Everything is Going to be Okay
Author: PreppyPrincess5103
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Harm. & Mac struggle with a long-distance relationship after his return to flying.
Notes: A reviewer commented on the last part that they didn't like the long-distance romance… My husband is currently deployed, and I have to say I'm not a fan of long-distance relationships either =)
Part 4
"No. Absolutely not. That is not a deal. Commander Miller probably wouldn't get that much time if a jury actually found her guilty."
"Take it or leave it, Sturgis. That is the only thing I'm willing to offer."
A staffer looked up as Mac and Sturgis argued while walking to their offices and stood. "Excuse me, Major, Commander." The officers stopped in front of her desk. "Ma'am, I have a message for you from a Trish Burnett. Your voicemail is full again." She held out the pink message slip.
"Thank you." Mac took the slip and glanced at it. "I need to return this call, Sturgis. If you want to tell me no a few more times, you can do so in a few minutes. If you'd like, I can even teach you how to say no in Russian and Farsi." She smiled at the young woman and went into her office, shutting the door behind her. She picked up her phone and dialed. Trish answered before first ring had even finished.
"Mac! I'm so glad you got back to me so quickly."
"Hi Trish," she said with a smile, "I just got out of court. I'm sorry I missed your call. Is everything okay?"
"If my husband weren't such a workaholic, things would be better, but everything is fine here." Mac smiled as she heard Frank say something unintelligible in the background. "Anyway," Trish continued, "we were heading to Paris today for a couple of weeks, and Frank got talked into a meeting with a firm in DC. So now we're staying in DC overnight and leaving for Paris from Dulles in the morning, and I was hoping you'd be able to meet us for dinner tonight."
"Absolutely! What time?"
"Oh, whenever. Frank should be finished with his meeting around 5:00, so anytime after that."
Mac uncapped a pen and found a notepad in the chaos of her desk. "I could meet you at your hotel around 7:00, and we can just take it from there."
"Perfect! We're going to be at the Ritz Carlton on 22nd street."
She made a note on her notepad and recapped the pen. "Great. I can't wait to see the two of you."
"We're looking forward to it too. See you this evening, darling."
"Bye Trish." Mac ended the call and then dialed into her voicemail to clear out some of the messages. Someone knocked on her door and she glanced up and saw Sturgis. She sighed, hung up the receiver and waived him in. He sat in one of her chairs without saying a word. "What?"
"Isn't Trish Burnett Harm's mothers name?"
She took a deep breath. "Yes." Neither of them said anything for a minute, and then Mac finally broke the silence. "Is Harm's mom not allowed to call me?"
"Of course she is. Is Harm okay? He's not married, so if something were to happen, she'd be notified first."
Mac straightened in her chair. "Harm is fine."
He continued to stare at her. "So, his mom just calls his former partner for no reason?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "She had a reason, but I can't figure out how this concerns you at all."
"According to Brumby you have a mystery boyfriend. He seems convinced it's John something or the other."
"John Farrow." She took a deep breath. "And Mic Brumby is an idiot."
"Well yeah, I've realized that." He grinned as her face finally relaxed and she smiled slightly. "Are you dating Harm?"
Her smile slipped and she looked at her hands. She looked back up at him. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Yes." And he smiled as she nodded. "How long have you been seeing each other? Why are you keeping it a secret?"
"A few months." She looked out into the bullpen and then back at him. "Last year was one hell of a year, and the gossip mill here was more or less just stories about me. We were all at McMurphy's one night and Carolyn Imes and Jordan, the woman Harm was dating, asked me what I thought of his sexual prowess. We weren't dating but everyone just assumed that we were sleeping together every time we were sent out of the country on an investigation. Can you imagine the comments and questions I'd get if they actually knew we were?"
He nodded. "That makes sense. I don't blame you for keeping it to yourself. Does anyone know?"
"The Admiral does. But as far as I know, that's it."
"I won't say anything. But thank you for telling me. I've noticed you're a little odd when Harm is mentioned, and now that makes sense."
Mac laughed and then sighed. "Yeah. It's hard to be casual when people ask about him. They ask how he's doing, and it takes all I have not to overwhelm them with information. Or they ask if we keep in touch and I think about our late-night phone calls and the emails throughout the day."
"Well, if you ever want to overwhelm someone with those details, I'm here." He stood up and headed to the door.
"Thank you, Sturgis. I really appreciate it."
Mac worked later than she intended, and rushed home to shower and change before heading to the Ritz Carlton. She showered quickly, wrapped her hair in a towel and pulled on a pair of white skinny jeans and a pale pink top with lace cap sleeves. She dried and styled her hair, applied makeup, and switched the essentials from the large purse she carried to work into a small camel colored leather clutch. The Corvette needed gas, so she grabbed the keys to Harm's SUV and left her apartment.
She was only two minutes late when she arrived. Being late was unusual for her, but considering how late it was when she left JAG, she decided that was a victory. She stopped by the concierge desk and asked for the Burnett's room. The young woman smiled and checked her name against a list before telling her the room number, and the quickest route to an elevator. A few minutes later she was standing in front of their door and knocked lightly. Trish opened the door and instantly pulled her into an embrace.
"It is so good to see you," Trish said. She pulled back after a moment, and placed her hands on her shoulders. "You look absolutely wonderful. Please, come in." She backed into the room and Mac followed her in. "Frank is getting dressed now, so we'll be ready to go in just a few minutes." Mac walked over to the wall of massive windows and took in the view. Trish studied her for a minute and then walked over to stand beside her. "How are you doing, Mac? Really."
She turned away from the windows and smiled. "I'm doing okay. I miss him."
"Do you have the chance to talk a lot?"
Mac nodded. "We do. He usually gets up early to call me before I go to bed. And then we email a few times a day. I can't imagine what it must have been like 30 years ago without email and cell phones."
Trish offered her a sad smile. "Those tapes that his father sent were everything to me. I would go weeks without hearing his voice, and then I would get a tape and everything made sense again. Hearing his voice soothed my soul." She reached over and squeezed Mac's hand. "I don't think I've thanked you for helping Harm find out the truth about what happened. Thank you so much for helping him and for being there with him."
Mac squeezed her hand back. "There is nothing I wouldn't do for him."
Frank walked into the room and both women looked up. The expression on his face made Mac think he had been listening to their conversation, and he offered her a gentle smile. "Mac, hello! It's great to see you." She stood and took a few steps to embrace him. He pulled back after a moment and kissed her cheek. "You look as lovely as ever."
She blushed and smiled. "Thank you, Frank."
"Shall we?" Trish stood and grabbed her purse off of the coffee table. "Mac, I made a reservation at an Italian restaurant a few blocks from here that came highly recommended. Is that okay?"
Mac nodded. "Sounds wonderful. I brought Harm's SUV, if you'd like me to drive."
"That's perfect," Frank said, "we've been taking taxis all day." He opened the door and the three of them left for dinner.
Several hours, and a few pounds of pasta and tiramisu later, Frank and Trish were back at their hotel and Mac was walking back into her apartment. She tossed her clutch onto the kitchen counter and headed to her bedroom to change. She threw her clothes into the laundry basket and pulled on a t-shirt of Harm's and a pair of shorts. She collapsed onto the couch and pulled the throw off of the back of the couch to cover her legs. She picked up the book she had been reading, and then tossed it aside and reached for her computer instead. She logged into her personal email account and smiled when she saw an email from Harm.
To: SarahMacKenzie
From: HRabb1963
Re: Daydream
Hey there,
I found myself daydreaming about us during my briefing this afternoon. It could have been embarrassing, but thankfully I had a helmet to keep in my lap. So, the memory that I couldn't get out of my head was the bathroom at McMurphy's. I know that wasn't one of our finest moments, but it was still incredibly sexy. I am really, really ready to be home and since I've only been here a little over a month, that's kind of problematic. I miss you and love you.
H.
The memory made her face heat. She hit reply and her fingers were hovering over the keys when her phone rang. She reached for it and answered. "Hello?"
"Hey there."
Mac smiled at the sound of his voice and hoped that the warmth that spread through her when she heard his voice never went away. "Hey." She closed her laptop and set it aside. "Perfect timing, I was just about to respond to your email. And why are you awake so early?"
"I woke up early so I could talk to you a little longer. And should I let you go so you can respond to the email?" His voice was low and teasing.
She smiled and leaned into the pillows. "I'd much rather respond to you than the email."
He groaned. "Mac, there is nothing I'd like more than to have phone sex with you, but I'm in a public area."
She laughed. "I know that. I'm not going to start talking about all the things I want you to do to me." She laughed as he groaned again. "But I am going to say that I've been thinking about that night a lot lately." She reached for her book and pulled out the photo she had been using as a bookmark. It was the photo that Sturgis had found in Harm's desk. "Sturgis' first day at JAG he found a photo of us with Bud & Harriet from that night in your desk. He gave it to me." She stared at the photo for a minute and bit her lower lip. "I told him about us."
His eyes widened. "Sturgis? Seriously?"
"I didn't want to, but he found out your mom called me, and he point blank asked. I didn't want to lie, so I told him. I feel like I can trust him not to gossip about us."
"You can trust him. And mom called you? Is everything okay?"
"It is. She and Frank were in DC for the evening before heading to Paris, and she wanted to see if I could join them for dinner. I actually just got home a few minutes ago." She tucked the photo back in the book and set it back on the table. "They both send their love."
"Thank you for spending time with them," he said softly. "I know it really means a lot to her."
"You don't need to thank me for that. I enjoy being with them. They're both wonderful people."
"You're wonderful." He leaned against the wall and was quiet for a moment. "I need to ask you something."
She stretched out her legs and admired the purple polish on her toes. "Shoot."
"Mac, is this working for you? Are we working?"
Her heart quickened. Was he asking because it wasn't working for him? Was he having second thoughts? Was the distance and the lack of intimacy too much? "Why are you asking me this, Harm? Is it not working for you?"
"One of the pilots I fly with found out yesterday that his wife has been having an affair. He thought they were solid. He thought she was doing fine with the distance. Apparently, she wasn't. And I realized I haven't asked how you're doing with the distance." His voice tightened and he took a deep breath. "I want you to be happy, and if you're not please tell me. If you need more than what I can give you, please tell me."
"Harm, I'm as happy as I can be." He started to say something, and she continued quickly. "I miss you. I'm not going to be completely happy when you're half a world away. But I'm doing okay."
"So, this is working for you?"
She smiled. "Sweetheart, it's going to work a lot better when we're in the same time zone, but this is working. Your mom was talking about your dad's tapes tonight. She said she'd get one and hearing his voice would soothe her soul. Every time I pick up the phone and hear your voice on the other end, I feel warmth spreading through me. It's a good feeling. No one else has ever made me feel that way."
"Mac-"
"Harm, a little of you is a lot better than a whole lot of anyone else." He was quiet and she listened to the silence for a minute. "Are you still there?"
"I'm here." He was quiet for another minute. "Mac?"
"Yes?"
"If you keep this up, I'm definitely going to propose to you the next time I see you."
She snorted. "Don't you dare, Flyboy." She hesitated for a minute and then asked, "Is this working for you?"
He took a deep breath. "I don't think anything has ever worked this well. I hate being apart, but loving you is the easiest thing I've ever done." Her intake of breath was shaky, and he gripped the phone tighter.
"You're getting really, really good at expressing how you feel. That was even better than what was in the note."
He laughed. "For some reason it's not hard to express myself with you."
"Keep it up, okay? It makes the distance easier."
"I will." He saw a couple of guys walk into the room and he cursed under his breath.
"What's wrong?"
Harm sighed and checked his watch. "I'm not alone anymore. A few people just walked in."
Mac cleared her throat. "Well, I guess you better get going."
"I guess so." He remembered something she had said earlier and smiled. "Sweetheart, huh?"
She blushed. "It just slipped out."
"I liked it. Goodnight, gorgeous. I love you."
"I love you, too. Fly safe." She sat the phone back on the cradle. She stood up and headed to her bedroom, turning off lights along the way. She crawled into her bed and stared at the ceiling. Today had been a big day. Between telling Sturgis, seeing Trish and Frank, and that conversation. Their relationship felt a little more real. It felt a little more permanent. And that was a really, really good feeling.
End Part 4