Chapter 2
"Thank you," Joe said to the waitress as she placed their drinks on the table. "I think we'll need just another minute."
"Yes, sir. Just let me know when you're ready."
"Thank you for agreeing to come out with me tonight, Amanda," Joe said once the waitress had gone. "Especially, with it being as late as it is."
"Oh, Joe, it's my pleasure, but we didn't have to come here." She leaned across the table towards him and lowered her voice. "This restaurant is very expensive," she indicated the prices on her menu.
"Think of it as part of our celebration. For us being together and for things working out at EAO." He held up his glass and Amanda gently tapped hers against his. "You know, for a while I didn't know if things were going to work out. Fortunately, for us Mr. Stetson was there to help." Amanda almost choked on her drink at the mention of Lee. "Amanda, are you all right."
"Yes, I'm fine." She cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject. "What are you going to order? The fish looks like it might be good. I think I might get the fish." Joe noticed her sudden change in character but decided to ignore it.
They talked companionably about numerous things as they ate. Joe told Amanda about the progress that he had made while he was in Africa and Amanda updated him on Philip and Jamie.
"Wow. It sounds like I missed out on a lot," Joe said regretfully. "Sometimes I."
"Would you like some coffee?" the waitress asked cutting Joe off.
"Amanda?" Joe looked at her for her approval.
"That would be nice." The waitress came back with two cups of coffee and placed them on the table.
"Amanda," Joe started once they were alone again. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yes."
"There is something that has been kind of bothering me." Amanda started to twist in her seat a little, knowing what was coming. "I just was wondering how you came to meet Mr. Stetson."
"Oh." Amanda looked down into her coffee.
"It's just that," Joe continued quickly, "I got the feeling the two of you have known each other longer than this whole EAO thing."
Amanda looked up at Joe and he was watching her expectantly. "Well, we have actually," Amanda said trying to decide what she was going to do. "Actually we've known each other for about 3 years." She took a deep breath and decided just to go ahead and tell him. "Joe, we work together. Lee and I work together." Joe sat there with a stunned expression on his face. "Look," Amanda rushed on before he could interrupt, "I know you think it's crazy. You probably even think that I'm crazy but I love my job. I love doing what I do and it is a part of my life now." Amanda took a breath before continuing, "And it is just something that you are going to have to accept." Amanda watched him as he took in what she had said.
Joe searched her face for any signs that she was playing some practical joke on him or something but the more he looked the more serious he could tell she was. "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Yes."
Joe looked at her quizzically. "Amanda, are you telling me that you're a spy?"
"Well, we don't care for that word really."
"Do your mother and the boys know?"
"No, and you can't tell them, either. It's safer for them if they know nothing about what I do, so you have to promise me that you won't say anything."
"But, Amanda---, "Joe started to argue.
"Joe," Amanda reached across the table and put her hand on top of his. "You have to promise me. Please." She looked at him, her eyes silently pleading with him.
"Okay." Joe agreed reluctantly. "I promise. I won't say anything to anyone."
"Thank you." Amanda lightly squeezed his hand and he smiled.
* * *
* *
Lee opened up the door to his quiet, dark apartment. He switched on the light and went into his kitchen, where he dropped a paper bag containing his dinner, onto the counter. He opened up the bag and pulled out his burger. When he pulled the fries out he found they were cold. "Great," he grumbled under his breath. He walked over to the cabinet where he kept his plates but when he opened the door it was empty. He turned around and saw a stack of dishes sitting in the sink that still needed to be washed.
Annoyed, Lee snatched up the fries, put them in the paper bag, and threw them in the trash. He wasn't very hungry anyway. He would just eat the burger, he decided. He picked up the burger and walked back out into the family room. Seeing that there were messages on his answering machine he pushed the playback button and flopped down onto the sofa to listen to the messages.
"Hi Lee," the first voice on the answering machine purred. "It's me, Tanya. Long time, no see and that's way to long for me, so give me a call. You know my number." Lee reached over and hit the erase button. Tanya had lost his interest a long time ago. He listened as the next message started.
"Lee. It's Cheryl. Where have you been? I've missed you. It seems like it's been ages since the last time I saw you. Call me. We have a lot of catching up to do. Bye, now." Lee erased that message and three more messages that were just like it. None of the messages were from the woman he was hoping to hear from. He got up and went into the kitchen, tossing the burger wrapper into the trash.
He started pacing back in forth in the small room, feeling the need to use up some of his restless energy. Thoughts of the afternoon started to flow through his mind and he smiled, remembering the nice lunch he had spent with Amanda.
"Well," Amanda said, once they were seated in a booth, at a quaint little restaurant in D.C., "This certainly doesn't seem like a place where you order a chicken sandwich." She looked across the table at him.
"No," Lee agreed, mirroring her smile. They picked up their menus and started to go over them. "Might I call your attention to the bottom, right page, under entrees, the third one down." He looked over his menu and gave her a mischievous grin. He watched as she looked down at her menu and saw the delight on her face, as she found what he was talking about.
"They have chicken tetrazzini here!" She looked up at him, her excitement evident on her face. "I love chicken tetrazzini."
"I know," Lee said with confidence. "You told me when we went to Senator Conkwell's Christmas party."
"Lee, Senator Conkwell's party was over two years ago," Amanda said in amazement.
"Um, hmm." Lee nodded his head nonchalantly.
"And you remembered that?"
"I remember a lot of things about you, Amanda King." Lee said softly. He saw her cheeks redden in embarrassment and he smiled, as she ducked her head down behind her menu. He could tell she was trying hard to keep from smiling and that made him smile even more. "So," he said, after clearing his throat, "I thought we could split the chicken tetrazzini and we could each get salads -- If that's okay with you, of course."
"That sounds good to me," Amanda agreed, sounding a bit more relaxed.
"Good."
They had had a very enjoyable lunch together and the remainder of the afternoon was just as easy going and carefree. Things had been going so nicely that Lee had almost forgotten that Amanda was supposed to have dinner with Joe that evening. Almost.
He pushed his hands roughly through his hair, as he remembered her standing up from her chair, on the other side of his desk, and saying good night to him. Purposely keeping himself busy reading the papers laid out in front of him, so that she wouldn't see the strain on his face because she was leaving, he nonchalantly said good night to her. He listened to the door click shut. Sighing deeply, he looked up and stared at the door, wishing she would come back and tell him that she had decided that she didn't want to go, but she didn't.
He didn't have any plans for tonight, so he stayed late, working in the Q Bureau, writing reports, filing files, stringing paper clips together. Whatever he could do to keep from going back to his lonely apartment. Finally, he had reluctantly decided that he should call it a night and now he was here, pacing in his kitchen.
Glancing at the wall clock, hanging above the counter, he saw that it was almost 11 o'clock. Surely, Amanda would be home by now. Maybe he should call her. He quickly pushed that thought out of his mind. There was no logical reason he could give her as to why he was calling and she would know that he was checking up on her. Then she would think that he didn't trust her and that would completely be the wrong idea. Especially, since she was the only one that he really trusted. The only one who he would trust with his life.
He looked once more at the clock, deciding then that it was late and he should go to bed. Not that he would get any sleep. The past few nights, he had been having trouble sleeping. He had been waking up in the middle of the night from dreams of Amanda.
He was standing there in the gym again. Amanda was standing next to Joe, each of them with their arms around the boys. Finally, they pulled apart and took each other's hands and walked out of the gym together. Lee kept calling Amanda for her to come back, but she kept walking. He kept calling her and calling her, but it was like she couldn't hear him. Then all of a sudden, he would wake up.
Lee flipped off the light in the kitchen and headed towards his bedroom. Once he was in his room he closed the door. Pulling off his tie, he walked over to the bed, and tossed the tie on his nightstand. He dropped down onto the bed and lied back, putting his head on his pillow, before closing his eyes. "Maybe tonight I'll get some sleep after all," Lee mumbled to himself, after a big yawn. And after a couple of minutes, he was asleep.
* * * * *
The next morning, the closet elevator doors opened and Lee stepped out into the crowded, agency hallway, only to be greeted by Francine. "Well, well, well" she said in an overly cheerful voice. "Actually making it in on time this morning, huh, Scarecrow?" Lee turned and began walking towards the bullpen. "Now," Francine started walking with him, seeming to forget her previous destination, "What does this mean? Either this means a particular place has frozen over or you have a new, little girlfriend. My bet would be on the latter. Am I right?"
"Knock it off, will you, Francine?" Lee groaned. They got to the bullpen and the guards opened the doors for them to enter. They stopped at Francine's desk and she dropped the folders she was carrying onto it. "I don't know why you are making such a big deal about me being here. I am here at 8 o'clock everyday to work, just like everybody else." He crossed his arms over his chest and propped himself on the corner of the desk. He grinned at Francine's disputing look. "Most of the time."
"Right." She sat down in her chair. "So, what are you 'working'," she held up her fingers in quotation, "on now?"
Lee was about to reply, when Billy's voice sounded from the door of his office. "Stetson, can I see you in my office, please." At Lee's nod, he went back into his office, letting the door close behind him.
"It looks like I'm about to find out," he said to Francine, as he stood up. He walked across the busy room, to Billy's office and went inside. "So, Billy, what's up?" he said once the door had closed.
Billy looked up from a file he was reading and looked at Lee. "I have a request for you, from a special agent Dusack." He took off his reading glasses and placed them on the desk.
"Dusack? Edgar Dusack?" Lee asked, coming to stand in front of the desk. Billy nodded and held out the file to Lee. "I haven't seen him in years. The last time I saw him was when we shut down a drug syndicate in Rio de Janeiro, back in '81, I think it was." He opened the file and started scanning it.
"Well, it turns out that one of the men who was in that syndicate is back on the streets. A Dimengo Jimenez, you may remember him."
"That's a name that would be hard to forget," Lee said, looking up from the file. "He's a twisted, psychotic maniac, who will do anything to smuggle drugs into the country, including killing people."
"One of the reasons Dusack requested you. You've dealt with Jimenez before. You know how his mind works. So, he wants you to fly up to New York to---"
"New York?" Lee jumped in. "Now wait a minute, Billy. I can't just take off. I have things here that still have to be taken care of."
"Let Amanda handle it," Billy dismissed.
"But, she's not used to working alone," Lee pressed. "She's used to having someone there to partner up with her."
Billy looked at him patiently. He knew that Lee's concerns for Amanda weren't totally based on Amanda working by herself. It was obvious that over the past 3 years that they had developed a good partnership and a great friendship, if not more, even if neither of them were willing to admit it yet. But, right now Lee was going to have to put his personal feelings aside.
"Amanda will be fine. While you're gone she'll only be doing light assignments, that she can handle alone. And if the occasion does arrive when she needs a partner she can be partnered up with Henderson."
Lee grimaced. The thought of Amanda spending time with that groping, octopus Henderson, made him want to go out into the bullpen now, rip his tie off of his scrawny little neck and tie his hands behind his back with it.
He looked at Billy and could tell that there was going to be no really good reason he could use, as to why he wouldn't be able to go that Billy would accept. "Fine," he resigned. "I'll go."
"Good," Billy said with a smile. "All of the preparations have already been made and you're expected to start your official work in New York in the morning."
"In the morning!" Lee gave him an incredulous look.
"That's right." Billy opened a drawer in his desk and produced a plane ticket. "Your flight leaves tonight at 6:15. You should arrive in New York around 7:00, where an agent will pick you up and take you to a hotel. All of the instructions are in here." He handed Lee a large yellow envelope.
"I don't believe this," Lee grumbled. He took the envelope and snatched the ticket off the desk and started towards the door, only to be stopped by Billy's voice.
"I remember there was a time when I couldn't keep you out of New York." He grinned at Lee's disgusted look. "You were always practically begging me to give you any assignments that would get you out of here. How times have changed." He laughed, as Lee yanked open the door and stalked out of the office.
On his way up to the Q Bureau, Lee tried to figure out how he was going to tell Amanda. This was going to be the first time that he would be away for possibly a long time, since they had started working together. They were a team. The past 3 years they had always worked together and now they might be split up for an extended period of time.
He unlocked the door to the Q Bureau. When he opened the door he saw that Amanda hadn't arrived yet, which was surprising since she almost always made it to work before he did. "Maybe she overslept after being up really late with her dinner date last night," he thought angrily to himself. He walked across the room and sat down behind his desk. He looked across at the chair, where Amanda usually worked. He was going to miss looking up and seeing her smiling face looking back at him.
All of a sudden, a torturous thought came into his mind. "What if she really didn't care that he was leaving?" He had spent so much time worrying about what she would think of him not being there that he hadn't even considered that it might not even bother her. Him being away could be more of a relief than a hardship.
Just then, Amanda opened the door and came in. "Good morning, Lee," she said brightly.
"Good morning, Amanda," he said, pasting on a quick smile. He definitely didn't want her to know that something was bothering him. Not that the smile would help. She could always read through him somehow. "Um, Amanda, I." he started, but Amanda cut him off.
"I'm sorry I'm late." She hooked her purse on the back of her chair and sat down. "But so far things have just falling apart. First, I was woken up at 3 o'clock this morning by Jamie, who had gone downstairs to get a glass of water and tripped over something. He hurt his arm, but fortunately it was only bruised, and thank goodness, because I certainly don't need to have anyone else breaking any more bones in the family. Anyway, when Jamie fell he landed on Philip's science project and it took me an hour and a half to fix it back to looking almost normal. When I finally got to bed it was almost time for everyone to get back up again. I had only intended to lay down for a few minutes until the alarm rang, but I didn't hear it, so I was late and I'm sorry." She finally stopped and gave Lee an apologetic look.
He sat there and shook his head. He still couldn't believe how she could say so much, hardly breathing in any air at all. She had never ceased to amaze him with that. Another thing that amazed him was how over time he had eventually been able to keep up, to some degree, with what she had said. And from what he could understand she hadn't overslept because she was up late with Joe!
A slow smile spread across his face. "It's okay, Amanda." He looked at his watch. "In fact, it's only 15 minutes after 9, so don't worry about it."
His smile and his attempt to make her feel better seemed to be successful and she smiled back at him. "So," she said, after clearing her throat, "what's up?" She looked at him eagerly, to find out what their new assignment was.
Suddenly, he was reminded of his new assignment for the case in New York. He looked down at his desk and started fumbling through some papers. "Uh, well," he stammered, stalling for time. Should he tell her now or should he wait until later? Wait until later. There was no need to put more weight on her shoulders. She was already having a rough morning. "Nothing really." He looked back up at her and shrugged. "Just some more paper work and I have a few errands, so you could come along and help me with those if you want."
"Sure," Amanda said with just as much as enthusiasm as she always had. Lee knew that if she hadn't told him, he never would have been able to guess that she had hardly gotten any sleep.
"All right, then." Lee stood up from his chair and Amanda did the same. "I have to go to the State Department and pick up some papers. I want to get those finished before." he paused. He was about to say before he had to leave, but caught himself. "Well, before the end of the day," he said with a wave of his hand.
Amanda thought she noticed Lee hesitate a little, like there was something more that he wanted to say. Surely, he wasn't upset because he had somehow found out about her telling Joe about their relationship. No, that was absurd. There was no possible way he would know that. Right? But something was definitely bothering him. Maybe she should just tell him that she had told Joe that they worked together and just get it out in the open now. No, not now. Maybe later.
"Amanda, are you ready?" Lee asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.
Suddenly, she realized that Lee was holding the door open for her and he was waiting for her to go out. "Yes. I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I'm just a little tired and I must be a little out of it." She waved her hand and briskly moved out into the hall.
Lee just smiled and followed her out. "I guess we're both kind of out of it," Lee thought and closed the door.
* * * * *
A couple of hours ago, they had returned from their errands. They had gone to several more places than Amanda thought they were going to, but she didn't mind. In fact, she rather enjoyed it. It helped keep her mind off how she was going to tell Lee about this situation with Joe. Now that she had finished alphabetizing some files in one of the file cabinets, she took the time to look at Lee sitting at his desk working.
He was reading and occasionally making notes in a file, but he didn't really seem to be concentrating. There was something that was definitely bothering him. What could it be? Well, she could ask him. But she had already done that and he had just shrugged and said that everything was fine. The exact same thing she had done when he had asked her if she was okay. She didn't know why either of them were being so secretive. Their friendship had grown to be more than that. They could trust each other. It was time that they both got things out into the open. And she would just have to do it first, she decided.
She closed the file cabinet and walked determinedly over to her chair and sat down. She looked straight at Lee and took a deep breath before she began. "Lee, I told Joe that we work together." Lee's head snapped up and he was about to say something, but Amanda rushed on. "I told him that we work together, for the agency, and that we're partners."
Lee stared at her, astonishment written all over his face. "Well, what did he say?" He babbled, still trying to get over the shock that she had told Joe. They had been working together for almost three years now, and she hadn't been able to tell her mother. Now, all of a sudden, she could just blurt this out to her ex-husband, who had just picked up and left her several years ago.
"He took it quite well, actually," Amanda said reassuringly.
"Oh, he did, did he?" Lee stood up from his desk and started to pace the room.
Amanda watched Lee carefully, seeing the anger grow on his face. She hadn't expected him to react this way to her telling Joe at all. "Yes, he did," she confirmed, holding her ground. "In fact, he took the news better than I thought he would," she threw in.
"I can't believe it."
"What?" Amanda frowned up at him.
"You," Lee said accusingly, turning around to face her.
"Me?" Amanda's eyes widened in astonishment.
"Yes, you. The guy's only been back for a couple of weeks and already you're spilling out your whole life to him."
Starting to get annoyed, Amanda stood up making it so that she was standing only inches away from him. "That guy, at one time, was my husband. And---"
"Was, is the key word, Amanda," Lee said, cutting her off. "Now he's your ex-husband. You're divorced now," he said, making it sound like something that she didn't already know.
"I know that."
"But does he? What do you think he's hanging around for?"
"To spend time with the boys," Amanda explained simply.
"Yeah, right. You don't really believe that, do you?" He was starting to sound more frustrated with her than ever.
"Well, what else is there to believe?"
"Oh, come on Amanda. Obviously, he wants to get back together with you."
"What!" Amanda stammered. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This conversation was getting more and more ridiculous by the minute. She let out a deep sigh. "That's ridiculous."
"It is, is it?"
"Yes," she said firmly.
"Then why is he suddenly so interested in you?" He held up his fingers, counting with each example. "Where you are. What you do. Who you do it with. It's as clear as night and day, Amanda. He wants you back."
"So, what if he does?" Amanda threw back at him, putting her hands on her hips. "You're the one who, when I said that when Joe left things had turned out okay, that okay wasn't good enough for me. Well, maybe getting married again would be better for me than okay."
Lee stared at her for a moment, unable to say anything. All he did was mention that Joe wanted to be back with her and now she was already thinking of them getting remarried. How could she possibly jump that far ahead? Had she already been thinking that she wanted to be back with him?
He let out an exasperated sigh. "But not by remarrying him" He reached out and put his hands on her upper arms, gently but firmly, forcing her to look at him. "Amanda, you already tried that and it didn't work out. He left then and who's to say he'll stay here this time?"
Amanda stared up into his hazel eyes. They were so close that she could see the light brown around his pupils, which at a further distance were almost nonexistent in the green. In them, she could see how sincere he was about everything he was telling her and how much he cared about her well being, but in this circumstance he was being overly protective.
"Now, look Lee," she said gently, reaching out to smooth down the bottom of his tie. "I--"
"No, you look!" Lee demanded forcefully, causing Amanda's head to snap back up. When she looked into his eyes this time, she saw anger burning in them.
"You should stay away from him--"
"Stay away from him!" Amanda burst out, now equally as angry. She could not believe what she was hearing now. How dare he stand here and dictate to her how he thought she should live her life.
"Yes, before you get hurt."
Amanda snatched her arms out of Lee's grasp. She had heard enough. She wasn't going to stand here and let Lee tell her what to do. She glared up at him. "Well, unfortunately that's not your decision to make."
Lee just stared at her for several seconds. "Fine," he said finally. He spun around and walked to the door. He paused before opening the door, with his hand on the doorknob. "Just don't come crying to me when he walks out on you again, because I told you so."
"I won't," Amanda said, refusing to back down.
"Fine"
"Fine," Amanda repeated. She watched as Lee ripped open the door and winced as it slammed shut behind him.
"Thank you," Joe said to the waitress as she placed their drinks on the table. "I think we'll need just another minute."
"Yes, sir. Just let me know when you're ready."
"Thank you for agreeing to come out with me tonight, Amanda," Joe said once the waitress had gone. "Especially, with it being as late as it is."
"Oh, Joe, it's my pleasure, but we didn't have to come here." She leaned across the table towards him and lowered her voice. "This restaurant is very expensive," she indicated the prices on her menu.
"Think of it as part of our celebration. For us being together and for things working out at EAO." He held up his glass and Amanda gently tapped hers against his. "You know, for a while I didn't know if things were going to work out. Fortunately, for us Mr. Stetson was there to help." Amanda almost choked on her drink at the mention of Lee. "Amanda, are you all right."
"Yes, I'm fine." She cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject. "What are you going to order? The fish looks like it might be good. I think I might get the fish." Joe noticed her sudden change in character but decided to ignore it.
They talked companionably about numerous things as they ate. Joe told Amanda about the progress that he had made while he was in Africa and Amanda updated him on Philip and Jamie.
"Wow. It sounds like I missed out on a lot," Joe said regretfully. "Sometimes I."
"Would you like some coffee?" the waitress asked cutting Joe off.
"Amanda?" Joe looked at her for her approval.
"That would be nice." The waitress came back with two cups of coffee and placed them on the table.
"Amanda," Joe started once they were alone again. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yes."
"There is something that has been kind of bothering me." Amanda started to twist in her seat a little, knowing what was coming. "I just was wondering how you came to meet Mr. Stetson."
"Oh." Amanda looked down into her coffee.
"It's just that," Joe continued quickly, "I got the feeling the two of you have known each other longer than this whole EAO thing."
Amanda looked up at Joe and he was watching her expectantly. "Well, we have actually," Amanda said trying to decide what she was going to do. "Actually we've known each other for about 3 years." She took a deep breath and decided just to go ahead and tell him. "Joe, we work together. Lee and I work together." Joe sat there with a stunned expression on his face. "Look," Amanda rushed on before he could interrupt, "I know you think it's crazy. You probably even think that I'm crazy but I love my job. I love doing what I do and it is a part of my life now." Amanda took a breath before continuing, "And it is just something that you are going to have to accept." Amanda watched him as he took in what she had said.
Joe searched her face for any signs that she was playing some practical joke on him or something but the more he looked the more serious he could tell she was. "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Yes."
Joe looked at her quizzically. "Amanda, are you telling me that you're a spy?"
"Well, we don't care for that word really."
"Do your mother and the boys know?"
"No, and you can't tell them, either. It's safer for them if they know nothing about what I do, so you have to promise me that you won't say anything."
"But, Amanda---, "Joe started to argue.
"Joe," Amanda reached across the table and put her hand on top of his. "You have to promise me. Please." She looked at him, her eyes silently pleading with him.
"Okay." Joe agreed reluctantly. "I promise. I won't say anything to anyone."
"Thank you." Amanda lightly squeezed his hand and he smiled.
* * *
* *
Lee opened up the door to his quiet, dark apartment. He switched on the light and went into his kitchen, where he dropped a paper bag containing his dinner, onto the counter. He opened up the bag and pulled out his burger. When he pulled the fries out he found they were cold. "Great," he grumbled under his breath. He walked over to the cabinet where he kept his plates but when he opened the door it was empty. He turned around and saw a stack of dishes sitting in the sink that still needed to be washed.
Annoyed, Lee snatched up the fries, put them in the paper bag, and threw them in the trash. He wasn't very hungry anyway. He would just eat the burger, he decided. He picked up the burger and walked back out into the family room. Seeing that there were messages on his answering machine he pushed the playback button and flopped down onto the sofa to listen to the messages.
"Hi Lee," the first voice on the answering machine purred. "It's me, Tanya. Long time, no see and that's way to long for me, so give me a call. You know my number." Lee reached over and hit the erase button. Tanya had lost his interest a long time ago. He listened as the next message started.
"Lee. It's Cheryl. Where have you been? I've missed you. It seems like it's been ages since the last time I saw you. Call me. We have a lot of catching up to do. Bye, now." Lee erased that message and three more messages that were just like it. None of the messages were from the woman he was hoping to hear from. He got up and went into the kitchen, tossing the burger wrapper into the trash.
He started pacing back in forth in the small room, feeling the need to use up some of his restless energy. Thoughts of the afternoon started to flow through his mind and he smiled, remembering the nice lunch he had spent with Amanda.
"Well," Amanda said, once they were seated in a booth, at a quaint little restaurant in D.C., "This certainly doesn't seem like a place where you order a chicken sandwich." She looked across the table at him.
"No," Lee agreed, mirroring her smile. They picked up their menus and started to go over them. "Might I call your attention to the bottom, right page, under entrees, the third one down." He looked over his menu and gave her a mischievous grin. He watched as she looked down at her menu and saw the delight on her face, as she found what he was talking about.
"They have chicken tetrazzini here!" She looked up at him, her excitement evident on her face. "I love chicken tetrazzini."
"I know," Lee said with confidence. "You told me when we went to Senator Conkwell's Christmas party."
"Lee, Senator Conkwell's party was over two years ago," Amanda said in amazement.
"Um, hmm." Lee nodded his head nonchalantly.
"And you remembered that?"
"I remember a lot of things about you, Amanda King." Lee said softly. He saw her cheeks redden in embarrassment and he smiled, as she ducked her head down behind her menu. He could tell she was trying hard to keep from smiling and that made him smile even more. "So," he said, after clearing his throat, "I thought we could split the chicken tetrazzini and we could each get salads -- If that's okay with you, of course."
"That sounds good to me," Amanda agreed, sounding a bit more relaxed.
"Good."
They had had a very enjoyable lunch together and the remainder of the afternoon was just as easy going and carefree. Things had been going so nicely that Lee had almost forgotten that Amanda was supposed to have dinner with Joe that evening. Almost.
He pushed his hands roughly through his hair, as he remembered her standing up from her chair, on the other side of his desk, and saying good night to him. Purposely keeping himself busy reading the papers laid out in front of him, so that she wouldn't see the strain on his face because she was leaving, he nonchalantly said good night to her. He listened to the door click shut. Sighing deeply, he looked up and stared at the door, wishing she would come back and tell him that she had decided that she didn't want to go, but she didn't.
He didn't have any plans for tonight, so he stayed late, working in the Q Bureau, writing reports, filing files, stringing paper clips together. Whatever he could do to keep from going back to his lonely apartment. Finally, he had reluctantly decided that he should call it a night and now he was here, pacing in his kitchen.
Glancing at the wall clock, hanging above the counter, he saw that it was almost 11 o'clock. Surely, Amanda would be home by now. Maybe he should call her. He quickly pushed that thought out of his mind. There was no logical reason he could give her as to why he was calling and she would know that he was checking up on her. Then she would think that he didn't trust her and that would completely be the wrong idea. Especially, since she was the only one that he really trusted. The only one who he would trust with his life.
He looked once more at the clock, deciding then that it was late and he should go to bed. Not that he would get any sleep. The past few nights, he had been having trouble sleeping. He had been waking up in the middle of the night from dreams of Amanda.
He was standing there in the gym again. Amanda was standing next to Joe, each of them with their arms around the boys. Finally, they pulled apart and took each other's hands and walked out of the gym together. Lee kept calling Amanda for her to come back, but she kept walking. He kept calling her and calling her, but it was like she couldn't hear him. Then all of a sudden, he would wake up.
Lee flipped off the light in the kitchen and headed towards his bedroom. Once he was in his room he closed the door. Pulling off his tie, he walked over to the bed, and tossed the tie on his nightstand. He dropped down onto the bed and lied back, putting his head on his pillow, before closing his eyes. "Maybe tonight I'll get some sleep after all," Lee mumbled to himself, after a big yawn. And after a couple of minutes, he was asleep.
* * * * *
The next morning, the closet elevator doors opened and Lee stepped out into the crowded, agency hallway, only to be greeted by Francine. "Well, well, well" she said in an overly cheerful voice. "Actually making it in on time this morning, huh, Scarecrow?" Lee turned and began walking towards the bullpen. "Now," Francine started walking with him, seeming to forget her previous destination, "What does this mean? Either this means a particular place has frozen over or you have a new, little girlfriend. My bet would be on the latter. Am I right?"
"Knock it off, will you, Francine?" Lee groaned. They got to the bullpen and the guards opened the doors for them to enter. They stopped at Francine's desk and she dropped the folders she was carrying onto it. "I don't know why you are making such a big deal about me being here. I am here at 8 o'clock everyday to work, just like everybody else." He crossed his arms over his chest and propped himself on the corner of the desk. He grinned at Francine's disputing look. "Most of the time."
"Right." She sat down in her chair. "So, what are you 'working'," she held up her fingers in quotation, "on now?"
Lee was about to reply, when Billy's voice sounded from the door of his office. "Stetson, can I see you in my office, please." At Lee's nod, he went back into his office, letting the door close behind him.
"It looks like I'm about to find out," he said to Francine, as he stood up. He walked across the busy room, to Billy's office and went inside. "So, Billy, what's up?" he said once the door had closed.
Billy looked up from a file he was reading and looked at Lee. "I have a request for you, from a special agent Dusack." He took off his reading glasses and placed them on the desk.
"Dusack? Edgar Dusack?" Lee asked, coming to stand in front of the desk. Billy nodded and held out the file to Lee. "I haven't seen him in years. The last time I saw him was when we shut down a drug syndicate in Rio de Janeiro, back in '81, I think it was." He opened the file and started scanning it.
"Well, it turns out that one of the men who was in that syndicate is back on the streets. A Dimengo Jimenez, you may remember him."
"That's a name that would be hard to forget," Lee said, looking up from the file. "He's a twisted, psychotic maniac, who will do anything to smuggle drugs into the country, including killing people."
"One of the reasons Dusack requested you. You've dealt with Jimenez before. You know how his mind works. So, he wants you to fly up to New York to---"
"New York?" Lee jumped in. "Now wait a minute, Billy. I can't just take off. I have things here that still have to be taken care of."
"Let Amanda handle it," Billy dismissed.
"But, she's not used to working alone," Lee pressed. "She's used to having someone there to partner up with her."
Billy looked at him patiently. He knew that Lee's concerns for Amanda weren't totally based on Amanda working by herself. It was obvious that over the past 3 years that they had developed a good partnership and a great friendship, if not more, even if neither of them were willing to admit it yet. But, right now Lee was going to have to put his personal feelings aside.
"Amanda will be fine. While you're gone she'll only be doing light assignments, that she can handle alone. And if the occasion does arrive when she needs a partner she can be partnered up with Henderson."
Lee grimaced. The thought of Amanda spending time with that groping, octopus Henderson, made him want to go out into the bullpen now, rip his tie off of his scrawny little neck and tie his hands behind his back with it.
He looked at Billy and could tell that there was going to be no really good reason he could use, as to why he wouldn't be able to go that Billy would accept. "Fine," he resigned. "I'll go."
"Good," Billy said with a smile. "All of the preparations have already been made and you're expected to start your official work in New York in the morning."
"In the morning!" Lee gave him an incredulous look.
"That's right." Billy opened a drawer in his desk and produced a plane ticket. "Your flight leaves tonight at 6:15. You should arrive in New York around 7:00, where an agent will pick you up and take you to a hotel. All of the instructions are in here." He handed Lee a large yellow envelope.
"I don't believe this," Lee grumbled. He took the envelope and snatched the ticket off the desk and started towards the door, only to be stopped by Billy's voice.
"I remember there was a time when I couldn't keep you out of New York." He grinned at Lee's disgusted look. "You were always practically begging me to give you any assignments that would get you out of here. How times have changed." He laughed, as Lee yanked open the door and stalked out of the office.
On his way up to the Q Bureau, Lee tried to figure out how he was going to tell Amanda. This was going to be the first time that he would be away for possibly a long time, since they had started working together. They were a team. The past 3 years they had always worked together and now they might be split up for an extended period of time.
He unlocked the door to the Q Bureau. When he opened the door he saw that Amanda hadn't arrived yet, which was surprising since she almost always made it to work before he did. "Maybe she overslept after being up really late with her dinner date last night," he thought angrily to himself. He walked across the room and sat down behind his desk. He looked across at the chair, where Amanda usually worked. He was going to miss looking up and seeing her smiling face looking back at him.
All of a sudden, a torturous thought came into his mind. "What if she really didn't care that he was leaving?" He had spent so much time worrying about what she would think of him not being there that he hadn't even considered that it might not even bother her. Him being away could be more of a relief than a hardship.
Just then, Amanda opened the door and came in. "Good morning, Lee," she said brightly.
"Good morning, Amanda," he said, pasting on a quick smile. He definitely didn't want her to know that something was bothering him. Not that the smile would help. She could always read through him somehow. "Um, Amanda, I." he started, but Amanda cut him off.
"I'm sorry I'm late." She hooked her purse on the back of her chair and sat down. "But so far things have just falling apart. First, I was woken up at 3 o'clock this morning by Jamie, who had gone downstairs to get a glass of water and tripped over something. He hurt his arm, but fortunately it was only bruised, and thank goodness, because I certainly don't need to have anyone else breaking any more bones in the family. Anyway, when Jamie fell he landed on Philip's science project and it took me an hour and a half to fix it back to looking almost normal. When I finally got to bed it was almost time for everyone to get back up again. I had only intended to lay down for a few minutes until the alarm rang, but I didn't hear it, so I was late and I'm sorry." She finally stopped and gave Lee an apologetic look.
He sat there and shook his head. He still couldn't believe how she could say so much, hardly breathing in any air at all. She had never ceased to amaze him with that. Another thing that amazed him was how over time he had eventually been able to keep up, to some degree, with what she had said. And from what he could understand she hadn't overslept because she was up late with Joe!
A slow smile spread across his face. "It's okay, Amanda." He looked at his watch. "In fact, it's only 15 minutes after 9, so don't worry about it."
His smile and his attempt to make her feel better seemed to be successful and she smiled back at him. "So," she said, after clearing her throat, "what's up?" She looked at him eagerly, to find out what their new assignment was.
Suddenly, he was reminded of his new assignment for the case in New York. He looked down at his desk and started fumbling through some papers. "Uh, well," he stammered, stalling for time. Should he tell her now or should he wait until later? Wait until later. There was no need to put more weight on her shoulders. She was already having a rough morning. "Nothing really." He looked back up at her and shrugged. "Just some more paper work and I have a few errands, so you could come along and help me with those if you want."
"Sure," Amanda said with just as much as enthusiasm as she always had. Lee knew that if she hadn't told him, he never would have been able to guess that she had hardly gotten any sleep.
"All right, then." Lee stood up from his chair and Amanda did the same. "I have to go to the State Department and pick up some papers. I want to get those finished before." he paused. He was about to say before he had to leave, but caught himself. "Well, before the end of the day," he said with a wave of his hand.
Amanda thought she noticed Lee hesitate a little, like there was something more that he wanted to say. Surely, he wasn't upset because he had somehow found out about her telling Joe about their relationship. No, that was absurd. There was no possible way he would know that. Right? But something was definitely bothering him. Maybe she should just tell him that she had told Joe that they worked together and just get it out in the open now. No, not now. Maybe later.
"Amanda, are you ready?" Lee asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.
Suddenly, she realized that Lee was holding the door open for her and he was waiting for her to go out. "Yes. I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I'm just a little tired and I must be a little out of it." She waved her hand and briskly moved out into the hall.
Lee just smiled and followed her out. "I guess we're both kind of out of it," Lee thought and closed the door.
* * * * *
A couple of hours ago, they had returned from their errands. They had gone to several more places than Amanda thought they were going to, but she didn't mind. In fact, she rather enjoyed it. It helped keep her mind off how she was going to tell Lee about this situation with Joe. Now that she had finished alphabetizing some files in one of the file cabinets, she took the time to look at Lee sitting at his desk working.
He was reading and occasionally making notes in a file, but he didn't really seem to be concentrating. There was something that was definitely bothering him. What could it be? Well, she could ask him. But she had already done that and he had just shrugged and said that everything was fine. The exact same thing she had done when he had asked her if she was okay. She didn't know why either of them were being so secretive. Their friendship had grown to be more than that. They could trust each other. It was time that they both got things out into the open. And she would just have to do it first, she decided.
She closed the file cabinet and walked determinedly over to her chair and sat down. She looked straight at Lee and took a deep breath before she began. "Lee, I told Joe that we work together." Lee's head snapped up and he was about to say something, but Amanda rushed on. "I told him that we work together, for the agency, and that we're partners."
Lee stared at her, astonishment written all over his face. "Well, what did he say?" He babbled, still trying to get over the shock that she had told Joe. They had been working together for almost three years now, and she hadn't been able to tell her mother. Now, all of a sudden, she could just blurt this out to her ex-husband, who had just picked up and left her several years ago.
"He took it quite well, actually," Amanda said reassuringly.
"Oh, he did, did he?" Lee stood up from his desk and started to pace the room.
Amanda watched Lee carefully, seeing the anger grow on his face. She hadn't expected him to react this way to her telling Joe at all. "Yes, he did," she confirmed, holding her ground. "In fact, he took the news better than I thought he would," she threw in.
"I can't believe it."
"What?" Amanda frowned up at him.
"You," Lee said accusingly, turning around to face her.
"Me?" Amanda's eyes widened in astonishment.
"Yes, you. The guy's only been back for a couple of weeks and already you're spilling out your whole life to him."
Starting to get annoyed, Amanda stood up making it so that she was standing only inches away from him. "That guy, at one time, was my husband. And---"
"Was, is the key word, Amanda," Lee said, cutting her off. "Now he's your ex-husband. You're divorced now," he said, making it sound like something that she didn't already know.
"I know that."
"But does he? What do you think he's hanging around for?"
"To spend time with the boys," Amanda explained simply.
"Yeah, right. You don't really believe that, do you?" He was starting to sound more frustrated with her than ever.
"Well, what else is there to believe?"
"Oh, come on Amanda. Obviously, he wants to get back together with you."
"What!" Amanda stammered. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This conversation was getting more and more ridiculous by the minute. She let out a deep sigh. "That's ridiculous."
"It is, is it?"
"Yes," she said firmly.
"Then why is he suddenly so interested in you?" He held up his fingers, counting with each example. "Where you are. What you do. Who you do it with. It's as clear as night and day, Amanda. He wants you back."
"So, what if he does?" Amanda threw back at him, putting her hands on her hips. "You're the one who, when I said that when Joe left things had turned out okay, that okay wasn't good enough for me. Well, maybe getting married again would be better for me than okay."
Lee stared at her for a moment, unable to say anything. All he did was mention that Joe wanted to be back with her and now she was already thinking of them getting remarried. How could she possibly jump that far ahead? Had she already been thinking that she wanted to be back with him?
He let out an exasperated sigh. "But not by remarrying him" He reached out and put his hands on her upper arms, gently but firmly, forcing her to look at him. "Amanda, you already tried that and it didn't work out. He left then and who's to say he'll stay here this time?"
Amanda stared up into his hazel eyes. They were so close that she could see the light brown around his pupils, which at a further distance were almost nonexistent in the green. In them, she could see how sincere he was about everything he was telling her and how much he cared about her well being, but in this circumstance he was being overly protective.
"Now, look Lee," she said gently, reaching out to smooth down the bottom of his tie. "I--"
"No, you look!" Lee demanded forcefully, causing Amanda's head to snap back up. When she looked into his eyes this time, she saw anger burning in them.
"You should stay away from him--"
"Stay away from him!" Amanda burst out, now equally as angry. She could not believe what she was hearing now. How dare he stand here and dictate to her how he thought she should live her life.
"Yes, before you get hurt."
Amanda snatched her arms out of Lee's grasp. She had heard enough. She wasn't going to stand here and let Lee tell her what to do. She glared up at him. "Well, unfortunately that's not your decision to make."
Lee just stared at her for several seconds. "Fine," he said finally. He spun around and walked to the door. He paused before opening the door, with his hand on the doorknob. "Just don't come crying to me when he walks out on you again, because I told you so."
"I won't," Amanda said, refusing to back down.
"Fine"
"Fine," Amanda repeated. She watched as Lee ripped open the door and winced as it slammed shut behind him.