Chapter 10

"Francine," he said placatingly.

"Don't 'Francine' me," she said angrily. He had no idea what her problem was.

"Hey, what do you know about that girl?" he asked her in a low tone, pointing to Peggy not taking his eyes off of her. He looked around to make sure they were alone then smirked, "do you think she-"

"What do you mean, what do I know about that girl?" she said glaring at him, surprised at her tone of voice he quickly looked at Francine, "I know your wife is standing right over there," she hissed.

"Oh," he had the decency to look ashamed, "Well, you know…" he shrugged.

"What?" she said angrily.

"Well-why are you getting so mad?" he asked her with a huff annoyed.

She scoffed, "Look, I know I wasn't always your biggest supporter…I thought you and Amanda dating was a mistake-"

"Oh?" that was an interesting piece of information, he thought.

"But you promised me that she was the only woman you wanted to be with-"

"Uh-"

"-you swore that you loved her more than anyone you'd ever met and you wanted a family with her more than anything," she told him, "you convinced me all of that was true," she hissed angrily.

"I said all that?" he asked confused.

"You know you did," she said angrily, "I have never so much as see you look at another woman outside the line of duty in the last...I don't even know how many years….so what the hell are you doing? Sniffing around that girl," she said angrily, "tell me this is a joke."

He scratched the back of his head and furrowed his brows. Unsure of why he was feeling ashamed of himself but he did. He wasn't the one that was married to her but he needed to remember in this life he was the other Lee. He needed to act like it. He knew that was a cop out. She believes he's her husband, what he just did was pretty disrespectful to her.

Francine must have misunderstood him because she kept chastising him, "Stop it! Amanda is your wife, the mother of your children and she's been your partner here at the agency for…I don't know, forever. What is going on with you?" Francine said angrily her face contorted in a scowl but in an instant it brightened, "Amanda," she said pleasantly, "How is your last day going?"

"Oh you know, I'll still be around some," Amanda said with a shrug, "I'll have a desk on level three. I'll only be out at the training center at the start of each new session of recruits," she told her proudly, "so I'm not really leaving."

"Right," Francine said, looking over and giving Lee another glare before moving away from them.

Amanda laughed lightly, "What was that all about?" she asked him. He looked at her closely, he wondered if her smile was always that bright. He'd always thought she was beautiful but, he wasn't sure if he'd ever noticed her smile before.

Guilt crawled up his throat. He shook his head, "nothing," he said innocently, "you know Francine, nothing," instantly feeling guilty for what he had been thinking a few minutes before. He hated what he just did. Hitting on that girl.

She nodded, he wasn't sure if she believed him, "OK well, I'm going to go ahead home," she told him with a smile, "you take as long as you want but," she looked around to make sure no one could hear her, "if you hurry, I have a surprise for you," she said seductively.

His brows rose in surprise, "Really?" he said back trying to match her tone. He wondered why he felt a shiver of excitement down his spine when she said that. He didn't feel anything like it when he had been talking to Peggy. He thought about all of the things Francine told him about his feelings for her. He had married her, they had two children together. He was attracted to her but it seemed so odd to know that at some point he, in another life, fell in love with her.

He could see why a man would. She was kind and smart, she was a wonderful mother and given they'd woken up naked this morning, they must have had a fulfilling sex life.

She raised a brow and hummed, "Mm-hm…see you later," she smiled biting her lip as she walked away.

As he watched her leave, he realized he was grinning like a loon. He quickly schooled his features and looked around the room. His eyes caught on Peggy who was running her eyes up and down his body blatantly. He was surprised to find that he on second thought, wasn't really that interested in her. There was a time in his life –not too long ago that he wouldn't have passed an invitation like that up.

He had to get a grip on himself until he could figure out what to do. He sighed, he gave her a slight nod before he turned and walked out of the bullpen himself. He told himself that he didn't want to complicate things but the truth of the matter was he didn't want to hurt Amanda or the kids. He didn't belong in this life but he didn't want to mess it up for his other self either.

Leaving the building he turned his car toward his Pennsylvania Avenue apartment. He knew he couldn't pull into the gated lot but he quickly lucked out and found a parking spot on the street. He hurried into the lobby and looked for the doorman. He knew the doormen that worked in the building but he didn't know this guy, "damn it," he muttered when the man caught a glimpse of him. The doorman made his way over to greet him.

"May I help you sir?" the doorman asked.

Lee drew on his intelligence experience to play his part, "Yes please," he said with authority, "I'm looking for a friend who said he lived here...Lee Stetson?"

The doorman shook his head, "no, no. no one here by that name," he said confidently.

"You're sure?" Lee chuckled, "I know he said he lived at Penn Apartments…he's such jokester though you know, always kidding," he eyed the man, "you're sure?"

The man nodded at him firmly, "I'm sure, sir," he said. Lee nodded in acknowledgment and left reluctantly.