Story List

1. S2 E5 – Say It With Flowers #1

2. S2 E5 - All He Has To Offer

3. S2 E5 - Say It With Flowers #2 (3 parts)

4. S2 E5 - I'm Your Key

5. S2 E6 - A Flicker in the Grass (10 parts)

6. S2 E6 - Be A Happy Richard (2 parts)

7. S2 E6 - The Green-Eyed Monster (5 parts)

8… WiP

S2 E5 – Say It With Flowers #1

He has given her the spray of orchids and now sits beside her on the beach at sunset. They watch the sun slide lower, the light deepening from amber to blue, the waves quieting as evening rolls over the island. Neither knows what to say next.

Camille breaks the uncomfortable silence first. She knows she has to otherwise he's liable to begin a conversation about god-knows-what… and she has a very specific topic in mind. She looks down into the flowers but speaks to him, "You once told me you didn't understand a system of matrimony based on the random distribution of flowers."

"Did I?" He watches the waves, so hypnotic, so soothing. Like her voice.

"It was during the Dead Bride case. We were on the street after dark and you were watching all the newlyweds… so in love and so oblivious to everything around them… including us."

"Was I?" He is beginning to float on the cadence of her voice.

"You were so strange and foreign to me. I didn't understand you in the slightest. I know now that you were totally lost and adrift. You must have been very afraid and lonely. You had no home. You had no one and nothing. You didn't have a friend in the whole wide world." She pauses and waits for him to rise to the bait, to argue and challenge her view… but he doesn't. He's watching the ocean and nodding. She takes another tiny step, "Not like now."

"Now?" He shifts slightly, thinks briefly then agrees, "No, not like now." He is at peace. She's accepted his offering and now it is time for a new beginning. He feels the time and the moment is upon them. It is now or never. He turns to her to see that she has turned to him in the same instant. He quirks an eyebrow, suddenly cautious, "Yes?" She is studying him and stroking the orchids ever so gently. He can almost feel the soft touch of those fingertips on his own skin as he continues to look at her... DOES feel them. He looks down. Her hand has left the flowers and is brushing the back of his hand. He looks up at her. She seems to be miles away.

He clears his throat, "Um, Camille? Do you realize you're touching me?"

"Um?"

"Touching me. You're… oh, never mind. What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking how nice it would be to touch you. Not that you would ever allow it, of course, but it would be nice all the same."

"Um… yes, actually, it would, wouldn't it?" He slides ever so carefully closer. She is still looking at him in a dreamy sort of way. "Camille? Are you actually awake?"

"I think so. I've very tired but I think I would know if I were asleep. Wouldn't I?"

"Well, I'm not really sure. You seem awake but… what else are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking Aimee would have loved to meet you. We used to talk, you know, about our ideal men? You are nowhere near what I thought I wanted. How she would laugh at that!"

He stills, his hand frozen where it is almost on her back, "I'm not?"

"No. Not at all. But that's OK. I was foolish and silly back then. I know better now."

He drops his hand but curious minds always need to know… so, "What do you know now?"

"First, I thought I wanted someone tall, loud, funny, life of the party, you know? Someone like Dwayne. Then I thought I'd like someone serious, quiet, utterly dependable and brave, like Fidel. And THEN I thought I didn't actually need a man… I could blind-date myself into spinsterhood then join a convent and lead a quiet life. But THEN… something happened. Something totally unexpected and something I wasn't prepared for… I met you."

She stops talking, gives him a chance to respond. Nothing. He is still as stone. "Richard? Did you hear my opening gambit? This is where you make a witty reply and we begin serious negotiations. Richard?"

He starts, raises alarmed eyes to hers, "A NUN?! You want to be a NUN?!" No one has ever yelled "FIRE!" with more fear and alarm than this!

She sits up in surprise and grabs his shoulder, "NO! Richard! Aren't you listening? I said I THOUGHT about it! I was in a dark place in my life, sliding into my 30's with a dangerous never-ending job full of scumbags and low-lifes. No nice men THERE! No nice men ANY where. Your Croydon crowd isn't unique, you know. We have them in France too."

He sits up abruptly, "DO you? Did someone try something with you? Give me his name and I'll…"

She runs her hand down his arm to cover his sudden fist, "Relax. It was a long time ago and far away." She shoots him a tiny grin, "Besides, he eventually got the use of his arm back." Here Richard flinches a bit and rolls his right shoulder. She scoffs, "Oh, believe me, yours was a love-tap compared to his!" She glances away, "I regret doing that to you. Every day. You have no idea. Putting you in an arm-lock was the LAST thing I wanted to do. I don't know why I did it and I'm very sorry. Truly sorry."

"You did it to show me my manners. I should never have touched you… no matter the provocation. Also… perhaps to re-enforce the 'no man policy'?"

She groans faintly. He's obviously missed everything she'd said after he heard the word 'convent'. She sighs and tries to catch him up, "But I DO need a man. A very particular man… and I found him… but there are obstacles."

He turns to her in consternation, "What sort of obstacles?" He had indeed missed everything after the word 'convent'.

"Well, there's me… and there's… him."

Now he looks away, over the sea, his heart beginning to break afresh, "And what sort is he? The Dwayne version or the Fidel version?"

"Both. Neither. He's something else I'd never even considered." His eyebrows quirk above an almost polite faltering smile. She leans in as if to impart a very important secret, "I never realized how irresistible an intelligent mind can be." He takes a breath to ask a question but she forestalls him and adds, "The green eyes helped a lot too."

He stills, thinks, smooths his tie, watches the waves for a moment or two, then slides just the tiniest bit closer and murmurs, "Um, I have green eyes."

"Yes, you do. Incredibly green. Coincidence, I wonder?"

He knows she knows his opinion about coincidences… that he doesn't believe in them. His green eyes study her very intently. She knows this look too. It is the 'white board' look. He's close.

He hesitates, "I've never mentioned this before but… my IQ was last tested at over 200 and that was five years before I came here and started my real education."

She nods, "I know. I sneaked a peek at your file."

"DID you now? That would take a bit of intelligence on your part to achieve." He snaps his fingers and points at her, smiling, "Wait a moment! Did Dwayne help you?"

She laughs, "He surely did! That man is a savant on the computer. That was the day he stopped arguing with you or questioning anything you said."

"Ah! I remember that day quite clearly. It was blissfully quiet until…" He frowns.

"Yes, until you got your tie caught in the filing cabinet drawer. That ended your sudden mystique and made you 'just Richard' again."

Now he is nodding, "Right, right. 'Just Richard'… that's me. We had a very enjoyable time at La Kaz that night, didn't we? I never laughed so hard."

"Yes, it was just friends enjoying each other's company. Like you and I are enjoying each other's company right now."

He slides closer still and is very gratified to notice an answering movement from her. Not much space left between them now. He shyly raises his hand once more. It hovers nervously against her back before settling lightly, "And do you finally know what you need to know? To be happy?"

She smiles sweetly and leans back into his hand, "I know that you are what I need."

His heart surges and renewed strength runs up his arm, "Am I? Am I really?"

"Oh, yes. No matter what I say, what I do, what I try… you are always there at the bottom of everything. The man I need… and now the man I want."

He slips his arm around her, the space between them narrows down to nothing. Her head is on his shoulder, like she wants to be there, like he wants her to be there… and it's very good.

They sit quietly and watch the waves. She suddenly remembers the orchids, holds them up to her face. They are creamy cool but odorless. She takes a deep breath but cannot find any perfume.

He watches this and says, "Phalaenopsis have little or no scent. I'll get you an armload of Cattleyas next. That should fill my home with a wonderful intoxicating scent that will make your head swim. You know, in the event you need incentive to lose your balance and perhaps fall into my arms."

Her eyes are glowing above the blooms. His pulse jumps. "Richard, I won't need flowers for that… but it sounds wonderfully exotic and not at all British."

He smiles a tiny crooked grin, "Well, maybe I'm part island now. Could happen."

"Mmm, yes, it could. And I like it. A lot."

"Enough to maybe come back to my place and finish this discussion in style?"

She stands up, pulls him to his feet, and wraps her free arm around him, "In any style you'd like. I am wide open to suggestions." She ducks her face into the flowers and regards him slyly above the white blooms, "Can the flowers come along too?" Her smile is wicked.

He shivers and holds her tighter. His world just went nova and he is SO glad to have a trusted partner at his side. Exploring can be dangerous work.

END