Act 3: Getting to Know You
Setting: Jamie's neighborhood
Amanda huffed as she made her way out of the Metro station. It was dark and cold and she was irritated as she made her way toward Jamie and Mandy's brownstone. Who the heck did that guy think he was? "National security my..." Amada started.
She stopped mid-thought as she heard several swift footsteps behind her. Amanda did not turn around but picked up her pace. Afterall, she was a woman alone walking at night. Yes, Jamie and his family did live in a nice area of Woodley Park, but, this was DC and, it was dark. Amanda came to the light near the Zoo and as she began to cross the abandoned street, several ruffians approached and started pushing her around.
"Hey lady, ya got any extra change?" said the skinny tall one.
"No man, we don't want no change, we want real money", said one who looked too young to be out at this time of night. Amanda began to ask the youngster if his mother knew where he was when another kid grabbed for her purse.
The boys pressed in on Amanda and clutched her arms. They began ripping her purse away from her as Amanda grappled with them. They continued to struggle until Amanda heard the click of a switchblade. Immediately Amanda released her hold on her purse. Nothing was worth losing her life over.
Just as it looked like the boys would take off in triumph, a deep male voice behind them commanded "Drop the purse punk!"
Amanda whipped her head around. There was that aged lothario from the subway!
Lee swiftly seized the purse back from the youths and gave it back to it's rightful owner. Just his presence had the hoods running off to find more susceptible prey.
Amanda stood there shocked. "What is it with this guy?", she thought. She knew it was rude to just walk off but she was already so late. She mumbled a quick 'thank you' and turned so she could finally cross the street. Lee followed close behind as Amanda walked up the street and sauntered up to Jamie's walkway. All the while, Lee kept entreating Amanda to stop and listen to what he had to say.
Amanda continued to ignore the persistent stranger as they both arrived at Jamie's front door at the exact same time. Immediately Jamie's wife Mandy opened the door and bubbled, "Hello Mom!" (Mandy always called Amanda 'Mom'. For in-laws, they had a very close relationship. Amanda thought of Mandy as the daughter she never had.)
Mandy continued, "I see you brought your boyfriend, Come on in!"
Mandy shoved Lee into the foyer and toward the dining area before Amanda could protest. Joey and Marnie ran up to Lee's legs and threw their tiny arms around him. They both let out high pitched squeals of joy in response to Lee's "Uh, Hi there..."
Mandy handed Lee a plateful of homecooked food. "Mom you should have told me you were bringing..." Mandy looked at Amanda as if to say 'introduce him!'.
Lee offered "My name is Lee", as he gratefully took the plate of warm food.
"Well Lee, I'm glad you came with Mom. I would have prepared two plates instead of one if I had known", Mandy said with a playful, chastising look toward Amanda. "The kids have already eaten so, they get to stay up for 30 more minutes, then, it is bedtime!" Mandy said as she smiled at her two angels."Mom I'll make you a plate..."
"No, that's okay Mandy". Amanda was finally able to break into the interaction, "I can make my own plate. You better get going..."
"Oh, that's okay Mom. Phillip and Delores will be here any minute to meet us so we can go to Old Ebbitt's." Mandy took off to make Amanda a plate of food.
Just then Jamie entered the room, looking relieved to see his Mom and surprised to see her with a tall, handsome stranger. Jamie walked up to Lee and shook his hand as Mandy hollered from the kitchen to introduce them. Jamie gave Amanda an approving smile indicating that Lee was alright but he didn't see his Mom roll her eyes in vexation.
Next, Phillip and his wife Delores came into the house and greeted everyone with hugs and kisses. Phillip gave Jamie a "Who's this guy?" look as Mandy introduced everyone to "Mom's boyfriend Lee".
Amanda gave Lee her best 'Who do you think you are' glare but it didn't matter. Her grandchildren already had all of Lee's attention. Amanda couldn't help but notice the contrast Out there, she had seen the tough guy, the Don Juan. Now she saw a man who was immensely enjoying the giggles of her ticklish grandchildren. Amanda smiled in spite of herself. "If this guy is a gangster, he sure knows how to handle hoodlums and grandkids."
"Well, we better go Mom!," Phillip said as he hugged his Mom. "Looks like you found a nice guy".
Amanda had by this time given up any attempt to object to everyone's notion that Lee ,if that was his real name, was her boyfriend. "Okay kids, see you later. Enjoy yourselves!" She figured they would never see him again after tonight and she could just tell her kids that they had broken up.
"Thanks Mom!" Everyone said as they passed Amanda in the foyer and left for their night out on the town.
As the door closed, Amanda leaned back on the foyer wall. "What have I gotten myself into!" Amanda let out an exasperated sigh and slowly made her way to the dining area. Lee and the grandkids weren't there! Anxiously, Amanda began to call out for them throughout the house until she came into the family room. There, Amanda saw an exhausted Lee sitting on the couch with her two cherubs curled up in his lap. All of them were asleep.
Amanda approached Lee slowly and tapped him on the shoulder. When he didn't rouse, she gently scooped up Marnie, who had entangled herself in Lee's arms, and took her off to tuck her in bed. When Amanda returned, Lee was still out like a light. This time she gently extracted Joey from Lee's tender embrace. Amanda paused to look at this sleeping stranger. He had a beautiful face for a man. He kind of reminded her of Adonis from her World Lit days. He had that stately Roman nose. She thought he would wake up any minute declaring "Friends, Romans, countrymen!"
Amanda smiled to herself and quietly made her way to Joey's room to put him to bed. She tucked him in and turned off the hall light. When Amanda returned to the family room, Lee was gone! "Now hold on a minute!" she exclaimed.
Amanda made her way back to the kitchen and caught Lee looking through her purse.
"That's enough big fella! What do you think you are doing!?" Amanda hollered. She grabbed Lee's arm as he took the CD out of her purse and gave her an 'I told you so' look.
Amanda stared at the foreign item and said "What is that!?"
Lee responded, "A word."
"A word?" Amanda asked incredulously.
Lee replied, "Yes, my dear, this is a word. Evidence."
"Oh, National security?" Amanda replied smiling weakly.
"Yeah, this fell into your purse when we collided at Honeycutt," Lee explained.
"Oh my gosh!" Amanda said as she looked directly at Lee. She could see the genuine concern in his deep hazel eyes. She could get lost in those eyes. 'Alright Amanda, pull yourself together' she said to herself. 'This guy could still be a gangster, a murderer'. Amanda realized she couldn't put her question off any longer, "Who are you?"
"That's.." Lee was almost going to say 'need to know information' but thought better of it. He looked into the face of this amazing woman whom he had met. He had never met a female his own age that was so sharp, so pure, so kind. And strong. He had seen the way she had put in a good fight with the juvenile delinquents. But she had also exhibited wisdom when a potentially deadly weapon came into the picture. Somehow Lee felt he could trust this woman. He began, "My name is Lee Stetson and let's just say I'm working diligently to protect a client."
"Is that your real name?"
Lee chuckled at Amanda's heartfelt question. He was taken in by those beautiful, inquisitive and intelligent brown eyes. Lee moved in closer to her to softly answer. "Yes, my name really is Lee and this CD really contains information that may be vital to national security"
Amanda's heart beat faster as Lee moved his face closer to hers. She cleared her throat and stepped back. She wasn't finished with her questions. "Explain something to me. Why, back on the Metro, did you tell Babs Babcock that we would go to the Philanthropist Ball next week?"
Lee realized he had a very smart cookie on his hands. "Well, Ishmael Laban is one man I am very interested in meeting."
Amanda could tell by the look on Lee's face that he wasn't telling the whole truth. "How do I know that anything you are telling me is true?" Amanda said as she ripped the CD out of Lee's hand and dashed out of the room.
Lee said "Hey!" and followed her to the den.
Amanda stood in front of Jamie's computer and said "We'll just have to see if you're telling me the truth." Amanda slipped the CD into the disc drive and turned on the computer.
Lee felt it was useless to argue. He knew he needed an 'in' to the invitation only ball and Amanda was it.
Amanda pulled up the CD and as she scanned the information, she dropped her jaw.
Lee came over behind Amanda and leaned over her to look at the screen. Amanda got a strange sensation as she felt Lee's body behind her and scooted to the edge of her seat.
Lee didn't notice Amanda's aprehension because his eyes were riveted to the screen. There it was, all spelled out. Laban's Suisse bank accounts and contacts, both stateside and hezbolah. Contacts including unsuspecting donors such as senators and royalty.
Lee slammed his fist on the back of Amanda's chair. There on the screen was the name of his client, Emily Farnsworth.
Amanda looked up at Lee. She saw fire in those hazel eyes and had to admit to herself that she admired Lee's passion. "Yea, I guess we will be going to that Ball afterall."
Lee and Amanda spent the rest of the evening reviewing the information and devising a plan for next Saturday. As the evening wore on, they discussed their lives, their history. Amanda shared about her past marriages and realized she had met Lee all those years ago when Joe had returned from Estocia. Lee was amazed to find out that this was the same "June Cleaver" he had seen at the gym when the little boys, now known as Jamie and Phillip, had been kidnapped during Joe's fiasco. Lee told Amanda how he had looked at Joe and Amanda and the two boys at that time and thought "There's an All-American family".
Amadna explained how she and Joe remarried not long after that but things didn't work out.
Lee shared with Amanda memories from his awkward youth and unsuccessful forays into relationships.
They were still deeply involved in conversation when the kids came back. Jamie offered to give both Lee and his Mom a ride home. At first, Amanda protested but Lee said he would just grab a cab from her house.
Amanda still felt a bit cautious about letting Lee know where she lived but, after all the intimate details they had shared about their lives, she felt it would be okay.
Jamie let Amanda and Lee out right in front of Amanda's house on Maplewood. Now that her mother Dotty was remarried to Captain Kurt and running a bed and breakfast out west, Amanda had the house to herself. It was getting to be too much to manage Amanda explained to Lee as they stood by her front door.
Amanda and Lee stood there for a minute or two, in an uneasy silence. Amanda pondered if she should ask Lee in but thought better of it. She didn't believe in or want a one night stand. They had work to do anyway next Saturday and romance would only compromise their working relationship.
Lee looked at Amanda's reluctant face. He couldn't expect a one night stand from this one. No, Amanda was too special for that. He was tired of unfulfilling relations anyway. He looked down at Amanda and smiled. He felt like such a kid!
"What are you smiling about Mr. Stetson?"
"Well Mrs. King, I was just thinking about what a wonderful time I had with you this evening."
Amanda was glad this was a moonless night. She didn't want Lee to notice the flush on her face.
Lee gently put his arms around Amanda's shoulders but felt her tense up. He could tell by her expression that she was still wary of him. Lee smiled and leaned forward to kiss Amanda's forehead. In his best Humprhey Bogart, Lee said "I think this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship."
Amanda raised her hand up to Lee instead, indicating that she'd rather shake his hand good-bye. He reluctantly released his hold on her shoulders and took her hand in his and gave her hand a tender kiss. "Yea, it's way after midnight, I better get going."
With that Lee took off down the street. He didn't want to call a cab now. This cold evening constitution was just what he needed. He had alot of thinking to do.
TBC
Setting: Jamie's neighborhood
Amanda huffed as she made her way out of the Metro station. It was dark and cold and she was irritated as she made her way toward Jamie and Mandy's brownstone. Who the heck did that guy think he was? "National security my..." Amada started.
She stopped mid-thought as she heard several swift footsteps behind her. Amanda did not turn around but picked up her pace. Afterall, she was a woman alone walking at night. Yes, Jamie and his family did live in a nice area of Woodley Park, but, this was DC and, it was dark. Amanda came to the light near the Zoo and as she began to cross the abandoned street, several ruffians approached and started pushing her around.
"Hey lady, ya got any extra change?" said the skinny tall one.
"No man, we don't want no change, we want real money", said one who looked too young to be out at this time of night. Amanda began to ask the youngster if his mother knew where he was when another kid grabbed for her purse.
The boys pressed in on Amanda and clutched her arms. They began ripping her purse away from her as Amanda grappled with them. They continued to struggle until Amanda heard the click of a switchblade. Immediately Amanda released her hold on her purse. Nothing was worth losing her life over.
Just as it looked like the boys would take off in triumph, a deep male voice behind them commanded "Drop the purse punk!"
Amanda whipped her head around. There was that aged lothario from the subway!
Lee swiftly seized the purse back from the youths and gave it back to it's rightful owner. Just his presence had the hoods running off to find more susceptible prey.
Amanda stood there shocked. "What is it with this guy?", she thought. She knew it was rude to just walk off but she was already so late. She mumbled a quick 'thank you' and turned so she could finally cross the street. Lee followed close behind as Amanda walked up the street and sauntered up to Jamie's walkway. All the while, Lee kept entreating Amanda to stop and listen to what he had to say.
Amanda continued to ignore the persistent stranger as they both arrived at Jamie's front door at the exact same time. Immediately Jamie's wife Mandy opened the door and bubbled, "Hello Mom!" (Mandy always called Amanda 'Mom'. For in-laws, they had a very close relationship. Amanda thought of Mandy as the daughter she never had.)
Mandy continued, "I see you brought your boyfriend, Come on in!"
Mandy shoved Lee into the foyer and toward the dining area before Amanda could protest. Joey and Marnie ran up to Lee's legs and threw their tiny arms around him. They both let out high pitched squeals of joy in response to Lee's "Uh, Hi there..."
Mandy handed Lee a plateful of homecooked food. "Mom you should have told me you were bringing..." Mandy looked at Amanda as if to say 'introduce him!'.
Lee offered "My name is Lee", as he gratefully took the plate of warm food.
"Well Lee, I'm glad you came with Mom. I would have prepared two plates instead of one if I had known", Mandy said with a playful, chastising look toward Amanda. "The kids have already eaten so, they get to stay up for 30 more minutes, then, it is bedtime!" Mandy said as she smiled at her two angels."Mom I'll make you a plate..."
"No, that's okay Mandy". Amanda was finally able to break into the interaction, "I can make my own plate. You better get going..."
"Oh, that's okay Mom. Phillip and Delores will be here any minute to meet us so we can go to Old Ebbitt's." Mandy took off to make Amanda a plate of food.
Just then Jamie entered the room, looking relieved to see his Mom and surprised to see her with a tall, handsome stranger. Jamie walked up to Lee and shook his hand as Mandy hollered from the kitchen to introduce them. Jamie gave Amanda an approving smile indicating that Lee was alright but he didn't see his Mom roll her eyes in vexation.
Next, Phillip and his wife Delores came into the house and greeted everyone with hugs and kisses. Phillip gave Jamie a "Who's this guy?" look as Mandy introduced everyone to "Mom's boyfriend Lee".
Amanda gave Lee her best 'Who do you think you are' glare but it didn't matter. Her grandchildren already had all of Lee's attention. Amanda couldn't help but notice the contrast Out there, she had seen the tough guy, the Don Juan. Now she saw a man who was immensely enjoying the giggles of her ticklish grandchildren. Amanda smiled in spite of herself. "If this guy is a gangster, he sure knows how to handle hoodlums and grandkids."
"Well, we better go Mom!," Phillip said as he hugged his Mom. "Looks like you found a nice guy".
Amanda had by this time given up any attempt to object to everyone's notion that Lee ,if that was his real name, was her boyfriend. "Okay kids, see you later. Enjoy yourselves!" She figured they would never see him again after tonight and she could just tell her kids that they had broken up.
"Thanks Mom!" Everyone said as they passed Amanda in the foyer and left for their night out on the town.
As the door closed, Amanda leaned back on the foyer wall. "What have I gotten myself into!" Amanda let out an exasperated sigh and slowly made her way to the dining area. Lee and the grandkids weren't there! Anxiously, Amanda began to call out for them throughout the house until she came into the family room. There, Amanda saw an exhausted Lee sitting on the couch with her two cherubs curled up in his lap. All of them were asleep.
Amanda approached Lee slowly and tapped him on the shoulder. When he didn't rouse, she gently scooped up Marnie, who had entangled herself in Lee's arms, and took her off to tuck her in bed. When Amanda returned, Lee was still out like a light. This time she gently extracted Joey from Lee's tender embrace. Amanda paused to look at this sleeping stranger. He had a beautiful face for a man. He kind of reminded her of Adonis from her World Lit days. He had that stately Roman nose. She thought he would wake up any minute declaring "Friends, Romans, countrymen!"
Amanda smiled to herself and quietly made her way to Joey's room to put him to bed. She tucked him in and turned off the hall light. When Amanda returned to the family room, Lee was gone! "Now hold on a minute!" she exclaimed.
Amanda made her way back to the kitchen and caught Lee looking through her purse.
"That's enough big fella! What do you think you are doing!?" Amanda hollered. She grabbed Lee's arm as he took the CD out of her purse and gave her an 'I told you so' look.
Amanda stared at the foreign item and said "What is that!?"
Lee responded, "A word."
"A word?" Amanda asked incredulously.
Lee replied, "Yes, my dear, this is a word. Evidence."
"Oh, National security?" Amanda replied smiling weakly.
"Yeah, this fell into your purse when we collided at Honeycutt," Lee explained.
"Oh my gosh!" Amanda said as she looked directly at Lee. She could see the genuine concern in his deep hazel eyes. She could get lost in those eyes. 'Alright Amanda, pull yourself together' she said to herself. 'This guy could still be a gangster, a murderer'. Amanda realized she couldn't put her question off any longer, "Who are you?"
"That's.." Lee was almost going to say 'need to know information' but thought better of it. He looked into the face of this amazing woman whom he had met. He had never met a female his own age that was so sharp, so pure, so kind. And strong. He had seen the way she had put in a good fight with the juvenile delinquents. But she had also exhibited wisdom when a potentially deadly weapon came into the picture. Somehow Lee felt he could trust this woman. He began, "My name is Lee Stetson and let's just say I'm working diligently to protect a client."
"Is that your real name?"
Lee chuckled at Amanda's heartfelt question. He was taken in by those beautiful, inquisitive and intelligent brown eyes. Lee moved in closer to her to softly answer. "Yes, my name really is Lee and this CD really contains information that may be vital to national security"
Amanda's heart beat faster as Lee moved his face closer to hers. She cleared her throat and stepped back. She wasn't finished with her questions. "Explain something to me. Why, back on the Metro, did you tell Babs Babcock that we would go to the Philanthropist Ball next week?"
Lee realized he had a very smart cookie on his hands. "Well, Ishmael Laban is one man I am very interested in meeting."
Amanda could tell by the look on Lee's face that he wasn't telling the whole truth. "How do I know that anything you are telling me is true?" Amanda said as she ripped the CD out of Lee's hand and dashed out of the room.
Lee said "Hey!" and followed her to the den.
Amanda stood in front of Jamie's computer and said "We'll just have to see if you're telling me the truth." Amanda slipped the CD into the disc drive and turned on the computer.
Lee felt it was useless to argue. He knew he needed an 'in' to the invitation only ball and Amanda was it.
Amanda pulled up the CD and as she scanned the information, she dropped her jaw.
Lee came over behind Amanda and leaned over her to look at the screen. Amanda got a strange sensation as she felt Lee's body behind her and scooted to the edge of her seat.
Lee didn't notice Amanda's aprehension because his eyes were riveted to the screen. There it was, all spelled out. Laban's Suisse bank accounts and contacts, both stateside and hezbolah. Contacts including unsuspecting donors such as senators and royalty.
Lee slammed his fist on the back of Amanda's chair. There on the screen was the name of his client, Emily Farnsworth.
Amanda looked up at Lee. She saw fire in those hazel eyes and had to admit to herself that she admired Lee's passion. "Yea, I guess we will be going to that Ball afterall."
Lee and Amanda spent the rest of the evening reviewing the information and devising a plan for next Saturday. As the evening wore on, they discussed their lives, their history. Amanda shared about her past marriages and realized she had met Lee all those years ago when Joe had returned from Estocia. Lee was amazed to find out that this was the same "June Cleaver" he had seen at the gym when the little boys, now known as Jamie and Phillip, had been kidnapped during Joe's fiasco. Lee told Amanda how he had looked at Joe and Amanda and the two boys at that time and thought "There's an All-American family".
Amadna explained how she and Joe remarried not long after that but things didn't work out.
Lee shared with Amanda memories from his awkward youth and unsuccessful forays into relationships.
They were still deeply involved in conversation when the kids came back. Jamie offered to give both Lee and his Mom a ride home. At first, Amanda protested but Lee said he would just grab a cab from her house.
Amanda still felt a bit cautious about letting Lee know where she lived but, after all the intimate details they had shared about their lives, she felt it would be okay.
Jamie let Amanda and Lee out right in front of Amanda's house on Maplewood. Now that her mother Dotty was remarried to Captain Kurt and running a bed and breakfast out west, Amanda had the house to herself. It was getting to be too much to manage Amanda explained to Lee as they stood by her front door.
Amanda and Lee stood there for a minute or two, in an uneasy silence. Amanda pondered if she should ask Lee in but thought better of it. She didn't believe in or want a one night stand. They had work to do anyway next Saturday and romance would only compromise their working relationship.
Lee looked at Amanda's reluctant face. He couldn't expect a one night stand from this one. No, Amanda was too special for that. He was tired of unfulfilling relations anyway. He looked down at Amanda and smiled. He felt like such a kid!
"What are you smiling about Mr. Stetson?"
"Well Mrs. King, I was just thinking about what a wonderful time I had with you this evening."
Amanda was glad this was a moonless night. She didn't want Lee to notice the flush on her face.
Lee gently put his arms around Amanda's shoulders but felt her tense up. He could tell by her expression that she was still wary of him. Lee smiled and leaned forward to kiss Amanda's forehead. In his best Humprhey Bogart, Lee said "I think this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship."
Amanda raised her hand up to Lee instead, indicating that she'd rather shake his hand good-bye. He reluctantly released his hold on her shoulders and took her hand in his and gave her hand a tender kiss. "Yea, it's way after midnight, I better get going."
With that Lee took off down the street. He didn't want to call a cab now. This cold evening constitution was just what he needed. He had alot of thinking to do.
TBC
