“I will, and you be sure to stay inside,” he said seriously.

“I promise.” She smiled at him. “I used to go away on weekends, especially if there were protests. But now I stay in the city.” She didn’t mention the château so he didn’t either. He was careful to avoid the painful triggers of bad memories for her. Fortunately, he knew what most of them were.

They walked a little way after dinner, and then they got in her car, and she dropped him off at his hotel.

“See you tomorrow?” she asked, smiling.

“I will, and thank you for the invitation.” He looked at her longingly, touched her cheek gently before he got out of the car, and she waved as he walked into the hotel.

She was smiling as she walked into the apartment and went to her office to answer emails, which was what she did at night, for lack of someone to talk to. She never went to bed until she was exhausted and had a better chance of sleeping. She sent Mike an email and thanked him again for dinner. He smiled when he saw it on his phone at the hotel. He had to remind himself that he had made a solemn vow to himself not to involve her in his life and the risks it entailed, but he could feel his resolve melting. All he had to do was see her, and he wanted to protect her, even from himself.

—

She went to bed late, as she always did, and woke in the morning when she heard the crowds start to gather under her windows. She peeked out and saw hundreds of protestors in the street and riot police standing by, biding their time, until they stepped in and began sending tear gas into the crowd.

She called Mike on his cellphone.

“Be careful when you come over,” she warned him. “It’s starting to look a little rough here, and they have the tear gas tanks set up on my street.”

“It’s not looking great here either,” he said, glancing out the window at people milling around, many of them looked like students. The crowd seemed restless and angry, shouting slogans and kicking cars. “Thank God they don’t use guns here, or they’d all be killing each other,” Mike commented.

“It can get pretty nasty. There will be a lot of injuries and arrests if it gets bad,” Theo added.

“I’ll come over soon. Jeans okay?” he inquired. It seemed smarter not to attract attention under the circumstances.

“Of course, you can come in pajamas.”

“Best offer I’ve had so far today,” he said, and didn’t tell her he didn’t own any. He slept in the buff, but he wouldn’t have said it to her.