A/N Thanks to everyone who left a review last time around - sorry for the delay in updating. Erm... a little bit off the G/A course again here, I guess.
Snapshot Ten
"Signorina Drake looks very happy," Luigi commented as his, until quite recently, best customer pulled out a seat at the bar.
Gene looked back to the woman in question, sat in the corner of the room with Shaz, smiling and laughing with her, and he had to agree with the proprietor: she was positively glowing, as the saying went. He hoped that Luigi's inference was right and that it was down to him because he had being doing his utmost to live up to the promise he had made to her. It did seem to be working; thanks to his admission – the one he had been so wary of telling her - they had become much closer though he felt that, in some way, he had marred what they'd previously had. At times it seemed to him that there was something missing, like a chip on a Ming vase or a fleck of paint lost from a masterpiece; something that from a distance wasn't noticeable but was there all the same.
He turned his head back around and nodded at Luigi, an unspoken acknowledgement passing between them. Last year, after that tragic car bombing, Alex had been fairly miserable - that had been obvious to everyone. He'd wanted to help her but he hadn't had a bloody clue how to, stuck somewhere between being her DCI and her friend - and that'd only been apparent to Luigi. And it had been the other man's advice - unsolicited and grudgingly accepted of course - that had allowed him to help Alex and had ultimately lain the foundations of their current situation.
"But me, I am sad," Luigi confessed.
"Why's that then, Luigi?" Gene asked with a sigh, knowing that if he didn't the conversation would continue on without him anyway. He might as well look as if he was contributing - he owed the man that much at least, not that he particularly wanted to hear someone else's woes. He lit up a cigarette as he settled into his seat – a concession she had practically forced upon him and one which, given his previous, almost militant, behaviour he couldn't really argue his way out of; he suspected she was right and that it wasn't good for the baby – or her for that matter – but he did wonder if she was exacting some form of revenge in the process. At home, and that was a word that always seemed to make him smile these days, he was banished to the bottom of the small garden at the back of their house which, now the weather was starting to turn, was not a pleasant prospect. When Ray had discovered that piece of information and had dared to pass comment, Gene had made him -and the others too - follow suit; if he was going to have to suffer, they all were.
Luigi poured out a measure of whiskey, smiling as he completed his task. "You have stolen my beautiful guest away," he elucidated, eliciting a small smile from the other man. He had to admit that he hadn't thought those two would ever submit to the attraction between them, an attraction both he and his wife had picked up on - though she thought he was an 'old fool' for interfering, only amending that to an 'old, romantic fool' when he had, to both of their surprise, actually succeeded. "And you Signor Hunt? You are happy?" Luigi asked genially; something in the detective's demeanour suggested otherwise and his years of experience behind a bar made lending an ear an automatic response. Besides, he cared for these two people and he felt just a little responsible for them too. He received a curt nod in response as the other man took a sip of his drink. Ignoring the cue to drop the subject, Luigi pressed on, "And everything is okay with the baby?"
"Yes, everything is fine Luigi," Gene confirmed, not wanting to go into greater detail. It was becoming his standard answer now but it was more than fine, if he was being honest. Their child was thriving inside of Alex, just as she'd promised; in fact the baby's endless movements were, he suspected, beginning to drive her just a little crazy but he would never tire of feeling their baby challenging its confines. The first time it had happened he'd been completely caught off guard. He had been watching her through the glass of his office, covertly of course because he wasn't supposed to be, when she'd started slightly, releasing her grip on her paperwork and a hand falling to her stomach. He'd been so concerned that he'd forgot to look away when she'd glanced at him, a small smile on her lips - a sight that had eased his fears somewhat. She had indicated for him to follow her as she'd struggled to stand up, heading off towards the kitchen area. He'd obeyed her silent instructions with a weary sigh, expecting an argument about his surveillance of her but when he'd entered the kitchen, and they were subsequently alone, she had taken his hand and placed it across her belly, the faint tremor from inside just about distinguishable. She'd been able to feel their child for some time but for him it had been a kind of awakening; he knew his smile had been as wide as hers at that moment and right then, as they had shared something so very special in the most mundane of places, he had finally managed to convince himself that everything was going to be okay.
"And you tell her you love her everyday?"
Gene shrugged, a little annoyed at Luigi's continued forwardness - there was a limit, even if he did owe the man - and took a long puff on his cigarette. He briefly wondered when this had had happened, when exactly had Luigi become his confidante? Probably around the time that Alex had walked into his life because until then, things had been a great deal simpler. But he had also been a great deal lonelier. Anyway, it wasn't as if he could talk to Ray or Chris about these things – they were as bloody clueless about women as he was, despite their assertions otherwise. "Not in so many words," he finally admitted, taking another quick drag. Luigi was right but she knew how he felt, didn't she? He had shown her how he felt, wasn't that enough?
"Never? " Luigi asked, shaking his head in surprise; he never understood why it was so difficult for the men of this country to profess their feelings. Every woman deserved to hear those words, at the very least once, especially the lovely Signorina Drake. "Ah, but you must tell her! You Englishmen..."
He didn't hear the rest of that sentence – though he could guess its direction - as he realised Luigi had put his finger on that elusive missing piece: he did love her, more than he ever thought himself capable of loving anyone, but he had never told her so – for all his honesty he had done them both a great disservice by holding back on that piece of information. He tuned back in just in time to hear Luigi finish his speech, which was pretty much back where it had started.
"You must tell her," Luigi concluded.
Gene looked back to her, avoiding Luigi's knowing - and maybe a little scathing - gaze and took one last drag on his smoke before stubbing it out. She must have felt his gaze because she raised her head to him and smiled, holding his eyes even as Shaz carried on talking to her. Luigi was right: he needed to tell her. How had he not told her? It was so simple, so obvious. Abandoning the last of his drink he strode determinedly towards her; he was going to take her home, tell her how much he loved her and then - well, there was no harm in, once more, showing her too.