Loose ends

Mark awoke in the earliest of morning. At first he wondered where the bed had gone until he looked at the dying glows of the fireplace and remembered it all as a slightly throbbing headache broke down the benefits of the memory. And it was not just his head which was hurting.

He sat up, slowly. In the darkness he was not sure what to make of his surroundings, but a chess board on the table with a white king toppled over and two half-empty glasses on the table beside him told him enough of tonight's story. He felt Nicholas twist beside him and in the dim morning light he saw the face, calm and innocent, almost like an angel.

He heard the phone ring and rose to dress, shoving his clothes under the rug in case a servant would enter and see Nicholas on the floor. He found his dressing gown and went to the desk where he sat down. The intercom beeped gently.

'Yes, Sally?' he said and twitched in the seat; it hurt quite a lot sitting down.

'Special agent Calleys's here to see you.'

'Tell her to wait in the lounge, I'll be down in five minutes,' Mark answered and the connection was ended. He rose again and went to his cupboard, finding clothes fit for another day's work. He then found his way to the bathroom, enjoyed a steaming hot shower while trying to figure out what to do about the situation. Maybe it was best not to let it go on, but who couldn't possibly let that happen having just enjoyed one of his life's most tantalizing experiences?

He dressed and walked back to the room where Nicholas was up and going, dressed and already making a call on his mobile when Mark stepped in. Their eyes met shortly, Nicholas smiled and Mark managed one too. It felt good. Their eyes weren't quite the same, a bit more absent, thoughtful, wary and calculated, but the feeling of seeing each other and the reciprocated glance and smile felt genuine and good. Nicholas ended the call and went to the desk where Mark had sat down.

'Who was it?' Mark asked, logging in on his computer.

'A police officer,' said Nicholas. 'The blood has been tracked back to the dead horse as well, and it's been confirmed that it was missing from a farm in Michigan.'

'Right, special agent Calleys is in the lounge, I was about to go and see her,' said Mark checking the mails he had got during his hours off work. He rose and picked up a bundle of papers and was about to pass Nicholas when his friend grabbed his arm and looked in his eyes.

'Thanks for… a good night,' Nicholas said. Mark looked into the blue eyes and smiled, kind and honest.

'You too,' he said.

'You want me to come with you?' Nicholas asked.

'I can handle her,' Mark pushed Nicholas' hand off gently but felt awkward at the thought of actually giving him a kiss or something along the lines of it. Nicholas took the initiative and placed a warm kiss on Mark's lips. It was sweet and almost dragged him off to a world without worries when there was a loud knock on the door and Jennifer stepped in. They had managed to break the kiss at the shock and now merely looked as if they had been discussing something.

'Sir, the agent is impatient,' she said. 'And the embassy is waiting.' She looked at Nicholas. 'I didn't see you come in this morning, Mr Brocklehurst.'

'I never left,' Nicholas gave a grin. 'Right, give me news from the intelligence office and Mark'll handle the embassy after the agent.'

'Oh, you sure know how to schedule my day!' Mark snorted and turned to Jennifer. 'One minute, I'll be down.' Jennifer nodded and left the room. Mark looked back at Nicholas. 'Do you… seriously… think this can continue?'

'Why shouldn't it?' Nicholas asked.

'We're colleagues,' said Mark. 'If it's discovered…'

'It won't be.'

'Right.' Mark smiled. 'You go and take a shower and then be down as fast as possible. Let's get to business.'

Mark came down to the lounge where Morgan Calleys was admiring some of the paintings. She turned and smiled at him.

'Oh, Sir Mark, good to see you,' she said. 'Now, we have just heard that the man, known as Alexander Koronovsky has been arrested for a brawl in a bar this night. Seemingly he is a crazed, old rascal and is being put to some mental ward. He thinks that he could read the devil's presence in the air around your house and that he was supposed to have come into being this night, but,' Morgan shrugged, 'seems he was off into his own world. He can't distinguish between reality and fiction. We'll be keeping him in the ward until it's safe for him to get out again.'

'Thank you very much, Mrs Calleys,' said Mark.

'Miss,' said Morgan.

'Forgive me,' Mark smiled.

'So, let's hope you keep your tail clean of maniacs forthwith!' she said and looked up to the stair where Nicholas descended now and came down to them. 'Goodbye.'

'Goodbye, and thank you once again.'

Morgan left and Mark turned to look at Nicholas. 'That was easy.'

'Yes, and there aren't any critical things at the embassy today,' he grinned.

'Life's wonderful.'

'Indeed.'

The End