Every Second Counts

I heard my cell phone ring, and I snatched it up from the table in front of me, not even looking to see who was calling before picking it up. “Mara McNamara,” I said into the phone, and I heard a high-pitched squeal come from the other end. I moved the phone away from my ear before smiling at Reed. “Fi’s officially an engaged woman,” I told him before putting the phone back up to my ear. “Did you say yes?” I asked her jokingly.

“Of course I said yes!” she exclaimed.” Wait a minute! How did you even know?” she questioned.

“Please, I’ve known for weeks,” I told her. “Parker showed me the ring a few weeks ago. Anyways, tell me what happened. I want every single detail. Did he get down on one knee?” I asked her excitedly, and I saw Reed roll his eyes at me.

“Yes,” she said, proceeding to tell me exactly how he had proposed. “God, Mar, can you believe that I’m engaged?” she asked, and I knew she was happy.

“It’s about damn time,” I joked. “I wondered if Parker was ever going to pop the question.”

“How’s work?” she asked, ignoring my comment.

I shrugged my shoulders, even though she couldn’t see me. “Eh,” I answered. “It’s going. Nothing’s happened so far.”

“Good,” she said. “Hopefully you can get out of there early tonight, then. I’m going to let you go, though. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye, soon-to-be Mrs. McCabe,” I said.

“Bye, Mar,” she replied before hanging up.

I turned back around to my computer and turned the speakers up on the computer, letting the Christmas music sound throughout the crime lab. Reed looked up at me, glaring. “Really?” he questioned, referring to the music.

“What?” I asked. “You don’t like Christmas music?” I inquired. “Besides, it’s Christmas Day. You have to listen to Christmas music on Christmas Day,” I argued.

“You know, you’re lucky that I like you,” Reed said. “Because if it was anyone else, I’d make sure that that music was turned off instantly,” he said, putting his feet up on the table in front of him. Even though we were both working today, Davis had told us that he didn’t want us to actually do anything. He just wanted us there in case a murder was called in and we needed to go to the crime scene. Paperwork, however, he had told us, could wait until tomorrow.

So, Reed and I now sat in the crime lab, doing nothing. Having sat here doing nothing for the past four hours, and the most excitement I had had was from Fiona’s call, I was now bored out of my mind. I reached for a file on the corner of the table before I heard Reed call out, “Uh, uh, uh. No paperwork until tomorrow.”

“But, I’m bored,” I whined.

“You heard Davis. No paperwork on Christmas,” Reed reminded, and I nodded my head, putting the file back on the corner of the desk.

“So, what would you be doing if you weren’t working today?” I asked, trying to make conversation with Reed.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t really know,” he admitted. “Probably just sitting at home, watching some football or something,” he replied. “I mean, my parents are over in Europe right now, and my sister’s off with her husband in Hawaii. He took her there for their anniversary. They got married five years ago today,” he explained. I smiled at the nice gesture. “What about you?” Reed inquired. “What would you be doing? Would you be spending it with Kris?”

“I don’t think so,” I told him quietly. “Probably just make dinner for myself or something simple.”

“You and Kris are still fighting?” Reed asked, and I nodded my head. “Damn, maybe I should make my move now,” he added with a smirk, and I rolled my eyes at him, knowing he was only joking. I heard tapping on the glass window, and I glanced up to see the one person I never thought I’d see standing there. I glanced over at Reed, who nodded his head, silently telling me to go out into the hallway.

I walked outside, staring at Kris. “What are you doing here?” I questioned.

“Mara, I hate that we’re fighting. This, not seeing you for this long or talking to you for this long, it’s killing me. It’s messing with my mind. Even when I’m on the ice, it’s messing me up,” Kris said.

I looked up at him. “I know it’s messing up your game,” I told him. “What?” I questioned when I saw the look he was giving me. “Just because we’ve been fighting doesn’t mean that I don’t watch your games. Besides, Fiona makes me watch them with her,” I said offhandedly.

“Mara, I need you back. I miss you. I miss talking to you. I miss touching you,” he said with a smirk on his face, as he took a step closer to me. “That’s all I think about, even when I’m on the ice, your body and….”

I took a step backwards, and he cocked his head to the left, wondering what I was doing. “You need me back or you need to get laid?” I questioned. “Is it the lack of sex that’s got you playing so bad?” I asked, and he looked at me with wide eyes. “Because if that’s the case, then go have sex with a hooker.”

“Mara, I—did you just give me permission to have sex with a hooker?” he asked, finally comprehending what I had just said.

“Yes, Kris, if that’s all that’s causing you to play so badly, then go have sex with a hooker and it’ll solve all your problems,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

“I can’t believe you just gave me permission to have sex with a hooker,” Kris said to himself. I rolled my eyes, turning around to go back into the lab. “Mara, wait!” he called out, grabbing my arm. “That’s not it. The lack of sex isn’t what’s caused my game to be so fucked up. Well, it might be part of it. But, that doesn’t matter. I only want to have sex with you, Mar. I love you!” he yelled.

“That is so fucking cliché,” I yelled back, and he looked taken aback. “It is, Kris. We’re fighting, and you come here on fucking Christmas Day and tell me that you love me for the first time, and then you expect me to say everything’s alright. Well, guess what, Kris, it’s not all okay!”

“What do you want me to say, Mara?” he screamed back, obviously frustrated that I hadn’t forgiven him as easily as he had expected. “I tell you I miss you, and you don’t care. I tell you that I need you back, and you tell me to fuck a hooker. I tell you I love you, and you get angry. What do you want me to say?” he yelled even louder.

“I don’t know, Kris!” I screamed. “I want you to actually mean what you say and not just say it so things will go back to how they were. Because they’re not. They’re not going to go back to how they were,” I told him, shaking my head. “Just leave. Please,” I begged.

“Mara,” Kris began, but I shook my head, not wanting to hear what he had to say.

“Please,” I repeated.

“Fine,” Kris sighed, and I turned around, walking back into the crime lab. Reed quickly looked down at his desk when I walked inside, but I knew he had been watching me and Kris and had overheard everything that we had just said to each other, especially since most of it we had yelled at each other.

“Do you think I’m being stupid?” I asked Reed, sitting back down in my seat. Reed slowly looked up at me but didn’t answer. “Well?” I questioned.

“Don’t you think you’re being a little hard on him?” Reed asked me. “I mean, yeah, he fucked up. Really, really badly, actually. But, he did come here to apologize.”

“He never apologized!” I interjected, and Reed looked at me questioningly. “He didn’t! The words ‘I’m sorry’ never came out of his mouth.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Reed continued. “He still came here to fix things with you. Hell, Mara, he told you that he loved you.”

“He did that because he thought that that’d get me to forgive him, not because he meant it. But, I don’t forgive him. He’s off of his game. He’s been playing badly. And, that’s the only reason he came here today and tried to fix things. If he’d been playing well, he’d never have come. Why should I forgive him so easily?” I questioned, and Reed didn’t have an answer for me. “That’s what I thought,” I told him when he continued to stay quiet.

***

The following day, Fiona walked into the crime lab, and I immediately made my way over to her, grabbing her hand and inspecting her engagement ring. Sure, I had seen the ring before when Parker had showed it to me, but it was different seeing it on her finger. “I’m so happy for you,” I told her, just as Parker walked into the lab. “Both of you,” I added, looking up at Parker. “Congratulations,” I smiled.

“Thanks,” they both replied.

“I hate to interrupt,” Davis said, walking into the crime lab, and we all gave him our attention. “But, we’ve got a vic on Madison. Parker, you feel like coming with me?” he asked, and Parker nodded his head. “Mara, Fiona, can you keep working on the Werner case?”

“Sure,” I told him before he and Parker walked out of the lab. I turned around, grabbing the Werner file off of the corner of the table, sitting down, trying to put all the pieces together.

“So, are you going to tell me what happened with Kris yesterday?” Fiona asked me, and I looked up from the file.

“How did you know that I talked with Kris yesterday?” I asked her. Then, it all came together for me. “Reed,” I stated, knowing that he had to have told her about Kris coming in yesterday. She nodded her head, confirming my suspicions. “Why can’t he just keep quiet?”I muttered.

“Hey!” Fiona exclaimed. “I am your best friend! I shouldn’t have heard about this from Reed. I should have heard about it from you! Why didn’t you call me last night and tell me?” she asked.

“And, ruin your good day and yours and Parker’s celebration. I’m gonna pass on that. Fi, there was no reason to call you about it,” I told her.

“Reed said he told you he loved you,” she said.

“Yeah, he said it. But, he didn’t mean it,” I said, shaking my head. “He only said it because he thinks that if we stop fighting that his game will go back to normal. But, it won’t. You know, he still didn’t apologize. After all of this, he still hasn’t said he’s sorry.”

“Mara, you have to know he’s sorry!” Fiona said. “I mean, he sent Ladd here to freaking serenade you, and then he came here on Christmas Day to try to work things out,” she reminded me.

“Fi, the only reason he did those things is because of the way he’s been playing,” I argued.

“Mara, do you want to break up with him? Do you not want to be together anymore?”

I looked over at Fiona like she was crazy. “Of course I don’t want to break up with him!” I exclaimed.

“Well, that’s what you’re making it out to seem like,” she said. “If you don’t want to break up, you’re going to have to forgive him.”

“I’ll forgive him when he apologizes and means it.”