This story is intended for amusement purposes only. This story is not meant to infringe on the names of Remington Steele, Laura Holt or anything that would cause MTM productions or anybody else to sue DeLois. This story is the property of DeLois Booth ã 2002. 

Steele Destined

Part 8

By D’Lois and Lisa Watson

Thanks Lisa for all your help, proofreading...and emotions. SMILE!!!

D Lois94@aol.com

 

“Laura!” Remington cried out. 

 He opened his eyes and looked around the dark room frantically.  Turning on the lamp next to his bed he sighed; there was no trace of her.  He put his hand to his heart to still the rapid beating.  It was another dream and this one had been more real then the last.  He wiped sweat from his brow and noticed his pajamas were drenched.   Pulling himself slowly out of bed he went to the bathroom and switched the light on.   When he saw his reflection he cringed; he looked tired, haggard and pain etched his features.  He had to find out once and for all if his instincts were correct; if this Laura was HIS Laura.  

 Remington dropped Tracy off at school and drove directly to the bank.  He looked at his watch and willed himself to calm down.   He knew the bank wasn’t open yet but from his vantage point he could see everyone that walked inside.  He’d only been waiting thirty minutes when he saw a car pull up.   He noticed it was a woman and that she was alone.  He held his breath until she got out of her car and walked toward the building.   When he saw her fully he cried aloud and gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles went white.  Everything about her raked over his heart; her rapid walk, the way she swung her hair, her body language.    Every nuance screamed her name, as boldly as a flashing neon light, Laura!

 His eyes were riveted on her until she stepped into the lobby and disappeared.   Only when he’d lost eye contact did he allow himself to break down.   He cried for the years he’d been without her, for Tracy losing the mother she’d never known, for Laura missing the daughter she hadn’t seen grow.   The list was endless and full of despair.  His mind ran a mile a minute.  What had happened?  How had all this come about?  Why now?  Questions stormed his brain until it was overwhelmed.  He found himself needing to get out of there, to get some distance between them so that he could recover from this startling revelation.  Remington turned his car over and without a backwards glance sped away.

 Remington found himself driving along the coast trying to figure out his next move.  He didn’t have a clue how to handle Laura’s re-emergence.  So many lives hung in the balance that it pained him to think about it but he had to.   With a heavy heart he turned the car around and headed toward the bank.

 

 

? ? ?

 

Laura was working on the finishing touches of a contract when she heard a slight tap on her door.  Looking up she noticed a tall lean form through the blinds.

 “Come in,” she said loudly.

 Remington opened the door and felt his voice catch when Laura’s brown eyes met his.

 “May I help you?”  Laura asked standing to greet him.

 “Harry Chalmers,” Remington said with forced levity.

 He shook her extended hand and eyed her in what he prayed was a casual manner.   There was no recognition in her chocolate brown eyes and it ripped his heart in two. 

 “I know that I’m early, but I couldn’t wait,” he smiled.

 Laura returned his smile then offered him a seat.

 “Do you have a heavy work load today?”  Remington asked reclining in one of the vacant chairs in front of her desk.

 “Actually no.  Um, didn’t we agree to meet at your restaurant?”  Laura said and sat down.

 She felt mildly uncomfortable at the level of intensity his gaze held and cleared her throat nervously. 

 “Yes, I know.  I had an unexpected meeting this morning and it wasn’t too far from here.  I should have called,”

 “It isn’t a problem, it was just unexpected.  I suppose this is better anyway.  It eases the tension of our “blind date,” Laura laughed.

 The way he looked at her gave her pause.  The familiarity she felt last night was stronger with him here in the flesh.    She felt as if she were in the presence of an old friend – not a stranger.

 “Have we met before Mr. Chalmers?”  She felt compelled to ask.

 When he didn’t answer right away Laura stared at him with avid curiosity.   He knew he was staring, but he couldn’t help it.  It was either stare stupidly at her or grab her and hold her until time stopped.

 “Why?  Do you feel the magic too?”  Remington whispered.

 Laura gasped at the undisguised desire in his eyes.  There was something else there too but she couldn’t put a name to it.

 She scanned the room nervously in an attempt to direct her attention anywhere but the intense blue eyes in front of her.

 “Can you leave?”  Remington inquired.

 “What?”

 “Hooky.  I’ve decided to leave the restaurant in the hands of my partner, Mildred K-r-e-b-b-s…”  

 Remington enunciated every syllable in Mildred’s name to see if it would spark anything.   When she remained silent he continued.

 “And I’m going to play hooky.  Care to join me?”

 Laura smiled.  The mischievous look Harry wore reminded her of Rem.

 “Don’t you think we’re a little old to play hooky?  Besides, I have bills that I have to pay,”

 “I’ll pay them.”  Remington said being flirtatious. 

 He watched as she flushed.  He couldn’t believe his Laura was standing in front of him – in the flesh and blushing like she used to do when he’d suggested something lascivious.

 “Thank you, but I can’t.  I can only do lunch,” Laura said rearranging folders on her desk as a diversion.   She couldn’t believe the attraction she was feeling towards this man she barely knew.

 Laura stopped when she noticed Remington standing and leaning over her desk.   She watched him pick up her nameplate.

 “Laura Micelli,” he breathed raggedly. 

 Suddenly Laura’s passive stare was too much for him to bear.  He wanted her back, all of her!  He desperately needed his best friend back, his wife and the mother of his child, Laura Steele.   Without a thought to the consequences, Remington pulled her roughly against him and kissed her as if his life depended on it.  He was frantic to jog her memory, to get her to remember the love they shared, their lives together.    

 Laura was shocked when his lips touched hers and even more stunned when she realized she was no longer sitting down but encircled in his arms.

 Remington couldn’t believe how rapidly the kiss deepened.  He was shocked at his behavior but he simply couldn’t pull away. 

He had only planned on giving her a little kiss in hopes of jogging her memory but this was far from little.  Memories he’d buried deep within him, feelings he’d locked away years ago came barreling back and he was helpless to stop them.

 Somewhere in the recesses of his mind he could feel her pulling on his arm.   He blinked a few times and wrenched his mouth from hers.  Sweat formed on his brow and his whole body shook furiously.  He ran a shaky hand through his dark hair.  He looked at her bruised lips, her heaving chest and hated what he’d done.  Most of it.

 “Oh God, Laura I’m sorry,” he said breathlessly and backed up suddenly.

 Without his body to support her Laura collapsed back into her chair.  Tears were streaming down her face as her ice-cold fingers touched her swollen lips.  Her dreams were true and suddenly like a bell clamoring in her head she knew.  The man that plagued her subconscious had always been faceless but as she stared up at Remington, the haze disappeared and his features suddenly materialized before her eyes.  It was him!  Harry was literally the man of her dreams.

 “Oh, my God,” she croaked.

 Remington watched as she stared at him.  He saw some kind of recognition in her eyes and his breath caught.

 “It’s you…you’re the guy.”  Laura whispered.

 “I am?  Oh dear Lord.   Laura, you remember?” he said hoarsely.

 “You’re the guy.  The one I had an affair with.”

  “Affair!?” he roared.  Remington shook his head and his mouth dropped open.  Suddenly he wondered if she’d lost more than her memory.

 “Mr. Chal…Harry,” Laura jumped up and closed the blinds on her door.  “I don’t know if…Do you know me?…Have we met before today?” 

 Laura waited for an answer and was a little frustrated when Remington stood there gawking at her.

 “Please tell me!  Look, this may sound crazy to you, but I was in an accident back in 1988.  I suffered…I suffer from amnesia.  I don’t remember anything except what my late husband told me.” 

Remington stepped in front of Laura.  “Your “late” husband?”

 “Yes,” Laura sobbed.  “Tony Micelli.  He died suddenly…an aneurysm,”

 Remington digested the information but his face remained inscrutable. 

 “We need to go somewhere where we can talk,”

 Laura nodded.  Looking in his eyes, she felt as though she was finally going to get some answers.   Answers that she and Tony’s search hadn’t turned up.

 

? ? ?

 

Remington and Laura were walking in a nearby park when Remington stopped and leaned against a tree.  Laura watched as he ran his hand threw his thick hair.  He was obviously trying to absorb everything she told him.

 “Let me get this straight; Anthony told you that you were an orphan, that you and he met in high school and that you were high school sweethearts?”

 “Yes.”  Laura said looking at some birds on the ground.  She didn’t know why but she felt embarrassed.

 “And the two of you searched for information about your past?”  Remington asked trying to figure out how Anthony had maneuvered his lies around Laura’s questions.

 “Yes.  But, it seemed everything was a dead end,” Laura informed him.  “The orphanage I grew up in had burned down a few years earlier.  I tried to get some information from the school he said we attended, but the clerk said they suffered a severe flood two years after I graduated and most of their records were damaged,”

 “How convenient for Anthony,” Remington said with undisguised hostility.  He rubbed the back of his neck and tried to calm himself.

 “You call him Anthony?”  Laura questioned curiously.  “Did you know my husband?”

 Remington jaws clenched then relaxed.  He couldn’t fault her and Anthony was dead, the lucky bastard.  He didn’t like Laura calling Anthony her husband, but right now that was the only truth she had.

 “Why do you think you and I had an affair?”

 Laura noticed he side stepped her question but didn’t press the issue.

 “I’ve had vivid dreams of …making love with another man, a man that wasn’t my husband.  A man that loved me and knew me completely…I never…” Laura stopped, suddenly feeling uneasy.

 “You never what?”  Remington said softly.

 “I never mentioned it to Tony because I felt if it were true, my amnesia was the best thing that could’ve happened to my marriage.”

 Laura was looking directly at him and didn’t miss the look of pain that etched his features. 

 “If I did have an affair and he was trying to forgive me, my not remembering might ease his suffering,”

 Remington felt like hitting something.  Suffering.  Hah!  Anthony Roselli didn’t know the meaning of the word.  Since Laura’s supposed death that’s all her loved ones had been doing.

 Remington turned away from her and struggled for composure.

 “Why me?  Why do you think it’s me?”

 Laura blushed then looked up at the sky.

 “You feel an attraction to me?  A strong attraction and you can’t explain to yourself why,” Remington concluded.

 He saw her discomfiture and knew his words hit home. 

 “Poor Laura, you never were the type of girl for open admiration were you?”

 He hadn’t meant to tease her but he couldn’t help it.  He was so happy to have her back - to have her alive.

 “No, I am not.”  Laura said getting defensive.  “I’m not going to deny I have a strong physical attraction towards you,”

 Remington gave her an “as if you could” look and Laura rolled her eyes.

 “I wish I was gentleman enough to say I’m sorry for kissing you the way I did.  But, I have waited so long to feel your lips against mine and to hold you close again Laura,” Remington wanted to slap himself for saying those last words.  He hadn’t meant to voice his true feelings but they slipped out of their own accord.

 “So, we did have an affair!”  Laura said painfully.

 Remington pulled her into his arms and read the guilt in her eyes.  Guilt she shouldn’t be feeling and thanks to the low life, conniving Roselli, had been harboring subconsciously since this web of deception began.

 Laura allowed Remington to hold her.  His strong arms were a comfort to her and they somehow felt right.

 “I can’t believe it’s true.  How could I have been unfaithful to my husband?”  Laura looked up at him.  “And what about your wife.”  Laura said with disgust.

 “I never cheated on my wife Laura,” Remington clarified.

 “So, our time was before you were married?  Or did she die too?  Was it after she passed?”

 Remington didn’t answer, but Laura didn’t notice.

 “Where did I meet you?  Was it here in Los Angeles?” Laura continued her barrage of questions.

 Laura searched Harry’s face and grabbed his arm.  “Please, you have to tell me.  I have to know what really happened.  If I was really unfaithful to Tony,” she pleaded.

 Laura stopped talking and took a step back.  She saw anger in Remington’s eyes and it startled her.  What was he angry about?  He was the one who had slept with another man’s wife.

 Remington couldn’t believe his bloody ears or his eyes if he read hers correctly.  How he wanted Tony alive.  He would make Roselli wish he were dead for kidnapping her, for sleeping with her, and for conceiving a child.  A child. 

It finally dawned on Remington that Laura had a child with Roselli.  That Laura slept with Roselli.  He became weak in the knees at the reality.

“REM.” Remington whispered.

“Richard Eric Micelli.”  Laura beamed.   “I call him Rem for short.  For some reason Tony never liked it but I couldn't seem to stop,”

Laura stared at him and misunderstood the anguish etched on his face.

“Rem is Tony’s child.  That is about the only thing I do remember.”

Remington felt as though a stake had just been run through his heart.

Laura saw the distress on his face again.  Suddenly it was too much for her and she turned away.

“Everything seems so uncomfortably familiar to me and yet not.  I feel as if I am going out of my mind and there is nobody that can help me back from the edge,” she said tearfully.

Remington hated the pain she was feeling more than the disgusting reality of it all.   He remembered how he’d felt when he had amnesia and Laura didn’t have the answers to give him.  It was then that Remington knew what he had to do.  She had barely managed to deal with the fact that they had possibly had an affair.  If he told her the truth, all of it, he was certain she wouldn’t be able to handle it and it would cause her more mental anguish.  He couldn’t hurt her anymore, maybe soon she’d be able to handle the full extent of what Tony had done to her, to them, but now wasn’t the time.  With a heart weighted down by remorse he turned her around, squared his shoulders and lied to her.

“Yes, Laura.  I meet you in Los Angeles.  And we were lovers,” he confirmed.

TO BE CONTINUED…