Diplomacy

Jack asked a little hesitantly and not quite at ease.

    14 | Z a h r a O w e n s

    Lucas jumped up. “Why don’t I get us something? Tea, coffee, water?”
    “Lucas, sit down, you’re my guest here, Mrs. Claessens will get us something.”
    The young man turned around. “What’s her first name?”
    “Who?”
    “Your secretary,” Lucas answered, stating the obvious.
    “Oh, ehm…Gurdy or something. Something I can’t quite pronounce, it seems.” Jack watched the young man chuckle and walk out the door like he owned the place. As he looked down at his papers again he realized he couldn’t focus. He decided that working with this bubbly Englishman was going to prove more difficult than he thought, because looking at him sitting across from his desk made him think of lots of things, none of them even remotely connected with work, and those thoughts made him uneasy. So he started clearing up, putting papers in neat little stacks, trying to keep his mind on placing them in the correct order and…
    “It’s Gertje.” Lucas pronounced it carefully, Jack hearing at least three sounds that were unfamiliar to him, “but she says it’s okay for her to be called Mrs. Claessens. That way you don’t make a fool of yourself, and it shows a healthy respect.”
    Jack hadn’t even heard him enter the room again.
    “I can’t believe she said that,” Jack rebutted with a smile, trying to hide his unease behind a little humor.
    Lucas set the two cups down on the table and raised his hands in surrender. “I don’t know you well enough to lie to you yet, besides, what do I gain? She’s a feisty lady, and she told me you want to take Flemish lessons, so I told her I’d take you where I go for Dutch class. Then she kissed me and I always want to be at least on a first name basis with the people I kiss.”
    “You were gone… two, three minutes? And you talked about all that?” Jack was quite amazed.
    Lucas nodded as he sat down and took a sip of his cup of tea. “Oh, and she’s a cat person.”
    Jack chuckled. “No, I’m sorry I don’t believe you.” D i p l o m a c y | 15

    “Seriously,” Lucas answered, clearly not easily put off. “You should get your own coffee more often. There’s a picture of her and two tabbies in the little nook where the coffee maker is and her paperweight is a Siamese.” He pointed his cup at Jack. “Now drink your coffee, because she doesn’t seem to me like the kind of woman who would like her boss to waste a perfectly good cup of coffee.”
    Jack couldn’t help but smile as he reached over his desk for the steaming cup, sat down again, purposely not looking up at Lucas, and took a sip. “I suppose she told you how I like my coffee too?” Lucas shook his head as he swallowed some clearly still hot tea.
    “No, she actually poured it for me. Wouldn’t let me do it. She’s very protective of you, you know. Says you’re the best boss she’s had so far.”
    “Smart woman,” Jack murmured as he thought how totally irresistible Lucas was. They continued to drink their beverages, making small talk about the importance of learning the local language as part of their job, and Jack relaxed as he enjoyed the effortless conversation.
    “Well, I better leave,” Lucas stated suddenly, as he got up. “They may start wondering where I am pretty soon, and since I haven’t told them I’m liaising with my American Ambassador… Well, they’re clueless…in more ways than one.”
    After Lucas was gone, Jack let himself sit back in his chair, still a little dazed by the whirlwind visit. My American Ambassador. He shruggeed . MY American Ambassador? You’re going nuts, Christensen.
    And reading things into someone’s words that aren’t there. It’s just a manner of speech . Still he felt like he had just been made a pass at, like the beautiful Brit had just laid himself wide open to him. Take me, I’m yours .
    Jack shook his head. You’re married and he’s almost married. Get your mind out of your pants. Oh God, and he had to invite him over for dinner.
    “Mrs. Claessens? Can you get Lucas Carlton on the phone for me, please? U.K. Emba… Yes, I know he just left. No rush, just sometime today please?” He put down the phone and glanced at the clock. Mrs.
    Claessens was right. There was no way Lucas could have made it back to his desk yet. The young man was surely getting to him.
    Damn.

    16 | Z a h r a O w e n s

Chapter Three
    AS Lucas walked out of the U.S. Embassy, he