Will You Be My Steele?
"No, Frances! Of course not! No reason why you and Donald shouldn't take a moment for yourselves… Um hmm… See you at one on Friday." Laura settled her office phone into the cradle more firmly than necessary, rattling the Correa lamp on the corner of the desk.
After closing her eyes and taking a deep, calming breath, Laura stood and squared her shoulders, swiftly covering the few steps between her desk and Mr. Steele's office door. Flinging the door open she continued her purposeful approach toward her smiling partner, fingers pressed tightly together as she attempted to control her irritation.
Engaged in a congenial phone exchange of his own, Steele motioned Laura closer.
"Excellent idea, Donald. Superb! Yes, Laura and I will be by with the limo at one o'clock. Looking forward to it. Bye, now." Beaming, Steele returned his phone to its cradle with an elegant flourish. "Ahh, Laura. I've had Mildred clear our calendar for Friday afternoon. We're off to Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Hollywood Museum, possibly a visit to Griffith Park…Laura, why are you looking at me like that? It isn't as if we've never taken an afternoon off before."
"To entertain my sister's kids? Haven't we spent enough time exploring family life in the past several days? In case you've forgotten, we do have business to conduct on Friday, Mr. Steele! A deposition at ten, if I remember correctly, a noon seminar on forensics - and I had plans to…" Just as she was building up a good head of steam, Laura paused, realizing at that moment that her visit to the hair salon and the leisurely soak in the tub she had anticipated were predicated on evening plans she was no longer sure she and Mr. Steele had.
"I'd been telling Danny about the great glory days of the cinema and I offered to take him to Grauman's. Laurie Beth wants to see Donald Duck's star on the Hollywood walk of fame. Mindy called me last night to say they have no school this Friday – seemed the perfect opportunity to introduce the children to some of the finer attractions of their new home. "
"Did you ever consider asking me before you made plans with my family?"
Steele looked sheepishly up at Laura. "Perhaps I got a bit carried away, but I rather enjoyed spending time with the children – as well as with Donald and Frances."
"I'm glad one of us enjoys the idea of having Donald and Frances living in Tarzana." Laura's face softened and she tapped her finger gently on the front of Steele's shirt. "I guess family is a bit of more of a novelty for you than it is for me. Frances just called to make sure it was okay for Donald and her to sneak away for an early dinner while the kids were with us. I told her they had until seven. I'm not going to spend the entire day with the munchkins."
"The Wizard of Oz, Judy Garland, MGM, 1939," Steele stood, taking Laura's hands between his as he supplied the appropriate reference. "If your sister and brother-in-law return by seven, and we move expeditiously, we should have time to be at Amici for dinner at nine."
"I wondered for a moment if you'd forgotten our earlier plans," Laura's dimple deepened.
"Ha! Not possible." Steele bent slightly to touch his lips to the Laura's hands and added gently, "Thank you for sharing your family with me, Miss Holt."
Laura nodded. "This domestic inclination of yours certainly qualifies as one of life's great mysteries, Mr. Steele."
"I hardly call an interest in the cinema and its greatest stars domestic, Laura! I'm simply cultivating the next generation in its veneration of film greats!"
"Donald Duck?" Laura said over her shoulder as Steele steered her back to her office.
"Among others. I'm sure you have work to do, as do I. Shall we rendezvous for lunch? Say in an hour or so?" Steele closed the door firmly behind his slightly flustered partner and returned to his desk, grabbing the phone as he slid into his seat. "Mildred? I'm going to need some numbers..."
*******
Mentally exchanging a long soak for a quick shower, an up-do for merely blow-dried, Laura contemplated how long it would take her to be ready for dinner. Looking surreptitiously at her watch once again, she smiled carefully at Mindy and Laurie Beth as they ended their fourth enthusiastic rendition of A Spoonful of Sugar, complete with choreography.
"Yay!" Laura intoned brightly. "You two are wonderful! Why don't you practice that one more time while I check on Danny and Mr. Steele?"
Stepping into the doorway of Donald and Frances' kitchen, Laura found Mr. Steele and Danny seated at a newspaper-covered kitchen table carefully gluing a small part onto a large model of some type of aircraft. Both were completely absorbed by the project before them. She leaned her head against the door frame and smiled at the two "boys."
Steele looked up at last, a lock of hair falling endearingly across his forehead. He smiled at Laura, then frowned and looked at his watch.
"They're a bit late, aren't they," he stated. "Perhaps I'd better call Milo and push our reservation back."
"Perhaps we should just reschedule…"
At that moment, Frances came bursting through the door from the garage. "Laura, I'm so sorry we're late, but we had the most marvelous time! You can't imagine how wonderful it was to sit over a lovely candlelit dinner and sip wine with no one fighting or whining or kicking someone else under the table!"
"So those are family traits you've been displaying all these years!" Steele said under his breath to Laura as he moved quickly out of the line of fire and into the front room.
Laura had time for no more than an icy glare directed Steele's way before Frances' maternal nature kicked into high gear.
"How did you and the kids do? I hope they weren't too much trouble. I know how cranky Mindy can be when she's tired. Was Laurie Beth able to keep up with all the walking? Danny, how have your allergies been?"
"Everything's just fine Frances. The kids were all great. We stopped at McDonald's for an entirely vegetable free dinner and followed that up with ice cream. With a little bit of practice I think I could get used to being a resident aunt." Laura smiled at her suddenly speechless sister before turning to tell the children good-bye.
"One more song, Aunt Laura?" Laurie Beth pleaded.
"Much as she'd love to, darlin', Auntie Laura and I need to head out." Steele leaned in to kiss each of the girls on top of their heads, sending both into paroxysms of laughter. Reaching out to shake Danny's hand, he said, "Danny, my man, I expect you and your father will have that kit finished next time I see you."
To a chorus of good-byes and thank-yous Steele and Laura hurried from the Piper's front door. Steele whistled a signal to Fred, fastidiously engaged in painstakingly cleaning the interior surfaces of the limo.
*******
While a shower had done wonders for Laura, the entire day had left her feeling slightly out of sync. The red sheath she slipped over her head to shimmy down her hips had held such promise when she found it last month. Black patent slings with open toes skimmed her small feet. She slid a gold bangle onto her left arm alongside a gold watch that her mother had given her many years ago. As she gave her reflection a final look, her hand paused on her collar bone, on the heart necklace Mr. Steele had given her.
He was still a mystery to her. How on earth had she let him muddy what should have been one of the most romantic days of the year into a remake of A Family Affair, Brian Keith, 1966? She conceded that the man who scaled museum walls, who effortlessly became a duke or a London street hustler, the man who garnered the attention of every man and woman in a room, whether in a tux, finely tailored suit or a sweater and jeans, had been equally winning shepherding three small children around the city of Los Angeles.
Just exactly who was the real Steele?
Shaking her head, Laura glanced at the time, then tapped her watch. Damn. It appeared to have stopped. She knew it was later than eight since that's the time she had pulled the door back on the loft. Pulling the watch off her wrist and tossing it into her jewelry box, she raked her fingers through the burnished hair falling in smooth waves around her face.
Slipping on a faux fur white coat, Laura picked up her black clutch. Tucked inside – embellished now with a tiny red bow - was the souvenir MGM key chain she'd bought this afternoon. It was a silly gift for a man who needed no keys to open doors, but at the same time so perfect for him and, she hoped, a gift that said enough without saying too much.
Fred stood waiting at the curb for her. He deserved triple double overtime for what they had put him through today.
"Thank you, Fred. Sorry about the long day, and all the sticky fingers on the glass. This will be the last leg. Mr. Steele and I will take the Auburn to Amici."
"No problem, Miss Holt. Didn't you need to be at Mr. Steele's about twenty minutes ago?"
Laura thought ruefully about how much Fred picked up as he sat silently in front.
"You're absolutely right, Fred. I'm afraid we're going to miss our reservation, no matter how quickly we arrive at Mr. Steele's. Experience leads me to believe it takes him about twice as long to dress as it does me."
It was already after nine when Fred dropped Laura in front of Rossmore. Sighing, she smiled her good-night and walked quickly through the door Fred had hurried ahead of her to open.
"Why do elevators always move more slowly when you're in a hurry?" Laura grumbled to herself, "And couldn't Mr. Steele, for once, have been ready on time and waiting in the foyer?"
The elevator finally opened, discharging its sole occupant near the door to Mr. Steele's apartment.
Laura rang the bell and knocked, waiting impatiently for the familiar 'Coming, coming, coming,' from within, hoping against hope that he would actually be ready to go.
Her stomach growled. That single scoop of chocolate chunk ice cream she had allowed herself while they treated the kids seemed long ago now. The memory of his eyes on her as she savored a spoonful of creamy chocolate slid into her thoughts and she flushed.
Suddenly warm, she slipped the white coat off her shoulders, allowing it to drape onto the floor, loosely gripped in her hand. They ought to talk to the super about the excess heat in these halls.
Resting her head against the door and then rapping sharply once more in irritation, Laura called out, "Mr. Steele?"
The door swung open.
Dark hair and those heart stopping blue eyes peered around at Laura, producing that all together too familiar catch in her breathing.
The open door allowed the wonderful smells of a perfect Italian dinner to waft more compellingly out into the hall. How had she missed that when she stepped off the elevator?
He took her hand in his and drew her in. The apartment was infused with a warm rosy glow. A startling array of red, pink and white candles glittered on nearly every horizontal surface in the room. Her almond eyes grew wide.
The table was set for two. A server dressed in white placed a container onto a rolling cart and nodded at Laura.
"If that will be all, Mr. Steele?" the man asked politely as he prepared to leave.
"Thank you, James. I'll give my compliments to Milo in person next time we're in." Steele closed the door and turned to smile at Laura, his eyes lighting up appreciatively as they traveled up and down her form.
"My, my. You look exquisite this evening. May I take your coat?"
Still too taken aback to speak, Laura simply nodded, her lips slightly parted in surprise.
Laying the coat across the sofa, Steele drew her into his arms. Leaning in to take full advantage of those soft lips, he kissed her tenderly and lingeringly before leaning back, Laura still securely held in the circle of his arms.
The power of speech returned before clear thought and she murmured, "So we're not going to Amici?"
That prompted his wide smile.
"Did you really think I was going to share you with a crowd for one more minute of the day? As much as I enjoyed spending time with your family today, this evening is a night for a far more intimate gathering."
Blue eyes softly locked onto brown for a long steady gaze before he leaned in to breathe his words into Laura's ear. "Just a little St. Valentine's Day surprise."
In that moment who this man was became crystal clear. Laura reached up to wrap her arms around Steele's shoulders.
"You are one wonderful surprise after another, Mr. Steele." Laura murmured against his lips before their kiss once again ended all thought, except, 'And you are mine.'