- [Someone of the feline persuasion
comes between Laura and Remington- no not Felicia, it's Laura's
cat, Nero. ENJOY!]
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Remington Steele, and
will be receiving no financial gain etc. etc. so on and so forth.
-
- Humane Steele
- By
- Janice Skyers
- Part One
"Dance?" He asked,
taking her by the hand.
She rose from her chair with elegance. "Why not," she
said, smiling graciously.
Slowly he spun her around the dance floor, never taking his eyes
off the woman that's responsible for giving him a brand new start
in life. "And who are you really now that Ben Pearson is
laid to rest," she said after a time.
"I'm whoever you want me to be," he answered vaguely.
"Well perhaps tonight you'll just be Harry,"
"Harry?"
"Yesas I recall Harry wasn't associated with the names in
those fictitious passports of yours,"
"You have your eyes closedwhy?"
"Oh no reason," she said, opening them.
"Maybe you're afraid-"
"Of what?"
"Of getting in too deep andwell never mind. Let's get back
to why you think I look like a Harry."
"I didn't say you look like a HarryI said for tonight you'll
be Harry," she corrected him.
"Hmm," he said, taking in the scent of her perfume.
"Smells good," he whispered softly in her ear.
"I'm glad that my taste is to your liking. So where were
you before-"
"Still asking old questions," he said in a light tone
of voice.
She looked up at him, her eyes suddenly filled with deep hurt.
"I'm sorry," he apologized in barely a whisper. "But
what difference does it make who I am and where I came fromthe
important thing is that I'm here now."
"But how do I know that-"
"I don't have a wife and kiddies somewherewell I don't.
I'm as free as a birdno woman has any designs on mewell that
could change if you're up for the challenge," He replied
honestly.
"Thanks, and since you enjoy impossible challenges perhaps
you could give me a few tips"
"Well tips isn't what I had in mindat least not tonight."
"Why did you really come back?"
"I thought you knew," he said, leaned in closely, whispering
in her ear.
"I have some inkling but I was never one to assume-"
"I've never met anyone like you before-"
"Someone who didn't immediately tumble into bed with you,"
"Well what I was going to say is that you seem so well put
together. So sure of yourself-"
"Such a challenge," she interrupted.
He smiled graciously.
The music stopped. "Well imagine that-"
"What?" She asked, gazing into those friendly blue
eyes.
"We actually managed to get through a dance without trading
insults or biting each other's head off," he explained,
recalling their first dance together.
"Well there's always tomorrow," she joked.
He chuckled softly, his blue warm and friendly blue gaze fixated
on her.
"Shall I take you home now?"
"Well I- we have to be at the office bright and early in
the morning,"
She has to get use to sharing the spotlight now that her fictitious
boss had come to life, she noted mentally.
"I was never much of a morning person. Something I'll have
to get use to I suppose," he confessed lightly.
"I understand," she couldn't resist saying, smiling
coyly, "After all in your former line of work-"
"Touche!" he said, grinning, knowing exactly what was
forthcoming. "Shall we go then?"
She nodded, indicating that she was ready to go.
***********************
"I'd invite you in for a nightcap but-"
He suddenly took her off guard, brushing his soft lips against
hers, silencing her. Their lips pressed together, they shared
a deep passionate kiss.
"Now isn't this better than talking?" He said, after
he broke the kiss initiated by him. Being a risk taker was definitely
a good way to be, he concluded.
"It is," she admitted. Why lie, she thought. She enjoyed
that kiss immensely. "Well I'm not much of a drinker but
I do have a bottle of champagne cooling in the refrigerator.
If you like-"
"Is that what you want,"
How many times have they been through this little routine? Even
before they left the restaurant he already knew the answer to
that question. She'd been in a flirtatious mood all night, not
that this was anything new, but tonight she had a special gleam
in her eye, and that had him wondering if perhaps she'd decided
that tonight they'd cross that line- a euphemism for making love
he earlier learned from her.
"Yes I've always loved champagne," she was saying,
breaking his thoughts.
"No I mean are you sure that you'd like for me to-"
"It's not a magnum I'm afraid but it's still champagne and
yes I'm inviting you in."
She stepped out of the way to let him inside the house and he
heard the door closed, that's when he turned to face her again.
His eyes held captive by that lovely freckled face he'd become
smitten with.
"I'll get the champagne," she said, diverting her eyes
away from him, taking careful note of the erotic look in those
blue eyes. She wondered if her eyes mimicked that look as well.
In order to get to the kitchen, she had to pass him on the way,
but it was no easy task getting there. Suddenly she lunged forward,
landing in his arms, holding onto him for support. That unexpected
move was to his advantage he thought, smiling as he wrapped his
arms around her waist. "Nero!" She scolded, "What's
your problem?" That feline creature let out a soft, pathetic
meow but his master, refused to accept his apology and went on
about her business.
Remington made use of Laura's absence, scooping down next to
the black cat and began stroking his soft, black as shoe polish
silken hair. "What's the matter old chap. Not seeing as
much of your master as you use to? Well I'm afraid that I might
have to take the blame for"
Nero let out a soft meow again. "I shouldn't take the blame
is that what you're saying old boy, then I won't." He said,
a fond smile on his face. In comparison, he had a better relationship
with cats than dogs. Cats he thought were more peaceful by nature
and didn't resort to using those deadly claws of theirs until
they were provoked, but also he knew that they can be very deceptive
creatures. One particular blonde from his past comes to mind
that he'd put in the same category as the feline species, a deceptive
creature that one was, and "catty" would be the best
way to describe her personality.
"Meow,"
"How about I take you into the kitchen and see about whipping
up a saucer of milk for you. Would you like that?"
"Meow,"
"That's a good boy," he said. Scooping him up from
the floor, he carried him off into the kitchen, where he found
a puzzled Laura, shaking her head.
"Mr. Steele?"
"I think he's hungry Laura,"
Laura rolled her eyes in disbelief. "He eats like a horse,"
Laura said lightly.
"That's a bit exaggerated, don't you think. Anyway, I think
he could do with a saucer of milkhopefully you have milk in that
refrigerator of yours," he said, looking half-serious, while
carefully returning the cat to the floor. Nero's gray eyes darting
back and forth between the young couple as they fussed about
him. He rather liked that. At least for the moment he was the
center of attention and that's something he hasn't felt like
in a long time. Well not since Mr. Steele entered the picture.
"I'm afraid that I don't have any left. I poured the last
of it over my cereal this morning," she confessed lightly.
Her revelation caused him to pull his dark head out of the refrigerator.
Straightening his back, he closed the door with a look of disappointment
on his face.
"Well old boy it seems that a trip to the grocery store
is in order," he said, looking down at Nero, who was staring
at him with pitiful shiny gray eyes. In a way, those eyes reminded
him of Laura's, except hers were brown.
"Now?" Laura shouted, not at all liking that idea.
"Yes now," Remington informed her, looking half-serious.
"But-" She began protesting.
"I'm merely doing this so that we can continue our evening
in peace Miss Holt. If we don't feed Nero, he's going to spend
the rest of the night whining and-" He paused to open the
back door.
He wasn't all that keen on ditching his date to go grocery shopping
but since this sort of thing has happened before, it's better
to be safe than sorry, he thought, having been through this experience
before.
She watched the man she called Remington Steele walk out, closing
the door behind him, leaving her with an annoyed expression on
her face while holding an unopened bottle of champagne.
"Well," she huffed, looking down at the culprit responsible
for ruining her romantic plans for the evening with Mr. Steele.
"Thank you very much Nero!"
Nero looked up at his master, a pained and pathetic look in his
shiny gray eyes. "Forget it!" she yelled. "That
poor innocent me expression, won't work on me tonight."
So much for being the center of attention, because it seems that
now Nero was in the doghouse. [that Nero does have a sense of
humor after all]
His master's outburst caused Nero to wonder [if in fact a cat
is capable of doing such a thing, I believe so], if he was perhaps
getting in the way. Had he suddenly become an intruder? Two's
company, three's a crowd just might be what the problem is, Nero
decided. She had Mr. Steele in her life now so what would she
want with the likes of him. But if he was capable of verbalizing
what was going on in his mind, he'd tell his master a few things.
Of late, she's been shrieking her duties where he's concerned,
like forgetting to pour milk in his saucer before going off on
one of her dates with Mr. Steele. She was never that way before
he walked into her life. At least Mr. Steele had the good sense
to figure out that he was dying of starvation and needed to be
fed. [Nero's thinking is slightly exaggerated here. Like a child,
he tends to overreact when his owner scolds him or gets upset
with him for misbehaving, and so now he's thinking of switching
owners. Has Mr. Steele given any thought to adopting a pet, he
wondered]. For the moment Mr. Steele was his best friend and
his ownerwell he didn't quite make up his mind what his relationship
would be with Laura if he decides to switch owners. He'd spend
the rest of the night curled up in ball under the kitchen table,
stewing. A place he'd often resort to after being scolded by
his master.
************************
"Where's Nero?" Remington asked, removing the carton
of milk from the plastic bag.
Laura shrugged. "Stewing under the kitchen table,"
she said casually. It seems that Nero wasn't the only one guilty
of making himself invisible when he couldn't have his own way,
he realized. The only difference is Laura's hiding place was
in the laundry hamper he found out from Abigail Holt.
"You guess," Remington said, looking very concerned.
"Is this what we're going to dospend the rest of the evening
discussing Nero,"
"Well he is your cat,"
"I know," she said through clenched teeth. "But
does that mean that-"
"Don't tell me you're jealous of-"
"Let's just forget it alright," she suggested.
"About us or Nero?"
She didn't respond, just gave him a very annoyed look.
******************
"So how did it go?" Berniece Foxe, the secretary of
the establishment asked her employer.
"It didn't," Laura said, still angry.
"What happened?" Berniece said, a curious look on her
face.
"Nero happened, that's what-"
"Your cat?"
"That's the culprit alright,"
"What did he do?"
"Just when things were about to get interesting, he popped
out of nowhere and started with his antics,"
"Oh I see," Berniece said slowly. "At least it
wasn't another female,"
"Might as well be,"
"So are you two going to give it another try tonight?"
"Well that all depends on Nero. It seems that he's the one
calling the shots these days,"
"Sounds like you've got competition," Berniece said
with a smiling face.
"Yeah it does seem that way doesn't it,"
Berniece found the whole situation laughable. Laura on the other
hand didn't crack a smile.
*******
"Morning," she said, stepping into his office, entering
through the connecting door. "Let's get to it shall we,"
she said referring to their current case they were working on.
"Did you find him?"
Her partner on the other hand wasn't up to discussing business
it seems.
"Pardon?" She asked, pretending to read the case file.
"Nero I'm talking about- up to the time I left he didn't
show up for his supper,"
They'd even checked under the kitchen table, his usual place
of hiding, but he wasn't there. And they'd spend most of the
night, searching the house from top to bottom trying to find
him, but no sign of the black cat.
"Cats stray," she told him. "He'll be back- not
that I'm aware that he was missing,"
"Hmm Mmm," he said, studying her face carefully. "How
can you be sure that he isn't-"
"That's his habit," was all she said.
"You don't seem concerned," he accused lightly.
"Why should I behe decided to run off to Lord knows where
so"
"I think he ran off because he sensed that you were upset
with him last night,"
"Look we don't know if he DID run off, and as I mentioned
earlier, cats do that sort of thing. And frankly I'm not going
to invest any time in searching all over Los Angeles for a stubborn
cat,"
"Well we know how he got that way now don't we,"
Laura flashed dark angry eyes at him. "Shall we get to work."
"Yes by all means, let's do that," he said tightly.
"But I'd think that you'd be more concerned about Nero not
showing up for his supper last night. It's not like him to take
off like that inspite of what you say-"
"What did you expect? He'd leave a note telling us of his
intentions?"
"That's not what I mean," he said tightly, pausing.
"I don't recall a time when Nero wasn't present when I'm
over at your house, gnawing at my shoelaces or curled up beside
me on the couch, or brushing up against my feet. Maybe he just
felt that he was in the way last night and so-"
"And maybe he just loves attention. Or maybe you spoil him
too much."
Truthfully, he knew she was right about that.
"Well I may be guilty of thatyes,"
"At least you admit it," she said, looking surprised.
"Well my instincts tell me that's not the case Laura- I
think there's more going on with Nero than-"
"What do you suggestthat I take him to a psychiatrist and
have him analyzed,"
"This isn't a joking matter Laura. I think Nero did run
off and I think we should do something about trying to find him,"
"He ISN'T missing for Christ's sake. Now shall we get to
work," she said again, sighing in exasperation.
"That's right, let's do that. After all, business does take
precedence over everything else in your life."
"Really," she questioned. "I'm not the one, who
suddenly decided to play nursemaid to a cat last night,"
she reminded him.
From that point on, only the case was discussed.
*****************
"You seeing him again tonight?"
"What would be the point?" Laura told Berniece. "We'd
only end up fighting about Nero,"
Berniece shook her head in disbelief. "Are you two really
going to allow a cat to come between you and romance,"
"It's not me-"
"It's not?" Berniece questioned.
"It's HIM. He's the most stubborn and pig-headed person
I've ever met in my life,"
"Nero or Mr. Steele?" Berniece joked.
"Who do you think. Once he gets a hold of something, he
never lets go of it until-"
"Sounds familiar," Berniece commented lightly.
"While I was getting dressed for our date last night, I
told myselfLaura let the chips fall where they may"
"You mean letting your guard down and"
"Yes. And I sensed that he wanted that too."
"But he spent last night lavishing more attention on your
cat than you," Berniece figured.
"Exactly!"
"Well at least if you two get together tonight Nero won't
be there to interrupt seeing as though he might have run off,"
"You think it would work if we got together tonight. I mean
right now we're both so angry with each other-"
"Ask him and hear what he says," Berniece cut in.
"I will but as I said, he can be very stubborn when he wants
to be,"
"He isn't the only one," Berniece said, smiling innocently.
"Goodnight," she told her employer, retrieving her
handbag from the desk drawer. "Have fun,"
Laura gritted her teeth. "Grrrrrrrr," as she left the
reception area for his office.
*************
"Now," she said softly with a smiling face, handing
him a glass of the bubbly, relieved and happy that they were
finally alone. Hopefully their evening wouldn't be interrupted
by one particular feline individual who had a habit of turning
up in the living room no sooner than Mr. Steele walked in the
door, whining pathetically, so as to grab the spotlight away
from his master. Wasn't it bad enough that she had to suffer
through this at the office? Without Nero as the main attraction
tonight, maybe, just maybe, the evening would proceed in the
direction that she had in mind. Well at least tonight she got
a step further and the champagne actually got poured into the
glasses. "Shall we try again?"
She waited for him to propose a toast, but he seemed to have
sailed off somewhere without her judging from that faraway look
in his blue eyes. "Penny for your thoughts," she said.
"Pardon?"
Oh no, here we go again, she thought mentally. Well Nero you
chose a fine time to disappear.
"This isn't going to work is it," she said, looking
very disappointed, resting her filled glass on the coffee table.
"I'm sorry Laura. I really want this just as much as you
do,"
"Could have fooled me," she remarked, a disappointed
look on their face.
Was he really sitting there fretting over her cat?
He rose from the sofa, buttoned up his jacket, turning in the
direction of the front door.
"Oh I get it," she said sternly. "I'm being punished
because Nero"
Did she really say that? Get a hold of yourself Laura. Stop being
so overly dramatic for heaven's sake. But she couldn't help herself.
"Where did that come from?"
"Because that's what it seems like," she told him,
her dark eyes filled with anger and resentment. "As I said
before, Nero has a way of taking off whenever the mood hits and
eventually he does return home. And if he doesn't, then we'll
just have to accept it and move on with our lives. I'm not going
to go chasing after him,"
"I think I understand now," he said vaguely.
"Understand what?" She was curious to know.
"This isn't really about Nero is it Laura." He stated,
not taking his accusing eyes off her. "It's really about
your father," he concluded.
"Now you're being ridiculous," she defended in an angry
tone of voice.
"Am I?" He said, looking dead serious.
Part 2 Coming soon
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