Story List:

1. S1 E5 - The Green Eyes Of My Love (2 parts)

2. S1 E5 - Return of Crazy Murder Fan (4 parts)

…wip…

S1 E5 - The Green Eyes Of My Love

Part 1 of 2

She is jealous of any woman who comes near Richard. Try as she might, she can't control it. There are other feelings she has equal difficulty in mastering but this one catches her unawares every time.

Case in point…

The Station, early morning

It's a beautiful Spring day in Paradise when she swings in with a song in her heart and eyes only for the suit she's been dying to see since she awoke this morning. Halfway across the room, her smile falters. He isn't at his desk. A quick scan of the break area, the Public Counter, and even the far end of the veranda yields no sweetly filled-out suit.

She turns to Fidel. "Where is he?" she asks while thinking, 'He's such a creature of habit. If he isn't here then possibly the world is coming to an end and right quickly!' Her unease is almost tricked by Fidel's calm reply but when she replays his words back, her internal volcano starts to rumble. "What do you mean, 'He's at the bank?'! WHY is he at the bank?"

Fidel shrugs, "I dunno. All he said was he had an appointment with the Loans Manager and he'd be back as soon as…" His answer falters in the face of the thunderous look that meets this pronouncement.

"The LOANS MANAGER?" she whispers in capital letters. "The married Loans Manager? The one that…" She bites off the rest of her words.

"That… what?" Fidel asks, backing away behind his own desk.

Furiously, Camille is thinking. The Loans Manager that came to the station after the Leon Hamilton case? The married Loans Manager that propositioned Richard right at his own desk? THAT Loans Manager?! A married woman who knew a good thing when she saw it?! "Oh, no," she whispers thickly, making Fidel more nervous than ever. "Oh, no, she doesn't! Not on MY watch!"

Fidel gulps as she pivots and dives back out the door, all trace of good cheer gone. This is a woman on a mission and he is SO glad the mission seems to lie elsewhere. He didn't like the look in Camille's eyes at ALL, not at all. He briefly wonders if he should call the Chief and warn him but… warn him about what?

Fidel thinks, What would Juliet do? And he knows. Juliet would side with whatever thoughts are storming through Camille's head right now. Side with it and probably go off with Camille to help do whatever it is she intends to do. So, as much as he esteems and admires the Chief and trusting in his instincts, Fidel sits a bit stiffly at his desk and awaits developments. He really hopes he's made the right call here. Things have been pretty tense in the station lately.

On the street

Camille is furious. Absolutely furious. All this time she'd trusted Richard's assurances that he'd sent that manager packing with a flea in her ear! 'I've no interest in an affair with a married woman!' he'd said. 'She is definitely barking up the wrong tree!' he'd said. 'I firmly uphold the sanctity of marriage' he'd said. And yet, here he was, meeting up with the woman to start doing god-knows-what, god-knows-where, god-knows-how-often, and how strenuously! Her fury doubles then trebles as the bank comes into view.

At the bank

Her ears perk up. Is that moaning she hears? No, only a radio playing. Wait! Is that quiet post-coital laughter she hears? No, only the conversation in the square. As she enters the bank's front entrance, she is four-square and ready for battle. She heads straight for the Loans Department, brushing off the receptionist that tries to intercede. Her blood is boiling and her guns are blazing as she bursts into the office without a single doubt that she is going to catch him in the act.

As she stiff-arms the door akimbo, she is already gritting out, "I am going to throw your cheating derriere right over a cliff and into the sea…" when her brain finally catches up with her eyes. No coitus, pre- or post-, in fact, no coitus at all. He is signing some papers and the manager is on the phone. There is about four feet of desk between them and they couldn't look more innocent if they tried. This kicks her suspicions into overdrive. No one can look this innocent and actually be innocent!

"What is going on here!" she demands, arms crossed and sabres rattling. Two pairs of startled eyes meet hers. She is only interested in the green pair. The other pair can go jump off that afore-mentioned cliff for all she cares! She will even help push!

The manager begins to huff and puff a bit but Camille hand-slices for silence. She is waiting for HIM to explain. He studies her for a moment then sighs, caps his pen, and tucks it into his inner jacket pocket. He pushes the paperwork across the desk into the manager's hands and, for a moment, Camille thinks her head will explode! His fingertips brush the manager's… just for a second… hardly at all… but… she knows what his touch can do. She knows very well!

Her impending tirade is cut off at the knees as he rises and comes to her, his eyes serious and his smile a trifle worried. "Why don't we walk back to the station together? My business here is done."

She steps back, fends him off, "Oh, is it? Is it really? And WHAT, may I ask, is your business here today? Here, with her, behind closed doors?" She sees Richard dart a look to the manager. At first she thinks it is a caught-out look then her upper brain translates it into an apologetic look. An apology? Why would he give that woman an apology?

Then he gently takes her arm, ushers her back out the door, and murmurs, "Let's discuss this outside."

Outside

Camille throws one last laser-stare back into the office then allows him to steer her outside. Once in the courtyard, she rounds on him. "OK mister, I'm giving you one chance to explain yourself before I really lose my temper!"

He urges her to sit at one of the café tables in the shade of a tree and murmurs, "Zounds, an ultimatum. I guess I'd better explain myself then, hadn't I?" His good cheer derails her temper and she begins to wonder if maybe she over-reacted a bit, maybe, perhaps.

He sits beside her, clasps his hands atop the table, and gives her his most sincere Richard-look. "Camille, what did you think was happening in that office?" He takes one look at her hot face and averted eyes then nods. "I see. And have I ever given you the slightest hint or sign that I am a cheating bastard fit only to be thrown off cliffs?"

She ducks her head, suddenly contrite and wholly mortified. "No," she mumbles.

He ducks his head, all school-teacher, "What? What did you say? Speak up, madam."

She sits up, determined to take her medicine like a big girl. "I said 'No'.

He looks at her sharply, "And, by 'no', you mean…?"

She returns the look, "I mean I've never caught you in flagrante delicto, but…"

"Yes, you have," he answers quietly. Her look of shock makes him smile and he puts a hand over hers, "I'm delicto every night. With you. Corpus delicious, as it were."

"Oh," she manages, her temper fizzling instantly. "So, you weren't in that office to…?"

He shakes his head slowly, "No, absolutely not, no way, no how. I was arranging a loan."

"A loan? That's all?" Her world suddenly regains all the music and joy it held earlier in the day.

"That's all," he nods but he doesn't remove his hand.

She thinks for a moment then narrows her eyes, "A loan for what? You never vacation, you don't need a car, you already have a house. What are you planning?"

He sighs and puts his other hand atop hers, "I don't have a house, I live in a shack that's practically a tree fort and it belongs to Sainte-Marie. But I WILL have a house, a real house, very soon, with your help."

"My help? What are you talking about?"

He squeezes her hands and leans forward, those earnest green eyes boring into hers, "Camille! Concentrate! I need a real home. So I can ensconce a real wife. So I can fill it up with real children. Does any of that sound good to you?"

Her ears are surely hallucinating! He hasn't just said he plans to marry?! Surely not! Her eyes fill up with tears and she simply can't help herself. "Oh, Richard, what about me?" she sobs, pulling her hands free and dropping her face into them.

He brushes hair off her forehead and leans forward to murmur, "Oh, what wittering is this?"

It takes all her internal fortitude to look him in the face, his sweet handsome never-to-be-hers face, "How can I live if you marry another? How can you be so cruel? I thought you had feelings for me!"

He smiles and kisses her wet cheek, "Oh, you little dunce! It's YOU I want to marry! Don't you know that? And you call yourself a detective? Tsk."

It is that little 'tsk' that snaps her serious mind back to the fore. "Me?" she squeaks, "Really? Me?" His slow nod and sly grin seal the deal for her. All her fears and suspicions are flung to the four winds as she throws her arms around his shoulders and almost knocks him out of his chair.

He gently disentangles himself, pulls out his handkerchief, and begins drying her eyes, "Honestly, Camille, how you do carry on sometimes. Your French blood needs some taming, I think." He smiles and adds, "And I'm just the man for the job. Let's take this discussion somewhere private, shall we?"

END – part 1

*the Bank Loans Manager's run-in with Richard is from a 2018 story 'The LBB' in 'Season One episodes 2-6 from my perspective: collection #1' and stems solely from my own imagination*