Chapter 2

…

M looked around the restaurant when she arrived to see the waiters rushing around; she glanced over at the corner table to see Gareth Mallory waiting patiently for her.

"Can I help you ma'am?"

M looked back to see a young man dressed in his apron and tie smiling at her.

"Oh yes, Olivia Mansfield…I booked a table for today."

"Ah yes, you guest hasn't long arrived, this way."

She smiled before following him over to the table to see Mallory smiling at her as he stood up and pulled out her chair for her.

"Thank you Mallory…sorry I'm late."

"No need to apologize, I haven't been here long myself."

"Can I get you something to drink Ma'am?"

"Oh yes, I'll have a white wine please."

"Sir?"

"Another Scotch please…thank you."

The waiter took down their order before rushing off to the kitchen; M looked up offering a small smile to Mallory who finished off the remains of his last drink.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet me today, I know you must be busy."

"Not at all M, nothing wrong is there?"

"Of course not, I just wanted to invite you to lunch as a way of a thank you."

"A thank you…for what?"

"Saving my life, I never did properly thank you."

"Well, you've been somewhat busy since you got back…it's perfectly fine."

"Well…thank you anyway. So, are you looking forward to taking over the running of MI6?"

"It will certainly be a challenge."

"Of course…you'll have James to deal with." She joked.

"Quite."

M noticed the way Mallory avoided her gaze and suddenly went very quiet."

"Is everything alright Mallory?"

"Gareth please….and yes, I'm fine…shall we order."

…

James made his way through the hallways of MI6 and arrived at M's office, going straight past Eve, ready to enter M's office.

"She's not in."

"Where the hell is she?"

"Well with that attitude I shouldn't tell you."

"I'm sorry Eve, sorry. I didn't sleep well last night."

"What's on your mind?"

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing when you can't sleep, what did M do?"

"Nothing, she did nothing."

"I know she told you about her retirement…try to understand her decision please James."

"I am, really I am…I won't deny I was a little surprised but I can understand her wanting to spend more time with her family."

"Then what's on your mind."

"I'm tired; tell her I'll see her later when she comes back."

"I'm always hear to listen you know, we are friends after all."

James turned back as he got ready to leave and gave her a smile.

"I know you are Eve and perhaps one day I'll tell you, see you later."

…

M and Gareth ate in silence for the first 15 minutes of their meal, M savouring her salmon; she took a sip of her wine before pushing her empty plate away and resting her arms on the table, her eyes boring on to Mallory.

"James came to see you last night?"

Mallory looked up to see him watching him closely; M's words more of a statement than a question.

"He did, he told you?"

"We had a conversation late yesterday, look I know it was probably a shock, James telling you about his feeling he has for you but…"

"M please…it can't happen."

"Why can't it."

"You know why, soon I'll be his boss…we can't have a relationship…there are rules."

"Oh please, rules are made to be broken. You always thought there was something between James and I, now obviously there never was but if I had been remotely interested in him do you really think I'd have let some rules get in the way of that."

"It's not just that."

"What then?"

"I can't believe I'm talking about this with you."

"Well you are…so out with it."

"He has a reputation M."

"That is part of his job and you know it, don't use that as an excuse."

"Has he ever had a relationship outside of his job, I mean a real relationship?"

"I don't think he has if I'm being honest, I don't think Vesper really counted, she betrayed him."

"M I…"

"Look, I know James has left a string of women behind him but as I said, he was doing a job. They never existed to him outside of MI6; he never took them home with him. James doesn't allow his feelings to affect him very often."

M got up from her seat and dragged it closer so she was next to Mallory, and leaned in.

"James feelings that he has for you, it's not some joke he's playing on you. They're real; real enough for him to open up and talk to me about them which I have to say couldn't have been easy for him."

"Why me?"

"Well why not you for god sake, you saved the life of a woman he holds dear to him, you took a bullet for me and believe it not, seeing you hurt like that scared him. He hates hospitals and yet he stayed there 24/7 when I was there and he stayed with you until you were out of surgery and visited you every evening."

"He stayed until I was out of surgery, he never said."

"Well that's James, he's modest…never thought I'd hear myself say that but there you go."

"M I've only ever been with one man and that was many years ago, before I married…I don't know if I can do this."

M reached over and took hold of his hand and smiled genuinely towards him.

"Gareth, all relationships are hard in the beginning…you have to work at them, well you said it yourself, you were married…you know what it takes. If James means anything to you, don't you owe it to him and to yourself to at least give a try?"

"Do you have his address?"

"I'll drive you, come on."

…

M pulled up outside James apartment, looking over at Mallory who looked towards the blue door and back to M.

"Go on, courage…you can do this."

"What if he doesn't want to see me?"

"I'm sure you can persuade him."

"He has a license to kill, he could kill me and no one would know."

"James will not kill you and besides, you're quite handy with a gun yourself, you're his equal…I think its high time James met his match."

"Why are you helping me M?"

"We're going to be working together and the one thing I don't need is you two moping around like love sick puppies, now will you go and call me later, let me know how it went."

Mallory got out of the car and waited for M to drive away before turning towards the door and walking up the steps and gave a few knocks on the door. James looked up from his curry and set his beer down when he heard the front door and made his way towards the door. He tried to remain neutral when he saw Mallory standing on the other side, a shaky smile on his face.

"Sir."

"James, can I come in?"

"Sure."

James stepped aside and waited for Mallory to enter, the pair stood by the door, Mallory looking over at the curry on the table.

"I'm interrupting your lunch."

"It's okay, it wasn't that good anyway, why are you here…I thought you'd made yourself perfectly clear last night."

"Yes well, I've had some time to think."

Come and take and seat, I'll get you a drink."

"No wait." Mallory grabbed James arm firmly, stopping him in his tracks, James tuned to face the older man to see how preoccupied he was.

"I need to say this now; I shouldn't have pushed you away last night I…"

"It's okay, I shocked you, I shock myself sometimes. I didn't understand my feelings for you until they were pointed out to me and clearly they were wrong."

"M I take it."

"How did you know?"

"I just had lunch with her; we had a very good talk…about you…and me."

"Mallory what are you…"

James was cut off when Mallory moved forward, his hands coming up to cup James face as he leaned in and kissed him. James arms sneaked around the older mans waist as they fell back, Mallory hitting his head against the wall.

"Oh god…are you okay?"

"James asked, concern on his face as his hand came up the back of Mallory's head.

"Never better…where's the bedroom?"

"Are you sure about this?"

"James…bedroom."

James took his hand and led him through to his room, the bedroom was very minimal, a simple double bed and a bedside cabinet and wardrobe, as Mallory looked around, and the only other items in the room were a chair and cd player. James let go of his hand and moved over to the cd player and put on some soft music before turning back to Mallory who looked more than a little nervous.

"Don't be nervous…it's new for both of us."

James leaned in, kissing him as he removed Mallory's jacked and began unbuttoning the man's tailored shirt as he applied soft kisses to his neck, Mallory let his eyes close as he felt James lips on his neck, moving to give him better access.

"If you keep on like this it'll be over before it's begun." Mallory stated.

"Nonsense."

Mallory looked into James eyes as he helped the younger man out of his clothes before James backed Mallory down on to the bed, Mallory watched him as James hovered over him before leaning down to kiss him.

"We'll take this as slow as you want, no rush."

"James, shut up and get in to bed."

James smiled before following Mallory under the covers.

…

M was seated behind her desk the next morning when Eve walked in with her morning coffee.

"So it's late Ma'am."

"Not to worry Eve."

M's phone buzzed, taking off her glasses she opened the text she received and smiled to herself, Eve watching her closely.

"Good news Ma'am?"

"You could say that, thank you for the coffee Eve, remember we have a meeting with the PM at noon."

"Of course M, I'll have the paperwork ready."

Eve smiled before leaving the office as M returned her attention to the text message from Gareth Mallory, simply saying Thank You.

…

James moved in Mallory's arms as the older man set his phone on the bedside table.

"Who are you texting?"

"Oh nobody, just thanking a good friend."

"What for?"

"For you…for us."

James smiled up at him before covering his lips with his own as they laid back down, shutting out the rest of the world.

…

-Fin