In this chapter, our young spy couple spends the evening relaxing with Auggie's parents and planning out their holiday activities. But they sense something may interfere.
Anyway, this part of the story was fun to write, so I hope you have some fun reading it and imagining them hanging out at Auggie's childhood home in Glencoe. I own no interest in Covert Affairs, but today I did receive my dvd of Answer This, the movie that stars Chris Gorham ... but I digress. Thank's for reading. I appreciate your kind comments and interest in my story.
Chapter 6 – Time at Home
Annie freshened up and unpacked before rejoining Auggie and Amanda in the kitchen. With dinner ready for a few finishing touches and Fred's firing up the gas grill when he came home, Annie and Auggie decided to enjoy a beer before dinner. Amanda opted for a glass of wine. They made themselves comfortable in the family room; and after a few sips, Auggie raised his bottle and offered a toast "to an amazing Thanksgiving."
He felt bad about his mini meltdown earlier, but couldn't make himself apologize for making an important point. The toast was as close to "sorry" as he would get.
Fred arrived home shortly after six and commented on how every time Auggie was home, he felt like he had missed the best part of the party by the time he got home from the office. Fred gave Auggie and Annie each warm hugs before disappearing to change into his cool weather casual clothes … comfortable jeans and a faded Northwestern sweatshirt.
With Fred's coming home, they moved back to the kitchen to keep Amanda company while she finished dinner. Annie relished the warmth of Auggie's parents and the love she felt when she was in this house. Auggie was sitting to her right at the island sipping out of the beer bottle he held in his right hand and bantering with his mother. Annie reached across the island top and laid her hand over Auggie's with a gentle squeeze. Auggie turned his head toward her and smiled. "Thank you," Annie whispered.
"For what?"
"For making me feel a part of your family. I feel as at home and comfortable with your family as I do with my own," Annie said quietly.
Lowering his head so that their foreheads met, Auggie said, "You're welcome. But you have to realize they're going to adore you because you're always in cahoots with them to get me back to Glencoe."
The dinner discussion included plans for the rest of the week. Fred proudly announced he was able to reschedule appointments so that he could spend Wednesday at home to help with preparations for Thanksgiving. "Good," Amanda said, "I need all the help I can get. We have a lot to do."
"Again with the planning, Mom. Thanksgiving is not a military maneuver," Auggie said.
"Almost," Amanda said. "When you consider I have a big meal to oversee, Christmas decorations to organize for tree decorating after dinner and a house full of people, it feels like a military maneuver."
Amanda smiled at Annie and winked before she continued. "Here's my plan for tomorrow. Auggie, you and your dad will get the Christmas decorations ready to bring upstairs after dinner. That shouldn't take too long, and then you'll be available to help your dad run errands and still have time to relax. Annie, if you don't mind, Cynthia and I could use your help in the kitchen. You don't mind, do you?"
"I'd love to help. Just tell me what you need and how you want it done. I'm no wizard in the kitchen, but I know my way around a little," Annie laughed.
"Well," Amanda mused, "You did a mighty fine job with the brownies this afternoon."
"I follow directions really well," Annie said, taking the last sip of the beer she'd enjoyed with dinner.
"Yeah, right," Auggie whispered under his breath. Annie elbowed him in the ribs.
After brownie sundaes for dessert and a couple of hours relaxing in the family room visiting with the television playing in the background, Fred and Amanda decided to call it a night. As Fred got up from his chair, he held up the remote and asked, "Who wants to be captain of the remote?"
Auggie held out his hand. "That would be me. I don't get to captain too much on my own these days," he teased … casually referring to his and Annie's cycling outing. The "joke" was lost on Amanda and Fred, who looked at each other and shrugged.
On the way up the stairs, Fred whispered, "Guess we'll find out what that meant some other day."
"He's our son," Amanda said softly, "but as well as I can read him most of the time, he's going to keep us wondering about things the rest of our lives. I sometimes think he does it just to keep me on my toes and to taunt me. It's a game of sorts with him, but I refuse to let it bother me."
Back in the family room, Annie chastised Auggie for making the "captain" remark to his parents without explaining it. "I'm just playing with Mom a little," Auggie chuckled. "I'll tell her about it tomorrow. Now, let's catch the late news."
Auggie handed the remote to Annie and asked her to key in the channel for the local news and then go over the location of the buttons with him. After changing the channel, Annie sat on the sofa, snuggled up to Auggie and described the remote to him. "Congress should pass a law," Auggie said, "so that all remotes are designed alike."
The newscaster finished with local news. The weather was recapped, and the sportscaster finished her report before the highlights of national news were reported. "There is no comment tonight from CiA officials about the apparent intentional leak of information used as a basis for a series of articles in the New York Times. Unnamed sources quoted in the articles are making accusations about mismanagement in various departments in the agency that is leading to putting field officers in jeopardy."
Auggie stiffened as he listened to the report. He handed the remote back to Annie. "Rewind that last report. I want to listen to it again."
Annie took the remote, studied it a second and located the rewind key. They listened again. "We need to do a little work before we go to sleep tonight," Auggie said as he patted Annie's knee. Annie turned off the television and sound system. On their way to the staircase Auggie suggested they grab a couple of beers to sip on while they did some research to find the article …. or articles … in question.
While Annie changed into her silk nightshirt and washed her face, Auggie set up his laptop and portable braille keyboard and powered up the equipment. When Annie came out of the bathroom, he changed into his sleep pants. Before going into the bathroom, Auggie said, "She's booted up. Start searching for those articles, if you want."
Annie sat at Auggie's desk and started searching for the articles on the Times web site. It took only a few keystrokes before she found the articles referenced in the news report. Auggie sauntered out of the bathroom wearing his sleep pants and a well-worn tee shirt. "Find anything?" he asked.
Annie glanced up before answering. She couldn't help doing a slight double take at the man standing across the room from her. "How the hell do you manage to do that?"
Furrowing his brow Auggie asked, "Do what?"
"Look like you're about to step on stage for a photo shoot."
"Oh, that. It's the lighting in this room. I had it designed to make only me look good," he answered, making a joke of Annie's observation.
"Joke all you want to, but you evidently have lost all perspective on how handsome a man you are."
Auggie laughed self-consciously, "You are buttering me up. What do you want, Walker?"
"Not buttering you up … don't worry … just letting you know how lucky I feel that you want to be with me."
Auggie approached the desk and found the corner with the back of his right hand. He draped his left arm over Annie's shoulders and leaned down pretending to be looking at the laptop screen. "See anything interesting, so far?"
"Just found the articles. Do you want me to start reading?" Annie asked.
"Sure. I know this isn't exactly a romantic way to spend an evening, but why don't we get comfortable in bed with the laptop and then you can read. It should be just a tad more romantic than the computer voice," Auggie said sarcastically and then chuckled. Annie unplugged the power cord from the laptop and stood up. She kissed Auggie before picking up the computer and placing it in the middle of the king size bed.
They each climbed into bed and leaned up against the pillows propped up against the headboard. Annie balanced the laptop on her knees and started reading.
Half way through the third article, Annie started to yawn. "I'm sorry, Auggie. This isn't boring, but we've had a busy day and I'm running out of gas."
"I know," he said sympathetically, "but keep going, if you can. By finishing tonight, we won't have to finish in the morning. I want us to have as much information as possible, just in case we get a call from Joan."
Annie finished the last article and let out a big yawn. Auggie rubbed her back at the shoulders and said, "Thanks for hanging in with me, Worker Bee. I wanted us to be able to talk intelligently with Joan if we get one of her famous sorry-to-bother-you-on-your-vacation phone calls tomorrow."
"I understand … sorry about the yawns," Annie said as she powered down the laptop. "The power icon indicates the battery has only about 25 percent left, so we'd better plug it in to recharge," she said as she handed the computer to Auggie. He took it and got up to put it back on the desk and reattached the power cord.
While he was out of bed, Annie rearranged and refluffed the pillows and snuggled under the down comforter. She'd never been to Glencoe in November and with the cool wind blowing, Annie was glad she had both Auggie and the new comforter to keep her warm. Annie turned off the bedside lamp before Auggie climbed back in bed. The two intelligence officers tried to push the CIA part of their lives aside and snuggled together. They held each other gently but still talked quietly about the leak that was creating the articles.
Who could the leak be? Why was he or she doing it? Would Joan be giving them a call about something?
The questions were asked between kisses. In mere moments, there were no more questions … just the sounds of passion between two people in love and the rustle of fabric. After making love they fell back on the bed and enjoyed each other's warmth.
Auggie reached over to Annie and placed his hand over hers and they interlaced their finger. Annie rolled over on her side and studied Auggie's profile in the low light that was emitted by the night light. She leaned over and kissed him on the lips. "Auggie?" she whispered.
"Ready for Round Two?" Auggie asked.
Annie swatted his shoulder. "Let me finish. I have a serious question."
"Mmmm," Auggie responded. "OK." He was expecting a question about the articles they'd read earlier.
"How can you play the piano so beautifully, if you haven't played in years?"
"I never said I haven't played in years," Auggie responded. "You're making assumptions."
"Oh, I am? Do you sneak out and play at a piano bar? Is that your new NOC?" Annie paused and giggled. "You know, that would be a great cover for you. Play the piano at a place where the so-called diplomats hang out. You'd be in a perfect place to just overhear intel."
Auggie laughed with Annie while they teased each other in the dark stillness of the late November evening. Then he fessed up … "I have a piano hidden away at the apartment."
"You do not," Annie said as she raised up on her elbow and looked down at Auggie's smiling face resting on the down pillow.
"You may have seen it and not even realized what it is."
"No. You're just teasing me," Annie said giving his shoulder a swat.
"Nope. I have an electronic keyboard that I pull out and play when I'm alone. But its legs fold up and I keep it in the storage closet. You've just never noticed."
"Auggie, that's lying by omission."
"Is not," Auggie said pulling Annie down to him and kissing her neck. Annie sighed, realizing she would never win this argument. "Now," Auggie whispered, "Let's get some sleep, cause Mama Amanda's going to work our butts off tomorrow."
"Aside from your aggravating her before we went shopping, she seemed fairly relaxed today," Annie giggled.
"Remember how she was last spring for the two days before the summer kick-off party?" Auggie reminded Annie. "Well, she had a paid staff for those preparations. Tomorrow we are the staff."
The early morning wind whistled through the trees in the Anderson's backyard waking Annie, who wasn't used to November wind gusts in the Upper Midwest. Auggie, on the other hand, seemed soothed by the sounds of the wind and with each gust he slipped into a deeper more relaxed slumber. For a moment, Annie envied Auggie's deep sleep as she drifted back to sleep.
At eight o'clock there was a gentle tap on the bedroom door. Auggie and Annie answered the knock in unison with a groggy "good morning."
Amanda cracked the door just enough to say, "Breakfast will be ready in about 20 minutes. We have a busy day today … ready?"
"We'll be down as soon as we shower, Mom," Auggie answered before he elbowed Annie and said, "I was right, wasn't I."
"Yes, Auggie. I give up. You are always right. You know everything about everybody, and when it's not driving me crazy, it's kind of comforting," Annie said as she shuffled to the bathroom. "Since I'm up, I'll go first. OK?"
While Annie showered, Auggie carefully selected a sweater from his dresser, pulled his favorite pair jeans out of the closet and laid the clothing on the bed that he'd already straightened. When Annie came out of the bathroom, Auggie was finishing smoothing the wrinkles out of the comforter.
"Are you sure this comforter isn't girly? The fabric feels really lush."
"What do you have against girly stuff, Anderson?" Annie asked as she dried her hair with a towel. "The new comforter is a dark green heavy-weight silk with tan piping. The bed skirt is the same fabric and it's box pleated, not gathered, so it's very tailored," Annie described the room's new furnishings.
Auggie sauntered toward the sound of Annie's voice and when he was close she reached over and touched his hand to let him know where she was standing. He gave her a good morning hug and kissed her. "You smell amazing this morning." He gave her another gentle kiss on the forehead and said, "If there's a miracle and I regain my sight and find out you and my mom conspired against me to sleep under flowers, you will both pay dearly."
Annie barely giggled.
They'd better get a good night's sleep, because we all know Amanda can run a tight operation when she's planning a party. And there may be some unexpected developments along the way. Keep a watch for the next update. Thanks and ... later.