Chapter Three

The next morning, Jaime was roused from a very sweet dream (about Oscar, of course) by the ringing of the phone. "Hello?" she answered, a little hoarse from sleep.

"Hi, Sweetheart. How ya doing?"

"Steve...hi."

"Were you expecting someone else?" he asked lightly.

"Um, no."

Steve knew her; better than she knew herself, in some cases. He sensed she was holding something back, trying to spare his feelings, and while the thought of Jaime in another man's arms was a red-hot poker through his heart, he mustered the strength to reassure her. "Hey, if you are, that's a good thing. You deserve to be happy."

They made small talk briefly, and when they said goodbye, Steve wondered who it was she was hurrying off to meet.

------------

That morning, Oscar was getting very little work done. His every thought was of Jaime: how her hair glowed like spun gold in the firelight, how it felt to hold her in his arms, the taste of her kiss...Oscar was a goner, and he knew it. He had fallen hard for her, and now he had to figure out what, if anything, to do about it.

The insistent buzz of his intercom woke him from his reverie. "Yes," he answered.

"Jaime's here to see you, Sir."

"Thank you. Send her in, please."

Jaime came through the door smiling radiantly, and closed it behind her. Like two magnets, Oscar and Jaime were drawn together by an irresistible force beyond their control. They fell hungrily into each other's arms - office decorum be damned - and shared a soft, lingering kiss.

Oscar ran his fingers through her hair. "I missed you so much -"

"It's only been a few hours," she pointed out, "but I missed you, too."

"How about letting me get dinner tonight?" he suggested, still holding her close.

"You cook?"

"I'm great at ordering pizza."

------------

Callahan smiled to herself as she flew efficiently through her paperwork. Let them go on thinking I'm oblivious, she thought. She'd been aware of her boss's feelings for the young operative almost since the first day Jaime had walked into the OSI offices on the arm of her (then)fiance, Steve. Oscar's face - no, his entire being - softened when he looked at her. Callahan knew he had never acted on those feelings because he didn't even want to try to steal Jaime from the arms of his friend. Even aftershe had been stricken with amnesia, the hope had been that she would one day remember and regain her feelings for Steve.

Now that it had become obvious that was unlikely to ever happen, Steve had asked for an extended overseas assignment, specifying Thailand, where he'd been sent twice before, to take the pressure off of Jaime and to help himself to let go. For the first time, nothing stood in Oscar's way.

Although she harbored a little bit of secret lust in her own heart for her boss, Peggy Callahan knew it would be too uncomfortable and awkward to continue in her job if anything came of it. She felt that if Oscar was finally finding the courage (and the time) to go for some real happiness in his life, then more power to him. She had no idea how he and Jaime would handle their working relationship, but that was none of her business.