DISCLAIMER: The following story is based on characters copy written by "Warner Brothers" and "Shoot the Moon Productions." It is meant for enjoyment purposes only. I retain the right to the plot and not to the characters. All characters are fictional.  Do not copy, reproduce or otherwise use this story without the authors written consent.
 
 

The Agency: Early Morning, several months after their secret wedding...

"Good morning," Amanda chirped as Lee strolled into the office. "Billy’s been up here looking for you," she warned.

Lee closed the door to the Q bureau and walked over and gave her a kiss. "Good morning to you, too, Mrs. Stetson. Billy can wait, did you sleep well?" he asks as he continued with a series of kisses down her neck.

"I sleep much better when you’re around," Amanda remarked as she tilted her head encouraging Lee to continue. "How much longer are we going to keep this up?"

"Not much longer I hope." Lee sighed in frustration. "I’m not thrilled with the sleeping arrangements either. But it’s not just work, it’s the boys, too. They need some time to get use to me, to us."

"I know you’re right, but maybe it’s time we announce our ‘engagement’? You and Jamie are getting along well, I think its time. Besides mother keeps on hinting and hoping."

Lee sat down on Amanda’s desk. "Maybe you’re right. Why don’t we talk about this tonight, we still have a ‘date’ don’t we?"

"Yes, we still have a ‘date’ tonight. I’ll see you later. Billy remember, it sounded important." Amanda kissed him gently and pushed him towards the door. "Now get out of here so I can get some work done, or I will have to work late and cancel our date."

***

Lee walked down to Billy’s office and poked his head in. "Amanda said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, Lee, I’ve been waiting for you. Come on in, close the door, have a seat." Billy motioned with his arm, then tapping his watch in feigned annoyance of Lee being late.

"What’s up, Amanda said it was important?" Lee asked with a quizzical look.

"I’ve got great news for you," Billy said with a genuine grin on his face. "You’re being promoted."

"A promotion, what? I didn’t know I was up for one." Lee looked at Billy skeptically. "Who died?"

"Nobody died. But there will be the usual shuffling of personnel"

"Billy, something smells here. Last time I got promoted, I ended upstairs in the Q bureau! What’s gives?" Lee asked uneasily not sure he really wanted to know.

"The promotion is legit, honest. Danforth gave notice, he’s taking a job in the private sector, better money, who can blame him?  Gonzales is being transferred down to Texas, Borelli in the New York office is taking early retirement, health reasons, so you, my friend are being promoted to section chief there."

"New York?" Lee gasped.

"Congratulations!" Billy said patting Lee on the back, smiling like a proud father.

Lee stammered, a peculiar look on his face. "But, but what, what about Amanda?"

"Amanda will continue to work here Lee, she’s become a valuable member of this team. We’ll look out for her, you don’t have to worry."

"Billy she, well she’s more than just a partner to me. You know that." Lee looked at Billy in anguish.

"Lee, this is a great opportunity. It’s a big jump in pay, you will get to make some important decisions. Half the agents in this office would kill for this assignment. I know you’ll miss Amanda, but you can keep in touch. New York is only a few hours away, you’ll see each other on occasion. It’s not as if you’re married."

Lee winced at Billy’s last remark, those words really stung. "Damn it, Billy, I don’t want this. I hate paperwork, you of all people know that.  If it wasn’t for Amanda, I would never get any of it done, this isn't for me. I like being out in the trenches." He started pacing nervously back and forth.

Billy looked at Lee shaking his head, "Honestly, Lee, how much longer do you want to stay out in the field. New York is a great location, besides you wouldn’t be stuck to a desk. You just need some time to get use to the idea. This opportunity might not arise again."

"And if I don’t take this, for personal reasons?"

"Lee, give it some serious thought. Take a couple of days off. Think about it. I hate to lose you, but you have earned this job. I will need an answer by the end of the week.  Monday at the latest. Lee, you deserve this promotion. You’re ready for this."

"Who else knows about this?" he asked intently.

"Other than Dr. Smyth, nobody but you and me."

"Let’s keep it that way for a few days," Lee suggested bashfully.

"Sure thing, Lee. If that’s the way you want it. But you’ll never leave DC without one hell of a send off. I can promise you that." Billy teased with a broad smile on his face.

Lee left Billy’s office with mixed emotions. He couldn’t believe what just happened. ‘It really would be a hell of an assignment. But, no, I don’t want to be in an office. Although New York, what a town! But Amanda, and the boys.’ ‘Amanda!’ His heart was in his throat.

"What am I going to tell Amanda?" he said out loud, suddenly looking around to see if anyone heard him. He couldn’t keep up with the thoughts racing through his mind. He shook his head, hoping to clear it. ‘What was he going to tell her?’ He slowly trudged back to his office.

He opened the door and poked his head in. Amanda was busy at work on the computer. "Grab your stuff and let’s go," he said with a mischievous smile.

"What’s up?" Amanda asked with a ‘what now’ look on her face.

"I’ll explain later," he answered, not wanting to talk to Amanda here; they needed someplace quiet, where they could talk this thing out, alone.

"I’ll be right with you. Let me just save what I have been working on."

Lee didn’t say a word on the ride to his apartment. His mind was still racing, ‘How do I start?’ he kept asking himself. ‘Where do I start?’ From the look on Amanda's face, she was wondering what was up.

"So when are you going to tell me what’s going on?" she asked somewhat concerned. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Why would you think such a thing? You keep me on the straight and narrow." He winked and flashed her a charming smile, but she was still unconvinced.

"So what are we doing at your apartment at 11AM in the morning?" she asked, becoming a little annoyed.

"Billy gave me the day off. So if I get the day off, it’s only fair that you get it off, too."

"As far behind as we are in paperwork? Not likely!" She looked at him squarely in the eye. "Spill it, Stetson, what’s going on?"

"Amanda, sit down," he said, knowing he couldn’t stall any longer. But at least here, in his apartment they could talk about this ‘opportunity’ without interruption or distraction from work or family. "I’ve been offered a promotion." He smiled at her with his charming boyish grin.

"A promotion, oh that’s wonderful." She hugged him tightly. "I’m so proud of you, but you really had me worried. So you’re getting out of the Q bureau!" she teased.

"Well, maybe. I really don’t know if I want to take it." he paused, swallowing hard, "I’ve been offered the ‘section chief’ position."

"What!? That’s Billy’s job." she interrupted with a bewildered look on her face.

"Amanda, will you zip it and let me explain." He looked at her sternly, and she smiled a faint smile, pretending to button her lips.

"As you already know there are going to be some personnel changes. Without boring you with all the details, Borelli in New York is taking early retirement, the position is mine if I want it." He stood up, and walked to the window, he couldn’t bear to look at her.

She didn’t know what to say, she wanted to cry, but she realized it was a marvelous opportunity. "New York!" she said slowly. "Lee, that is wonderful!" She was happy for him, but devastated at the same time. Knowing if he took the job, they would be separated by more than just a few miles. "New York, you must be, thrilled." She repeated trying to sound convincing.

"Thrilled isn’t the first word that comes to mind," Lee said as he came back to the couch and sat down next to her. "I can’t take this job, for one thing I won’t leave you here in DC."

She looked away from him, her heart was pounding, and tears were welling up in her eyes. She swallowed hard and bit her lip to stop it from quivering. "We’ll ah, work something out."

"It’s not just that. It’s a desk job. I would be cooped up inside an office drowning in paperwork and you would be here, in DC…" his voice trailed off.

"It’s not going to be easy, but we will just have to make it work."

"I barely see you now, and we only live a few minutes away from each other. There is no way I can run a department in New York and commute on weekends to DC.  You and I both know it would never work."

She exhaled very slowly, it took all of her concentration to speak without her voice trembling, "This is an opportunity of a lifetime. You can’t give that up, you’ve worked so hard for this. You can make a big difference up there, you can run things your way. Besides aren’t you getting tired of getting shot at?" she kidded, hoping to break the tension.

"What happened to ‘lets announce our engagement’, I thought you wanted us to be together, I thought you didn’t like sleeping alone?" he snapped at her, angry at the situation.

"Lee, we will work this out," she snapped back hurt at his tone and loosing the little control she had left.

"I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair. I’m just so damned confused about this whole thing," he replied holding her hands in his and leaning back on the couch.

"I understand. When, how soon does Billy need an answer?"

"By Friday. If I say yes, I’ll be up there within a week’s time, two at the most. The timing of this whole thing is really lousy," he griped.

She turned towards him and looked him straight in the eye. "Let me ask you a question, and I want you to be honest. Promise."

"Amanda I really not in the mood," he protested.

"Just promise me you will be honest. Please."

"OK, OK. What?"

"If you were offered this a year ago, would we be having this conversation right now?"

"That’s not fair." He turned away.

She got up and opened the window, suddenly she needed fresh air. She knew the answer.

A few seconds later, he came up behind her and whispered in her ear. "I love you."

"I know that. I love you, too." Her voice quivering. "But Lee, as much as I want you to stay, we both know you can’t." Tears were now streaming down her face, Lee turned her around and held her closely in his arms………..

They argued back and forth for over an hour, seemingly going in circles.

"Lee the bottom line is that you really are interested in this job. I can’t say I’m thrilled as what this is going to do to ‘us’ but I do know if you don’t go, well you will always wonder. And that could eat away at you a piece at a time."

"I won’t argue that this is an attractive opportunity and yes, I am interested. But I have reservations. For one thing there is no way I am going without you. Are you ready to announce our engagement, and get married before I leave for New York?" Lee yelled in frustration.

"That is a heck of a lot for the boys to handle in a couple of weeks. You reminded me of that just this morning. Not to mention my custody agreement with Joe would need to be amended, that takes time." Amanda answered quietly, her head still swimming.

"So let the boys stay with Joe until schools out, even for the summer, they can come up to New York just before school starts back up in September. That would give us some time to find a house, and give the boys time to adjust and time for us to be together." He looked at her with hopeful eyes the thought of having her alone for the summer delighted him.

"You make it sound so simple, but it’s not. Remember how you felt moving around from base to base as a child with your Uncle." She lectured him, shaking her head at his simplistic answer.

He appealed to her. "We’re talking about a one time move to New York. It’s barely four hours away. The boys could come up on weekends to get use to us being married. New York is a great town, lots to do and see the boys will love it. Please say yes."

Amanda was looking out the window, her heart wanted to say yes, but her decision would affect the boys greatly. "I’m not saying no, I just need some time to think, I need to talk to Joe and…" she mumbled distantly.

"YOU need to make this decision, not Joe or the boys!" He came over and slammed the window shut to get her full attention. "Amanda, we are talking about ‘our’ future. The boys will adjust." he protested angrily.

A bit startled by his actions and his tone, she stepped back. "Lee, please," she whispered, barely audible, "I need some time to think." She grabbed her purse and hurried out his apartment door.

"Amanda, wait. You don’t have your car," he yelled down the hall to her.

"I can walk," she shouted as she headed for the elevator. Lee started down the hallway after her but stopped. He was asking a lot, she needed time to work it out, so he let her go.

* * *

Early afternoon at the King household…

Dotty walked into the house and looked surprise to find Amanda sitting on the couch obviously lost in thought. "Amanda, you startled me, I didn’t see your car."

Amanda just nodded at her mother, her mind a world away. "Hello, Mother."

Dotty looked at her with concern knowing something was not quite right. "Amanda, what’s wrong?"

"Hm, what Mother, I’m sorry, I didn’t hear what you said," Amanda replied, her mind still on her discussion with Lee.

"I was just wondering why you were home this early and where your car is?" Dotty gave Amanda a quizzical look. "You didn’t have another ‘car accident’ did you?"

"I walked home," Amanda answered mindlessly.

"From the office?" Dotty gasped.

"No, from Lee’s. Actually I took the metro."

"Amanda, what’s going on?" Dotty asked as she sat down on the couch next to her. "Is something wrong?"

"Mother, why does life have to be so complicated?" Amanda asked her, shaking her head still not totally focused on her conversation with her mother.

"It makes things interesting dear. Did you and Lee have a fight?" She asked with motherly concern.

"No, actually Lee asked me to marry him…" she said rather matter of factly.

Dotty hugged Amanda and gleefully cheered, "Oh Amanda, that’s wonderful, I’m so happy for you. I was beginning to wonder if you two would ever get married. Let me see your ring."

Amanda realized what she just said to her mother. She couldn’t believe she just blurted it out. "I didn’t give him an answer yet."

"WHAT?! For heavens sake, why not? The way you two moon over each other, what are you waiting for."

"It’s really complicated."

"Amanda, you love Lee, he loves you. The boys both get along with him, what is so complicated about that? I think you two have been dragging your feet on this whole issue long enough." Dotty spelled out.

"Mother, Lee was offered a promotion at work today. That’s why he proposed."

"See, Amanda, he’s a very responsible man. Now that he will be making more money he is ready to take on the responsibility of a wife and family." Dotty was bewildered by Amanda’s lack of enthusiasm.

"Ohhh, you can be so exasperating at times, Mother!" Amanda squealed as she got up from the couch and started pacing nervously. "You’re not listening to me. It’s more complicated than that. Mother, if Lee takes this promotion, IFF will move him to New York. We would have to sell the house, move the boys…"

"Amanda, people move all the time. I just don’t see the problem, when two people love each other the way you two love each other, you work it out. Didn’t Lee move a lot when he was a child? He turned out just fine, the boys will adjust."

"That’s what Lee said. But mother I just don’t know. This is all so sudden. If Lee accepts this position they will want him up in New York in a week or two. Lee wants to get married before he leaves, but that doesn’t give the boys much time to accept all this."

"I see," Dotty said raising her eyebrow. "Amanda, since the boys came along, you have always put them first haven’t you?"

"Well, of course."

"Well, I just think that it’s time you should put your needs ahead of the boys. Don’t you think it’s time that you enjoyed some happiness in your personal life?"

"I’m just not sure how the boys are going to react." Amanda worried about Jamie, she closed her eyes an imagined the scene and shuddered. "It’s Jamie, he and Lee have been getting along, but marriage and a move in a few weeks time."

"Don’t go borrowing trouble. The boys might not love the idea of moving, but they will get use to it. You need to follow your heart. Most people spend their lives looking for what you and Lee have found. Are you really willing to throw it away?" Dotty asked her honestly, with great concern.

Amanda stopped pacing. She looked at her mother for a moment, she was right, so was Lee. "No, Mother, I’m not." She kissed her mother as if to say ‘thank you.’

Dotty looked at her daughter and smiled and gave her daughter a reassuring hug. "Well then, I think you have your answer."

* * * *

It was late afternoon before Amanda returned to Lee’s apartment. There was a knock at Lee’s door, he went and answered it. He was very surprised when he looked through the peephole to find Amanda, he opened the door. "Since when do you knock?"

She looked at him and kind of laughed, realizing what she had just done. "I’m not thinking real clearly right now."

"Pretty long walk." Lee commented she had been gone for several hours. "You want something to drink, are you hungry?"

"No, I’m fine, I went home for a couple hours, had a long talk with mother," she explained as she sat down on the sofa in Lee’s living room.

He raised his eyebrows. "So, Mrs. Stetson, did you come to a decision?" Lee asked as he sat down across from her and leaned forward with his hands on his knees eager to know what she decided.

"We tell the boys tonight at dinner about our ‘engagement’. Tomorrow I’ll talk to Joe about taking the boys for the summer, while we get settled in New York. Once we have that settled, we tell the boys about moving. After dinner, tomorrow night I guess." She sighed, relieved yet proud of her decision.

Lee nodded his approval, then added. "What about a wedding?"

"End of June, after the boys are out of school. Joe was taking them on vacation for a couple of weeks anyway, so that would work out. That would limit how much time you and I are apart, as well as how long I’ll be without the boys. Gives us time to find a house and get settled. The boys can come up and visit on weekends and get use to it all." Amanda looked at Lee, she shrugged her shoulders hoping he wouldn’t be disappointed, she didn’t want to be without him, but she couldn’t bear to be without her boys either.

Lee was grinning from ear to ear. He came over and sat down next to her on the couch and hugged her tightly, "I know that wasn’t an easy decision. I guess I can live without you for a few weeks." He kissed her with excitement. "I can’t believe this, what a day."

Amanda smiled in agreement and teased. "Well at least life with you isn’t dull."

* * *

Late evening at the King household:

Amanda was on the sofa watching Lee and the boys play Nintendo on the floor. She glance at her watch, "Oh my gosh, boys, it is way past your bedtime, you have school in the morning. Upstairs to bed."

"Aw mom, can’t it wait until after we finish this game?" Jamie protested.

"Not tonight, sweetheart. It’s really late."

"Yeah," Phillip kidded jabbing Jamie in the ribs. "They want to be alone." Amanda just shot him a look. "We’re going, we’re going," Phillip answered as he hugged Amanda goodnight, and hugged Lee. "Congratulations again, Lee."

"Thanks, Phillip, it means a lot." Lee was beaming, the night had went better than he thought.

Jamie followed his big brothers lead, kissed his mother and shook Lee’s hand. "Congratulations," he said with a friendly warning, "you better take good care of my mom."

"I promise you that." Lee reassured as they headed up the stairs.

Dotty was doing needlepoint and got up shortly there after. "I’m calling it a night, too."

"Mother, you don’t have to go to bed," Amanda scolded.

She smiled back at Lee and Amanda now cuddled up together on the sofa. "Two’s company, three’s a crowd. Besides, I’m sure you two still have a lot to discuss. Goodnight dear, goodnight Lee." She winked as she headed up the stairs.

"Goodnight, Dotty. Night, mother," Lee and Amanda said in unison.

Amanda cuddled tightly to Lee. He waited until Dotty was up the stairs before he turned and began tenderly kissing Amanda. "We should have done that earlier I guess?"

"Do you mean tell the boys we are getting married, or ‘necking on the couch’?" Lee teased.

"Both I guess. Mmmmm that feels good. Don’t stop." As the tension from the uncertainty of the day slowly ebbed out of her body.

They continued their passionate embrace for a while. Lee groaned. "Unless you’re going to let me stay, I better get out of here, or I’m going to end up making love to you on the couch." Amanda looked up the stairs, wanting Lee to stay, but uncomfortable with the boys in the house. Lee shook his head, "No, if we go upstairs there’ll be no way I’m not staying for breakfast," he warned as he gently stroked her face with his hand.

Amanda sighed, she knew he was right. "Only a few more weeks."

"Well, tonight went a lot better than I thought."

"Well, tonight was the easy part. Tomorrow night you might get to see some fireworks. Are you going to come to lunch with me and Joe tomorrow?"

Lee looked at her and made a funny face. "I really hadn’t planned on it. Having lunch with your ‘ex’ isn’t exactly my idea of appetizing."

"Lee! You’re going to be the boys stepfather, you’re going to have to get along with Joe," Amanda warned.

"Actually, I am their stepfather, they just don’t know it yet. Besides I get along fine with Joe."

Amanda just smirked at him, Lee was still jealous of their relationship, even though she reminded him often that it was over. "Well I could use your support tomorrow, please." She smothered him with tiny kisses.

"OK, OK, you’re such a tease, you win, I’ll go with you. Now let me go home, or you’re going to have to explain to the boys why I’m in your bedroom in the morning." With that he kissed her one last goodnight kiss and reluctantly headed out the door.

* * * *

Dooley’s Restaurant on Wednesday afternoon.
 

Amanda and Lee were sitting at a table waiting for Joe. Amanda was fidgeting nervously when Joe finally came through the restaurant door. "Over here, Joe," she waved.

"Hi, Amanda," he extended his hand to Lee. "Lee, good seeing you again."

"Thanks for coming, Joe."

Joe sat down opposite them in the booth. "So what’s up, Phillip or Jamie?"

Amanda smiled nervously, "Actually both, but there really isn’t a problem. Lee and I ‘announced’ our engagement to the boys last night."

"Finally! I’m glad to hear that, how did it go?" Joe said with relief and smiling his approval.

"Went better than either of us expected."

"So what changed your mind about telling them?" Joe asked curiously.

"Well" Amanda hedged, not quite sure how to start, "we kind of had to tell them…" she paused still not quite sure how to tell him or what to say.

Joe’s eyes got really wide, he looked over at Lee and then Amanda. "You’re not pregnant are you?"

"Oh my gosh, no!" they all laughed. "It’s nothing like that. Lee has been offered a promotion, which he will most likely accept, so…"

"Congratulations, Lee." Joe uttered politely.

Lee smiled, "Thanks, Joe." He looked at Amanda to continue, but she froze suddenly unable to go on. There was an uncomfortable pause so Lee continued. "But what Amanda is trying to get at is, well, the job comes with a transfer, it’s in New York."

"NEW YORK!" he shouted almost spilling the water glass in front of him. He looked over at Amanda in disbelief. "Amanda, you’re not seriously thinking of taking the boys? I’m just finally getting to know them. I’ll never get to see them."

"I know it’s going to be an adjustment, Joe, but my place is with Lee," Amanda said meekly, feeling somewhat guilty.

"Like your place was with me when I went to Estoccia!" Joe barked back at Amanda. "But you stayed here in Virginia then!"

Amanda’s tone changed, she suddenly felt angry. The bitter feelings of being left behind with two small children came flooding back. "That was different and you know it," Amanda argued back.

"How’s that different?" he taunted.

Amanda was seething, she never thought for a minute that Joe would give her a hard time about moving the boys. "For one thing the boys were babies. Not to mention Estoccia is a little further away than New York, it’s a third world country. They didn’t even have running water in some areas, or modern healthcare. You really didn’t expect me to take a newborn and a toddler there. New York is a bit more civilized. Besides the boys are older now…"

"Estoccia wasn’t uncivilized, besides you never even came to visit."

"What was I supposed to do travel oversees alone with two little children? Or did you expect me to leave my children behind. You were too busy, your career was always more important than we were."

"That’s not true, I just wanted to make enough money so we could be comfortable."

"You could have done that here in Virginia, you had plenty of offers, some really good ones right here."

Lee watched the argument in amazement. He’d never seen Amanda and Joe argue before; he finally interrupted. "AMANDA, JOE! Cool it ,would you?  Rehashing the reasons you two split up isn’t getting us anywhere. Now can we talk like reasonable adults, please."

Amanda and Joe both stopped their argument and looked at Lee who regretted that he agreed to come to lunch with Amanda, he never expected to play peace maker. Amanda sat back in the booth still hot under the collar. Joe sat back with his arms crossed in a defensive posture.

"We came to talk about Phillip and Jamie. You can’t change what happened years ago." Lee repeated, trying to get them both to start ‘talking’ again.

Amanda conceded, looking down, embarrassed by their verbal exchange. "Lee’s right. Let’s not open up old wounds. That’s not going to change anything."

Joe didn’t change his posture, but finally said in an irritated tone, "I’m listening."

Amanda was feeling very unsure of herself now, she stammered, Lee squeezed her hand under the table for support and she finally found the courage to continue. "We were planning on getting ‘married’ the end of June. You were taking the boys on vacation around then anyway. I’d like you to keep the boys for most of the summer. That would give us some time to find a house in New York and get settled. I’m sure mother would be able to watch the boys too, if your schedule gets too hectic. That would give you some time with the boys and give them some time to adjust to everything. The boys can come up on weekends to visit to get use to the place."

"Well doesn’t that sound cozy for the two of you," Joe spewed, still enraged.

Amanda’s was trying to keep her composure, she could see that Lee was starting to get angry. "Joe, please don’t be like this. Haven’t we hurt each other enough in the past?"

"Amanda, I’ve put up with a lot in the last few years, I’ve covered for you in regards to your crazy job.  I’ve never asked a lot of questions, but God knows I’ve wondered. I’ve helped you hide your marriage to Lee, but you’re really pushing it now. Maybe I should petition for custody of the boys."

Amanda’s jaw dropped, she looked at Joe in horror. "You wouldn’t?"

"Amanda, I know enough about the ‘Agency’ to know that your involvement with them could endanger the boys. Up to now, you’ve minimized their exposure I’m sure and I appreciate that. But how long before your luck runs out, and one of the boys gets hurt, or worse?"

"The only time the boys were ever in any danger was when you came back from Estoccia!" Lee protested loudly, his anger finally getting the best of him. "You nearly got them killed!"

Joe’s lawyer instinct took over and he calmly stated. "The boys aren’t going to want to go to New York. I think it would be better for all concerned if I got custody of the boys. I’m sure the courts would agree considering your profession. You could see them on holidays and for the summer…"

"Joe, you’re the one who walked out on me! I’ve raised the boys alone their whole lives. You show up now and then and have them overnight or for the weekend. Do you really have a clue as to what it takes to raise two teenagers, full time?"

"Amanda, maybe you should think about who comes first in your life. I think falling in love has clouded your priorities. When you come to your senses, give me a call."

Amanda’s anger was reaching a new peak she was shouting now, her voice cracking. "You should talk about priorities. First you put your career ahead of your family. Then you come back and play weekend father and you think you’re some kind of expert. It’s OK for you to remarry, but when I finally find someone to make me happy, that the boys like, you tell me I’m screwing up my priorities!?"

"Amanda, you’re obviously not willing to discuss this rationally. Maybe your lawyer should talk to mine. If you will excuse me I’ve lost my appetite." Joe said as he got up from the table threw his napkin in disgust on the table and walked out in a huff.

Amanda watched Joe leave, her mouth agape. When he was out of sight, she folded her arms on the table and her buried her head in them. Lee was still trying to comprehend what just happened, he was stunned. He looked at Amanda and moved closer to her reaching his arm around her to give her a supportive hug.

"Tell me that didn’t really happen," she whispered her voice shaking.

"It’s going to be all right." Lee tried to reassure.

"He’s going to petition for custody of the boys," she groaned in disbelief.

"No he won’t, he’s just angry."

"What does he have to be angry about?"

"Same reason you’re upset. You both love your children and don’t want them out of your life. Amanda, maybe I should just turn down this promotion. It’s brought nothing but aggravation since Billy told me about it."

"No. I spent ten years letting Joe tell me how to run my life, he’s not going to run yours, too."

***

It was Lee’s last day at the office. He was trying his best to get out of the office early, but Billy insisted he come down to the bullpen. Lee knew they were throwing him a party, despite his pleas not to, he really just wanted to be alone one last night with Amanda.

As Lee walked into the bullpen, they popped the corks on several bottles of champagne. "Well, Lee, how does it feel to be getting out of this place?" Billy teased his good friend.

Lee gladly accepted a glass, and surveyed the room. All his friends were there, he was beginning to feel more than a bit down about leaving. They started cheering ‘Speech, Speech!’ Lee blushed, "I just want to thank you all for coming. I’m going to miss some of you." The crowd laughed. Lee wasn’t one for long speeches. "It’s been a great fifteen years, if you're ever in New York, look me up," he said as he raised his glass and drank. Lee made his way through the room talking briefly with his old buddies.

Francine saw Amanda sulking in the corner and headed her way. "Amanda, dear, don’t feel so bad about losing Lee. You’re in a very select group of women."

Amanda smiled politely. This last week had been painful enough, she didn’t need Francine’s attitude tonight. "Francine, can we call a truce?" She wanted to be alone with her husband, not spending it with Francine or a couple dozen agents in the bullpen getting drunk on cheap champagne.

"Welcome to the club, Amanda. Maybe we could do lunch sometime." Francine raised her glass in the air and toasted Amanda’s loss before she headed back into the crowd.

It was about an hour before Lee made his way over to Amanda. "So much for getting out of here early."

"A lot of people are going to miss you."

"But there is really only one who I’m really going to miss," he whispered to her. "How about sneaking me out of here?"

"Wouldn’t it be rude to sneak out of your own going away party?"

Lee surveyed the room, everyone was having a good time, and a few agents were half way to a cheap drunk. He shrugged. "Other than Billy, I don’t think anyone would notice."

"Well, I think you should at least say goodbye to him."

"Your right. Meet you at my place." He winked at her and Amanda nodded and gladly headed out of the bullpen.

"Billy, I’m going to cut out now. I’ve got a million loose ends to tie up."

Billy motioned Lee into his office and closed the door. "I’m really going to miss you. Don’t be a stranger."

"Tell me I’m doing the right thing," Lee asked for the millionth time.

Billy looked over at his friend, his expression turned serious. "Lee, you’re going to do fine in New York. I will personally keep my eye on Amanda so quit worrying."

"I still wonder if this is right for me. I’m usually fighting the authority figure, not being one."

"Isn’t life ironic? " Billy chuckled. "Lee, give it a chance it’s a great opportunity and a great location. You’ll find your own style, it’ll work out."

"Thanks, Billy. Your friendship means the world to me." With that Lee hugged Billy and quietly slipped out of the bullpen, as he suspected nobody noticed.

* * *

At Lee’s apartment later that night, boxes were scattered everywhere, but just about everything was packed. Lee and Amanda were cuddled closely in his bed. "I’m going to miss you."

"You’re coming up next weekend," he reminded as he was mindlessly running his fingers playfully through her hair.

"I know, but I’m use to seeing you everyday. It’s going to be hard adjusting."

"Billy will keep you so busy you won’t even notice I’m gone," he said as he kissed her tenderly.

She turned away from him, trying to hide the tears that were welling up in her eyes. "Lee, I don’t know how I’m going to get through the next few weeks, or months! It hard enough now and you are living across town."

"Amanda, we’ve been through this a thousand times. It’s only until you work things out with Joe. At least he hasn’t served you with any custody papers. We’ll see each other nearly every weekend. You’ll be up next month for a week when the boys go on vacation with him. Hopefully by then, well, maybe we can set a wedding date."

"It’s just I can’t lose the boys. They’re my life."

"I know, I’m not arguing with you. I agree with you," he said as he put his hand on her shoulder. "Now we can either rehash this all night, or I can make love to you again."

"She turned towards him, and reached out to him."

"Good choice, Mrs. Stetson," he whispered as he turned out the light.

* * * *

The Agency, New York City

Lee entered his new office and looked around. His eyes were wide as he tried to soak it all in.  Part of him still did not quite believe that he was here and in New York. He shook his head realizing at last that ‘he’ was in charge.

"You must be, Mr. Stetson?" Margo welcomed. "I’m your assistant, Margo Derringer."

"Pleased to meet you, Margo." Lee flashed his charming smile as he observed his new assistant.   Margo was a young woman mid twenties, no ring on her finger, but obviously, actively on the hunt. She stood about five foot six, very well put together, her long auburn hair flowed past her shoulders and she was impeccably dressed.  "Call me Lee."

"The pleasure is ALL mine. I’ve heard SO much about you from my friends in the DC office." ‘And they weren’t kidding either,’ she said under her breath as she surveyed Lee up and down. 'I'm glad I chose my black dress after all. It reveals me in all the ‘right’ places.'  "If there is anything that you need, just let me know, and I mean ‘anything’," she said suggestively in a sultry voice.

Lee felt a little uncomfortable by her obvious advances. "I appreciate that Margo, we’ve got a lot of ground work to cover today. Let’s get started." He saw his nameplate already mounted on his office door, and headed inside.

"Yes, sir," Margo purred following him into his office, she tossed her head back allowing her long auburn curls to cascade through the air. She sat down across from his desk, her short black dress crawling up her legs. "Your staff meeting starts at nine, Dr. Burns will be down for it. He will run today’s meeting to bring you up to speed, introduce you to the agents. At noon he will introduce you to the other section chiefs. Tony, I mean Mr. Borelli and I always met at five, to go over any ‘situations’. We can meet here or downstairs in ‘The Cellar’ as he preferred. More relaxing," she added suggestively leaning towards Lee.

"The Cellar?" Lee questioned uncomfortably, feeling like he had been propositioned.

"Little bar downstairs, an agents hang out…"

"My office will be fine. I’d prefer four."

Margo shrugged her shoulders. "Four is fine." ‘Hmmm, this one is definitely going to be a challenge.’

Margo left Lee to examine his office. It wasn’t quite as large as Billy’s office in DC, and it was smaller than his and Amanda’s office but it did have a small window, which looked out to the New York skyline. He shook his head. ‘I can’t believe I’m really here.’ He was lost in thought when a knock came at his door. He turned to see Margo strutted in with a cup of coffee.

"Black with sugar?"

"Yeah, I could certainly use a cup," Lee said a little off guard. He watched as she bent down to put his coffee on his desk and her breasts heaved almost out of her low cut dress. "Thank you," he said, a little embarrassed by the spectacle he just observed.

Margo giggled, she knew she got a rise out of him. Black had always been a good color for her. Her smooth ivory skin was always appreciated in a black dress. She smiled to herself, she was ready for a challenge.

At four Margo dutifully knocked on Lee’s door. He looked up already surrounded by piles of paperwork.

"Our afternoon update meeting," she reminded him.

"Right, come on in," Lee welcomed, trying to be friendly; he had been kind of hard on her earlier this morning. He needed a good assistant, this job would be tough enough as it was.

Margo could see Lee’s demeanor soften, she delighted at the opportunity. "So how is your first day going?"

"All things considered, I think we got a lot done!" Lee brightened, glad that it was almost over.

"Would you prefer to meet in ‘The Cellar’?" she asked with a provocative smile.

"No, I don’t have the time. Maybe some other day." Instead, Lee tore into the pile of paperwork, "This needs to be handled priority, ‘Eyes only’. These are ‘ASAP’, these needed to be sent over secured lines to DC." Lee stopped. He had been so busy today he didn’t get a chance to think about Amanda. But a smile crept over his face, he wondered how Amanda’s day had gone.

"Lee?" Margo could see he was lost in thought. "DC?"

Lee’s smile faded as his thoughts came back to the moment. "I’m sorry, the rest of this stuff I’m still sorting through. When you finish with that, you can head out of here."

"If you change your mind, I’ll be in ‘The Cellar’ until at least six." She smiled at him seductively.

* * * *
 
 

Later that week at the King household, Amanda was in the kitchen chopping onions and crying.

"Are you all right mom?" Jamie asked when he came into the room.

Amanda wiped her eyes, and turned to Jamie, "I’m fine, sweetheart, just the onions."

"Well, you’ve been kind of down in the dumps all week. You really miss him don’t you?"

Amanda smiled sweetly at her son, she had tried to hide her feelings from the boys, but Jamie picked up on them anyway. He was very observant almost introspective for his age. "Yeah, I really do. I’m use to seeing him at work everyday, kind of empty in the office without him."

"So, when are you guys getting married?"

"You don’t beat around the bush do ya?" Amanda teased and ruffed up his hair. "I guess we need to sit down and talk about this. Why don’t you go find your brother, and we’ll discuss this over dinner, the tacos are ready."

Jamie shouted, "Phillip dinner!"

Amanda scolded him. "Now I could have done that! Go wash up," she said as she swatted him gently on the behind as he rushed towards the bathroom.

The conversation was light through dinner when Jamie again asked. "Well, Mom, I thought you were going to, you know, talk to us about what’s going on about well, you and Lee?"

"OK. Let’s talk." Amanda said as she pushed her plate away from her. "As you guys both know, Lee took a promotion in New York. It was really a great opportunity for him, a lot more responsibility."

"More money I hope, too," Phillip suggested.

"It’s not polite to interrupt and not that it’s any of your business, but yes." She reprimanded him. "But the problem is that it is in New York. I really love Lee, and I still want to marry him, but I’ve got you two guys to think about." Her thoughts shifted to her argument with Joe last week ‘Not to mention your father!’

"So are we going to move to New York?" Jamie asked concerned.

"Of course metal mouth. You can’t be married and live apart." Phillip shouted at his brother.

‘If you only knew.’ Amanda thought as she nervously continued. "How many times have I told you not to call your brother names? Now if we are going to continue this conversation, I want you both to act like civilized young men." She waited until they both settled down again. "All right. After school is out for the summer and you both get back from vacation with your dad, I’d like us all to go up to New York and look around."

"Then we ARE moving?" Jamie asked again.

"Looks like it, champ!" Amanda finally conceded putting her hand on his for support. "But probably not until the end of summer, we have to sell this house first, find a new house, lots of things." She tried to sound cheerful and excited, but the look on Jamie’s face was one of dread.

"Do we have to go?" Jamie asked. "This place is home."

Amanda sat back in her chair and let out a deep sigh. She wasn’t surprised by Jamie’s attitude. She expected it. "Sweetheart, we’ll find a new house, and that will feel like home in no time. You’ll meet new friends, I know it’s kind of scary right now, but give it some time."

"Man, I had a shot at the basketball team at school." Phillip complained.

"Phillip, I’m pretty sure they have basketball in New York!"

"Mom, I really don’t want to move," Jamie appealed. "I like it here, in Virginia."

Amanda leaned towards Jamie and looked over at Phillip, "I really want you both to come with me to New York, but I can’t and won’t force you." She paused, she didn’t want to finish but she knew she had to, sooner or later it would come up. "You could live with your dad, he suggested it just last week. But before you decide either way, you guys need to really think about it." Amanda’s eyes got all teary, she tried to wipe them without the boys noticing she was ready to cry. "But either way, you will be going to a new school next year, either in New York or at your dads."

"Live with dad?" Jamie asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, and Carrie!" Phillip shuddered, making a scary face. "No way! New York can’t be that bad. Grandma’s coming isn’t she mom?"

"Of course she is. She’s looking forward to being closer to her sister."

Jamie had a petrified look on his face. "Mom, I don’t want to live with dad either. I want to stay with you. I love him and all, but…" he didn’t know how or what he wanted to say.

Amanda got up from her chair and knelt down beside Jamie. "It’s OK to be scared Jamie. I don’t want you to live with your dad either, but it’s an option. I know moving can be really frightening, meeting new people, new places. But it also can be a lot of fun." She held her youngest son tightly, she could feel his arms reach around her and tightly squeeze back. She smiled and thought to herself, ‘Well Joe, you might petition the courts for your sons, but they won’t go willingly.’

"Hey, how about you guys help me clean up this mess, and we go out for some ice cream!"

"Yeah!" The boys shouted together.

"Great!" Amanda said as she sighed, relieved to have that conversation out of the way. ‘It’s going to take some time Lee, but we are going to be a family.’

***

It was late on Thursday evening when Amanda called Lee at his apartment, but there was no answer. Apparently he hadn’t gotten around to setting up his answering machine. ‘Well I guess I can leave a message for him at the office.’ She dialed the number Lee had given her that was direct to his office.

"Lee Stetson’s office," Margo answered.

She was a little surprised that a woman answered so late in the evening. "Is Lee there?"

"I’m sorry but Mr. Stetson is unavailable, would you like to leave a message?"

"Would you please have him call Amanda."

"Certainly, what is the number?"

"He knows the number."

"Who was that?" Lee asked as he walked back into his office. They were working late, Lee wanted to get some things done so he would be able to spend some time with Amanda over the weekend.

"It was just a wrong number," Margo lied. She wasn’t sure who Amanda was, but she had plans for Lee and wasn’t going to be interrupted.

Lee yawned and looked at his watch, it was already after ten. "Margo, you better get out of here, it’s getting pretty late. I really appreciate you staying so late tonight."

"Oh no, look at the time. I’ll never make my train."

Lee felt bad knowing that it was his fault. "Would it help if I gave you a ride to the train station, my car is downstairs in the garage."

"Oh, Lee, would you? Trying to find a cab this time of night would take forever.  I’d never make the train." She purred delighted at herself. "You’re such a dear," she said, hugging him tightly, lingering a little, while she drank in the scent of his cologne. "I’ll just go grab my bag."

Lee raced to the train station in his ‘vette’. "I really appreciate this, Lee. Looks like I’ll make my train. I owe you a drink." Margo looked at her watch and asked in a sullen voice. "We’ve got a few minutes, I’m buying, care to join me?"

"Thanks, Margo, but it’s really late, and I’m beat. Some other time." Lee said trying to be polite.

"I’m keeping track of the number of times you tell me that." Margo teased as she reached over and tenderly touched his hand. Lee didn’t pull it away, so she expertly leaned in and kissed him deeply.

At first Lee was startled, and when he realized what Margo was doing he pulled away. "Margo, this has got to stop. I’m involved with someone else," he warned in an authoritative voice. "You are a very beautiful woman, but we have to keep our ‘relationship’ strictly professional."

"Goodnight, Lee," Margo grinned, paying little attention to his warning as she rushed into the train station.

When Lee got back to his apartment, he wanted to call Amanda, he hadn’t talked to her since Tuesday. He missed hearing her voice, he wanted to hold her in his arms. After looking at his watch he realized she was probably asleep and he didn’t want to wake her. He threw his jacket in annoyance. ‘I’ll see her tomorrow anyway.’ He thought and he reluctantly got ready for bed.

***

It was mid afternoon at the Agency. Margo came in with a handful of paperwork. "Lee, you need to sign these right away, I’ve got to get them to payroll."

Lee looked up annoyed at the distraction. He really missed the way Amanda did things, her way of ‘handling’ him was so much less intrusive. Margo was just annoying, no that wasn’t fair, the simple truth was Margo was no Amanda. "Exactly what is it that I’m signing."

"Agent expense reports."

"They were due in on Wednesday!" he bellowed. "You really don’t think I’m going to sign expense reports without going over them, I wasn’t born yesterday!"

Margo puts the expense reports on Lee’s desk and headed behind his chair. "Lee, you’re way too tense," she said as she begins to give him a neck rub. "Oh, Lee you really need to relax, you’re really tight." she says in a sultry voice.

Lee squirmed. "Margo, stop," he complained as he lightly batted her hands.

She grabbed his hands. "You have such strong hands, Lee," she whispered seductively into his ear as he pulled away. "I’ve been told I have magical fingers, I really think you’re going to enjoy this."

Lee was becoming annoyed. "Margo, knock it off. This isn’t the time or the place."

"You name the time and the place," she murmured in a sexy undertone and continued with her massage, ignoring Lee’s verbal and physical protests. "I promise you won’t be disappointed."

Lee was still squirming, trying unsuccessfully to get Margo to stop when they were both startled.

"I hope I’m not interrupting anything?" A voice asked from the door.

Lee looked up at the familiar voice. "AMANDA! What are you doing here?" he asked, quickly pushing his chair back to get up and greet her, forgetting Margo was behind him knocking her unceremoniously into the wall.

Amanda tried to stifle a laugh, she enjoyed seeing Margo get plastered to the wall, served her right; she had watched the scene play out from the door and was none too please by this vixen’s obvious advances at Lee.

"I’m visiting an old friend this weekend.  I got in earlier than I expected and thought I would come and see how New York was treating you," she explained, not sure what, if anything his staff knew of their relationship.

Lee headed over to Amanda but stopped short as Margo griped. "Lee, aren’t you going to introduce me?"

Lee stopped mid stride, forgetting for a moment that Margo was there. "Oh, yeah, I’m sorry. Amanda King, this is Margo Derringer, my assistant. Margo, this is Amanda King, my partner from DC."

"You mean ‘ex-partner’." Margo emphasized, lifting her eyebrow and throwing back her prized mane of auburn hair. She remembered the call from last night, and suspiciously sized up Amanda. "Nice to meet you," she snorted.

"Like wise I’m sure." Amanda flashed a phony smile. She didn’t like this woman already, she thought Francine was bad, but Francine could take lessons from her.

"Margo, if you could excuse us, we can finish those later." As he ushered Margo indignantly from his office, he closed and locked the door.

Amanda started towards Lee, aching to be held in his arms. He put up his hand, stopping her, and then he put up one finger, while he closed the blinds to give them added privacy. She nodded and waited restlessly. When he finished he enveloped her in his strong arms, not being able to get her near him fast enough. Their lips touched and their desire consumed them. It was several minutes before they broke from their passionate embrace.

"I guess that means you missed me?" Amanda teased as she wiped the lipstick from Lee’s face and neck, she was more than a little flushed.

"More than I thought was possible," he answered as they sat down together, both a little out of breath. "I’m so glad you are here, but I thought you were taking the five o’clock flight. I would have met you at the airport if you had called."

"I caught an earlier flight and took a cab from the airport. I couldn’t concentrate on anything. Besides, you look like you needed to be rescued from ‘Miss Magic Fingers.’ Lee, you really shouldn't put up with that! She’s trying to seduce you," Amanda warned in an alarmed tone of voice.

Lee rolled his eyes. "Margo? Trust me, you don’t have anything to worry about. She’s harmless, but persistent. Unfortunately, I can’t do without her, at least not at the moment. She practically runs this place," he explained using broad hand gestures.

Amanda looked rather skeptical at Lee, "I don’t like it when another woman makes a pass at my husband. Particularly when I’m not around to defend my territory."

"You have nothing to worry about, I’m not interested." Lee reassured and kissed her again. "God it’s so good to see you." He got up and went over to his desk. "I think you might be needing this." He dangled a key in front of her.

"The key to your heart?"

He smiled. "No, you already have that. But will the key to my apartment do?"

"Are you kicking me out of here already? I just got here. Don’t I at least get the fifty cent tour?" she protested, not wanting to leave him.

"No, I’m not kicking you out, and I promise to give you a tour this weekend if you really want one. But as you can see," as he pointed to his desk. "I’m buried under paperwork. I’d like to get out in time for dinner with ‘an old friend’."

"OK, I can take a hint, so where and when are we going for dinner?"

"Tavern on the Green at eight."

"Hmm, I like your style, Stetson!" Amanda grinned as she stole another kiss. "There’s more where that came from," she warned mischievously.

"I love you." He said as he kissed her goodbye.

* * * *

It was early the next morning in Lee's apartment. The phone was ringing. Amanda woke up first and nudged Lee awake. "Aren't you going to answer that?" she groaned as she stretched, still exhausted from their night of lovemaking.

"What, oh the phone…" Lee grumbled as he rolled over and grabbed the phone knocking his alarm clock on the floor, he had been sound asleep. He growled into the phone. "Stetson. What happened? Where? Yeah, got it. I'm on my way." He hung up the phone! "Damn it!"

Amanda rolled over onto her side, brushing the hair out of her eyes and rubbing his broad back. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"There was a shooting on the west side. I have two agents in the hospital. Sounds like one of them is in pretty serious condition," he explained rubbing his eyes to try to wake himself up. "What time is it anyway?" he mumbled disoriented, as he looked for his clock in the dark.

"Five AM!" Amanda moaned leaning over his shoulder at the clock sitting on the floor.

Lee groaned, they hadn't gotten to ‘sleep’ until late, "Amanda, I'm really sorry. I'll be back as soon as I can." He got out of bed and worked his way through the myriad of boxes to his closet. He quickly threw on some clothes and kissed Amanda goodbye. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Amanda muttered, still half asleep as Lee quietly closed the door and headed out into the cool spring morning.

* * * *

Lee didn’t get back to his apartment until early afternoon. When he walked in, he almost didn’t recognize the place. Amanda was busy in the kitchen cooking, the smell of a roast was floating in the air. The moving boxes that were carelessly tossed around the room had been unpacked and put away. It was actually starting to look like ‘home.’

"Hello, sweetheart," Amanda chirped as she saw Lee come through the door. She headed towards him meeting him in the small living room and she kissed him gently. "You look tired. You want a quick nap before lunch?"

He kissed her back, glad to be home. "What smells so good? Looks like you’ve been busy. You know, you really didn’t have to do all this you know. We were supposed to relax this weekend."

"I didn’t mind, besides I needed something to do. Went to the market, you now have food!" She swatted him playfully. "What have you been eating for the last week? Never mind, I really don’t want to know." She shuddered. "The roast is almost done, I figured you might like a home cooked meal for a change. And for the rest of this stuff, I haven’t even gotten to your bedroom yet. How are your agents."

"They are stable for the moment. I’ll tell you later." He mischievously kissed her. "I’m starved. I missed you, I missed your smile, I missed your cooking, I’ve missed everything about you." His kisses turned more passionate.

"I missed you, too. But I think you need to eat, you look like you are about to keel over from exhaustion. Then you’re going to bed." She observed, he looked worn out, his eyes had bags under them, his color was pale, she knew he wasn’t eating well.

"I like that idea," he smiled devilishly.

"Let me rephrase that, after lunch you’re going to sleep!" she warned.

"Amanda, I want to spend some time with you before this weekend is over," he complained

"We still have plenty of time. Now come on, lets get you something to eat." And she dragged him over to the table and sat him down.

* * * *

Lee woke up from the couch and saw Amanda back in the kitchen busily working over what smelled like a pot of chili. He smiled, it was so wonderful to have her here. He walked up behind her giving her a big hug. Startled, not realizing he was awake she jumped.

"I wish you wouldn’t do that." She said as she turned to him with a grin.

"Who else were you expecting?" he teased and laughed, again devouring her neck with kisses. "You’re spoiling me with all this home cooking. I was planning on taking you out tonight."

"Well, it was getting kind of late, and I figured what we don’t eat, you can put in the freezer. Did you sleep well? You look a whole lot better."

He ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, I did. I guess I really needed it. What time is it anyway?"

"Just after seven."

"Amanda, you shouldn’t have let me sleep that long. I was planning on a nice night out on the town. Let me jump in the shower, I’ll be ready in a half hour," he answered in a panic.

"Lee, I came up here this weekend to spend time with you, not see the sights. I’ve been to New York. Besides you were exhausted. Why don’t we spend the night in, we can relax. We still have all day tomorrow together."

"You sure you don’t mind?" He yawned.

She put down the spatula she was stirring the chili with and gave him a long lingering kiss. "I’d really rather stay in tonight, wouldn’t you…"

***

In the morning, Lee woke up to see Amanda gazing at him. He leaned over and kissed her tenderly. "Good morning. I hope you slept well."

"I always do when you are at my side. How are you feeling today."

He stretched and yawned. "I feel great. I’m really glad you came up here this weekend, I just wished we had gotten to spend more time together."

"We have all day. My plane doesn’t leave until five. That will get me home in plenty of time before Joe drops off the boys."

Lee finally asked, almost afraid to. "Have you two, um, talked at all since…"

"No," she interrupted and got out of bed. She quickly changed the subject, not wanting to ruin the day. "I’ll go start some coffee. Why don’t you hit the showers!" she said as she threw his robe at him.

"Good idea. I need to call the hospital before we go out to check on Murphy and Sadler."

Amanda poured herself a cup of coffee and leaned against the windowsill. It was going to be a beautiful day, the sky was blue, the weather just starting to warm. She looked down to the still quiet street below and thought to herself, ‘this is going to work out.’ Just then, the phone rang. Not sure whether Lee was out of the shower she answered it.

She went into the bedroom, Lee was just toweling off. "The hospital is on the phone."

Lee cringed, knowing that it probably wasn’t good news and picked up the phone, after a few seconds he curtly replied. "I’m on my way," he said and hung up the phone.

Amanda sat down on the unmade bed, trying to hide her growing disappointment. "What happened."

Lee quickly threw on some clothes as he explained to her. "Murphy, is back in surgery. His wife is on the way, it doesn’t look good. I really have to go."

Amanda nodded, she understood. She knew Lee’s place was with his agent at the hospital. "I’ll be back as soon as I can. I promise," he said as he kissed her lips. She sighed as he left.

It was early afternoon when Lee got back. Amanda was sitting on the couch reading the real estate section of the Sunday paper. When Lee came through the door, she knew from the look on his face, that things had not gone well. She put down the newspaper and hugged him as he sat down silently next to her. She held him in her arms. They just sat there for some time. She didn’t press him, she knew he would tell her when he was ready.

Lee finally choked out. "Murphy died in surgery this morning. I barely knew the man. I just met him on Monday. He left a wife and daughter, she might be fifteen."

"Oh, Lee, I’m so sorry."

"I’m use to getting drunk when an agent dies. I’m not sure I can handle this sober," he said as he sunk back into the couch. "Amanda, why did I ever leave DC? I’m not cut out for this."

"You need to give yourself some time. Things will get better, you’ve had a rough first week," she encouraged holding him closely, her own heart saddened by his anguish.

He just stared blankly at the wall. He felt so empty, almost numb. "You still want that tour of the office? I need to fill out a ton of paperwork on this ASAP. That’s going to take some time. From there I can take you to the airport."

Amanda nodded silently.

***

They talked on the phone nearly every night. Lee usually called Amanda from the office, he was working late often. On Thursday night Lee broke the news to Amanda. "I hate to tell you this, but I can’t come down this weekend like I had planned. I’m swamped up here," he said with disappointment.

Amanda was upset, that meant another week before they would be together again. She flopped down on the couch. "I don’t suppose this is your idea of a bad joke."

"No, more like a bad nightmare. I wish you were here to help me get through some of this stuff." His thoughts turned to Margo, and her persistent advances, it made him crave Amanda even more. "I don’t suppose you could come up here? Not to work…"

"Wish I could, but the boys will be disappointed as it is. Joe is out of town and they were hoping you might come to their games this weekend. Jamie has a soccer game on Saturday morning and Phillips baseball team made the playoffs, the first game is Saturday night."

"I promise I’ll make it up to you, next weekend will be different, I swear. I even have an idea. How about next weekend you meet me in Atlantic City? That way the ‘Agency’ can’t screw up our plans."

"Atlantic City!" Amanda laughed in disbelief. "I’d rather take my chances with the ‘Agency’ than have to try to drag you away from the craps table!"

Lee snickered, she knew him so well. "What if I promised not to even step into the casino, not unless you take me there yourself. Maybe a picnic on the beach, a moonlit walk on the boardwalk, maybe a show. The weather is getting warmer, but it shouldn’t be too crowded. What do you say?"

Amanda relented, she wanted to see him so badly. "Sounds very romantic. Would you like me to make the reservations."

"No, actually, they’re already done. Two nights ocean front view at Caesar’s," he replied. His voice actually sounding more relaxed than it had in days.

He could hear her smile through the phone. "Aren’t we sneaky! What were you going to do if I said no?"

"I knew you wouldn’t turn me down. I miss you so much," he said in a romantic tone. "Tell the boys I miss them too and good luck on the weekend. I’m going to head home now while my eyes are still open enough to drive. I love you," he said as he reluctantly hung up the phone.

* * * *

Lee was tied up in meetings that following Friday morning. The pace of paperwork and meetings were taking their toll. When he finally got into his office it was nearly lunchtime. Margo was quickly on his heels. Lee gritted his teeth, he just really wanted to get some work done.

"Rough morning?" she asked sympathetically.

Lee rubbing his temples to reduce the tension nodded. "Let’s just say I’m glad it’s Friday."

"I’ll get you a cup of coffee."

Lee grumbled. "No, please, I’ve had my fill. And just for the record, I prefer my coffee with cream, not sugar!"

"So sorry, Lee. You should have said something sooner. Well let’s head to lunch early then, it will help you relax," Margo suggested delighted to get him out of the office and to have him alone. She had been waiting for this opportunity all week. Lee had resisted her so far, but today was going to be different.

"Excuse me?" Lee asked, still not use to her boldness.

"It is customary for the boss to take you out on your birthday. Didn’t you look at your calendar? It’s been on there all week." She looked at him in an innocent sort of way, smiling coyly. "I’d settle for drinks in "The Cellar" after work if you prefer.

Lee groaned inwardly. He knew turning her down this morning could potentially wreak havoc on the rest of his day. "Margo, I wished you would have reminded me earlier, I don’t have the time today for lunch, and I have plans this evening. But I promise to take you to lunch next week."

As pitifully as she could manage she dejectedly answered. "Sure thing, Lee, I understand." Margo turned away, playing up her wounded feelings.

"You have my word, Margo, lunch next week." Lee promised, noticing how put out she was, giving her one of his famous smiles.

"I’m going to hold you to lunch on Monday, otherwise I’m going to up the ante to dinner and drinks!" She hummed happily, knowing she had gotten her way, either way, she couldn’t lose.

Later in the afternoon, Lee was trying to tie up all loose ends so he could get down to Atlantic City. He planned on picking Amanda up at the Atlantic City airport. Margo buzzed Lee’s office.

"Yes, Margo. What is it now?" Lee snapped at her, all afternoon she had one annoying thing after another. Little things that she could have easily handled, things Amanda would never have bothered him with. She was pushing him to the limit.

"Johnson is on line three. He needs backup ASAP. He has the guys who shot Murphy in an abandoned building on the west side."

"So, who’s available?"

"That’s just it. We don’t have anyone nearby. It’s a few blocks from here, but with rush hour traffic it would take a half-hour. Turner is the only agent still here. I could call NYPD?" Margo replied.

"No, this is an Agency matter, we’ll handle it. Get Turner in here now, I’ll tell Johnson we’re on the way."

"We?" Margo asked in a surprised voice. "Lee, you’re not seriously thinking of going?"

"Margo, I think I can handle it, now get Turner in here pronto," Lee snapped as he cut her off and picked up line three and got the details from Johnson. "Just stay put. We’re on the way. No heroics, I don’t need any more dead agents on my hands," Lee yelled as he hung up.

Lee got up and checked his gun. His heart was pumping, the adrenaline was flowing. This was the best he felt in weeks. Turner showed up. "Let’s go, I’ll brief you on the way." As Lee headed out the door, he remembered Amanda and Atlantic City. His heart sunk when he looked at his watch, it was almost five. He knew he would never make her plane. "Margo!" he yelled as he headed towards her desk.

She looked up at him from her desk smiling and batting her blue eyes. "What is it, Lee?"

"I need you to call Amanda for me." He quickly jotted down the number at the Agency and handed it to her. "Tell her I’m sorry but I can’t meet her. Tell her I’ll call her later."

Margo grinned at Lee and watched as they rushed out the door. She had a feeling when she met Amanda that she and Lee were more than friends. Margo smirked as she crumpled up Amanda’s phone number and threw it into the garbage. "Let see how Amanda likes it when you stand her up this evening. If I can’t have you tonight, she won’t either!" She thought to herself, ‘All is fair in love and war.’

* * * * *

Amanda arrived at the Atlantic City airport early. She looked around for Lee but didn’t see him. She found herself a seat near the door and waited and watched for him. She thought to herself, ‘I’m early and Friday’s traffic going to the shore is probably a nightmare.’ But as the hour past she started getting worried. By nine, she was frantic. She decided to call the Agency, maybe he had left her a message. But the night operator had no message for her, and would only tell her that Lee was not in the office. She finally left a message for him at home.

"Lee, it’s Amanda. I’m at the airport, it’s just after nine. I’m taking a taxi to the hotel, so if you get this message meet me there. I hope everything is all right. I can’t wait to see you."

When she checked into the hotel, she asked the front desk if Lee had left any messages for her. They assured her that he did not, but they’d ring her room as soon as he called. Amanda headed upstairs to her room. She paced the floor nervously. This wasn’t like Lee not to call, she knew something was wrong. She decided to call his apartment again.

"Lee, it’s Amanda again. I’m at the hotel, where are you? Call me as soon as you get this message. I don’t care what time it is."

* * * * *

Lee left the hospital and carefully got into his car. He could hardly breathe they had wrapped his ribs so tight. 'Well maybe it isn’t that tight, it might just the soreness' he thought. But at least they had gotten their man. It was great to be back in the field again, even if it was only for the night.

His thoughts turned to Amanda as he reached his parking garage. ‘She’s going to kill me for canceling at the last minute.  But if she found out I spent half the night in the hospital with two broken ribs and a bullet wound in the arm, she would be a nervous wreck.’ He checked his arm as he walked into his apartment. ‘Only a nick, didn’t even need stitches!’

He looked at the clock in the kitchen as he collapsed onto his couch, flinching at the pain. It was well after midnight. Too late to call Amanda tonight he thought. He looked over at the answering machine. He saw there were two messages. He knew one was from Amanda, so he hit the play button to see how much trouble he was in…While the second message was still playing, he was dialing the hotel.

A frantic Amanda pounced on the phone on the first ring. "Hello," she yelled into the phone.

"Amanda, I just got your message," Lee blurted out.

"Are you all right, where are you and why aren’t you here?" she asked all three questions without time for him to give her an answer, she was almost crying.

"Amanda, slow down. I’m OK," he lied, but he was already in enough hot water. "I’m at my apartment in New York. Didn’t Margo call you?"

"No, nobody called me. I’ve called the night operator in New York and the only thing he would tell me is that you were out of the office." Her voice was now agitated, almost angry.

"I’m so sorry. You must have left the office before Margo could reach you. We caught the guy who killed Murphy. It all happened so fast…" Lee was exhausted, he could tell from Amanda’s voice that she was really angry now that she knew he was safe. "Amanda, I’ll just put on some clean clothes and throw my bag in the car and I can be down there in a couple of hours."

"Lee, go to bed. It’s too late to be driving down here now. You can meet me in the morning." Disgusted and frustrated she hung up the phone. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes. She wasn’t sure whether they were tears of relief or anger.

In the morning Lee got up early and drove down to Atlantic City. When he got there, he knocked on her door so as not to startle her and used the key he had gotten from the front desk. He poked his head in comically as if to make sure ‘the coast was clear’. "Hello."

"Lee!" she shouted with joy and came running to him and gave him a big hug and kiss as he walked in the room. The anger from last night had obviously subsided.

Lee winced in pain, and it didn’t take more than a few seconds for Amanda to realize he had some extra padding under his shirt. She lifted it up to inspect it.

She stared at him then looked back at the bandages; she hadn’t even noticed his arm yet. "What the heck…"

"Amanda, I can explain."

She was unmistakably upset. "You better explain. Last night you told me you were fine."

"Actually I told you I was OK, and I am. I broke two ribs and have a small nick in my arm." Lee pointed to his right shoulder area. "I had an agent following up on a hot lead on the guys who took down Murphy. He called in Friday afternoon it was almost five, asking for backup. I only had one agent available, so I went with him. They were hunkered down in an old abandoned building. They knew if we caught them they would be going down for a long time. There was a shoot out, both suspects were injured, I shot one in the knee after he kicked me in the ribs. Trust me, his knee is in worse shape," Lee joked trying to get Amanda to calm down, from the look on her face it wasn’t helping.

She looked at him, overwhelmed. "Why didn’t you tell me last night?"

He looked at her anguished face; he took her face gently into his hands and kissed her ever so tenderly. "If I had told you last night, you wouldn’t have wanted me to drive down here would you?" She shook her head. "Amanda I needed to see you, I miss you so much. I’m going to be sore whether I sit home in my apartment or if I sit on the beach. Don’t be angry at me for wanting to spend time with you."

She let out a big sigh and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I missed you, too. I knew something was wrong last night, I could feel it. I was scared to death when you didn’t show up at the airport. No phone call."

"I asked Margo to call you," Lee reminded her, but that only seemed to make her more upset.

"Lee, I almost missed my plane ‘cause I worked so late last night. I tell you ‘she’ never called." The animosity in her voice was strongly evident.

"Damn her! I’ll wring her neck," Lee fumed, realizing that she didn’t call Amanda on purpose. "I’m really sorry about last night. I guess I’m going to have to set some ground rules with Margo."

"Ground rules! You need to fire her! How many more messages is she going to conveniently misplace? Whenever I call and leave a message with her, you never call me back. What if I really needed you? So either I have something to worry about or..." Amanda raged.

Lee interrupted her. "Now stop, I’m in love with and married to you. Margo is not now and never will be an issue; she doesn’t even know how I like my coffee. I will deal with her on Monday, I promise you that, but I can’t fire her," Lee explained as he leaned over and attempted to kiss her.

She stood up. She walked to the sliding glass doors that led to the balcony. "Lee, I don’t know how much more of this I can take. It’s not just Margo; it’s last weekend, and the weekend I came up. It always is and always will be something."

He didn’t know what to say, he closed his eyes. She had a good point. "I know it’s been hard, I’m sorry."

"Oh my gosh, Lee, I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from. I was just worried sick about you last night. And then to find out this morning you were shot…It was just too much for me. I’m sorry." He had enough to handle; she didn’t want to dump her feelings on him too.

He walked over to the balcony and took her in his arms and whispered to her. "As you can see, I’m fine. Look on the bright side, if you had gotten the message from Margo, we wouldn’t be here together right now. You would be in DC. Her plan backfired on her." Lee grinned looking at his beautiful wife with the ocean behind her. "I promise you no interruptions for at least the next 24 hours. Just you and me." He started kissing her.

"You’re right, we are together, that’s what is important," she answered softly, returning his kisses with her own.

The weekend flew by as they always do. Lee drove Amanda to the airport on Sunday afternoon. Lee dawdled at the gate not wanting Amanda to leave. Their last kiss lingered on their lips as Amanda finally pulled away. "I’ll be up for a whole week on Saturday."

"I know, that’s the only reason I’m letting you go," he replied quietly with his heart full of emotion as he let go of her hand and watched her walk towards her plane.

***

Monday morning Lee got to the office early before Margo arrived. He made himself a cup of good strong coffee, cream, no sugar. He set out to get some work done. The weekend with Amanda did wonders for him. He felt relaxed, and ready for work. Amanda would be up on Saturday for a whole week. He couldn’t wait.

"Good morning, Lee," Margo greeted with a smile that suggested she had more on her mind. "Lunch today, you promised."

Lee smiled back at her. She was dressed typical Margo style, in a thin, short summer dress, black of course, low neckline. He had plans of his own. He looked at the way she was dressed and thought, ‘Margo, you are a beautiful woman, but you leave so very little for ones imagination.’ "Yes Margo. Lunch at noon, wherever you would like to go. But I would like to meet with you after the staff meeting this morning, say about eleven?"

Margo nodded. "Sure thing Lee."

The morning went well for Lee. He seemed to have a whole new perspective on things. He smiled inwardly, ‘twenty four hours with Amanda and I’m a new man.’ He was looking forward to his upcoming meeting with Margo. He couldn’t wait to thank her personally for their wonderful weekend. He laughed out loud just as Margo came into his office.

"What’s so funny, Lee?" she asked as she came strutting in, batting her baby blue eyes.

"Personal joke," Lee replied, sitting at his desk with his hands clasped behind his head, reclining in his chair. "You may want to close the door for privacy." He waited for her to sit down, and adjust her dress. Lee rolled his eyes, she just didn’t get it. He was not now, or ever would be interested in her.

"You seem to be in a good mood this morning. I heard about your escapades on Friday night. Tried calling you Saturday and Sunday to check on you, but you didn’t answer. You know if you go out of town, you should leave a number where you could be reached," Margo lectured him.

"Burns had an emergency number for me."

"Oh, Tony use to always let me know his schedule," she said somewhat put out.

Lee smiled broadly, he was just waiting for her to start on him. He got up from behind his desk , walked slowly around it and hovered over her ominously. "Well, Margo, maybe it’s time that you realize, I’m not Tony. I’m Lee, Lee Stetson, from the DC office. We do things differently down there. I’ve put up with your little cat and mouse game long enough. But I have had it up to here!" he hissed pointing to his forehead.

"Lee, I don’t…" Margo started.

"I am not through yet," he yelled at her. "Now I specifically asked you on Friday afternoon to call Amanda for me didn’t I?"

She nodded silently, never seeing this side of Lee before.

He continued his tirade. "So why then, when I got to my apartment early Saturday morning, did I have two messages waiting from Amanda wondering where the hell I was?"

"Lee, I, I um, tried to call her, but, but she was already gone," Margo stammered uncomfortably.

"DON’T LIE TO ME!" he bellowed, his face was within inches of hers. The sound of his voice reverberating harshly in the small office. Her eyes opened wide she didn’t dare blink. "Do you understand?"

She gulped, unable to utter a word. Lee calmed down remarkably and in a tranquil voice with an entirely different tone, he continued. "I must however, thank you for not getting that message to her. Had you succeeded in reaching Amanda, I would not have spent a most enjoyable weekend with her." Lee beamed. He could see this was eating at Margo and he was enjoying every second of it.

"Is that all?" she asked, ready to be done with this awful inquisition.

"Not quite yet. If Amanda calls here for me, you put her through to me regardless of the situation. If I am not here, you page me and put a note on my desk marked ‘urgent’, then call my answering machine at home. You do have those numbers don’t you?" he asked caustically.

"Of course," she said looking away from him. Not having the nerve to look him in the eyes.

"If I find out from Amanda that I missed just one more of her phone calls, you will be back down in the secretarial pool typing invoices for the rest of your career. Is that CLEAR?" he roared.

"Perfectly," she groaned.

Lee clapped his hands together and smiled at her and sat back down behind his desk. "Great. Now that we have that out of the way, I’m ready for some lunch. Where would you like to go?"

"I think I’ve lost my appetite," she said as she got up and walked out of his office.

Lee was beaming. Amanda was right, he should have done that weeks ago. Damn that felt good. He picked up the phone and called the florist. He sent Amanda a dozen roses.
 
 

***

It was late on Tuesday night. Amanda was exhausted. She had spent the night in the emergency room with Phillip. When she finally got him upstairs and ‘comfortable’ she collapsed into her own bedroom. She knew she had to call Lee, she longed to hear his voice but she dreaded it at the same time. She dialed his number at home.

A startled Lee shouted into the phone. "Stetson."

"Relax, it’s only me," she whispered quietly.

"What’s wrong?" he asked knowing she never called this late.

"Phillip tore his knee to shreds sliding into home tonight. The good news is that he was safe and they won the game."

"How’s he doing? Is he in the hospital?"

"He’s in some pain, but they let me bring him home." She didn’t know how to tell him. "Lee he’s going to have surgery on Thursday maybe Friday. So he will be pretty immobile for a couple of days. He’s not going to be able to go camping with Joe and Jamie." She was almost in tears as she finally blurted out. "I can’t come up next week."

Lee didn’t know what to say. His heart sank, his head fell back against the headboard of his bed. They had been apart for a month and it was beyond frustrating, he wanted to scream, but what good would that do? They both were counting on spending the week together. "Maybe I can fly down there for the weekend."

"Well that would be wonderful, but you can’t stay here with Phillip home," she reminded him.

"I know, but at least I could spend some time with you," he answered with frustration.

"Well you’re more than welcome to come down. Words can’t tell you how much I wanted to come up there and be with you. I miss you so much it hurts."

Lee could hear it in her voice, she had needed to see him as much as he wanted to see her. "Trust me, I know. But I’m sure Phillip would rather be camping this weekend," Lee answered, trying to hide how he really felt deep inside. "I’ll get down somehow, maybe Saturday morning."

She smiled and closed her eyes, "I love you, I hope you can get down here. Sweetheart, I’m really tired, been a difficult night. I’ll be home for most of the week, I still have to call Billy in the morning. I’ll talk to you tomorrow."

* * * *

Phillip had day surgery on Thursday morning and was home in the afternoon. He was resting as comfortably as he could upstairs in his bedroom. The doorbell rang and Dotty answered it.

"Is Amanda King home?" The man asked.

"Yes, but she’s busy, can I help you?"

"No, I’m sorry but she needs to sign for this."

"Very well," Dotty replied, somewhat annoyed. She yelled up the stairs. "Amanda, it’s for you."

"Coming mother," she yelled from Phillips bedroom and headed down.

She went to the door and smiled politely at the courier. "Can I help you?"

"Amanda King?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Could you sign here please."

She signed for it, thanked the man and headed into the kitchen with the envelope.

"What is it dear?" Dotty asked. "Looks official."

Amanda shrugged as she opened it. As her eyes focused on the words she read, her hands began to shake, her heart began to pound, her temper was rising. "I don’t believe it. I DON’T BELIEVE IT! The insensitive jerk! His son just had surgery today and he didn’t even show up!" she shouted.

"Amanda what is it?" Dotty asked. But it was too late. She threw the letter on the table in disgust and grabbed her purse and keys and rushed out the door.

Dotty picked up the letter and read it. She couldn’t believe it either, Joe was petitioning for custody of the boys.

***

Amanda raced over to Joe’s office and parked in the parking deck. She ran up the stairs to his office, not having the patience to wait for the elevator. She burst into Joe’s office despite his secretary’s warnings. Joe looked up, startled at first and then rolled his eyes.

"Amanda, I assume you got the summons?" he asked brashly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Hello, Joe. Your son’s surgery went fine, he’s home resting comfortably. Thanks for asking!" she mocked him sarcastically. "How can you honestly say you want custody of the boys when you didn’t even take the morning off to be with him. Do you have any idea how scared he was? No! You wouldn’t have notice. You haven’t seen him since Tuesday night when I called you to come to the hospital."

"Amanda, calm down. I’m a partner in this law firm. I just can’t take off whenever I feel like it," he yelled back at her.

"Oh, and my job is frivolous I assume? I can just take off a week or two whenever. Joe, I thought we were going to work this out between the two of us, after your vacation."

"That WAS the plan. Until Jamie called me and told me he didn’t want to go with us!"

"What!" Amanda asked, surprised.

"You heard me. Don’t act like you didn’t know."

"I, I really didn’t. When did this happen? You could have called me, I would have talked to him for you." Amanda was astounded.

"Yesterday lunch time. He told me that he thought he should stay home to help you with Phillip."

She countered. "Joe, think about it. That doesn’t make any sense. Why would I ask Jamie to cancel his vacation with you? Phillip is going to be a handful over the next week with crutches and those stairs and physical therapy. It would be easier for me if Jamie was with you."

"Well why in hell would he cancel his vacation with me then?" Joe shouted in annoyance. "We made these plans months ago."

"I don’t know…" Amanda thought about it for a minute, trying to regain her composure. Then knowing her son like only a mother does she calmly explained it to Joe. "He probably isn’t comfortable going camping without Phillip. Jamie isn’t the big camper, Phillip is. Jamie is more into books and photography than camping and fishing. Maybe going camping with his father and new wife for two weeks alone was more than he bargained for?"

Joe shook off her explanation lightly. "Regardless, Amanda, I’m petitioning for custody. We’ll let the courts decide."

"Why don’t we let the boys decide? They are old enough to make this decision on their own."

"Because I can’t trust you not to manipulate them," Joe argued.

"Ahhh! You are being so irrational. If you want a fight in court, you’re going to get one hell of a fight. I’m not going to lose my boys. Nothing is worse than a mother scorned." With that she turned and stormed out of his office, slamming the door as she left.

She headed downstairs to the parking garage. She was still upset, she wasn’t paying any attention to her surroundings. As she fumbled through her purse trying unsuccessfully to find her keys she was attacked from behind flying forward onto the ground. She put up a good fight, but before they got her purse they had beaten her pretty badly.

It was about a half-hour later when Joe’s secretary left for the day that she saw Amanda lying next to her car unconscious. She screamed and headed for a phone to call for help.

Joe called Dotty from the hospital to tell her that Amanda had been mugged. Dotty wanted to come to the hospital, but with Phillip upstairs recuperating, it was impossible to leave him alone. She did the next best thing she could, she called Lee in New York.

"Stetson," he answered.

"Lee, its Dotty."

"Dotty? Is Phillip OK?" Lee asked with concern. He knew he had surgery this morning and was planning to call Amanda later in the evening.

"Yes, Phillip is doing fine. It’s Amanda. She’s been mugged. She’s in the hospital."

"Oh God no, is she all right?"

Dotty’s voice was shaking. "Lee, she was beaten pretty badly, she’s still unconscious. She was laying in the parking garage for a while before anyone found her."

"Dotty that doesn’t make any sense. IFF’s parking garage is secured. Besides why wasn’t she home with Phillip anyway? I thought she took the week of to be with him."

"It didn’t happen at IFF, she was at Joe’s office. Joe served her with custody papers this afternoon, she went out of here like wildfire, I’ve never seen her so angry. She parked at the parking garage…"

Lee was shouting into the phone. "I’ll kill him, if anything happens to her I’m going to kill him with my bare hands. Dotty, I’m on the next plane. What hospital?"

"University Hospital." Dotty said as she heard Lee hang up the phone.
 
 

Lee arrived at the hospital later that evening. He asked the desk nurse about Amanda when he was told that her husband was with her. "I don’t think so lady. I’m her husband. Where the hell is she?" he demanded.

"Sir, calm down or I will call security."

Lee took a deep breath, he just wanted to see Amanda, to know she was all right. "I just want to see my wife," he pleaded with the nurse. The look of anguish was written all over his face.

The nurse could see it in his face and eyes, she got up and led him down the hallway to Amanda’s room. "She’s right in here, sir."

Lee looked in and saw Joe sitting in the corner. Lee’s blood pressure was starting to rise. He did not want to cause a scene here, in front of Amanda not knowing what her condition was. He turned to the nurse. "I want to see her doctor. NOW!" The nurse nodded and headed down the hall.

Joe looked up and walked towards Lee. "I’m glad you’re here."

Lee gritted his teeth, and tensed his fists; he glared at Joe. With all the control he could assemble, he snarled at him. "Get the hell out of here you bastard, if anything happens to her, I’m coming after you. You did this to her. Now why don’t you go see your son, that’s where YOU belong. Then Dotty can be down here with her daughter. You don’t deserve to be in the same room as her." Lee’s icy glare made Joe feel very uncomfortable.

Joe knew Lee was right, about a lot of things. "You’re right, Lee. I’ll head over there now."

Lee went into Amanda’s room. Her face was bruised badly, she had tubes all over her. He sat down next to her and caressed her hand, he whispered to her. It was a few minutes before the doctor showed up.

"You are?" the doctor asked quizzically, thinking that Joe was her husband.

"Lee Stetson, Amanda is my wife. How is she?"

The doctor motioned Lee to follow him outside in the hall, there he explained. "As you can see she was badly beaten. She has a broken rib, which punctured her lung, we’ve got her on oxygen to help her breathe. She has a fractured skull, a couple dozen stitches. There could be some brain damage, we don’t know yet. We should know something in the next 24 hours or so. We will monitor her closely throughout the night."

"Brain damage?" Lee looked at the doctor in horror, he felt like a knife was stabbing him in his heart.

"Head injuries are tricky, she could make a full recovery." The doctor gave a non-committed shrug. "It’s really too early to tell."

Lee nodded, thanked the Doctor and headed back to Amanda’s side.

It wasn’t long before a distraught Dotty showed up at the hospital. When Lee saw her, he stood up and met her at the foot of Amanda’s bed. They hugged each other tightly for support. "She’s going to be OK." Dotty announced with mock confidence.

Lee nodded in agreement. "You bet she is." As tears filled his eyes, he helped Dotty to the chair he had been sitting in. "I’ll be right back. I need to make some phone calls to work. Let them know I’ll be out of town a couple of days." Dotty too upset to speak, nodded back at Lee as he went down the hall.

Lee headed to the pay phone, he knew the number by heart. "Billy, it’s Lee," he said as Billy picked up the line.

"Lee, hey it’s great to hear from you! How’s New York treating you?"

"I’m not in New York, and I don’t think I’m going back. I’m in DC."

"What? Why? What the hell’s going on?" Billy asked with concern.

Lee tried to explain, he was almost in tears. "Billy, Amanda was mugged this afternoon, she’s in really bad shape. I flew down here as soon as Amanda’s mother called.  I’m at University Hospital."

"I’ll get the police report and get right on it. I’ll call Burns in New York and explain the situation."

"Billy, that’s not going to change anything. My place is here in DC. I think I have known that all along but I guess I just didn’t want to admit it to myself. I miss being out in the field, I hate the paperwork, and I hate to be the one who makes the decisions. I want to be with Amanda. I want my old job back. New York is a great place, but DC is and always will be, my home."

"Lee, are you sure? Why don’t you wait until things settle down, you’re upset."

Lee’s tone changed, the desperation, which mired his voice seconds ago, was gone. His voice was now of conviction. "Billy, I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life."

"OK, Lee, I’ll have an official inquiry done on the attack on Amanda. Let me know how she is."

"Let me know what you turn up. I’ll be here at the hospital," Lee replied gloomily, as he hung up and headed back to Amanda’s bedside.

Lee spent the night by her side. He finally convinced Dotty to head home promising to call if there were any changes. It was a long sleepless night. She lay motionless in the bed, her bruises becoming more prominent as the hours pressed on. He caressed her hand and whispered to her about how things were going to be when she was better, about the things they were going to do together as a family.

When Dotty arrived in the morning Lee had finally fallen asleep. The chair was right next to the bed, his head resting near hers. She carefully woke him. "Lee, Lee, wake up. It’s morning."

Lee groggily came to, not quite sure of his surroundings. Then as the realization of where he was and why his stomach tensed and his heart sank. "I must have dozed off."

"Why don’t you get something to eat. I’ll sit with her for a while." He looked at her not really wanting to go. "Lee, you haven’t eaten anything since last night I’m sure, now go. I’ll be right here."

Lee reluctantly went to the cafeteria, he wasn’t hungry; he felt sick to his stomach. He was picking at the food on his plate when Billy came and sat down next to him. "How’s she doing?"

Lee looked over at him, his sullen expression told it all. "There’s been no change overnight."

"She must have put up a pretty good fight," Billy commented.

Lee gave him an odd look. "You went to see her?"

"No, I peeked into her room looking for you but her mother was with her, I figured you might be down here. I think we got the two guys who mugged her, they threw her wallet away after they cleaned it out, but left a great thumb print. The one suspect has a broken nose and the other some scratches."

"That’s not all I would like to break on them," Lee growled with pure hatred in his voice.

"Hey, don’t you think you ought to eat some of that?" Billy suggested watching him play at the food on his plate. "You’re not going to do Amanda any good by starving yourself to death."

He pushed the plate away in disgust. "Billy, this is my fault. If it wasn’t for me, Amanda wouldn’t be laying in that hospital bed right now."

"Lee, that’s nonsense. It was a random act of violence, she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"No, Billy, you’re wrong. I should have never taken that job in New York. If I had stayed here, Amanda and I could have been married by now." Billy glanced over at Lee with a curious look. Lee nodded, "Yeah, I asked her to marry me before I left, and everything was going smoothly until Joe found out we were taking the boys to New York, he threw a fit. So we slowed things down a bit."

Lee’s eyes were filling with tears, he was overcome with emotions. He covered his face with his napkin trying to regain his composure. It took him a while, the attack on Amanda compounded by a lack of sleep was catching up to him.

"Lee, she’s going to come out of this fine. Her body needs time to heal. You need to get some sleep, you can stay at my house."

"No!" Lee yelled. "I’m not leaving her again! If I had stayed here in the first place this wouldn’t have happened. She went to see Joe yesterday because he served her with custody papers. He’s trying to take the boys from her. If she even thinks she’s going to lose those boys, her life would be over; I’m afraid she’s going to give up."

Billy finally understood; Amanda’s family was more important to her than anything. He put his arm around his friend’s shoulder, and looked him in the eye. "I think you’ve got that backwards my friend. She’s not going to give up because Joe is going to fight her for custody, she’s going to fight him with all her heart and soul."

Lee looked over at him, a smile cautiously crept over his face, when he realized what Billy said had merit. "You’re right," he said quietly and calmly.

"Of course I’m right, I’m your boss! Now finish your breakfast, your fiancée needs you." Billy patted him on the back, smiling. He missed his friend, and was glad in part that he would be back, he just wished the circumstances were better.

***

It was early Saturday morning, the sun had just begun to rise and began to cast shadows into the hospital room. Lee had yet to leave her side. The dawn had been a beautiful one, Lee thought to himself ‘Amanda you would have enjoyed it.’ But the sunlight was beginning to shine on her pale and bruised face. He got up from his chair to adjust the blinds. It was then that he heard her groan. He looked over at her, blinking twice almost in doubt, but a smile flashed over his face. "Amanda!" he cried in delight, relief washing over him.

She smiled faintly at him and tried to talk.

"Shhh!" he shook his head. "Save your strength."

A tear fell slowly down her cheek, he wiped it away carefully with his finger. "I know you must hurt everywhere. I’ll get the nurse to give you something."

She shook her head slightly and whispered. "I’m OK. Just glad you’re here."

"Amanda, I’m so sorry." There was so much he wanted to say to her, he didn’t know where to start.

"Lee don’t." She reached her hand over to him.

He quickly grasped her hand and held it tightly. She squeezed back weakly. He sat down and caressed her arm, they sat quietly for some time. He was so relieved to have her back with him, to hold her hand and have her, hold his. His heart was racing, tears of joy were filling in his eyes. "I missed you so much."

"See what I have to do to spend time with you," she whispered faintly.

He shook his head at her and grinned. "I’m glad you haven’t lost your sense of humor."

She looked at him for a few moments, then teased. "I see you lost your razor?"

Lee grabbed his chin, pulling at two days worth of growth of his face. He probably did look a mess. He was exhausted, he hadn’t slept much in the last few days. "Everyone’s a critic. So you don’t like the new look, eh?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, still exhausted physically. "I think you need some sleep. How long have you been here?" she inquired, not knowing even what day it was.

"A couple of days. You gave us all quite a scare." Lee reprimanded her gently.

"How’s Phillip?" she asked with motherly concern, more concerned for her son than for herself.

"Phillip is fine. I’m sure he will be relieved knowing you are OK. Speaking of relieved, I think I better call your mother; she’ll strangle me if I don’t."

Amanda smiled back at Lee and nodded. "Tell her to kiss the boys for me."

"I love you so much." Lee grinned as he picked up the phone.

"I love you too." Amanda whispered as she closed her eyes to rest.
 
 

***

Monday Morning The Agency: DC Office

Lee was leaving the bullpen, heading towards the Q bureau when Francine spotted him. "Lee? Lee Stetson?" she clamored and rushed towards him and gave him a big hug. "It’s so good to see you. I didn’t know you were still in town. I heard about Amanda, how’s she doing?"

Lee smiled, being a bit startled by Francine’s greeting. "She doing much better. Should be coming home today I hope."

"So when are you heading back to New York? I’m going to be up there next week. I thought that maybe we could get together for drinks or dinner? Talk about old times."

Lee looks at her with a curious look. "I thought Billy would have told you?"

"Told me what?"

"I, ah, I left the New York job. I’m coming back to work here, in DC."

"YOU WHAT? Lee, are you out of your mind? Why would you leave New York?"

Lee started to chuckle. He slowly shook his head, and lifted his eyebrows. "Do you want the long version or the short version?" Either way, he knew this would ruffle her feathers.

"Why don’t you just give me the condensed version for now."

"I’m getting married, hopefully within the next few weeks." he smiled brightly. He hadn’t talked to Amanda about a new date yet, but he was planning on that this afternoon, or tomorrow when she was released from the hospital.

"Married? To whom?" she asked, and then her eyes got wide, her mouth dropped open with skepticism, her head was shaking back and forth. She leaned against the wall for support. "You’re not?"

Lee continued to smile brightly, trying to stifle a laugh. "Yes, Francine, it’s true. I’m coming back to DC to marry Amanda."

Francine was silent. She just stared at Lee in disbelief.

"Aren’t congratulations usually in order?" Lee asked, shrugging his shoulders.

A stunned Francine just nodded. It was almost a minute before she finally spoke. "Why leave New York? Couldn’t she move there? Does she have any idea what you are giving up for her?" Francine asked, with emphasis on the ‘she’ part as if she couldn’t even say Amanda’s name.

Lee sighed, "Francine, despite what you might believe, I made this decision to leave New York, not Amanda. She was, and still is, planning on moving up there with the boys. I’m not cut out for the paperwork jungle, I missed being out in the field."

"She doesn’t know you left the New York job yet?" she asked bewildered.

He continued heading down the hall. "No, she’s had a pretty tough week. I’ll talk to her as soon as she’s home, hopefully this afternoon."

"She’s pregnant isn’t she? That’s what this is all about. It’s the oldest trick in the book." Francine surmised, still not believing he would leave New York.

Lee’s temper was starting to flare. He stopped mid stride. "No, Francine, she’s not pregnant. At least, not yet." Lee added the last gibe with a smirk on his face. "I’m in love with Amanda and have been for some time. You would have to be blind to not have noticed. Just get over it." He started to walk down the hallway again.

"But the two of you haven’t set a date yet have you?" Francine asked cynically as she followed after him like a lost puppy. Still hoping he would reconsider, come to his senses.

"Francine! Enough." He stopped again. "We’re getting married, soon, I promise you that. We’ve already wasted enough time. I’ll send you an invitation. If you can’t be happy for me, you don’t have to come." And he headed briskly down the hallway.

Francine just leaned against the wall and murmured to herself. "Married? To Amanda?"
 
 

Later in the morning, Amanda got the news that she would be released after lunch. She called her mother to arrange for a ride home. Dotty hung up the phone with Amanda and called Lee at the office.

"Lee, she just called they’re releasing her this afternoon."

Lee smiled inwardly, he couldn’t wait to get her home. He had a lot he wanted to talk to her about. "Great! I’ll head over there shortly, thanks for calling," he paused. "Dotty, thanks for everything."

"Lee, you don’t have to thank me. A mother just wants her children to be happy. You make Amanda happy, you make her life complete, I think I should be thanking you."

Lee grinned. "Is ah, everything set?" he asked sheepishly.

Dotty laughed. "Yes Lee, we will be back around four. Good luck!"

It was just after noon when Lee arrived at the hospital, from the look on her face she was surprised to see him. "I thought you were heading back to work this morning?"

"I did," he grinned. "I just didn’t mention where."

"Lee, you didn’t?" she looked down at the floor, not being able to look him in the eye.

He reached over to her, putting a hand on each of her shoulders, she kept looking at the floor, he took his right hand and gently lifted up her chin, he wanted eye contact. He said to her softly but with great conviction, "I did. It was the right thing."

She shook her head, tears in her eyes. "No, Lee."

"No more tears," Lee warned as he kissed her gently. "Amanda let’s talk about this at home."

The ride back to the house was very quiet. Lee was smiling, he was at ease with his decision. It was as he told Amanda ‘the right thing’. Amanda was feeling guilty, thinking that the only reason he left New York was because she was mugged. She felt responsible for his decision. When he got to the house he helped her up the walk.

"Where is everyone?" Amanda asked surprised, she hadn’t seen the boys since Thursday. She had expected them to be there to greet her.

Feeling kind of guilty for the lack of homecoming. "Amanda, I asked your mother to take the boys to the movies. I wanted some time alone with you, she was kind enough to oblige me. We need to talk." He got her seated on the couch. "Are you feeling OK, or do you need to rest for a little while."

"Lee, I’m OK, that’s why they discharged me, I’ve done nothing but rest for the last few days." she answered with a distressed tone of voice.

"I almost lost you last week."

"Don’t be so dramatic, I was mugged, it happens everyday in the city," she protested, she was definitely upset with him. "That’s no reason to make a major decision without even consulting me."

He sat down next to her, closely. He put a hand gently on the small of her back, rubbing her back tenderly, "It was my decision to go, and it had to be my decision to leave."

Tears were welling up in her eyes again. "Lee, we would have worked it out."

"I told you no more tears," Lee replied, wiping her eyes. "Amanda, when Billy first told me about this promotion, deep down I didn’t want it. But Billy talked me into giving it some thought. When I told you, you told me I should give it a try. So I started thinking, maybe my instincts were wrong, that I should give it a try."

"Lee, you were interested in that job." Amanda reminded him.

"Amanda, please listen to me. I have had my doubts all along, if I had taken the time to really think it out I would have never taken it. It just happened so fast. One of the reasons you’re such a good agent is that you follow your instincts. I broke the cardinal rule. I didn’t follow mine. The best time I had in New York, other than your visit was the night I tracked down Murphy’s killer, the night I got shot and broke my ribs. I want to be back in the field, with you, in DC."

"Lee," she protested. "You’re making this decision for the wrong reasons."

He put his finger to her lips to silence her. "Amanda, I won’t lie to you. Yes, this decision is partly based upon what happened last week, it was the catalyst, but it wasn’t the only reason. I could have gone through the motions in New York for another couple of months, but I was miserable."

"Once we got up there, and got settled…"

"No," he shook his head firmly. "Believe me, moving you and the boys up to New York wouldn’t be fair to anyone. Yes, we’d be together, but I still wouldn’t be doing the job I love, the one that I’m good at. Don’t you see, I’m doing this for me. You want me to be happy don’t you?"

She nodded her head. "Of course I do."

"Then let me do what’s best for me. It just happens to be the best for us too." He smiled at her, and then kissed her, holding her close to him, it felt so wonderful to hold her in his arms. "Or are you having second thoughts about marrying me publicly?"

"No. We can get ‘married’ tomorrow if you don’t mind a banged up bride," she quietly responded, her face still bruised.

"The sooner the better. I wasn’t looking forward to a long term relationship with your couch," he teased as he patted the couch and stretched his stiff neck. He had been sleeping there since Saturday night, when Amanda kicked him out of the hospital room.

They kissed, softly at first, and then the passion grew. "Real soon," Amanda said as she pulled away. "What about the Agency?"

"Billy already knows. I called him Thursday night and told him I wasn’t going back to New York. He showed up at the hospital first thing Friday morning. I knew he would, I needed to talk to him. I told him then that we were planning on getting married. He acted like he was surprised, but I don’t think that he really was. I told Francine this morning. I’m sure it’s all over the Agency by now."

Amanda cracked a smile. "I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when you told her that."

Lee laughed. "She was stunned to say the least. I promised her a wedding invitation. I guess she’ll be on my list."

"So when?" Amanda asked.

Lee shrugged his shoulders. "You name the time and the place, I’ll be there with bells on!"

Amanda sighed deeply. "It’s going to take some time to pull off a wedding. Invitations, church, caterer, florist, you know the drill."

"Amanda! I thought we were going to keep this simple, with just family and close friends. For gods’ sake, we are already legally married, this one is just for show!" he groaned, he didn’t want to wait another day let alone weeks for a ‘real wedding’.

"Gotcha!" she grinned, resting her head on his shoulder. "Is Friday good?" she asked, smiling broadly up at him.

He smiled back. "Friday’s great," he answered and sealed it with a kiss.

***

The wedding was simple but beautiful. Amanda looked radiant, and Lee just beamed with delight. The boys gave her away, one on each side of her as they proudly escorted her down the aisle of their small family church. Dotty cried tears of joy. They held the reception back at the house, in the backyard. It was modest but nice, with just immediate family and a few friends from the agency.

After the reception Lee and Amanda caught a flight to New York City for a weeks honeymoon. They chose New York partly to get away, but mostly to pack up Lee’s apartment and office. His car was still in New York, too.

Their honeymoon weekend was romantic. Saturday they went out for an early dinner and then to the theater. Sunday morning they slept in so to speak. Then spent the rest of day sightseeing. In the evening they took a carriage ride around Central Park and then on to a candlelit dinner. On Monday morning they decided to take time off from their honeymoon and head to his office and clean it out. Lee wanted to get it over with, he was looking forward to closing this chapter of his life, once and for all.

"This shouldn’t take really long," Lee said to Amanda as they headed up the elevator. "I wasn’t here long enough to accumulate that much junk."

"Good, I kind of like to get back to what we were doing," Amanda whispered in his ear, grinning at him.

"You’re insatiable," Lee grinned, shaking his head.

"And you’re loving it."

Lee smiled broadly at his wife. Reaching down for her left hand, which now proudly displayed both her engagement ring and wedding band. He kissed it tenderly. "Yes, I am, and I always will."

It was just after nine. It was quiet on the floor, the staff meeting was in full swing. They packed the boxes up quickly and quietly. "Well that didn’t take long now did it?" Lee boasted.

"No, just like you said. If only your apartment would be that simple."

"Well, if you hadn’t done such a good job unpacking it, it probably would only take twenty minutes," he teased.

"Oh, so it’s all my fault."

"Afraid so, Mrs. Stetson." Lee kissed her gently. "Well, let me get these boxes down in my car." He said as he picked up a couple of boxes and headed for the door.

"Let me help," she said as she tried to take one of the boxes from Lee.

"No you won’t. You are going to take it easy. Doctors orders remember!" Lee reprimanded her.

"You worry too much."

"I’ll be right back. Why don’t you sit down and relax for a while."

Amanda shook her head knowing there would be no use arguing with him. He hadn’t let her lift a finger since she got home from the hospital last week. She looked out the window, watching the hustle and bustle of the city. She watched the traffic and the people for a few minutes then chose to settle in the chair at Lee’s desk. She sat back closing her eyes she was so relaxed these last few days.

"What are you doing here?" Margo gasped, surprised to see her.

Amanda was startled. She quickly opened her eyes to see Margo standing at the door with accusing eyes. Amanda looked at Margo, she was dressed as Lee would say ‘Typical Margo Style’ in a near see through short, short white summer dress with a plunging neckline. "Hello, Margo."

"Amanda King isn’t it?" Margo snapped angrily at her. "You really don’t belong in here, at least not without an escort."

"Actually, it’s Amanda Stetson now," Amanda replied, grinning at Margo.

Margo just looked at her, mouth agape. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me just fine, Margo. Lee and I were married last week."

Margo wasn’t sure she was on the level. The rumors were flying around the office as to why Lee left so suddenly, so abruptly. "He what?"

"Maybe you should see a doctor, you seem to have a hearing problem."

"I can hear just fine," Margo snorted. "I just don’t believe you."

Amanda held up her left hand, her rings glistening in the sunlight, Amanda was beaming at Margo. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but despite all your hard work to keep us apart, you actually helped bring us together." Amanda was enjoying this, but Margo deserved far worse.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Margo shrugged.

"Oh you don’t? I think you do. You’re not the first woman who chased after Lee."

Margo laughed at Amanda. "Me chase after Lee, I didn’t have to, he was all over me. What do you think we were doing so late every night?" Margo was furious, trying in vain to get under Amanda’s skin.

"Now, Margo, don’t flatter yourself. You’re simply not Lee’s type."

"Lee, doesn’t have a type, he’d chase anything in a skirt," Margo demanded.

"You know, there was a time, I would have agreed with you. But you know what’s really funny, how he never seemed to want you, now did he? Not in the office, not at the train station, he didn’t even want to take you to lunch!" Amanda calmly replied tilting her head slightly and grinning.

"You don’t know what you’re talking about," Margo seethed.

"Come on, didn’t you think Lee would tell me about all your little advances? Remember I walked in on one of them, ‘Miss Magic Fingers!’ I trust him, he trusts me. You didn’t have a chance," Amanda shrugged scrunching up her nose.

"Now you’re the one who’s kidding herself. He’ll get tired of you, and he’ll be out playing the field again. You just wait and see. A ring on his finger won’t change that. I have friends in the DC office, he has quite a reputation."

"Face it, Margo. Lee was looking for a woman, he would never settle for you. Who knows, maybe you will get lucky with one of the young rookie agents who won’t recognize you for what you really are. Margo, you’re not in the same league with Lee. You never will be."

Margo was burning mad. "You, you…"

Lee had arrived back upstairs and watched as Amanda extracted her revenge. "Are you two having a good chat?" he asked as he came to Amanda’s side flashing his charming smile. "Did Amanda tell you the great news?"

"Yes, she did. Congratulations," Margo mumbled with a look of defeat on her face.

"Thanks." Lee looked down at Amanda winking at her. "Well, the car is packed, are you ready to go. We don’t want to be late now do we?"

Amanda looked at Lee, they had no plans for today. "Sure, I’m ready, don’t want to be late."

Lee helped Amanda up and held her tightly to his side wrapping his arm around her. "Good bye, kid. May I suggest in the future, you may want to tone down your approach. You come on a bit strong," Lee goaded as they left a red face Margo stewing.

As the elevator door closed and headed down Lee looked over at Amanda. "Now aren’t you ashamed of yourself?"

"Actually I’m quite proud of myself. I left her standing, not a mark on her," Amanda replied, blushing.

"I guess I’ll have to remember never to get on your bad side."

Amanda chuckled. "I don’t think you have anything to worry about."

He pulled her to him, embracing her tightly and kissing her passionately. The door to the elevator opened to the street level, but neither of them noticed…

THE END
 
 

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