18Disclaimer: I still don't own anything. At least not outside of the occasional daydream.
Chapter Two
"So where do you work now?" Grace asked. They were sitting at a table for two in the small café Will had been frequenting ever since he started working in the area. Will was sipping coffee; Grace was demolishing a mountainous cheesecake.
"A law firm," Will replied. "Doucette & Stein. Well," he added, shifting awkwardly in his chair as if about to disclose something embarrassing, "It's looking increasingly like it's going to be Doucette, Stein & Truman by this time next year."
Grace paused with a forkful of cake halfway to her mouth. "Congratulations, Mr. Big-Shot," she said.
Will blushed slightly. "So what do you do for a living?" he asked.
"I'm an interior designer," she replied. "Grace Adler Designs. Not all that well-known, but we've got outlets in most east-coast states now."
"Wow," Will said, grinning, "The travel time you must rack up – "
Grace laughed. "I work out of the Manhattan branch," she replied. "There's only fifty employees in all, and including me there's five of us in New York. I was hoping to move to Florida to work there but, you know, my mother would probably want to come live with me, especially now my husband's out of the picture."
"Speaking of moms," Will said, "I totally forgot to ask if you have any kids."
Grace shook her head. "We were going to start trying after Leo finished up in Cambodia so he could be around for the early days," she said, "But then Leo decided the night before he left he was going to sleep with some missionary and so I was kind of put off the idea.
"Do you have any?"
Will nodded. "A teenage daughter," he replied.
"Aw, how cute!" Grace exclaimed. "What's her name?"
"Well, the thing is – Jack is the teenage daughter," he replied, and smiled wickedly.
"That is cruel!" Grace snorted, laughing and managing to keep the spray of crumbs away from Will's suit, at least for the most part.
Will shrugged. "Why? I have the common decency to say it to his face as well as behind his back."
This made Grace laugh even harder. She was attracting some odd looks now, but neither of them cared. It was good to be catching up again after so many years apart.
"So, seriously," she said, after she had calmed down, "Any kids?"
Will shook his head. "No," he replied, "No plans, either. For one thing, Jack doesn't really want kids, and for another…"
He trailed off.
"What?" Grace prompted.
"It's going to sound corny and more than a little crazy if I say it," Will said.
"C'mon," Grace cajoled, "Tell me. There's very little I haven't heard before. You wouldn't believe the secrets interior designers are in on. Affairs, kinky sexual habits, illegitimate kids… You name it, I've had a client who's done it and then told me about it."
It was Will's turn to laugh. "Nothing like that, I assure you," he said. "Okay, what I was going to say was… Although I always liked the idea of having kids, I like the idea of spending all my time just focusing on Jack even more." There was a moment's silence between them. "See, I told you it was crazy."
Grace shook her head, a look of awe on her face. "It's not crazy," she said, "My God! It's just about the most romantic thing I've ever heard!"
Will looked dubious. "Really?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yeah! Totally!"
He still looked unsure. "I've never told anyone that before. Not even him. It just sounds so weird when I say it out loud."
"Well," Grace said, "I don't think it's weird. I think, if anything, it shows that you're definitely ready to marry him. And I'm honoured that I'm the person you've told."
Will smiled. "Even though you turned out not to be my type, we could still have been great friends, don't you think?"
Grace paused whilst licking the crumbs from her plate. "We still could be," she said after a moment. "Why not call it an eighteen year hiatus and start over?"
Will extended his hand over the table solemnly. "Will Truman," he said.
"Grace Adler," she replied. They shook hands.
XxXxX
It was a quarter past five in the evening when Will got back to his apartment. Grace, with her previous knowledge of engagement rings, had taken him to almost a dozen different stores and finally helped him pick out something he thought Jack would approve of. Will was still pretty buzzed from the excitement of everything that had happened that day.
Jack was sitting at the kitchen table, his jacket and tie lying over the back of the chair next to the one he was occupying. The top three buttons of his shirt were undone, and he was staring intently at something on the table.
"Good day?" Will inquired, hanging his coat up on the stand by the door.
"Being a vice president is hard," Jack complained. "Tonight I have to work out which of our two lowest rated shows to cancel."
"You're vice president of Out TV, not the Fox Network," Will pointed out, going over to Jack and kissing the top of his head affectionately. "I didn't even realise that channel had ratings. I thought people had to watch it first."
Jack glared at him. "You're funny, Truman," he growled. "You know what? If it's so easy then why don't you decide what to do?"
"Oh, please, Jack, I've spent the entire day trying to make decisions," Will said without thinking.
Jack looked slightly puzzled. "Why?"
Will cursed himself mentally and smoothly changed the subject. "You know more about TV than I do," he said, "I'm sure whatever choice you make will be the right one."
Jack raised one eyebrow. "You're not usually this affectionate before seven p.m."
Will smiled. "I've had a good day, is all. I ran into an old pal from college."
"Male or female?" Jack asked suspiciously.
Will rolled his eyes. "Female," he said, "Not that it would have made a difference if she had been a guy. Grace Adler – remember her?"
Jack thought for a moment. "Your ex-girlfriend?" he asked after a moment. "Frizzy red hair, big feet? The one who was practically surgically attaching herself to your face at Matt Stokes's?"
Will nodded and smiled vaguely. "Don't be mean, Jackie."
Jack folded his arms sulkily. "Are you taking her side?"
Will burst out laughing. "I'm not taking sides, because there are no sides, because… Oh, who cares. I'm going to take a shower and get changed."
"Wait a minute," Jack said, "I still want your opinion on which show to keep."
"Seriously?" Will asked.
Jack nodded.
"Keep the first one," he advised.
"The lesbian one?"
Will nodded.
"What possible interest can you have in lesbians?" Jack asked. "At least heterosexual couples are halfway there. Lesbians are way off the mark."
Will shrugged. "The majority of your shows are about men. For a gay network, lesbians are under-represented by your programming."
"Does PC Lawyer Will ever sleep?" Jack asked him.
"Yes," Will replied. "I promise there'll be no trace of him once I've showered." He trailed a series of small kisses down the back of Jack's neck. Jack shivered slightly.
"Buy anything good?" Jack asked as Will picked up his shopping bags.
"A couple of sweaters," Will replied. "One for me to wear when we visit my mother at Thanksgiving and one for you to steal so you don't resent me taking you to visit my mother at Thanksgiving."
Jack pouted. "I can't believe you're making me visit her on our anniversary. She hates me and you know it."
"First of all," Will said, taking advantage of Jack's momentary lapse in concentration to transfer the small display box from the bag to his pocket, "It's two days after our anniversary. And second my mother does not hate you."
"Will, in seventeen years can you remember one occasion on which she's said something nice about me? Or has she ever told you that she thought you made the right decision?" Jack asked.
"No, but she's never said anything like that about Ginny or Peggy, either," Will replied. "You think they've never asked Sam and Paul those exact same questions? Mom's just not very open with the way she feels about people. She likes you just fine."
Jack shrugged and didn't say anything more.
Will went into their bedroom and hid the box among the general clutter under the bed before heading to the bathroom and taking a shower.
TBC...
Author's Note: Just so we're clear, I would like to point out that Jack's comment about lesbians in this chapter in no way reflects my own views. And, while you're here, would you review, please?