Chapter 11

"Ladies and Gentlemen. This is your Captain speaking. We have reached cruising altitude, and the seatbelt sign is now off. We have clear skies ahead of us, and we are scheduled to arrive in New York at seven forty-two. Thank you for flying with us...and enjoy the flight."

Lee and Amanda removed their seatbelts and relaxed. "So, should we look over the file?"

"It would probably be a good idea. It wouldn't be very professional if we showed up unprepared, now would it, sweetheart?"

"No. No, it wouldn't." Lee opened the file and skimmed through it. "Hmm." He traced his finger down the paper. "Interesting…" Lee flipped the page.

Amanda glanced between the file and Lee's face with a bit of curiosity as well as impatience. "Are you going to share with me, or am I going to have to guess?"

With a slight tilt of his head, Lee threw Amanda a smirk. "Excuse me. Did you say something?"

"Lee...tell me what the file says."

"Okay. Okay. Actually, there's not much here." Lee turned the page back to the beginning. "It says the hotel will have someone at the airport to pick us up. Then, it lists three procedures we'll have to follow. First, we're going to have to check in with the manager and he'll discreetly go over the security protocols they have set up. Only a few staff members will know exactly why we are there."'

Amanda nodded as Lee's finger slid down the page. "Second. We will not receive the itinerary until we get to the suite. Which means we won't have time to prepare."

"Well, we are pretty good at improvising. I have gotten us out of a few mishaps, using what's available at the time."

"Mishaps? Is that what you're calling them, my love?"

Amanda shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "What's the last item on the list?"

Lee shook his head with disbelief and glanced back down at the file. "It states, under no circumstances are we to refer to them as Prince or Princess. No mention of Your Highness. While we are there, we are to call them Rheza and Penny."

"Well, that should be easy for me. But you'll have to watch yourself, sweetheart."

"Amanda, I am a professional. I know how to play my role. Besides, from what Billy told us and from these notes, it seems the week is going to be very casual."

"We can always hope. I sure would like to set things straight with Penny. I didn't like the way her last letter ended."

"Honey, I think you're overthinking this. Penny wouldn't have asked for you if she wasn't comfortable. Everything is going to be just fine."

"I hope so." Amanda quickly covered her slight yawn.

"What's the matter? Didn't you sleep well?"

"When I did get to sleep, yes. But, we didn't exactly get to bed early. Not to mention, someone didn't let me sleep very long."

Lee chuckled, "I didn't hear you complaining in the shower this morning. In fact, you seemed to enjoy the way I woke you up...what was it you kept screaming?"

Amanda quickly scanned around to make sure no one heard them. "Lee, knock it off. We don't need everyone to know what we do in the privacy of our home," she admonished him, completely flustered.

Lee leaned in close and softly spoke, "I think we did very well christening our new home. We got three areas checked off our list in less than twelve hours. Plus, we got a little sleep in." Lee placed a sweet peck on the tip of her nose.

"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. This is your Captain, again. We are on our final approach. If you would, please fasten your seatbelts and make sure your seats are in the upright position. We should be touching down in approximately twenty minutes."

Lee handed the file to Amanda as she placed it in her bag. They fastened their seatbelts and waited for the plane to land.

In no time at all, they were walking hand in hand through the terminal. Amanda spotted a gentleman in a suit holding a sign that read, Stetson/King, and pointed him out to Lee. They picked up their luggage and proceeded to the hotel.

Once arriving, they met with the manager briefly and headed up the private elevator with the bellboy.

Lee could tell Amanda was fidgety. "Amanda, honey. Relax. Everything will be just fine."

Amanda took a deep breath and exhaled. "You're right, sweetheart. Thank you."

The elevator doors opened and everyone stepped out. They turned to their left to be greeted by an exquisite circular foyer with the bellboy right behind them with their luggage. "Do you know which rooms you'll be staying in, so I can place your bags there?"

"No, we don't. If you'd like, you can just leave them here, and we can take care of it. Thank you." Lee reached into his pocket for a tip when the bellboy stopped him.

"It's okay, Mr. Stetson. Gratuities have already been taken care of for your entire stay. Please let me know if you need anything."

The bellboy slipped back into the elevator as Lee and Amanda quickly twisted back towards the suite with the sound of their names. "Amanda? Lee? Is that you?"

"Penny! It's so great to see you again." Both ladies hugged like two old friends who hadn't seen each other in years.

Rheza came up behind Penny and reached for Lee's hand. "Mr. Stetson. Thank you for agreeing to help us out this week."

Lee shook his hand in return. "No problem at all. We're glad we could be of service. And if we are to call you by your first names, you should do the same with us."

"Of course. Please, come into the living room. We were just discussing what we should do today."

"We'd love to. But first, we should put our luggage away, and I need to call Mother to let her know we made it," Amanda stated.

Penny turned and made her way around the table in the middle of the foyer. She motioned to her right. "Down this hall are your two bedrooms. I'll let you decide who gets which one." Penny glanced mischievously towards Lee and then Amanda. "That is, unless you'll be sharing a room."

Lee and Amanda stared wide-eyed at each other, shocked at her statement. They turned in time to watch Penny walk away. Amanda tossed out a polite, "Thank you. We'll just be a minute."

Lee grabbed their luggage and started down the hall with Amanda close behind. Amanda stopped in the first bedroom to use the phone as Lee proceeded to the far bedroom. Lee quickly set their luggage down and went back to meet up with Amanda.

Amanda was just hanging up the receiver. "That was a quick call. Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Mother was busy getting the boys off to school. I told her I would check in later on in the week. She says hello."

Lee nodded. "Um, Amanda. When are you going to tell Penny about us? I don't plan on sleeping alone while we're here."

Amanda lightly patted her hand on his lapel, straightened his tie, and saucily smiled. "I'll tell her sometime before we go to bed. But I want to pick just the right time. And for your information, I don't want to sleep alone either. Now, we should probably get in there before she comes searching for us."

The pair met Penny and Rheza in the living room and sat on the couch directly across from them. "Penny, this suite is gorgeous."

"Thanks. Did you two get your sleeping arrangements figured out?"

"Yes, we did." Amanda glanced at her, "Penny, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, anything."

"Well, actually, it's for both you and Rheza." Amanda nervously fidgeted with her hands. "What is your schedule like around the holidays? Say between Christmas and the New Year. I know you're probably busy, but I was just curious."

"Our schedule is pretty busy around Christmas, but we've been invited to the New Year's Ball in DC this year, so we will be in town. Why do you ask?"

Amanda flopped her left hand around in the air. "Oh, I don't know. I just thought you'd like to come to my wedding, but if you're going to be busy, I completely understand."

Penny's eyes lit up at the sight of the diamond on her finger. She jumped up to sit next to her for a better look. "Amanda, why didn't you tell me you got engaged? When did this happen?"

"Just a few weeks ago. I didn't think this was something you tell someone in a letter. I wanted to see your reaction to the news."

Penny curiously studied Lee, who was surprisingly very quiet. "Have you met Amanda's fiance?"

Lee thought he'd play along for a little while. "Yes, Penny. I know him. He's a very nice man and loves Amanda with all his heart."

"So, you approve of him?"

"One hundred and ten percent. I couldn't have picked a better man for Amanda. They are perfect for one another."

"Well, I have to confess, I thought something was going on between the two of you the last time we were together. In fact, I was kind of hoping for it."

"Penny, I'd already explained our relationship back then."

"I remember. It was kind of hard to forget." She hugged Amanda. "Oh, I'm so happy for you. When do I get to meet your man?"

Amanda smiled at Lee, then her eyes darted back to Penny. "You've already met him, Penny. Lee and I are getting married."

Both Rheza and Penny quickly looked at Lee with shock as Lee grinned with his dimples on full display and playfully waved his fingers at Penny.