The Night Manager: Revival House

(E1, C5) Lifeline

              At a quarter to noon the following day, Angela Burr walked down the street, headed toward the same dingy-looking front she had taken Jonathan to three years prior. It remained beside the small pharmacy but the travel agency was now a small artisan soap shop; the heavy perfumes lingering in the early spring air were almost an insult to the nose when intermingled with the oily smells of the pub. It was still dingy, the same neglected perennials hung out front beneath the ancient wood sign. Nothing had changed, save for perhaps the people inside of it.

    Entering the building, she peered around the dimly lit eatery searching him out. He sat, as always, at the farthest table from the door; watching, observing, waiting. For a moment, Angela found herself pulled back in time to their very first meeting in Zermatt. She'd been just shy of forty years old, pregnant, and had only come because he'd asked. He'd asked and had had information regarding Richard Roper, her white whale. Only then, it had been her sitting and waiting for the handsome hotelier to walk in.

    Things had changed; they weren't the same people anymore. He was no longer wet behind the ears, if argument could even be made that he once had been prior to their twenty-fifteen meeting. She no longer had only the worst man in the world to catch. Seven long years had passed since they'd brought Roper down and yet, as he rose to greet her, that same small smile breaking into a wide grin while his arms embraced her, it was as if no time had passed. For just a moment, Angela stood there, freshly forty, Jonathan's strong thirty-three-year-old arms firmly holding her as if she was his lifeline once more.

          Jonathan sat laughing at the story Angela was regaling him with, half-empty plates sitting before them as they both sat there smirking. It felt freeing to be sitting there, laughing. He could barely remember the last time he had done this; simply sat with a friend and enjoyed the company without any underlying motives. A part of him had enjoyed moments like this when he'd been hiding in plain sight while undercover with Roper, even if there had been underlying motives. The man had, after all, been charming and multifaceted. Of course, a psychopath had to be so he could also hide in plain sight.

    His smile faded slightly as the waitress came to take their plates, both requesting containers. "Pudding?"

    Angela shook her head. "Been taking notes from your book since I last saw you. Thought I might set a better example for Lilian."

    A small smirk returned. He was impressed. "Good for you."

    She nodded. "It's going well enough. Though, I'm sure Rob will tell you I've thrown a few wobblies since making the changes. I think he's taken to hiding the sugar where I can't find it to self-sabotage."

    He chuckled. He had to give Rob props if that was indeed what he was doing. After all, Jonathan knew firsthand how difficult Angela could be. And speaking of difficulty, she had yet to tell him what the favor she wanted from him was. "About this subscription-"

    She held up her hand, interjecting. "Nothing to concern yourself with. Just wanted an excuse to check in."

    Jonathan's eyes betrayed his amusement. She was lying. As far as he knew, Angela had never lied to him before, so why now? He sat back, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched her. "You're not as good of a liar as you think you are."

    She shrugged. "I'm a sight better than you're giving me credit for. If I wasn't, you wouldn't have survived Roper."

    "I would have. And I did."

    "Yes, well... You had me on your side." Jonathan chuckled, shaking his head softly. "You disagree?" He didn't answer, just sipped some of his water. She hated when he acted like this. All aloof and restrained. Angela raised an eyebrow, lifting her teacup. "Why come back then? You knew the moment I called what it was I was trying to do, what the goal was; why agree to see me if you disagree?"

    He shook his head, exhaling softly. "I don't know."

    "Yes, you do." She watched him knowing she was right. She just needed him to know it as well. "Go on then, you can say it. We both know it."

    Jonathan smirked once more, amused. "Because you never really left. Not when you thought I abandoned you, nor when you thought I might be dead; even when you should have let me rot, you didn't. Suppose that's why I still feel indebted to you."

    She nodded, understanding that feeling. It was one she knew well, just like the apprehension that can follow along with it. "Not enough to help me with a favor though."

    Her grin was infectious. She played her hand so well, yet he knew better. He knew she knew that he knew better but that didn't diminish the hope he saw in her hazel eyes. They both nodded, lifting their tea cups and drinking in silence.