OPEN ARMS TO HOLD HER WITH
BY
MELINDA G. LIGHT
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DISCLAIMER:
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
TIMEFRAME:
RATING:
SUMMARY:
FEEDBACK:
Prologue:
Monday morning, 3:30a.m. at the bar called "The Water Loft", located about an hour and a half away from the Agency:
"Thanks, Charlie, for the information." Francine said as she watched him leave. She turned around to find her partner on this case. Seeing Amanda at the bar, she headed over to tell her they could go. She thought, "The sooner we get out of here the better. This place seems to be very popular with the low-life, like Charlie Spritz. You can hardly move in here it's so crowded."
"Amanda, are you ready to go?" Francine asked.
"I just need to make a quick stop in the powder room." Amanda told her and headed in that direction.
"I'll meet you at the front door." Francine answered.
Both Amanda and Francine started pushing their way through the crowd.
The hallway to the restrooms were right across from the entrance to the place. As Amanda headed to the women's room, she noticed a man had come out of the men's room and was heading toward her. She tried to move to one side but all of a sudden he grabbed her. Before Amanda realized what was happening he had her up against the wall.
The man, who looked like a biker, said drunkenly,"Oh, it looks like I get to have a little fun tonight after all."
Amanda started struggling, and tried to break free. She screamed for Francine.
Francine heard the scream and started heading toward the restroom but a bunch of drunks kept getting in her way. She looked down the hallway and saw what was going on.
"Amanda, remember what I showed you three weeks ago." Francine hollered at her.
Francine watched as Amanda brought her knee up into the guy's groin. This doubled him over and Amanda took her knee up again and pulled his head down at the same time. When it was all over the guy was laying unconscious on the floor.
Amanda stood there for a few minutes, and then turned around to head back toward Francine.
Francine watched Amanda walk towards her and noticed her blouse had been ripped open. She took her jacket off and put it on Amanda. Then taking her by the arm, led her out the exit to her car. She was beginning to get worried because Amanda had not said anything.
"Amanda, I'm going to take you back to the Agency." Francine told her.
Amanda just nodded and stared ahead. Amanda said to herself,"I can't break down now, not in front of her."
Hour and a half later:
Both the women walked toward Billy's office. In the car, Amanda had refused to go to the Agency clinic saying that she was all right.
Francine knocked on Billy's door.
"Come in." Billy hollered.
He jumped up out of his chair when he saw Amanda.
"What happened?" Billy asked.
Amanda just sat down on the couch and stared straight ahead.
Francine decided that she had better tell Billy what happened, because it looked like Amanda was in shock. By the time she'd finished it was 6:45a.m. She answered all of Billy's questions as best she could. When they were completely done it was 7:20a.m.
The whole time Billy was listening, he noticed Amanda had started to shake.
By the time, Francine had finished telling him what had happened, he had decided to call Lee.
"Francine, would you go call Lee and get him to come in?"
Francine left the office. She tried reaching him at his apartment but there was no answer. Therefore, she decided to try the Q-bureau. She thought, "It's highly unlikely that he'd be there this early."
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In the Q-bureau, Monday morning:
Waiting for Amanda to come into work, Lee watched the clock as it showed 7:45a.m. He was starting to get worried because usually she was there when he came in. In order to get a head start on a new case, they had both agreed to meet at 7:00a.m. While he sat down at his desk, Lee answered the telephone when it rang and listened for a second.
Standing up, he responded, "I'll be right down, Francine."
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In Billy's office, Amanda was sitting in the corner of the couch shaking badly. Billy was trying to calm her down but was having trouble. He was also upset with himself. It was his idea to have her help out Francine on this case.
While Lee knocked on the door, he wondered why Billy wanted to see him.
Billy looked up with a frown on his face. He walked to the door and stepped out to talk to Lee.
"Billy, what's up?" Lee asks.
Pulling Lee aside from everyone else, Billy calmly said, "It's Amanda. Last night I assigned her to help Francine out on this one case. Well, the meeting place was "The Water Loft". Their contact did not approach them until 3:00 this morning. After the meet, Amanda decided to excuse herself to go to the powder room. She had to go down a hallway to get to the restroom. A guy came out of the men's room and saw Amanda. If it wasn't for Francine showing her some moves a few weeks ago, the guy would had been successful in forcing himself on her. Francine saw the whole thing, but couldn't get to her in time to help. She brought Amanda straight back here. She's been sitting in my office since 5:00 shaking. I thought maybe you could calm her down."
Lee had slightly tensed when Billy said Amanda's name, but when he'd mentioned "The Water Loft", his jaw had clenched. He knew the place Billy had mentioned. There were a few times he'd meet some of his contacts there.
Opening the door to the office, he stepped through and thought to himself, "You need to calm down. Amanda needs you. She is your best friend, and now you have a chance to prove you can be her best friend."
Billy had stepped into the office behind Lee and shut the door. Lee stood in front of Amanda, while Billy watched the whole thing. Then Lee turned to Billy, and whispered in his ear, "I don't think she should go home in this condition. What do you think?"
"I agree with you." Billy said as Lee turned back around to Amanda.
"Amanda." Lee calmly said.
Amanda looked up and saw Lee standing there watching her. She slowly stood up never taking her eyes off him.
Lee slowly held his arms open wide. She realized what he was saying without exchanging words. This had broken the dam. She stepped into his waiting arms and started crying. Lee wrapped his arms around her for a few minutes, and then he slowly picked her up.
"Billy, would you open the door? I'm taking her to my apartment for the rest of the day….at least."
Billy opened the door, and watched as Lee leaned down and whispered in Amanda's ear, "Do you want me to carry you all the way, or do you want to walk?" Amanda looked up at him, and put her arms around his neck.
Lee headed out the door, where he ran into Francine. His only words were, "Thank you."
Francine understood what he was really saying, and it surprised her. She knew his thanks was for teaching Amanda the self-defense moves she had used last night. Lee may not realize it now, but she decided she would offer to teach Amanda some more.
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Lee's apartment:
Lee sat on the couch with Amanda, who was sitting in his lap, with her head on his shoulder. She had calmed down quite a bit since leaving Billy's office, but she did not want to move from where she was. She felt so safe in Lee's arms.
Lee was trying very hard to remain calm. He kept thinking, "I can't believe she turned to me for comfort." Lee was still angry about what had happened to her, but realized that the only thing he could do was what he was already doing, being a friend.
After a while, Lee discovered that Amanda had fallen asleep. He slowly got up with her in his arms, and carried her to his bedroom. With some difficulty he pulled down the sheets to his bed and laid her down. He removed her shoes, and decided to remove her barrettes from her hair, so she wouldn't have a headache when she woke up. When he took the last barrette out, he slowly let his finger trace down her cheek.
All of a sudden, she woke up; groggily she looked up at Lee, and smiled.
Lee had trouble breathing for a second when he saw the look in her eyes. There was something there that he hoped one day to follow up on, but he knew it wouldn't be right to pursue it now. Slowly he pulled the sheets up, and stepped back. He started to leave the room, when he heard Amanda calling him back.
"Lee?" Amanda quietly said.
Lee turned around, and moved back to the bed.
"Lee, would you hold me? Please! I'm afraid to be alone."
Amanda looked deep into Lee's eyes and reached out her hands.
Lee slowly removed his shoes and took her hands in his. Amanda pulled him down beside her. He didn't say anything to Amanda, but he thought to himself, "Amanda, if it was up to me these arms would always be holding you." He lay down next to her, and gathered her close to his side.
As Amanda curled up next to Lee, with her head on his shoulder, Lee leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Amanda, these arms are always open to you."
Amanda sighed and they fell asleep, each holding their best friend.
The end?