A/N: Well, I probably should have added angst to my story category after this chapter, because there's not a whole lot of romance or even friendship here. But things can only get better . . . right?
End of Previous Chapter:
Suddenly Jo's phone buzzed, followed a few seconds later by Mac's. They both glanced down, seeing the familiar code for NYPD dispatch. Jo looked slowly up at Mac, disappointment written all over her face. "Oh, darn," she sighed, not wanting their time together to end so abruptly. Mac's gaze was frozen downwards, staring at the screen. The insulated little bubble in which they had been existing for the past several hours finally bursting and the reality of their time together suddenly setting in. Just as Jo answered her phone, Mac finally looked up and stared at her, his expression nothing less than one of abject fear as he pressed the 'answer' button and raised his phone to his ear.
A Nice Dinner 6 – Fifth Course: Indigestion (discomfort arising once one begins to digest the various courses of a meal)
Jo furrowed her brow as she listened to dispatch. "Ok, I'll be there in . . ." she glanced at her watch, suddenly remembering she had neither her car, nor her gun nor her field kit. ". . .uh, at least a half an hour – I'm not close." And she hung up, continuing to watch the screen as the text confirming the exact location popped up.
She looked up at Mac, who ended his call earlier but hadn't seemed to move, his gaze still focused on the phone in his hand. "Mac, are you ok?"
He heard her speak his name and looked up slowly, not really seeing her. "MAC, what's wrong?"
He shook himself back to reality, focusing his eyes on hers. "Uh, nothing. We should go." And he stood up, grabbing the rest of his sandwich and wolfing down a few bites before throwing the remainder into the trash. Jo wrapped hers in a napkin to bring and took a last swig of her soda before standing up and trailing behind Mac, who was clearly in a hurry. He exited the deli and took off down the street.
"Mac, stop a minute." She called, as his quick pace was drawing him further and further away. He came to a sudden halt but merely stood waiting for her to catch up, not acknowledging her in any other way.
"Mac, what is going on?" She reached out and placed her hand gently on his arm, turning him slightly so that his body was facing hers, even if he continued to avoid her gaze. "You know something about this that I don't? All I got was 3 D.B.s, in the Park, off the access bridge at the north edge of Turtle Pond. Something else you're not sharing here?"
He shook his head, but she wasn't sure if it was in response to her question or an indication of his current mood.
"Mac. Come on, you're worrying me."
He sighed, still staring at the pavement. He wasn't being fair to her, he knew that. He looked up, glancing across the street for a moment, before finally willing his gaze to turn and connect with hers. He could see the concern in her eyes and he reached across his body with his right arm, his hand closing over hers still resting near his other shoulder.
"Jo calm down. No, I don't know anything more about the scene than you. Nothing's wrong." He forced his lips to turn upwards into a slight smile.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Mac, that's the worst fake smile I've ever seen. Ellie does a better job when she breaks curfew and comes up with some crazy story about why she's late. Come on, tell me what's going on with you."
"It's just . . ." he paused, trying to collect his thoughts. " . . . it's just that all this . . ." he removed his hand to gesture, indicating the both of them, ". . . happened so quickly, so unexpectedly, that there wasn't really time to figure out where we were going; where we are going." He trailed off, his hands dropping back to his sides, his gaze back to the pavement.
Jo stiffened slightly and removed her hand from his arm. "Are you having second thoughts?"
He sighed. "No. . .I just . . ." he trailed off, glancing up at her then away again. "I'm not having second thoughts, but . . ."
She pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers. This could not be happening.
He saw the crestfallen look on her face as she moved her hand away. He reached out to gently touch her shoulder.
"Jo, I mean it. I'm not having second thoughts about what happened. I told you last night, when I commit to something, I don't back down. You should know that about me by now."
She smiled faintly, nodding almost imperceptibly.
"But you were also right in that I'm not usually impulsive, certainly not about these kinds of things. And I didn't really take a lot of time to think this through. Quite honestly, now, it's scaring the hell out of me. Working together and. . ."
She looked at him, uncertainty etched across her face. "Mac, you're telling me on the one hand that you're not having second thoughts, yet at the same time you sound like you aren't sure this is a good idea. I'm not sure where you're heading here. You don't regret what we did last night, but it's too scary for you to continue? Are you trying to say 'What's done is done' and now we move on?"
He looked at her, his eyes serious. "I want this to work Jo. I'm just not sure right now how it's going to."
She nodded once, pursing her lips. "All right. Well, I appreciate you're candor." She glanced down at her watch then at the street around her. She wasn't familiar with this neighborhood and didn't have a sense of exactly where they were. "We should probably get going. How do you want to do this? Neither one of us has a car, a kit or a piece. Any thoughts?"
He gestured for her to follow. "Come on. My place is just a few blocks away. I'll get the car, get our guns and . . ." he stalled. Shit, then what?
Dropping her at the Lab to get her car and kit would be a detour of anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending on traffic. Obviously the quickest way to arrive at the scene would be to drive her in the Avalanche. But her apartment was on the other side of the city. It wouldn't have made sense for him to pick her up. And they had no reason to be together this morning; well, other than the real reason. But he was definitely not ready to broadcast that to the team.
Jo stepped in. "Drop me off at the Wilton Hotel – a couple blocks from your place. I'll be able to grab a cab there. I'll just say my car wouldn't start last night and I left it at the Lab, with my kit." She gazed up at him. She was disappointed, annoyed, hurt - any number of emotions raced through her head, but she needed to be professional at the moment and move on, for the sake of her job and the victims in the Park. She and Mac could hash this out later.
Mac nodded, relief flooding his body as he realized her plan was not only the most efficient, but also the most discreet. He took off in the direction of his apartment, Jo following fast on his heels.
They reached his building in five minutes and immediately descended to the parking garage. They'd spent the entire walk in complete silence, having come to some tacit agreement that this was neither the time nor the place to have any sort of discussion remotely related to 'them'.
They approached the car and Mac opened her door, letting her climb up and close it herself as he rounded the front and entered the driver's side. He slammed his door and reached across her lap to unlock the glove box, retrieving their guns. He handed her hers, attached his to his belt, and jammed the pharmacy bag into the space that had just been freed up by the guns.
She gazed at the bag, watching it disappear from sight as he closed the glove box door and locked it again. Surely he's not just going to lock away everything we've shared over the past few hours like he just did that damned bag. She stared out the window in silence as they maneuvered into traffic, munching on her sandwich.
A short drive later he pulled up into a passenger loading space in front of the hotel. To her surprise, he cut the engine and turned to face her, rather than just dropping her off. "Are we going to be ok to work on this case together?" He asked, his face devoid of any expression.
Her mouth gaped slightly in surprise. "Mac I'm nothing if not professional. What the hell do you think I'm gonna to do? Sock you in the eye when you show up at the scene? Break down in tears over 'us'? Announce to everyone that we 'fucked' last night?" He grimaced as if she'd slapped him. "I think you know me better than that."
She turned abruptly to open the door, her anger getting the better of her. But she forced herself to pause, took a deep breath, and shifted back to face him. "I'm sorry. But Mac, we clearly need to talk about this. About us."
He nodded, avoiding her gaze. "You're absolutely right. We do need to." She looked at him expectantly. He continued. "Let's check in later this afternoon – see how our schedules are going. We can grab dinner or whatever seems to make sense at the time."
She nodded slowly, slightly disappointed. She'd hoped for a more definite plan, but he was right, there was no telling when they would both finish. She smiled weakly at him and hopped out of the car, closing the door behind her without a further glance.
He watched her walk over to a waiting cab and climb in. He sat in the car a moment longer, running his hand through his hair, feeling a massive headache growing on either side of his head. He expected he'd just royally messed everything up. Of course she wasn't happy with his sudden hesitancy about their relationship. He wasn't sure where it was coming from. And he knew he'd done a poor job of explaining to her what he was feeling right now. He truly liked Jo. A lot. He knew she liked him. He really did want this to work. He just couldn't for the life of him picture right now how it would.
He had managed to work through it with Peyton, although it certainly hadn't been easy. He remembered how much his hesitancy at revealing even the slightest sign of intimacy between the two of them had really hurt her early on. But in the end they had worked it out. Yet his relationship with Peyton had moved so much more slowly. There'd been more time to think it through, and there had still been several rocky moments. Jo and I had our first date, slept together and had our first fight all in less than 24 hours. He thought morosely. Probably some kind of record, certainly for me.
He shook his head and pulled away, turning onto 5th Avenue and following the Park until he turned in at the 79th St entrance. He passed Belvedere Castle, heading towards the Delacorte Theater. Arriving at the gate to the service entrance in back, across from Turtle Pond, Mac flashed his badge and was let in.
He saw Don talking to two NYC Parks Enforcement officers; another was seated on the trunk of an SUV, clearly upset. Behind Don, Mac could see one of the night shift M.E.s and next to him stood Adam, looking as if he'd just rolled out of bed. Don began walking over to Mac, accompanied by one of the Park Enforcement officers. With the officer's help, Don began summarizing what they'd found so far.
A moment later, they both looked up as they heard the gate squeak open. A Yellow cab pulled in and Jo got out, leaning back in to pay the driver and slamming the door behind her. A uniformed officer escorted the cab back to the gate and on its way.
Don grinned from ear to ear and waved at her. "Hey Danville, cabbin' it today are we? Too far gone to drive home last night?" He joked.
She walked up and stood in front of Mac and Don. Mac noticed she hadn't looked at him once yet. "Do I look like I have a hangover to you Don?" She asked, hands on her hips and her head tipped slightly so it seemed she was peering down at him even though he was several inches taller.
He merely laughed. "The day Jo Danville drags herself to a crime scene, eyes all bloodshot, reeking of alcohol, same wrinkly clothes from the day before (Jo tensed slightly but only Mac noticed), I swear I will wear a suit to work for a week."
She eyed him suspiciously. "Come on Don, you'd renege on that one after 2 days - you don't own enough suits to get you through a whole week."
"Aah, I'm just teasin' ya."
"Well, thanks for that charming welcome then. What exactly do we have?" She looked around, searching for the bodies and nearly jumped when Adam suddenly stood up a few feet behind Don, where he'd been crouched next to the pond taking samples.
"Just step right over here to my lovely waterfront lot," grinned Adam, swooping his hand dramatically. Jo mock-curtsied in response as she moved towards him. As she approached, she could now see the legs and back half of what appeared to be a male wearing a maintenance uniform, camouflaged in the dense grass at the edge of the pond.
Don summarized quickly what he'd already started to tell Mac. "Some tourist noticed it about an hour ago. He was standing on the nature blind over there," motioning behind him on the north edge of the pond. ". . . trying to spot the turtles up close with some binoculars and came upon the feet of our maintenance guy here. T.O.D estimated at between 4-6 a.m. this morning, before the park opened. Guy's name is Bob Smith . . ." he looked at them with a smile, ". . . seriously, it is. He works maintenance for the Parks Conservancy."
Jo glanced at the body then at Adam. "I don't have my kit – Adam can I borrow some stuff from yours?"
Adam eyed her with mock hesitation. "Ohh, J.D., I don't know. You better take that up with the boss man over there. Showing up at the scene without your field kit – could get you into trouble big time." She glared back, albeit playfully.
Don stared at them a moment. "You ok Jo? You show up with no car, no kit. Somethin' happen?"
Here we go thought Mac.
Jo simply shook her head. "Nah, my car wouldn't start last night. I left it in the garage at the Lab. Kept my kit there too – didn't feel like carting it with me on the subway." She glanced over at Mac. "Sorry. I probably should've gone to get it this morning."
Mac shrugged back at her. "It's ok. Borrow Adam's."
Jo turned back to Adam. "Where are the other bodies? I thought there were three." She turned as she heard a loud guffaw from Don behind them. He motioned for Mac to follow. "You're gonna wanna see this." Mac moved to stand next to Jo. His shoulder brushed her arm slightly, but he stood firm. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, but his gaze was directed to the pond, where Don was motioning.
Don continued. "So, turns out the first Parks Enforcement officer on scene's only been on a couple weeks – not used to dead bodies yet. He's sittin' over there now, recovering. Anyway, he gets the call, shows up, comes up behind our maintenance guy here, figures he's dead since his head's submerged. Glances into the water . . ." he motioned for Jo to move closer to the pond edge, " . . . and he gets a gander at this," he pointed with his hand to an area of the pond between the bank and Turtle Island a few yards away.
Jo turned back to Mac, a look of incredulity on her face. "Are those . . . mannequins?"
Mac looked at her, nodding, then turned to Don. "You gonna fill us in?"
"There's your other two bodies. Parks officer got a quick look at 'em, submerged like they are, and apparently got spooked when a turtle slid off the rock into the water. He thought the bodies were comin' back to life or somethin'. He hightailed it back and called it in to NYPD, without investigating any further. Reported three bodies because that's what he thought he saw."
Jo looked at Mac a moment. "You know, I remember reading somewhere about some new art installation in the park involving differently painted mannequins randomly placed near some of the monuments."
Mac raised an eyebrow. "Yea, I remember that too. All sorts of controversy, community groups complained they would detract from the natural beauty, distract drivers, scare passersby."
The senior Parks Enforcement officer chimed in. "We were against it too – just another thing that can get stolen."
Don laughed. "Or drowned."
Jo looked at the officer. "I take it these two aren't supposed to be in Turtle Pond?"
The officer shook his head. "Nah. We're canvassing outwards from here – trying to figure out where they're missing from."
She nodded. "Ok, well, find where they came from. Find out when the maintenance guy was on shift last – who else he worked with. Adam, finish the photos and let's get our 'victims' pulled out and back to the Lab." She glanced at the M.E. "Preliminary cause of death?"
The man nodded. "Looks like he probably hit his head on that rock just under the surface there, knocked himself unconscious and drowned. Detected a bit of bruising on his back – possible he was pushed or kicked. I'll have to check back at the morgue for anything else."
Jo nodded and walked back away from the pond, trying to follow the victim's shoeprints in the mud.
Don glanced over at Mac, then Jo. "Hey, you know we missed you two last night
at Flaherty's. Too good for the rest of us lowly peons?"
Mac snorted. Jo continued to study the trail of shoeprints.
"Seriously, Mac, I thought you were gonna join us. What'd you do last night?"
Mac's poker face fell into place as he turned his gaze to Don. He shrugged. "The usual. Worked, grabbed something to eat, went home and went to bed." He smiled inwardly. He hadn't even lied.
"Man, Mac, you gotta start gettin' out again, go on a date. You need to find a new woman."
Mac glared, not looking the least bit convinced. "I'm fine thank you."
Don shook his head. "Look I was gonna go out to that new sports bar by the precinct tonight – why don't you join me?"
Jo turned to face them, very interested in Mac's answer.
Mac noticed Jo's sudden interest, but avoided looking at her. Instead he raised his eyebrows and gave Don a quizzical look. "You asking me out on a date? I mean I like you and all but . . ."
Don scoffed. "Come on Mac, don't think so highly of yourself. I mean we're friends and all, but you're not really my type."
"So what you're really asking me to do is accompany you to a bar while you scope out eligible women?" Mac smirked.
"No I'm askin' you to have a drink with me – if any attractive women happen to approach us, well, that's just our good luck."
"Thanks Don, but it's not really my scene."
Don raised up his hands. "Hey, I'm flexible. Maybe you wanna swing by that new scientific bookstore on 10th instead? Might find someone more your style there."
Adam scoffed and Jo slapped her hand to her face, stifling a giggle that was threatening to explode out of her mouth.
Mac shut Adam up in a second with a glare; he turned to Jo only to be greeted by her eyes sparkling back at him, her hand failing to conceal the huge smile on her face.
Don laughed. "Hey, I'm bein' flexible here. I'm willing to tailor the evening to you Mac."
Adam piped up. "Hah. That was good. Get it?" Everyone turned to stare at him. "No, listen. 'Tailor' like adapt to the situation and 'Taylor' like 'Mac Taylor'. Yea? "'Tailor' the evening for 'Taylor'." He grinned. No one laughed. "Umm, ok, maybe not so funny. I'll just . . . well . . ."
"Adam, just stick with the trace." Mac intoned.
"Yea, boss. Good idea." And he crouched back down to the body, still murmuring something about 'tailors'.
Don rolled his eyes and turned to Jo. "What's your excuse for last night?" Then he raised a finger as if recalling something. "Oh, I know, I know. Your kids."
Jo shook her head nonchalantly. "No actually they're both out of town."
Don looked hurt. "And you chose your empty apartment over a fun-filled night of drinking with us? Now I'm really offended."
Jo smiled seductively. "Who says my apartment was empty?"
At that, Mac's head spun around, the poker face sliding a bit.
Don choked slightly. "Well, do tell."
Jo just laughed, shaking her head. "Got you." Don frowned.
She grinned at him. "Don, if you ever have kids you will come to realize the sheer bliss of just being alone in your apartment every once in a while."
Don laughed and Mac sighed inwardly.
Don continued, not ready to let them off the hook yet. "Seriously, though, you guys. The two a ya. Geez. Maybe you two oughta start going out – you can spend your free time hanging out in each other's apartments doing nothin' together. At least it'd be less embarrassing for ya." He shook his head and moved off to check in with another officer.
Mac turned to Jo, his mouth open, about to say something when his phone went off. He glanced at it and looked up to her. She raised her eyebrow expectantly. "Another crime scene. Down in the East Village." His gaze lingered on hers for a moment, then turned to Adam. "You guys ok here with your '3' victims?"
They both smiled in return. Mac glanced at Jo again. "Adam, can you give Jo a ride back to the Lab when you guys are done?"
Adam stood and saluted. "Sure thing boss." Then he turned to Jo. "You're chariot awaits my lady. Nothing fancy but it's clean."
Jo smiled sweetly at Adam. "Anything's better than trying to get a cab from here." She turned to Mac. "Maybe I'll see you later at the Lab." Mac nodded and took off as Jo crouched down next to Adam. He looked back as he got into the Avalanche, but she didn't; she was deep in discussion with Adam.
-/-/-/-/-
Several hours later, Mac was seated in his office, signing off on some paperwork. He heard a soft knock at his door, even though he'd left it open. He glanced up to see Jo smiling slightly. "Can I come in?"
He smiled warmly in return. "Of course. Sit down." And he pushed the paperwork away, turning towards the couch as she eased down into it. He noticed she had her jacket and bag with her.
She glanced at the doorway before starting. "I thought we were going to check in this afternoon?"
Mac frowned, glancing at his watch. 7:30. He looked at her sheepishly. "Yea, I guess it's not afternoon anymore, huh?"
Jo shook her head. "Oh Mac, sometimes I think if you never got called out you'd just end up sitting there 24 hours a day and not even realize it."
He nodded. "You're probably right." He looked at her, trying to gauge her mood. "I can think of something that might make me want to leave."
She narrowed her eyes at him, but said nothing in response. Ok, she was clearly not in that kind of mood.
She sighed. "That wasn't so bad today, was it?"
He quirked an eyebrow at her.
"Being at the crime scene together." She clarified.
He paused before responding. "No, it was ok. But we were there for 10 minutes. We didn't even work the case together. It makes me feel . . . awkward. I'm sorry."
A lab tech knocked and entered the office with a report for Mac. He nodded his thanks and looked back to Jo after the tech left. "You want to do something together?" They'd discussed seeing a movie earlier, but he realized that probably wouldn't be very conducive to talking. "Maybe we could just grab a bite to eat and chat."
This is gonna need more than a chat, she thought. "I think I'd rather you just came over to my place – I'll whip up something simple and we can 'chat' there. How about 8:30?"
He looked at her, slightly confused. "You want me to come over?"
She have him a hard stare. "If we're really going to have a productive talk I'd prefer it be in private so we don't feel the need to tiptoe around each other like we might if we were in public."
Out of the blue, Mac suddenly had a vision of Jo standing over him in her living room yelling at him at the top of her lungs, gesticulating frantically. He couldn't hold back the slight grin that tugged at his lips, the glint of amusement in his eyes.
Jo wrinkled her forehead. "That was funny somehow?"
He shook his head. "No, it wasn't. I'm sorry." His grin was expanding into a smile despite his best efforts to contain it. "It just, well, it conjured up kind of a funny image in my mind of you yelling at me in your apartment."
"And that was just so incredibly amusing, huh?"
She was not seeing the humor in this at all, he thought.
His full blown smile had now turned into a rather hearty chuckle, and he covered his mouth with his hand, turning away from her for fear he was going to explode into peals of laughter any second. Maybe it was his nerves. Maybe it was his empty stomach. Maybe it was the lack of sleep. But he just couldn't stop. He could not get rid of that image . . .
She sighed and threw up her hands, exasperated, watching his shoulders shake with the effort of containing his laughter. "Mac Taylor, I swear, I have no idea what to make of you sometimes."
He peeked around slowly to hazard a glance at her face. She didn't sound particularly mad anymore, or even annoyed. In fact as she caught his timid stare, she sighed again and actually smiled, although he had to admit it was a weak one.
They were interrupted by Flack knocking at the door, his eyebrows raised at the two of them. Mac tried to get himself back under control while Jo alternated glaring at Flack then Mac in turn.
"I miss somethin' funny?" Don asked.
"Apparently my ability to tell great jokes is enhanced when I'm not actually intending to tell one." She quipped.
Flack looked at Mac. "Huh?"
Mac shook his head. "Nothing. I laughed at something that wasn't supposed to be funny."
"YOU laughed?"
Mac's smile disappeared and it was Jo's turn to smirk. Mac frowned at both of them.
Don glanced at Jo, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "You must be good. You oughta think about goin' out on the club circuit. Better hours than we got here, ya gotta admit – nights only, days free." Mac and Jo glanced at one another. Don continued. "I can see the billboard now – 'The Accidental Comic' - straight to you from the NYPD Crime Lab. Hey, if the criminals don't kill ya, her jokes will." Mac groaned. Jo just rolled her eyes. Don slapped his thigh and tossed his coat on the couch, still grinning.
"Are you here for some reason other than the entertainment value?" Mac finally asked.
Don sat down next to Jo on the couch. "Matter of fact, yes, I am at that. Came ta tell ya both it's time to go home." He glanced at Mac. "East Village murder – confession in the bag. Girlfriend did it. He was cheatin'."
He turned to Jo. "Turtle Pond: Turns out Bob the maintenance guy had a bet with his partner Herb that he could steal the mannequins from around the King Jagiello Monument and pose them on Turtle Pond Island before the Park opened. Old Herb finally admitted he was with Bob the whole time."
"Once they got to the pond, they heard a noise while they were trying to get the mannequins set up - they got scared. Probably a turtle - it is Turtle Pond. Herb panicked and took off, thought the cops were comin'. Heard a splash behind him and figured it was just Bob running the other direction. Bob apparently tripped and fell in the water, hit his head. Herb didn't know his friend was dead until he showed up for work this afternoon and Bob didn't."
Jo glanced at him. "What about the bruising on his back?"
Don smiled. "Apparently Bob had a bit of a tussle with one of the mannequins as he was trying to wrangle it from it's stand – fell on it."
Jo sighed. "Oh for heaven's sake. I wasted my Saturday afternoon and most of the evening on this?"
Don just shrugged. "What can I say? The childishness of some people never ceases to amaze me after all these years." He stood, glancing down at Jo. "You off to revel in the silence of your empty apartment?"
She smiled at him seductively as she stood to go. "Absolutely." She drawled, articulating each individual syllable as if it were a unique word. "Glass of wine, bubble bath, some nice music. In my head, I am already there."
Don smirked. "Yea, so am I." She reached out and slapped him playfully on the arm, smiling as she did so. "Dream on." And she walked out of the office, glancing back with her radiant smile to wave at them both. "'Night Don. 'Night Mac." And she headed to the elevator.
Don turned to Mac. "You know, you should go out with her."
Mac nearly swallowed his tongue. "Jo?"
"Yea, Jo, your partner, your colleague, your friend, the one that just sashayed out a your office like she does."
"Don, come on."
He nodded. "No, I'm serious Mac. I could see you guys together. Now you and Stella mighta killed each other. But you and Jo, no I don't see you reaching that level of drama. She's a little more grounded. I could see it workin'. She could be good for you Mac. In lottsa ways." His eyebrows waggled a few times.
Mac gazed at him unbelievingly. "Don, we work together. . .
"Ahh, don't give me that shit. So do Danny and Lindsay, so did Jess and I, so did you and Peyton. Deep down, we're just one big happy family. Besides, where else are ya supposed to meet anyone when we got hours like ours?" Don smiled widely at Mac and motioned with his arm. "But come on. I came to free you." Don grabbed his coat from the couch and waited for Mac who was turning off his monitor. "So, offer's still open for that drink. Sports bar? Or book store?"
Mac just smiled. "Thanks for the tempting offer Don, but I actually have plans."
Don stopped in his tracks. "Hey, way to go Mac. Care to elaborate?"
Mac merely shook his head. "No, I don't." And he walked to the elevator, Don trailing behind.
As they stood waiting for the doors to open, Mac's phone beeped. Glancing down, he saw a text from Jo. "Don't 4get, my place, 8:30. If u behave, I promise I won't yell at u."
Mac smiled as he entered the elevator, shaking his head at Don, who figured as long as Mac seemed happy, he wouldn't push for details.
A/N: In response to a couple subtle hints from readers, I slightly redid my original plan for this story. I expanded this chapter, and then two more will still follow. That way we can at least get Mac and Jo through the long weekend. Thanks for everyone who's still reading. Hope you like it . . .