In Limbo

Chapter 22

Lee had gone to the Trentonian to speak to Burt Daniels, reassuring him that everything was fine with Audrey Thompson now, and that the advice column situation had been handled.

Burt shook his head stating, "Well, that's great to hear, Chuck. I'm glad we could get this all settled...You'll have to thank your boss for sending you out here...Say, you wouldn't have plans for tonight, would you?"

Lee thought of Amanda immediately, and said with a nod, "Yeah, as a matter of fact I do, and then I plan to head back to Chicago. Why?"

Burt answered, "Well, since you did so well with the advice problem, I'm thinking about offering you a job here. Now, I probably can't match what you make in Chicago, but if you're interested, we could talk over dinner. What do you say?"

Lee, clearing his throat, shook his head, stating with a light chuckle, "I'm sorry, Burt...I mean, I appreciate the offer, but I kinda like the Windy city-"

Burt shrugged replying, "Yeah, you got your Bears, and Bulls, and Cubs...What do you need us for?"

They laughed, as Lee stood up from the chair near Burt's desk, and Burt shaking Lee's hand, remarked, "Good luck to you, Chuck...See you around."

Lee answered, "Thanks, Burt...Take care."

-SMK-

By the time Lee arrived back at the diner, Amanda was just heading out, and meeting him at the door, she stated flatly, "Oh, now you decide to show up? It's been longer than a half hour, Lee! I can't go back to you acting the way you did when we first started working together! Let's just end this with goodbye, and-"

But Lee stopped her words with a passionate kiss, and pulling back slightly, whispered,"I-I'm sorry...Really...Let's talk in the car, okay? Please?"

Amanda, against her better judgement at that point, slowly nodded, and reaching into her purse, handed him the Pastrami sandwich, and a bottle of water, replying softly, "It's kinda mushed, but then, the way you used to eat on stakeouts was no different, right?"

Lee smiled, and kissing her cheek, commented as he took her hand in his, "You're right about that...Thank you. Let's go, huh?"

As Lee helped her into the passenger side of his rental car, he thought wistfully, Wish I could've brought the Corvette here...I miss our rides together in that thing.

When Lee got in the driver's side, closing the door, he sighed saying, "I still can't believe how this day turned out for us, you know?"

Amanda nodded, responding, "Yeah, and all it took was a silly advice column...So, what did your boss in Chicago say when you told him how everything worked out?"

Lee answered carefully, "Well, when I called from my motel room earlier, he was surprised it didn't take the entire week, but he thanked me nonetheless, and then-"

Amanda queried, stopping him in mid sentence, "When do you leave?"

Lee commented as he gazed at her, "Well, I said I needed a few days, because I was taking care of some personal business that couldn't wait, but now I need to ask you...What is your work schedule like here?"

Amanda stated, "Well, I've been off the last few days because the tech company I've been working for was updating their entire system, so I have at least three more days off...Why?"

Lee replied, "Because we have a lot to talk about, and I thought we could start by having dinner tonight...That is...If your mother doesn't mind?"

Amanda answered, "Well, she didn't wait with me for you to come back to the diner because she felt we needed to "catch up", since I told her what our status was before we were relocated."

Lee, clearing his throat, remarked, "Oh, that's right, you did...Well, where would you like to go?"

Amanda answered, "I heard the River View is very nice, with great seafood, but I heard it's a bit expensive-"

Lee waved it away, responding, "Sounds perfect...Let's go, huh?"

Amanda nodded, replying, as she got out of the car, "Okay. Let me call Mother first...But don't you dare leave, Mister!"

Lee shook his head commenting with a smile, "Wouldn't dream of it."

As he watched Amanda head back into the diner, Lee felt like the luckiest man alive and that if this indeed worked out for them, they could have a shot at a real future...

TBC