Joint Meeting
Back to the agency-full debrief and home again:
By the time they leave Dubai and the flight home, with the time change, it will be 6:00 am in DC. Emily checks in about two hours before they are due to land and says, "A car will take everyone to our offices at NTA for a full debrief. Tom, Ellen, we will conference in with your bosses and then a flight is booked for your return to LA".
Everyone packs up and finalizes their reports to prepare for their debrief.
As the plane lands and they get off, Tom asks Lee, "are you really married? You acted like you are."
Lee responds, "yes. Five years now, but together for six; what about you and Ellen? Is that your real name?"
Tom replies, "real names, yes. Married, no; but we have been involved for three years."
An attendant takes their suitcases to the waiting town car. Lee carries their briefcases and Amanda, her purse as they take the steps down to the ground and get into the car along with Tom and Ellen. The 30-minute drive seems like forever. Lee opens the mini-bar refrigerator and pulls out four bottles of water. He hands them out to everyone. The car arrives at the NTA offices and everyone departs. The bags are left in the car as when the debrief is over it will take Tom and Ellen to their plane and Lee and Amanda home.
"So, this is where you work", Lee whispers as they walk to the front doors. "Is it the whole building?"
"No", Amanda replies. "Just two floors and a private sub-basement for the firing range".
Amanda pulls out her key card to unlock the doors for everyone. There is an attendant who hands out the guest passes to Ellen, Tom, and Lee and as he waves everyone over to the elevator he states, "Francine, Amanda, it's a little early for you to be in this morning and through the front door. Nice to see you again. Have a great day".
When the elevator arrives and everyone is inside, Amanda punches the button to the third floor. Amanda's assistant is waiting for everyone as they get off the elevator. He says, "follow me". He then whispers to Amanda and Francine, "everyone is glad you are back. You have been missed". He shows them to the conference room where Billy, Emily and Blue Leader are waiting.
By the time everyone has settled it is now after 7:00 am DC time. Emily says, "it's very early in California, but your bosses will be conferencing in soon", as she nods in Tom and Ellen's direction. "To hold you over until then, there are bagels, muffins, and coffee for everyone".
Normally Lee doesn't eat much for breakfast, but since no one ate on the plane, he takes a bagel and cream cheese and a coffee with cream. Amanda and Francie get a muffin and coffee with light milk.
After everyone is settled; Billy punches in the number for the California office. He says, "I want to make this debrief as quick and painless as possible. I know it's been a trying week and a long plane ride for everyone so it shouldn't take long."
Tom and Ellen hand over their report to BL and Amanda, Lee and Francine hands over theirs also. He reviews their reports and says, "it looks good. Good job everyone. You were able to dismantle a terrorist organization and prevent the Prime Minister from being assassinated. You have a big thank you from a grateful Nation and the peace talks were very productive. For now, I am turning over your reports to other departments and they will trace the source of the money. Jill may have been the leader on the ground in Dubai, but it is not over yet. Thank you again everyone", he says as he exits the room.
Emily asks the California office if they have anything to add and they say, "no, we will have another debrief with them in California."
"Yes, thank you, everyone. Due to everyone's hard work, you have the next week off". Emily says. "It may be early, but the rest of us have our own jobs to do, so I must take my leave". She shakes Tom, Ellen and Lee's hand and kisses Amanda and Francine's cheek before she leaves the room.
Billy says, "Thank you", to everyone. "The car will take Tom and Ellen to the airport and Lee and Amanda home." He pulls Lee and Amanda aside and whispers, "Jeannie and I want you over for dinner after your vacation is over". He leaves and heads towards Emily's office.
Amanda and Francine stop by their offices and drops off the rest of their paperwork and tells their assistants they too have the week off. Everyone then takes the elevator down walks out to the waiting town-car. Tom and Ellen are dropped off at the airport. The driver takes their bags and hands them over. Then he makes the drive to Lee and Amanda's house. He takes out their bags and walks with them to the door before handing the bags over to Lee. He nods and turns to leave, but Lee stops him; thank you and gives him a tip.
"Well, Mrs. Stetson?" Lee asks, are you ready for some time off and back to our normal lives"?
"Yes, Mr. Stetson", she replies, "but even more so, I can't wait to see the kids and mother, but I think they have already left for school and mother is probably already home with Curt, that gives us some alone time for about six more hours."
"Are you suggesting what I think you are?" Lee asks.
"Yes, I am. I married a mind reader", Amanda replies.
The alarm is on indicating that everyone has left for the day. Lee punches in the code and shuts the door behind him. He gets the bags and heads upstairs and Amanda follows closely behind. They drop their bags on the floor and undress quickly. First, they head to the shower as they reek of the last 48 hours and the smells of Dubai. Lee pulls out all of Amanda's favorite shower products and washes her hair and soaps her all over. As he rinses her off, he kisses her neck and shoulders. He replaces the shower head and pulls her to him and kisses her lips and her arms and continues down her body. Amanda sighs and leans into him. She takes his hands and turns him around and takes his shampoo and pours some onto her hand. She washes his hair and gives him a scalp massage. She rinses off his hair and then pours some body wash on her hands and soaps him up and down. She rinses his body and lets the shower arm drop towards the floor. They kiss intently and Lee reaches behind him shutting off the shower. Amanda reaches out to the towel bar and pulls two towels and gives him one. They dry themselves off and drop the towels to the floor. Lee helps her out of the shower and picks her up and carries her to the bed.
"A week is much too long to wait", Amanda says. "Let's never go travel to someplace where we have to wait this long ever again".
"I agree", Lee replies, as they slowly devour each other, not wanting to rush anything. Finally, Lee reaches up and brushes Amanda's hair to the side of her forehead. They lie in each other's arms and Amanda slowly caresses and plays with his chest hair.
Lee gets out of bed, throws on a t-shirt, his boxers and a pair of jeans. Amanda gets one of her old Bomber t-shirts and the lace underwear Lee likes so much. She finds a pair of jeans and puts them on. As she makes the bed, Lee goes to the safe and pulls out the real rings they kept for safeguarding.
"Mrs. Stetson, your hand looks a little naked. While I love seeing the rest of you naked, your fingers are not one of them". Lee smiles, showing off his dimples. He takes her hand and places the beautiful diamond ring and solid gold band on her left ring finger. He places his band onto her hand and says, "your turn".
Amanda takes his gold band and places it on his left-hand ring finger. She kisses him once and leans in for another kiss, but he puts his finger to her lips and says, "wait here, I have something else for you". He finds the bags they dropped on the floor and picks up his carry bag and brings it with him to the bed. "Close your eyes and turn around", he says. He reaches into his bag and pulls out a small gift box. He removes the item and places a diamond heart necklace around her neck. "You can turn around and look at what I gave you".
Amanda looks down and sighs. "It's beautiful", she says.
"You did seem to like it in the window when we were in Dubai". Lee says.
"Thank you, sweetheart", Amanda says and gives him a kiss.
"Lee checks his watch and says, "the boys should be getting home from school in a couple of hours. Why don't you call your mother and Curt and invite them out for dinner tomorrow night to thank them? We can order pizza tonight and we can catch up the boys".
"That is a wonderful idea sweetheart. It was a long week and I've really missed them", Amanda says.
They grab their bags and unpack. Amanda gets their dirty clothes and checks the boy's rooms for their clothes too. She goes to her mother's guest room, strips the bed, puts clean sheets on and re-makes the bed. She brings everything to the laundry room and starts a wash. Lee puts the suitcases away and heads downstairs to help his wife. He begins cleaning the kitchen. Dotty can clean, but Amanda is a neat freak when it comes to their kitchen and he likes things a certain way too.
"Amanda", Lee calls out. "What kind of pizza do you want? Should I order our signature pizza and an everything pizza for Philip and Jamie?"
"Sounds good", Amanda replies as she comes out of the laundry room. "I don't know what is in the fridge, so maybe make a list so I can go shopping tomorrow. I think there are some bottles of soda in the pantry. I don't think wine is the best thing to take with pizza, but maybe you can find a good one. I really miss the things we took for granted by living in America".
Lee places the pizza order and Amanda phones her mother. She hangs up the phone and says, "If I can get us reservations, we are having dinner tomorrow night at Laudree". Amanda puts Amanda starts a salad and Lee opens a bottle of wine, pouring each a glass. As they toast each other, the boys come running into the house.
"See, I told you they were home", Philip says to Jamie. "Grandmother's car is not in the driveway". They run to Lee and Amanda and give them big hugs.
Jamie asks, "did you bring us anything?"
"Jamie", Philip says, "that is so rude. That is the first thing you ask. But seriously mom, dad, did you have time to pick up something wherever you went?"
"We have missed you so much", Amanda says. "We can't wait to hear about your week. Pizza is on the way. Philip, Jamie; go upstairs and get cleaned up. We want to hear about what we missed and fill you in on our trips, and yes we have something for both of you".
After the boys head upstairs Lee looks to his wife and says, "you found time to get them something?"
"Actually, I collect a number of gifts from the various places I travel and hold on to them when I want to give them something. I've done the same for you on occasion", Amanda shyly says. "This time it's an antique camera I picked up from a photography shop in France for Jamie, and a signed jersey from the soccer team there for Philip. I put them on their beds".
Lee says, "I love you. You think of everything".
As the boys run downstairs to thank them for their gifts, the doorbell rings. Lee goes to answer the door and takes the delivery from the pizza man and hands him the amount and a tip. He brings the two pizzas into the kitchen and everyone digs in. The boys fill in their parents on what transpired while they were away, and Amanda tells them a story of what they did on their business trip.
While Amanda goes to put the clothes into the dryer, Lee says, "Philip, Jamie", tomorrow your mother will go shopping to replenish the pantry and refrigerator and then we are taking your grandmother and Uncle Curt out for dinner to thank them for their help. You can have left-over pizza or find something else to eat".
After everyone is finished eating, Amanda claps her hand and says, "chop, chop boys. Upstairs, now. Go do your homework and your father and I will take care of the dishes".
The boys head upstairs, and Lee rinses out the plates and hands them to Amanda who loads them into the dishwasher. "This is nice", he says. "Finally doing something normal and boring. I've missed this".
"What, chores?" Amanda asks. "If that is the case, I have a list of things for you to do while I'm out shopping tomorrow. Be careful of what you wish for", she laughs. Lee laughs too.
They dry their hands and Amanda starts the dishwasher. Lee refills their glasses of wine and takes Amanda's hand and they go to the couch to watch the news. She rests her head on his shoulder and asks, "another normal thing you've missed?" He kisses her forehead.
The news reports on the peace talks and how an assassination attempt was thwarted by intelligence offices from various countries and then turns its' attention to local news and the weather. Lee shuts off the television and helps her off the couch. He hands her the wine glasses and grabs another bottle of wine; opens it and they head upstairs. He asks, "round two?"
Amanda smiles and says, "yes, round two and maybe round three if you are lucky".