Disclaimer:
Remington Steele and its characters are owned by MTM. No copyright infringement intended. For entertainment purposes only.
Set after Season 4. Bonds of Steele and Season 5 are not in my universe.
Early morning.
It was one of her favorite moments of the day. Enjoying the silence and warm coffee while planning her day were some activities that usually worked better together, taking advantage over the absence of any interruption. And with any, she meant Mr. Steele's usual tactics to bring her back to bed, or Mildred with her positively lack of timing, even at rising time of course.
Laura's early minutes alone admiring the sunrise were precious. She was standing outside, warm breeze playing tricks with her hair still disarranged from sleep, appreciating Los Angeles bright sky; a warm cup of coffee, her utter delight. If the routine was on, she still had a few minutes before him waking up. Ideas of a brief running escapade crossed her mind but were quickly discarded. They had spent a rough week working in New York. The trip resulted although discreet, emotionally eventful for her. The case they've recently worked in had left her mind re-thinking about some of the latest events in her life; in their life, accurately speaking. Somehow, the way it wrapped itself set off an alarm in her mind about how people's lives come across intersections that can actually be taken or equally ignored. And that was the place where her mind was unsteadily wandering this morning. She took another sip of her coffee, put the mug on the veranda and closing her eyes she inspired deep. Right then she felt his arms closing around her midsection and his lips wandering by her neck, his aftershave still surprisingly fresh after a day on. The man… She closed her eyes in delight.
"Good morning," he barely whispered, still not fully awake.
"Good morning. You're up early, . Missing your partner already?" She put her hand over his, welcoming their closeness.
"Missing her, indeed, and making sure she's not leaving me alone in bed with the weak excuse of completing her exhausting exercise routine. She might take a break today. My tempting offer for today might include a gourmet breakfast after being rewarded by some quality company."
"Not horizontal routine in your agenda for the morning, Mr. Steele?"
"You are aware I'm not able to resist your good predisposition to include anything horizontal even in the early morning. Right, Laura?" His lips continued their detour by her now uncovered shoulder.
"I'm aware, Mr. Steele." She turned in his embrace. "Let's go inside, and I'll show you exactly how aware I am." She kissed him lightly. "And after the offered gourmet breakfast and with any help avoiding Mildred's opportune interruptions after a week off, we need to talk." She raised her lips to him expecting a warm or more preferably a spicy hot welcoming. But instead of working on her expectations he straightened himself suddenly opening his now less sleepy eyes.
"Those are certainly not the wisest words you can choose to lift a man's spirit in the morning, Laura."
"I don't think your spirit or any other random parts of your beautiful self are in need to be lifted, Mr. Steele." She pulled him to her and continued with her seduction.
"You're cynical Laura." He gave up to her advances and got back to their kissing, "But we can play cynical this morning if you want. Just try to be nice with me, Mrs. Steele; I'm a man after all."He kissed her, suddenly uncertain about her unspoken intentions but eager to resume their seducing activity. "Ready to go?"
"In the name of proper exercise wording, Mr. Steele, ready, steady, and go…" and with those last words she disentangled herself from his embrace without letting his hand free, and led the way back to bed, wearing a smile barely when they finally touched home. The morning was turning out to be like the usual after all. Until talk-time at least, she expected.
And he expected it too, for sure.
"These eggs are delicious. New recipe?" asked Laura between mouthfuls.
"Scrambled eggs, creamy with melted chèvre and studded with fresh herbs," he answered praying to keep her attention focused on the food; the upcoming conversation still hanging on the air.
"Buttered scones… Must be a celebrating breakfast," she put the fork down and sipped her juice, "Am I missing something, Mr. Steele?"
"I decided after our delicious breakfast feasts at the hotel in New York, that my morning cooking was ready for an upgrade. Satisfied with the outcome?"
She looked down at her plate, "You didn't need to upgrade anything. Your breakfasts had always been absolutely delicious," she raised the napkin to her mouth, "You're very kind taking on the duty of making breakfast every morning, in fact. Thank you."
"It's my pleasure, Laura."
He left his napkin on the table and grabbed both dishes taking them to the kitchen. Laura followed him with some of the remaining food, stashing it in the fridge. She turned on her heels and grabbed the coffee pot, made her way back to the dining room. Mr. Steele realized that talk-time had arrived and decided that confronting the moment with calm, icy calm, was the wisest way. One past unhappy talk that pushed him to his London adventure a few years ago came to his memory, and the air suddenly felt dried from his lungs. He was certainly sure there wasn't anything to be worried about like that night this time. Laura was still angry at his outrageous expenditure along their recent trip, but he wasn't necessarily guilty this time. Mildred had been the one buying first class tickets and making reservations at the classy hotel. He barely made a suggestion with absolutely no intention, and she made her own decisions after that. He wasn't disappointed of course, and Laura didn't need to be a genius to deduct that. But still, that conversation would arrive at the office, involving Mildred. So, that left him with no idea about what their talk was going to be about. Dangerous… He decided to look for Laura and find out. But once he returned to the dining room, she wasn't there. Coffee and cups were ready in the living room, but there was no trace of Laura. Where were Mildred and her interruptions when he needed her the most?
"Laura?"
"Just a minute," she answered from the bedroom. She came back with a box neatly packed in her hands that caught Mr. Steele's attention and put it on the far corner of the table. Then she sat down in front of him and begun to pour coffee in the cups in silence. That wasn't good news…
"So," she said at least.
"So," he answered.
"Something happened in New York, and as I want our relationship to change from our usual patterns, I'd love to talk about it." She stirred her coffee.
"I'm all ears," he answered her, still with no clue.
"Remember when we finally found Ann that evening at Paul's performance? She said something about not letting deceptions interfere between us."
"I supposed we were past deceptions, Laura. I know that's almost impossible especially for you, but I'm really trying. I deserve some credit for the effort at least, don't you think?"
"You have all the credit, but that's not what I want to talk about."
"By all means Laura, what do you want to talk about? You're making me nervous..."
"You know, our story has some parallels with Ann and Paul's one."
"It has?" He reclined himself on the back of the couch.
"Let me explain."
"Be my guest."
"Ann and Paul met at work and fell in love the first time they saw each other, by Ann's words. Somehow both of them had no doubt Ann was going to succeed in her career, but once she felt she'd failed, she couldn't go on with her life right like it was. She decided to put some distance between her and the failure in her career, sacrificing their new relationship on the way, pretending that it wasn't as important as it really was. That did the trick, allowing her to follow with a new life and safer career she planned elsewhere, but made her existence sadly loveless. It took years for her to realize the magnitude of her mistake, and once she did it, she wasn't sure she would get a second chance."
"But life allowed her to do it, and she finally took the chance," he answered.
"Yes, she did it in the end. But the pressure she put on her because of her career took its tolls on her personal life. She lived without a family. She left aside her real love to find an escape from a broken dream because she was not able to accommodate the facts to live with both. Lack of courage and fear of deception interfered."
"I see."
"Her words remained in my mind since that night, Mr. Steele. I couldn't stop thinking about myself, you know. My dream since I was a child was to become a detective. Solving cases made me feel alive since I have memory. Domestically at the beginning and professionally in my adult life, it's all I've been focused on." She sipped some coffee from the steaming cup.
"But then I took the scene."
She left her cup on the table again and raised her eyes to him, "And then you took the scene. I'm not saying I have any regret about that, you know. Perhaps I had hard feelings at the beginning, but they're long gone. I love you, and I'm grateful you're in my life and I'm in yours. But the thing is I'm worried."
"Worried? About what?"
"I'm worried about putting aside an important side of my life because of work for more time than the needed."
"Do you feel you're doing that? Because I certainly don't think so. You're a fabulous woman, Laura; unusual perhaps but fabulous. Your intelligence leaves most people one's miles behind, and your self-power is astonishing. You are a committed professional, and when we're working together, you make me feel like a real part of a team. Then, there is our personal relationship. Against all the odds, you made a huge effort and pushed down some heavy inner walls allowing us being together. If that's not working up to go on with your life, then I don't know what it is."
"I'm aware I'm on the right path, and I'm enjoying it. I'm happy, Mr. Steele. But there's always the doubt about if I'm doing the best I can. And that's when I need your help."
"My help? You only have to ask. You know I'm here for you, Laura."
She got up from the table and began to pace through the living room, "I know, and believe me, I'm grateful that you are. But somehow, even as time goes by I feel like I'm still at the beginning, that I have all the time ahead of me. And I just realized that life goes on and opportunities don't knock on your door twice. I used to think that things would happen at the right time, without too much trouble. The right job, business success, good friends, love…" she stopped the pacing and sat down in her previous spot, her sight on the carpet.
There was a valid word following the ones Laura was saying, but he wasn't comfortable enough to vocalize it. Then she looked at him, her eyes with unusual bright.
"Oh, Laura. Don't push yourself that hard. You don't deserve that."
"I'm not pushing myself hard. I'm just saying that I'm not sure if I am leaving a part of my life aside because I'm too much comfortable as I am and I'm not brave enough to take onto the challenge. I'm saying that I don't want to let it pass without giving it serious thought. And that thought, I should not be giving it alone. We should consider it together."
"Sure we should. But there's no rush. We have time. We need time for us as a couple. We are just starting our marriage…"
"But we know each other for more than five years now, which might be enough; and we have been good partners before becoming more than that. We did all the steps in a relationship and more…"
"However, here we are… still at the beginning." He grabbed her hand and pulled her to sit beside him on the couch.
"I'm not sure I'm ready for the next step, you know. And what scares me the most it's that I'm not sure I'll ever be ready." She kept her gaze away and sighed.
"As I was saying, we're still at the beginning, Laura. The wonderful part of beginnings is that they are full of possibilities. We can take our time. You can take all the time you need. I love you, and I'm not going to love you less because you're not ready to change your life and put all your interests aside because there would be no Laura anymore. You are the Laura I chose to be with every day since we met. Don't let her disappear behind other challenges we're still not ready to face."
He put his arm on her shoulder and pulling her to him he kissed her cheek. She turned her face and kissed him back. Their foreheads touched, and their lips remained together for a long time. It wasn't a kiss from lust. It was a kiss from reassurance, it was a kiss from a partnership, it was a kiss from love.
"Are you okay?" he asked her after their lips parted.
"Yes, I am. Are you?"
"Of course I am." He held her in his arms for some more time. After a while, he rested his eyes on the package on the table. Curiosity starting to pick on him again, "What's in the package on the table, Laura?"
"Something I brought from New York for Mildred. She loves presents."
"Sure she does. What did you buy her?"
"A special treat from Maison du Chocolat."
"And you resisted opening the box. Laura, are you all right?"
"Of course I'm all right. The fact that I love chocolate doesn't necessarily make me a chocoholic like Frances, Mr. Steele. I can stand temptation."
"Let me remind you that I never saw your resistance against chocolate succeed, Laura. Where's the other box?"
"What other box? I don't know what you are talking about."
"The fact that there is a box of chocolates still in its original package resting on the table, added to the fact that traveled successfully from New York in your suitcase without suffering major damages, leads me to the conclusion that it's not the only one box. You picked one for Mildred, and just to stay out of crime, you picked a similar one for you. Don't tell me there's not a remaining piece. The box looks stuffed."
"My box remains in hidden in a secure place."
"Just help me to understand this... You're hiding your box of chocolates from your own self?"
"Well, you know…"
"Where did you put it, Laura? Wait, I can tell…" He stood up from the couch and walked to the bills' drawer, behind them. She rolled her eyes in exasperation. The box stood up from its secure place right when the light caught it. He grabbed it and opened the lid, "There are just four chocolates left, Laura. When did you exterminate all the stuff?"
"Early risers have a lot of joyful time on their own Mr. Steele… You should try…" she told him shamelessly.
He stared at her with open eyes, acknowledging her confession. "This is getting out of control, Laura. And this time I'm not happy there's something you're not controlling. Hiding your own chocolates? You're a grown woman. You don't need to hide the chocolates. What you need is to control your killer instinct against them."
She stood up ready to fight for her vice. "I knew you wouldn't understand. That's why I didn't tell you. I had to hide them because if I don't keep them out of sight, I will get sick; I can go through a whole chocolate box without even breathing, Mr. Steele. I'm a passionate woman. Besides, instead of my passion, Mildred's box remains untouched. That should count… She will love that at least one of us remembered to bring her something from New York, don't you think?"
"Who says I didn't remember to bring her something from New York? I'm a grateful man, Laura." He walked to the video collection cabinet and grabbed a deep blue and somehow big velvet box.
"What is that?" asked Laura not bothering about hiding her shock. "You didn't bring her a…"
"Tiffany's souvenir? Why not, Laura? The fact that she's a secretary doesn't mean she doesn't deserve a classy gift." He raised his index finger in warning. "Don't tell me you're jealous because you'd kill me with your own hands if I try something from Tiffany's for you. I know my limits."
Laura grabbed the package from his hands and inspected it. Something was off. "Tell me what's inside the package, Mr. Steele."
"You'll have to wait for Mildred to open it. You have your hidden secrets, I have mine."
"I can't believe you were still showing appreciation to all these jewelry brochures at the plane, while you were carrying an ultra expensive piece in your suitcase already."
"Who says it was expensive, Laura. Your appreciation is clearly erratic. It was not as expensive as tasteful. Just let me end your misery, it's a book."
"A book?" asked Laura in surprise turning the box upside down.
"Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote, Random House, 1958, original edition. The Hollywood version was…"
"Breakfast at Tiffany's, Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Paramount Pictures, 1961… I love that movie." She smiled at him. "You're not so bad yourself after all, Mr. Steele."
"Just let me tell you, Laura, that the librarian warned me the book wasn't exactly like the screen version. The falling out is completely different in the movie, and certainly not nearly poignant. Let's say that the true story ends by suggesting that no character can be colored by happily ever after. But still, it's a wonderful book. At least they leave the stealing…"
"Well, I think she will find her present adorable. We both know Mildred like her literature a little spicy, but this time she'd be good for a change. A first edition… That's impressive Mr. Steele. She'll be out of herself with joy."
"Maybe next time I should try with To Kill a Mockingbird. You'd like that one, Laura. It's about a lawyer and his two kids…"
"I read the book loved it. And I would love a first edition as well, but it's getting late, Mr. Steele. Close the book and let's get back to reality. We've been out of the agency for almost a week. A new case is waiting at the office. Shall we go?"
"I'm missing New York already but… Let's go, Laura. You know I'm always a fan about new beginnings."
"I know Mr. Steele. It's one of your charms."