A/N: Sorry for the sudden pause in updates! I had to travel out of state for a weekend and didn't have much time to escape and write. Thank you for the ongoing reviews, I've never had this many for a story and it's a bit overwhelming! I am thinking that this plus 1, maybe 2, more chapters before we're at the end. I am also totally distracted by last night's episode…so hard to think about flirty happy Will after that episode! But we travel on because in this universe Will IS happy and flirty because that's the way I like him! :-)
Mackenzie was right; Will was not going to make it easy on her.
The next day Charlie called them up to his office and Mackenzie stood nervously as she and Will waited in the elevator lobby. Yesterday when she read his list she thought it was sweet but she hadn't actually believed he would do something so brazen as try to make out in an elevator. The past 16 hours had challenged her to rethink that assumption.
It had started with that next run down meeting at 6 yesterday.
She had prepped herself for having to again deal with flirty, distracted Will. As she left her office she could see that just like the previous meeting he was the first one in the conference room but unlike last time he was sitting forward with several folders in front of him.
As the rest of the staff filtered in he smiled at everyone and greeted them by name or with a joke. A few looked cautiously at Mac before smiling and joking back. Will raised his eyebrows in surprise when Sloan stepped in and took a seat to the side of the room. Jim turned to see her, "You're sitting in on the rundown?"
Sloan shrugged and smiled broadly at Will, "I just wanted to observe." She then leaned forward and whispered in Will's ear "I've got your back."
Mac rolled her eyes but ignored her friend and pointedly tried to ignore the smug smile on Will's face, especially when his eyes began to drift lower than her face...
She cleared her throat and tried to discretely minimize her cleavage.
"Okay. Let's get started. We're going to lead with the Coup in Mali?"
Will leaned forward, "Yeah, I've done a preliminary outline of the script, Jim, I'd appreciate it if you had a couple minutes after to look it over? We need to decide what emphasis we are going with here; I think it may make sense to pivot directly to Syria but perhaps we should spend an extra 60 on the political history of Mali?"
Mac stood back slightly stunned as Jim dove into the conversation about the best way to portray the story. Shortly Will was also soliciting input from Gary and Martin. As the meeting continued each story received the same treatment; Will had come prepared with his own thoughts but carefully pulled more information and opinion from everyone in the room. Sloan even became an eager participant discussing the economic perspective of the student protests in Montreal. At one point Mac found herself unable to stop herself from staring and smiling at Will as he leaned across the table in a dynamic, rapid fire exchange with Neal and Kendra about the Trayvon Martin rally in New York.
By the end it had been one of their longest 6pm rundown meetings ever but everyone was smiling and energized, confident that the broadcast was as well prepared as it ever could be.
Mac waited by the door with her arms crossed as Will gathered his papers in front of him.
"That was productive." She commented.
He smiled and stepped so he was just barely encroaching on her personal space, "Just making sure we have the three I's and an A covered, boss."
She swallowed deeply, quickly looking away from his penetrating gaze. "Yes well I think it's shaped up to be a good show this evening."
He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Any show that you're running is going to be a good show."
Her mouth opened but she found herself absolutely unable to speak.
He gave her a quick squeeze the stepped away holding the door open, "Come on, let's get to work on our show."
She nodded mutely and walked out the door, trying not jump when she felt his hand land for a moment on the small of her back.
He had remained in the bull pen smiling and working with the team and unabashedly looking her over whenever she walked by.
She had to admit it felt great to so obviously have his attention but it was also a serious distraction which the bastard was all too aware of; during the broadcast he continually made sly comments during commercial breaks which caused her to completely blank on what she was supposed to be telling people in the control room.
At the end of the night Will caught her as she left her office and put a gentle hand on her hip, squeezing oh so lightly as he said "Goodnight Dulcinea. I look forward to tomorrow."
Less than an hour later she had received a text with a picture of a nightlight plugged in next to his bed
-Will; Do you like it? Just picked it up on the way home. If you ever need comfort in the middle of the night it will always be here...and so will I.-
She hadn't responded, not sure what to say without leading him on or discouraging him.
Things had been quiet for 3 hours and thanks to a (large) glass of wine she was able to calm herself down and reaffirm in her head that she was doing the right thing. Then came the phone call.
"''ello?"
She wasn't asleep yet but she had been close to nodding off on her couch and her voice was thick.
He skipped the pleasantries, "Normally I would have sat here thinking of a valid sounding excuse to call you but I don't have any fake reasons tonight. I just had a dream and it made me need to hear your voice."
"Will..." she sighed, half annoyed, half touched.
He continued, ignoring her, "We were on a beach like that one we went to in Aruba? With the pink sand? Well we were sitting there and you were going to get a sunburn so I was rubbing sunscreen on your back, and then you turned over and I didn't stop..."
"Billy..." She was unable to articulate a response and couldn't help the quickening of her pulse as she pictured in her mind the scene he was setting as he slowly described making passionate love to her on a tropical beach.
"...and you were saying my name in that soft way you do and it was so good Kenz, so good. And we just lay there, my fingers in your hair and your hand on my chest and it was so peaceful and perfect. But then I was annoyed with my subconscious because suddenly we were at work and you were nervous that you would have sunscreen on your blouse. So I guess I'm calling to ask you, what do you think that means?"
She had to take a deep breath before she was able to find her voice. Trying to sound annoyed, she replied, "It means that I need to go take a cold shower now thanks to you."
She swore she could hear his smirk, "Or you could just come over here..."
She sighed, "Good night Billy."
She had hung up the phone and indeed taken a cold shower. But as soon as she got out of the shower she noticed he had called her back and left a voicemail.
After listening to the voicemail she had to get back in the shower.
She didn't end up sleeping very well at all for the rest of the night. It seemed that her subconscious dreams were all too happy to continue Will's work of breaking down her defenses.
If that all weren't enough when she arrived at work the next morning she was greeted by a smirking Will holding a latte for her and dressed in those charcoal pants she loved and the blue shirt that made his eyes shine with adorably uncombed hair. She had smiled shyly and immediately ducked into her office only to be confronted by a small stuffed bear sitting on her desk holding a rose and a small card. She picked up the card and smiled when she read it. "This is real. -Love, B"
So now, here she stood next to him in front of the elevators and so anxious that she feared she was going to give herself a heart attack. The doors opened to reveal Millie, Charlie's assistant, who was also heading up to the executive floor. Mac couldn't decide if her shoulders had sagged in relief or disappointment at the realization they would not have an elevator to themselves.
It did take all of her effort not to squirm when Will leaned over to her and whispered in her ear, "Too bad. Better luck next time."
By the time they had reached Charlie's office Mac was such a bundle of nerves that she couldn't stay still. When she paced the room for the third time in as many minutes Charlie stopped his diatribe on Syria to look at her with concern, "What the hell is going on with you today?"
Mac shook her head, "Nothing." But she wasn't quick enough to prevent herself from casting a quick glare at Will which of course Charlie was keen enough to pick up on.
The older newsman turned his attention to Will, "What have you done this time?"
Will just shrugged from the chair where he was comfortably reclined, "Just flirting."
Charlie narrowed his eyes; surely Will wasn't that insensitive, "With whom?"
Will smiled, "With Mac of course. Wouldn't dream of flirting with anyone else." He twisted and his seat and winked at her again.
The gesture, and her runaway imagination reading into it, was enough for her knees to go weak and she dropped into a chair on the other side of the room.
Charlie's eyes widened and he cocked his head to the side, "And why are you flirting with your EP?"
As if he were commenting on the weather Will explained, "Because I love her and I'm hoping she'll get the message. Although she seems to think this is just some kind of manic break from reality. Don't worry, I'm not giving up."
"In it for the long haul?" Charlie asked wryly, a grin slowly splitting his face.
"Damn straight." Will agreed.
Mac dropped her head in to her hands and groaned.
Charlie smiled softly, "Is there a problem Mackenzie?"
She shook her head, "Charlie, he really doesn't need any more encouragement."
Will smirked, "You're right! You're all the encouragement I need!"
Mac rolled her eyes and leaned back, looking at the ceiling.
Charlie shook his head. "Well as happy as I am that you've finally got your head out of your ass Will, why don't you head back down. I need a couple of minutes with Mac."
Will narrowed his eyes at the older man but relented and move to leave the office. He stopped at the door, looking back at Mackenzie, "Mac, should I wait for you so we can go down in the elevator together?"
Mac just groaned again and dropped her head in her hands.
Will shrugged, "I'll take that as a no…for now!" and left the room.
Charlie watched him leave before sitting in the chair across from Mac. He smiled when she looked warily at him. "Don't worry, I didn't ask to speak with you so I could push you on the subject."
Mac sighed, "Thank you."
Charlie's face grew serious, "I did want to check that you were okay. It appears Will is a man on a mission and although I applaud his sudden turn around I don't want it to be at your expense. If he's pushing boundaries, I want you to tell me so I can stop him before this goes too far."
Mac shot her head up, eyes wide, "Oh Charlie, no!" She reached out a hand and covered his. "No, he's not doing anything I haven't wanted him to do or say for years. It's just a little overwhelming as I'm still trying to be the responsible one here."
Charlie smiled in amusement, "Responsible? Why?"
She tilted her head and look knowingly at him, "Like you said, it's awfully sudden."
Charlie's eyes lit with understanding, "You doubt his seriousness."
Mackenzie shrugged, "Don't I have good reason to?"
Charlie squinted in thought, "Maybe you do." He leaned forward, insistently holding eye contact, "But I'm telling you that you shouldn't. That boy has been head over heels, non-stop, for a long, long time."
Mackenzie smiled and looked down. Intrinsically she knew that Will loved her but it felt good knowing that Charlie knew it too. "I don't doubt his love Charlie. I do doubt if he's ready to be with me again."
Charlie scoffed, "Well I can tell you that you're wrong. But even if you're not, how are you ever going to know if you don't allow yourselves to move forward?"
She shrugged, "I was hoping it would come to me?"
The older man smirked, "I'm sorry to tell you this my dear, but it doesn't work that way. No divine deity is going to come in to your office and tell you that you don't need to be scared any more. It's something that you just need to decide to do for yourself."
Mac nodded, "I know. I do. And I appreciate you looking out for me and trying to assuage my doubts."
Charlie nodded and returned to his desk, "Mac, I love you both and will be there for both of you regardless of what happens in the future but don't forget, while you're waiting to not be afraid, you're wasting time for both of you. I told this to Will not long after you came back and it's still good advice so I'm going to say it again; on the off chance you aren't going to live forever why not take a shot at being happy now?"
Mac paused, biting her lip, "You were talking about me that way back then?"
Charlie nodded, "Less than a year after you came back."
Mac nodded slowly, unsure of what to make of this revelation.
Charlie smiled at her, "He's been scared too and he's taken his time but don't think he's only decided yesterday that you're the most important person in his life."
Mackenzie nodded as she left the office, her mind rushing. Perhaps Charlie was right. Perhaps her plan to force Will to wait was doing nothing but wasting time...