Valentine's Day Game Plan

“Illya, what are you doing a week from tomorrow?”

The Russian looked up from his second helping of lunch.  “I imagine I will be doing whatever it is Mr. Waverly wants me to do, as you will be.  Why do you ask?”

“If we are in town next Tuesday, let’s have dinner together.  In fact, come by my place for dinner; I’ll cook us a fine Italian meal and serve it with wine.”

Illya eyed his partner suspiciously.  “Why?”

“What do you mean why?  Can’t I have my best friend over for dinner?”

The blond smiled knowingly.  “Oh, I know why you want me to commit to dinner.  Next week is Valentine’s Day and you do not wish to ask any of your… admirers out or worse, have them approach you for a date.  Tell me I am wrong.”

Napoleon sipped his coffee and grimaced.  When you take coffee black, lousy coffee has nowhere to hide.  Putting the cup back down on his tray, he answered, “You’re right, Partner Mine.  I made the mistake years ago of making a date without checking the calendar to realize it was Valentine’s Day.  The woman I asked out made a huge deal of it to the other ladies in the secretarial pool.  They were hurt I had not asked them and the one I did take out became angry with me when she realized that she was not ‘special.’  The result was I didn’t have a date for six weeks!  My libido can’t stand me tainting my dating pool like that again.”

Illya grinned as he tucked into his rice pudding.  “So,” he said as he licked his spoon, “if I say yes, you can demur if one of your lady friends wants to go out with you by saying you have plans with me?”

“Exactly.  No one’s feelings should be hurt because I will be with my partner and not another woman.”

The grin on Illya’s face turned positively wicked.  “And, you are not concerned that some of these women might find it odd that you would spend what is arguably the most romantic date night of the year with another man?”

That gave Napoleon pause for a moment.  Then, he retorted, “You know what?  I don’t care.  We leave for Algiers tonight and we both know this affair requires perfect planning and timing and it will be dicey, to say the least.  We will be damn lucky to get in and out in one piece.  It’s not written in stone that Valentine’s Day is only for sex and romance.  If it were, there would not be Valentine’s Day cards you can give to your mother.”

“The day is for acknowledging who is most important in your life and, since I depend on you to back me up in the field and save my life if it needs saving, the most important person in my life, Tovarisch, is you.  So, to hell with what anyone thinks.  I bet you dollars to donuts that Mark and April will be together for Valentine’s Day, too; in fact, I suspect most of the Section II teams will be together.  So, what do you say?  Is it a ‘date?’”

Illya laughed, “When you put it that way, turning you down would be disloyal to our partnership!  Yes, I’ll be there.  Could you include cioppino in this dinner?”

“Absolutely.”