Chapter 7: Revelations (part 1)
Mary walked into the news room the next day. Things were normal, or at least seemed normal. Quietly, she hung up her coat and went to sit down at her desk. "Good morning Murry," she cheerfully greeted.
Murray turned and smiled to her. "I think you're about to have a better one," he said.
"Yeah?" Mary asked as she noticed an envelope on her desk. "This have anything to do with it?" She picked it up and examined it.
"No," Murray said looking over at it. The door to Lou's office opened and Greg walked out with a scowl on his face. "But that does." Mary turned and watched Greg walk across the news room and over towards Ted's dressing room. Murray leaned over more towards Mary, "Lou's been yelling at him all morning."
Mary rolled her eyes. She didn't want to admit it, but it did help her. Normally, she wasn't that type of person, the one to want to see other's suffer, but this was different. In all honesty, she wanted to go in there and hug Lou everytime that she would see Greg walk out of his office with the same tortured face. She then turned her attention to the envelope. Carefully, she opened it and took the note out.
Mary
Sorry about the way that I acted last night. Greg told me everything, and I just got upset. I would like to talk to you though, if you are willing to talk to me.
David
Mary put the note back into the envelope and got up to go find David. She went back into the film room and saw him. His back was to her as he studied a roll of film. "David?"
He quickly turned back. "Mary?" He set the film down and walked over. "Did you, um..."
"I got the note," she said. It was hard to be mad at him. She could just imagine what Greg had been telling him, the things that he must have said. "And, I forgive you. I know Greg well enough to know that he must have really twisted things in his favor."
"Well, he told me that you were pregnant with his baby and that you were willing to do anything to get him out of your life." David looked to her. He knew that there was truth to that. Anyone could tell that if they had just watched the two for a few minutes. Deep down, he was just hoping that she wasn't using him.
Mary sighed and looked down. "That is true. I am pregnant, and I would do just about anything to get him to leave me alone." Looking up, she could see David's face drop. "But did he also tell you that he's married? That he got married while we were dating?"
David's head shot up. He had no idea. "Really?"
Mary nodded. "And David, I'm not using you. Trust me, going out to dinner with you a few times wouldn't stop him. He just wants to make me miserable. Pay for leaving him. I could be married right now and he wouldn't care." Sympathetically, she looked to him. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you all of this sooner, its just one of those things thats a bit harder to talk about to people."
"I understand," David said. "You think you would like to try again and go out tonight?"
Mary nodded. "I think I would."
"And I promise you, I'm not married."
Mary laughed. "Good," she said. "Neither am I."
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
That night, and most of the nights following through the next three weeks, Mary and David had been spending a lot of time together. It was the final day that Greg and David would be with WJM. They both walked into the news room hand and hand that morning. Stopping at the coat rack, David helped Mary with her coat.
"Thank you," she said as she turned to him.
"Anytime," he said right before leaning in for a kiss. "I'll see you at lunch," he said as he pulled away.
"Sounds good to me," Mary said and then walked over to her desk.
Neither of them had noticed, but Greg had been watching the scene from the over at the filing cabinet. Every time that he saw those two together, he internally cringed. Their shared kisses were like fingernails slowly scratching down the chalkboard to him. Every part of him longed to have her again. To be able to kiss her, touch her. That baby she was carrying, the one that was slightly beginning to show, was his. He wanted her. He needed her. Without her, he was slowly losing his sanity. After he had hit Mary a few weeks back, he did feel sorry, but at the same time it felt necessary. He acted out on an impulse, an instinct, an urge that he couldn't fight back.
To not bring any attention to himself, he adverted his eyes and pretended to be looking over a file. Truth be told, he didn't even really know what he had pulled out to look at, but as long as he looked busy it didn't matter. He noticed Mary get up and walk out into the hallway. As naturally as he could, he made sure that Murray and Lou weren't watching him and went out into the hallway to wait for her. Most everyone was already in the news room already, so he didn't really have to worry about being questioned.
Mary was walking back from the bathroom. As soon as she saw Greg standing there, she walked as fast as she possibly could. Her attempt was useless though, he grabbed her by the wrist. Although she did try to pull herself free, his grip was just too tight.
"Hey, come on now. Its my last day here." Greg smirked as he looked over to her.
Mary kept her back to him. There was no desire to even see him today. As far as she was concerned. the less she saw him today, the better. "Good."
Greg pulled her back and cupped her face with his other hand. A smug little smile was the first thing that Mary saw when he slowly turned her head to face him. "All I want is a kiss goodbye."
"How dumb do you think I am? I know that even if I did agree to kiss you, you would try and get me to do other things."
Greg let go of her face. "You know Mary, I did something for you. Something that I shouldn't have done."
"You have done nothing for me. At the most you may have taught me that it is possible to hate someone." Mary glared to him. There was nothing in his eyes though, no emotions. The absence of feeling from him truly started to scare her.
"I don't think you have realized this part yet, I don't care about your feelings towards me. All I want is you with me. You can kick and scream and fight all you want, but the only thing I am focusing on is the fact that you are there and in my life."
Mary stood there frozen. Now, she truly knew how far Greg was willing to go to get her. How messed up this man truly was, and how numb he could be to everything around him. Her eyes, slightly widened as they were locked on his. Greg dropped her wrist, but she didn't even notice.
"Now, what I wanted to tell you was that I got a divorce from my wife. I am no longer married. That aspect seemed to bother you, so I got rid of it."
"I don't believe you," Mary uttered.
David stepped out into the hall and saw Greg and Mary. "Hey!" He walked over and stood before Greg. "What teh hell do you think you're doing?"
Greg slowly looked over to David. "Just talking. Why? You think I'm stupid enough to pull something out here? In a public area?"
"Doesn't matter. You just shouldn't be talking to her," David said as he grabbed her elbow. "Come on," he said as he started guiding her back to her desk.
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
That night, Mary sat in her apartment. The last conversation that she had with Greg was going through her head. The look on his face was engraved in her mind. Every element of those few minutes she spent with him deeply disturbed her. Even though she knew that he was leaving today, there was an uneasy feeling that had been stuck with her. Right now, just being alone was starting to get to her.
She jumped as soon as she heard a knock at the door. "Its me!"
Mary held her chest as she tried to catch her breath. The only bit of comfort came from the fact that it was Rhoda's voice from the other side of the door and not Greg's. Standing up, she had to take a second to steady herself. "Coming!" she said as she made her way over to the door. "Hey Rhoda," she said opening the door.
Rhoda was about to say something, but stopped and looked to Mary with concern. "Are you all right there kid? You look like you just saw a ghost."
Mary shook her head and motioned for her to come in. She watched as Rhoda carried a small bag over to the couch and sat down. "What's that?" Mary asked as she closed and locked the door.
"I think you should go first this time." Rhoda motioned for her to sit down. "Something happen today?"
Mary walked over and sat down next to her. "Greg," she started. "He, he said something that bothered me."
Rhoda watched her for a second. "Like what?" she asked.
"Well, um," Mary started. She adverted her eyes as she thought back to the exact words that he had said.
Rhoda could see how uncomfortable she was with this and decided to try and help her. "If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. But there is one thing though." Rhoda waited for her to look up to her. "Did he threaten you?"
Mary honestly didn't know how to take what he had said. Yes, there was a threatening feeling to it, but he never did come out and say that he was going to do something to her. "Sort of. He stated that he doesn't care how he gets me, just as long as I'm there."
Rhoda's eyes widened. "Did you tell anyone?"
Mary shook her head. "No, not yet."
Rhoda stood up. "What are you waiting for? Call the police or something! You can't just sit here and wait for him to do something." Rhoda stood there for a second and calmed herself down. "You know that he meant dead right?"
Mary nodded. Blankly staring, she started thinking about everything that he had done to her so far. Murder did seem a bit out there, considering that he wanted to have her and mentally torture her, but she also couldn't justify completely putting it past him. "And suppose he finds out that I told. Then what?" she asked and then looked up to Rhoda.
Rhoda sighed and sat back down next to Mary. "I don't think you should be alone for the next few days."
Mary nodded. "I know. I think I'm going to go find somewhere to stay. Just until I know that he wasn't serious."
"Did David leave today?"
"Yeah, but he's coming back in two weeks and we're both going away together."
Rhoda smiled. "Well sounds like two are getting serious."
"More so than I expected," Mary said.
"Anyways, too bad he's not in town. You could've stayed with him."
"I'll be fine tonight," Mary started. "If he shows any signs of trying to attack me or whatever, I'll call the police."
"Good," Rhoda said. She then picked up the bag. "Now, onto me. I saw this today and couldn't resist. I think you can use it more than I can though."
Mary took the bag and opened it. "Aww, Rhoda!" she said as she pulled out a little onsie with a frog on the front along with a matching blanket and a tiny pair of green socks.
"Its a bit early, but I saw it on my way home and thought I might help get you started on some things."
Mary leaned over and hugged Rhoda. "Thank you."
"Anytime." Rhoda pulled back. "But you promise, anything happens and you'll call the police?"
Mary nodded. "I promise."
Rhoda stood up. "Well, I have to get going. I have a birthday dinner to go to."
"Have fun," Mary said, still looking over the present.
Rhoda got to the door and stopped for a moment before leaving. "Oh, and Mary."
"Yeah?" she asked as she turned back to her.
"You know, you don't have much, but you do have a little bitty bump there. I would tell Phyllis what's going on before she starts asking questions."
As Rhoda left, Mary looked down and pulled her shirt to tighten it. She did notice a tiny bump, but nothing too much.