Steele Crazy After All These Years-an addition
Part Two
by Andrea

Author's note: This is a work of fiction and is intended for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement on characters and situations owned by MTM Productions is intended. This story is rated NC17 in some places, so if you are too young to read this, or offended by this type of material, click on "BACK" now!

This addition takes place at the very end of the episode and presupposes that Laura might accept Remington's compromise deal of six months of his life for one night of hers. During the episode a reference is made to an ancestral ghost in Remington's family, who re-appears at the end. A reminder that this episode was only the 16th episode aired, and so many other characters, situations and events familiar to RS fans have not been introduced into the ongoing plot. I owe thanks to Jax, Nancy, Fodor travel guides and `Wine For Dummies' for their research assistance.

Your feedback is appreciated!



Laura smiled to herself as she was reminded of someone she hadn't thought about in years. Remington returned with the two water glasses in his hands and gave one to Laura. He sat at the other end of the couch. "Something amusing?" he asked, noting the expression on Laura's face.

"Oh, your story just reminds me of Eve Kendall's junior year abroad."

"Who?"

"A friend of mine from Stanford. Haven't thought about her in a long time. Do you know about the junior year abroad?"

Remington shook his head.

"It must be an American thing. Well to do girls often spent a year traveling in Europe, seeing the sights and broadening their horizons. Then they came back to college and finished."

"And this didn't happen for you?"

"No. I was just getting by on my scholarship. My mother certainly couldn't afford it."

"And Eve Kendall?"

"She fell hopelessly in love with some Italian in Milan and in the end her father had to go there and drag her home."

Remington sat thoughtfully.

"What about you? Any whirlwind romances on the grand tour?"

"Absolutely not. We attended several parties here and there, where I could practice my social graces, but the Colonel had an agenda which had no room in it for any distracting young women, no matter how many times I was tempted."

They both laughed. "Now where was I?"

"Austria."

"Ah, yes. Such a gem of a country. Vienna was marvelous, we ate so well there and visited some first class museums, but Salzburg I was quite taken with that city. Hohensalzburg castle on top of the mountain, the Mirabell Gardens, the Residenz"

"I know, I know. I saw The Sound of Music."

"20TH Century Fox, 1965," he said automatically. "Believe me, Julie Andrews would never have visited the places the Colonel took me. We got down to the business side of things here, and I was introduced to the finer points of, ah, liquidation, shall we say?"

"Fencing."

"Yes, and I don't mean epees. We didn't actually enter into any transactions, but I was introduced to some friends of friends, who I, uh, did business with a few years later."

"Charming people, I'm sure."

"Actually, very good businessmen with prosperous legitimate enterprises."

Laura looked skeptical but did not say anything.

"Then we crossed the Austrian Alps through the Brenner Pass into Italy. The wine and art appreciation education got back into high gear. We started in Florence, visiting all the major museums the Museo Nazionale, the Uffizi Palace, and I listened while the Colonel lectured on Botticelli, Raphael, Donatello, Michaelangelo. Although I never in my career ever contemplated trying to acquire any of these masterpieces, it gave me a standard by which to judge other works. And that was the Colonel's whole point.

"We went on into Tuscany. What a romantic region, even for a jaded young man. Incredible wines, simple but excellent food, beautiful villas surrounded by the rugged green mountains. Sitting on a shady terrazza, enjoying a local Chianti. I'd go back there in a moment." He paused, smiling to himself at the memory.

"After Tuscany we were off to Venice, city of canals. Besides the museums, we spent quite a bit of time with a gentleman who schooled me in diamonds. Gave me my first loupe."

"Something of sentimental value that traveled with you?"

"No, I lost it a month later. In Rome, it was more of the same. We kept going south until we got to Taranto, and there we boarded a ship to the Greek islands. The white homes and churches of Santorini contrasted against the Aegean Sea there's no other shade of blue quite like it."

Laura thought to herself that she knew of something else that were a unique shade of blue.

"We visited the sites of many great Classical ruins, including the Oracle of Delphi, the city of Corinth, Ephesus, Rhodes, Mykonos, all of them stunning examples of the skillfulness of Greek architecture and craftsmanship. By this time it was October. The weather was clear and comfortable, just right for climbing around examining marble. Then we spent 10 days in Athens, enjoying the Parthenon and the museums stuffed with antiquities. Although I didn't learn it until much later in life, some collectors are more interesting in acquiring these ancient works than the more modern works of art. I absorbed as much as I could.

"The last part of our itinerary took us on to one more ship, a small, exclusive cruise line that took us slowly but steadily back to England. We had long enjoyable discussions about what we had seen, and I felt rather proud of myself that I could intelligently hold up my end of the conversation. In the evenings I was allowed to observe the Colonel exercise his considerable charm on the ladies."

"Learned a few pick-up lines?"

"For heaven's sake, no. The Colonel was too much of a gentleman for pickup lines. I learned that from some of my rougher mates later in life." Remington winked at Laura as he paused for a drink.

"Six months and four days later the Colonel returned me to my mentor. They were both rather pleased with themselves and the results of their plan. They spent the next several days congratulating themselves about their new creation."

"My Fair Lady," Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn."

"Warner Brothers, 1964," he finished. "I knew you were going to say that."

"Doesn't it fit?"

"If you're talking about taking a rough piece of work, smoothing the edges, teaching him to walk and talk and making him presentable to polite society, I would say so."

"I think the Colonel had every reason to be proud of what he'd done."

Remington smiled and reached for Laura's hand. He held it long enough to kiss it gently, then let it go.
He then stretched his arms over his head and let them flop back in his lap. "Well, I can't sit any longer in one place." He got up and took their glasses to the kitchen.

When he returned Laura was still deep in thought. Remington looked down on her, his hands shoved in his pockets. "So, did you find my story believable, free of exaggeration and embellishment, as you required?"

"Can I think it through a bit longer?"

"Certainly." He paused as a thought occurred to him. "Do you like to dance, Laura?"

"Sure, I haven't much, but I do."

"I find it very relaxing, sometimes helps me organize my thoughts. It seems that the first time we did dance it was not under the best of circumstances, though, so do you think we could give it another try?"

Laura was ashamed to be reminded of how she verbally and physically attacked him at the reception for the Jetstar 6000, when Gordon Hunter had publicly recognized Remington and not Laura. She had never been so angry in her life, watching her big chance slip away, but Remington had not let Laura create a scene as he held her firmly in his arms and calmly told her how her little charade had not fooled him.

Laura regretted that she had been too livid to notice how pleasant it was to be held by him.

Remington turned away and fiddled with the stereo for a moment. The soft strains of the music filled the room. He came back to the couch and offered Laura his hand. "May I?" he asked quietly.

Laura took his hand and got up. He led her to the entryway behind the couch and held her lightly as they twirled.

"This is a pretty song," Laura commented.

"An old favorite of mine by George Gershwin called "Someone to Watch Over Me." He hummed along very quietly as he sang the words in his head, won't you tell her please to put on some speed, follow my lead, oh how I need, someone to watch over me.

"This Colonel friend of yours sounds like a very interesting person. I'd like to meet him someday."

"Unfortunately, the old boy died a couple of years back. Private plane crash."

So much for verification, Laura thought. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Well, he had a wonderful life. But I miss him a great deal."

Silently Laura moved in a step, both of them moving an arm farther around the other's back. Laura forced herself to relax perceptibly, even though she was still concerned about how the rest of the evening would progress, because she knew all too well that now it was payback time.

Cautiously she slid her hand out of Remington's and moved her arms to hang loosely around his waist. She pressed her cheek against his chest and moved another step closer.

Remington smiled to himself as he gently draped his long arms around Laura's shoulders and pressed his cheek against the top of Laura's head. He did not fail to notice how easily their two bodies fit together.

Laura snuggled her head against his soft sweater, listening to his heart thumping. Did it seem to her to be beating a bit faster than it might normally?

Laura could not deny that it would be oh so very easy to allow herself to let go completely and do anything and everything with this man tonight. She could not deny that she was strongly attracted to him, and anytime he decided to turn his irresistible charm on her, Laura could feel herself moving toward that slippery slope. She could not deny that when he first came into her life as Ben Pearson, the thought of "a heart-stopping, teeth-rattling, eye-popping fling" had crossed her mind.

But she also could not deny that all this frightened her, more than any knife at her throat or gun in her side could. She was frightened of losing control of her tightly ordered mind in the frenzy of passion. She was worried about what Bernice, and especially Murphy, would think, for it wouldn't take them but 30 seconds to figure out what happened. And she was scared about what their day to day life would be like after...
 
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
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