Unfinished Business, Unresolved Feelings chapter 19
"Just when I thought that you'd finally grown up you start acting like a jackass again", the Colonel yelled at Lee.
"How does my putting what would be best for Amanda and her boys ahead of what I want for myself constitute acting like a jackass? I've spent most of my life doing whatever I wanted to do and not giving any thought to how my actions affected the people around me. I'm determined to not be so self absorbed anymore."
"Don't you think that it should be up to Amanda to decide what's best for her and her sons", the Colonel asked in a deceptively calm voice. Continuing to yell at him won't do any good, it never got me anywhere in the past, I'll just have to try and reason with him. "She's in love with you; has been for quite a while. "How would she be better off if you ended your personal relationship with her?"
"If I break things off with her she'll be free to leave the Agency and go back to living the normal life she had before I dragged her into my world. She and the boys will be safe. She might even get back together with her ex; that would be good for the boys", Lee concluded as he slumped down in his chair.
"Alright, that does it, I've been trying not to yell at you but that has to be one of the stupidest things you've ever said. Amanda will never reconcile with her ex. He abandoned her and their sons so that he could pursue his career ambitions on the other side of the world. You're angry at your parents for putting their careers ahead of your needs but they at least came home every night."
"Okay, I guess you're right about her ex; he was never good enough for Amanda, but you're wrong about the Agency. She'll be much better off if she resigns and never looks back. Billy and I can give her excellent references under the IFF cover. She won't have any trouble getting an office job."
"It's obvious that you've got Amanda's whole future planned out but there's one thing that you haven't considered", the Colonel replied.
"What's that", Lee asked as he was running down a list of the possibilities in his head.
"Amanda loves the work that she's doing and she's very good at it. It's pretty arrogant of you to assume that if she were no longer involved with you that she would resign from the Agency. You aren't always a picnic to be around; I doubt that she would have been putting up with your moodiness all this time if she weren't getting a lot of satisfaction out of doing the job itself."
"You could be right. Amanda's really smart, has great instincts, terrific people skills and she; well she just sees things differently than the rest of us. She took to the work right from the beginning; even when she was driving me crazy she managed to help me solve cases. I guess she'd never be happy doing office work", Lee conceded.
"You've had a very tough few days. I don't think you should make any life altering decisions right now. How soon do you need to be back in DC?"
"There's no rush", Lee answered while avoiding eye contact with his uncle.
"So, you are in trouble with the Agency", the Colonel responded in a knowing voice.
"I wouldn't describe this situation as being in trouble with the Agency. Billy suspended me for two weeks. Last month I WAS in trouble with the Agency. They accused me of treason and issued a shoot to kill order when I took off to try to clear my name. This is just a wrist slap; Billy could have canned me if he'd wanted to."
"While I'd love to hear how you managed to get yourself accused of treason I have to go out for an hour or two. I need to stop by the hangars to check on my men's progress for the day. When I get back we can go out for an early dinner", the Colonel said as he stood up and smoothed out his uniform jacket.
"Are we going to go to the Officer's Mess", Lee asked while standing up and stretching his arms over his head.
"No, I thought we'd go off base."
"I'm not really up for the ride back to Vegas. I'd like to have a quiet evening without all that flash."
"I wasn't planning to go to Vegas. There's a small place in the next town where we can get the best pizza you've ever had. It's got a very comfortable atmosphere. I'm sure you'll like it; Meg makes sure that everyone feels at home there."
"Meg?" Lee stopped stretching and gave his uncle a questioning look.
"Meg owns the place. She's a very classy lady." The Colonel turned away from Lee and made a show of searching the room for his hat. "There is a gym in this building where you can workout while I'm out. It'll make you feel better and help you sleep better tonight. I'll give you your visitor's badge, make sure you wear it at all times, and I'll give you my extra apartment key."
"That sounds good. I'm stiff from being cooped up while I was traveling."
"May I make one more suggestion", the Colonel asked on his way out.
"Could I stop you?"
"I think you should call Amanda; she must be worried about you. Keep it short; don't get into an intense conversation, you're not ready for that yet."
"I'll think about it. See you later." The Colonel walked out and Lee closed the door behind him. Lee looked at the phone across the room, looked away, looked again and then picked up the visitor's pass that his uncle had left for him. He put the pass back down and looked back at the phone. I may regret this later but I've just got to hear her voice. Besides I owe it to her to let her know that I'm okay.