CHAPTER THIRTEEN
 

Mildred was sitting at her desk the next morning when Remington and Laura walked in.  She looked up at them and arched one eyebrow while trying to determine whether they were on again or if the light had permanently dimmed.  Both of them saw the expression but didn’t say anything to her or each other.  They were determined to put Mildred through just as much agony as she had done to them the night before.  They opened their office doors and walked inside, closing the doors behind themselves leaving Mildred completely in the dark.

Remington opened the adjoining door to Laura’s office and peered inside.  Laura looked up from her desk and watched the devilish grin spread across his face.  “Think it worked?”  he asked.

“What time is it?”

“9:30. Why?”

“Five…four…three…two…one…”

As if completely on cue the door to Laura’s office swung open and Mildred stood in the doorway.  “I can’t take it.  I have to know.  So???”

Laura looked nonchalant.  “So what, Mildred?”

“You know so what!  Are you or aren’t you?”

Remington decided to play along too.  “Are we or aren’t we what Mildred?”

“TOGETHER!”

Laura fought to maintain her cool façade.  “Mr. Steele and I are committed to running this agency and doing what’s best for everyone concerned.”

“That’s NOT what I mean!  Are you two back together, an item, a couple of lovebirds, getting married in three weeks???”

Remington looked at Mildred and then at Laura, trying to also maintain his still-brooding cover.  “Three weeks, eh?  Three weeks until we get dragged down the aisle to begin our lives in dreaded matrimony.”

“Well, while we’re waiting for the ball and chain to be locked around our ankles, do you suppose we could get a little work done?”  Laura handed a stack of files to Mildred and then gave one to Remington.  “Here’s one that could use your personal attention Mr. Steele.”

Remington looked inside the folder and then back at Laura.  With an arched eyebrow he handed the folder back to her.  “Laura, you might want to handle this one yourself.  Doesn’t quite fit with my qualifications as the figurehead of the agency.  As you’ve pointed out so many times, I’m much better suited to operate in purely an advisory capacity.” 

Laura glared at him and then handed the file to Mildred.  “Add this to the others and give me a full report on everything needing to be handled by the end of the day.”

Mildred was still completely lost.  “But what about the two of you?  What’s going on?”

Remington curtly replied, “Mildred there isn’t a single thing that has changed since the last time you saw us.  Laura and I are here to do whatever’s necessary to maintain Remington Steele Investigations and since I’m Remington Steele, then that’s what I shall do.  Now if you’ll excuse me I have something in my office that requires my attention.”

“Yes, heaven knows he can’t function without his comics.  Too bad none of them can teach him the finer points of something called ‘legwork’!”  She looked at Mildred.  “Mildred, please.  We have an agency to run and you’ve got reports to work on.  Now can we please do something productive around here?”

Mildred closed the door and walked back to her desk shaking her head.  Remington once again opened the adjoining door to the office, walked back in and stood next to Laura’s chair.  They both let out quiet laughter as he leaned in for a kiss.   “You know, we really shouldn’t do that to poor Mildred.”  Laura said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. 

“Yes, yes you’re right.  Ah, we’ll give it until the end of the day and then tell her the truth.”

Meanwhile, Mildred had picked up the phone and was in the middle of a phone call.  “Oh thank you.  No, I won’t say anything until you get here.  I just don’t know what we’re going to do but there’s got to be a way to get them back together.  Right, right.  Bye.”

Nearly two hours passed without either office door being opened.  Mildred sat at her desk halfheartedly going through the files that Laura had ordered her to review.  She glanced at the closed doors every few minutes, not knowing that the two of them had been sneaking kisses all morning.  Mildred breathed a sigh of relief when the front doors of the office swung open and Donald and Frances walked inside.  “Oh thank goodness!”

“Have they said anything?”  Frances asked while looking at Laura’s office door.

“Not a word.  Not to me, not to each other.  It’s been dead silence ever since I called you.”

“Well, we’ll take care of this.  Donald, you take Mr. Steele and I’ll straighten Laura out.”

“Right.  Now what am I supposed to say to him?”

Frances looked at her husband with a mixture of annoyance and disbelief.  “You’re supposed to tell him about how wonderful marriage is and how you couldn’t imagine living for one single day without me in your life.  In other words, tell him the truth!”

Donald shook his head as only a henpecked husband could.  “The truth.  Okay, that’s exactly what I’ll tell him.” 

The Pipers walked to the respective doors and nodded at each other before knocking.  Both knocks were answered with, “Come in.”  They each walked inside and closed the doors.

Remington looked up from the newspaper.  “Donald…What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to tell you the truth about marriage.” 

Remington’s eyebrow raised as an uncomfortable closed-mouth smile came over his face and he looked to the adjoining door.  Little did he know that Laura also had the exact same expression. 

“Frances, what are you talking about?”

“Laura, I’m going to tell you things that you may not want to hear but you need to because you and Mr. Steele are going to get married in less than a month and at the moment I’m the only person who can tell you what marriage is all about.”

“Really Frances, everything between Mr. Steele and I is fine.  We’re perfectly fine, really.”

“Laura, I am your older sister.  I can tell when things are fine and when they aren’t and right now they aren’t.  I’ve spoken to Mother and to Mildred and they’re both very concerned that you’re making the biggest mistake of your life.  Now I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.” 

Laura tightly squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath before she reopened her eyes and stared at the adjoining door. 

On the other side of the door Donald tried to work up the nerve to begin advising Remington on marital relationships.  Remington could clearly see that Donald was having difficulty so he stopped him before he ever had to start speaking. 

“Donald, I realize that you and Frances and Mildred and Abigail only have our best interests at heart but there’s really nothing to discuss.  Laura and I settled our differences last night.  Everything is fine between us.”

“Really?  Because Mildred called and said you two were still at each other’s throats and that something had to be done to get you back together.”

Remington smiled and patted Donald’s shoulder.  “Ah, that’s because Laura and I decided to teach Mildred a little lesson about getting involved in areas that should be left to the two of us.  We’re merely having a bit of fun with our Miss Krebs.”

“So everything’s really okay between you two?”

“Couldn’t be better.”

Donald relaxed in the chair.  “Well that’s a relief.  Frances wanted me to tell you the truth about marriage and a story of how I couldn’t survive for a day without her.”

“Ah, fiction, eh?”  Remington laughed as he saw the expression on Donald’s face and the nod that came with it. 

Donald chuckled and then pointed to the door.  “If everything’s okay then we should probably stop Frances.  She’s in there telling Laura everything she needs to know about all of her soon-to-be wifely duties.”

Remington looked to the door and slowly eased his way back into his desk chair.  “No, why don’t we just leave them to their talk.  Might do Laura a bit of good… Coffee?”

Laura sat in her chair not believing what she was hearing.  Less than five feet from her sat her older sister filling her head with topics ranging from the proper way to boil an egg to not relying on Mr. Steele to have a supply of condoms on their wedding night.  Every time Laura tried to say anything to make Frances stop, her sister would launch into another outrageous topic.

“Frances, for the fifteenth time, there’s nothing wrong with Mr. Steele’s and my relationship.  Everything is PERFECTLY FINE!”

“Laura, you’ve said that over and over and over again.  Now who are you trying to convince of that - me or yourself?”

“YOU!!!  How many times do I have to say it?  We had an argument – we fought – we sulked – we fought some more – we sulked again – we made up!  It’s not that unusual Frances.  In fact, we do it all the time!”

“Now you see.  That’s exactly what I mean.  Everything’s not fine.  If it were, you wouldn’t be fighting all the time.  You’d be adoring each other like Donald and me.”

“But we’re not Donald and you.  No offense Frances, but we don’t want to be Donald and you.  We just want to have a relationship on our own terms without the entire universe having a say in what we’re doing right or wrong!  Now for the final time, there’s NOTHING wrong with our relationship!”

Frances stood up and reached for her purse.  She took out a cassette and business card and laid them on Laura’s desk.  “Oh Laura, you poor dear.  You just don’t know how incredibly wrong you are.  I’m going now because Mindy has a check-up but while I’m gone I want you to listen to the tape and then call the number on the card.  It’s the number for a marriage counselor.” Laura rolled her eyes.  “If you don’t believe me that there’s a major problem with this relationship, then maybe you’ll believe Dr. Wells.”  She walked to the adjoining door and knocked before going in.  “Donald, we should be going.  Did you and Mr. Steele have your little talk?”

“Sure did!”  Donald turned to shake Remington’s hand.  “You won’t forget what I told you?”

Remington put on his most serious face.  “You have my word Donald.  I won’t forget a single word and thank you so much for your guidance.”

Laura closed the door behind them and turned to Remington.  “What the heck was that all about?”

“I’m thinking that perhaps Mildred deserves a few more hours of torture.”

“Hours…” Laura exclaimed.  “I’m thinking weeks!” 

Remington picked up his paper again.  “Well, Miss Holt.  Shall we return to business as usual?”  He winked as his lips began to pucker.

“I think that would probably be for the best Mr. Steele.”  She leaned forward and kissed his waiting lips before returning to her office.  Walking to her desk she shook her head in disbelief as she held the therapist’s business card.  She dropped the card into the garbage can and picked up the cassette fully intending to do the same.  As she held it, Frances’ words kept ringing in her ears.  She reached for a tape deck and placed the cassette inside.  Hitting the play button she waited and then listened as the song played.

“Guess I’m just afraid.  I’m not the kind who makes it last forever.  And in my selfish way I think I’m clever, until you cry…  You really want to leave?  You can let it go because you’re strong.  But one day without your love seems so long.  And I sigh, how I sigh.  If this is love darling then now’s the time to wake up.  Hurting words can really shake up someone’s life.  If this is love darling, it’s time to stop pretending.  We’ll never have a happy ending while we cry. 

Isn’t it a shame, how one excuse still leads into another?  After all this time, we hurt each other.  Isn’t it a shame?  It’s time to make a change.  Time to find the things we both believe in.  Talk about the staying, not the leaving.  If this is love darling, now’s the time to wake up.  Hurting words can really shake up someone’s life.  If this is love darling, it’s time to stop pretending.  We’ll never have a happy ending while we cry.  If this is love darling, now’s the time to wake up.  Hurting words can really shake up someone’s life.  If this is love darling, it’s time to stop pretending.  We’ll never have a happy ending while we cry…”

Laura stopped the tape before the song finished and looked at the adjoining door.  She slowly reached for the business card in the garbage can and placed in back on her desk.  Despite her best efforts, it slowly sank in that perhaps Frances was right.  Everything’s not okay.  The only thing they did last night was made love.  Granted, they talked and he told her things she never knew, but they never resolved anything.  Laura walked to the door, opened it and stepped inside his office.

“We need to talk…”

Remington looked up from the paper and knew by the tone of her voice that this would be another “one of those moments”.  “Something wrong Laura?”

"Yes and no.”

“Care to be a little more specific?”

She walked to a chair and sat down in front of his desk.  After taking a few deep breaths, Laura lowered her head and then raised it again to look at him as she spoke.  “Frances said something that has made me start thinking.”

Remington sighed heavily as he repositioned himself in the chair.  “I knew I should have listened to Donald and broken up that conversation.  Laura, whatever it was she told you about your “wifely duties” I’m sure was just a ploy conspired by Mildred and your mother to make sure we had made up last night.” 

Laura cringed and closed her eyes.  “I don’t want to even think about what Frances was describing as my “wifely duties” thank you very much.”  She composed herself again and continued.  “But she brought up a few things that actually make a lot of sense.”

“For example?”

“For example, our fight yesterday.  Why are we always fighting with each other?  If we’re supposed to be two people who care so deeply for one another then why does it seem like we’re constantly jumping down each other’s throats?”

“Laura...I”

She cut him off before he had a chance to finish his sentence.  “I know you love me, even though those little words very rarely make it across your lips.  I’m just afraid that maybe it’s not enough.  Think about it.  You say you know and want me but how much do you really know?  I know I want you but there’s so much of your history that I’m still in the dark on that I don’t know if I can commit to spend the rest of my life with you or if I’m just fooling myself into thinking that it doesn’t matter.” Laura looked at his concerned expression and kept going.  “And last night.”

“Last night was wonderful.”

“Yes, last night was wonderful but we didn’t resolve anything.  We’ve got to get our thoughts and feelings out in the open and deal with the issues at hand.”

“Oh please tell me you want to enroll us in more sensitivity training.  I don’t think I could handle another weekend like that again.”

“See!  That’s exactly what I’m talking about!  I’m trying to come up with a solution to our problems and you’re cracking jokes!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…  Perhaps it’s just me but I’m not seeing where there’s a huge problem that needs us to endlessly dwell on it.”

“I’m not trying to endlessly dwell on our problems.  Look, if we’re going to spend the rest of our lives driving each other crazy, focusing on our pasts every time we have an argument and spend the night having mindless sex instead of resolving the problem we’re having, then maybe we should just forget about this whole thing.”

“Oh, there we go again.”

“What?”

“Why is it that every time we start talking about problems that the discussion always ends with you wanting to forget about this relationship?  Have you ever noticed that you’re always the one who brings up the issue of leaving and turn it around to make it sound as if it’s my idea?  And what do you mean mindless sex?”

“Look, I don’t want to argue about this.”

“Then what do you want?”

“I want to see someone.  I mean, I want us to see someone.  A professional.  Frances gave me a card for a marriage counselor and I think we’ve reached a point to where we need an impartial person’s opinion on whether we have a snowball’s chance in hell at making this relationship work.”

“Really now Laura, a shrink?  Don’t you think that’s taking this just a bit overboard?”

“No, I don’t.  I want you and I want this relationship to work but if we continue on this destructive path there won’t be anything left of either one of us.  Now if you won’t do it for yourself and this marriage then just do it for me… Please…”

Remington scowled and sighed before reluctantly answering.  “Alright Laura.  If that’s what it’s going to take to make you happy, then I’ll go.”

“Good.  I’ve already made the appointment.  He’s expecting us in…” She looked at her watch.  “Forty-five minutes.  I’ll get my purse.”

Mildred looked up from the stack of files as they walked by on their way out the door.  “Boss, where are you going?”

Laura stepped out the door and was headed down the hall when he turned to answer Mildred.  “To have our heads examined!” 

As the front door closed Mildred shook her head and laughed.  “It’s about time…”

Traffic was rather light for a change, much to Remington’s chagrin.  He spent the majority of the time in the car trying to talk Laura out of her decision to see a psychiatrist.  “Laura, I just don’t see the point in spending a perfectly good afternoon sitting in some psychiatrist’s office.”

“We’ve got to get past our issues Mr. Steele or we don’t stand a chance at ever having a peaceful life.”

Remington looked at her with his eyebrows raised and an ‘I’m waiting’ look on his face.  “In the nearly five years that we’ve been together, can you actually remember one week that was peaceful Laura?” 

His sarcastic tone didn’t go unnoticed.  She sat silent for a few moments before shifting uncomfortably.  She knew he was right, but rather than antagonizing him, Laura opted for truth.  “Honestly?  Since you came into my life I can’t remember an entire day that was completely peaceful.”

He flashed his most endearing smile and leaned over, lightly placing a soft kiss on her temple.  “Hasn’t been all that bad has it Miss Holt?”

The corners of Laura’s lips curled upwards.  “No, Mr. Steele.  It hasn’t been all that bad.”

When Fred pulled the limo into the parking lot, Remington took one last stab at getting her to change her mind.  “Since we both agree that it hasn’t been that bad, why don’t we skip this and play hookie for the rest of the day, eh?”

“Nice try, Mr. Steele.  Let’s go…” 

The office was as sedate as they had imagined it would be.  Leather furniture, oak tables and a few couples patiently waiting.  Laura and Remington sat on a love seat and scanned the faces of the other people in the room.  They were all there for a variety of reasons but one thing was quite clear, none of them looked comfortable in their surroundings.  The soon-to-be Steeles looked at each other and as they were coming to the decision to leave, a door opened and a receptionist beckoned them to another room. 

Dr. Wells requested that you make yourselves comfortable and he’ll join you in a few minutes.”

Remington and Laura nodded their heads in acknowledgement and watched the receptionist leave.  Remington immediately began to pace the floor as Laura sat down on the leather couch.  She looked around at the room with a feeling of nervous anticipation, the feeling deepened considerably when the door opened and a middle aged, stout man walked in. 

“Laura Holt and Remington Steele, right?”  He reached out his hand and shook theirs.  “I’ve heard a great deal about you both.  Your sister speaks of you often.  Quite a woman, your sister Frances.”

“Oh she certainly is and I can hardly wait to find out what she’s been saying about me!”

“Well you’ll have to take that up with her.  Doctor/Patient confidentiality you know… Besides, we’re not here to discuss your sister.”  He looked up at Remington and motioned for him to sit.  “Make yourself at home Mr. Steele.”  Remington reluctantly joined Laura on the couch.  “So, why you tell me why you’re here.”

They looked at each other, both waiting for the other to speak first.  When no reply was forthcoming Dr. Wells took the reigns.  “I understand you’re getting married.  Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”  Laura quietly said.

“How long have you been engaged?”

Laura looked at Remington’s stoic expression and answered, “Not quite a month.”

“And the wedding is when?”

“Less than three weeks from now.”

“Pretty short engagement…  Do you think you may be rushing into marriage?”

Remington shifted his position and laughed.  “Frances must not have told you that much or you would know that Laura never rushes into anything.”  He saw her glare from out of the corner of his eye and immediately knew he was in trouble once again.

“How long have you been dating?”

Remington answered, “Nearly five years.”

“Really?  How long have been seriously involved with each other?”

Not taking the time to think about where this conversation would eventually lead, Remington again spoke up.  “Depends on what you mean by seriously involved.  If you’re referring to the time that we’ve known each other, nearly five years.  If you’re referring to anything remotely resembling a full-blown relationship and everything that comes with it, about a month.” 

Laura turned to face him.  “What do you mean about a month?!  There was never a full-blown relationship because you could never commit to anything that lasted for more than a day if it didn’t involve ending in bed.”

His largest button now completely pushed, Remington fired back.  “Never commit to anything that didn’t end in bed?  What the bloody hell was the last four-and-a-half years Laura?  For all general purposes you took a man who was used to having his pick of any woman in the room and single-handedly turned him into a monk in the “Laura Holt Monastery For Celibate Men”.  Heaven forbid that anyone ever wanted to get close to you, to share your hopes, your dreams, your life, or horrors of horrors, make love to you because there are times that I feel as if I’m holding an iceberg instead of a living, breathing woman!”

“You’ve just answered your own question Mr. Steele!  Why should I have let go of my life, my beliefs, my only amount of security when I knew that the only thing you wanted was a roll and a tumble?  I didn’t want to be absorbed by you, I still don’t want to do that!  I’m tired of walking in the shadow of “The Great Remington Steele” and just want to have a chance to be happy for once in my life!”

Dr. Wells watched and listened intently to their exchange and stopped Remington before he could respond.  “Laura, I want you to think for a moment.  Do you honestly believe that the only reason Remington has stayed is because of the promise of sex?  And Remington, I want you to think about what Laura has felt like after spending almost five years walking in your shadow.”  Dr. Wells looked at Laura.  “Speaking as a male, he’s got a point.  There aren’t many men who would hang around any woman for close to five years without any intimacy unless he were pretty serious about her.” 

Laura looked down, folded her hands and rested them in her lap.  She let out a heavy sigh.  “I suppose…”

“Let me rephrase an earlier question.  Instead of asking how long the two of you have been seriously involved, let me put it a different way.  How long have you been in love with each other?”

Laura’s gaze returned to her folded hands.  Remington watched her lower her head.  He reached out and placed his right hand on top of hers and softly squeezed them.  “It’s going to sound like a bit of a cliché, but I’ve wanted her from the first moment I opened the door to my office and saw her sitting at the desk.  By the time she opened her mouth to speak I knew I was in over my head.  It was very much a game of cat and mouse in the beginning but I became fully convinced of my feelings for her when a former lover got into trouble and re-appeared in her life.  When push came to shove, without a moment’s notice, this refined, sedate, straight-arrow of a woman threw caution to the wind for the sake of helping someone she once loved.  It was in those few minutes that I realized that I wasn’t just watching her participate in a rouse to distract people, I was watching the woman I always knew was hiding deep inside.  When she later asked if it was possible to feel too much too quickly I tried to make it seem as if the question were a general item, but when I held her in my arms and we shared a truly passion-filled kiss, I knew that this was the woman I had spent my entire life searching for.   As time has gone by, we’ve had our share of arguments and assorted problems, but I’ve never once lost the feeling I had during that kiss.”

“Laura, how long have you been in love with Remington Steele?” 

“I’ve loved Remington Steele for quite a while now.  I’m not exactly sure what moment it was that triggered my feelings for him.  Granted, I was itchy from the first second I saw him.  I mean, he’s not exactly hard on the eyes.”  She looked at Remington and then back to Dr. Wells.  “There was a case we were working on early in our time together in which one of his old friends was unfortunately killed and the man I had always thought of as an egomaniac revealed a vulnerable side.  I began thinking that perhaps I had misjudged him and feelings that I had worked very hard to turn off slowly started to creep back into my life.  I think I realized that I was in love with him as he held me on a dark, stormy night.  My house had been blown up and had burned to the ground in front of us.  When reality hit that I had nothing and no one, he held out his arms while I cried and shared memories from his past to try to comfort me.  I offered to sleep with him that night and in true chivalry, he refused to take advantage of my weakened state and instead led me to the couch, where he wiped away my tears and held me until I fell asleep.   As I lay in his arms, I had the feeling that my entire life was about to begin again and it occurred to me that the most important part of it was him.”

Dr. Wells nodded his head in acknowledgement of their now admitted feelings.  “See, that wasn’t so bad wasn’t it?  Now, if the two of you have been walking around with these feelings for so long, why didn’t you act on them earlier?”

Remington looked toward the door.  Laura hesitated and then softly said, “I don’t know.  It always seemed like when one of us was ready, the other wasn’t.”

“Why do you suppose that was?”  Dr. Wells looked at them. “Remington?”

“Hmm?”

“Why weren’t you ready to take your relationship to the next level?”

He shifted uncomfortably.  “I wasn’t the one having an issue of taking our relationship to the next level.  I was the one who was trying to get it there.  She’s the one who was always hiding behind her fears and inhibitions.”  He looked at the glare on Laura’s face.

Dr. Wells also took note of her expression.  “What are you afraid of Laura?”

She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.  “Nothing.”

“Did you not find Remington attractive?  Is or was there something about him that you found repulsive for close to five years?”

Attempting a moment of levity Laura jokingly said, “You mean aside from his continuous allergy to legwork?” 

“There has to be something Laura.  If there’s nothing physically repulsive and you willingly admit that you wanted to have an intimate relationship with Remington for all this time, what held you back?  What are you afraid of?”

Laura’s head lowered and she bit at her bottom lip.  Sensing that this was going to be a very awkwardly difficult moment for her, Remington moved closer to her and placed his hand just above her knee.  She looked at his hand, took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.  “My mother.”

That wasn’t the answer Dr. Wells had imagined.  “Your mother?”

“Well, not my mother per se, it’s more than that.  I’m afraid of becoming my mother.”  Seeing that Dr. Wells was obviously confused, she continued.  “I’m sure Frances has already shared this with you but our father left when I was 16.  Everything in my mother’s world revolved completely around my father and when he left, it was as if part of her died.  She shut down and I’m not even sure if she’s over it yet.  Then I fell in love with a man named Wilson Jeffries and the exact same thing happened to me.  I came home one day and he was gone.  Every man I’ve ever cared about has left me.  All it takes is one look at him and I begin to wonder how long it will be before he leaves me too.”

“But you aren’t your mother Laura, and Remington isn’t Wilson.  Until you let go of that fact, you’re never going to be able to move past your fear.  You not being able to admit your feelings and move on with your life isn’t hurting your mother and it isn’t hurting Wilson.  It’s you and Remington who are going to be the ones getting hurt.” 

Remington moved his hand from her knee and held her left hand instead. 

Dr. Wells moved to Remington.  “And you?  Is there anything from your past that would give her a reason to doubt your feelings and intentions?”

Remington was on the spot and he knew he had no choice but to be completely honest.  He just hated to have to do so.  “There have been moments that I’ve not been terribly proud of but very little where she’s concerned.  I’ve always believed it was more important to show someone how you feel rather than telling them because I was taught to rarely take words at face value.  People will say anything to keep themselves out of trouble and sometimes those very words get you into even more.  I haven’t always been 100% truthful with Laura about my past but I’ve shared what I could when the moment seemed appropriate.  I haven’t exactly led the life of a saint, far from it in fact, but there are just some things that I prefer not to talk about and unfortunately, the vast majority of my former life falls under that category.  But the fact that nearly every day of the past four-and-a-half years have been spent in the office right next to hers should say something.” 

“I never said it didn’t.”

“But you’ve also never said it did.  I’m not perfect Laura and as much as you’re afraid of me leaving, you’re not the only person in this relationship.”  Dr. Wells pushed him to go further and he complied.  “How do you think it makes me feel to know that after nearly five years you’re still walking around with the same insecure feeling that you had when we met?  I’ve been showing you how I feel about you the entire time and yes, when you said we needed time apart, I left.  But I didn’t leave you.  I left to find myself for you.  There’s a big difference between trying to find oneself and the intent of leaving for someone else.”

Laura looked at him.  “So, we’re back to that are we?”

“I guess we are.  Since we’re being completely honest, be completely honest with me Laura.  What would have happened if you hadn’t gotten off that plane?”

As Laura was about to answer Dr. Wells’ nurse opened the door to remind him of his next appointment.  “I’m sorry, I’ve got another appointment but I want to continue this conversation tomorrow.  Set up a time with Miss Reynolds and I’ll see you then.”  He ushered Laura and Remington to the door.  “I think we’ve accomplished quite a bit today and with any luck tomorrow will be just as enlightening.”

Laura and Remington waited in the hallway for the people to get off the elevator and stepped inside.  They stared at each other in silence as the doors came to a close.