He took a walk after that, and then went back to his hotel. He noticed on the way that there were police barricades being set up in various locations, a water cannon truck for crowd control, and two tanks with tear gas cannons, and he wondered if Guy was right and the demonstrations would get rough the next day, or if they were just being cautious. There were trucks marked “CRS,” which he knew were riot police. But he was more excited about seeing Theo again that night. It had only been a few days since they left each other outside the diner. He was glad he’d made the trip, even if he only got to see her once. He was smiling, thinking about it as he walked into his hotel, with riot police parked out front.

Chapter 7

The cab driver had no trouble finding her address, and he could see why when he got there. It was a large, imposing elegant building more than a hundred years old, and he was pleased to see armed security outside when he walked in. He rang the intercom for her apartment, and was buzzed in. The security guard outside her front door nodded and Mike smiled at him. Theo opened the front door herself, and was wearing gray slacks and a blue sweater the color of her eyes. She smiled broadly and looked pleased to see him.

“What a nice surprise to see you here,” she said warmly, and he followed her into the impressive front hall. She led him straight to her office instead of the living room, as though they were old friends. One of the bodyguards appeared and she asked Mike what he’d like to drink. He would have been happy with a scotch and water, but decided it was the wrong way to start the evening.

“What are you having?” he asked her.

“What about champagne to celebrate your trip to Paris?” That seemed the right tone, so he agreed, and she asked the bodyguard to bring it. He disappeared as she waved Mike to the big leather chairs in her office. He felt instantly at ease, although he’d been nervous on the drive from his hotel. He had wondered if she would be as easy to be with and as low-key as she had been at dinner in New York, and he could see that she was. She didn’t have that frightened look she’d had at the opening party in New York. And despite the grand surroundings of her apartment, she seemed casual and relaxed with him. There was nothing snobbish or pretentious about her, which he admired. She was a very modest person, though she could easily have been otherwise with her wealth and success.