After a lavish dinner they had shared at Che Rive, Steele had invited Laura to have a night cup at his apartment and they were talking softly in a light-hearted tone, lying on the floor beside the lit fireplace, facing each other.

"Have I told you lately that you look especially gorgeous tonight?" Steele told Laura.

He thought he saw her blushing slightly by his remark as she smiled self-consciously and answered. "Hey, you're not bad yourself, you know?"

"You see? I told you once, we make a wonderful couple," Steele told her reaching out to rub her face with his hand. "We should make something about it." Then he pulled his head down towards Laura's until he touched his lips with hers. It was a gentle touch at first, but soon it turned into something more passionate and deep. Laura seemed more than willing to accept his kisses as his tongue began to pull her lips apart, and she let it pass through them. After a seemingly endless moment they broke apart. They kept staring at each other silently, none of them able to talk for a while. At last Laura spoke almost in a whisper.

"I--I can't think clearly whenever you kiss me like that."

"Then don't do it. Think, I mean." He smiled at her seductively, reaching out for her again. His right hand was going up and down Laura's back, and he was aware of how his caresses moved her. Steele grabbed her by the waist with his left arm, and pulled her as close to him as possible. He began planting soft kisses first in her neck, then in her cheek, until he finally captured her lips in his, testing her response. When he found no reluctance he seized the occasion and deepened the kiss, while his right hand was still wandering through Laura's back. He was ready to pull back at Laura's slightest hint that showed her not wanting to go any further, as she always did. And yet it didn't occur. She seemed pleased with his advancements. There was no hesitation in her voice when she pulled back just a second and said breathlessly. "I don't think I could resist you tonight."

"Why should you?" Was Steele's matter-of-fact answer, smiling that melting smile of his, which he knew was his best asset. He pulled her to the floor, gently positioned himself above her, and as he slowly began unbuttoning her blouse, he proceeded to resume the kiss...

*************************

The following morning Steele awoke with a feeling of contentment all over his body. Even in his wildest dreams, he had never imagined the feeling of complete bliss he had experienced after finally making love with Laura. It had been wonderful: Laura had a passionate nature hidden in her, and had stirred in him emotions he didn't know existed. It wasn't as if he hadn't had sex before, but it was certainly the first time he had made love. *Love*! This word wasn't precisely part of his usual vocabulary, yet it sounded so strangely familiar and natural now.

He changed position to take her into his arms, but his hand got in contact with just air in its way to the clod and empty fabric of the pillow. She wasn't there. That figures! She had always been such an early riser!

He got out of bed, found his robe on a chair nearby and put it on. He headed for the door and entered the living room. It was then when he saw her. She was standing in the balcony, looking out with a distracted air. Steele approached her from behind and put an arm around her. "Morning, love."

She jumped at the sound of his voice--or was it because he had called her 'love'?--and turned her head to face him, smiling faintly. "Good morning, sleepyhead. Good you have decided to make an appearance at last, because I was just tempted to prepare breakfast myself."

"You? In the kitchen?" Steele grimaced mockingly. "I'd rather have a different kind of breakfast," he added seductively, lowering his head to kiss her. As he pulled back a while later, he could feel that something was different: she was withdrawing again, the way she always had in the past four years. However, he pretended not to notice it and said instead. "I think I'm going to take a shower."

*************************

Several weeks had elapsed, and Laura hadn't changed her attitude. Yes, they were dating in a steadier basis, and having their share of intimacy, but Laura couldn't fool him. There was something she was concealing and masking it as a light-heartedness she obviously didn't feel.

It was time for a change in strategy: so much for the subtle former one! After all, he thought to himself recalling one of his mottos, nothing in life is worth doing unless it can be accomplished by a shortcut.

It was a Friday evening and Steele had everything set for a prefect romantic candlelit dinner for two at his apartment. He adjusted his tie in front of the mirror, smiled his approval at his reflection and said aloud. "Well, old boy, you're really going to do it, don't you?" He took a deep breath and headed for the kitchen.

He was just finishing dinner--canard au vin rouge--when the doorbell rang. He had never seen her that astonishingly beautiful. She was wearing a sleeveless satin black dress down to the ankle that fitted her perfectly. Her hair was up in a stylish hairdo, and her light make-up enlightened her lovely features.

After dinner, Steele poured two glasses of champagne, put some soft music on the stereo, and joined Laura on the sofa. They sat quietly for a while, Laura's head resting on Steele's shoulder. He was the one to break that peaceful moment.

"Laura, um--we need to talk." Steele didn't know how to put it. But no matter how, he was going to do it *alright*! Just the slightest possibility of a future together with this woman was absolutely worth the try. "What's exactly going on between us? I think both of us need to know where we go from here."

She looked puzzled. "What do you mean? I thought we were doing right."

"So you really think so?" He turned her head to face him. "Laura," he asked gently. "Who are you trying to kid, eh? Me... or yourself?"

She averted his eyes, seeming restless. "I don't think I quite follow you."

Steele smiled wryly. "Don't you? OK, I'll put it more directly. Why are you acting so strange lately? Is it you're trying to avoid me?"

The only answer he got was an an uncomfortable silence, so he spoke again.

"You still don't trust me, do you?" He broke off a second, trying to recollect his thoughts. Then he added. "Do you remember our conversation in that, um... What was his name?--Freidlich Spa."

By now, Laura was becoming distressed. "Look, I--I thought we had already sorted that out. I apologized to you, I--"

"Laura--" He tried to stop her tirade.

"I didn't mean what I told you. I was just angry, and it wasn't my intention to hurt you--"

"Laura," he tried a second time. "I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about our conversation on the beach. When I told you that from then on I was going to tech you to trust people by what they do and not by what they sat." As he spoke he slowly got up from the coach and moved towards the fireplace. "But I failed miserably, I'm afraid. I see it with a new perspective now." He stopped talking, not wanting to give too much away. "It wasn't time yet."

After a moment of hesitation, he added. "I know what's bothering you. These last weeks you've tried hard to behave as if you *did* think that everything was going well between us. Hell! I was ready to believe it myself that you had accepted our relationship the way it is, and was acting spontaneously for once in your life! But then I realized that you were acting in such a way to protect yourself. You can't afford to feel too much because, of course, no matter how many times I tell you differently, you're convinced that I'm going to run away from you eventually, tearing your heart apart." He hoped he had sounded upset enough, although he knew there was something deeper than that in her behavior. He wasn't pleased at all with what he was doing, stirring her conscience in such a way, but he was determined to put aside all her doubts and fears once and for all.

She got up slowly from the sofa and headed for the window. She kept silent for a while until she sighed and spoke softly, still looking at the cityscape. There was a hint of sorrow in her voice. "You're right. I haven't been totally honest these last weeks. I... I don't know, I want to trust you, but--" She smiled sadly. "Old habits die hard, I suppose." Laura broke off a moment and then she resumed her speech. "There's something in which you're wrong, however." Her voice had turned into an almost inaudible whisper. "It's not that I don't want to fall too much for you--I have no control over my feelings any longer--, it's that I was fearing I could scare you if I showed you how much I--" She stopped suddenly.

Steele walked towards her. He reached out for her head and tilted it gently with his finger to force Laura look at him directly in the eye. "How much you, what?"

She lowered her gaze. "I... I love you."

Steele tried to suppress the joyful smile her heartfelt confession had caused in him.

"Look," she went on. "I don't want for you to feel constrained, or trapped. You don't have to behave against your will. you don't owe me anything, after all. It's just the way I feel, and I can't change it."

He looked at her adoringly. How beautiful she was when she was being her stubborn-foolish self. "You haven't heard a word I told you, have you?" He answered cryptically. The inquiring gaze she shot him was all the leverage he needed to go on. "I've tried my best to gat as close to you as possible, but you wouldn't let me in. I suppose a more direct approach is in order now."

He took a small velvet box out of his pocket and put it on Laura's hand. She watched it without opening the lid. "What... What is this?"

Steele deliberately refused to answer her question. In spite of it, he grabbed her by the waist to pull her closer to him, her face just inches from his. His smile broadened. At last he spoke in a genuine tone. "How captivatingly silly you can be at times! Haven't you figured it out yet that I love you, Laura? I'd be insane not to, because you're by far the most wonderful thing that's ever happened to me. Do you say I don't owe you anything? That's not true. You've taught me that sometimes it's worth-like to stay and fight instead of running away; you've taught me that there are people who really care; and most important of all, you've taught me what love is all about." He grinned. "You're the perfect Professor Higgins for my Eliza Doolitle, and I love you for that."

Laura looked as if she didn't believe her ears, and sounded relaxed for the first time that evening: then she remarked with a wry smile. "Pygmalion, isn't it?"

"Or My Fair Lady, for those who prefer the musical version." He added self-confidently, adding some more teasing to the situation.

Laura turned serious again and nodded, staring at him fixedly. "Do you--do you really mean what you've just told me?"

Steele nodded his response. "Every word. I *do* love you." He stared at her with all the love he felt. "Um, aren't you going to open the box?" She did as told, and inside the velvet container there was a shining diamond ring. She gasped and held her breath at the brightness of the stone, and searched Steele's face, not daring to believe her eyes.

"Marry me." He told her sharply.

Laura gazed at him for a while, her eyes full of unshed tears, and finally answered with resolution. "Yes, I'll marry you, Mr. Steele--" Laura could hardly finish her statement before Steele pulled her closer for a long kiss.

THE END

MPR, May 2001 (revised June 2002).