Path of Hearts- Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Disclaimer- They aren't mine!!!!! This story, or any of the others for that matter makes no dinero. The idea is all mine, and I retain rights to that, not that it would make a whole lot of difference anyway.
GI- Story takes place in the third season and will most likely go out of canon, I'm just going to use the characters, sorry if you don't like the whole idea of going out of canon, but I wanted to write this and I couldn't think of any other way of really doing it. I wanted them to be dating, but not married, so I had to stretch the imagination. So, if you haven't already figured it out, they're dating, and that's just the way it has to be.
I'm also using the phrases off of the Candy Hearts that I bought the other day at Greenbacks, so some of the phrases are obviously modern, I tried to decide which ones would have just been the 'classics' and been in a bag of Candy Hearts when I was two-years-old, but obviously I couldn't read, so I don't know and no one really remembers exactly. Sorry if I use some phrases that weren't on the Candy Hearts in 1985, I wasn't an active part of society back then.
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Thursday, February 13, 1986
Amanda King sat behind her desk in the Q Bureau, staring at the tiny piece of paper in front of her that reminded her; today was the day before Valentines. This might not have particularly been a big deal to some people, and maybe she shouldn't have been so worried, if only Lee had said something about what they were doing on this, their first St. Valentines Day together.
He really hadn't said anything about it, other than she should keep Friday open, which she guessed was possible. The boys were going to a party, and Mother was going to New York City with some of her Bridge friends. She didn't know what he had planned, but she was curious, and currently wasn't doing anything.
It was the fact that he appeared to have forgotten about it that had her worried. So, here she sat, alone in this stuffy room, wondering if he was even aware that there was something different about February 14th.
Leaning back into her chair, she closed her eyes and tried to recall Tuesday, and see if maybe there was something she had missed, some hint he had dropped that she had somehow missed.
"Morning Amanda." Lee cheerfully entered the Q Bureau, placing a single rose on top of her desk, and a light kiss on her cheek.
"Morning Lee." Amanda answered
back, happy just to be able to kiss him back for the moment. She inhaled a
large breath of him before he backed away, reveling in that luxurious scent.
He then continued his path to
his desk, placing the two folders he'd just received from Billy haphazardly
onto the desk before he perched himself on the edge. Taking a second to marvel at
her beauty, dreaming knowingly that she was all his before he revealed any
plans, he smiled.
"What?" She asked through a
small giggle.
"I was just looking at a
gorgeous woman." He smiled even wider, this time showing those two dimples so
many women loved, but now, they were hers.
"And?" Amanda urged him to
continue and tell her what was on his mind.
"Nothing." He let out a laugh of
his own before he headed for the vault to begin looking a few files over. After
a few minutes of silence he stuck his head out of the vault and found her just
where he'd figured, her nose in her work. "Keep Friday open, kay?" He watched her to make sure she'd heard him.
Amanda looked up at him, laying
her pencil down and crossing her hands over her papers. "Friday, you want me to
keep Friday open." She confirmed.
Lee nodded. "Yeah, why is that
going to be a problem, are you doing something with the boys or something?"
"No, I'm not doing anything that
I know of." Amanda began to play absently with the ring on her right hand.
"Well, now you are, with me, so,
just keep it open, okay?" He asked smiling.
"Okay. It's open."
Nothing. Absolutely no mention of Valentines Day. They were doing something, but for some reason, she had this nagging sense that it was an 'agency' something. Maybe an interrogation would produce some answers.
She waited patiently, hoping he would come back from his meeting with Billy soon, for some reason he seemed to be having more of those, and he'd never asked her to come with him either. She had some questions she wanted to ask him, and with any luck, he'd answer them to her satisfaction.
After about ten minutes of racking her brain, wondering what was taking him so long, she had to move. Not wanting to leave the Q Bureau for fear that he'd come and she'd miss him, she began his nervous habit of pacing. Running a hole in the carpet might help him, but it didn't seem to be doing much for her after about five minutes. She decided to relax on the couch, nervously crossing her legs and setting them into an up and down motion. Smoothing out the length of her skirt in anticipation, she looked up as the door opened.
"Amanda." Lee stopped and smiled, he really hadn't even expected her to be here, it was, 6:16, he confirmed with a glance at his watch. "I thought you'd have left by now."
"Well, I was ah, waiting for you." She said with a shake in her voice, she hated secrets, and this one was potentially big. Looking down at her watch she realized it was getting late, she hadn't noticed that.
"That's sweet, but you didn't have to." He said as he joined her on the couch, pulling her into his arms, she began to relax. He noticed the tension, and while he wasn't sure why she had any need to be tense, he was glad to help set it at ease. Beginning to nibble on her ear, he felt every piece of stress fly out of her system. "I locked the door." His voice was husky, and extremely inviting.
"Hm." She smiled; this was more like the Lee that she knew. Turning her face to meet his she grasped his lips with hers; deepening the kiss she leaned back on the couch with him. Remembering her original intent in staying she broke the kiss, placing her hand on his chest she moved back slightly to look at him. "So, what are we doing tomorrow?" She asked with a seductive smile.
Lee shrugged. "I don't know, I just wanted to spend the evening with you, maybe rent a few videos, and watch them or something. I was wondering through the video store the other night and I saw this one that I thought we could rent, Conan the Destroyer."
"So, tomorrow night, I'm going over to your place and we're going to watch, Conan, the Destroyer." Amanda asked in disbelief, watching Lee nod, she tried hard not to begin yelling, she didn't typically lose her temper. "That's it?"
"Yeah, why, was there something else you wanted to do? I really don't feel like going out and fighting people. I mean, I don't want to sit in a stuffy movie theatre with teenagers making out, or go out to dinner and deal with snotty a maitre d'. Besides, if we just stay at my apartment, we get free desert." His husky voice came back and he covered her lips with his.
Suddenly she pulled back and pushed off of him to stand. "Fine, I have to go. Mother's gone tonight and I have to make dinner for the boys. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Amanda told him in disgust as she grabbed her purse and left.
As much as Lee wanted to keep his plan a secret, he couldn't allow her to be mad at him all night, he quickly leapt off the couch and darted toward the door. He held his palm against it to keep it closed even as she stood there with her hand on the doorknob.
"Honey, don't be mad." He said softly. "Tomorrow will be perfect. I promise."
"Maybe for you." Amanda couldn't grasp what he idea he had in that little head of his, but perfect was far from hers. "I really have to go."
"Don't be mad."
"Alright Lee, I'm not mad, I'll just be waiting until tomorrow when I get to see the critically acclaimed Conan the Destroyer." Amanda yanked on the door, pulling it open enough for her to be able to slip out. "Talk to you tomorrow."
Lee grabbed the sleeve of her sweater before she left pulling part of her back in. "What now?" She asked unhappily.
"I didn't want you to leave without this." Lee smiled before placing a kiss on her lips. She smiled; he saw her smile before she left. Letting out a small laugh as he headed back to his desk to wrap up a few things, and go home, to make his plan complete.
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Friday, February 14th, 1986
"Fella's, do you have your Valentines!" Amanda shouted up the stairs.
"Yes Mom." Chorused down by both boys. When she was running late she was more like a drill sergeant than a mother, and both boys accepted this.
"Mom, is it okay if I go home with Tim and just stay the night at his house?" Philip asked as he came down the stairs with his backpack hanging to his right side.
"Yeah, and Griff is having a couple of guys over after the party, can I go?" Jamie asked following Philip down the stairs.
"Yes, and yes." Amanda answered planting a kiss on each boy's cheek before they headed out the door. "Have fun at the party." Amanda turned and started for the kitchen, before grabbing her purse she noticed the note card that sat on the kitchen counter that hadn't been there before, she was sure of that.
TONIGHT, YOU'RE
Was written in black letters, a small pouch made out of paper bulged from the bottom, it was taped on, and not hard to take off. A small candy heart fell into her head and she read it with a smile,
ALL MINE
She grabbed a plastic bag out of the nearby drawer and dropped the heart and note into the bag. Placing them in her purse, she left.
Taped to the steering wheel of the station wagon, was a second note. Written with the same M.O. as the first, it beautifully said,
I KNOW
Opening the pouch she read the heart,
IT'S TRUE
Adding the note and the heart to the bag she headed to the agency, making a stop at the dry cleaners to pick up the dress that she had dropped off a few nights before. Strangely, the dry cleaner handed her the dress, and an envelope. She waited until she returned to the car before opening the letter. Inside was just what she'd expected.
BY THE WAY YOU
Lifting the piece of tape over the paper, she took the heart from the card.
SMILE
She did smile, placing the note and heart with the others and she headed for the agency. Walking in the door she gave Mrs. Marsden the password, and then received her nametag, along with another envelope. As she walked upstairs the anticipation got the best of her and she opened it.
THAT YOU TRULY
Following the same procedure she added the heart to the rest of the message
LOVE ME
Smiling once more she continued to collect the hearts and their notes. She reached into her purse to retrieve the keys for the Q Bureau, pulling them out she saw another note taped to the door. Lifting it off, she read it.
JUST LIKE I'LL ALWAYS
It was becoming tedious, but the game he was playing was the sweetest game she'd ever played. Once again pulling the paper off of the heart, she read the tiny message,
LOVE YOU
Dropping them into the bag she entered the office, it was empty, but there were notes scattered about the entire office, all looking exactly like the others, differing only in words.
After collecting all of the letters accompanied by the hearts reading their various messages Amanda sat behind her desk awaiting Lee.
After a short wait Lee entered the Q Bureau decked out in a tux, holding a single white rose. He walked over to her, not saying a word lifted her hand to his lips, after placing a delicate kiss on her beautiful fingers he pulled her into her arms and planted a similar kiss on her lips. Amanda quickly deepened the kiss in gratitude to the incredibly romantic gestures that had been bestowed upon her today.
Reluctantly Lee pulled back to smile at her. "Well, Mr. Stetson, my night is open, due to an earlier request, so, what are we doing?" Amanda asked in a whisper.
"After a beautiful, candle light dinner in the back of this restaurant I found just outside of Arlington called Hoppers, guaranteed to be secluded from the rest of the world, we are going to dance." Lee's smile grew as he revealed his plan, which he thought to be most perfect.
"And how many dances should I save for you darling?" Amanda asked once more placing a small kiss on his lips.
"Every last one of them." Lee told her before starting a dance of his own to music that played in only their heads.
The End