quietly gasped. She did not move her hand away and had to bite her lip to prevent another sound from coming out of her mouth, when he he tightly clasped her fingers.

They continued their way until the arrived at the building Mac lived in, and without letting go of her hand, Duncan turned to face her with a smile. „I had a great time tonight, Morgan."

Blushing Mac returned his smile. „Me, too."

Not saying anything else they just stared at each other, until Duncan slowly leaned in to kiss her. Mac's heart seemed to stop and she could only focus on his lips, which came closer and closer. With a sense of panic, though, she turned her head at the last moment, so that his lips only touched her cheek, leaving a burning sensation on her skin when she pulled back. Shaking her head she squeezed his hand and swallowed hard.

„I'm sorry… I really like you, Duncan, I really do, but... I'm in love with somebody else."

Duncan almost looked dumbstruck, but then his gaze softened. He let his thumb run over her hand and lifted it up to press a soft kiss to her skin. „I understand. Have a good night."

Watching him slowly walk away Mac sighed. She had wanted nothing more than to fall into his arms just now, but she couldn't do that as long as he saw her as ‚Morgan', a persona he had used to understand MacKenzie's behaviour in the past, and with which he had no negative associations. It would not be a good idea to start anything with Duncan, while her relationship with Will was still in limbo.

Little did she know that Will's thoughts resembled her own. He was surprised by his own behaviour and had definitely not planned on any physical interaction with ‚Morgan'. In fact, if he was honest with himself, just a moment ago he had tried to kiss MacKenzie. They hadn't talked about the past all evening, but it had felt exactly like it had back then, and all he had wanted was to end the night properly.

He had thought that Mac had been on the same page with him - letting him hold her hand and smiling at him with a glow in her eyes, which he hadn't seen in a long time. But he understood her hesitancy, after all he had still called her Morgan all night, although that was not who he had wanted to kiss a minute ago. He was obviously caught in his own web, and he would need to…

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud scream coming from behind him, and when he whirled around he saw two men attacking Mac and trying to steal her purse. Without even a second thought he stormed back, fury fueling his actions, and he ripped the first guy away from her, hurling him into a car parked at the curb. „Get your fucking hands off her, you bastard!"

The second thug, pulling at the purse, turned around, only to see Will's fist fly towards his face, creating a very satisfying cracking sound when his nose broke. He tumbled back, took one more look at his opponent's enraged face and ran, followed by his pal who had scrambled back to his feet in the meantime.

Will didn't waste a second and looked at Mac, who was obviously in shock, eyes wide open and shaking but still standing upright and clutching at her purse. Immediately he took her into his arms and pressed her against his chest. „Fuck, Mac, are you alright? Did they hurt you? Please, tell me you're alright?"

Mac held onto him tightly and nodded, but was unable to speak. The men had come out of nowhere, and although she knew that people being mugged where supposed to give in and let them take their money and valuables, she had screamed and hung onto her bag by pure instinct.

After a moment he eased his hold and pushed her away a little to look her up and down. Satisfied that she apparently hadn't sustained any injuries his eyes settled on her face. When he saw her quivering lips he pulled her back into his embrace. „God, I can't imagine something might have happened to you. I love you, Mac, you hear me? I've never stopped loving you. I can't lose you. I'm sorry, so sorry…"

He felt Mac stiffen and this time it was her that pushed away to look at him dumbfounded. She tried to speak for a couple of times, before she was able to push out a trembling „Will?"

He nodded and carefully cupped her face. „Yes, it's me. I'm sorry for playing this stupid game; you're my MacKenzie and no one else. And I love you."

She melted at his admission and covered the hand that was framing her face, completely forgetting for the moment what had just happened.
„I love you, too, Billy."