Graceland: Family Affair

Chapter Seventeen

"Another one?" I say in a low tone so only Mike can hear. "Is today Ex-Girlfriend Day or something?" He squeezes my hand and gives me an apologetic look.

"Well..." Abby smiles, turning to Mike as she shuffles further into the booth and closer to him. He slides away, sinking into the back of the booth in an attempt to distance himself from her. He keeps a strong hold on my hand. "I was sort of hoping we wouldn't have to be 'exes' anymore..." She winks at Mike. "If you know what I'm saying?"

"...Uhm...Abby!" Mike's eyes widen in disbelief as he raises our interlocked hands in the air.

"I shouldn't have let you go, Mike...I really regret that...and I miss you..." She leans over so that her mouth is by her ear. "I really miss you, baby...a lot..." She whispers in his ear, stroking his arm. I snatch my hand away from him. So much for me being the only one for him! He didn't just have one girlfriend...but two!

"No...Abby", he brushes her off him. "We're done...we're over. Come to think of it, we never even really started..." He looks at me. "I'm happy now...happier than I've ever been, in fact...Sarah is what I want..." He smiles lovingly at me. Abby slowly turns her head, her mouth open in disgust.

"Oh..." She says, giving me an ugly stare. "I see..." She pushes herself up and out of the booth, and fixes her hair and her clothes, composing herself. "Well...good luck, Sarah. Good luck with dealing with his lies and deception and secret lives...Good luck in trying to find the real Mike underneath all that..." She stomps a foot as she turns, giving a little flick of her hair as she walks away.

Mike sits there, mouth wide open in stunned silence at the randomness of the last two minutes. I rest my arms on the table while I sit staring at my drink, unsure of what to think now.

"Sarah..." Mike sighs, reaching over to try to take my hand. I move my hands so he can't reach them and cross my arms, looking away from him. "I really don't know..." He starts but doesn't finish. "I'm so sorry..." is all he can say.

"You got any other girlfriends hiding, waiting to come out from the woodwork?" I ask, unimpressed in half-sarcasm, not expecting an actual answer.

"...One more..." He quietly admits.

"What?!" I spit and my arms fly in the air, my eyes almost falling out of my head.

"Jessica Foster...an Agent I met during my brief time working in D.C..."

"I don't believe this...I wasn't being serious! I wasn't expecting any kind of answer...and then you give me that kind of answer?! Gosh, Mike!" I thump my hands back on the table in frustration.

"She didn't mean anything to me! None of them did! I'm just trying to be honest with you!" He defends himself.

"What? As opposed to the lies that two of your exes accuse you of?" I ask mockingly. I cringe inside at the harshness of my own voice, but I can't back down now.

"Two?! You've only met one –" Now it's his arms that are flying in the air.

"Paige..." I jump in, matter-of-factly, folding my arms again.

"What?" Mike asks, stunned as he leans in toward me.

"I saw her today at HQ...She asked how you were...and I got a little defensive... Johnny told me what happened with you, and her...and the hospital...and when I saw her, I just got so angry...and then she tried to blame you...because of 'your lies'...and then Abby has just talked about 'your lies'...what are these 'lies', Mike? How do you know that you won't lie to me?"

"I am so sorry, honey..." He sighs as closes his eyes as if it pains him to hear all that I've just said. He looks around to check no-one is listening, and then talks in hushed tones just to be especially careful. "I'm sorry you've had to put up with both Paige and Abby today...and you know, as well as I do, that lies are all a part of this job...it comes with the territory. We build our careers on lies...I couldn't tell Abby what I did for a living...and Paige and I disagreed over a couple of things, and things didn't turn out the way she wanted, and I tried to shield her from that...and how do you do that? You sometimes have to lie!" He reaches over and takes my hand, and this time, I don't try to resist and I let him have it. "But, I swear, I will never lie to you. And not just because of whatever relationship we have here – if we still have one – but because we're partners...we're in this together...we have to work it out together...and if we keep things from each other, it makes that teamwork impossible to achieve. So, to you, darling Sarah, I am an open book...I promise..."

"...It's okay..." I say softly after staying silent for a while, just thinking things over. "I understand...I get it...and...for the record...of course we still have a relationship..." I let out a weak smile and he squeezes my hand. I lean back in my seat and snigger to myself. "Who'd have thought it, huh? Our first date turned into our first fight..."

"...Can I have a do-over, please? And we'll start again?" He asks sweetly, doing that cute thing he does where his face kind of cringes as if he's worried about what your answer is going to be. "No lies?" I feel an ache inside...and I feel awful. He's being so honest...and I'm not. I'm not telling him the whole truth. Yes, we're partners...and yes, Johnny told me things...but so did Agent Matthews. I know more than Mike thinks I do. And I hate that I can't be completely honest about why I'm here. I sound like such a hypocrite. Can I have a do-over? Can I just be honest with him from the outset? And maybe we could have avoided this horrible fight. I want to tell him the truth so badly, and tell him everything Agent Matthews said, and tell him everything that I know about what happened to him. But I can't...I know I can't...and I desperately wish that this wasn't the case.

"...No lies..." I nod, trying to smile as Mike looks at me lovingly as he strokes my hand that rests in his.