AN: Thanks for all the great reviews, guys! Really appreciate it. Here the next part. Hope you'll enjoy!
Mac's apartment
Georgetown, VA
0903 hours local
Harm said that he'd be here by nine, and as usual, he's late. Just three minutes late, but still, late. I pull my hair up in a pony tail, again, just to have something to do with my hands, nervous as I am. This is crazy. I've done a million things with Harm over countless weekends, and this one makes me nervous. I don't know why.
All right, I do know why. It's because this is the first weekend that we're spending together since I know for sure that he wants to spend time with me, because he likes me for who I am. Whether or not I believe that, that's what he said, and Harm only says the things he means. An almost decade of friendship has told me that.
There's a knock on the door, and grabbing my denim jacket from the chair, I open the door. Harm is standing there, big grin spread across his face. "Sorry I'm late," he apologizes. "The Lexus broke down, so I figured that I'd take the Harley out. Hope that you don't mind."
An amazingly big grin takes up residence up my face. "You've brought the Harley?" Harm got it just a few months ago, and it's been ages since I've made a trip on a motorcycle. He always said that he'd take me someday, but there was always something that'd prevent us.
"If I'd known that I'd see that gorgeous smile of yours, I would've brought it earlier," he says and winks at me. "Where is your leather jacket? It's a bit colder outside on the Harley than it would be in the 'Vette."
I look at him for a little while. He thinks that my smile is gorgeous? Harm sees my hesitation and smiles. "Mac… That was a compliment. I'm learning you to accept a compliment. And I mean it. Your smile is gorgeous." He pushes me in the direction of my bedroom. "Go and get your jacket."
A blush creeps up my cheeks, leaving them slightly pink. The corners of my lips pull up. Just a little, but still. Only a few minutes later, we're standing in front of my apartment building and Harm hands me a helmet.
"My hair is going to be ruined when I get off again," I say.
Harm shakes his head. "Nah. Don't worry about that." He secures the strap under my chin. "Where to, milady?"
I bite my lip, slightly embarrassed to tell him. I've thought this over and over, and it's really what I want to do, but I'm embarrassed to tell him. "The National Portrait Gallery? There's this exhibition that I've been dying to see, and I thought that…" My voice dies down and suddenly the street under my feet seems very interesting.
Harm lifts my head. "Where do you want to go, Mac?" He's demanding me to stand up for what I want. To say it without hesitation.
I take a deep breath. "The National Portrait Gallery…?" It still sounds hesitating.
"Try again. Where do you want to go?"
"The National Portrait Gallery." This time is sounds more confident. It's not the way Harm wants it to sound, but it's the best I can do right now.
He grins. "Good girl. The National Portrait Gallery it is." The Harley roars to life beneath me and we drive off.
The exhibition is amazing. It's called "Women of our time," and covers photographs of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Eleanor Roosevelt, Marilyn Monroe, Amelia Earhart and so on. Looking at all those pictures, and reading what those women did, I feel so incredibly small.
And Harm sees it. Of course he does. No matter how hard I try to pretend that I'm fine, he knows that I'm impressed. He doesn't act upon it until we're outside again, though. He silently takes my hand and squeezes it. "Hey Marine, what's up?"
Might as well tell him, right? He'll just push me into telling him, anyway. "Nothing. It's just that… All these women accomplished something, whether it was entertaining people, or fighting for human rights, or being the first women to ever fly the Atlantic, or start a newspaper… And it just makes me feel so damn small."
Harm frowns. "Why?"
I shrug. "What have I accomplished in my life, Harm? What have I ever done to make a difference?"
Harm tugs on my hand and makes me stand still. "Hey." He looks me directly in the eye. "Honey, you've accomplished so many things in your life already. You've overcome your alcohol addiction, you've turned your life around and set of in the direction where you wanted to take it, you've been an inspiration to so many people, and you don't even know it. You're a great godmother to AJ, an amazing big sister to Chloe, an incredible friend to Bud and Harriet, and everybody else who's worthy of your friendship."
I take a deep breath. He seems so sure, saying all that. Could it really be that it's true? Really, true? When I look back at him, I see the plain and simple truth in his eyes. "You really mean that." It's a statement, not a question.
"Of course I do." He smiles. "All of it is true, Sarah. Every single word of it."
"Thank you," I whisper.
He doesn't say anything, just lets go of my hand and wraps me in his arms. Hugs me close. "Remember that you're special, Mac. Promise me that you'll remember."
I nod. "Promise."
"Good."
And we stand there for a moment. Just the two of us. And that tiny shimmer of hope that I had that things were going to be okay, starts to grow bigger. Even if it's just a little bit.
TBC