New Years Revolution, chapter 2
As Amanda entered the elevator in Lee's apartment building Joe's warning to her concerning Lee's lifestyle replayed in her head. What am I doing here? I think Joe is wrong about Lee, no, I KNOW Lee has changed but it's not like me to show up unannounced at a man's apartment on New Year's Eve. Stop it, Amanda, this isn't just any man it's Lee and while we're still figuring out what the future holds for us as a couple he's still my best friend. When the elevator reached Lee's floor Amanda got off, took a deep calming breath and walked down the hall to his apartment. The door flew open the moment Amanda rang the bell.
"Stacey, you said you'd be here two hours ago," Lee grumbled before he registered that it was Amanda that was standing in front of him. "Ahh, Amanda, I wasn't expecting you tonight," he said more civilly as he leaned against the doorway.
"I shouldn't have come here unannounced... you're obviously expecting someone else... so I'll go now," Amanda said awkwardly. "Happy New Year, Lee." She looked down instead of looking at his face.
"I said that I wasn't expecting you," Lee said as he raised her chin so that she'd have to look at him, "I didn't say that I wasn't glad to see you. Come in; you can keep me company while I wait for Stacey."
"Is that with a 'y' or an 'ie'," Amanda asked cattily.
"What?"
"Stacey, does she spell her-"
"Are you on that kick again? I'm not dating her; I'm not seeing anyone but you. Stacey is a rookie cop who offered to bring me a police report that I have to sign. She probably started celebrating early; I'll have to go to the police station to sign it tomorrow," Lee explained as he began to limp towards his sofa.
"Oh my gosh, you're hurt again, you promised me that you wouldn't do anything dangerous without backup."
"I'm sorry, Amanda," Lee replied as he collapsed onto his sofa, "I didn't think that the purse snatcher was going to wait around while I called for backup." As Lee spoke Amanda looked him over closely and saw that his ankle was bandaged and he had several stitches in the side of his head.
"I can't believe that a purse snatcher was able to get the best of you," Amanda blurted out without thinking.
"He didn't do this by himself," Lee said in an attempt to salvage his image.
"Maybe you should tell me what happened from the beginning," Amanda suggested as she sat down next to Lee and placed the bag she'd been carrying by her feet.
"As I was coming out of the dry cleaners I saw a man grab an elderly woman's handbag and start to run. I chased after him and grabbed him from behind; he spun around and pulled a knife on me and we began to struggle over it. One minute we were fighting for control of the knife and the next minute we found ourselves in a tangled heap on the ground with a kid's bicycle on top of us."
"Did you knock the poor child off of his bike? Was he badly hurt," Amanda asked as she imagined one of her sons being in the child's place.
"No is the answer to both of your questions. The kid saw the purse snatching and when he thought that the guy might get away from me he decided to stop him by running into him with his bike but his aim was off so he knocked us both to the ground."
"What happened next?"
"Someone must have called the police because they arrived at that moment. The kid started yelling that he'd stopped a purse snatcher and since I was on the bottom of the pile the cops assumed that I was the perp. They spotted my gun before I had a chance to identify myself as a federal agent and then…would you mind if I tell you the rest later…my head is throbbing," Lee said as he closed his eyes and began to massage his temples.
"Of course I'll wait until later. You've obviously been seen by a doctor; did he prescribe any pain killers?"
"I was given a shot before they stitched up my scalp," Lee said with a slight wince, "and they gave me a prescription to fill for later."
"Let me guess; you didn't fill the prescription."
"I hate the way that stuff makes me feel, I don't need it. As soon as I got home I had a couple of scotches…took the edge off…I'll be fine." Lee opened his eyes and Amanda looked at him disapprovingly.
"You don't look fine. I have some extra strength aspirin in my purse; I'll give you two of them and then you can try to take a nap." Lee reached for the empty scotch glass that was sitting on the coffee table and Amanda rolled her eyes at him. "I'll get you a glass of water to wash down the pills with while I put the groceries in the refrigerator."
"Why did you buy me groceries; you didn't know that I'd gotten hurt again?"
"Um, not groceries exactly...", Amanda hedged.
"What did you bring me?"
"I brought the ingredients for a midnight dinner. There is a tradition that states that …never mind…you'll think it's silly." Amanda started to get up from the sofa and Lee grabbed her arm to keep her next to him.
"You came here on a night that you led me to believe you planned to spend with your family. This tradition must be important to you; please tell me about it," Lee implored. Their eyes locked as Amanda tried to decide whether or not Lee was ready to hear what she had to say. When she remained silent Lee plunged on, "Over the years I've found myself spending New Years Eve in many different foreign countries. Every one had its' own culture, but the one thing that they all had in common was that they had their own traditional ways of celebrating the start of a new year. We've shared a lot over the last few years; I hope you feel comfortable enough with me to share your tradition with me."
"When I was a little girl Mother and Daddy used to tell me how important it was to start each new year with the people that mean the most to you. After I started dating, Mother began to tell me that I should be very careful in choosing who I would spend New Years Eve with because tradition states that the person you begin a new year with will be with you through the coming year. Last year we went to the party at the Soviet Embassy together and here we are together again…I guess I thought that if we…I told you it was silly."
"I don't think it's silly at all," Lee said as he gently stroked Amanda's cheek, "there is no one I'd rather spend this evening with than you. I'm sorry that I'm not in any shape to take you out so that we could celebrate in style…you don't deserve to be cooped up here," he added as he ran his hand through his hair.
"We tried celebrating in style last year; it didn't end well for you. I'd rather spend this evening here…alone with you. I bet that if you take some aspirin now and take a nap you'll be feeling better in a few hours. I'll wake you up around eleven o'clock and you can keep me company while I make us a light dinner. We have the whole night ahead of us," Amanda said suggestively.