Chapter 15

Early Saturday morning Mackenzie's in her newsroom, feeling as comfortable as she ever does nowadays. She's seated behind a semi-circular desk, along the back wall. Her staff share the room with her, working round groups of desks. James has his own small glass walled office along another side of the newsroom. Mac is speed reading a newspaper, holding three highlighters in her right hand as she marks and erases text to be the basis of a story.

"Mac, Mac, that fire at the legal conference in the Marriot this morning may not have been an accident" Paul, a very junior producer says excitedly, as he turns his chair towards her, telephone clutched to his ear.

"And your reason for concluding that is…?" Mac smiles indulgently at him. He reminds her a little of Neal Sampat and her lips twitch upwards whenever she thinks of that idealistic, passionate young journalist, even though he was so open-minded sometimes that he'd circumvent his own brain.

"I've got the doorman on the phone and he's reporting several participants are saying they saw a person leave from the spot that was the centre of the blaze just minutes before." Paul rushes his words out

"What are the police and the fire brigade saying?" she prompts

"Umm, not sure" Paul stops dead. There's a silence, which Mac does not fill, before he starts again,

"So, I guess I need to contact the emergency services and if it seems a good lead then I go down and see if I can talk to those delegates. Right?"

"Perfect idea Paul, I think you're getting the hang of this" she encourages. She has to train new people and she believes Paul will be a good producer one day. Not quite yet but…

"Ems!" James shouts across the newsroom from his office doorway "You weren't at the toboggan race last night" and he walks across the room, grinning, coming to a stand at her desk.

"I was at the Christening last Sunday and the third birthday party two weeks ago, Jamie" she takes a breath "we can't all be anchors and get megabucks for reading off a teleprompter. And don't call me Ems, the name's Mackenzie, Mac or Ms McHale" she responds primly, trying to keep a straight face.

"Well, ok, you did come to the Christening but I'd say that was obligatory seeing as how you are the Godmother. And how can I NOT call you Ems when your name is all….mmms?"

"Watch it Buster, I'm the one in your ear while you're in front of zillions of people. You are in my hands" she teases

She and James get on so well. He has two small children and a wife he adores. He is acutely aware how much his programme owes its success to Mac's skills and guidance. He's hit lucky and he's doing his best to make her feel welcome in his home town.

"So, how about dinner at the mad house after the show?" he offers "Mary has a great pot roast for tonight"

"Sorry, Jamie, lovely invite but I have a stack of things to do and I'm off on Tuesday, remember?"

She continues "You guys will have to just muddle through without me"

James knows she'll have everything so prepared that she may as well have stayed and run the show but he's not going to say that so he just replies "We'll do our poor best Mac and try to do you proud…I guess you'll be watching anyway"

"You bet" Mac finishes with a grin and returns to her paper.

Two hours later, a little after 11am Paul arrives back from the Marriot.

"Mac, one of the guys who saw the suspicious character in the main hall knows you and wants to say hello." Paul begins

"Oh! who is it "she queries absentmindedly still reading "I don't know any lawyers round here"

"He's not from here, it's an international conference, names Wade something from New York, He'll make a very good guest to interview about the fire. He remembers lots of detail"

Mac's head shoots up and she gives Paul a piercing glare. "If it's the Wade I know, then I don't want him on our air. He has been known to make political capital from television exposure.

"But he really does have something to add to the fire investigation and he seems very credible" Paul wheedles, unhappy about losing his story. "Are you completely certain he'll lie or something?"

"I didn't say that Paul, but if he is on my air and he makes a play politically I will never live it down" Mac states. "I suppose I could put it to David. He can make the decision and leave me out of it entirely" Mac suggests. "Has Wade given a statement to the police?"

"Not sure Mac but I can ask him" Paul continues more hopefully

Just then Wade strides towards them from the glass doors between the elevators and their newsroom. He is smartly dressed and looking very like the lawyer he is. As he gets nearer he starts to address her.

"Mac, it is you? I wasn't sure when I heard your name from this young man here. How are you? Are you here permanently? Maybe we could meet up for dinner tonight seeing as the conference is a wash out. Or a drink? I'd love to catch up. Please" Wade rushes through his monologue to a very surprised Mackenzie. His last word comes out pleadingly.

"Wade" Mac nods her head in acknowledgement of his presence. Her eyes drift over his shoulder to avoid looking the man in the eye. And then she sees a taller man with bright blue eyes beyond the glass doors Wade has just entered.

Oh! God, Will ? He's here,she thinks and her heart rate soars just as bunch of her reporters walk across her line of vision. When they clear, there's no William McAvoy. She scans the room and feels a wave of disappointment . Will won't come. He doesn't even know where she is. She shakes her head to clear her thoughts and carries on.

"Wade" she repeats after a pause to regain her composure " Previously, you used my airtime for political gain, so I'm unwilling to agree to your interview with James. However I'll ask David, the news division's chief here in Alberta, to decide whether your interview airs. I also insist that, before any interview, you must have made a statement to the police. Oh! And I am not available for dinner or drinks" she states calmly.

Wade looks downcast. "Yeah, of course I'll see the police and I am not going to talk politics on your show. I wouldn't. I was just disappointed last time so I took payback, and I have regretted it ever since," he says that last part very quietly "And I did leave, and I lost the election- well I didn't even stand, and I have been in….. well, ever since"

Mac looks puzzled, not quite understanding what is being said. Wade had tricked her, made a fool of her, and used her for his own ends. Is he saying he's sorry? Well ok then, she can let it all go, but he's never on her air again without someone else carrying the can. Period!

"Right then, Paul, get Wade here, down to the station and back in time for a recorded interview with James and I'll check it with David" she commands. And Paul hurries off with Wade in tow.

As they walk away, three more young staff arrive at her desk with queries and it is several minutes before her thoughts can return to the mirage she'd seen or thought she'd seen across the newsroom. What was that about. Was wade a trigger for some deep sub-conscious desire? Maybe I should eat breakfast.

NewsNight finishes on Friday night as usual with Will in a good mood for once. He apologises to the staff for missing his now regular Friday visit to Hang Chews but he has someplace to be.

He sets off for a hotel beside the airport so that he definitely won't miss his early morning plane. The flight takes just over 5 hours with the weather report predicting snow and icy winds. Will has packed the leather gloves that Mac gave him for their first Christmas, and the mohair scarf she bought and insisted he wore after he had told her about his frost bitten childhood when his father had redeployed their household budget for booze.

Actually, Will thinks about Mac much of the time, just as he always has since they met. He can't now comprehend why he had so much difficulty getting past his image of her with Brian. He can see all the good things in his life have come from Mackenzie…even his gloves! He loved being loved by her, being engaged to her and loving her. How had he let a stupid mistake come between them? Granted he would have to disbelieve his own eyes and trust in her, but truth is she almost always is on his side (well she was inn the past anyway)

He is a total klutz.

Getting on the plane for a 5 am flight Will can barely contain his emotions. With the prospect of seeing her in only a few hours he is both excited and anxious. What if she won't see him? Or she has a new love? He takes a deep breath and decides he will try to trust in her whatever happens.

They touch down just after 10.15 am and Will is met with icy blasts as he crosses the tarmac. He pulls his scarf close.

Inside the terminal he gets through Canadian customs and immigration pretty quickly and is in a cab heading for the CBS studios before 11.00. He knows she'll be busy till 6 tonight but he just has to see her, a few moments will do. He needs her to know that he's sorry, that he's still in love with her, that he'll wait.

Bouncing out of the cab at the CBS office doors he walks to the desk in the lobby and asks to see Mac.

"Mac?" the receptionist queries

"Yeah, Mackenzie McHale. EP for The Daily Report" Will explains "I know her well, I'm Will McAvoy from NewsNight in New York"

"Oh I know who you are", says the buxom receptionist fluttering her eye lashes at him "Go right on up, third floor"

Will takes the stairs. He's too agitated to wait for the elevator.

He arrives at the glass newsroom door but before he can pull it open, he sees Mac on the far side of the room talking with a man with his back to Will. Wait, it's….. Wade, it can't be.

Will jumps backwards, out of sight, slamming his spine against the corridor wall. She isn't free. She's decided to hook up with that low life lawyer who had the nerve to make a fool out of them…well mostly her. Will can feel his blood boil. He wants to hit Wade- but the then his logical brain catches up with his reptilian emotions, he takes a breath and tries to think instead of feel.

And his logic tells him she would never go out with Wade. Mac is straightforward and noble. She does not love Wade so she will not lead him on or let him settle for second best. He takes a deep breath; he has to trust her to do the right thing whatever that turns out to be.

Not prepared to face Wade before he knows how Mac feels, Will turns and makes his way downstairs to get a cab to his hotel.

In the hotel room he rings for bourbon and switches on the CBS news. The 12.00 news bulletin informs about the fire at a legal conference and Wade's truncated interview at 2.00 pm reveals his reason to be in the newsroom. James makes a good job of extricating the facts and nothing more. Will likes her anchor from the little he's seen so far. When James asks Wade how often he's been to Alberta and Wade replies that this is his first time, Will is ecstatic. Definitely not her boyfriend then! Trusting in Mac worked.

Will prepares to visit her apartment-the address he was given- at 7.00. He arrives at the door and knocks nervously. His hands are sweating and his chest is tightening up. She opens the door wearing a baggy coat and leggings with a smile on her face which drops when she realises his identity.

"Will, why are you here?" is all she can manage. She doesn't look pleased. "Were you at the Report studio today? It was you I saw wasn't it?"

Will hadn't planned to be grilled about his visit to her place of work, he wasn't aware he'd been seen, and he tried to think of a reasonable reply that was not a fabrication.

"Yeah" was all that came to mind

"Why are you here?" she repeats

"I've come to talk." Will waits for a reply "Can I come in?"

Mac steps back and opens the door wider, in silence. He steps inside and she closes and bolts the door behind him then leads him to her tiny sitting-room which has a dining area at one end. She indicates the couch and takes a single chair opposite for herself. She looks worried.

"Why are you here, Will?" Mac repeats her question even more firmly "What do you want?"

"I'm sorry" he blurts out "I made a massive mistake and I need you to forgive me"

"You're forgiven for mistaking me for Brian's look-a-like" she says instantly "I know you truly thought it was me you saw and I appreciate how that happened."

Will's relief is clear "Then I need you to know…"

"I'm really busy Will" she cuts in "I have an appointment and I'm late"

"But I want us to.."

"Really late and I thought you were a cab driver" she continues

"Can I see you tomorrow morning then, there are things I need to.."

There is a knock on the door and a male voice calls, "Cab for McHale!"

"See Will, I have to go, I have an appointment" Mac says as she opens the door to the driver.

"You ready to go lady?" the driver asks "I'm a bit late and they said you needed to be at the hospital by 7.30 latest."

Mac glances guiltily at Will as she says "Yes I'm coming right now. Come on Will I need you to leave"

And she leans across the doorway and picks up an envelope and stuffs it into her purse.

Will steps out of the apartment saying "Hospital! You're going to hospital Mac?"

"Nothing to worry about Will" she sooths while running down the stairs "Just a check"

"Then we can talk in the cab" Will says following her

"Will, no" she says "I have an appointment. I don't have time for this"

"Then let's get going so you won't miss anything, and I can get a cab from the hospital to my hotel or maybe take you to a meal after your check" now standing with her next to her ride.

"Oh God! Okay! Here goes! I have some things to tell you too so I guess I'll go first" Mac takes a deep breath "Will you need to know I'm pregnant and I'm getting married on Tuesday"

And with that she hops into the cab and sets off, leaving a stunned Will McAvoy on the sidewalk.