Valentine's Dinner?

25. Relationship Discussions

"Good God, girl, you work fast," Florence said as she and Christine sat with Valerie. "I suggested you be a little more aggressive, but going from holding hands to moving in with him only two days after your first date, that's..." She shook her head. "That's far beyond what I meant."

"Yeah, much faster than I had intended." Valerie felt her cheeks warm. "We've both had tragedy in our pasts which had kept us from moving on, and it seems we've each opened the other's floodgates."

"I hope you're thinking clearly. I wouldn't want to see you get hurt. And if as we suspect, this relationship goes public, then the hurting will be for all to see."

"Yeah. I've continued to question the speed and the intensity. We both have. Each step along the way. He's a logical-analytical, the type who sees chess moves a dozen and more ahead, and he's completely at ease with the arrangement."

"Is he after your fortune?" Christine asked.

Valerie sighed as she shook her head. "No, we're after each other's souls." Oh, God, and his body. And the way he worships mine. "Think about it, though. We met as workers in a soup kitchen. Two lonely people volunteering, trying to fill their lives. No idea who the other was."

"Until last week."

"Yeah. After you told me to be aggressive, I held his hand and offered to buy him a drink." Valerie laughed. "He told me afterwards that he didn't think I'd be able to afford it, so he had offered to pay. He thought I worked at the soup kitchen for a pittance and the free meals. And with his two-week stubble, I thought he was part of the street scene."

"Maybe I should do some volunteering." Christine chuckled. "Hey? I've not met anyone of interest elsewhere."

"I've informed them I can't make it this evening. Maybe you could take my place."

"Good idea for you to stay out of sight at the moment." Christine shook her head. "But I don't think I've got the balls to do something like that."

"Hey, be aggressive." Valerie laughed. "Look where that got me." The three women returned to discussing the rapidly-evolving relationship until the knock on the open door. Valerie called, "Come in."

Andrew, the Assistant Security Officer, introduced Hamish, who had followed him in, and they took the offered seats. After Valerie had set the goal to find Lorne's address, she asked Florence to brief them on what IT had done, and then she allowed the discussion among the four to continue for a minute or so.

When she saw they had a grasp on the situation, she told Andrew, "Good. You take this and run with it. I'll be away from this evening until Thursday afternoon. Keep me informed through email. We've a satellite connection aboard."

"We'll get on it, Ma'am. You'll need to be careful on your way out. There's a clutch of hacks and cameras hanging around the entrances. Likely leftovers from the press conference waiting for you to leave."

"Yeah, as we've expected. I've brought a headscarf as a disguise, and I'll take a cab rather than having Lester drive me."

After the four had left, Valerie made several attempts to re-wrap her hijab, none ending in a way that pleased her. She paged Brad.

"Yes, Val?"

"Is there someone out there in a hijab who's available to come help me wrap mine?"

"I'll send someone in."

A few minutes later, in her ensuite, Valerie looked at her appearance in the mirror when she had finished the wrap a third way. "So simple. Thank you for showing me, Anan."

"It would be better if you had looser clothes, Ma'am. Help you blend in."

Valerie nodded and opened the doors of the wide closet. "I have a large selection here. Do you need to get back to something? Or can you help me pick an appropriate look?"