A MONTH LATER
Mary and Lexi were making good progress on their relationship. Mary was very careful not to step on her parents toes and tried to serve as more of a big sister to Lexi. They had decided on a once a month girls night with Bess. She and Lexi had also become inseparable. Mary was in the kitchen preparing some snacks for them. They had eaten dinner at Phyllis's. She was slicing cheese when there was a knock on the door.
"Come on in, girls." She called from the kitchen
Bess and Lexi walked in followed by Phyllis, "Hi Aunt Mary."
"Hi, Mary." Lexi echoed
"Hi, hi." Phyllis said cheerily, "Mary, Dear, I just wanted to stop by before Lars and I head out to the cocktail party. Could I borrow those gold earrings?"
"Oh, sure, they're in the jewelry box." Mary said setting some crackers out on a plate with slices of cheese, "So, girls, what do you feel like tonight? I checked the movie listings and we've got a marathon of romances, horror movies and westerns."
Lexi and Bess looked at each other, "Romance." They answered in unison
Mary laughed bringing the plate over to the coffee table, "Romance it is."
"Thank you, Mary." Phyllis said, "I'll get them back to you tomorrow if that's okay."
"That's fine Phyl." She assured her
Lexi stood up, "Mary, may I get a soda?"
"Sure."
"Would you get me one too?" Bess asked
Phyllis saw the two of them standing next to each other and came over to them inserting herself between them and putting her arms around them, "Look at the two of you." She said, "Virtual strangers, yet eternally intertwined, reaching out to each other." She paused, "It's so beautiful."
Mary and Lexi smirked identically, "Don't you need to get going, Phyl?"
She looked at her watch, "Oh my, yes. I wouldn't want to be late for one of Lars's colleague's stimulating parties." She headed to the door, "Bye, bye."
"Bye, Phyllis." Bess said
"Bye, Phyl."
The door closed and the three couldn't help but giggle, "She really is something." Mary shook her head
"She means well." Bess said naturally defending her mother, "She just gets overly dramatic."
"I'm gonna get comfortable in my pajamas. I'll be right back." Lexi said
After she went into the bathroom Bess wanted to talk to Mary, "Aunt Mary, are you doing okay?"
"I'm fine, why?" She asked taking a bite of a cracker
"I know you miss Andy." She said, "Have you talked to him?"
"No, and I really don't want to talk about it, Dear." Mary told her
"You should try to talk to him." Bess told her
"Bess, I said I don't want to talk about it." Mary insisted
"I'm sorry, Aunt Mary. I just hate to see you so sad."
"I know, sweetheart but I'm fine. It probably just wasn't meant to be." She put up a good front most of the time but she loved Andy so much and her heart was breaking
Lexi came out of the bathroom, "I love these pajamas, Mary."
"Hey, they look really cute on you." Mary had bought them for Lexi on one of their shopping trips, "I think I'll get comfortable too, if you'll excuse me."
"Did you ask her?" Lexi turned to Bess as soon as Mary was out of the room
"She's definitely unhappy. I know she really misses him." Bess told her
"I feel so bad." Lexi said, "If it weren't for me, they'd be getting married."
"It's not your fault. He thinks Aunt Mary should have told him sooner." Bess explained
"Well, I have a plan." Lexi said
"Plan for what?" Mary asked walking out of the bathroom in her pajamas
"Oh, uh, this boy I like. I have a plan to get him to ask me out." She fibbed
Mary sat down in the chair, "Lex, don't play games, just be yourself, okay?"
"Don't worry, I won't."
MONDAY AFTERNOON WJM
Lexi got to the newsroom a little bit early in hopes of finding Andy. She felt responsible for what happened and wanted to do something to help Mary. Maybe if she could talk to him and make him understand how afraid Mary was to tell people, he would change his mind. She stopped to get a soda and as she was walking out of the break room she saw him.
"Oh, hi Andy." She said nervously looking down
"Hi, Lexi, how are you?" He asked to be polite and in truth, it wasn't her fault
"Uh, I'm okay." She said, "Um, you know, Mary really misses you."
"Lexi, this really isn't any of your business." He said starting to walk away
"You're mad at her over me." She said, "I mean, if it wasn't for me you'd be getting married."
Andy exhaled heavily, "It's not you, Lexi. She should have been honest with me from the start."
"I guess, but what would you do if you had a secret like that?" She asked, "It's a pretty big one."
"I appreciate how much you care about her but this is between me and Mary, excuse me." He started to walk away
"She told Phyllis that she loved you more than she's ever loved anyone." Lexi said having heard that from Bess
Andy just walked away and headed toward the newsroom, which he rarely did these days. He came to the doorway and saw her sitting at her desk appearing to be looking over some reports.
Lou came out of his office, "Mary, you busy tonight?" Andy moved back from the doorway but continued to listen
"No, Mr. Grant, I'm not." She responded
"You wanna get a drink after work?" He asked sitting on the edge of her desk
"No, I don't think so Mr. Grant." She responded
"Come on, it beats staying home alone."
"I'm not very good company most of the time these days." She told him
"Since when do you have to be good company to have a drink with me?" He asked
Mary smiled, "Okay, you talked me into it."
"Good." He said getting up, "You know, Mary, it won't hurt forever."
LATER THAT NIGHT
Mary returned home and walked up the steps to her apartment. As soon as she reached the landing outside her apartment she saw Andy sitting on the steps leading up to Rhoda's old place.
"What are you doing here?" She asked
He got up and walked over to her, "I came to see you. Why else would I be hanging out in the hallway for two hours?"
Mary smiled, "Two hours?"
"Okay, forty-five minutes." He admitted, "I did have to eat, you know?"
"You wanna come in?" She asked
"Nah, this hallway has a certain ambiance." He joked
She unlocked the door and let them in, "Do you want a drink?" She asked as he helped her off with her coat
He put his hands on her shoulders, "No, I want to talk."
"Okay." She said leading them over to the sofa
Andy was silent for a moment, "You know, you have a lot of people in your life who care about you."
"Yeah, I guess I do." She agreed
"And they are not very happy with me right now." He told her
"Andy, if you think I put anyone up to be a go between, I don't think we have anything left to say." She was hurt he would even suggest it
He took her hand in his, "I don't think that." He assured her, "But one person was particularly persuasive."
She looked at him puzzled, "I don't understand."
"Your daughter." He said, "She cornered me in the break room. Kind of let me have it."
"Lexi?" She asked
"Yeah well, she didn't really let me have it. But it's obvious she cares very much about you." He told her
"What did she say?"
"She blames herself. I told her she shouldn't." He explained, "She asked me what I would do if I had a big secret like that."
"She shouldn't have done that." Mary said
"Don't be angry with her. She just wanted to help."
"So what did you say?" She asked, "I mean, about what you would have done."
"Well, that's one of the things I was thinking about while I was waiting for you to get back from having drinks with Lou."
"How did you know where I was?" She asked
"I overheard you talking to him." He said, "He obviously cares very much about you, too. I think I've caught him and Murray giving me the evil eye a couple of times."
Mary smiled, "So did you come to any conclusion?"
"As a matter of fact I did." He said, "I came to the conclusion that … that I can't stand to see the look in your eyes that I saw that night." He caressed her cheek, "And I want to spend the rest of my life making sure I never see it again." He kissed her sweetly
"God, have I missed you." She said as their lips parted
"Not as much as I've missed you." He said, "So let's try this again. Mary Richards, will you marry me?"
She nodded, tears spilling from her eyes, "Yes, yes, I'll marry you."