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they had been standing before in the kitchen, only now he put his arm around the Brit’s shoulder while he pointed at the full baking tray. “We have to close the crust around the berries. Make a nice pouch.” Jack looked up at the two women and their amused faces as Lucas proceeded to fold the sides of the dough over the berries, sealing them in. He felt how tense Lucas was and figuring the women’s eyes were trained on what Lucas was doing, lowered his hand, gently stroking down Lucas’s back. Jack could see the young man look at him hopefully and smiled. He then pointed at the pie again.
    “Make sure there are no holes, otherwise the juices will flow out and that would be a pity.”
    Lucas playfully patted the dough here and there to make sure.
    “Now ‘le moment supreme’ . To give it a nice color we brush some of the yolk over the top and then put it in the oven. In about twenty-five minutes, we’ll have the best blueberry pie Lucas has ever made.” 34 | Z a h r a O w e n s

Chapter Six
    WORK was incredibly busy that week and by Friday afternoon, Jack was happy that he could finally go over his correspondence in the peace and relative quiet of his own office. In fact, it was the first time this week he was in his office long enough to actually sit behind his desk.
    There was an opening of an art exhibition he would have to attend tonight, but for now he was content to just sit there going through the many letters and documents that required his attention.
    His secretary quietly entered his office carrying a tray of coffee and cake with a folder under her arm.
    “There you go, Mr. Christensen. Nice of you to drop by the office.” She smiled at him cheekily. Since she was the one keeping his appointment book, she knew exactly what he had been up to all week, and she knew he had spent most of it in the back of his chauffeur driven car being taken from one meeting to another.
    She handed him the folder after she had put down his coffee tray.
    “This is the draft of the legislation on same sex marriages they are trying to get approved in the Chamber and Senate and an overview of debates preceding it, complete with any polls I could dig up on how the Belgians feel about it. Frankly, I don’t know what all the fuss is about, but I don’t suppose my opinion is important here.”
    Jack was amused. She was a deadly efficient secretary and sometimes he felt she could read his mind. This case was no different. He had asked his legal team to get him the draft, but it was Mrs. Claessens who had added the debates and polls, knowing he would be interested in more than just the new law. Her professional demeanor meant she could D i p l o m a c y | 35

    not give her opinion, but since she was Belgian and therefore a citizen of only the second country in the world to consider allowing same sex marriage to become legal, he was interested in knowing what she thought about a subject he knew was a very sensitive issue in his own country.
    “Come on, Mrs. Claessens, I’m sure in the confines of this office you can tell me what you think? I promise I won’t hold it against you.” He smiled at her and took a sip from his coffee.
    She stared at him suspiciously. “You may not agree with me, but I think this is a very sensible law. I don’t know what took them so long.” Jack dropped the papers down on his desk and took another sip, still looking quite amused, so she continued. “I’m sure you as an American don’t see it that way, but I mean… these people live together, share everything, house, kids, car, you name it. But if the wrong one dies, the one left behind may end up on the street or see his child taken away simply because his bond with his partner isn’t recognized by law. It’s barbaric. And you can tell that to your President.” Jack laughed as he saw her tug at the front of her jacket to stress her point.
    “I totally agree with you,” he answered.
    “You do?” She seemed to blossom all of a