Chapter 7
Amanda let out a heavy sigh at the sight of her dirty kitchen. Clearly the boys had made themselves a snack after school and used every dish and utensil that they owned.
"Boys! Kitchen! NOW!" she yelled up the stairs.
Philip and Jamie came bounding down the stairs sounding like a herd of elephants as they took the stairs 2 at a time. Jamie ran into the kitchen first as he caught the football that Philip tossed to him, barely missing the open gallon of milk on the counter.
"What's up mom?", Philip asked.
"What's up? Boys look at this kitchen! It's a mess! It wasn't like this when I left for work this morning! What happened?" Amanda asked.
"Gee, Mom-we were hungry when we got home from school and made a snack." Jamie answered.
"Did you have to use so many dishes? And please remember to put the milk back in the refrigerator when you are done with it or it goes bad."
"Ok, mom. Sorry." Philip replied.
"It's ok. Just be more careful with your snacks next time, ok? Clean up this mess. I have to go back to work soon. Where is your grandmother?"
Jamie and Philip looked at each other and shrugged.
"Not sure, I think she may have said something about going to Mrs. Gilstrap's house." Jamie answered.
Amanda let out another small sigh.
"Ok, I really need to go get ready. Can you boys handle this yourselves and work on your homework until your grandmother gets back?"
"Sure thing, mom!" Jamie replied.
Amanda smiled as she grabbed her garment bag and headed up the stairs to begin her transformation into Samantha Anderson. Her stomach continued to churn at the uneasiness she felt going on this mission without Lee. She and Paul had worked well on their last mission, but she had felt safe and secure knowing that Lee was there, too. To be honest, she had a great deal of fun working with Paul and playing Samantha Anderson and was happy to be doing it again. But deep down, part of her felt like she was somehow cheating on Lee. It didn't feel right to be off on a mission without him involved in any way.
"It will be alright" she said aloud to herself as she unzipped the garment bag and removed the Chanel pantsuit that the Agency had issued her. She already owned something very similar to the black dress pants and white sleeveless top that hung on the hanger before her, but this was a REAL Chanel, something worthy of wealthy Samantha Anderson. Amanda gently smoothed out the wrinkles on the front of the blouse and smiled. She liked the fancy clothes she got to wear from time to time on missions. She glanced at the digital clock on her bedside table and realized that she should quickly get in the shower if she were going to be ready in time.
