Chapter 3
"It's not that I don't appreciate the concern, but I'll be fine by myself," Laura said as she entered the loft and turned on the lights.
"While I don't doubt your capability, Laura, I'm not leaving you alone until we've figured this thing out," Remington said as he walked past her and plopped down in one of the armchairs.
"Funny how me having a stalker works out in your favor," Laura muttered as she closed the door.
Remington watched as she kicked off her heels and sauntered over to the kitchen counter, dropping off a pile of case folders before continuing up to the bedroom.
"I can assure you, Laura, that there's absolutely no ulterior motives this time. Your safety is my main concern," he said, absentmindedly picking up a paper weight off the coffee table.
"Seeing as how I wasn't able to convince you of otherwise the ride over here, you might as well stay. For one night. On the couch. And no funny business," Laura said as she came back into the living room and Remington looked at her, still holding the paper weight in his hand.
"Why must you always assume the worst? Like I repeatedly told you in the car, Laura, I'm genuinely concerned for your safety and I wanna do what I can to make sure nothing happens to you."
"Old habit, I guess," Laura said with a shrug and walked into the kitchen. "Coffee?"
"Please," Remington said, putting the paper weight back down and observed Laura as she started to prepare the coffee.
The way she moved about in the kitchen, silently humming to herself, brought back more memories of the time spent in the loft. The countless times they had cooked dinner in the kitchen, gone over case files in the living room and being constantly interrupted by people whenever things were about to get interesting. After the return from Ireland, things had been perfectly uncomplicated. They were finally in an actual romantic relationship and all the previous concerns were a thing of the past.
Or at least, that's what he'd hoped but over time things changed. Remington still couldn't pinpoint the moment where it all started to go wrong, although that night when Laura officially called it quits was still etched in his mind. He'd gone over that night time and time again, wishing it had ended differently. More importantly, he'd wished that he had stayed instead of running away. At this point, all he could really do was to reluctantly accept what happened in the past and strive to improve the present.
"Here you go," Laura said and handed Remington a cup before taking a seat over on the couch, deliberately maintaining some distance between them.
She leaned back amongst the throw pillows, holding her coffee in both hands and taking slow sips while looking at Remington over the rim of the cup.
"So, what have you been up to all this time?" she suddenly blurted out, unable to hold back her curiosity.
"Oh, nothing much. Mostly drifting from place to place."
"Doing what? I mean, you obviously didn't present yourself as Remington Steele since that would attract attention and seeing as how you managed to disappear without a trace, I can only assume that you took on a more discreet alias. Which makes me wonder how you made a living overseas for so long?"
"Well, I'm embarrassed to admit that I fell back into old habits," Remington said, avoiding eye contact. "Like you already deduced, I took on another name and more often than I'd like, depended on the kindness of acquaintances when in a pinch."
"Uh-huh. And how many of those acquaintances were women?"
The question slipped out before Laura could stop herself and judging from the look on Remington's face, she wished she could take it back.
"My, Laura, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous," he said with a pleased grin.
"Don't flatter yourself," Laura said with an eye roll, taking another sip of coffee. "I'm merely trying to figure out if you're being truthful."
"If there's something you want to know, Laura, all you have to do is ask and I'll tell you. Even if you might not like the answer."
"That's always been easier said than done with you. It doesn't actually matter to me what you've been doing or whom you've been doing it with, but it only seems fair that I know a little bit more about your life these past two years since you know what I've been up to."
"You're absolutely right. It's only fair that we both lay our cards on the table in the spirit of total honesty. So, tell me, Laura, what have you been up to?"
"Working. As you already know."
"Really? So all work and no play, hmm?"
"I don't see how that's any of your business."
"Why not? I mean, we're both adults here. Who just happened to be involved but that was quite some time ago, so why the need to withhold things?"
"And what is it you think I'm withholding?"
"You tell me."
Laura uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, placing her cup on the table while maintaining eye contact with Remington. Despite the obvious hesitation to provide an answer, he could tell that she was also about five seconds away from throwing him out of the apartment.
Which Remington wouldn't hold against her, seeing as how he had crossed the line. He hadn't plan on baiting Laura but the mere thought of her with someone else still brought out the jealous side in him.
"On second thoughts, I think it's better if–" Laura started to say before she was interrupted by the door buzzer.
She gave Remington a warning glare before getting up and walking briskly over to the door. When she opened it and saw Rick standing out in the hallway, Laura momentarily froze.
"Rick!" she finally managed to blurt out. "What are you doing here? I mean, we didn't have plans for today, did we?"
"Oh, no, we don't. But I've been trying to get a hold of you and decided to stop by to see if everything's all right," Rick said with a warm smile and Laura returned the smile, touched by his concern for her.
"That's sweet of you, Rick. I've been out most of the day and completely forgot to check my answering machine once I got back. In fact, now's not really a good time–"
"Nonsense, Laura, invite the man in!" Remington said cheerfully as he appeared behind Laura, giving Rick his most dazzling smile and extended his hand. "Steele. Remington Steele. How do you do?"
"Rick Bennett," Rick said as they shook hands. "Say, you don't happen to be the Remington Steele?"
"The one and only. I take it Laura has told you about me, eh?"
"Actually, no. But I recognize you from your picture in all those newspaper articles a few years back. I take it you two used to work together?"
"Ah yes, Miss Holt and I worked very closely together. She's truly a tremendous detective, isn't she?"
Laura regarded the exchange between Remington and Rick, tensing up with each word spoken. She desperately tried to think of a way to get them both to leave but her mind drew a blank.
"Say, how about some coffee, Rick?"
"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude."
"Don't be ridiculous! The more the merrier! Right, Laura?"
Laura snapped out of her daze to find both Remington and Rick looking at her, awaiting a response.
"Right," she said with a strained smile and watched as Rick followed Remington to the kitchen. Laura slowly closed the door and leaned back against it, sighing quietly.
"Sure, the more the merrier. What could possibly go wrong?" she muttered to herself.
Laura knew she should be grateful that Remington and Rick seemed to get along so well. In fact, they got along a little too well, almost forgetting that Laura was even present, making her feel like the third wheel.
She had resumed her seat on the couch while both men occupied the armchairs on the opposite side of the table, watching in silent annoyance how Remington tried to coax information out of Rick by being overly friendly. Laura was all too familiar with Remington's ways after all their time together, and she could tell that he was reveling in her current predicament.
"Have you and Miss Holt worked together long, Rick?" Remington asked in between sips of coffee.
Laura tensed up immediately, coffee cup frozen in mid-air, quickly glancing from Remington to Rick.
"For about two years now. Since she started at the agency," Rick replied, also sipping his coffee.
"Uh-huh. And I take it she's an exemplary employee?"
"She's one of the best, hands down. Almost puts the boss to shame at times. Which is why he made her senior investigator in record time. But that shouldn't come as a surprise to you, being her former boss."
"Oh, Miss Holt is certainly the best," Remington mused with a sideways glance at Laura. "Detective, that is. She really goes above and beyond to get the job done. You couldn't ask for a better associate."
"Then why, if you don't mind me asking, did you stop working together?"
"Creative differences, I'm afraid. Which should in no way reflect badly on Miss Holt. You see, I wasn't always the easiest to work with and regrettably took the credit for her efforts far too often."
Laura slowly relaxed and sipped her coffee, glancing at Remington over the rim of her cup. Listening to him speak the truth she'd wished for everyone to have heard back when they were working together, affirmed once more that Remington really seemed to be different than the man that left two years ago.
"That about sums up most of the men at The Sterling Agency," Rick said. "The only difference is that they would never admit to it like you just did, Mr. Steele. Takes a certain type of man to acknowledge the efforts of a female associate, especially in this line of work."
"I only wish I'd done it sooner," Remington said in a somber voice, staring down into his coffee for a brief moment with a serious look on his face.
Laura felt the sudden urge to comfort him in some way, despite wanting to take the opportunity to gloat over his recent admission.
"Actually, Mr. Steele was a very supportive boss. Always there when I needed him. For work, I mean," Laura said, quickly clearing her throat and taking another sip of coffee.
Rick couldn't help but notice the look that passed between Remington and Laura, suddenly feeling out of place.
"Well, this has been nice but I'm afraid I better get going. Got things to do," he said and abruptly stood up. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Steele."
"Likewise, Rick," Remington said as he got up, sharing a brief handshake with Rick.
"I'll see you out," Laura blurted out and quickly got off the couch, accompanying Rick to the door.
Once it was opened, Laura made it a point to step out into the hallway with Rick, relieved to have some privacy.
"I know what I said earlier about this not being a good time, but you don't have to leave if you don't want to," Laura said, deliberately keeping her voice down.
"It's all right, Laura," Rick said with a weak smile. "Seems like you two have some catching up to do and I don't wanna get in the way of that. I'm just surprised that I haven't heard you mention once that your previous employer was Remington Steele."
"It's just not something I go around announcing. Especially not since things ended kind of badly."
"Things?"
"It's a long story. One I haven't shared with anyone."
"Seems to me that you probably should. Preferably with the one person it apparently concerns."
"Perhaps."
Rick gently caressed Laura's cheek before leaning in and giving her a brief kiss.
"I'll see you around," he said quietly and Laura watched in stunned silence as he entered the stairwell, the door slowly shutting behind him.
She lingered out in the hallway for a while before slowly turning and walking back inside the apartment, pulling the door shut.
"Everything all right?" Remington asked from the kitchen.
"Fine. We were just going over some work details," Laura said in a flat tone of voice and walked over to the stack of case files on the kitchen counter.
She began absentmindedly sifting through folders and Remington could tell that something was bothering her. Even though she tried maintaining a steady facade and keeping her feelings in check, there were moments where Laura's vulnerability showed.
Remington knew her well enough by now to know that something was obviously upsetting her but he also knew better than to force it out of her before she was ready.
"He seems like a nice guy," Remington said and Laura stopped what she was doing, looking up at him.
"He is," she sighed with a distant look in her eyes.
"I take it you two are close?" Remington asked tentatively, unsure if he actually wanted to know the answer.
Laura walked over to the fridge and took out a opened bottle of wine before grabbing a wineglass from the cupboard in silence, giving the impression that she hadn't heard the question.
"If you're wondering if we're involved, the answer is yes," she finally said as she poured some wine into the glass. "At least, we were. Now I'm not so sure what to think. Or how to feel about it."
"Because of me?"
"Partly. But that was the plan, wasn't it?"
"I'll admit that the main reason I returned was in hopes of winning you back, Laura, but not like this. I didn't even know you were seeing someone until now."
Laura let out a sharp laugh before taking a sip of wine, feeling Remington's eyes on her.
"I can't believe I'm letting you do this to me again. And I'm not just talking about Rick. For two years, I've worked damn hard to rebuild my life, both professionally and personally, and all it takes is a reappearance from you to unravel it. The worst part is that I thought I learned my lesson last time around but apparently not," she said, leaning against the counter with the wineglass still in hand.
Remington took a few steps closer until they were mere inches apart, staring down at Laura in complete silence with a unreadable look in his eyes that made her insides flutter.
"This might be hard to believe, but I didn't come back to ruin your life, Laura. My intention is to make things right, like I've been saying. Did some small part of me hope that we could pick up where we left off two years ago? Probably. Seeing as how that's obviously not going to happen, I still feel the need to emphasize that the purpose of my return isn't to make things harder for you. I don't ever again want to be the reason that you're hurting," Remington said in a sincere voice, still with the same intent stare.
Laura felt everything else around her fading away and all she find herself able to do at the moment was staring into his eyes, feeling that same inexplicable pull like when they met for the very first time.
She inhaled, expecting words to form but they didn't, so instead she began raising the glass to take another drink of wine to collect her thoughts. Just as it was in mid-air between them, a gunshot rang out, damaging one of the kitchen windows and shattering the glass in Laura's hand.
They both instinctively dropped to the floor, expecting more gunshots to follow but instead it stayed eerily silent.
"I'd say things just took a deadly turn," Remington said as they laid on the floor, face to face, amongst broken glass and spilled wine.
"It certainly looks like somebody obviously aims to do a lot more than just stalking," Laura muttered, shaking shards of glass out of her hair.
TO BE CONTINUED...