- Steele Giving Thanks 1/6
Date: Wednesday, November 14, 2007
- From: "Lori" <LJLanham@gmail.com>
-
- ====================================================
-
- It's holiday time again....
- AN: For those of you
who don't like "future stories," give it a chance.
For those who think I can only write romance, there's ACTUALLY
a plot/mystery/case... I'm trying :-)
-
- Thanks to Brenda (Happy
Birthday!) for your insight and input, thanks to Lea for jumping
in for last minute beta duty, and as always thanks to the incredible
Michael Gleason and his amazing staff for giving us such great
characters to play with.
-
- Standard disclaimer
apply, I don't own most of 'em, but I love 'em
-
- Permission to archive
-
- Steele Giving Thanks
-
- The crowd rose to their feet as
the music came to a close. The young musician beamed as she stood
next to the piano. She reached out to accept the dozen red roses
being handed to her from the front of the stage, smiling all
the while.
-
- "Brilliant, Princess,"
the man said as he handed her the flowers.
-
- "Thanks Daddy," she replied.
-
- "Mom and I will meet you backstage,"
he said as her teacher came to escort her from the stage.
-
- "
And that concludes this
year's Malibu Academy Fall Talent Show," Principal Nilsson
said from the MC's podium. "Thank you all for coming."
-
- As the parents and friends moved
to the theatre doors Remington Steele made his way to his wife,
who was quietly accepting the congratulations of fellow parents.
The Fall Talent Show was one of the Academy's biggest events
of the year, and to be asked to close the show was quite an honor.
For Kate, being only in the fourth grade, the honor was greater
still.
-
- "Ready, Mrs. Steele?"
he asked, taking Laura by the hand.
-
- "Absolutely, Mr. Steele,"
she answered. "Let's go get our little virtuoso."
-
- When they arrived backstage, the
Steeles were greeted by a brown-eyed whirlwind who had her mother's
thick chestnut hair and freckles. Remington looked on with pride
as his wife and daughter embraced. He loved that Kate was a mini
version of her mother. The little girl was definitely Laura made
over---the only indication of him in her genes was her long and
lanky frame. She was well on her way to being the tallest girl
in her class.
-
- "Honey, you were amazing!"
Laura said as her daughter pulled back from her embrace.
-
- "Thanks, Mom," Kate said.
"I did it just like we practiced. I was a little worried
about playing the Bach, but I think it was okay."
-
- "It was perfect!" Remington
interjected.
-
- "You're a little bit prejudiced,
Daddy," Kate said, rolling her eyes--- a habit, Remington
noticed, that she'd picked up from her mother.
-
- "That may be so," he said
to her, "but you were still perfect."
-
- "Daddy's right, Sweetheart,"
Laura agreed. "Not a note out of place."
-
- Kate smiled warmly at her mother's
praise. It meant a lot to the little girl. Where her father was
always telling her she was perfect, her mother was less effusive
with her praise. And in this particular case, since Laura was
a very talented pianist in her own right, her compliment made
Kate even more proud.
-
- "Now," Laura said, rounding
up her family. "Let's go celebrate."
-
- *~*~*~*
-
- "Morning, Murph," Laura
said, looking up as Murphy Michaels entered the offices of Remington
Steele Investigations.
-
- "Morning," Murphy responded.
"How was the concert?"
-
- "It was really good,"
Laura told him. "Better than I'd expected, actually. And
Kate was fantastic."
-
- "No bias there," Murphy
said with a laugh.
-
- "Of course not," Laura
answered, smiling.
-
- "I'm sorry we missed it,"
Murphy went on.
-
- "Kate really missed you, but
she understands," Laura said.
- "How is Brendan?"
-
- "He's better. Rachel thinks
he can go back to kindergarten tomorrow."
-
- "That's great," Laura
answered. "I'm glad he's feeling better. I remember when
Kate had chicken pox. It was awful."
-
- "He's been a real trouper,"
Murphy said, like a proud father.
-
- "Don't say that word,"
Daniel Piper groaned as he walked into the office.
-
- "What word?" Laura asked.
-
- "Trooper," Danny lamented.
"I got a ticket on my way into work this morning."
-
- "Ouch," Laura winced.
Everyone always said her nephew took after her in his driving
habits. "How bad?"
-
- "Not too," he answered.
"Just don't tell Mom, okay?"
-
- "My lips are sealed,"
Laura said with a smile. She looked up at the receptionist, "Sharon,
what's on the schedule for today?"
-
- "You don't have anything scheduled
today," the young woman answered. "Mr. Michaels has
a one o'clock with Mr. Freidman, Miss Krebs is meeting with your
tax attorney and Mr. Steele has lunch with the mayor."
-
- "You have class this afternoon,
right?" Laura asked.
-
- She liked the young woman they had
recently hired as a receptionist. She was finishing her last
year of college, and the other members of the firm occasionally
had to fill in when she had a class or project during office
hours. It was a little inconvenient sometimes, but everyone was
willing to pitch in because Sharon was a great fit to the agency.
-
- "Yes ma'am," Sharon answered.
-
- "Okay, if Mildred's not back,
I can man the phones," Laura said with a smile. "Is
Mildred in?"
-
- "She's in her office."
-
- "Good, I'll grab her on the
way. When Mr. Steele arrives, we're meeting in my office."
Laura beckoned Murphy and Danny to follow her. She stopped to
knock on Mildred's door before opening the door to her own office.
As her staff followed her in, Laura paused to take in the view
from her window.
-
- Shortly after Kate was born, Mildred
got her license, Murphy came back to work at the agency and the
office that had been their home for so long just wasn't big enough.
Laura thought about moving, but her husband assured her they'd
be able to make it work
and make it work he did. Remington
had arranged for them to take the office suite next door and
expand the offices. When the renovations were completed, she
ended up with an office that was adjoined to and the mirror image
of Remington's. There were offices for Murphy and Mildred with
two more to spare, one of which was now being used by Danny Piper.
They had a kitchen, a file/copy room and a conference room. The
conference room was rarely used, as they most often used the
Steeles' offices for such meetings. The conference room was more
likely to be used as a playroom for Kate and Murphy's son Brendan
when they visited the office.
-
- *~*~*~*
-
- "May I help you?" Laura
asked as a man entered the offices.
-
- "Mrs. Steele?"
-
- "Yes," she answered, standing.
"I'm Laura Steele, and you are?"
-
- "Neil Larsen," the man
said, reaching out to shake Laura's hand, still with a confused
look on his face.
-
- Reading his confusion, Laura answered,
"Our secretary is out for the afternoon. How can we help
you, Mr. Larsen?"
-
- "I hope you can," he answered.
"I wanted to speak to you last night, but you and your husband
were a little bit busy."
-
- A proud smile spread across Laura's
face, as she remembered Kate's performance. "You were at
the talent show?"
-
- "Yes," he answered. "My
son, Kyle, is a freshman at the Academy. He was one of the magic
acts last night. The one with the birds."
-
- "Oh, right," Laura said,
remembering. "That was," she paused, "interesting."
-
- "Yeah," Mr. Larsen agreed.
"I know. The kid's got so much potential, but he thinks
he's David Copperfield," he said, shaking his head. "I'd
rather he play soccer or something. But Sara, my wife, is always
encouraging him to be more artistic. Anyway," he went on.
"I need you to help find my business partner."
-
- "He's missing?"
-
- "SHE disappeared a couple of
days ago," Larsen told her, handing her a photograph. "Elizabeth
Wexler. And while it's not really unusual for Libby to take off
without telling anyone, this time three million dollars and the
plans to our latest venture are gone as well."
-
- "She disappears often?"
Laura asked.
-
- "I wouldn't say she disappears
often, Mrs. Steele," he answered. "But she is sort
of what you might call a free spirit. She likes to say she goes
where the wind takes her. But she always lets me know where she's
going and she's always accessible."
-
- "But not this time?"
-
- "No, I haven't heard from her
at all, and frankly I'm worried."
-
- "Does she have a husband?"
Laura asked. "A boyfriend?"
-
- "Yeah," he answered. "Me."
-
- to be continued...
-
- To
Part 2
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