Act 11: The Assignment

Setting: Ronald Reagan Airport, DC

Amanda shuffled along with the many travelers at Ronald Reagan Airport. She was now waiting in line for the second time since she had already checked her one bag in at the ticket counter. Her shoulders were killing her because she had been holding her carry-on bags almost two hours now. The lines through security were atrocious but she knew they were needed.

She was a bit apprehensive about meeting Lee though, because she had not seen him since that night when he had shared his feelings and told her he loved her. They had spoken on the phone about business since then and Amanda was fine with that. She had to admit , she was looking forward to seeing the big fella's mug. She couldn't wait to get to the gate of the terminal.

***

Lee stood by the gate. In anticipation of seeing Amanda, he had arrived three hours early. He couldn't wait! Amanda had not wanted him to pick her up and she had told him (and her children) emphatically, this was only a business trip. Her children just didn't know what kind of business. Lee gathered that Amanda's children suspected they were having a less than clandestine affair and he thought "little did they know"!

Lee broke out into a huge grin as he saw Amanda approach. He practically ran up to her as he saw her shoulders weighed down by her purse and carry- on bag.

Amanda watched Lee approach and remembered vividly why he took her breath away. He wore a brown leather jacket and deep green button down shirt which emphasized his deep hazel eyes. She thought he appeared to have lost more weight and she figured he must have put in extra effort these past two weeks to get in shape for their assignment.

"Hi there Lee!" Amanda couldn't get over how fantastic Lee looked in those cowboy boots and jeans. She never really noticed what nice legs he had. She had always seen him wear slacks before.

Lee smiled and said "It's good to see you Amanda!" and he wasn't kidding! She looked cute in her red and white plaid flannel work shirt and bootcut Levi's. He was glad to see that she still wore the heart pendant. "Amanda, let me go put your bags by mine, then we can go grab a cup of coffee." They still had another hour to kill before the plane took off.

As Amanda watched Lee go with her bag, she saw that mother of five from Michigan running in late and flying down the hall toward the terminal. "Hi Laura!" Amanda shouted.

"Hi Amanda! How nice to see you! Who's the hunky cowboy and how'd you get so lucky to get him for a partner?"

Before Amanda could answer Laura's question, Lee came back.

Lee looked at Laura and said, "Did anyone every tell you that you look like Princess L..."

Before he could finish, Laura said "Leia, yes, I get that all the time! I think it's because of the way I wear my hair!"

Lee thought to himself, "Yea, kinda looks like headphones..." but opted to say "Well, I sure like your cow print pants!"

"Thanks for the compliment!" Laura gushed.

Amanda didn't think she could be jealo.., well you know, but she didn't like the eyes that Laura was giving Lee.

"Lee, I don't think I've had a chance to introduce you to my fellow trainee Laura. She's a wife and, (with great emphasis), a mother of five. I believe their names are Liz and TJ, and, let's see, there's Emmalee, and Julianna, and baby Tyler!"

With each child's name, Lee had taken one step back, away from Laura. He now knew without a doubt that this one was taken! Lee finally said "Oh, well, nice to meet you Laura" and excused himself as he took Amanda's arm and led her toward Starbucks to go get some coffee.

***

"Would you like the window seat?", Lee asked Amanda.

"No Lee, I think I'd prefer the aisle, in case I need to jump up to the little girl's room."

"Ok" Lee said as he slipped past Amanda and sat in the window seat. His knees were practically up to his ears. "Economy seats!" he mutttered. Here's to the Agency budget!

Amanda sat down next to Lee and thought "so far, so good". There had been no mention yet of that evening a few weeks ago and Amanda was sure that that night was all behind them now and it would be back to business as usual. She yawned and couldn't believe how tired she was, but, after all, she had put in two hard weeks at Spy Camp. She yawned again and closed her eyes. Before she knew it, she laid her head on Lee's shoulder and nodded off to

..sleep.......

hmmmmmm......

.Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

***





Amanda looked down into a ravine as she stood on the cliff of a very high, steep and straight canyon. A gentle breeze was billowing her flowing white dress around her and her beautiful brown hair was playfully blowing in the breeze. She felt exhilarated! The low sun was just now greeting the morning sky and there were threads of blue and mauve and pink, then yellow and orange streaking across the sky. It was a lucid daybreak on a clear crisp day. The kind of day you yearn for in eternity. Amanda reveled in the beauty and freshness of that moment.

As Amanda surveyed the beauty around her, she began to feel the sudden pangs of fear. The sky began to darken and heavy thunder clouds rolled in. Just as Amanda was about to run back to shelter, she saw Spydiva and heard her shout "Expect the unexpected!". Amanda trembled in fear and attempted to run but her feet were like roots to the ground. She was planted!

Amanda began lifting her knees with all her might. The wind was now howling and the once beautiful, pristine scene was now one of torment and darkness. As she turned to run back one last time she heard Spydiva say "Don't run back, jump forward!"

In her dream Amanda knew that to jump forward and leap that canyon to the other side would mean peace and safety and joy... but, for some reason, she was afraid and rooted in her very spot. Amanda by this time could not see clearly over the gulch but saw a vauge something, or someone that had been there all the time, standing on the other side waiting for her. She couldn't see who it was but she could tell it was a man. Was it Joe? Amanda couldn't tell for sure. Spydiva yelled "Jump!" once again.

"Coffee or tea Ma'am?"

Amanda woke with a startle! She had been laying her head and drooling on Lee's shoulder the whole time.

"Coffee please" Amanda said as she discreetly wiped the drool from the side of her mouth and off of Lee's brown leather jacket. To Lee she mumbled "Sorry."

Lee had been watching her as she slept. He wondered what could have been going on in that head of hers. Her facial expressions had been so erratic.

Amanda put her lap tray down and placed her cup of coffee on it. As she looked up to thank the stewardess, she saw Laura several seats up. Laura was near the front of the plane but was turned around and leaning over the aisle in order to stare at them, and...she was smiling! Amanda wondered what that could be all about!

As Amanda looked ahead, Lee retrieved a tiny black jewelry box from his pocket. "Amanda, before we get too far, I better give you these since we're a married couple. We are now James and Edna Longstreet."

Amanda turned to look down at the two beautiful platinum wedding rings nestled in their lovely box. "Oh Lee, they are beautiful! Were they your mother's?"

Lee nodded.

Amanda admired the intricate filigree work, "Oh, Lee, your father and mother had very good taste. I wish I could have known them."

"So do I" Lee said as he turned his face toward the window. Thinking of how his parents had been taken out of his life so abruptly still caused his to eyes to well up with tears.

"Oh, I'm sorry Lee, I wasn't thinking." Amanda reached for Lee's hand.

Lee turned back to look at Amanda and said "Well, we better put these on" as he put his mother's wedding rings on Amanda's finger and his father's on his own. Unconsciously, Lee continued to hold on to Amanda's hand.

Amanda almost jumped when Lee put the ring on her finger. His touch was like electricity going through her. She cleared her throat and turned her face away from Lee so she could look at the aisle floor. "It's only business, it's only business" she told herself. It was unlikely though, that if she said it long enough, she'd beleive it.

Lee absent-mindedly played with the rings on Amanda's fingers. "For this assignment, we're doing mostly surveilence" Lee began. He thought 'This is so different from my glory days when I traveled the globe to defend this country.'. Lee swallowd hard and said, " Let me tell you all about it..."

TBC