'Dog!' squealed Jacob, demanding to be put down, as Ruth carried him through front the door, with Zaf who'd driven her to collect Jacob and then accompanied them to the supermarket, followed behind with her shopping. Scarlet who'd been curled up in her basket in Ruth's kitchen, presuming that her master was back, had padded out to meet them. Quite where Fidget had disappeared to Ruth had no idea, but she suspected she'd fled to her bedroom.
'She's Harry's dog, she's called Scarlet,' brought no comment from Zaf, other than to ask her where the kitchen was. A joker by nature, he'd been told by Adam that he had to look after Ruth as though his life depended on it.
'You won't get a better boss than Harry and I need to know that I can rely on your discretion. No jokes, no silly comments, do I make myself clear?'
Despite Harry knowing that it was essential that he wasn't seen with Ruth and that providing he did as Adam had suggested, that mundane and normal things like shopping together would come later, it still irked him that their one step forward relationship had reverted to a one step back. So much so, that within a few moments of them arriving through the front door, he appeared through the back. Enough time so it seemed, for Zaf to have made the coffee, while Ruth continued to unpack the shopping and Jacob to be tottering after Scarlet as fast as his little legs would carry him. The scene was one of domesticity, except that it wasn't, it was an act. Zaf wasn't Ruth's partner nor was Jacob her child. He had to get past this ridiculous assumption that his relationship with Ruth was threatened in any way, other than by whoever had killed Clive.
Zaf poured Harry a cup of coffee and waited to be dismissed, taking the intervening time to observe what was being played out in front of him. He'd taken a real shine to Ruth the moment that he'd walked into her office and she'd shaken his hand. There was no doubt as to what she did for a living and if first impressions were anything to go by, then she was damn good at it. Compassion had oozed out of her when she explained how she'd recently lost her partner and was battling to keep her head above water, but there was also a steeliness and determination about her, that had seen her slotting into the role as his girlfriend and accepting it without question. Most importantly she hadn't grabbed the phone and ended whatever this was with Harry, which if she had, would have seen the years that he'd spent yearning to be transferred to five and to section D in particular and to work for the legendary Harry Pearce, over before it started.
'Not many people on their first assignment get to work this close to the great man himself. People don't just follow his orders, they follow the person he is,' Malcolm had told him, with more than a warning in his eyes.
Relentless in pursuit of what he believed in, distant at times, and with no interest in anything other than in his defence of the country, were Zaf's assumptions until now, when he was being offered an insight into the man that was so obviously hidden behind the mask. In the corridors of power and on the grid, he had a reputation that suggested he was unshakeable, whereas here, he wore a totally different skin. Gone was the smart suit and tie that were his armour, as he sat back and watched him help Ruth stack away the last of her shopping. There was an inherent gentleness in him when he stood as close to Ruth as he was now, no wonder Adam had impressed upon him how important this assignment was and how discreet he needed to be. Had he not been there, he was certain that Harry would have at least put his arm around Ruth's shoulder or maybe even kissed her, as he continued to watch the waves of pure joy that were bouncing off his boss as he stood helping this woman. Clearing his throat wasn't an option, not unless he wanted a bollocking, so he opted for the obvious.
'I need to be going Harry, call me when you need me,' he told him.
Ruth walked him to the door, and as planned, he kissed gently on her on the lips, lingering just long enough to make it look realistic. Reining in the temptation to say anything that was remotely cheeky or blasé that would see him put to the sword, he held back. He'd see her on Monday, for now he had a job to do and that meant heading back to the grid and to his meeting with Adam. Standing just inside the kitchen, Harry stood watching what he had done a million times as a legend. Except that this time the boot was well and truly on the other foot, and he didn't like it.
For whatever reason, maybe because it was a gloriously sunny afternoon and they were sitting relaxing in a couple of chairs in Ruth's back garden after lunch, watching Jacob continuing to have what looked like a serious conversation with Scarlet about his train set, that Harry had put together on a blanket on the lawn, where the contented dog was making a damn good impression that she understood exactly what Jacob was telling her, who knows? But the explanation that Harry had never given Jane, other than to say I work for the security services, which he'd abbreviated to I'm a spy, was prompted by Ruth and made easier because she was prepared to listen.
She kick started it, by explaining to Harry why Jacob was a permanent weekend fixture, and what she thought he might consider an intrusion.
'Sophie's a theatre nurse at St, Thomas's and weekend shifts pay so much extra. Since, well since Alex, things have been difficult for her to find her way and up until now I've never had anything else to do with my weekends, and well, Jacob knows me,' wasn't a problem, but Harry recognised that Ruth needed to know that.
'That's fine Ruth, I don't own your time,' he responded. 'I also lost a friend recently, although I have to confess that it was the manner of his death rather than the death itself that brings us to this point,' he told her.
'I know, it was all over the news, I could hardly have missed it,' surprised him, until Ruth reminded him that she'd read his file. 'I've always avoided the news until now, there's never anything good reported is there? But now it's become a habit and a way for me to keep up with what's going on, a sort of stepping stone into your world I suppose,' gave Harry his own stepping stone, to the conversation that he should have had with Jane, long before their wedding.
'Firstly, I want to tell you that everything is going to be alright Ruth,' he told her, knowing that it might not be the case, but that he had to believe it as much as Ruth needed to hear it. 'We're encouraged to avoid relationships outside of the service, purely if not simply, because we're not able to discuss with those at home what we do on a day to day basis. As far back as the year dot, it's led to relationships breaking down, I'm a testament to that, although there are hundreds of others who have made it work. Unfortunately, it's not just a case of discretion when you get to my level of involvement,' he avoided saying rank or position, 'where to be honest there isn't much that I don't know about virtually all our politicians and agents, not only here but around the world. Most of the time we just muddle along and deal with whichever current lunatic is threatening to realign the geo political map or create industrial chaos, that's what we cope with every day. But it's when one of our own threatens to destabilise our democracy that it hurts the most. These reasons have limited me and made me what I am Ruth and it's why I hesitated. I want this us, I really do. I've never wanted anything or anyone more than I do right now. I'll do my utmost to protect you, but you're the one who's going to have to decide if you can cope with whatever the future throws at us and whether or not you want to take that risk,' was Harry baring his soul and leaving himself open to rejection.
Not that it mattered, Ruth had made up her mind long before Harry had started his monologue, but she knew that he needed to get through it without interruption. She was well into her thirties and had shunned every advance that had been made to her on the grounds of what, she barely remembered since the night that Harry and she had made love. It wasn't just the sex, although that had been amazing and was certainly the icing on the cake, it was everything about him. He cared about her, he really did and it had been a long time since anyone had used the word us when they'd been talking about her. She'd met Adam and Fiona, she'd met Zaf and she'd known Malcolm for as long as she could remember. The obvious respect and affection that each and every one of them had for Harry, was confirmation enough for her to know that his words had been said with sincerity.
'Jacob needs a hand with Thomas, he's come off the rails Harry, I'm off to put the kettle on,' she told him, putting her hands either side of his face and kissing him by way of an answer, before she headed off to the kitchen.
From where she stood at the window, collecting the cups together and filling Jacob's beaker while she waited for the kettle to boil, she had a perfect view of the garden. Harry, she suspected urged on by Jacob, had moved from his chair and was sitting on the rug. Having tottered over from where he'd been sitting, Jacob had plonked himself between Harry's knees, animation and excitement spread across his tiny face. She'd been nervous as to how Jacob would perceive Harry, after all he barely knew him, but Harry oozed warmth, at least he did with her and that was all that mattered. Jacob liked animals, he loved Fidget and if he remembered what she'd told him, that Scarlet might not be as tolerant and want her tail pulled, then maybe at the weekends they could put some extra stability into Jacob's recently deconstructed life? She was so absorbed in what she was watching and thinking, that the kettle had boiled and turned off, at which point her phone beeped.
'You are coming back aren't you? I'm running out of conversation.'
Two adults, a child and a small terrier, plus of course the most important item, the train set, on a rug meant for a two - person picnic, was what took up the remainder of the afternoon, and for Harry, was as close to a feeling of belonging as he could remember. Thomas, James and Henry, took it in turns to come off the rails, Jacob continued to demand, by tapping whatever part of Harry he could reach that they be sent chugging on their way again, whilst attempting to say Harry and Scarlet with varying degrees of success, whilst Ruth just lay there on her side, propped up on her elbow watching them and marvelling at the prospect of all her weekends being like this. She'd been so engrossed in her thoughts, that at some time in the future she'd be able to visit all those parks that she'd planned on walking with Jacob, but now Harry would be with them, that she'd closed her eyes, and as the events of the past few days had caught up with her, she'd dropped off to sleep.
The gentle kiss that was waking her up, was in fact from Jacob and not Harry, who'd spent far too long sitting on the grass and had seized up. A shush with his finger over his lips had prevented Jacob poking Ruth, as he gathered together that last of the train set and said that he was going indoors to start the meal.
If Ruth thought that the prospect of having Harry in her bed was the only surreal experience that she was going to have, then watching him wandering around her kitchen preparing their dinner, whilst she fed and then cuddled a now tired Jacob, before she carried him up to his bedroom, to read him a story before he went to sleep, then the scene being played out in front of her, came in a very close second. With the curtains now drawn and the warmth of Jacob's tiny frame against her, she could almost imagine them as a family. Dangerous thoughts she knew, they were far from that, but at least for the moment, she could dream that the world outside her window was a friendly one.
Had either of them known that Juliet had instructed Jason to pay a call at Harrison and Evershed Solicitors on the Monday morning and by whatever means find out who apart from Susie worked there, only to discover that interviews were being held and that he'd blend in nicely and be able to chat to the interviewees as they exited and ask how their interviews had gone, on the grounds that he was up next, then Zaf would have been appointed as a hopeful to fill the post. But they didn't, which meant that the proverbial was about to hit the fan, as the anti from Juliet was turned up a notch.
'There's someone that you might like to talk to,' Susie told an exhausted Ruth, who had just finished interviewing the last in a long line of candidates and was looking forward to a well – earned breather and a cup of tea. 'He's ever so nice, he's called Michael Jarvis,' was Susie's firm impression of Jason who had been sweet talking her, whilst the last of the legitimate candidates was being put through her paces by Ruth.
'I'm sorry to throw myself on your mercy like this when you've so obviously had a busy day,' Jason told Ruth, beaming his best smile and handing her the CV and references that Juliet had contrived. 'I've been out of London for a couple of years and now that I'm back, I realise how much I've missed it. Unfortunately, small and more intimate companies like yours seem to be disappearing, whereas they should be encouraged rather than be taken over by the big boys that people can't afford. They're taking the heart out of the London that I left behind, I'm sure you agree? I know that I shouldn't have called uninvited, but just on the off chance that you haven't made a decision yet, I thought to myself, well why not, there's no harm in asking.'
Ruth couldn't decide if he was patronising her or being genuine, but if it was the latter, then he certainly held the same beliefs as she did. Her thoughts were interrupted when Susie arrived with her tea and a coffee for Jason, keen to know if this late arrival was in the running, without actually asking her boss the question.
'Thank you Susie,' referred to her cup of tea, not to Jason's coffee, that was going to prolong the interview.
Only a small percentage of the candidates that she'd interviewed had been men, and that's what she really wanted to add a balance to the firm. There were still clients out there, even in this day and age, who didn't want bits of girls listening to their confessions, as one particularly obnoxious client had once referred to her.
Zaf was due in half an hour to take her home, to what she was hoping would be another blissful getting to know you evening with Harry. They hadn't spoken since she'd left the house that morning, with a promise that he'd cook again, which had earned him a huge hug before he'd left, and she was really missing him. She was tired, she wanted to soak in a long bath and contemplate her decision in the privacy of her own home and be able to talk it over with Harry.
'I'll be making my decision over the next few days and Susie will call you if you've been successful, otherwise it will be by letter,' she told a now smiling Jason, convinced that he had enough information to take back to Juliet.