JAG Continues Book II: Volatile Matters
Ch. 2 - Needs
Part D
Mac spent most of the night curled up, facing away from Harm. But he could tell she had welcomed having his arm around her. He sensed that whatever their ‘tabled talk’ would involve, it was making her feel insecure and doubtful about herself. In that sense, he welcomed the opportunity to resolve the issues.
On the other hand, he was not looking forward to actually discussing certain things, such as Webb. But it had to be done. Mac was right – the sooner the better.
Mac woke up before Harm did, and, after having some coffee, she sat down on his side of the bed. “Rise and shine, Flyboy. You’ve got some phone calls to make.”
“What time is it?” he asked groggily.
“0800. Come on. We need to figure out if we can pay some of your friends a visit soon or if we should head to the gym,” Mac said.
Harm was relieved to find her in much better spirits. He was actually surprised at how confident and cheerful she was this morning, considering how fragile her emotions seemed before they had gone to bed.
“You think ‘my friends’ are going to like being bothered at 0800 on a Saturday morning?” he asked.
“Actually, it’s 0806,” she clarified. “I was rounding before.”
“Oh, well, that makes a difference then,” he said sarcastically.
She smiled, leaned over, and gave him a kiss on his lips. “Seriously, we need to figure out our schedule. And since we need info on Howrani ASAP, we really shouldn’t wait to see who we can contact today. They’ll understand that it’s important.”
Mac didn’t stay for a response, but got up and headed back to the kitchen.
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When Harm walked into the kitchen a few minutes later, Mac handed him a cup of coffee in one hand and his cell phone in the other. “Hey,” she greeted and kissed him.
“Hey yourself,” he replied, before putting the objects on the table.
“Did you sleep okay?” Mac asked.
“Ah, yeah,” he yawned. “Just could have used some more, I guess.”
“Hopefully, we’ll have plenty of time to catch up on sleep later,” she suggested, smiling brightly.
Harm sat down and picked up his coffee mug. “What is it you had in your coffee to make you so perky this morning, Marine? … And more importantly, did you put some in mine?” He took a sip.
Mac sat down next to him. “It has nothing to do with the coffee, sailor.” She smiled at him with a twinkle in her eyes.
“Oh? You gonna share your secret?” he asked. Although, just observing her in such a good mood was already putting a smile on his face.
She took in a breath and let it out contentedly. “When I woke up this morning, I had been having the most wonderful dream ever.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t a vision of things to come?” he suggested.
“Not this dream. This one involved memories of something that has already happened.” Mac sat lost in her thoughts for a minute.
Finally, curiosity got the better of Harm. “So, are you going to tell me about your dream?”
“I don’t have to.” She beamed at him. “You were there when these memories were made.”
“Was I? When was this? … I’ve been around you a lot.”
“Yes, you have,” she agreed with a tone of appreciation, taking his hand.
“So, you need to give me something more specific for me to know what you were dreaming of,” he insisted.
“Well, there was a boat …”
“That doesn’t narrow it down much.”
“And we were having dinner …”
“Hmmm, this was a good dream, so you’re probably not referring to carrier food.”
“We were dancing …” she continued.
“Getting a little more specific,” he admitted.
“And,” as she spoke, Mac stood up, walked behind Harm, and put a hand on his shoulder, “you were telling me,” she put the fingers of her other hand through his hair as he leaned his head back against her, “the most wonderful things anyone has ever said to me …”
“Mmmmm,” was all Harm managed to say.
“You also gave me two exquisite pieces of jewelry …” Mac slid her left hand off of his shoulder and down his arm to where he could see the referenced ring on her finger, while the necklace hung slightly away from her chest, as she bent over him.
Harm picked her hand up, turned himself sideways on the chair, and slowly pulled her around and onto his lap. “Anything else in this dream?”
Mac put her arm around Harm’s shoulders and looked deeply into his eyes. “Yeah. … I pledged my life and my love to you for all eternity.”
Harm did not verbally respond, but his eyes spoke volumes of love, gratefulness, and joy.
Finally, Mac added, “Oh, and another fantastic part of my dream … There were some amazing kisses between us …”
Harm smiled widely before their lips joined together to bring to actuality the subject of Mac’s recounting only a moment before.
After a minute, with mouths still connected, Mac reached back and felt for Harm’s cell phone on the table. She suddenly pulled away and held the phone in front of Harm. “Now that you’re awake, … make some calls.”
He reluctantly took the phone, but as Mac got up and headed off, he called after her, “Hey, where are you going?”
“To take a shower. I want to freshen up. I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to visit someone who might have information for us pretty soon, so I’m going to get ready while you call. Is that okay?”
“I guess. Just don’t use up all the hot water,” he teased.
Mac stopped, smiled, and walked back to Harm. “I’ll be out and dressed in seven minutes. And uh …” She leaned over and kissed him intensely again. When she pulled away, she pointedly glanced at his lap, and finished, “… it’s not the hot water you’ll be needing.”
As she walked towards the bathroom, she smirked at him from over her shoulder. Harm was momentarily astonished until Mac, not looking where she was going, tripped over a packed box and not so gracefully ended up on the floor.
After noting that Mac had not injured herself, Harm laughed. “That – my sweet thing, was cosmic payback!”
Mac, suffering from embarrassment, but still smiling from her own joke, merely shot him a mock nasty look. “Jerk.”
Harm laughed some more.
Sitting on the floor, Mac reminded him, “You still owe me a full explanation for the last time you called me ‘sweet thing.’”
Harm’s eyebrows shot up. “Uh … I have some phone calls to make.” He turned to the table and put his phone on.
Satisfied that she had gotten in the last dig, Mac stood up, laughed, and went to take a shower.
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“Ten minutes, Marine.” Harm called out when Mac came out of her bedroom, dressed, after her shower.
“We need to leave in ten minutes?”
“No, it’s been ten minutes since you went into the bathroom. You said it would only be seven.”
Mac smiled as she sat down by Harm. “I confess – I needed a few extra minutes of cold water myself.” She winked at him. “Now - who did you get a hold of?”
“My friend at the embassy didn’t answer, so I left a generic message to call me back. No luck with Beth yet either. But Catherine answered and invited us to her place as soon as we’re ready. I didn’t talk about any specifics with her over the phone.”
“Well, get in the bathroom if you’re showering. We’ll need to stop and grab something to eat on the way there.”
“Of course,” he agreed lightly. “I wouldn’t dream of keeping my marine from satisfying her basic need for food.” He smiled at her and got up to ready himself for whatever the day might bring.
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To be continued in Ch 3 - Visiting Gale