He knows what he's planning is reckless and that if he fails, it won't be just a disciplinary he'll be facing, his career will crash and burn. His main concern is that he intends dragging Ruth along with him, in both a professional and personal capacity and with no guarantee that he'll be able to pull it off. That when Adam told her he would find her, the response that she was willing to help is a positive. Despite it coming with the warning from Adam that he needs to keep control of his emotions and not get too far ahead of himself. On the plus side he trusts his team and in Adam, he has what he is considers to be his best Section Chief to date. That he has firm ally in Malcolm is the reason that he now has an untraceable phone in his pocket, with his own phone stripped of its sim and battery. That he's as ready as he'll ever be and tonight is just part of what might or might not turn into a marathon rather than a sprint, he's planned down to the finest detail.
Including what he now hopes has been a successful attempt to convince his watchers that he's at home when he isn't. Made much easier to achieve after dark and with the advantage of knowing the streets of London like the back of his hand. Having first drawn the curtains and left the side lights on in his house, before he'd exited via his neighbours back gate. An arrangement that he'd put in place almost as soon as he'd moved in, in exchange for him picking up her paper on a daily basis and on the odd occasion when goes to stay with her daughter, keeping an eye out. That he's now wearing a different coat to the one he'd worn the previous day, more like a jacket really, he knows makes him look like Malcom, give or take several kilos. That the flat cap doesn't suit him, but it's a necessary accessory, he'll take off as soon as he sees her board the bus. The one where if the timetable is correct and more importantly if the second bus arrives on time, means that the time gap between the two buses should be about ten minutes. Which if he's calculated correctly, will give him the five minutes he needs to be right behind her by the time she arrives home. What happens after that is in the lap of the gods, or in this case will confirm whether he's been barking up the wrong tree by thinking that he stands more than a good chance of her saying yes. Yes, to what he hasn't yet thought about, is what he's telling himself as the taxi drops him off within a hundred metres of Thames House. At which point he turns up the collar on the jacket and walks along the pavement, where each and every slab seems to be saying, 'be careful Harry, not everyone is on your side.'
That all of this is just a dress rehearsal for tomorrow evening, doesn't mean that he's treating it any less seriously, or is assuming that things will have remained the same in his absence. Which in normal circumstances, would see Ruth the last of them to leave. Whether it's because like him she has nobody to go home too, he's never asked and she's never told him. But that again is a question for tomorrow. His concern now, is whether or not Juliet has been using his designated parking space, or alternatively is being driven into work? Either way, it's something he's banking on being able to find out because it's the only way he can be sure that she's left the building. The human force, who if she sees him, will scupper his plans. A quick glance as hurries past and finds a place to hide with his head down, confirms within moments that she hasn't changed her hours to fit in with what he hopes is only a temporary arrangement. Something which on another level annoys him. Despite giving him the advantage of going round to the front of the building without having to worry and with the real chance if he's patient of seeing Ruth leave. That he intends spying on his colleagues is all in the name of love and not he tells himself, to admonish any of them for what he considers to be far too early to be going home, finds him squeezing into a gap that is far too narrow and by the smell, is frequented by pigeons. The thought that he'll need to clean his shoes, overtaken by him seeing Zaf and Jo, exiting a building which houses more than a thousand people, intermingling with those who are going in the opposite direction to work the night shift and without the light above the door would make it difficult to identify one from another.
It's half an hour later, by which stage he can feel himself getting not only agitated but feeling nauseous, that Ruth appears, not on her own but with Adam. His first thought, because they seem to be having what looks to be an animated conversation, is that Adam is trying to persuade her that accepting a lift home isn't a mortal sin. Which if he's right and she accepts, will put an end to his evening. He's concentrating so hard on watching them, that it isn't until the last moment he realises that Malcolm and Colin are crossing the road within inches of where he's standing, which causes him to step back even further into the shadows and lose sight of Ruth. Emerging a few moments later with a graze on his hand for his trouble and with Ruth nowhere in sight. Panic, not something that he associates with himself, leaving him with two options. He can either stick to his original plan, or take a taxi to her house in the hope that he arrives before she does. If Adam is with her, then what? Supposing she invites him in? It's the sort of thing he can imagine Ruth doing. Is he going to knock on the door and hope that she'll look suitably pleased to see him? No, he decides at a run in the direction of what he knows is her bus stop, weaving in and out of the traffic in a way that is suggested by more than one angry motorist, will get him killed.
Ruth is equally if not more agitated, but in her case it's because she's never been one of those sharp elbowed people who have no thought for people like her. Short, a word that is quite often results in her missing her bus as they barge past her. The most memorable, being about a month ago when it had been pouring with rain and she'd forgotten her umbrella. How she'd arrived home soaked to the skin and with a temper which she extinguished by drinking two glasses of wine before taking a long hot bath. The first of which she regretted as soon as she'd done it, because having not eaten anything since lunchtime, she'd developed a headache within the hour. Which is the reason that she hadn't argued with Adam when he'd told her to go home before what is the rush hour, which when Harry's still on the grid, she almost always ignores. That both Adam and Malcolm know that her claim of having a mountain of work to get through, true though it may be, isn't the only reason she does this, she doesn't want to filter through to the rest of the team. Which is why she appreciates Adam making a big show of relying on her, to deflect their attention away from wondering what she's been trying and failing to imagine might be permanent. A grid without Harry sitting behind his desk.
Pull yourself together, she tells herself as she arrives at her bus stop with about ten minutes to spare. Having already concluded that once she gets home, her not going into work again in the morning, is about as unlikely as not being able to think about Harry for the next twelve hours.
On the opposite side of the road, Harry who has made it within sight of the bus stop in one piece, has a clear view of Ruth for what feels like the first time in ages. Why she chooses to travel by bus, when the tube would be so much quicker, he has no idea. Just as well that she does though, because he'd have no hope of keeping up with her amongst the crowds that push and shove their way to the front of the platforms. A thought that makes him acutely aware of the void in working their status. Her having to wait at a bus stop every day, while he can either drive himself to and from work or ask for a driver to pick him up or take him home, is he realises, something that would be difficult to change, even if their relationship does. That finding a way to separate the two and still be able to function efficiently at work, without their private life getting in the way is likely to be a challenge, although Adam and Fiona had managed it and as Ruth isn't a field agent which always comes with the added pressure of dealing with whoever they happen to be targeting, should result in less arguments. Thoughts which take him back to what Adam said about not getting too far ahead of himself and are brought to a halt because Ruth's bus has arrived, only five minutes later than was scheduled. He watches her climb on board and the doors close behind her and the other passengers. This time tomorrow he'll be waiting a few stops further down the road. Now he's relying on the next bus to arrive on time.
As she always does, Ruth has found herself a seat on the top deck and opened the latest in a long line of paperbacks that help her to relax on the journey home. Other passengers come and go and in normal circumstances she would barely notice them. But tonight, because it's a lot earlier than she normally travels, the pavements are more crowded and by extension the bus. Which makes up her mind that tomorrow, whatever Adam says she'll stay at work until later. Seven's a good time and will allow her to enjoy a quiet evening and if she can summon up the enthusiasm to make it, a decent meal. A thought which makes her put down her book for a moment and wonder if Harry, is as Adam assured her, feeding himself properly? At work he seems to exists on little more than a sandwich, other than when he goes to what he always refers to interminably long meetings which means that he usually gets fed something that doesn't involve lettuce. When he'd told her that he can't abide lettuce or why, she has no idea? Which is unusual for her, because her brain has a compartment that is full of remembered conversations with Harry.
Another glance out of the window and the scenery has improved. The shop lined streets and the bright lights, have been replaced by rows of Victorian houses and the odd shop or two. This is what she knows and loves. This is what she's worked so hard to achieve. To live in an area that in a city which never sleeps, she can call home but still be anonymous to all but her closest neighbours.
'Bye love, have a good evening,' says the bus driver as she alights, almost as if he knows what she's been thinking.
In the shadows on the opposite side of the road where Ruth lives, Harry has found himself a spot where he can watch her without being seen. Having abandoned his bus in favour of a taxi, he's walked the last hundred or so yards. That he would recognise her anywhere, is what crosses his mind as she approaches. Her long coat and the scarf that he remembers from the day when he demanded that she come with him are what sets her apart from her colleagues. When Tom had been a wanted man and his entire team had been out looking for him. How he'd told her that he needed to be able to rely on her and how she'd said yes without argument and now, here he is again ready to make the same demands but with an altogether different agenda.
If only life were less complicated and tomorrow night was just him arriving, invited of course, for a nice meal and an evening talking about anything but work. A thought which finds him compensating by letting his imagination fast forward to what might happen. Will she be shocked, despite Adam telling her that he'll find her? Has she been looking over her shoulder, worried by every footfall? He hopes not. He also needs to ring Adam and confirm that she hasn't changed her mind and more importantly insist that she leaves work at a time which will ensure he gets the right bus.