Chapter Eight
There it was. The question Mandy must have been smiling about before. To say it caught Diane off guard, was still an understatement. She had to use all her willpower not say or do anything to reveal her state of mind to the other woman, but it was much harder to hide it from her husband. She didn't look in Will's direction, but the few seconds she had to wait for his answer impatiently almost felt like minutes.
"Yes, we used to date in law school, which was a long time ago," Will finally replied and even though he sounded calm, Diane could tell that the question took him by surprise too. Not that it really mattered to her how he felt after what he'd revealed.
Her instincts had been right all along, the damage was done. She felt her whole body tense up and she wanted to pull her hand back from his grasp, but she wasn't sure if she could conceal the gesture from Mandy, so she forced herself to stay put, waiting for a reaction.
"It's a good thing your wife is not the jealous type," Mandy noted with a smile, obviously enjoying her triumph and for the first time she turned to Diane, who felt overwhelmed by the situation. She was tempted to ask if that had been a question, but she chose to stay silent, hoping Will would say something smart on her behalf.
"She knows that she has no reason to be jealous," Will finally responded and squeezed Diane's hand, which made it even harder for her to keep her pokerface on. She cautiously glanced at her watch to check how much more time was left of the interview and was relieved to see it was almost time to wrap things up.
Even after Mandy had turned off the recorder Diane stayed in character right until the reporter disappeared from their sight in the lobby. Only then did she let her guard down and looked at her husband to seek answers.
"I should have told you, I'm sorry," Will admitted, while Diane tried to decide how to react now that she was free to do so. She'd had a few minutes to consume this piece of information, the immediate shock was already gone.
"You really should have," she agreed and stood up to be able to get away from him. She was aware that they were in the office, which had rarely been the place for their personal disagreements, but this issue needed to be discussed now.
"Would you have agreed to hire her if you had known?" he questioned her, revealing the reason behind his move.
"I guess we'll never know that now," she snapped at him, refusing to think it through. Maybe she would have, maybe she wouldn't, it didn't really matter since she hadn't been given all the facts.
"Are you angry?" he asked calmly, with the guilt visible in his eyes.
"Don't I have every right to be? I had to find it out from a complete stranger. Why did you keep it from me?" she raised her voice to let her anger out a little, she figured it might make her feel better.
"I didn't want you to say no to hiring a good lawyer, just because we have a history. I wanted you to see her for who she is, an excellent attorney and not prejudge her for who she used to be, a girl I dated in college," he explained himself and even if it sounded logical, she didn't like it any better.
"So you would have told me eventually? Or you thought I would never find out?" She threw the questions at him in a lower voice this time.
"It really shouldn't matter at all. You know I dated a lot of girls in college, she is just one of them," he tried to defend himself, but it didn't have the desired effect on Diane.
"The only one who's working with you on a daily basis, or at least I hope so," she reacted with some jealousy she was unable to hide as the image of Gillian and Will together from earlier popped back into her head.
"I can't believe you're jealous," he shook his head.
"I would have every right to be. Do I have to remind you how you felt when I was working with my ex?" she brought up something both of them had wished to forget. But that had been a mistake Diane had learnt from and she was sure Will also remembered what had happened with Chris.
"That was a completely different situation," Will pointed out, but he probably only thought so because he was on the other side now.
"I don't think it was. But unlike you, I am not jealous of her, because I don't have a reason to be," she tried to convince him and herself that even if she felt a little jealous, it wasn't justified. "I just wish you had told me, so I could have been prepared, that's all. I can't leave myself vulnerable like this during the campaign."
"I really am sorry. Please let me know if I need to do anything, give another interview. I caused this mess, I want to help clean it up," he offered and she hoped it wouldn't come to that, but she appreciated it nevertheless.
"Mandy will surely make a bigger deal of it in her article than it actually is, I need to warn Eli," she concluded, maybe Eli should have been present on the interview as well.
"I don't even know how Mandy found out about it," he argued in a last attempt to shift the blame.
"It doesn't matter," she sighed, but she hoped for their sake that it hadn't been Gillian who'd shared the story with Mandy. The last thing they needed was an in-house mole, but judging from how Will felt about his 'friend', Diane chose to conceal this thought from him.
"I just hope you can forgive me," he said silently and as she looked deep into his eyes she saw a slight fear in them, but also noticed the love that had been tying them together for two decades.
"Of course," she gave him the only acceptable answer and observed the fear vanish in his eyes. It might not be right now, it might take a day or two, but eventually she'll forgive him. "I have to go talk to Eli now," she was ready to leave and he seemed a little disappointed, but she thought it was for the best if they'd pick this up later, some place else. "I'll see you at home."
On her way out she stopped to take a look at her office on the other end of the corridor and decided to enter the closed door. She looked around and saw that everything was the same way she'd left it only a few days ago. It would have been so easy to take a seat and simply continue where she'd left off, while she still felt she belonged there. She wasn't sure how long that feeling would last.
o-o-o
When Diane opened the door of their home she was greeted by a smell that suggested someone had been cooking dinner. Unable to mask her surprise she headed straight to the kitchen, only to find the door closed. She grabbed the handle, but before she could peek inside she was interrupted by her son.
"Mom, you can't go in there." Nat's voice came from nowhere and startled Diane a bit.
"What's going on?" she turned in his direction with a questioning look.
"I can't tell you, but you'll know soon enough," he hinted with a smile that made Diane suspicious.
"Okay, is your father home yet?" she inquired and after a last glance at the closed kitchen door she moved towards the living room where her son was.
"He's in his study," Nat replied, turned the TV off and got up from the couch.
"And where are the girls?" she looked around as if Emma and Mimi could have been hiding there, when they clearly weren't.
"They are in the kitchen," he helped her put the pieces of the puzzle together and she started to suspect what was going on, but chose to hide it from him.
"I see, is that where you're heading now?" she followed him with his eyes.
"Just want to have a glass of water," he shrugged, trying to act normal, but he couldn't fool his mother. Diane knew something was up and she couldn't wait to find out what it was.
"I'm going to just sit here then and wait," she proposed and sat on the couch.
She was so tired that she wouldn't have minded if she could have stayed there all evening. But the thought that a relaxing weekend was ahead of her gave her a little comfort. She closed her eyes and imagined having a bubble bath, the water bubbles tickling her skin.
"Hi mom." Diane's chain of thoughts was cruelly disturbed by her daughter's voice.
"Hey, will someone tell me what's going on in there?" she motioned towards the kitchen with her head.
"Sure, just give me a sec," Emma smiled and disappeared behind the staircase in the direction of Will's study.
Diane stayed put and waited for her to return, probably with her father and her curiosity grew by the second.
When Emma and Will appeared in front of her eyes Diane stood up to greet her husband.
"Hey," she smiled at him and moved to his side to place a kiss on his cheek. Even if they had an argument a few hours ago, there was no reason to give away anything in front of their kids. "Do you have any idea what's going on here?" she whispered in his ear while Emma approached the kitchen door.
"I have no clue," Will answered just as silently and they both turned to their daughter who wet her throat to catch their attention.
"Mom, dad, here's a little something for you," she said ceremonially and opened the door, revealing the nicely decorated table inside and the sight made Diane speechless for a few seconds.
"I knew you were up to something," Will broke the silence first and Diane saw the happy smile on his face when she glanced at him.
"You cooked for us? What's the occasion?" Diane addressed her daughter, fearing she might have forgotten some big day in the middle of all that had been going on in their life.
"No occasion, we just wanted to do something nice for you," Emma explained and as her words reached Diane she got closer to Emma and hugged her tightly. And her daughter didn't protest this time, in fact she hugged her back.
"She didn't do it alone," Mimi piped up from the kitchen and once Diane let go of Emma she entered the room to hug her niece.
"My job was to keep you two out of here until the time comes," Nat demanded some attention too and Diane thanked him with a hug as well.
"Do I smell mac and cheese?" she guessed, admiring the table that was set for the five of them, with flowers in the middle.
"Yeah, I hope it's good," Emma opened the oven to serve their dinner. "Sit, sit," she instructed them and Diane peeked at Will, who had a content smile on his face. She reached out for his hand and pulled him with her so both of them could take a seat.
"I don't even know what to say," Diane's eyes shifted from one kid to the other and stopped on her husband in the end.
"I guess the word your mom's looking for is thank you," Will helped her out, squeezing her hand gently under the table.
"Yes, thank you," Diane smiled.
This was just what they needed tonight, a pleasant family dinner to end this crazy week right. And she was sure Will was thinking the same thing, that they had two amazing kids who knew them so well.