She Can And She Did

Chapter 1

Amanda thought she heard crashing waves near her the next morning as she opened her eyes, and moving her head a bit, moaned as she slowly looked around the room, and not recognizing anything, thought she smelled coffee...?

Who was here with her, and how did she get here?

Her question was answered as the door to the room Amanda was in opened carefully, and Francine entered!

She whispered to Amanda, "Hey...How are you feeling?"

Amanda shook her head and murmured, "St-Stop yelling. It hurts..."

Francine put a hand up and responded softly, "It's-It's okay...You'll be alright, Amanda. I called Billy, and he's on the way, and so is Lee-"

Amanda moved her head from side to side slowly as she whimpered, "Oh, no! I can't go home now! I feel awful-"

A knock came to the outer door as Francine commented, "Ho-Hold on, Amanda...I'll be right back..."

Francine stepped out of the room, shutting the door slightly, and a few moments later, Amanda heard murmuring, and loud responses, and then the door opened again, and this time, Billy and Lee entered!

Amanda was mortified and commented quietly, "I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened to me, but don't-don't take me home yet, please?"

Billy laid a comforting hand on Amanda's shoulder answering, "It's alright, Amanda. I let your mother know you'd be gone for another day redoing a location scout for us. You'll be fine soon, Dear. Take care..."

As Billy left the room, Lee, sitting on the edge of the bed, asked Amanda, "Do you think you can sit up?"

Amanda, swallowing, shook her head slowly, but Lee stated softly, "C'mere.", and gently bringing her up to him, fixed the pillows quickly, and carefully settling her back against them, remarked, "Now...Francine is bringing you coffee, and clothes are being delivered here, and she will help you clean up. Then you and I will head over to my place so you can rest today, okay?"

Francine then came in with a coffee mug, querying, "Someone requested a pick-me-up?"

As Amanda shook her head, Lee, taking the coffee, stated, "Yes, thank you...", and handing it to Amanda responded softly,"Drink at least some of it, okay? Careful, it's hot..."

Amanda, taking a tentative sip, swallowed, and answered quietly, "Th-Thank you, Francine...What happened last night?"

Francine, glancing at Lee, commented carefully, "Well, let's just say you and I settled our differences, and leave it at that, hmm?"

Another knock to the outer door came, and Lee rose from the bed stating, "I believe that will be your clothes and toiletries...Be right back."

As Lee left the room, Francine, watching Amanda drink the coffee, asked, "Do you think you might want some breakfast?"

Amanda paled at the thought, and shook her head vehemently, and Francine stated quickly, "Okay, just thought I'd ask."

Then, bringing a robe to her, Francine commented to Amanda, "Alright, let's get you up...A shower will definitely help here."

Putting down the coffee on the nightstand, Amanda nodded, and with Francine's help, rose from the bed slowly, putting the robe on.

Lee tapped on the door asking Francine, "Where do you want the bag?"

Francine steering Amanda towards the bathroom, answered, "Just put it on the bed for now. Thanks. I'll get it once she's in the shower, okay?"

Lee commented as he placed the bag on the bed, "Right...Listen, when you get her settled in there, can you come out here for a few minutes, please?"

Francine answered calmly, "Sure, be right there."

As Lee once more left the room, Francine thought, It had better not be like the last talk we had in Billy's office, Scarecrow. I don't think I can handle that today!

As she and Amanda went into the bathroom, Francine started the shower saying, "Now, you're not going to like this, but a cold shower is what's called for here. It will number one, help you feel better, and number two, it will wake you up along with the coffee...Now, is there anything else you might need?'

Amanda swallowed remarking slowly, "The-clothes?"

Francine put up a hand stating as she opened the door, retrieving the bag, " Oh! Right! You got it...Now, just yell if you need me. I'll be outside with Lee, huh?"

Amanda stated quietly, "I-I won't be yelling, but thanks, Francine..."

Francine patted her shoulder soothingly, and putting the bag on the toilet tank, nodded, leaving the bathroom...

-SMK-

When Francine emerged from the bedroom and joined Lee in the living room area, Lee queried loudly, "Are you out of your mind?! What the hell's the matter with you?! Getting her all soused like that?! You know she can't handle that! She's a light weight-"

Francine answered crisply, "Hey, Pretty Boy! I got news for ya! She's well over 18, and to note, I did not force feed her the alcohol last night! She dove in willingly-"

Lee retorted angrily with a nod and a gesture as he surveyed the bar and plates of half eaten food around, "Yeah, but with a little added incentive of food! It was just the two of you! You could have just had something way lighter-"

Francine put up a hand interjecting, "Look! Billy asked if I could at least attempt to open the door to communication, that's all And we did talk...Sort of-"

Lee groaned as he shook his head asking, "Okay...What was the damage?"

Francine perplexed queried, "Damage? Wh-What-Oh...You mean-"

Sighing, Francine remarked, "Well, I did dig kind of deep. I asked her why she was still with us-"

Lee grimaced answering, "God! You just can't let that go, can you?! Well, what did she say?"

Francine shrugged commenting, "That her "louse" dumped her, and then said her kids needed clothes and food...I knew she meant her ex-husband, but still-"

Then Amanda, fully dressed, came out of the bedroom suddenly, surprising them, and answered softly with a squinting look at them, "She's right, Lee... It was just girl talk. No knock down, drag out fighting. We won't be best buddies, but if we need to talk, we will, right..."Francie?"

Francine, with a smirk, nodded responding, "R-Right, King...You okay now?"

Amanda answered, "N-Not at the moment, but I will be...By the way, do you have sunglasses?"

Francine commented, "Sure," and going to her purse, took out a pair, and placing them on Amanda's face, stepped back, and giggled, commenting, "They'll do, but you look like "Jackie O", now..."

Amanda shrugged, looking at herself in a mirror near the front door, and as she went to pick up her own purse on the coffee table, remarked, "Works for me...Let's go, Lee..."

Stopping at the door , she turned back towards Francine, asking, "Wait...What about my car?"

Francine stated with a shrug, "Oh, I'll drive it back to Lee's place. Leave the keys here-"

But Amanda shook her head, querying, "I dunno...Can you drive a stationwagon?"

Francine, baffled, responded, "It's a car, Amanda! I'll figure it out-"

Lee, bemused by the verbal exchange between them, stated then with a grin, "Well, wait, Francine...I had a stick shift once, and Amanda had trouble with that, so I can understand her concern about you driving her car-"

Francine groaned answering, "Okay! Either leave me the damn keys, or I have the thing towed...On your dime, King!"

Amanda, wincing at the volume of Francine's tone of voice, took the car keys out of her purse, and handed them to Francine, stating quietly, "Lee was just joking, Francine...Anyway, thanks for taking care of me last night."

Francine sighed commenting, "It's okay. Feel better, but just know that we won't be doing anything like this again anytime soon, right?"

Amanda shook her head answering, "Definitely not..."

Lee put up a hand remarking, "Oh, wait... I've gotta call for a cab-"

Francine answered, "I'll do that, while you get her more coffee downstairs. See ya..."

As Amanda and Lee got into the elevator, Amanda asked Lee, "Thought you said she had a sense of humor?"

With that, Lee chuckled, commenting, "Comes and goes..." as they made their way down to the 1st floor...

TBC