Part II
Steele Holted After All These Years
By NewSue
Many thanks to Lauryn,
my excellent beta reader!
This is purely for amusement purposes. I do not own the characters
from Remington Steele, MTM does. This part rated PG Permission
to archive granted. Any criticism is welcome.
Mildred witnessed her superior getting thrown out of Miss Holt's
office. "Everything OK, chief?" she asked
Steele straightened his tie and nodded, "Yes, Mildred, couldn't
be better," he covered his distress with that air of suavity.
He retreated into his office. A few hours later, he emerged again,
and approached Mildred's desk looking thoughtful. "Mildred,
you must have helped Miss Holt make her travel arrangements for
this weekend, correct?"
"That's right, Mr. Steele," She replied.
"Be a dear and tell me where she is headed," he pleaded,
flashing her his best megawatt smile.
"Sorry chief, no can do. I promised her gal to gal."
"Ahh, but Mildred, who signs your paychecks? As the head
of this agency I have the right to know, don't you think?"
Laura overheard this and thought Mildred was about to crack so
she came storming out of the office. "I can't believe you
have sunk so low as to try to blackmail Mildred into telling you
my private business! But if you must know, I am meeting up with
the girls from 4 East, my old sorority at Stanford. It's a reunion
of sorts, and women are coming from all over the country that
I haven't seen in years." She thought the little white lie
wouldn't hurt much, after all, she rationalized, and it was mostly
true. She didn't want him to know that it was really her 10 th year
Stanford University Class Reunion because he would be hurt that
she wasn't taking him. And she didn't want to take him because
then it would be all about the great detective Remington Steele
and not about Laura Holt, or her accomplishments, at all. Her
alleged "boss" had a way of attracting everyone's attention,
including her own. Then she would end up spending her time trying
to keep him at bay as they navigated through that minefield some
might term a relationship instead of catching up with her friends.
The possibility of seeing Patrick again, she told herself, had
nothing whatsoever to do with it.
"Oh, Laura, you mean you are a having a girl's night, or
rather weekend out?" He was visibly relieved to find out
it wasn't a "date" with another man. "I quite understand
and I apologize for my behavior earlier. I lost my head, I am
afraid. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you? Take
you to the airport perhaps?" Steele asked.
"Well, Mr. Steele," said Laura with a gleam in her eye,
"Fred is taking me but there is one thing . . . ."
"Anything, Laura, name it," he stated.
"Nero needs to be fed while I am gone and . . . he needs
his litter changed."
"*LITTER?*" Steele asked with disgust, wincing painfully.
"You said anything, Mr. Steele," Laura was obviously
enjoying this.
"Consider it done, Miss Holt," he finally agreed, "and
please have a delightful trip with the ladies. He came close to
her as Mildred turned back to her filing. "I hope you won't
miss me too much," he whispered seductively as he brought
his lips to hers for one of his brief but sweetly passionate kisses.
Laura pulled away as he attempted to lengthen the kiss. She had
forgotten momentarily that she was still a little angry at him
and the guilt she felt about lying to him was leaving a bad taste
in her mouth. Oh well, she thought, it is not as if he was honest
with her all the time. There was that fiasco in Cannes. Besides,
he had no hold on her. Hell, he didn't want one. Oh, I wouldn't
worry about that, Mr. Steele" she said slyly with a smile,
"the girls and I will be certain to paint the town red in
a very big way!" With that, she grabbed her bags from her
office, said goodbye to Mildred and was out the door.
Later that afternoon, Steele was back at Laura's loft. Sounds
of running water came from the bathroom as Steele emerged from
it wearing jeans and a blue striped button down with the sleeves
rolled up. His nose was still crinkled up in response to his offensive
task. "Well, Nero, I hope you and your mistress appreciate
this!" He washed his hands again in the kitchen and started
to open a can of cat food. He placed it in a ceramic bowl on the
floor that was inscribed with the letters NERO in bold black.
"Tell me, Nero," he said as he bent down to gently stroke
the cat, "Does your enchanting mistress have you wrapped
around her finger as well?" The cat purred as if in agreement.
"I understand, Nero. Its difficult to maintain one's air
of independence when you realize that you will do anything you
can think of just to get some of her attention. You look at her
with those big blue, err. . . green eyes and rub against her leg,
grateful for any little bit of affection she may deign to dispense.
You hope that she will pat your head, rub your shoulders, or maybe
snuggle down with you on that big warm bed, hmmm?" He nodded
towards the curtained area that served as Laura's bedroom as he
massaged Nero's ears. "Its OK, Nero, I know the feeling."
Steele was startled by the sound of the phone ringing. The answering
machine picked up after the first ring and he smiled affectionately
at the sound of Laura's voice on the greeting. Then a man's deep
voice came on and Steele looked up in curiosity and concern. "Laura!
It's Patrick!" the voice said warmly, "I got your number
from Christina on the reunion committee. When she said you were
coming this weekend I couldn't have been more pleased! I can't
believe it is our 10 th
year reunion! PI, huh? I knew
you'd do it! All that passion and spontaneity. I just wanted to
let you know I am back in the area and this time I am not letting
you slip through my fingers, so be warned!" He chuckled softly.
"I guess you must have left already, I was hoping we could
head up together . . . well . . . see you tonight!" And then
there was a click as he hung up.
Steele's blue eyes burned green with jealousy and anger. "Girl's
night out indeed!" he spit out. "Sounds pretty coed
to me! She is going to her 10 th
year reunion and she didn't invite
me, Nero! In fact, she is going to share all that passion
and spontaneity with another man!" He picked up the
phone and dialed. "Mildred, Steele here. Something has come
up and it is very important that you give me the exact address
where Laura is staying. There was a pause while Steele listened
to Mildred's barrage of questions. "A case, well, in a manner
of speaking, Mildred . . . Yes, it involves an unsavory character
that I want to warn her about." Steele could hear the panic
rising in Mildered's voice. "No I don't think Laura is in
any immediate danger." Mildred was calmer now, but a bit
suspicious. "Don't worry, Mildred I will take full responsibility
for interrupting her. Room 202? Yes, that's it." He copied
down some information. "Thank you, Mildred, but I'll book
the flight myself. Goodnight."