Chapter Five - The Q Bureau - Day 2

Amanda King walked into the Q Bureau praying to herself that it wasn't a huge mess. She knew how quickly the files would somehow become a huge mess in her absence. She smiled as she saw Francine in the little office.

"Good Morning Francine. Sorry it took me a bit longer to get here. Lee was being a grumble bear this morning." Amanda rambled on about Lee. She could already tell that Francine wasn't in the mood to listen but Amanda continued with her ramble anyway. "Once I got off the phone with Mr. Melrose, Lee started asking a million questions about how long I was going to be gone. When would I be back? Why couldn't Francine look for the file? I had to pull rank on him finally and told him to go take a nap just so I could leave to get here!"

Francine Desmond looked at Amanda and shook her head. I swear! HOW does she do that all in one breath? More importantly …why? Can't she just come in here and say hello and be done with it?

"Amanda! You don't have to give me a play by play on what Lee said to you this morning. I am sorry we had to call you down here, but I can't find this file and we need it. I wasn't about to let Fielder in would destroy it within seconds! It's bad enough that Efrim went in there!"

Amanda laughed and said "Thank you for not letting Fred in here. I appreciate it. Now what folder are you specifically looking for?"

Francine looked at her list and said "I need the Mason file and then the Dunlap one as well. I just can't seem to figure out your system of filing."

Amanda smiled and said "Well, let me give you the crash course on Amanda King filing 101 and then I can get back to my own assignment. You know if I am longer than an hour he's going to start calling."

Francine laughed "Well, we can't have Scarecrow without his own personal bluebell for too long, now can we?"

Amanda rolled her eyes and said "Francine...you know that I am more than that. Especially to Lee."

Francine raised her eyebrow and asked "Oh? Is there something that you want to tell me, Amanda King?"

Amanda shook her head. "Oh come on Francine, This is Lee we are talking about. Remember four black books? He doesn't have time for someone like me. He's my partner. Nothing more."

"Are you sure? You are spending the entire week with him…at his apartment."

Amanda walked into the vault and grabbed two files. She came back out and handed them to Francine."There is nothing more to tell. He's been an absolute grouch so far and I expect him to be this way for the rest of the week. Now…I am going to show you how I file things here. Maybe if you know how I organize things around here then you won't have to call me. Deal?"

Francine looked at Amanda and shook her head. "Okay. Okay. If you say there is nothing going on then I have to believe you. Show me how you manage to keep this place organized so you can get back to the grouch!"

Amanda laughed as she spent the next hour with Francine going over the files in the vault.

Billy Melrose was sitting in his office enjoying the sandwich he ordered for lunch. He was about to dig into another bite when his phone rang. Billy sighed, put the sandwich down and answered the phone.

"Melrose!"

"Billy! Where the hell is Amanda? I thought she would only be at the office for a little bit and then she'd be back!"

Billy tried not to laugh as he listened to Lee Stetson ramble about where his partner was. Billy thought to himself that putting the lone wolf agent and the housewife together was one of the best decisions he had ever made. Lee and Amanda were an effective team. They were the best of the Agency. Billy never in a million years would have expected how close the couple had become and he couldn't be happier for them. Once they finally came clean with how they felt about one another. Giving Amanda the assignment of being Lee's nurse maid for the week was going to either make or break them. Billy hoped for the best. His thoughts went back to Lee's whining about where Amanda was.

"Lee, she's already on her way back to your apartment. She said she was picking up something for lunch for you as well. So don't worry. I promise I wont bother her anymore this week."

"Ahh,...thanks Billy. I was just getting worried when I hadn't heard from her. She said she was going to call me before she left."

"She must have gotten busy and then just headed out. So how are you feeling, Scarecrow?"

Billy could hear Lee chuckling. "I am fine Billy. Just ready for this week to be over so I can get back to work"

"Well, that's good. Make sure you listen to Amanda and get the rest when you need it. I will see you in a few days."

Billy hung up and laughed to himself. When is that young man going to realize that Amanda King is his whole world? He shook his head as he went back to his lunch.