Posted by Kim on 11/11/2001, 11:58 am Kevin shook his head ruefully. "No, you're my only racquetball partner. You're just the target of my frustration about my lack of a social life," he wryly noted as he wiped himself down with a towel. Mac looked sympathetically at his best friend as they headed to the locker room together. Other than Tony Jones, no decent guys in Port Charles had more bad luck when it came to women than Kevin and himself. Mac was thankful that his streak of bad relationships had ended now that he was with Dara and he hoped that Kevin could find someone also. It was common knowledge in Port Charles that Lucy Coe was working furiously to get back together with Kevin, but as much as Mac personally liked Lucy, he wasn't sure that Lucy was really the best person for Kevin. He didn't offer this opinion and instead joked, "Don't tell me that you're sitting by your phone hoping for it to ring. I'm sure that Lucy knows your telephone number and she's probably not shy about dialing it." "No kidding," Kevin thought silently as he stripped off his t-shirt and shorts. Sitting on a bench to remove his shoes and socks, he responded, "Yes, she knows my home number, cell phone number, and office number, all of which she calls most days. In some ways I'll always love Lucy, but somehow I feel that I'll be taking a step backward if we get together again. In reality, nothing has changed between us so what will keep us from making the same mistakes again? I guess I'm looking for someone to make me as happy and 'peaceful' as you seem to be with Dara." Kevin was truly thrilled for Mac, but a part of him longed to find the same type of happiness that his friend had found with Dara. The unfamiliar emotion of envy slowly crept into Kevin's voice as he continued speaking. "I haven't had a lot of opportunity to spend time with both of you together but I don't think that I've ever seen you this happy." Nodding, Mac agreed with Kevin's observation. "I am very happy, even with all of this conflict with Felicia." Taking a seat next to Kevin on the bench, Mac asked, "So you don't want to get back together with Lucy, at least not right now. Is there anyone else you're interested in dating?" Slowly, and somewhat reluctantly, Kevin replied, "Well, now that you've mentioned it, there is someone I am interested in seeing but I haven't told her yet." Knowing that shyness was not a typical characteristic of Kevin, Mac queried, "How long have you been thinking of asking this woman out?" "I'm been seriously thinking about her for the past few months..." "Months?" Now Mac's interest was really piqued. Who was this woman that could occupy Kevin's thoughts for months without him asking her out? Not able to stop himself Mac immediately spewed out a series of questions. "Who is she? Do I know her? Why in the world...?" Mac stopped speaking abruptly and then cautiously asked the next question, "Kevin, is she married?" Kevin's blank expressionless face gave Mac no clue to the thoughts that were going on in his mind. Mac had never known Kevin to lie about anything but something about the silence that preceded Kevin's response troubled Mac. "No, she's not married, but she is involved with someone. I really don't want to tell you who she is because most likely nothing will happen. She's probably never given a romantic relationship with me a thought." "Well, to be candid, given that she's involved with someone else, that's a 'good' thing she hasn't had romantic thoughts about you." Mac continued watching Kevin's face and expression as he was obviously thinking of this woman. "Damn, he's got it badly," thought a slightly shocked Mac. Speaking hesitantly Mac suggested, "Perhaps you should let her know how you feel Kevin. I mean, it would be different if she was married but ..." Knowing that he was treading on delicate matters Mac asked, "You really care about her, don't you?" Surprising himself with his answer Kevin said, "More than I ever thought possible. I've been thinking about telling her my feelings for her. I just look at you and Dara and I don't know if I will be lucky like you two, getting another chance to be with her. So I'm considering letting her know how I feel before it is too late." Pushing the wistful musings from his mind, Kevin attempted to change the course of the conversation. "I know that you and Scott met with Felicia and her lawyer the other day. How did it go?" Mac's face started to flush and his anger briefly surfaced as he recalled the meeting on Monday. Standing up and slamming the locker door, Mac conceded," You were right about Felicia's determination in stopping the divorce. It's unbelievable. Somehow in her mind she's made my relationship with Dara the cause of the breakup of our marriage." After a pause in speaking, Mac continued astutely commenting, "Just because something's a lie doesn't mean that people will ignore it or that it won't hurt. But Dara and I have talked about what might happen as Felicia tries to stop the divorce and Dara has said that she'll support me and will help me get through it. Scott has petitioned a judge so that I can get visitation rights to see the girls. I'm now able to see them twice a week in unsupervised visits as long as I see them alone and not with Dara." Felicia had pettily instructed her lawyer to insist that Dara could not accompany Mac during any visits with the girls. She contended that having the woman responsible for the breakup of their marriage with Mac would turn the visits into traumatic events for the girls. Scott pointed out the important thing right now was to get immediate visitation rights for Mac and he assured Mac that they would later attempt to modify the rules regarding the visitations, so Mac reluctantly agreed. "I'm seeing the girls tomorrow night at Kelly's." Mac's mood brightened at the thought of finally being able to see the girls again and he had an idea. Heading with Kevin towards the showers he proposed, "Well, let's fix this problem about you not seeing Dara and me together. How about coming over to dinner on Friday night?" Stemming Kevin's protest on how he'd be a fifth wheel at dinner Mac countered, "No, you won't. Dara mentioned that Ellen Burgess will probably be joining us for dinner that evening. Dara's helping Ellen with her wedding preparations. Her fiancé is out of town for a medical conference and she's staying for dinner. So come on over and join us." To Mac surprise, Kevin changed his mind and offered, "I can probably give Ellen a ride to dinner. What time should we be there?" They agreed to get together on Friday evening at 8 p.m. for dinner.
Sweating profusely and trying to catch his breath, Mac panted, "Twenty-one, eighteen. Whew! Either you have been practicing in secret or I need to get in better shape." During their intense racquetball game Kevin made several incredible shots, forcing Mac to scramble to win every point he got.
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