The next day Remington visited Miles Walker at his London office/recording studio. As he walked into the building which had been updated and extended quite a bit since he’d last entered its doors a lifetime ago, he had a sudden flashback of himself as a brash, young 17 year old walking in there with Kate the day she signed her record contract – the day their lives began to change, ultimately pulling them apart. He remembered with a smile how he’d pulled the ‘tough guy’ routine on Miles, wanting to ensure he wasn’t going to rip Kate off. And then he remembered another time he’d dropped by while Kate was recording and while he waited for her he and Miles had had a rather uncomfortable conversation.
Putting the memories back where they belonged, he greeted the receptionist at the front desk with a smile and asked for Miles Walker. He took a seat while the receptionist rang through to Miles’s office telling him a Remington Steele was there to see him. While he waited for Miles in the reception area he looked around and noticed a few gold records hanging on the walls and noticed with a smile that one belonged to ‘KK and the Beat.’ He was just looking at it when Miles came out into the reception area. "Har... Mr Steele," he corrected himself as he greeted the younger man, wondering to himself why he was there, although he had an idea.
"Miles – good to see you again," Remington greeted him as they shook hands. "Sorry to drop by unannounced but I was just wondering if you’d have a few minutes." Miles nodded then showed him into his office.
"You’ve extended since I was here last," Remington remarked with a smile.
"What can I say? Business has been good," Miles replied politely then got to the heart of the matter. "Kate told me you were coming to London – so she told you about Harry then?"
Remington nodded. "I guess those cryptic comments you made to me when you were in LA make sense now," he said with a smile. "Actually that’s why I’m here Miles – I wanted to thank you for looking after my son over the years, as well as Kate," he added sincerely.
Miles nodded in acknowledgement, saying "You’re welcome," biting his tongue from saying, "Someone had to."
Remington then went on. "I want to assure you Miles that now I know about Harry I’m going to do the right thing by him and be a proper father to him."
At that Miles looked at him seriously. "I’m glad to hear it," he replied then hesitated before adding "And what about Kate? Are you going to do the right thing by her?" as he looked expectantly at Remington who looked decidedly uncomfortable.
"You mean are we getting back together? Ah... no, we’re not," he replied as Miles’s eyes narrowed a bit.
"I thought finding out about your son would have changed your mind on that point," Miles stated.
At this Remington sighed, "Look Miles I appreciate you’re concerned about Kate but we’ve sorted it out between us."
"Have you? Really I mean?" Miles challenged him as Remington looked a bit perturbed. "All I know is I had to help that girl pick up the pieces of her life after you left her – why do I get the feeling I’m going to have to do it again? How do you think it is for her to watch you with your son and know that she doesn’t have a future with you? You may have spent the last fourteen years trying to forget her, but she’s had to live every day with a constant reminder of you. Let me tell you something - your leaving her all those years ago almost broke her, but I watched her pull herself together for her son – for your son, while you were off doing heaven knows what!" Miles stated rather angrily.
Remington looked at him, a little stunned but also a bit angered by his outburst. "Miles I know it’s not easy for her but what do you want me to do? If I went back to her just so we can play ‘happy families’ I wouldn’t be being honest with her or myself and I’m not going to do that to her or our son," he tried to explain himself. "I’m in a committed relationship and Kate knows that," he added, his jaw clenching a bit.
"Just how committed?" Miles questioned.
"Very," Remington confirmed, then added, "in fact I’m planning to ask Laura to marry me in the not too distant future."
That stopped Miles in his tracks a bit. "I see," he replied. "Have you told Kate this? You owe her that at least."
"I know I do. I haven’t told her yet – but I will," he assured Miles. The two of them fell silent for a moment or two, neither really knowing what to say. Remington finally broke the silence. "Miles I still care a great deal about Kate..." he started to say.
"But you don’t love her?" Miles interjected.
At that Remington shook his head and looked at him, his blue eyed gaze intense. "Not in the romantic sense anymore, no – but I love her as a friend and as the mother of my son."
"And yet you slept with her when she was in LA," Miles pointed out.
"Yes well neither of us planned that – it just well…happened," Remington replied a little awkwardly.
Miles shook his head at him, his mind suddenly going back to the past, remembering a younger version of the man sitting in front of him. A cocky, smart ass kid full of bravado who he had felt was not the right guy for his young star, but who he knew had a pretty strong hold over her - a hold he suspected he still had.
"You haven’t changed have you? Oh you might have changed your name & your clothes & accent but underneath you’re still that irresponsible, arrogant kid who left his girlfriend pregnant – you need to start thinking with your head don’t you think, rather than another part of your anatomy?" Miles threw at him, 14 years of built up anger at the younger man coming to the fore.
"Now hold on a bloody minute Miles – it’s not like I forced Kate into doing anything that night, she wanted it as much as I did, and quite frankly as I recall telling you about 15 years ago, mine and Kate’s relationship is not really any of your business," Remington shot back at him, his own temper starting to get the better of him.
"Well you made it my business when you left her and I was all she had," Miles pointed out as he gave him a meaningful look, not willing to back down, feeling these were things the younger man needed to hear.
Remington went to say something in reply then stopped himself, realising that the conversation was getting a bit heated and was getting them nowhere. He hadn’t come there to fight with Miles. He looked down at the floor for a moment then looked at the older man. "Miles I assure you if I had known about Kate being pregnant I would have been there for her and our son. But I can’t change the past, as much as I might like to – and believe me I will always regret not being there for them both." he admitted. "And I want to try and make up for not being there for the two of them as much as I can," he added and as Miles looked at him he knew he meant it.
"I’m just trying to get to know my son and be a father to him. I know you’ve been a big part of his life and I appreciate that and I understand your concern for Kate. I know I’ve done nothing to deserve your trust Miles but I’m asking you for Kate and Harry’s sakes to give me a chance to make this right – well as much as I can," Remington stated sincerely.
Miles paused for a moment then nodded with a sigh. "Okay, okay," he relented. "But if you hurt that boy I swear you’ll have me to answer to – he’s like a grandson to me," Miles warned him.
"Believe me Miles I have no intention of doing that and I think you’d have to take a number behind his mother," Remington stated a little ruefully as despite himself Miles smiled a little as he knew how protective Kate was of her son.
"Yes I imagine so," he agreed.
"Ah speaking of his mother – I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything to her about my plans to propose to Laura," Remington added as Miles shook his head.
"Trust me I have no intention of doing that – I’ll leave that up to you. I’d appreciate it too if you didn’t mention our conversation to her either – I don’t know how happy she’d be if she thought I was ‘sticking my nose in’", Miles stated.
Remington nodded in agreement then said "I know you care about her a great deal - she’s lucky to have you Miles," as he smiled genuinely at him.
"And I her. I guess I’ve come to think of her of as the daughter I never had," Miles admitted then he said "Just do me a favour will you?" as Remington looked at him.
"Of course Miles - what?"
"Let her down easy huh?" he said, giving the younger man a pointed look as Remington nodded in agreement. He then got up to go and extended a hand to Miles who shook it, a look of understanding passing between them before Remington bade him farewell.
To Part 1-4