SECRET AGENT DAWSON
Chapter Twenty-Two

When they touched down in Berlin, Germany, everyone scattered to the hotel Steigenberger.

Jack, Rose, Jen, and Tommy stayed in a room together. Paola, Christian, Tobey, and Bill were the only ones to stay alone. They all settled in. They were all tired from jet lag. Paola, unable to sleep, got up and went for a walk. She met Christian in the hallway.

"Hello, Paola." Christian was happy to see her.

"Hello, Christian." Paola wondered why he was so happy.

"You going somewhere?" he asked.

"Not really. I can't sleep." Paola had been this way for quite some time.

"You miss him, don't you?" Christian knew about her feelings for Jack.

"Who?" Paola had no idea what he was talking about.

"Jack. He was your partner, and you are in love with him." Christian knew she was in love with Jack. He just had to show her that she was and not deny her feelings.

"No, I am not. He's just my friend." Paola was angry. Was she that transparent?

"I see it in your eyes, Paola. Stop lying to yourself." Christian made her face her lies.

"Okay. I miss him. So what? It doesn't mean I am in love with him." Paola sneered at him.

"Yeah, right, Paola. We all know about you and Jack. Are you the only one who doesn't know?" By the way she was reacting, she was totally clueless, Christian thought to himself.

"Know what?" Paola was getting lost.

"Jack loves you, but like a sister, not a girlfriend." Christian hated to tell her the plain truth.

"Okay, Christian. You made your point. I understand completely. It just hurts sometimes. I did love him, once upon a time," she said, allowing him to know only so much.

"And you still do. That's your problem. You guys hung out so much. You should have been together." In all, Christian just wanted her to be happy.

"Do you have a point, Christian?" she asked him.

"Yes, Paola. Move on. The guy is married, for crying out loud." He hated to tell her this, too, but he had to. He loved her.

"Look, Christian, don't put your hang-ups on me." She turned away from him. She was very angry.

"What hang-ups?" he asked, touching her shoulder.

"I don't know. Whatever you do and who you are with is none of my business, so stay out of mine," she told him coldly.

"Cool it, Paola. I am just trying to be your friend." He was angry with himself for making her feel this way.

"Okay. I am sorry, Christian." She hugged him.

He loved her so much he figured he might as well come clean and tell her how he felt.

"Paola, honey, I am the one who is in love with you." He was ready for rejection, but what he expected was an answer, not a question.

"You are?" Paola was surprised.

"Yes. I always have been. I haven't had a girlfriend since I started this job." He confessed his undying love for her.

"Wow. Neither have I." Paola looked at him in a new light. She kissed him, and he kissed her back.

They ended up walking together to the conference room they had requested for the next day. They just had to check it out.

*****

They went in. It was quiet. The interior design was beautiful, an excellent setting, and not too boring like the one at the agency.

Paola held Christian’s hand. There was a piano inside.

"Know how to play?" he asked her.

"Not really," Paola said.

Christian sat down and started to play. He was multi-talented. Not only was he a computer hacker slash code breaker, he knew how to play the piano, dabbled in drawing, and a few other things no one knew about him. He was quiet and always kept to himself. Times were about to change for Christian. Yes, indeed.

Paola loved the music he played. She found herself listening to the music and thinking thoughts of Jack.

Christian wondered if he would ever have a chance to get with Paola, but he knew he couldn’t do that until she got over him.

*****

Jack and Rose lay together in bed. He was asleep and she was unable to even think of sleep. She tried to go to sleep, but found herself staring at the ceiling, so she got up and turned on the TV.

It had been so long since she had watched it. German television was quite an experience for Rose. So was the country. She had never been to Berlin before, so she was quite new to it. Jack hadn’t said a word when they got there. He had just fallen asleep. They were drifting apart, and she could feel it. Had losing Chloe Sullivan changed him entirely? Was that why he didn’t want to start a family and settle down? Did he love someone else? All these questions ran through Rose’s mind.

She was a wreck. She had never in her life dealt with any of these problems. Sometimes, she wondered if she should quit the agency and just be a stay at home wife. She knew that would be boring and she didn’t want to do that. She felt very frustrated. She looked at the hotel menu and ordered herself something to eat.

She called and ordered a simple meal, a ham and cheese sandwich with chips and a soda.

It didn’t take long for room service to bring up her meal. They had also brought her a complimentary German dessert. A German chocolate cake slice. She ate like a pig, but she didn’t care.

She finally found a program worth watching on TV, her favorite show, Friends. She liked the way Joey would say "How are you doing?" She laughed every time at all his sexual innuendos.

When she finished eating she relaxed, kicked back, and found something else to watch as her show had finished.

*****

Tobey called Lisa. He sat in his room thinking about her, and he was worried.

The phone rang.

"Hello. This is Lisa," she said.

"Hi, Lisa. It’s me, Tobey." Tobey was nervous.

"Hi, Tobey. What’s up?" Lisa sounded cheerful.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing." Tobey lay on his bed, thinking about the time they were together.

"I am doing fine. The baby is okay, if that’s what you wanted to know." She knew he didn’t care for her, but then, why would he call just for the baby? Yeah, there was no way he was in love with her, Lisa thought to herself.

"I am just worried, Lisa. After all the times we worked together, when you came to me that night, it wasn’t right that I took advantage of you like I did," he tried to apologize.

"Don’t worry about it. I am fine. I am a grown woman and I knew what I was doing," Lisa told him.

"You really think so, Lisa? Because I don’t I believe it. You were so distraught that you just wanted comforting, and I took advantage of that." Tobey made himself to be the bad guy.

"Like I said, what’s done is done," Lisa said coldly.

"I think I should tell Bill about it." Tobey felt awfully guilty.

"No. Don’t. I want to tell him. Please don’t tell him." Lisa pleaded with him not to tell Bill.

"All right, Lisa, but just so you know, it wasn’t cheap. I respect you." He tried to tell her things, but they just wouldn’t come out as clearly as he wanted.

"I understand, and yes, I agree. It wasn’t cheap sex. It was wonderful and beautiful." Lisa understood what he was trying to say.

"I love you, Lisa. I really do." He confessed his feelings and wanted to own up to his responsibilities.

Lisa blushed behind the telephone and smiled. Had she fallen in love with Tobey? She really didn’t know.

What about Bill? What would happen to him? Would everything be the same in the end? She doubted it. Maybe their marriage had been a mistake. Maybe all she ever wanted was in Tobey and not in Bill. Lisa was at a total loss in confusion.

"Well, I will call again. I just wanted to check up on you," Tobey said, feeling better about the situation.

"All right. Thanks, Tobey." She felt good that he had actually called and cared.

"Not a problem, love." He hung up.

*****

Someone knocked on his door.

Tobey could swear Bill was concerned about him and his wife.

"Hey, Tobey. I came to see if you wanted to go out. You know, just hang." Bill waited as Tobey got his mind together.

"Sure, Bill. Just let me get my key." He found it on the nightstand.

They walked out the door and Tobey immediately knew something was about to change between him and Bill. He could just tell.

"So, Tobey, anything new on the home front?" Bill asked.

"No. Not really. Why?" Tobey acted innocent.

If only he knew the truth, Tobey thought to himself.

"Just asking. You’ve been preoccupied with something. What is it?" Bill could tell his friend was in trouble.

"Aw…it’s nothing. Anyway, if I told you, I would break a friend’s confidence." Tobey had promised Lisa he wouldn’t tell, so he didn’t.

"Really? Who?" Bill was curious.

"Just some girl." Tobey only mentioned a girl. He was not about to tell him it was his wife.

"Girlfriend?" Bill was very curious this time.

"I wish. She’s with some guy and I never thought we would get together. Things changed," Tobey said, revealing more and more of his feelings toward Lisa. "Yeah. Anyway, so how are you and Lisa?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.

"We are fine. I know we have been drifting apart since we lost the baby." Bill felt terrible about it.

"What happened? I never really knew about how that came about." Tobey was interested.

"To make a long story short, she started painting the baby’s room, and she knew she wasn’t suppose to until I got there. Anyway, I had to work late that night, and she did it herself." Bill regretted it, not being there when he should have.

"Aw…man. So, what happened after that?" Tobey wondered if Lisa would do the same thing.

"Nothing. She was fine. Then, later that night, she started bleeding. And she lost the baby," Bill said sadly.

"Sorry to hear, man. Which reminds me…sorry, but I got to make a phone call. See, my girl--I knocked her up and I am so worried about her," he told him.

"You going to marry her and make her an honest woman?" Bill asked.

"I wish, but she is already married. It’s up to her if she wants me more involved than I already am," Tobey answered him.

"Wow, man. First you’re single, then you’re a father. How things change. What makes you think it’s yours? What if it’s the other guy’s?" Bill asked him.

"She told me it’s mine, that she hasn’t been with her husband at all," he told him--and if only he knew it was him.

"Well, for your protection, I hope it works out," Bill said.

"Thanks. See you later, Bill." He left to make his phone call.

*****

When Tobey got to his room, he made the call to Lisa again. She picked up quickly.

"Hey, honey. I just wanted to tell you--don’t do anything too stressful, all right? I mean it, Lisa. I wanna see our baby live," he told her.

"Don’t worry, Tobey. I am fine. I am not doing anything but watching TV," she told him to ease his mind.

"All right. I just wanted to tell you that." He felt relieved.

"Okay, Tobey. Love ya," she said, meaning it.

"I look forward to seeing you soon," he told her.

"Me, too. Just get those codes for me," she told him.

"Okay. I will, darling. See ya." He hung up and just lay on his bed, thinking of Lisa.

*****

Meanwhile, Rose lay there, drifting off to sleep. She had not wanted to, but it finally claimed her. She cuddled up next to Jack and immediately drifted off to a dream world. She had a dream that she and Jack had broken up and that he felt so depressed that he went after George and died. Was this a premonition of tragedy to lie ahead? Only time would tell.

Chapter Twenty-Three
Stories