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SCARECROW AND MRS. KING

A Three-sided SpyAngle

Chapter 1

Sometimes Lee felt he just didn't treat Amanda right.

But just sometimes.

Other times he treated her as someone very special.

Talk about mixed messages.

Either way, when it came to Amanda King, she either made his heart pound incessantly or his blood pressure go through the roof.

It all depended on the circumstances.

And to her credit, Amanda seemed to take his explosive emotions all in stride. He tried to remain calm around her, especially since all the missions with her have been completed successfully. But he just couldn't.

The reason why was simple. The missions were never done to his expectations. They were done so...so...chaotically. Lee was the shortest-distance-is-a-straight-line type of spy while Amanda was a zigzag-all-over-the-place type of trainee spy.

It made his working partnership with her so infuriating.

All these thoughts were mulling around in Lee's mind as he parked his Porsche a distance away from Amanda's home. It was around dinnertime, with the neighborhood quiet and the crickets chirping. Luckily he had parked close enough so that he had a good view of her house with the white picket fence.

No, take that back. It wasn't her house; it was her home.

SHE made it a home, he quietly admitted to himself.

If only he hadn't yelled at her after completing their last assignment. And she took the criticism like a pro. Then she turned and quietly walked away, making him feel like a real jerk.

She didn't deserve that.

So tonight, he would try to make it up to her. He would give her a conciliatory gift to show he was sorry and he would also tell her that he would work on being nicer to her.

Lee was smart enough not to buy flowers or candy for Amanda. That could be easily misconstrued as a romantic gesture. And he DEFINITELY wasn't interested in THAT!

Not by a long shot!

Earlier, the lady at the shop had recommended a personal candle as a gift to show he cared, but not enough to say he was interested. The ivory carved candle would give off a calming scent, thus its name, 'peace and tranquility'.

An aptly named gift, if Lee did say so himself.

Amanda's backyard seemed so familiar to him now as he quietly snuck within its gate. The kitchen light was on as he knelt beneath the window, the gifted candle tucked securely in his arm. From the open window, various delicious aromas drifted out into the night air, with a warm baked pastry as the most welcoming scent.

The thought of a home-cooked meal made his stomach growl. He looked up towards the sky in order to distract himself from the inviting scents. He noted it was a perfectly clear night, with a few stars glimmering up above. The gentle night air blew softly through his hair as he anxiously waited, his legs stiffening a bit from being in the crouched position.

But it would be all worth it.

After some time, he heard the kitchen door swing open and Amanda's voice yelling back out towards the dining room.

"-I'll be right out after I get the pie!" she promised as he heard boisterous voices cheering from the dining room.

From where he crouched beneath the window, he heard the sound of running water as Amanda began scraping food off a plate and then some clinking sound as she placed it in the dishwasher.

It seemed to be a typical evening at Amanda's home. That image made Lee smile as he got ready to surprise her. Midway up, however, he hesitated when he heard the kitchen door swinging again and a male voice could be heard. He ducked low again.

"Another great dinner, Amanda," the male voice was saying, "You've made such a nice homecoming meal for me."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Dean," Amanda could be heard answering back, "but you don't need to be in the kitchen here! You should be out there with Mother and the boys! You know how much she enjoys your company!"

Lee let out a silent frustrated sound.

Dean.

And Lee found it interesting that Amanda did not mention the boys enjoying his company.

He leaned in further.

"I'm just bringing in some more of the dirtied dishes so you don't have to rush back and forth," Dean answered back. Lee could hear plates being put down.

Lee hoped that Dean would leave immediately afterwards.

But it didn't sound like it.

"Oh, Dean, no need for that! This is YOUR celebration party! It's not every day someone gets promoted to top meteorologist of a station in DC! But I certainly appreciate your help!" Amanda responded back as Lee heard more bowls and plates being moved about, "I'm just so proud of you!"

"So I surprised you, did I?"

"You certainly did!" Amanda exclaimed, "And oh my gosh! I can't believe the change in you!"

"A promotion will do that for a person," Dean stated, as he opened the cupboard to get some small plates for the pie, "The station figured that with the national TV exposure I'll be getting, it was best that I hire a personal trainer. And the personal trainer suggested that I should also start a healthier eating regiment, too. Except for tonight, that is. I wouldn't skip your famous apple pie for anything."

"Oh, that's so nice of you to say, Dean," Amanda politely stated back as she rinsed another dish and placed it on the rack.

Lee now realized that tonight would not be the night for the candle gift. He started to get up to leave when he heard something from Dean which gave him pause.

"Actually, Amanda," Dean was saying, "Could you stop doing what you're doing for a sec?"

"Hmmm? Sure. But why?"

Lee could almost picture Amanda wiping her hands on her apron while Dean took a deep breath in.

"I'm glad I have you here alone in the kitchen because there's something really important that I need to ask you..."

Lee scowled but remained in his huddled position.

She questionably asked, "Oh?"

He couldn't help noticing the tenseness in Amanda's voice.

Dean sounded nervous, "Yeah, I, uh..wait, let me start over...it's just that...this is so hard for me to ask you, Amanda."

The silence was deafening.

"Do you really think it's a good time for you to ask me an important question now, Dean?" Amanda asked, trying to give him a way out "after all, we're not actually alone, alone. Mother and the boys are just beyond the kitchen door..."

"Please, Amanda, it's already hard enough for me to ask you...just...just...come over here, please, and listen..." Dean was saying, the pleading evident in his voice, "here, let me hold your hands..."

What the hell? Lee internalized. If Boring Dean was going to ask THAT question, he had picked the least romantic time and method to do it. Who wants to hear a marriage proposal surrounded by dirty dishes?

Lee had heard enough.

He didn't need to eavesdrop any further.

The matter was too personal.

And he suddenly felt a strange pang in the pit of his stomach.

He was gone lightning quick, with the slight swaying of a shrub the only evidence that he had ever been in Amanda's backyard that night.

#

The next day, Amanda was at work bright and early. She got started up on her typing right away. After two hours, she noticed Lee was still not at his desk. He hadn't been there all morning. She was checking her watch again when Francine dropped off two files into her inbox.

"You don't mind typing these reports, do you?" Francine rhetorically asked as she started to walk away, "And you can take your time, Amanda...fortunately for you, I won't need them until next week!"

"Francine! Wait!" Amanda called out as Francine looked back and returned to Amanda's desk.

"Yes?"

"I mean, it's nothing really," Amanda began, trying not to sound too desperate, "and it's really none of my business or anything...but...have you seen Lee? He hasn't been at his desk all morning."

"Funny you should ask," Francine said, a hand on her hip, "because we got the strangest call from him this morning. Lee left a message saying that he has taken on an extra government assignment outside of the Agency and won't be in for a week. Extra government assignment, indeed! If you ask me, it's an extra government assistant!"

"Yes, that is a very strange call," Amanda murmured to herself, ignoring the last part of what Francine said, "do you know if he'll be calling in? I, um, need to talk to him about something."

"You could tell me what it is and I could relay it to him," Francine volunteered.

"Oh!" Amanda exclaimed awkwardly, "That's so nice of you, Francine, but it's really...something of a personal nature...wellll...maybe not personal, but something that kind of concerns him... indirectly, so to speak...soooo...do you know if Lee will be calling in?"

Francine shrugged and then turned, "You know Lee," she breezily stated as she began walking away again, "He'll call when he calls!"

And as Amanda watched Francine's departing figure, she couldn't help feeling disappointed. She really wanted to talk with Lee before she made her decision regarding Dean.

But perhaps it was a sign.

Yes, that's it. It's a sign.

No one to stop her when she says yes.

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