"You know, you're very predictable," Steven said as he sat down across from Germaine. She was at a table at La Cloche d'Or, her hands cupping a large, steaming mug. She had met him here before the first assignment they had worked together and after every job she worked she always returned there. "Same café, same drink, same faraway look in your eyes."
"There are those who would say I wanted to be found," Germaine answered glancing over at him.
"Did you?" he asked.
"I like it here and the onion soup isn't bad," she said shrugging. La Cloche d'Or was where she found Germaine again after living as someone else. Both knew he was the only other person who knew of her refuge there. "What's your excuse?"
"I'm starving … and I like the onion soup here," he replied eyes glinting as the waiter came over to take his order. Steven noticed somewhere along her walk she had discarded Dominique Seignet's dark eyes and re-arranged her hair. "We were going to talk."
She looked across the table at him unsure of what to say. "Go ahead," she told him.
"How's your daughter?" he asked not bothering with small talk.
"At this moment? Sleeping, I hope, or my parents may never agree to watch her again," she answered. Germaine had always been honest with Steven and she wasn't about to start lying now.
"Can I see a picture? Or does that break one of your rules?" Steven inquired cautiously.
"Yes, it does; besides, what makes you think I have one with me?" Germaine asked him her eyes narrowing. "You know I don't take chances when I'm working."
"I did see you get your bag out of the van before you walked off. And you, my tech girl, probably have a bunch of photos on your phone." Steven answered succinctly. "I bet you didn't delete them. You haven't been undercover in a while and considered this an in-and-out job. What's the harm if I see one now that it's all over?"
Germaine smiled wryly; he knew her well, even years later. She called up the photos on her cell phone and handed it to Steven; there was no use avoiding the inevitable. He slowly scrolled through the photos and smiled. The child appeared to be five or six years old and she had her mother's blue eyes framed by long, dark lashes. "She's beautiful. How old is she?"
"Almost six," Germaine replied.
"What's her name?" he asked not looking up from the phone.
"Amelie," she answered.
He wasn't going to ask the obvious question; she could see he already knew. Germaine wasn't quite prepared for Steven finding out about their child… not like this and definitely not today. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked bristling. "Didn't you think I needed to know or that I would want to know?"
"Steven, I tried. The numbers I had for you didn't work. Your agency told me you were dead. By the time I tracked down Leo and found out otherwise, you were planning a wedding. You were happy. I couldn't bring myself to interrupt your life," she explained.
"Leo has known all along?" he asked. "All these years he knows you're alive and I have a child and he says nothing. I thought he was my friend."
"Don't blame him. I asked him not to say anything about her. For once, he listened," Germaine said.
"He always listens to you," Steven said off-handedly. "If I'd have known, I would have come back immediately."
"I know; so did our employers. Steven, did you ever wonder why they called you back for an American assignment after you had been working in Europe for years?" she asked and then continued without waiting for an answer. "We had become too close. Neither wanted to lose an agent, so we both ended up 'dead' to each other. As it turned out, not long after you left on assignment I found out I was pregnant and quit immediately and you didn't stay in much more than that. They lost both of us anyway."
"Germaine, I want to see her," Steven said when she finished, more concerned about the present than the past.
"You need to think about that, Steven. You have a wife and you need to consider how this will affect your life with her. I never wanted to disturb that; I still don't," Germaine replied. Right or wrong, she had always been adamant about staying out of Steven's life once she had discovered that he had moved on even though it hurt her terribly.
"I was honest earlier. My marriage is over. It ended a while ago," he told her.
"I want you to think long and hard before you decide. If you want to be in her life, it has to be more than a yearly weeklong vacation. I know that's a lot to ask and expect but I won't have Amelie's life upset, not even by you. And Steven, if you decide not to be part of her life, I understand," she said.
"I've already made my decision. I want in," he stated slowly hoping to get through to Germaine.
"Steven," she interrupted.
"I want to see my daughter, Germaine. We don't have to tell her who I am immediately but I want to be able to talk to her and look in her eyes. Can you at least give me that?" he asked her.
"I'm going to pick her up tomorrow at my parent's. What time are you leaving? Maybe you can stop by my apartment when we get back," she said giving in to his request.
"Leo and Hoyt leave tomorrow morning at nine. I don't know when I'm going," Steven explained.
"You're staying?" Germaine asked.
"Take a walk with me. We haven't done that in a long time," he said to her as an answer. They left the café together and after a few steps Germaine tucked her arm around his. After they had gotten a little ways down the street he added, "Let me come with you to your parent's tomorrow. We can talk more in the car and I'm sure Amelie will be more comfortable with everyone around."