LONDON CALLING

"I'd better send for Francois for supper so he knows we won't need him any more tonight after that," Angus told her. He got up and went into the bungalow and found a notebook with the menus of the area restaurants but right in the front there was the menu of the little hotel's own kitchen, boasting a five star, award winning chef.

He looked through the menu and hoped he chose well for them. He was anxious about choosing for Ruby because he was quickly learning that, compared to his own tastes, hers could be considerably more narrow at times. He called Francois, and after a conversation with him, Angus ordered supper. French suppers were affairs with multiple courses, so he had several choices to make. He ordered Ruby an aperitif that was made with beer, and he ordered himself a Kir Royale. Then he ordered crisp fresh salads as an appetizer. For the main course he ordered them a Navarin for two--the braised lamb shank stew. For the accompaniment to the stew he ordered baked brie with toasted baguette crostinis, and a tarte tatin for dessert, finishing with a cognac for himself, and, since she did not appear to care for much of any sort of liquor, he ordered for her a type of a non alcoholic digestif that was an Indian tea made with a number of different warm and comforting spices.

Angus asked about sleeping outside in the chaise, and Francois said that was incredibly popular, as was dining outside under the stars. That sounded fine with Angus, and Francois reassured Angus, saying Angus could leave everything to him. He suggested they take their aperitifs through the back garden gate and down to the beach, and then, when they returned, he would have dinner set out and the chaise ready for them for whenever they wanted.

As he was seeing Francois out, he happened to glance across the pool area and saw Edward and Simone dressed to go out. Edward was wearing a very sharp looking suit, and she was wearing a beautiful midi length dress and a color coordinated cardigan that was the same length as her dress. Angus had noticed because Simone's look was so very fetching. He also noticed how ecstatically happy they both looked. He presumed Edward was taking her to a very upscale restaurant for dinner. Asking Ruby out for dinner was something that he hadn't even considered here simply because he hadn't had even the slightest thought of wanting to bring the outside world into theirs right now. In fact, he had wanted to shut that away as much as possible. Once Francois was on his way, Angus laid out a cardigan for each of them across the back of the sofa in the bungalow, and then he went back outside.

"Edward is taking Simone out for dinner," he told her. "They were certainly dressed up for an upscale evening out. I have to admit that it didn't even enter my head that we could have gone out. But by then, I had already ordered supper for us. If you'd rather go out tomorrow, we could do that.

"Anyway, supper here is a multi-course affair, and it starts with an aperitif. I ordered one for you that's made with a locally brewed beer, and mine is a Kir Royale--its a mixed drink with champagne and crème de cassis, which is a black current liqueur. It's fairly sweet, so you might like it, but i thought you'd like the beer based aperitif better. You're welcome to taste mine if you like.

"Anyway, Francois suggested we take a short walk on the beach while he sets out dinner for us, and that sounded fine to me. At this time of night, it could be breezy on the beach, so you might want maybe something that isn't as thin. You'll find everyone here wears a cardigan at this time of night for that very reason. French women will wear a sundress during the day and take a cardigan with them to put on over their sundress as the sun goes down. I laid out a cardigan for each one of us before I came back out.

Ruby looked at Angus as he got up and headed inside to order supper. she didn't mind what he ordered as she loved to try new foods. Walking in she heard him talking to francois she smiled loving how Angus thought of her too. she looked out the door and saw Simone and Edward together " they make a nice looking couple." she said softly then chuckled " Angus, these days are for us to relax and just go with the flow I don't care if we eat on a blanket of a fancy restaraunt, as long as we're together." She smiled and took his hand in her own.

She heard him talk of what he'd ordered and chuckled " Angus it all sounds delishious and maybe I will." she said with a smile then he spoke of the beach and taking a walk before supper. She thought about it and nodded "Thank you Angus that was very thoughtful and a walk on the beach sounds very romantic." She just wanted him to know she was allright with even a simple meal or beak together as long as he was in her life she was happy.

"I guess," he said, "that I was only thinking that we're surrounded by other people all the time, and sometimes it is so hard to get get some time just for us, when some sort of crisis isn't happening. I wanted all that to just stop, to just freaking stop for a little."

He sighed heavily, and then he noticed he really smelled like he'd been outside all day. "Sometimes, it's just really busy, you know? And you know something else? I smell like stinky, sweaty suntan lotion. I'm going to go show off really quickly. Give me just a minute or two. I'll be straight back."

He kissed her forehead and then went into the bedroom and got out a pair of cotton shorts and a loosely woven linen shirt, and as he was getting out his clothes, he had noticed that his hands had started to shake. He had been fine until he had thought about how their lives had been simply leapfrogging from one crisis to another, and how much he really had had enough. Then the shaking had started. He noticed too that Francois had tucked the med kit into the drawer with his clothes, so he took advantage of a moment by himself to take a dose. It was unmeasured, and he just took a swig, recapped the bottled, and tucked it back in the drawer. Then he moved straight on into the shower. partly to wash off the stench, and partly to be able to take just a moment alone to regroup. He had been fine when he and Ruby had been just relaxing and taking advantage of the change of scenery. It all shifted when he had started thinking about his parents' deaths. His brain was all poised to go racing down a negative rabbit trail about how much he wasn't going to be worth anything until he could get this all under control when there was a knock on the bungalow door. Francois, he was sure.

"I've got it," he called to Ru, purposely using the interruption to redirect his thinking. He left the bathroom, his shirt not buttoned yet, and opened the door, seeing Francois there with an unusual shaped food service cart. It was a bit longer and a bit taller--more the size of a food island cart. This one was pricey, carved out of rosewood, and it had a large clear rectangular plexiglass cover instead of cloches that looked like it didn't really come off the cart, but rather, it slid back out of the way. It was very smart looking. And the bottom section of the cart had wooden doors that were hinged, to keep everything neat and tidy.

"Where would you like your drinks served, Mr. Donohue?" Francois asked.

"I think you could just hand them to us because I think we're going to take your recommendation and go for that walk on the beach."

"Very good, Sir," Francois nodded. "When you leave the back gate, you'll find that there are two trails--one that goes straight and another that starts off to your right. Take the straight trail. It's a prettier trail. It curves to your left, and it is far less steep, especially as it starts to get dark. Much safer. If you take the trail down to the beach, keep going to your left. You'll see there's large flat rock part way down the beach. I wouldn't go farther than that after dark because the tide can come in rather unexpectedly down. It's a good point in your walk to turn around and walk back the way you came. And that should be just enough time for me to set your supper out and prepare the garden for you. What would you like me to leave you to drink after supper?"

"Perhaps just a pot of some sort of herbal tea," Angus suggested.

"Certainly, Sir," he replied. "And if there is anything else you need, please don't hesitate to ring."

"Thank you," Angus told him. He picked up their cardigans and handed Ruby's to her, and he slipped on his own, pushing up the sleeves. Then he took the drinks from Francoise. "Shall we?" he asked, handing Ruby's drink to her.

Ruby watched as he left to shower and change she sat and looked out over the pool when he heard the door she stood up to awnser it but heard him again. Walking in she smiled as he handed her the cardigan and slipped it on " thank you" she said then took the drink from him " I think we should." she said taking his hand in her own.

" did Franciou's give you and recomendations for walks?" she asked as they ehaded to the back gate and out towards two trails. One went right and the other curved to the left.

"We go left," he told her. "He said the trail on the right is considerably steeper and not as safe after dark. He said if we continue to bear to the left, we'll come to a large flat rock on the beach. He says we should turn around there and come back because the tide can come in pretty quickly and unexpectedly from that point on, especially at night." He took a sip of his Kir Royale. Francois had been considerate enough to serve the drink in a wine tumbler rather than a champagne flute. It was much more practical for a walk on the beach.

"The cardigan actually feels pretty good now," he remarked, the sea breeze feeling a bit more damp and chilly down on the beach as opposed to the short walk up to the bungalow. "Edward did pick a truly beautiful place for us all, didn't he? The thing is, there are lots of beautiful places in the world. What if we...what if I didn't want to go back quite so soon? What if I didn't want to step right back into chasing Gelding and James?

"It isn't like I don't have vacation time coming, and I'm not entirely skint. We could travel maybe. Maybe spend a couple days here, a couple days there. Maybe go spend a couple days in the rainforest or in Arizona or something. Something that looks its worlds away from England.

"Sorry. I'm rambling, I guess. I'm not sure what I want, but I noticed something. As much as we both need alone time every so often, and I don't want to take that away from either one of us, I'm better with you than without you." He sighed, frustrated. "I sound like I'm back in middle school, don't I? Sorry. My mind is just wandering around, I guess."

Ruby walked with him down to the flat rock she nodded she agreed with the cardigan and listened to him talk. She wanted to talk but let him finish then it ws her turn " Angus, I don't see you as the type to sit around doing nothing all day, your man who likes to act, help and bring focuse to others, be it with Roberts aurors or in the kitchen, In many ways your like Edward, you care for others around you and those not, I've seen that with the missions and saving your family's children." she sat next to him on the flat rock.

" Angus I feel the same, my life would not be this happy if not for you, but do you realy think you'd be happy leaving Robert, Edward and simone along with Khaat and your best freind Brain and little Abby?" she said taking his hand in her own. " I know you wouldn't be, you'd be thoraly misrable, I and they wouldn't want you that way."

He took a moment, not replying, not because he was ignoring her, but, quite the contrary, he was really thinking about what she had said. And, he knew she was right. He had already come to a bit of a conclusion in the afternoon that, without Nigel's nerve tonic, he seriously doubted if he could simply lay in a lounge chair all afternoon and be happy with it, not under normal circumstances.

"Well," he replied. "I hate to admit it, but you're right. When I'm in my right mind, I would rather be working. For the most part, I do enjoy the work I do on the estate. I like the barn work and the little bit of gardening I get into, and, the cooking. I like all of that. I really do enjoy managing the estate. But, right now, just for now, I really don't want to do missions work. I don't want to fight. I don't want to see any more death, and I don't want to watch more people die. I really want a breather from that. What if that had been Edward or Robert or you? Its one thing if I lose people from my life who hated me anyway. It would be quite another to lose someone else. I'm not ready to lose anyone who truly matters.

"You know, Marcus said something to me after he pulled me up out of that pit. He told me that he's gone through this whole 'I'm-never-gonna-work-again' thing. And he said that he expected I would go through it after that point, and then after those nights at Edward's, he told me he really believed I would find I needed to step back a bit. I think he's right. He said if I felt like that, I should get a growler and a couple pint glasses and come find him before I made any choices."

Ruby smiled and listened to him talk again " then do it, step back from missions until your ready in here." she gently plced her hand on his temple " do what makes you happy, and yeah even if it means getting a growler and having a couple of pints with Marcus." she smiled at him. " but know this Im going no where and nether are your family and freinds, were here for you. I for one am with you till death us do part, if you'll have me." she said the last part jokingly knowing in her self she would not say no if he asked her.

" So feel a little better getting that off your chest?" she asked still smiling as she glanced up at the sky " wow you can see galexies with out the glare of the city or street lights, its beautiful." she pointed to three stars in a row " thats orions belt, right?"

"Hopefully if I ask to step back, they won't fire me from letting go of half my job duties," he said. "There are parts I really don't want to lose. And I do know you're not leaving. That, and knowing that Edward doesn't intend to go anywhere either, I'm sure of both those things. And I'm glad neither of you are going anywhere."

When she mentioned the stars, he looked up.

"Yes. That's Orion's belt. And above that is the big dipper. and to the right of Orion's belt is the little dipper. I think one of the things that still fascinates me, and has, since I was little, is seeing the Milky Way. Edward used to take me stargazing all the time in the summer, and when we were far enough away from city lights to see the milky way, I was just awestruck. Still am. You know, I do still have a bedroom at Edward's--right across the hall from the master bedroom, and I remember that, after that first time I saw the milky way, he and my grandmother bought me this incredible painting of the milky way for Christmas. It's still hanging in that room. It's still one of my very favorite things. And he put a skylight in my room so that I could lay in bed at night and just look at the stars."

Ruby smiled and nodded as he pointed out the stars to her " wow, well we could do that in our place, so that every night we can sleep under the stars and I don't think they would fire you for stepping back, I think Robert already mentioned doing that for a while before we left and he thought it was a good idea." She moved to lean against him loving how the quiet seemed right and comfotable around them, but she half expected Edward and simone to walk down the same path any moment seeing how romantic the walk had been.

She sat with him untill her tummy rummbled "oh sorry, guess its telling us its supper time." she said chukaling then stood up in front of him. with a smile she took both his hands in hers as she spoke again. " come on lets see what delishious cullinary gourmet dishes that you chose for us to eat." she smiled then kissed him deeply.