All in the Family
Part IV
Later that night, after Phillip had gone home and Dotty and Jenny were both sound asleep, Lee and Amanda stood in their kitchen finishing the last of the kitchen clean up. Dinner had been strained with an awkward silence that hadn't existed in the Stetson/King household in years. Jamie had never come back, and Elizabeth wasn't answering her phone.
Still in a total state of shock Amanda handed Lee the last dish to place in the dishwasher. "What happened here tonight?" she asked.
"I only wish I knew," Lee replied. "Jamie told me earlier that he had met this girl, and that she had rather abruptly broken things off last night. He said he didn't tell us sooner because he was enjoying having his own secret for a change."
Amanda shook her head; "I just don't get it. They are both nuts about one another. You should have heard her in the office this morning. And Jamie, I've never seen him get so worked up over anything. I know he's hurt, but he knows how the agency works, I guess I don't understand what the problem is."
"Amanda," Lee started as they headed upstairs, "there's something you need to understand about guys."
"Oh really?" she looked at her husband expecting to see a devilish grin on his face. Pulling her blouse from her slacks, Amanda reached into a drawer for her favorite nightgown.
"I'm serious," Lee looked over at her with a grin knowing what had been on her mind. "Guys like to believe that they are in total control of their emotions and everything around them. Why do you think it took me so long to admit I was in love with you?"
"I don't know," Amanda retorted as she finished unbuttoning her blouse and slipping into her nightgown, "Randi 'baby', Leslie.... Need I go on?"
"Amanda," Lee scolded, "you know those women didn't have anything to do with it. You scared me! When I was with you I couldn't control the way I felt. The worst part was that as much as I didn't want to loose control of my emotions, the only thing I really wanted was to be with you. There was just no way I could win."
"Thanks a lot!" Amanda wrinkled her nose at him.
Pulling his shirt over his head and slipping into a pair of boxers Lee sighed, "You know what I mean. It just took some time before I could admit that the thing I loved most about you was the way you made it safe for me to lose control. And if I felt that way about you, think of how Jamie must feel about Elizabeth. At least you and I both worked at the agency. Jamie meets this great girl, and starts to think maybe she's the one. Then, before he even knows what has happened, she's gone. Amanda - he's hurt. Then to add even more fuel to the fire, he learns that she does something for a living that he can never control. Jamie knows more than the average Joe Blow about the agency. He knows that there just aren't any guarantees. Yet, he still wants to be with her! His head's going in 800 different directions right now."
"How did you get so smart?" she asked crawling into bed beside him.
"I don't know," he responded, "some of us are just born with it."
"Right..." Amanda trailed off sarcastically as she placed her head on his chest. "I just wish there was some way we could help them."
"Amanda, what was that you said to me this afternoon about not playing matchmaker?" Lee pulled her tighter against his body. 'I'll never get tired of the way it feels just to hold her against me.' He thought with a sigh.
"I know, I know...I need to stay out of it. They're both adults." She began to trace small circles on his chest. "Hey, something good came out of all this," she informed him.
"Hmm? What's that?" Lee was lost in the way her fingers were playing along his body and no longer very interested in conversation. He began kissing her neck, moving his mouth lower and lower.
"I managed to forget about Assi Birol for the whole night." Amanda responded even though she knew he was paying very little attention.
"Amanda!" Lee groaned rolling onto his back, "Were you just trying to think of the fastest way to break the mood?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Amanda laughed snuggling in tighter against him and kissing his jaw line, "I guess it'll just be a challenge to see if I can get it back."
"Ohhh.... Now you're talking!" Lee grinned and flipped off the light.
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Elizabeth sat in her dark apartment, a glass of red wine in her hand. She had barely made it to her car and out of Lee and Amanda's neighborhood before the tears had started to fall. 'What's wrong with me?' she mused. 'I'm a professional, trained agent, not some soft hearted cry baby.' Elizabeth had learned early on that crying didn't really get you anywhere, and now here she was blubbering like a baby for the second time in one day. She wasn't much of a drinker and this being her third glass of wine she almost couldn't feel her body any longer.
'Good,' she thought, 'that's just the way I want it. Not to feel anything. I just want to drink until the image of Jamie's face - eyes round with pain and betrayal fades far from my memory.' Somewhere in the distance she could hear her phone ringing, but she didn't make any move to answer it. 'Oh Amanda, just leave me alone' she thought glancing at the caller ID. 'I screwed this up, I know I did, but nothing you can say can make this better.' Picking up her wineglass Elizabeth headed into her bedroom and laid down on the bed fully clothed. The room spun around a few times, but as soon as she closed her eyes it all went black.