Choose Your Ending

Disclaimers in part 1

I untied his mask then with a final smile, I pulled off it off. I looked at the man in front of me in total shock. It was Admiral Chegwidden. Oh my God. I spent the last four hours and 37 minutes with my boss. What’s worse was that he was the man I had thought about all night. I didn’t know what to do.

Suddenly, we were both startled when a bright flash of lightning lit the sky soon followed by a loud rumble of thunder. Always the gentleman, he took my arm and led me to the overhang in case the impending rain surprised us. I realized then that I should have known who he was as soon as he touched me. My mind flashed back to that moment in his bedroom that I thought I had forgotten and put behind me. I knew my duty was to ignore any lingering feeling from that and I did, except for in my dreams.

I could see that he was concerned at my reaction. I didn’t intend to hurt his feelings and I knew that I was doing that by standing there in shock.

“I’m sorry, Prince Charming. I can’t do this,” I said just before I slipped through the doors. I knew that he would try to follow me but I managed to avoid him. I was sure that he wasn’t going to ask anyone if they saw me. Just imagine the laughter he would hear when Prince Charming asked for Cinderella, especially after midnight.

I went home and sat lost in thought. I realized that I had to make a decision about what to do about these feelings of mine. I didn’t know if I could stay at JAG seeing AJ every day and thinking of him as my Prince Charming.

I went to work on Monday morning worried about seeing AJ, the Admiral again.  I was thinking to myself that I really had to stop thinking of him as AJ.  I knew that anything between us was impossible, he was my CO.  I sat in my office trying to take my mind off of the weekend and concentrate on the work piled on my desk.  Fifteen minutes later, I was interrupted by Tiner. 

"Ma'am.  I just wanted to remind you that the SECNAV should be calling at 0900.  You can take it in the Admiral's office."

"Thank you, Tiner.  I'll be in there in a minute," I said.  I had forgotten that the Admiral was on leave this week; I had worried for nothing.  I took a deep breath, gathered up my things then moved into the Admiral's office for the rest of the week.

The call with the SECNAV went well, he didn't even call Harm, ‘Harmful Rabb’ once.  The other good thing was that the call re-focused my energies to my job.  I was so into what I was working on, I didn't know that someone opened the door until I heard my name. 

Only it wasn't my name.

"Working through lunch, Cinderella?"

I looked up at Webb surprised, he didn't even knock when I realized what he called me.

"What did you call me?"

"You heard me," he said as he shut the door.  "Who do you think gave you two the tickets?"

"You set this up?" I almost yelled at him.  Trying to lower my voice, I continued, "How could you do this to me?  To us?  We work together, do you realize how difficult this is going to be?"

"It doesn't have to be," he said with his typical smirk.

"How?  I spent hours practically alone with my boss, Clay.  I kissed him.  That's called fraternization if you didn't know.  This could ruin both our careers."

"I know you're mad at me right now but like I said, it doesn't have to," he said as he handed me a letter then walked out of the office.

I stared after him amazed before looking at the letter.  There was a yellow post it note in Webb's writing.

I've always known there was something between you two but you both

ignored it.  I waited until now to do this and when you see the letter you

will understand why.
Clay

I flipped the note up to read the letter.  Actually, it was a job offer.  It was from General Randall and he explained that he would like me to transfer to his office at the Pentagon.  It seems that he was waiting for when he thought the time would be right for me to transfer. He stated that he knew that it would be difficult to get Admiral Chegwidden to agree to the transfer that is why he waited so long. The Admiral wouldn’t be able to deny that this move was the best thing for my career.

I thought about it for a while before I set the letter aside and tried to get back to work. Later that afternoon, I called General Randall's office and set up an appointment on Thursday to meet him and get more details about the job.

The week flew by and before I knew it, it was Thursday and I went to the meeting.  I had a hard time not telling anyone about it but I didn't want any scuttlebutt around the office especially before I could tell the Admiral about it.  Also, I wasn't even sure if I wanted the job.

By the time I left the meeting, I was convinced.  This position would be the best move for my career and for myself.  Also, this would take care of another problem. AJ would no longer be my CO. That, of course, meant that I could let him know who Cinderella was. I didn’t necessarily expect him to do anything about it, but I thought that he deserved to know.

The only big problem with this new job was that General Randall wanted me to start on Tuesday.  I would hopefully have just enough time to review everything with the Admiral before I left JAG.  Luckily, Bud was working on most of my cases right now so I wouldn't be dropping anything too important.

Monday came before I knew it and I still hadn't thought of a way to break the news to the Admiral.  I got to JAG early hoping to catch the Admiral before anyone else got there.  Hesitantly, I knocked on his door.

"Enter."  I walked in silently waiting for him to look up.  "Mac, have a seat.  I was just going over this case.  Looks like you did a great job while I was gone."

"Thank you, sir."

"You're here early this morning, is anything wrong?"

"Sort of, sir.  While you were gone I actually got a job offer from General Randall at the Pentagon."

"What's the problem then Mac?" he asked softly.

"He wants me to start tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!" he exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, sir.  I wasn't even thinking about trying to leave JAG again but this opportunity is too good to pass up."  I sat there wondering what he was thinking before he finally spoke again.

"I guess the only thing I can say then is best of luck.  We'll miss you here but there will always be a place here for you if you want it."

"Thank you, Admiral."  I wanted to say more but I wasn't sure how to.

"I'll call a meeting in an hour and officially announce it."

"Actually, I need to tell Harm, Bud and Harriet first.  They don't know anything about it."

"You haven't told them?"

"I thought that I should tell you first.  I didn't think that it would be appropriate if you walked in and someone mentioned it before I could."

"Good point.  I'll tell them all I want to see them as soon as they are all here."

“Thank you, sir.”

The rest of the day and the next was a blur to me. I had to finish up everything at JAG while dealing with questions all day about my sudden departure. Then I had to move into my new office and set it up the way I wanted while trying to meet everyone in the office and learn how General Randall wanted things to work. I enjoyed my new job so far but I was pleased when Friday arrived. I needed some time to relax.

My plans of going straight home were interrupted when Harriet called and asked if I would like to attend a small party at McMurphy’s in my honor. I agreed, happy to see my friends. I was having a good time with Bud, Harriet and some others when the Admiral walked in and for some reason I became somewhat nervous. He came over to me after grabbing a beer to ask how I was enjoying the job so far. We talked for a while about the job when Harm finally showed up.

I could tell something was up when AJ, the Admiral, looked at the door then frowned a bit.

“Let me guess,” I said. “He has a blond with him.”

The Admiral looked at me in surprise, obviously thinking that I was going to be upset.

“Sir, I gave up on Rabb years ago. He likes his blondes and not only am I’m not a blonde, I am much more intelligent than the women he goes for.”

“That certainly is true,” he said.

“What’s true, sir?” asked Rabb.

“That Mac’s new job will be great for her career.”

“Yep. We are going to miss her though,” Harm said, not seeing the unhappy look cross his date’s face.

I spent the rest of the night being somewhat distant to Harm and the Admiral. Harm because I could see his date keep looking at me unsure of how close I was to Harm and the Admiral. Well, all I could say was that I was suddenly nervous around him.

Over the next few months, I was still a bit nervous when ever I was alone with the Admiral but I was getting better at hiding it. I had finally convinced myself that I wasn’t go to ever tell him that I was Cinderella until I ran into him one day in the kitchen at JAG. I had stopped by to visit and went to get a cup of coffee.

I hadn’t intended on literally running into the Admiral. I grabbed some paper towels and tried to wipe off the coffee from his shirt. Suddenly realizing that I had my hands on his chest, I stepped back completely embarrassed.

“I am so sorry, sir.”

“That’s okay, Sarah,” he said causing me to look up at him. Before I could say anything, Harm walked in the kitchen breaking the spell that had fallen between us.

That night I went home, and thought about the Admiral, AJ. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that it was time to let my Prince Charming discover who his Cinderella was. I just had to figure out a way to do it. I happened to glance at the mask that I had kept from my costume and thought of Webb who set it all up. Maybe I could ask him for a little more help.

As it turned out that was the best thing for me to do. He had actually been roped into helping his mother with the Children’s Miracle Network Halloween Party. He was very willing to have me help set up things in exchange for two tickets. This was another charity event but it would be different because it would have adults and children.

It took me several tried but I finally managed to write AJ an invitation and sent it by courier. I hadn’t heard anything from him and I knew that I wouldn’t until he showed up at the party. I was glad that Webb had me so busy with helping the party, so I didn’t have time to worry about making a fool of myself.

Finally, the night of the party arrived and I stood in a corner, watching everyone come in and waiting for AJ. Hours passed but he didn’t show up. Disappointed, I left my little corner and slipped out to the balcony. I was relieved that AJ didn’t know who I was, at least I didn’t have to deal with that embarrassment. I looked back inside and saw that most of the children had left so I knew that the party was over. I took off my mask as I turned to go back inside to say good-bye to Webb when I heard a voice behind me.

“Cinderella?”

I stood up straighter but I didn’t turn around. “Prince Charming. I didn’t think you were going to make it.”

“I had to cancel some things,” he said softly as he walked up behind me and gently placed him hands on my shoulders. “I’ve thought about you since that night.”

“Me too.”

“Now you know who I am but I still don’t know you. You said you would unmask yourself tonight.”

“I will but you already know who I am.”

“I do?”

“It’s almost midnight,” I said.

“How did you know that?” he asked as I finally turned around. “Sarah? It really is you.”

“Yeah, it really is. Are you disappointed?” I asked as I lowered my head.

“No. How can I be disappointed when I got what I never thought I could have?”

“What do you mean?”

“That night, Sarah. I was talking about you,” he said.

“Me?” I was shocked that he had thought of me that night.

“Yes, you. I’ve thought about you for a long time,” he paused as the clock began to strike midnight. “Are you going to disappear on me again?”

“Don’t worry, AJ. This time, I’m not running off at midnight.”

the end