Steele Holting Out for You 9/9
Date: Thursday, January 11, 2001
Breezy <giglnbreez@aol.com>

"I'll meet you at the office in an hour," Laura confirmed as she moved away from baggage claim. She waited for Steele to walk away then she started looking for Murphy.

She saw him sitting on a bench looking at his watch. He looked up to check the newest crowd, "Laura! I thought you had decided to stay in Massachusetts," Murphy walked over and took Laura's bags and nodded, "I have my car out this way."

Laura followed him trying to figure out where the best place to tell Murphy how she felt would be. She did not want to put any of this off, it wasn't going to be easy for anyone, especially her.

***

Remington found the limo and loaded his bags in, "Fred, my place." He sat back and tried to figure out where he was going to go now. He couldn't go to Daniel, Laura would find him there if she felt she needed to chase him down and he did not want to deal with any women, so Felicia was out. Maybe he could go back to Boston, it was anonymous enough. The only people he knew were the folks he met with Laura and they weren't going to be everywhere he went. They didn't really even know him. Just helpful folks. Boston would be perfect for now.

***

Mildred and Abigail arrived at the office around eight. "Would you like some coffee, Abigail?"

"I would love some Mildred. Do you always show up this early or is this a special occasion?" Abigail followed Mildred around while she tidied and collected the morning mail while the coffee brewed.

"I'm usually in by now so that when the kids get in their coffee is ready, the newspaper is on the Chief's desk, and the files for the day's clients are all out and ready to be perused. Since we haven't been here for a few days I have to get all the messages from the answering service and see if we can salvage the business."

"You certainly have a busy day."

"Yeah, it's great," Mildred grinned.

***

"Here we are, your loft," Murphy was feeling hopeful. Laura hadn't cut it right off when she met him and in the car she told him about Mildred's disappearance and how she had only been trying to push her and Mr. Steele together. The only part that worried him was that she hadn't said if Mildred's scheme had worked or not.

Laura opened the lock and slid the door open. Murphy set the bags down next to the door and took Laura into his arms.

***

Remington arrived at his apartment and sent Fred on his way. He would drive the Auburn back to the office. Packing all of his life in an hour wasn't going to happen, so he decided to take the time to make an omelet and savor the time he had left in his apartment. It was a nice place. He even had a chance to really make it his own. This hadn't been possible in a long time.

***

"Laura, I'm so happy you took a chance on this," Murphy smiled and kissed her forehead.

Laura smiled gently and looked down at her watch, "Murph, I have to go into the office. We'll talk later," she walked out of the loft leaving Murphy to wait.

***

Remington sat in his car for a moment before he started the engine. He looked over at the radio and shut it off. He was not in the mood for music. He drove to the office in total silence, trying to convince himself that this was the right thing to do. He'd have to say goodbye to Mildred too. He hoped that she was in the office when he got there.

***

Laura walked into the office at quarter of nine. This was happening very fast. It was worth it though. This wasn't the wild Laura that she remembered. She was more of a hybrid. A Laura who could be spontaneous and crazy, she could also behave like a businessperson. Something that the wild Laura hated to do.

"Good morning Miss. Holt, how was your flight?"

"It was as exciting as three hours in the air gets, Mildred. What do we have for appointments today?"

"Well, nothing. I had the answering service tell all callers you and Mr. Steele were on vacation for a week. I'm sorry, Miss Holt. I thought it was important for you two to do this."

"Mildred, don't worry about it, is he here yet?"

"Not yet. I'll send him in when he gets here, oh and your mother is in your office making a few arrangements for her to stay in LA for a while."

"My mother? Why did you let her come ba--."

"Laura! I just finished making reservations for a rental car, I'll be staying at Mildred's if you need to get in touch with me. I need to buy some new clothes and wash what I have with me. I'll talk to you later," Abigail buzzed out of the office after her speedy entrance.

"Mildred, you and mother? Interesting. Why don't you take the rest of the day off when Mr. Steele gets in," Laura smiled and went into her office to get ready for the long talk she and Mr. Steele were going to have.

***

Steele walked in the office with less fanfare than normal. "Hello, Mildred. Where's Miss Holt?"

"In her office, Boss. Are you ok?"

"Um, sure," he tugged his ear and signaled towards Laura's office, "I'll be in Laura's office for a bit. Will you be up for lunch with me after?" He didn't want to upset Mildred too much; she was, in essence, his mother and his biggest fan. He'd have to visit her from time to time.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Steele, but I'm having lunch with Miss Holt's mother. Can we make it dinner?"

He smirked a bit, this was not working, "Sure, dinner it is." He walked into Laura's office glumly.

"Mr. Steele, come in and get comfortable. We're going to be here for a while."

"Wonderful. Do you mind if I get some tea before we start? I'm feeling a bit parched all of a sudden."

"Of course," Laura was slowly loosing her nerve. She needed to finish this soon. The tension in her shoulders could have supported the weight of an elephant.

Remington stepped out of Laura's office. Mildred felt it was too soon.

"Is everything copasetic Chief?"

"Yes, I was just going for a cup of tea," he avoided all contact with Mildred hoping she wouldn't ask too many questions. He would be forced to explain why he was hurting so much.

***

Laura had called Murphy when she got in and told him not to wait for her. Now she was starting to feel constricted in her office. She paced around hoping to achieve a little freedom. Remington stepped back in with his tea. Laura looked up and gestured for him to take a seat. He followed the command. He started to open his mouth to say something.

"Laura, I--," Laura looked at him with something that he still couldn't place. He backed down for the time being.

"Mr. Steele, please just sit and listen for a minute. First I want to apologize for everything I have put you through. It wasn't fair of me to string you along for such a long time," she turned to gauge his reaction. The pain on his face almost killed her. It's time to get to the point, Holt, "Murphy started calling me a few weeks back and," Laura was ready to explain the entire situation now.

"Miss Holt I don't want to know about yours and Murphy's relations, I came here to tell y--," Laura cut him right off.

"Will you please keep quiet Mr. Steele. I am going to explain everything to you. You will get your chance for a reaction in a minute. Just give me some time here," Laura started pacing again.

"Murphy called me and told me he was coming to visit. He asked me if I wanted to go out with him when he got here. It was a long shot and I was very confused. Sure, he's a good friend, could he be more? Then there was you. I have to admit that I didn't know where we were heading. For a long time I was sure we would be together without a hitch from here on out, but I kept second-guessing. I second-guessed us right out on a date with Murphy. I thought I might be in love with him. This is where that rational side of me comes into problems. Don't let your heart and your head change jobs, Mr. Steele. Logic can't make sense of love and love doesn't always make sense," at this point she stopped to catch her breath.

"What I want to tell you Mr. Steele, is that I read the letter you gave me. It said exactly what I needed to hear. It pushed my heart out of my head and back where it belongs," she looked at him hoping he would catch on.

"And where is that Miss Holt?" He wasn't sure if he understood what she was saying. The blasted woman never made any sense.

She looked at him for a minute trying to keep her bluster at the fore, "With you." She said it. She finally told him. Now it was up to him to tell her he still felt the same way.

He just sat there. His face turned a shade of grey. "I was going to leave you. I was going to abandon everything that we had built. I thought you were going to run off with Murphy."

He looked at his hands. He wasn't sure if she was angry. He couldn't lift his head. He knew she would be mad, hurt, "I know you're probably upset, but I have never been one to deal with failure. I knew I had failed if you went off with him. You deserve better. Better than me, I just thought that you... Laura please say something."

She sat and had taken everything in. She had made her choice, "Are you going to leave now?"

"Is that what you want?" His stomach suddenly felt like it wanted to evacuate all of its passengers. His life was not in his control. He felt like a little boy again, being shuffled to where he was most useful.

"I told you what I want. If you still feel you need to leave I suppose I understand," Laura wanted to jump into his arms and beg him not to leave. This was not the time for it though.

"Then I guess I'll be staying," he felt a relief that couldn't be equaled, "I should stand up and make violent love to you right here," he looked at her and smiled, "but I don't think I trust my legs."

Laura chuckled and sat down on the desk, "Can you deal with a friendly hug? We have a lot of work to do before we can take the time for much else."

"Laura, did you consider the question in my letter at all?"

"To be honest, I didn't finish the whole letter. I read the first few lines and--," Laura halted, "What question?"

"I suggest you read the rest of the letter and meet Mildred, your mother and I for dinner tonight. I'm going to make the reservations now," he stood up and walked over to his door before he paused. He winked at Laura and smiled unabashedly as he whistled his way to his desk.

***

Laura couldn't wait to find out what the rest of the letter read. She raced through the mail at the office and sped home. Her actions went unnoticed since Remington left to take care of, what was it that he said? Oh well, it couldn't be too important if she wasn't able to recall and Mildred went out home when Mr. Steele came in.

The cat like reflexes Laura usually possessed weren't to be found anywhere. She fumbled with her keys and the lock on the door. Once she was in, she clamored through her bags searching for the piece of paper that seemed more important than anyone or anything else at this particular moment. When she found it she raised it in the air in victory.

She knew this could be very important, so she sat down on the floor and read the letter aloud, "Dearest Miss Holt, I know I've never said how much I cared about you, so I would like to explain now. My intentions, contrary to popular belief, are of only the purest of origins. Well, they are now, even if earlier they might have been less than noble."

Laura chortled a bit and continued on, "I don't know how to explain how I feel. I'll do my best to describe it though. When you're in the room I can't think of anything else. My heart feels like it's leaping out of my chest when you look at me and smile. When you are angry with me I feel like I let you down, but at the same time I want to ravish your body. I want to be with you when you wake up and I want to protect you from any danger you may encounter. I wish I could see you when you wake up in the morning. I don't think that this is love, Laura. It's more than that. There are times that I hate you and your damned rules. Times when I want to just sit and talk to you for hours. Times when I could share everything that I have lived through. I care about you in ways I didn't know existed."

"I suppose I sound a little odd. I just don't know how to explain it any other way. When I started writing this it was to get rid of frustration. I was going to read you the riot act and now I couldn't harm a hair on your lovely hide. Before I turn in there is one thing that is bothering me terribly though. Two things actually, would you mind calling me Remington after this? Mr. Steele is all well and fine in the office, but I believe I just professed my love for you and it just seems a little strange to call the man in your life by his surname. The second thing is a bit inane, I know, but would you, as they say in all of those sixties beach movies, be my girl? I know it's a small step, but it's still a step forward. It's the biggest commitment I have ever made. Even if the answer is not something I want to hear I would like one all the same."

"Now that I have made a fool of myself, I am heading off to bed. Love, Your Remington Steele. P.S. I hope I'm not being too presumptuous."

Laura smiled. This was not what she was expecting. This was, however, exactly what she wanted. To take things slow, she needed to work her way slowly into a real relationship. Although they dated casually, nothing had ever been written in stone. Now they would have to work their way through their differences without running to their corners. They couldn't use other people as weapons any more their bond was just between Laura Holt and her Remington Steele. There weren't any openings for more eligible applicants. She beamed knowing exactly how she was going to answer him tonight. He would never expect this. Now what should she wear?

***

At seven sharp Laura's door received a sharp knock. "Come in, I'll be right there," Laura singsong-ed from her bedroom. She was in the middle of putting the finishing touches on her outfit. She decided to wear a floor length, strapless, black dress with a slit that went up to the middle of her thigh on the side. She wore her hair down because she overslept and didn't have time to deal with making sure it all stayed put.

"Good evening, luv!" Remington greeted as he walked in.

"I'll be done in a minute, I dozed off for a little longer than I had planned," she explained.

"It's fine, I'm sure they won't cancel our reservations for a while," he was trying hard not to laugh as he ushered in the catering staff, string trio, Mildred, Abigail, and even Frances and Donald Piper were invited. Remington wanted to remember this night for a long time.

He was very nervous. Tonight had to be perfect. He had this plan in his pocket for a while, but now he was wondering if it really was as brilliant as he thought.

"I'm ready to--," Laura stopped moving when she saw the crowd in her apartment, "I, what is this?" She was genuinely confused, her family save for those that had disappeared and the ones who had to be in bed by nine were there, along with what looked like a catering company, a string... one, two, three... string trio, and Remington. This wasn't exactly what she had thought of when he mentioned dinner, but since when did Mr. Steele make sense?

For his part, Remington didn't know exactly what to say other than, "I thought that this would be better than a restaurant." He jammed his hands in the pockets of his black dress pants. He had dressed in his favorite tux. He had it designed after the one Rick wore in Casablanca.

"You look stunning tonight Laura," he eyes twinkled a bit and pulled out the folding chair that the staff had set up. Laura walked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and sat down.

"Hello everyone, Frances, Donald, Mother, Mildred," she paused and looked pointedly in his direction, "Remington," she saw him grin like a little boy, "I wasn't expecting anyone, otherwise I would have cleaned up a bit."

Dinner went very well. Abigail, Mildred and Frances kept trading glances every time Laura and Remington snuck a glimpse of the other or when their hands would linger when they were passing dishes on the table.

After dinner, Remington stood up and tugged at his collar, "I guess you are all wondering why I did this," he paused for a dash of drama, "The main reason is to avoid too much embarrassment. I wanted to tell Laura in front of all of the important people in her life that, well, I..." he regained his determination, "Laura, I love you with all of my heart. I want to thank you for making a name and a home for me," he had a mild smile on his face. He was getting worried when Laura just sat unmoving.

Then she opened her mouth, choosing her words very carefully, "I love you too. I didn't think I could say it until I read the letter you wrote. I knew I couldn't keep it hidden from the world after," Laura paused

"Laura, you weren't fooling anyone honey," Abigail Holt added in. The occupants of the table had a brief laugh.

Then Laura continued, "I read the letter and I thought it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me. Not even in high school did a guy ask if I would be his girl. It was just something that happened and now," she reached for Remington's hand, "I'm a grown woman and I'm going to be going around telling people about my steady."

Remington's face brightened, "Correction, you will go around telling people that you've been pinned," he reached in his pocket and pulled out a jewelry box, "I couldn't get Royal Lavulite on short notice, so I hope you don't mind sapphire."

He opened the box and pulled out a small heart shaped pin with a sapphire in the middle. "May I?" He motioned the pin towards her chest. Laura nodded her head yes. He angled his head trying to figure out how to pin it on her dress without violating her. He found a spot he felt would be fairly safe and kneeled down to pin her dress. The audience around the table held their collective breath as he straightened the fabric around the pin. Then Laura wrapped her arms around his neck.

He didn't think that Laura would want to engage in any tongue wrestling in front of her family, so he gave her a light kiss on her forehead and drew her into a hug. Laura, who was a bit disappointed crooned in her ear, "Remington, darling, I hope you don't plan on such a tame night after the company leaves." She felt his immediate reaction against her.

He purred back in her ear, "Laura, I promise you will not be disappointed."

The End

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