“I’ll come back and see you soon, Theo,” he promised. He could see the sadness of loss in her eyes again and it pained him for her. She had no one now, and was so alone. But it was the reality of their lives. She lived and worked in Paris, and he had a job in New York. Neither of them could give up their careers at this point, and they didn’t want to. They would have to find a way to make it work, living in two cities three thousand miles apart. Others did it, and they could too. But he hated to leave her when he kissed her goodbye. What if she came to her senses after he left and never wanted to see him again? He didn’t even dare voice the thought to her, for fear it might come true.

“You won’t forget me?” she asked as he kissed her in the doorway, and he laughed.

“I was just thinking the same thing. And no, I won’t forget you. I’ve never even seen a movie this good. I’ll need two weeks to recover from my three days in Paris, but it was worth every minute of it.” He kissed her again with his arms around her, and didn’t want to leave.

“If you miss your flight, come back,” she said hopefully, and he smiled and gave her one last kiss. The magic was still there. It had only gotten better after the discoveries they’d made and the secrets they’d shared. He had to stop at the embassy on his way out of town to return the gun he’d borrowed. He had removed the bullets first, and they would give it all back to the CIA duty officer later in the morning when he came in.

She waved as he walked down the stairs, and then gently closed the door and rushed to the window to wave to him again. He waved back and got into the car. She was sending him to the airport in a car driven by one of her guards, although Mike insisted she didn’t have to, but he finally gave in.

She watched the car pull away and climbed back into the bed she had shared with him for two days and two whole nights. A page had turned, another chapter in her life had begun. She had no idea where it would lead them, but she hoped to a better place than she’d been for over a year, after the worst moments of her life. But Mike was here now, a different person, a different life. It all seemed unreal once he was gone, and she fell asleep. She found a note from him on her bathroom mirror when she woke up again.