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 don't exist in my universe.

Chapter 5

The wind was slowly returning, moving them closer to Santa Barbara. They'd finally achieved a respectable speed, and after returning to LA, they decided to make a detour by the office, just to be sure everything was in order there.

"Mildred! What are you doing still here?" asked Laura very surprised to find the secretary sitting at Mr. Steele's desk.

"Mr. Steele, Mrs. Steele! You came back safe! I was worried something bad had happened! It's so late!"

"Nothing happened, Mildred," answered Mr. Steele. "I told you we were going to enjoy a sailing day. And that's just what we did."

"You said a sailing day, chief. It's 9:30 in the evening. I was beginning to worry. You could have told me it was going to be a long ride, you know..."

"You didn't have to wait at the office, Mildred. Did something unusual happen?" asked Laura.

At this very moment, Mr. Steele, who was standing behind Laura, started to move his hands clearly indicating Mildred to spare them the explanations. If something barely urgent had happened in their absence, and Laura found it out, this could be their first and last sailing adventure on a workday. And it had turned out to be a romantic escapade worth to repeat. Mildred caught the hint and got herself aligned beside Mr. Steele's idea. But she didn't want to miss the occasion to try for an addition to her salary or maybe to receive a retelling about the precious time her bosses had spent together. Opportunities like those didn't come along very often.

She answered then, "Something unusual? Nooo… I held on the fort, Mrs. Steele." She assured her boss totally convincing. "Everything is going to be fine tomorrow. Just be ready to start early, Mr. Steele," she gave him a withering glance.

"We'll sure do, Mildred," he answered getting the picture. He should come up with a smart idea to soften things. The last time they had messed up things with Mildred at the agency, it had cost them a salary raise, and Laura didn't enjoy it at all. "Why don't we indulge the three of us with a good dinner? I'm not sure I'm in the mood to try on something elaborate at this stage of the evening, but we could enjoy something simple but tasty. What do you think, Mildred; want to join us?"

He was aware Mildred was never ready to say no to such a tempting invitation. He would find the way to secretly talk to her and beg for mercy, or maybe to make a pact. He was really eager to repeat the sailing experience, and without Mildred's help, he was going to have a hard chance at trying.

"I could do that. Raise the anchor, chief!" She said energetically.

If the day had been great instead of the slight difficulties they faced, the evening was going to be at least entertaining. He was going to need all his Captain charm to go through the possible storms it might carry. But with the two most important ladies in his life beside him, it was going to be a blast. Indeed.