Talking it Out

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Chapter 4

For the rest of the day, Amanda avoided Lee at work. Luckily he was away from his desk often. But even when he was there, the most she would do is sneak a few stolen glances his way.

Little did she know that Lee, too, was doing the same thing, stealthily looking her way when he thought she wasn't looking.

At precisely 5 pm, Lee got up from his desk and when Amanda happened to glance his way, he nodded to her with a smile, grabbed his jacket and left.

Oooo, this is so very awkward! Amanda thought.

I'm such a coward, Lee thought, as he walked out, but he didn't know what to say to her until he sorted out his feelings on why a simple touch from her affected him so much.

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As Amanda began putting away her things on her desk in order to leave, she noticed Francine walking by.

No, I shouldn't talk to Francine about it, Amanda thought. Yet with her current work situation of being in the spy business, she knew she couldn't talk to her mother about it.

Francine had almost walked past her before Amanda called her back.

"Francine!"

Francine paused, turned towards Amanda and went back to her.

"You rang, Amanda?"

It was too late for Amanda to back out now.

"Yes. Could I ask you something about Lee?"

Francine smirked, "Of course you can, but believe you me, even duct tape couldn't fix him!"

When she didn't even see a peek of a smile from Amanda, realization hit her.

"Oh God. This is serious." Francine groaned as she grabbed a nearby chair and sat across from Amanda, "Go ahead, I'm all ears, unless, of course, it's about something good that happened to him."

Amanda looked hesitant, "I was wondering...have you noticed Lee acting weird today?"

"More than usual?" Francine snarked and then made a 'wipe-away' motion in the air with her hand, "Oh, sorry, I forgot. No sarcasm. Force of habit. Hmm, now, what were you saying? Oh, that's right. You thought Lee was acting weird today. No, I hadn't noticed anything different about his behavior. Why?"

Amanda must be desperate to share with Francine, but she needed a sounding wall, "It's just that...earlier, Lee had joined me in a very friendly way, and then he insisted to hold my things, and-"

"-Stop, Amanda!" Francine interrupted, crinkling her nose in distaste, "Are you speaking in code?"

"What? No!"

"Then could you get to the point faster, please?" Francine was already losing interest.

"Faster, okay," Amanda decided to skip to the end, "The point is... we shared gazes, Francine...then he stopped talking to me for the rest of the day!"

"Gazes? THAT'S what you shared?" Francine inquired, "Nothing more?"

"Nothing more...but what I'm trying to tell you is...Lee seemed...almost interested in me...well, before he wasn't, that is."

"Hmmm...unpredictable moodiness from Lee, no, I can't..WAIT!..."Francine then had an idea, "Amanda, did he mention Valentine's Day, per chance?"

Realization hit Amanda, "Actually he did, Francine! Did that have anything to do with his moodiness?"

Francine smirked, "Say no more, Amanda! I think I know what happened here!"

Amanda leaned in, "Go on..."

"It's simple, really. Lee's always flirtatious just before Valentine's Day! He can't make up his mind on his choice, so he figures he needs to be attentive with ALL the women until he makes his decision! That's why he runs hot, then cold. It's a very stressful time for him."

Disappointment etched in Amanda's heart, but she didn't show it, "You sure that's what this is all about? I thought that ...well..."

"..that Lee might be attracted to you?" Francine finished the thought.

Amanda slumped her shoulder, "I can tell that you don't think that's the case, Francine."

"Au contraire, Amanda...I'm not saying that at all!"

Amanda's forehead wrinkled as her eyes opened wide, "You're not?"

"No! What I've noticed is that he does seem to show a certain...fondness for you, even outside of Valentine's Day..."

Amanda felt a tingle of hope upon hearing that.

Francine was continuing, "but don't force the situation, Amanda...let things work it out on it's own. In fact, that's exactly what happened when a prince, yes an actual prince, had courted me! Have I ever told you that story?"

"I believe you had, Francine."

(In fact, several times) Amanda internally thought.

"So there you go!" Francine exclaimed, "I didn't force the situation and so destiny stepped in and decided I didn't need to become duchess of such a tiny island!" for a second, Francine had a faraway look, then returned to reality, "You DO get what I'm saying, don't you, Amanda?"

"That destiny steps on everyone?" Amanda responded, trying to think like Francine.

"Flattens you like a pancake!" Francine smiled, pleased that Amanda caught on so quickly

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The next day, Lee was already at his desk reading his newspaper when Amanda walked into the bullpen.

Despite hiding behind the huge paper, Lee could tell she was heading his way by the familiar click-clack of her heels. He peeked out from behind the paper and noticed her expression looked solemn.

Ooo boy. Best he act as if everything were normal.

"Good morning, Amanda," he greeted her, "And what brings you my way so early in the morning?"

"We need to talk, Lee," Amanda insisted, and then remembering her manners, she added, "and a good morning to you, too, Lee."

He internally moaned, hating the 'we need to talk' speech.

Lee reluctantly folded the newspaper and tossed it on his desk.

"Sure. What's up?"

"Well..." Amanda began, "I wanted to talk about that moment we shared yesterday.."

"Moment we shared?" he feigned innocence, "what moment is that? We've shared plenty of moments plenty of times!"

"No, not those kind of moments, but a moment moment… remember when that paper had dropped yesterday at my desk? And then you and I had reached down to pick it up at the same time, and-"

"Oh, ohhhh... THAT moment! What about it?"

He sure wasn't making it easy.

"Wellll," Amanda awkwardly began, "I wanted to make sure everything is good between us."

"Yeah. Sure. We're fine. Good."

Amanda lifted a questioning brow, "That's a lot of affirmations, Lee."

Lee just wanted to get this conversation over with, "Amanda, you wanted to know if things were fine between us. You asked and I answered. Anything else?"

Amanda looked exasperated, "Lee, why are you making this talk so difficult?"

"Uh….because I'm a man?"

"Lee! You're not taking this seriously!"

"Alright...I get it...this is serious, so let me get into my listening mode..."

He then got up and went over to sit at the edge of his desk, very close to where Amanda was standing. He wanted to show he was giving her his full attention, but instead, he was so close to her that his heart began to thump rapidly at her presence.

"Uh…." Lee hadn't expected that reaction, but encouraged her, "Go on. I'm listening."

But now Amanda couldn't. She found herself caught in his stare and it was as if they had already spoken their most private thoughts to one another.

Lee's eyes continued to move over every inch of her face.

When had she turned so beautiful? He wondered.

He never noticed how delicate and lovely her features were until now. And her eyes expressed everything. The last thing he wanted to do was be the one to take the spark out of them.

Her face flushed at the way he was watching her, "It's so strange between us. Don't you think so, too?"

"It was... weird yesterday, Amanda, I agree," he admitted and then privately thought, and just as weird now.

Amanda took a hard swallow, "It's just that...sometimes you seem so frustrated with me, and other times...not so much...and then there's that moment moment which leaves me confused...Lee, I just want to know how you feel about me? And don't worry, I can take whatever you say."

Lee had been thinking the exact same question last night. Over and over again. And because of that, he barely slept.

Until he finally figured out the answer.

Looking at Amanda's hopeful face, Lee thought of all the times she had put up with his nonsense, his grumpiness. She truly deserved a truthful answer, even if his feelings about her were still jumbled up.

But it wouldn't be easy for him to tell her. He folded his arms, as a way to put a barrier between them.

"Amanda, the only way I can describe how I feel about you is this... You've made an indelible impression on me."

Her eyes widened while her heart was beating frantically at his answer. She found it hard to steady herself. Sure, it wasn't a true confession of anything from him, but at least it wasn't anything negative. At least she didn't think so.

And it almost sounded poetic. So unlike Lee, the insincere, impatient agent. But she knew that was a facade.

It was only through sheer will that she was able to slow down her rapid heartbeat enough to answer.

"Thank you, Lee, for being honest with me."

Lee was still trying to understand why Amanda had such an effect him. Maybe this Valentine match-up at lunch might give him some answers. He found himself actually looking forward to it.

"So, are we good?" Lee asked.

Amanda nodded, pleased, "Oh yes, Lee, good."

Lee unfolded his arms, "Good. Let's more on, then. So...what's on your agenda today?"

The situation had relaxed again, and Amanda was glad.

She had to remind herself that she must never lose her head to Lee Stetson. If she would, the rip in her heart would never mend.

"Oh, just a regular day for me, really! I just plan to do some filing and transcribing in the morning," Amanda casually explained, sounding more like herself, "and then at lunchtime, I plan to pick up my clothes from the cleaners."

The cleaners! Lee gleefully thought, So today would be the day The Matchmaker would talk to Amanda about her 'destiny!"

"Really now? The cleaners?" Lee seemed fascinated, "You're going there? At lunchtime? That's nice. Good luck."

Such a strange reaction to a simple errand, Amanda thought. She tilted her head in confusion, "Why would I need luck? I'm just picking up some cleaned clothes!"

By then, however, Lee had returned to behind his desk. He next unfolded his newspaper and pretended to be reading it again in order to hide his mischievous smile, "You never know, Amanda, anything can happen at the dry cleaners!"

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(Thanks everyone, for your support and a special shout-out to all the anonymous reviews!)

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