Disclaimer - Obviously I don't own any of the characters - they belong to Kudos and the BBC.
This is set post 5.5.
Please note - there will be a rating increase in later chapters.
Thanks to Em and Kate :) Requiem for a Love Affair
Chapter 1
Adam opened the door to the roof and took a sharp breath as the cold hit him. He hesitated for a moment and then walked across to where Harry was standing.
"Juliet's trying to get hold of you." He held out the older man's mobile phone as he spoke.
"Well she can go on trying. I'm not in the mood for a shouting match."
Adam tried again. "I think you should talk to her. It's the third time she's phoned in the last fifteen minutes."
Harry sighed heavily and took the phone from him. "Juliet, I understand you have a burning desire to speak to me." He winced and moved the phone a few centimetres from his ear.
Instinctively, Adam backed away slightly. He could hear Juliet from where he was standing. It sounded like she was talking at Harry rather than to him.
"I'm busy…" Harry closed his eyes as he tried to interrupt Juliet's tirade. Eventually, he got a chance to speak, "OK. When?" A short pause. "Fine." He dropped the phone into his jacket pocket and returned his gaze to the London skyline.
"She wants to see me urgently, but not in her office."
"Any idea why?"
Harry shook his head. "No. She wouldn't say. I'm meeting her at three o'clock."
The cold was starting to seep into Adam and he huddled further into his jacket. "It's freezing; I think we should go back inside."
It was a minute or two before Harry spoke. "It's been nearly two years," he turned his head and looked at the blonde before continuing, "since Ruth… left." He wouldn't say 'died' because that wasn't the truth. He shifted his position so his back was now against the concrete parapet. "Can you believe it?"
Adam was dumbstruck. It was the first time Harry had mentioned Ruth's name in well over a year. She had only been referred to a handful of times since her 'death' and each occasion had been fraught. The unspoken consensus had been to not talk about her, at least not in the presence of their section head.
With a shrug of his shoulders he replied, "No, I can't believe it's nearly two years either."
Harry's gaze had shifted to the dirty concrete slabs they were standing on. He idly kicked at a couple of cigarette ends, left by staff who defied the 'No smoking anywhere in Thames House' edict.
"She's the love of my life." His use of the present tense was not lost on his colleague.
After a long silence Adam spoke, "We did try to stop her Harry. Me and Zaf. We tried to talk her out of going but she… she was determined. To save you." It was the first time he had broached the subject. The first time he had given an indication of the guilt both he and Zaf felt over Ruth's departure.
"I don't doubt it. I never have." Harry smiled slightly. "She's so bloody stubborn."
"And what with you being so pig-headed, the pair of you are…"
"Well-suited, yes," Harry chuckled, "you cheeky bastard."
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As he watched the minibus pull up and the driver climb out, Harry wondered what Juliet thought of her new mode of transport. He knew she would never tolerate the amount of man-handling that would be required to get her in and out of one of the standard pool cars, not that they were really suitable for someone in a wheelchair. Instead, she was chauffeured around in an adapted vehicle with a hydraulic lift – not quite the sleek limousine she had become used to.
He thought back to the first time he had met her. The attraction had been instantaneous and mutual. Not that either of them had acted on it, at least not straightaway. They had chosen to indulge in a game of cat-and-mouse with both of them the pursuer and the prey. Eventually, after an evening of good food and even better wine, they had surrendered to their lust. Harry took a sudden breath at the clarity of the memory of their hot, urgent coupling in the dingy alleyway, next to the restaurant they had been in only minutes earlier. Her legs had been wrapped tightly round his waist as he had frantically thrust into her and he'd been totally unaware of the torrential rain drenching them both until they had staggered apart.
Juliet was also reminiscing; she could still picture Harry standing in his office the first time she had met him. She had breezed in and introduced herself and he'd blatantly eyed her up as he shook her hand. The atmosphere between them had crackled with sexual tension. He'd been slimmer then; his hair longer, the natural curls revealed. But it had been his eyes, the colour of liquid amber, and the slow, lazy smile that had totally beguiled her. They were both married but Juliet had dismissed that detail as a minor inconvenience. She was an ambitious woman and bedding Harry became one of her objectives.
The slight thud of the hydraulic platform as it settled on the road brought Juliet back to the present. She was dreading the conversation they were about to have and she hated the fact that her stomach still filled with butterflies when she saw him. He had got to her far more than she would ever admit but she would never tell him she had been in love with him; that perhaps she was still in love with him.
Harry watched her trundle towards him, wondering why she had picked this meeting place rather than her office. "What's so urgent Juliet?"
"Good afternoon Harry; it's nice to see you too."
"Wouldn't your office have been more comfortable?" His tone had softened slightly.
"I fancied some fresh air and a familiar view."
"I assume, then, I'm not going to like what you have to say."
"Oh Harry! Such a suspicious nature." Her sarcasm covered the uneasiness she felt.
He watched her carefully, trying to read her facial expression and interpret her body language, which was not so easy now she was unable to walk. "It may have escaped your attention, but my profession makes me a naturally suspicious person."
She tilted her head slightly to one side and frowned at him before speaking. "Let's walk and talk." In response to his raised eyebrow, she continued, "alright, you walk, I'll wheel."
Harry couldn't help smiling at her. Despite everything, she had retained her sense of humour and he admired her for that. "Come on then, what do you want to talk about?"
"I've been offered another job. In New York."
He stopped abruptly. "New York? Doing what exactly?"
"It's at the UK Mission to the UN. The anti-terrorist committee has been expanded and they're looking for another 'technical expert' as they call them." Juliet looked faintly embarrassed, which, Harry noted, was a rare occurrence.
"Are you going to take it?"
"Yes. In fact, I've already accepted it. I go in four weeks."
For once, Harry was speechless. He stood and stared at Juliet whilst he attempted to process what she had said. Eventually he managed to find his voice, "Four weeks? Christ, you don't waste any time do you?"
"Well, they're keen to get me in post…"
"What about a replacement for you here?" Harry interrupted her.
This was the part of their conversation she'd been dreading the most. "There are a couple of names been bandied round but the favourite is…" she took a deep breath before continuing, "Oliver Mace."
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