Chapter 7
Oscar's office- later that evening
Jaime walked around the office, looking at everything as if seeing things for the first time. She brushed her hand over the dark wooden desk and thought of the countless hours Oscar spent behind it. After a half hour, she wondered briefly if he had left the city on an assignment. But somehow she knew that he would return that evening.
Her bionic ear heard him before he even entered the outer office. The wait for him seemed endless, especially when he paused at Callahan's desk to pick up a few files. Still she waited, unable to utter a word even when he finally passed through the door.
"Jaime! What are you doing here?" Oscar asked in complete surprise. "I thought you were heading back home. Where's Chris?"
"He dropped me off. I told him that it wasn't going to work between us...I told him that I needed to be here."
Oscar's brown eyes were filled with hope, but he waited patiently.
Jaime took a deep breath. "I need to talk to you about something. Back in Ojai... when you said you loved me?...did you …?" her voice trailed off.
"I do love you, babe. I meant every word" He took her in his arms and drew her close. His kiss, warm and tender, was everything that Jaime imagined it to be.
"I seem to remember you telling me something important that day as well," he smiled. "Did you really mean it?"
"I love you, too… I do" she whispered, echoing the words she had uttered that day. She smiled impishly. "And I meant every word."
"It was so hard to leave you. The entire time I was gone, I kept thinking of you. I kept thinking of us. I thought I would never see you again."
Oscar kissed her again, and then hugged her tightly. "You're back now; that's all that matters." He started to lead her out the door. "Come on, I'm taking you home."
Jaime stopped and kissed him once more. "I am home," she told him, then sighed. "I am home."
THE END