Shortly after leaving Billy's office Francine picked up two file folders and walked out of the bullpen and down the corridor to the empty office that she and Amanda had ducked into the day before. She sat down at the desk and opened one of the folders so that it would appear that she was working. Francine was in a hurry to call Michael to accept his invitation but there were too many ears in the bullpen. She didn't doubt that her travel plans would end up on the Agency grapevine but she didn't want any hint of the true nature of her plans to get out. Francine took a deep calming breath and then dialed a new phone number that Michael had given her so that she could bypass his secretary. The phone only rang once before it was answered.
"Hello, this is Michael Tanner," he said distractedly.
"Good morning, it's me, Francine. You don't sound so good; are you alright?"
"I'm okay; I'd be better if I'd woken up with you beside me instead of waking up and finding the note that you left me. If I did something to upset you I wish you'd told me about it. I know I drank more than I'd planned to and I blindsided you by dumping my problems on you-"
"Whoa, Michael, can I say something," Francine interjected as she sat twisting the phone wire nervously. "I'm not upset with you. Considering all that you've faced in the last week I don't blame you for needing a few stiff drinks and you didn't dump your problems on me; you shared them with me. I'm not someone who other people usually come to for support and comfort, it's a new role for me but I want to help you in any way that I can. Will you let me?"
"I want to…but I'm not sure I should…I didn't plan on revealing so much of myself to you so quickly," Michael sighed. "We'd been taking things slowly, really getting to know each other, and now I'm…"
When Michael's voice faded to silence at the other end of the line Francine jumped in," You're feeling vulnerable, don't you think I am too, I never talked to anyone about Jonathan as openly as I did with you."
"Not even your friend Lee," he asked with barely concealed jealousy.
"No, not even Lee," Francine laughed, "he wasn't much of a talker back then. It's strange; I see him everyday but sometimes I lose track of how much he's changed since he met Amanda."
"He changed to please her," Michael guessed thinking back to his offer to change for Liza if she'd give him a second chance.
"No, he changed because spending time getting to know Amanda helped him to admit that he wasn't happy with the way he was living. Amanda gave him a nudge but he had to be willing to let go of his past and move forward. It's working for them and I think it could work for us."
"The note that you left me said that you left before I woke up because you needed to get to work early this morning."
"That's right-"
"Francine, I woke up and reached out for you but I was all alone, it wasn't even 4 AM yet. I know you keep some crazy hours in your business but I'm not a fool; why did you really leave in the middle of the night," Michael asked in a voice that demanded an honest reply.
"Hey, you haven't cornered the market on feeling overwhelmed and uncertain. I was completely prepared to stand by you here but you took me by surprise when you asked me to go to New York with you. I wasn't sure that I was up to helping you face all that up close and I didn't want to let you down and I wasn't even sure that I could get the time off from work. I needed a little time and space to work through this." I'm not actually lying to him; I'm just not telling him that I worked through my feelings by going to Lee. It's only a lie of omission.
"Did you call me now to tell me that you've reached a decision about my invitation?"
"Yes, I want to go with you but my boss will only let me have two days off. Maybe we can set aside a little time for us when you aren't at the hospital," Francine suggested hopefully.
"Count on it. If it's okay with you I'll make our travel plans and I'll call you later with the details."
"That sounds good to me…I'll talk to you later. Bye." Francine reached to hang up the phone and saw that she had been twisting the phone wire so tightly that it left deep grooves in her fingers. Get a grip, Francine; you've only put your whole future on the line for a man that you've only known for six months.