The Publicist (13 page)

She picked up her phone, typed in
ok
and hit send. Within minutes Mac appeared in her doorway.

“Time to go,” he said, “everyone else is gone. Let’s go.”

“Where?” Kate asked, standing up.

“You’ll see,” he smiled and threw his scarf around his neck, “now bundle up, as the song says ‘baby it’s cold outside’.”

When they got into the elevator she turned to him and said “No alcohol.” The minute it was out of her mouth she regretted it. What was she? Some horny sixteen-year-old who couldn’t handle her liquor or her hormones?

Mac smiled and stroked her cheek, “You are priceless, Katie. No, no drinks. I had another idea. I think you’ll love it.”

The elevator hit the lobby, “Well, don’t keep me in suspense,” she said.

“Trust me.”

This is our stop.” Mac said as he led Kate out of the subway.

“Brooklyn?” she followed him out of the subway and onto the busy platform, “I didn’t think you knew where Brooklyn was.” She laughed.

Mac arched an eyebrow, “You think I’m some city snob, don’t you?”

Kate nodded, laughing. She enjoyed being with Mac.

Problem number one.

They left the subway station and headed into a bustling Brooklyn. On Friday, even on an evening that threatened more snow, the cafés and restaurants were full of smiling, happy people. Mac weaved through the crowd, keeping a brisk pace and Kate tried to keep step.

“Are you kidnapping me?” she smiled.

“If I was, I would have just blindfolded you and taken you to my apartment where I would have left your eyes covered while I made love to you.”

Kate’s cheeks burned and she couldn’t feel her legs.

“Sorry.” Mac offered insincerely as he smiled and led her down another street. He stopped in front of a small store. “We’re here.”

The wooden sign above the door read: The Book Nook. “A bookstore?”

Mac’s lips curved, “Not just any bookstore, it’s one of the best and oldest independent bookstores in the country. I love it. Maeve owns it, she has for years. Before her, her mother owned it. Great place. They’re a dying breed. I try to get out here whenever I can. She also makes the best hot chocolate you’ve ever had. It’s worth the subway trip, trust me.”

Mac opened the door and Kate walked in. The store smelled of old books and cinnamon, an odd but comforting aroma. Kate always loved the smell of books, especially the new book smell. She’d often bury her face in a new book. Without cracking the spine she would inhale the scent of the freshly printed pages. The store was small and towers of bookshelves lined every open space. It was a cozy and well-organized.

“Maeve!” Mac greeted an elderly woman with an enveloping hug. She was petite with short, silver hair, “MacDermott, always good to see you. How was your week?”

“Good, Maeve, really good. Hey, I brought a friend with me tonight, Maeve Turner, this is Kate Mitchell.” Maeve hugged Kate as well, “So nice to finally meet a friend of Mac’s. In all the years he’s been coming here, he’s never brought anyone with him. I’m so glad he has friends.” She winked at Mac.

“Maeve, you know me. I am a solo operator.”

“That’s what worries me, dear.” She took his hand and gazed fondly at his face. Kate gathered they’d been friends for a while. Maeve was not someone she would have pegged as a friend of Mac’s. He seemed full of surprises.

“We have some new titles in this week; I think you’ll like them.” Maeve led them to the children’s section and Kate followed behind them, surprised again. Children’s books?

“This is great, Maeve, thanks.” Mac settled into the section, plucking several titles from the shelf.

“This one is in high demand.” Maeve pulled a thin picture book from the shelf with a smiling tiger on the cover.

“I wish we did more children’s lit,” he said to Kate, “I mean, look at this.” He handed her the book, but Kate was still confused. What was Mac doing in the children’s section? All sorts of thoughts raced through her mind. He had impregnated a lover and now he was shopping for books? But Maeve made it seem like this was a routine with him. She led him right to the children’s section. Kate was still holding the book when Mac said:

“Open it and look at it, it’s really amazing. The illustrations are incredible.”

“Yeah, sure…” she opened the book somewhat tentatively. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d opened a children’s book. The pages were high gloss and colorful. Mac was right, it was beautiful.

“Oh, dear, you probably don’t care about children’s books that much.” Maeve smiled, touching Kate’s hand, “Let’s find you a section you like. I suspect you’re a women’s literary fiction reader, yes?”

How could she know? Kate wondered.

As if reading her mind, the old woman said “A good bookseller knows these things, come with me. Let’s leave Mac to his picture books.” Maeve gently took Kate’s hand and led her through the narrow hallway to a small alcove with a window and three tables. Kate could see it had already started snowing.

“You just wait here,” Maeve said with a touch of mystery. Kate sat down near the window. Within minutes the woman returned with a stack of books.

“These aren’t well-known, but I think you’ll love them.” Maeve set down a stack of paperback books in front of Kate, hesitated for a moment and then asked “Have you known Mac for long?”

“We have worked together for several years.” Kate offered.

“He’s a heck of a guy. Comes here once a week to buy books for the local children’s hospital.”

Kate was startled, “I’m sorry… Mac does what?”

Maeve sat down and looked around to be sure MacDermott wasn’t nearby, “He’d probably rather keep this a secret, but I think these are the things people should be talking about. Not the hate and stealing, but the good things people do. Like our Mac.” She said and patted Kate’s hand. In a lower voice she continued, “Mac has been coming here for years, he buys stacks of books for kids and then drops them at the local children’s hospital. They have a cancer ward nearby that he’s especially good to. He says that children should have happiness and he believes these books will help make them smile.” Maeve’s eyes drifted to the window, “So much illness.” Maeve paused, “I hope he’s right…”

“Do you have any idea why he does this? I mean has he ever….”

The old woman cut her off, “…lost anyone to cancer? Not that I know of. I think he just wants to help out and, like most of us, there’s so much to be done, where do you start?”

Kate had a hard time believing what the woman was saying. She knew Mac was a good person, but she hadn’t pegged him for this kind of philanthropy. The snow fell harder now as Kate contemplated what she’d just learned.

“He spends two and three hundred dollars a week on books here. Sometimes I think he does it to help me out, too. It’s been a hard time for booksellers, especially with all that electronic crap.” Maeve’s final words left her mouth in disgust, “I mean who would want to read on a machine? You miss the whole experience of feeling a book; she picked a book off of Kate’s stack and opened it, “How is an electronic book better than this? You can’t touch it, or smell it….”

“Maeve hates all things electronic,” Mac smiled behind her, carrying a huge tower of colorful books, “it took me years to talk her into updating her cash register system.”

Maeve snorted slightly, “Pfft, I don’t need new electronics, that’s never improved my life at all.”

Mac set down his stack on an open table, “Maeve doesn’t even like television. Maeve, my love, you are truly a treasure.” He kissed the top of her head and Kate found herself totally drawn into the moment. There was Mac, doting on a sweet old woman who sold books out of a forgotten bookstore. It was a moment so endearing, she hoped it would never end.

Maeve stood up, “Now, I am going to make you both my famous hot chocolate so you can talk and enjoy this lovely evening.” She disappeared down one of the many rows of books and Mac sat down.

“Maeve is such a character,” he said to Kate.

“Mac, I had no idea.” She said softly.

He frowned, “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about, Katie….perhaps my choice in bookstores has you baffled?” A smile tugged at his mouth.

“Maeve told me what you do.” She said it almost in a whisper. Mac didn’t respond. “It’s really sweet, Mac. I mean the children…”

“Oh, that.” He said waving his hand, “We all want to help, this is so minimal.”

“Not really. She said you’re here every week buying books for these kids, the cancer ward? Mac, that’s incredible dedication.”

Mac turned to look out the window, “It’s nothing.”

Kate reached to touch his hand, then pulled back, “It’s not nothing, it’s kind and sweet and an incredible show of character.”

“It’s not character, Kate, it’s just money. Character is surviving what some of these kids have gone through. The stories would just break your heart…” his voice trailed off and the rest of the sentence caught in his throat.

Kate could see how emotional he was getting “Why children, Mac? And why the cancer ward?”

Mac hesitated; this wasn’t a conversation he was used to having, “When I was a kid, my best friend died of cancer. He was twelve. I sat with him till the end. I remember the other kids were afraid of visiting, their parents told them it was contagious. Crazy stuff. My mother had been a nurse and knew better. So, then he died and it never left me. He was only twelve. Who only gets twelve years on earth?”

Kate’s eyes burned with tears, “I don’t know.” She said and her voice shook. A tear slid down her cheek, then another.

“I’m sorry, Katie.” Mac’s voice was deep with emotion, “I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He lifted a hand to wipe from her face, “You wanted to talk, and instead I bring you here. I thought you’d enjoy it.”

“I do. I love this place.” Just then Maeve returned with two steaming cups, topped off with a heavy dollop of whipped cream.

“Here you go, MacDermott, homemade hot chocolate with homemade whipped cream in extra-large mugs. I also brought you a slice of my apple spice bread to share. Fresh from the oven, enjoy, you two.” Then she was gone, vanished in the maze of books.

“This smells incredible….” Kate lifted her mug and sipped cautiously. The chocolate was rich and creamy; it was the most amazing beverage she’d ever tasted.

“I don’t know what Maeve puts in this, but it’s absolutely orgasmic.” Mac lifted his cup. “Sorry again. I can’t help but make sexual references when I’m near you.” He said with half a smile.

Kate sighed; she knew exactly what he meant. Being here with him, learning about this kind, sweet side to him did nothing to help her resolve to never sleep with him again.

“To tell you the truth,” he smiled, “I bring all girls here, Maeve is a plant. She doesn’t really run this bookstore. She lives on the Upper West Side with her Yorkshire terrier named Snuffy and hasn’t read a book in twenty years. Chicks love this stuff, works every time.”

Kate smiled, “Maeve said she’s never met any of your friends.”

“I paid her to say that.”

Kate wasn’t buying it, “Do you hate so much that people know you’re a good guy?”

“I’m not a good guy, Kate. I cheat on my wife. I haven’t been faithful to her in years and I am gutless enough to keep doing it without getting out. I train myself to never fall in love with the women I’m with and when they do, I make sure I’m well off the radar screen.”

She wasn’t sure how to respond. Mac leaned into her, “I don’t know what to say, Katie. I have broken my rule with you. I never, ever have a relationship with anyone from work. I did once and it didn’t end well.”

“What happened?”

“She wanted more, I didn’t. She left MD. That’s all there is.”

“Why didn’t you want more, Mac? I mean don’t you want that? A whole relationship instead of pieces of a life stolen here and there?”

Her words shot through him. She was right and he knew it.

“I do, but I can’t have it. So, I settle for what I can have. Even though I cheat on my wife, I don’t sleep around with the women I’m seeing. I try to have the best relationship I can with them and then when it’s time, we move on.”

“How do you know it’s time?” Mac could hardly hear her, her voice was low and fraught with emotion.

“You just know.” He said, “Sort of like we know now. We should really finish our hot chocolate and you should go back to your apartment and I should go to mine. But I can’t do that, I don’t want to do that. I want you to come home with me and I want to hold you and make love with you and then I want to wake up with you.”

Kate wanted that, too. More than she could even put into words.

Mac continued, “The smart thing would be to end this. But I’ve never been smart and for whatever reason, I lose every bit of reason I have when I’m in a room with you.”

Kate spoke, looking down at her cup, “What happens when I fall in love with you? Which I will.” She paused for a moment, letting her words sink in, “Being with you is like dating someone with an unknown expiration date. You know it will end, you just don’t know when.”

“We will cross that bridge when we come to it,” He offered, “Everything ends, Katie. I learned that years ago when I sat by my twelve-year-old friend and watched him die. Nothing lasts forever.” Mac covered her hand with his, and it made her spine tingle. She needed to be with him right now more than she needed to breathe.