Changes 1/3
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000
Tracy E. Aiken <teanc@mindspring.com>
Feedback is welcome at: teanc@mindspring.com
Rating: PG-13
Special thanks to my beta reader who always let's me pick her
brain- even when my ideas are bizarre.
This would take place after season four, and is alternate universe.
Assume season 5 never occurred.
Mildred was standing in the stock room doorway trying to make
just one more box fit, but wasn't very successful.
"It's a losing battle, hon."
"We need a larger office. I knew one day it would come to
this, but I'm not ready to give this office up. It holds so many
memories," Laura said.
"I know what you mean. But we're bursting at the seams, Miss
Holt."
"I'll figure something out, Mildred. For now just get that
box in there," she said and walked back to Mr. Steele's office.
Once there, she dropped onto the sofa and looked deep in thought.
"Laura," he said, looking up from reading a file on
his desk.
"We have to move."
"Move? Where?"
"That's a very good question, Mr. Steele."
"This is a very nice office."
"Yes, it is. But we've outgrown it. And if we want to expand
like we were talking about, we definitely need more space. We
need at least a couple more offices and a larger storage area."
He came from behind his desk and sat next to her. He pulled her
back to lean against him. "Relax," he whispered, and
put his arm around her. He could tell she wasn't up to dealing
with this right now.
"I hate moving."
"We'll find an office, it'll just take a bit of work,"
he said optimistically, hugging her to himself. She rested her
head against his shoulder.
"Oh, Harry, I like this office. A lot of good things happened
here," she said smiling up at him.
He leaned down and kissed her. "I agree, but think of all
the new memories we can make and the new areas we can christen,"
he said smiling.
"Something to look forward to," she said smiling back
at him.
"Do you want to stay in Century City?"
"I think so, do you want to stay here?"
"It's convenient, but if we find a great place in another
part of town, I think we shouldn't disregard it because of where
it is located."
"Sounds like we have some real estate to look for, Mr. Steele."
"Do you want to go look around this afternoon, Laura?"
"No, not really. I want to just relax tonight. We can start
looking tomorrow."
"Are you feeling all right? I know you've been tired lately."
"Yes. How about we order in for dinner?"
"Anything in particular," Steele asked?
"Japanese. We've not had that recently, how does that sound,"
she asked sitting up and turning to look at him.
"Sounds good. Is there a good Japanese restaurant by the
loft?"
"As a matter of fact, yes, there's a new little place a few
blocks away."
"Have you gotten takeout from there, yet?"
She smiled at him.
He smiled back and leaned up to kiss her.
This time instead of the telephone interrupting them, it was Mildred's
knock on the door.
He groaned as he pulled back.
"Later, I promise," she said to him and then said, "come
in," to Mildred.
From their positions, she knew she had interrupted them, again.
"Here are some buildings that have offices available,"
she said handing a file to Laura. "I knew eventually we'd
have to move, it was a matter of time, so I did some research."
"Thank you, Mildred."
"We're going to take off soon, Mildred. Do you need us to
do anything before we leave?"
"No, Chief, we're good to go for the afternoon. You kids
can take off,
I'll hold down the fort."
"Mildred, we couldn't."
"Laura, maybe we could drive by a couple of these offices
this afternoon?"
"Okay, you two, you win. We will go look at a few offices,
but if you need us, you'll call?"
"Promise, honbut everything will be fine. Go find us a new
office," she said and walked back toward her desk.
"May I," he asked, reaching for the folder.
Flipping through the pictures of the buildings, he stopped at
the third one. Pulling it out, he handed it to Laura and said,
"this one is nice."
"Very nice," she said looking at the high rise whose
address was on Wilshire. "Plus it's not too far from here.
Do you see any other's you'd be interested in seeing?"
"No, none of the others jump out."
"Okay, let me make a call and see if we can take a look at
an office here," she said waving the picture of the building
on Wilshire.
She walked over to his desk and dialed the contact number. Remington
got up from the sofa and went to his chair, and pulled Laura onto
his lap. She was very comfortable on his lap, and in his arms,
in fact it was one of her favorite places.
A few minutes later they had an appointment with the building
manager for 3:30pm.
"This is nice," Laura said, laying her head on his shoulder.
"Very. Are you sure you're up to looking for a new office
this afternoon?"
She didn't answer him; she had fallen asleep.
Remington held her in his arms until just before they had to leave
for their appointment.
"Laura," he whispered and tucked a lock of hair behind
her ear. "Sweetheart, you need to wake up."
She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Hi," she said
and sat up. "I'm sorry I fell asleep."
He placed a finger over her lips to stop her apology. "Not
necessary. We do, however, need to get to our appointment."
"I'll be right back and we can be off."
Remington sat at his desk waiting for Laura, wondering why she
was so drained lately, even though they had gotten plenty of sleep.
He would insist she see her doctor if this went on for much longer.
His thoughts were interrupted by, Laura; coming back into his
office, "Ready?"
"Let's," he said.
They walked out of his office and said goodbye to Mildred and
then were off to their appointment.
In the limo he took her hand in his and asked again, "Are
you okay, Laura?"
"We'll talk about this later, I promise," she said and
sealed her promise with a kiss.
He didn't want to wait to talk to Laura, but he knew they shouldn't
start their talk just to be interrupted by arriving at their appointment.
A few minutes later they pulled up in front of the Sherman building.
It was a very modern skyscraper with a doorman and lots of glass.
The doorman opened their door and then held the door to the building
open.
"Where is the building manager's office," Laura asked?
"On the twenty-first floor. Take the elevators on the left."
"Thank you," she said with a smile.
The doorman tipped his cap in response.
The elevator ride was a quiet one with no stops en route. Remington
was keeping a close eye on Laura. The door opened into a reception
area where they were greeted.
"Can I help you," the receptionist asked?
"Remington Steele and Laura Holt, we have a 3:30 appointment,"
he responded.
"Please have a seat, Mr. Jacoby will be right with you."
A few minutes later an older gentleman came out and introduced
himself as the building manager and escorted them into his office.
"Thank you for seeing us on such short notice," Laura
said as they sat in two leather chairs in front of an oak desk.
"I'm glad we could arrange it, Miss Holt. Now I understand
you are looking for a new office."
"Yes, we've outgrown our current location," Remington
said. "We're looking for at least two large offices and several
smaller ones, do you have something you could show us?"
"Let me show you several floor plans we offer and if you
see one you like, I'll show you those offices."
"Do you have many vacancies, Mr. Jacoby," Laura asked?
Smiling, he said, "we have about 20 suites and a penthouse
left to lease. We've been leasing offices for just over a month."
"May I see a copy of your standard lease?"
"Of course, Miss Holt," he said handing her the paper.
"That is customizable to the client, so if you needed special
considerations added, we are able to work with you."
"Thank you," Laura said as she began reading the lease
agreement.
Remington was looking at the different floor plans available.
"Is the garage accessible at all times?"
"Yes," answered Mr. Jacoby. "We offer a mail room,
garage, gym, dry cleaning facility and a snack shop also."
Laura was making notes on the lease as Remington continued discussing
the building with Mr. Jacoby. She could tell thaat he was taken
with the great Remington Steele.
Remington had Mr. Jacoby wrapped around his little finger with
only a few words exchanged.
Mr. Jacoby showed them several different office suites and finished
up with a penthouse office suite. While Laura looked around the
penthouse office, Remington was discussing the rent and leases.
After talking for a few minutes, he excused himself.
"What do you think, Laura?"
"It's a great office. What's the rent?"
"If we will sign a long term contract, we can have it for
the same as we are paying now."
"How'd you swing that, Harry," she asked smiling at
him?
"Mr. Jacoby considers us high profile so he's hoping to attract
other high profile renters plus we're added security in his eyes."
"The area is good. There's parking, everything we need, for
the same price, I think we should take it," Laura said.
"I agree. Shall I have Mr. Jacoby draw up a contract?"
She shook her head yes.
Remington talked a bit longer with Mr. Jacoby while Laura continued
to look around the new office. It just felt right to her and it
was such a find, it couldn't possibly be passed up.
When Mr. Steele came back Laura was looking out their new windows
at the city below.
"Laura?"
"Hi, over here."
"The papers are being sent to the lawyers and as soon as
everything is gone over we can move in."
"I like it here, Harry. I think we'll be very happy here."
"Me too, love, me, too," he said taking her in his arms.
"Should we call Mildred and let her know we've found an office?"
"We'll talk to her tomorrow. We can bring her over and let
her look around. She'll want to take measurements and do some
planning."
"Perhaps, you'd like to help her, eh, Laura?"
She smiled at him. She knew he didn't want to be involved in the
mundane chores of planning and moving. "Okay, I'll bring
her while you hold down the office." She could tell by the
look on his face, he didn't like that option either. "Let's
go home," she said.
Taking her hand, he led her to the elevator and out the building
to the waiting limo.
To Be Continued . . .