"Amanda, I really wish you'd come with us to Williamsburg, even if we did spend most of our time holed up in the hotel trying to stay out of the rain. Your time alone doesn't seem to have cheered you up at all!"
Amanda dragged her eyes up from her coffee cup to meet her mother's concerned gaze. "I wish I had too, Mother. But the time alone really helped open my eyes to a lot of things."
"Really? Like what?" Dotty leaned in, all interest now.
"Well, for one thing, I think I need to think about my future at IFF."
"Whatever for?"
"Well, I think this kind of work… It needs objectivity and professionalism and I get too emotionally involved."
Dotty stepped back and stared at her. "Amanda, Darling – it's a documentary film company – how on earth can you get too emotionally involved? I mean, Marlon Perkins doesn't even get upset when the lion eats the impala every week."
Amanda hiccupped out a small laugh and pulled her mother into a quick hug. "Maybe that's my problem, Mother. Some days I have to be the lion and I feel like I end up being the impala."
"Oh my, I had no idea your job was so bloodthirsty," answered Dotty. "Well, if you can't be a lion, and you don't want to be an impala, maybe you could be a hippo!"
"I…what?" Amanda began to laugh as she took in her mother's look of mischief.
"Oh they look harmless enough, but they're just lurking along below the surface, not getting much attention but watching everything…" Dotty held up flattened hands just under her eyes to demonstrate a hippo peeking out of the water. "And then when nobody expects it, they charge out of the river and get you! They're the most dangerous animal in Africa, you know. My placemat at the Williamsburg Howard Johnson's told me so."
"Mother!" Amanda was rocking with laughter now. "I don't think I want to be a hippo either!"
No," agreed her mother, pleased that she had gotten Amanda to smile again. "Maybe not. How about an elephant?"
"Mother?" Amanda asked, trying to sound serious but the tremor of laughter still audible in her voice. "Should I be worried that you keep comparing me to giant grey animals? I know you're always telling me to gain weight, but now I'm wondering..."
"Of course not!" Dotty put down her cup to avoid spilling it while she laughed. "I just think there's a place for you on the food chain that isn't eat or be eaten. I mean, look at all the good things: elephants are smart and protective and nobody pushes them around even though they'd never hurt anyone unless they were forced into it. They have long memories, so they don't make the same mistake twice, and that's certainly true of you, Darling."
"No, I suppose they don't," Amanda replied. She stared into her coffee for a moment and then back up at her mother. "Do you think elephants hold grudges then? Do you think they remember everything and don't let themselves get fooled twice?"
"What I think is that we've stopped talking about elephants," said Dotty. "Amanda, Darling, you aren't a person who holds grudges, you simply aren't." She held up her hand as Amanda began to interrupt. "Now there's some truth to the saying about fool me once, but that's not the same thing as holding a grudge and you have always been someone who has been willing to give everyone a second chance. And I'm sure I don't know what someone at work could have done to upset you this much because it's like pulling teeth to get you to talk about that place, but you said you needed to be more objective and professional. So tell me – objectively and professionally – are they worth being given a second chance?"
"I'm not sure anymore," said Amanda, wretchedly. "I thought they were my friend, but this time, when it came down to it, they were all about the job."
"This time?" asked Dotty. "So there have been other times when they haven't been?"
Amanda stared at her mother as if she'd been struck. Unbidden, all the memories of that day Lee had quit in a rage over the Agency treating her kidnapping as "just business" came flooding back to her.
"Oh my gosh."
Dotty nodded decisively. "I think you just figured out the answer to my first question. So what are you going to do about it?"
Amanda straightened up and took a deep breath. "I guess I'm going to go find out if someone will give me a second chance too."
