Next chapter finally up, sorry for the long delay everyone. Chapter 12 should be up tomorrow.
Hotch shifted in his sleep and blinked as a strong ray of sunshine landed on his face. Instantly alert, he checked the time on his wristwatch. Crap. He was cutting it dangerously close for his meeting with Marais. Their extended cuddle had slowly led to more interesting things, which then led to them falling asleep.
He slowly extracted his right arm from under the sleeping Emily. Even with the time constraints he lingered for just a moment longer to gaze at her beautiful countenance. God, she was beautiful. The sun highlighted the dark red streaks in her hair, casting a glow on her skin. He would have given up his job without a second thought if he could have woken up with her every morning for the rest of his life. His watch beeped softly. Damn, now he really had to hustle.
He had a 90 second shower while brushing his teeth before quickly put on one of the two suits he had brought with him. Just as he was about to walk out the door, he realised that he hadn't combed his hair and rushed back into the bathroom. Where had his usual plan everything in advance and prepare for every situation self go? He felt almost flustered as he looked around for his wallet. Where the hell was it?
Just as he was about to go back into the bedroom to look there, a knock sounded on the door. Hotch frowned at his watch. He wasn't late – yet. Maybe it was the maid coming to make up the room. He hadn't remembered to put the do not disturb sign on the door last night. He quickly closed the door to the bedroom before checking the peep-hole. To his surprise he saw that it was an impeccably dressed middle-aged man with grey hair and a slight paunch.
He undid the chain and opened the door, having an inkling of who it might be.
"Ah, Agent Hotchner?" The man extended his hand to Hotch. "Forgive the intrusion, I am Jean-Phillipe Marais. We were supposed to meet at the cafe down the street?"
Hotch shook his hand. "Capitaine Marais. Please come in." He stood back to let the French detective in, extremely grateful that he had closed the door to the bedroom. He just hoped that Emily didn't decide to wake up and walk into the sitting room. That would make things very uncomfortable. Especially if she was undressed.
"I am sorry, I was early and was hoping to catch you before you left the hotel. On the way here I noticed that the cafe was actually closed today which I had not expected and I didn't want you to go to the trouble of trying to locate my mobile phone number." Marais looked apologetic as he gave the explanation.
Hotch shook his head and tried to put him at ease. "No, that's fine. I was running a little late myself or you would have missed me. Would you like to take a seat. I just need to get my wallet from the other room."
"Of course, of course, please take your time." Marais waved his hand telling Hotch that he would be fine.
Hotch had just taken two steps towards the bedroom when the door opened, stopping him fully in his tracks. Damn, damn, damn. Emily, you have the worst timing ever.
"Hotch, I heard voices and thought, oh!" she exclaimed when she saw Marais. Hotch saw her ivory expression pale.
Marais glanced up in surprise when he saw Emily standing in the doorway to the bedroom. Hotch looked back at Emily and saw what Marais would have seen. A tall, very beautiful woman with tousled light brown hair and dark eyes holding up a bedsheet which she had wrapped around herself. At least she wasn't nude, he thought. Unfortunately her wildly mussed hair, swollen lips and … (damn, was that a bite mark on her shoulder?) advertised loudly what she, and as a result, him, were doing in the very recent past. Hotch was frozen like a statue in the tableau, not ever having ever been in such a situation before and not knowing what to do or say.
Marais, to his credit, once he realised that Hotch wasn't going to say anything, did not miss a beat and walked straight up to Emily without even blinking. "Mademoiselle, I am Capitaine Jean-Phillipe Marais from the Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciaire. Pleased to meet you." He lifted Emily's free hand to his lips.
Emily blinked in surprise, but appeared to recover quickly, quickly covering up her embarrassment. "Enchante, Capitaine. I am Sophie. My apologies for interrupting your meeting, I had not realised that Aaron had company. I will leave you to continue." Marais stepped back further into the sitting room to give them some privacy. Before Hotch could say anything Emily disappeared for a second then came back, extending out her hand to him. "I thought you might be looking for this," she said. Hotch looked down at her hand and saw that she was holding his wallet.
"Uh, thanks." A million and one thoughts were racing through his mind as he took the wallet from her. He had no idea how he should explain her presence to Marais, but first and foremost he wanted to reassure Emily that everything would be fine. He hadn't missed the slight panic in her eyes at the thought that her cover might have been blown unintentionally. He moved closer to her and spoke in a low voice. "Emily, don't worry, okay? I'll sort this out with Marais and everything will be fine." When he saw that the worried frown on her face didn't subside, he continued, "You trusted me before, please trust me again. You know I'll do anything to keep you safe. Trust me."
Emily swallowed hard and then nodded, her eyes not leaving his. Hotch leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I should be back around 3 p.m. Promise me you won't leave while I'm gone."
"Okay," she whispered. "You better go." Looking at Marais, she raised her voice slightly. "It was nice to meet you, Capitaine. J'espere que notre prochaine rencontre se deroulera dans de meilleures circonstances." I hope that our next meeting will be under better circumstances.
Marais smiled at Emily's comment. "Je l'espere egalement, Mademoiselle , et je suis impatient de vous revoir." I hope so too, Mademoiselle, and I look forward to that time. He gave her a little bow.
"Au revoir." Emily returned his smile and walked back into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.
"Shall we?" said Hotch, indicating the door.
"Yes, of course," replied Marais. As they walked down the corridor to the lift, Hotch thought he should explain about Emily while they were still in a relatively private setting.
"Capitaine, I would appreciate if you would keep Sophie's presence in my room to yourself. Sophie is...was my colleague and is now living with a new identity in Paris as we have not caught the man who attempted to kill her. He is under the impression that Sophie is no longer alive and we need to keep it that way." Hotch decided to put his trust in Marais, having the gut feeling that Marais was a trustworthy person. He didn't bother explaining that he had only met Emily by chance.
Marais nodded thoughtfully. "I see, I see. Of course I will do so, there is no problem at all."
They stepped into the lift.
"So she was your colleague, Agent Hotchner? And now that she is no longer your colleague you are...?" Marais looked at Hotch, an understanding smile on his face.
"Please, call me Aaron," Hotch replied. "And yes, now that she is no longer my colleague..." his voice trailed off. Rather uncharacteristically for him, he wasn't sure how to define their relationship.
"Jean-Phillipe, please. Ah, I think the word you are looking for is l'amour, Aaron." Marais gestured to the right as they reached the glass entry door to the hotel, indicating they should head in that direction.
Hotch inclined his head, only pretending to agree out of politeness, uncomfortable with the turn their conversation had taken. But deep in his heart, he had to admit that it was starting to feel more and more like l'amour.
I know nothing much has happened in this chapter, but I have to introduce Capitaine Marais as he is the reason Hotch is in Paris after all! Also, I thought it was time to start giving you an inkling of what Hotch is feeling. Let me know what you think if you have a moment.