Send in the Clowns – Part 2 of 5
See disclaimer with part one
"Thanks again, Lee, for helping me with all this shopping. I know it's not how you usually spend a day off." Amanda balanced a bag of groceries against her hip as she rooted through her purse for her house keys. Fishing them out, she opened the back door.
Lee followed her into the kitchen and put his load of groceries on the counter. "Hey, it was kind of fun. Like visiting a whole other world."
"I wonder where Mother is." Amanda glanced into the den. "I thought for sure she'd be waiting at the door. Mother, we're back," she called out but the house remained silent.
"I think she left you a note." Lee pointed towards the fridge.
Amanda removed the slip of paper from behind a magnet. Quickly scanning it she explained, "She just ran over to one of the neighbours' to borrow their ice cream maker." She frowned as she reached the bottom of the note. "And I'm supposed to call Pretzel."
"You actually know someone named Pretzel?" Lee asked incredulously as he began to unload the groceries onto the counter.
"That would be Pretzel the Clown," she explained.
"Oh, so you've been running around with some clown behind my back." He shook his head in disapproval.
Amanda laughed. "Not exactly. Pretzel's the entertainment for Jamie's birthday next week. He wants a circus theme for his party."
"Pretzel the Clown," Lee echoed. "As in 'A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants'?"
Amanda shook her head. "You're thinking of Chuckles the Clown from 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show.' Pretzel's specialties are making balloon animals and doing magic tricks. The kids all love him."
"I'll remember that the next time my club wants suggestions for their big New Year's Eve gala." Lee rolled his eyes. "Like I said it's like visiting a whole other world. Why don't you call and see what he wants while I grab the rest of the stuff from the car."
"Are you sure there's no way . . . Yes, I understand but . . . Thanks anyway." Lee brought in the last of the groceries just in time to see Amanda hang up the phone, a thoroughly frustrated look on her face.
"What's wrong?" He quickly set down the bags and walked over to her.
"I don't believe it. Of all the childish, immature . . . "
"Amanda, what did he want?"
"I told you that Pretzel's really popular with the kids and almost impossible to get and you have to book him way in advance. So Dean called him months ago and arranged for him to be at Jamie's party. Of course, this was before we broke up and I'd completely forgotten that Dean was the one who'd made the original arrangements."
Lee interrupted as she paused for breath. "What did that jackass do?"
"The reason Pretzel called was to double check my address so he could send back my deposit. Dean must have raced to the nearest telephone he could find and told Pretzel we wouldn't need him anymore." She sighed. "What am I going to tell Jamie? He's going to be so disappointed. How on earth do I get into these kinds of messes? None of this would have happened if I hadn't run into Dean while grocery shopping. Talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Couldn't you just explain to this Pretzel guy that it was a misunderstanding? There's no way he got another booking so quickly," Lee pointed out.
Amanda shook her head. "I tried that. He said he wasn't available any more. For all I know, Dean paid him off. Oh, I don't believe this. I can understand that Dean's upset with me, but Jamie's just a little boy. How am I supposed to explain to him . . . "
"Amanda, this isn't your fault. It's Dean who's behaving like a jerk." Lee reached out and put his hands on her shoulders. Rubbing his thumbs in soothing circles he reassured her, "It's going to be okay."
"No it's not. Unless you happen to know another clown I can book on short notice."
"We'll think of something." He picked up a can of whipped cream from the counter. "Maybe I can help after all." After shaking the can he carefully dotted Amanda's nose with a blob of cream.
Despite herself she smiled. "Lee, stop that. I'm trying to be serious here."
"So am I," he said innocently, guiding the nozzle over each of her eyebrows in turn. "I thought you said you needed a clown." He inclined his head and slowly ran his tongue along her left eyebrow. "Mmm . . . this could be a whole new party game."
Amanda laughed. "Except that Jamie and his friends are still at the age when they think girls have cooties."
She reached up to wipe her face but Lee quickly caught her fingers in his. Setting the can back down on the counter he captured her other hand as well, bending down to leisurely lick off the remaining bits of whipped cream. "Those boys have no idea what they're missing."
"Distracting me isn't going to solve this problem." There was a slight catch in her voice that indicated she wasn't totally opposed to his diversionary tactics.
"You're sure about that." He covered her mouth with his, the sweetness of the whipped cream paling in comparison to the taste of her lips. Amanda's eyelids fluttered shut as she leaned into the kiss, the birthday party crisis forgotten at least for the moment.
Lee slowly drew his lips back from hers, then pressed a series of lingering kisses along her jaw and neck. Amanda slipped her hands out of his grasp, trailing the fingers of her left hand up over his cheek and into his hair. Lee smiled as she used her other hand to lean against the counter, apparently needing the extra support. He slid his arms around her waist, pulling her more firmly against him. Nipping gently at her chin, he leisurely recaptured her mouth.
"Lee . . ." Amanda's breath was shaky and damp against his face as she whispered his name. He quickly took advantage of the opportunity to press his tongue against her parted lips, deepening the kiss. She groaned in approval, moving her hand back down his neck.
Even through his shirt, the sensation of Amanda running her nails over his chest and torso was unbelievably arousing. She shifted her hand even lower, lingering tantalizingly on his belt buckle. Lee gasped in surprise as she slowly eased two fingers into his waistband. He closed his eyes, savouring the overwhelming sensation as she . . . grabbed the can of whipped cream and jammed the nozzle into his pants.
"Amanda!" Lee exclaimed. "What are you doing?" He tried to pull away but she quickly hooked her fingers into his belt loop and cut short his escape.
"We don't have any seltzer," she explained with wide-eyed innocence, "so I thought I should improvise. What, now you don't want me to be a clown?"
"You wouldn't dare," he taunted her.
"No?" she said. "Are you sure about that?"
"Amanda, put down that can right now or I'll . . ."
"Or you'll what?" she challenged him. "I don't think you have a lot of options right now, Stetson. In fact I think I've got you right where I want you."
"Amanda! Open the door please. I've got my hands full with the ice cream maker."
Dotty's voice coming from the back door startled both of them and they jumped. Amanda inadvertently pressed her finger on the can's nozzle, ejecting a large quantity of whipped cream down the front of Lee's pants. Lee grabbed at her hand, forcing the can upward. The container fell to the floor but not before the front of his shirt had become a splattered mess.
"I am so sorry," she exclaimed as she hurried to the door and to let her mother in. She took the box Dotty was carrying and put it on the counter before turning back to Lee.
"Mother, this is . . . Lee Stetson." Amanda gestured weakly in Lee's direction. "Lee, my mother, Mrs. West."
"It's very nice to meet you." Dotty said slowly, staring as a large glob of whipped cream dripped off Lee's chin.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, "we were putting away the groceries and we . . . um . . ."
"Had a little accident," Amanda broke in.
"So I see." Dotty's amused gaze moved from one flushed face to the other.
Lee ran a nervous hand through his hair only to realize he'd transferred whipped cream to that as well.
"You know, Mother, I should probably take Lee back to his place so he can clean up. I'll be back later to get started on those pies." Amanda all but pushed Lee out of the back door, across the patio and into her car.
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"I don't believe it," Amanda said as they walked into Lee's apartment. "This place is even more of a mess than the last time I was here."
"Well, I didn't think we'd be making a stop here this afternoon. We were supposed to go out for lunch after shopping and then you were going to drop me off at the Agency, remember?"
"Can I just say again how sorry I am – I never would have done that if Mother hadn't startled me."
"It's okay, Amanda; it was an accident. Sort of." Lee began to unbutton his stained shirt. "Not exactly the way I'd planned to meet your mother though. Just give me a chance to get showered and we'll head out for lunch."
"You know," Amanda remarked casually as she walked over to the coffee table, "maybe I could tidy things a bit while you get cleaned up. You know to make this up to you."
Lee felt a mild tremor of panic run through his body. "You don't need to do that," he protested hastily.
"Oh, it's no trouble at all," she said, giving him a shove towards the bedroom. "You go hop in the shower and I'll just tackle a few odds and ends. Starting with some fresh air." She crossed over to the window. "This room smells like the place where old gym socks go to die."
Lee gave up and headed into the bedroom. He grabbed a change of clothes and continued into the bathroom. As he turned on the shower and adjusted the spray, he heard the sound of the phone ringing. "Just let the machine get it," he called out to Amanda.
"What?"
"Don't answer the phone."
"Okay, I've got it."
"No, I said, don't answer it." He stuck his head back into the bedroom.
"Unbelievable," Amanda called from the next room. "Your friends are even ruder than you were when I first met you. They hung up as soon as they heard my voice."
He laughed. "Just let the machine pick up if there are any other calls."
As he stripped down and got into the shower he wondered who had phoned. One of the many numbers from his black books? Idly he realized it had been almost two months since he'd bothered to call any of them. Maybe he should just toss his books and be done with it.
Or was that too radical a step? The fact that he was even considering the matter at all showed how different this relationship with Amanda was. Hell, the fact that he even referred to what they had as a 'relationship' was a seismic shift in his usual thought processes.
Maybe this whole thing was going too fast. What was he thinking – meeting her mother, planning to come over for Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe he'd taken complete leave of his senses. Or maybe he was finally headed in the right direction after all this time
Lee got out of the shower and towelled off. "Amanda, the next time you pull a stunt like this, I'm going to make you help me get cleaned up." No answer. "Amanda?" he called, "everything okay out there?" Still no answer.
Hastily wrapping a towel around his waist he hurried into the other room. It was empty and the front door was ajar.
Lee rushed into the hallway, just in time to see the elevator doors close. He caught a quick glimpse of Amanda, eyes round with fear, her arm caught in the tight grip of the man next to her. The man standing on her other side had a gun jammed against her ribs.
Lee swore under his breath and took off down the staircase. Halfway to the ground floor it occurred to him that he didn't have his gun or car keys with him, not to mention that all he had on was a towel. He hesitated only a fraction of a second before continuing down the steps. The main thing was to catch up to Amanda's kidnappers before they got out of the building.
Unfortunately the elevator stood empty by the time he reached the lobby. Mr. Feller, the doorman was nowhere to be seen. Lee ran out the front door, continuing to curse as a blue van raced away from the curb. He glanced around wildly and saw one of his neighbours getting out of her car.
"Mrs. Lowell." He rushed up to her. "I'm sorry but I need to use your car."
"Mr. Stetson! What are you wearing? What are you doing?" she shrieked as he grabbed her keys out of her hands.
"I'll explain later." In a series of fluid movements he wrenched open the car door, jumped in, started the motor and took off down the street after the van. A quick glimpse in the rear view mirror showed Mrs. Lowell standing in the middle of the street, shouting after him.
TBC …