"Is it cheesy that I wanted to bring you here for our last night in Paris?" Roger said as he embraced Holly and planted a kiss in the nape of her neck.
Holly tilted her head back and gazed at the Eiffel tower, which was elegantly shooting upward in the evening sky. "It is cheesy, but I love it anyway," she finally said, smiling. "I never get tired of looking at it."
"Paris was the perfect start for our honeymoon, even if we didn't get to visit as much as we should have, don't you think?" Roger asked, thinking of all the afternoons they had spent exploring each other's body instead of going out. He took her hand and led her through the animated city streets. It was a warm night at the beginning of May and Paris was in bloom. Cafés were bustling with activity, people overflowing from the terraces unto the streets, and Roger and Holly found themselves more in love than ever.
They had gotten married at Easter in Springfield, in a simple outdoors ceremony at Laurel Falls, surrounded by family and friends. Ethan, Jessica and Blake had attended, of course, in the front row. Ed, Maureen, Rick and Michelle were also among the guests, as well as Ross, Gilly Grant, Nadine, Dylan and Billy Lewis, Johnny Bauer, Chelsea Reardon and many of Holly's colleagues from WSPR. Roger had been surprised by the length of Holly's guest list, he who had been on the move for most of his life and who had kept very few friends. He had, however, always remained very close to one fellow agent from his years at the CIA, and was overjoyed when he who he considered his best friend had agreed to be his best man as well.
Jack Kingsley was his name, and he had caused quite a stir in the female crowd when he had shown up next to Roger at the falls, straight from his home in Montana. The man was tall, dark and handsome; in short, the perfect embodiment of the strong silent type. Fortunately for the two friends, the difference in their personality had always prevented any real competition between them, especially when it came to women. Jack's extreme good looks were not always a match for Roger's charm and cockiness, and during their years as single men, they both had swept away their equal shares of enthralled females. Roger could only hope that Jack would one day find his own true love and be as lucky as he had been with Holly.
As for Holly, she had juggled with different possibilities before settling on a maid of honour. She had finally asked Alexandra Spaulding, who was the only one in town who could qualify as a close female friend. Alexandra, with her usual bluntness, had declined, saying that she would be pleased to fulfill any other functions at the wedding, but that the role of maid of honor really should go to Holly's true best friend, Ross. The lawyer, always a good sport, had accepted on the condition that he could pick out the color of his dress. That point settled, Holly had debated on whether or not she should ask Ed to give her away, and had decided against it in the end not to make Roger feel uncomfortable. She had gone down the aisle alone, holding a bouquet of white lilies, in a creation by Mindy Lewis which Roger would only vaguely remember to be ivory, silky and flowy.
The ceremony and reception had been filled with laughter, toasts and music, and had gone by in a flash. The same had happened to the following month, where Roger and Holly had busied themselves with helping Blake settling into her apartment over Ed's garage and preparing for their year-long trip. By the time they had boarded their plane to Paris, they had been exhausted and had happily spent the two first weeks of their honeymoon sleeping, making love and spending time with Jessica, who was studying for the semester in the City of Light.
That night was their last in France and the next morning, they would be leaving for Prague, their second destination. Thus, they were determined to make up for "lost time" in Paris by making their last night one to remember. They had made reservations in one of the best restaurants in the city and were on their way to meet Jessica, who had reluctantly agreed to spend the evening with them.
"I can't tag along on your honeymoon, how pathetic is that?" She had complained to Roger when he had called her up earlier in the day.
"Don't' be silly, sweety. Holly and I will be gone for a long while after that and we'll miss you like crazy. I command you to join us," he had said before cracking up.
"As if you could still tell me what to do," she had answered, agreeing to meet them nonetheless.
"I know, dear, that's why I'm laughing."
"Holly Norris? Is that really you?" a female voice with a thick French accent called from the table next to them a few hours later. Roger and Holly had just finished downing a dozen of oysters at Fouquet's, the classiest eatery on the Avenue des Champs-Élizées, while Jessica looked on, sipping champagne and torn between disgust and curiosity.
Holly's head turned around sharply, unacustomed to hear her maiden name, while Roger followed her gaze intriguingly. A slender and sophisticated brunette he guessed to be about Holly's age rose to hug his wife warmly, soon imitated by a man with striking blue eyes who appeared to be her husband. They both looked genuinely happy to see her, thought there was a haggard look in their eyes that struck Roger as out of place in such a joyful setting as this.
"Catherine! Thierry! What a surprise!" Holly exclaimed after hugging them back effusively. "This is incredible!" She turned to Roger and Jessica with a wide smile to make the introductions. "These two used to be my best friends when I studied in Geneva."
"Is that so?" Roger said after a few seconds, pushing his chair aside to make way for them. "Please join us then; any friend of my wife is welcomed at our table," he added pleasantly.
"Yes, please do, we haven't spoken in ages," Holly said, making them sit to her right. "I see that you two have gotten married after all," she said, taking a look at Catherine's left hand, which was adorned with a tasteful wedding band. The latter smiled, apparently cheering up, while Thierry put an arm around her shoulders. "Still can't take my eyes off her, and it's been more than twenty years!" he said proudly with the same Parisian accent which made Jessica smile inwardly.
"And obviously, you have found happiness as well. I'm so glad for you, Holly," Catherine said, her eyes going from her friend to Roger and Jessica. There was an expression in her eyes which made Roger wonder how much she knew about him and Holly's predicament back in Switzerland. He supposed that the three friends had met right after Holly had given birth to Blake and had gone back to school to finish university.
Holly laughed. "Yes, I am extremely happy, although I suspect that my path hasn't been as straightforward as yours. But I have two beautiful children now, and a wonderful step-daughter," she said, caressing Jessica's hair. "Roger and I just got married, actually."
"Really?" Thierry exclaimed, turning to a waiter and ordering another bottle of champagne. "Have you two known each other long?"
Holly blushed while Roger answered: "We've known each other for a very long time. Life has gotten in the way of us being together sooner, that's all."
"They were each other's first love," Jessica added with a knowing look.
This time, there was no mistaking the look the couple exchanged with Holly, and if Roger had any lingering doubts that they knew exactly who he was, they were quelled by Holly's next remark. "Yes, Roger and I have found each other again. And we find our daughter, Blake, too. This is a long story, however, and I'm afraid there is no time to tell it tonight."
"Oh, Holly," Catherine simply said, her eyes getting misty. "I understand."
She was prevented by saying more by the waiters who were bringing the main course. It took them several minutes before they could tear themselves away from their plates to rekindle the conversation, and Roger took the opportunity to put some orders in his thoughts. It felt very unsettling to be in presence of two people who obviously knew more than him about a part of Holly's life that had be so decisive and trying for her. For the first time since learning about Blake's existence, he felt the weight of the years Holly and he had spent apart. There was still so much that he had to discover about his wife, and she about him.
"Tell me, how was Holly as a student?" Jessica asked between two mouthfuls, brutally interrupting her father's musings.
"Ah! Very studious, very dedicated," Thierry answered with a smile. "We would always have to beg her to come out with us and party."
"But she would always say yes in the end," Catherine added with a wink.
"All the guys were after her, too. That is, those who weren't pining after Catherine,"
"I found that extremely easy to believe," Roger said, running a hand along Holly's thigh under the table and gazing fondly into his wife's eyes.
"Did you have a lot of boyfriends?" Jessica asked her step-mother curiously.
"No, not really," Holly stammered. "Just one."
"Paul," Catherine specified. Her brow darkened as she looked at her husband. He returned her gaze and squeezed her hand, shaking his head slightly. Roger raised his head in sudden interest at the mention of Holly's ex-fiancé. He knew that her engagement to Paul had been short-lived, due to Holly's lingering feelings for him, but that was about it. He was definitely eager to learn more about the mysterious Frenchman who had almost whisked the young Holly off her feet more than two decades ago.
"Did you keep in touch with him?" Holly asked Thierry and Catherine.
The couple exchanged another look before Thierry cleared his throat. "We have; he's one of our closest friends still to this day."
"What's wrong? Why do you look so upset?" Holly inquired, finally catching on to their altered mood.
"Paul has disappeared. We're afraid that something might have happened to him," Catherine explained.
"What do you mean, he disappeared?" Roger asked, his agent training kicking in automatically.
"Paul is an engineer, one of the best. The problem is, he also a little too quick to speak his mind. He's been working in Russia for a couple of years now, and in the last few months, he has become more and more at odds with the contractors who hired him. I think that he stumbled about something that he shouldn't have, and instead of keeping quiet about it, he confronted them."
"Not a smart move when you think of the corruption going on in that country," Roger said.
"Exactly. He wouldn't tell me what was going on, so I advised him to just get the hell out of there, but he wouldn't listen. And then one week before Christmas, he just stopped calling."
"We haven't heard from him since," Catherine added, the haggard look that Roger had noticed earlier creeping up in her eyes again.
"Are the police looking for him?" Holly asked in an anxious tone, squeezing her husband's hand convulsively.
"They say they do, but I've been to Russia, and it seems to me like nothing is really being done. The French ambassador is putting some pressure, but nothing has come of it yet."
Roger shook his head but kept silent. From what he had learned during his years with the CIA, Russia could be a tough and uncompromising country. Their friend could be in a big trouble, that is, if he was still alive, which he doubted.
They parted soon after, promising to call and to visit, and giving each other words of encouragement that Paul would turn up safe and sound in the end. Roger and Holly then dropped Jessica at her dorm and went back to their hotel.
Closing the door of their room behind them, Roger followed his wife inside and walked up to her. He could see from her frown that she was still thinking about Paul's disappearance.
"Are you going to be okay?" he asked, slowly caressing her soft curls while she stood by the window, staring at the city lights.
"I guess. This is so awful, though," Holly replied, turning to face him and snuggling into his arms.
"It is. This guy sounds like a regular hero," Roger said, feeling slightly jealous and ashamed because of it.
"Yeah, but look where it has led him," Holly said. She shook her head as if waking from a dream and took her husband's hands. "God I'm glad that I found you again!" she cried before kissing him urgently.
He returned her kiss before looking into her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere," he said, leading her to their bed and turning off the lights.