"Mrs. Laurent! Mrs. Laurent," we both shouted after her.

She got out of the restaurant so quickly that we couldn't catch up with her. We reached her in the parking lot, just before she got in the car and ran away.

"Mrs. Laurent, we had agreed on something," I reminded her, stopping right in front of her car, Oliver standing next to her, close enough to stop her if she tried to enter the vehicle, but far enough so he didn't look too threatening.

"I didn't agree on anything with you. You almost ruined the whole session. You're crooks! I owe you nothing!" She said in a high-pitched voice.

Oliver and I looked at each other in disbelief. We were crooks!? Really?!

"Pff! What a delusional prig!" I thought but didn't comment because I was going to say something to offend her and it wouldn't do us any good. So Oliver took the baton.

"Mrs. Laurent," he said in a kindly sweet tone, "we agreed to show us the box of cookies. There may be a ring inside it that belongs to another person. It is someone else's property."

Oliver emphasized the last sentence in the most delicate way possible. Nevertheless, her nostrils dilated and she began to breathe heavily like a steam locomotive.

"How dare you accuse me? How dare you!? Do you call me a thief! Incroyable!" Enraged, she opened the car door and sat in the driver's seat, but Oliver stopped her from closing the door.

"Please! We had a deal. Just show us the box and that's it," he continued, and I heard in his voice how he was fighting with himself to be polite. But he was worried that we could lose the ring forever, and that brought him pain and made him angry.

"I'm not going to show you anything! Maraudeurs! Freddie, Freddie, oh, mon cher! Freddie, it's good you came, mon amour! These maraudeurs... I just got sick of them. Oh, Freddie, kick them out, make them get out of here, Freddie!" Melissa Laurent got out of the car and began a new theatrical performance.

My hands clenched into fists. Oliver saw that and shook his head, then he said only with lips "Calm down!"

Freddie, apparently Melissa Laurent's mate, approached with a quick and... cheerful step. He stopped in front of us and with a wide smile took Oliver's hand and shook it, then looked at me and at him again and said, "Children, great performance! We got such good reviews for the first time! Four of our clients decided to get to know each other further, and the others said they would visit our meetings again and even promised to tell and invite their friends! You brought us such good luck! Great success! Great success! Bravo! Well done!" He patted Oliver on the shoulder and nodded to me, smiling from ear to ear.

"But how!?" Melissa's eyes widened, staring in disbelief at Freddie, "Didn't they ruin the session?!"

"Didn't they ruin the...!? But what are you talking about, treasure!? They brought us work for months!" he said to Melissa, and then turned to Oliver and me again, "Be sure to come again! Please! You have done something amazing! Thank you and we look forward to seeing you as guests at other meetings!"

Melissa tried to object, but apparently then she thought it over, and Freddie's joy convinced her of his words. A wide and for the first time a real smile stretched her lips.

"Really, Freddie?!" He nodded. "Oh, darling!" She exclaimed and hugged him. "But that's wonderful! Just wonderful!"

They hugged and kissed, and Oliver and I were forced to back away. The situation became a little awkward. We didn't dare watch them, but they were so much fun. I bit my lip to keep from giggling. Oliver and I looked at each other, his expression mirrored mine and we both laughed softly.

But our laughter and smiles quickly faded as Melissa and Freddie got into the car in a flash. I ran quickly in front of it, and Oliver knocked on the window. Freddie was behind the wheel and fortunately lowered the glass immediately.

"Yes what is it?" he asked with a smile.

"Mrs. Laurent and we agreed on the box with the cookies and we have to..." but Oliver couldn't finish.

"Do you want cookies?! No problem! Treasure, give them the box I bought you the other day, and I'll buy you ten more! Come on! They deserve a little treat!" Freddie said and winked at Oliver.

I saw Melissa moving in her seat, then she handed something to Freddie. The next moment Oliver was holding one of our branded cookie boxes. I immediately went to him.

Neither he nor I noticed when Mrs. Lauren and Freddie left, we looked at the box in his hands in anxious anticipation. If I used to have mixed feelings - I wanted to find the ring right away and I didn't want to at the same time, because it meant the end of our common adventure - now I didn't have such hesitations. I wanted the ring to be inside so we could give it back to Isabella, and I knew it was just our first adventure together, first of many, and its end wouldn't mean anything but successfully finished quest, both literally and figuratively said.

I reached out and untied the ribbon with trembling fingers, then opened the box. We both held our breath as I carefully made my way to the bottom.

But my fingers only touched cookie after cookie, and nothing more.

Anxiety rose in me, my hand froze in the box, and I looked up at Oliver. Our eyes met and I saw the disappointment on his face as I shook my head.

"Isn't it here?" He asked, and his voice came out muffled.

"There are only cookies inside," I replied dejectedly.

"Well, we have another address to check, don't we?" Oliver said, but not with the usual optimism. He seemed worried.

"It has to be there, right? It's nowhere else so... it has to be there!" I replied, trying to sound more cheerful than I felt.

"Let's go then," Oliver said, holding out his hand.

I wrapped my fingers around his and a slight smile stretched his lips. I squeezed his hand lightly and replied, "Let's go get the ring!"

Holding hands, we headed to the restaurant to get our coats and then to the car and the second address.

We were both worried about the second failure, but there was only one address left, which meant the ring was there. We just had to go and get it. That's it!