Tuesday October 6, 1987
 

“Oh my gosh, this is just not my day,” Amanda complained to herself as she drove down the road past the Agency office in Georgetown.  There wasn’t a parking space anywhere on the block, forcing her to continue down the street.  She didn’t dare look at her watch; she knew she was late.  Between Jamie breaking his new glasses and trying to find his spare pair, then Phillip forgetting his homework causing a side trip to school, she wondered what else could go wrong this morning.

Unexpected complications were the norm in the King household, but this week it was one problem after another.  All the little things that normally didn’t bother the suburban mother and spy seemed to grate on her nerves this morning.  Amanda gritted her teeth.  She knew it was because Lee Stetson was out of town.

She missed her partner and husband, even if the world didn’t know they were married.  Amanda missed his gentle hand on her back as they walked together, his warm welcoming smile, and just the way he said her name.

Unfortunately, his latest mission was ‘zero contact’ and he’d been gone for over a week.  She wasn’t sure when he’d be back, and she worried when he worked alone.  Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, she finally found a parking spot two blocks away.  After locking her car, she rushed back towards the Agency trying to shake off the bad vibes.

When she reached the stairs of the Georgetown foyer, she was startled when she heard her name spoken.  “Good morning,” Lee Stetson greeted her, as they arrived at the steps almost at the same time.

“Oh my gosh, Lee!” she exclaimed with delight; a bright smile grew on her face, relieved and happy that he was back safely from his solo mission.  “You’re finally back!  When did you get home?  How was your trip?”

“I’m glad to be here,” he shrugged, answering evasively.

Wishing there wasn’t a security camera, she wanted to steal a kiss from her husband.  Of course, Lee’s hand was already opening the door to the Agency.  Letting out a frustrated breath, she entered the building and Lee followed her inside.  Chalking it up to ‘Need to Know’ assignments, Amanda didn’t press the issue or ask him anything else.

“Good morning, Mrs. Marston,” Amanda said with newfound zest for the day.  “The password is ‘zebra’.”

Reaching into her desk, Mrs. Marston gave both Lee and Amanda their badges, and replied a bored, “Good morning, Mrs. King, Mr. Stetson,” barely glancing up at the couple.

Amanda clipped her badge on her sweater and led the way up the stairs to the Q Bureau.  Lee followed a few steps behind her.  They walked down the corridor to their office in silence.  Amanda glanced back, but noticed Lee didn’t have his key ready to unlock the door.

“Let me guess,” Amanda smiled, “you don’t have your key with you?”

“Oh, uhhh,” he answered distractedly, as he patted his pant pocket, and began to look for them in his coat pocket.  “I’m sure they’re here somewhere.”

“Never mind,” she replied, rolling her eyes as she searched her purse for her keys.  “Your mind is obviously still on your trip, I guess.”

“Yeah,” he nodded as Amanda unlocked the door and Lee followed her into the Q Bureau.

Amanda placed her purse on her desk, tossing her keys inside it.  “I really missed you, Mr. Stetson,” she purred in a sexy voice as she turned around expecting a much anticipated kiss hello from her husband.   However, Lee apparently had other ideas.  Instead of being inches from her, he was over at his desk, looking at the boxes that sat on top of it.   Amanda noticed that he hadn’t even remembered to close, let alone lock the door to the Q Bureau.

Lee turned his head and gave her a disinterested nod, turning back to the boxes on his desk.  “Yeah, I missed you, too, Mrs. King.”

“You’ve been gone for nearly ten days and that’s the greeting I get?”  Amanda complained as she glanced at him wondering why he was being so distant.  She realized he couldn’t discuss his case with her, but a welcome home kiss, a lingering hug would have been nice.  Instead, all she got was a confused look.  Had his assignment gone badly?  “Are you feeling OK?  You look… tired.”

“Hmmm, what... I’m sorry…” he replied attempting to appear busy with the boxes on his desk.  “Yes, I am tired.  I’ve got a lot on my mind and even more on my desk…”

“What you need,” she started to say as she walked over towards his desk, planning a welcome kiss of her own.  Standing only inches from him, she reached for his lapel and whispered in a sultry tone, “Is a good home cooked dinner.  I’ll expect you at six.”

“Dinner, huh?” he repeated, pulling away from her before there was any more physical contact.

Disappointed, and totally lacking his usual charm and enthusiasm, she realized her partner had his mind on business.  Pointing to the boxes on his desk, she explained, “Billy had me pull some files yesterday.  I didn’t expect there would be so many and before I knew it, I had two boxes overflowing…”

Lee didn’t say a word, but pulled out a few files from the box and thumbed through them.  Before they could continue their discussion, Francine Desmond barged into the office.

“Amanda, do you have those files Billy requested?”  Francine Desmond called out as she rushed in, then she stopped suddenly.  “Scarecrow, you’re back!  Good, maybe that will put Billy in a better mood.”

“Those two boxes on Lee’s desk,” she pointed.  “They’re too heavy for me to carry down to his office…”

“I’ll take them down for you, Amanda,” Lee answered, putting a box under each of his arms like a laborer carrying his burden.

“Perfect,” Francine replied, “I’ll get the doors…”

“I’ll see you later,” Amanda called out, clearly frustrated as Lee and Francine left the Q Bureau.   Amanda watched as they walked down the hall.  Lee Stetson hadn’t even given her as much as a smile or wink.
 

****

A few minutes after six, the doorbell rang.  Jamie sprang from the couch and raced to get it.  “Hey, Lee!”

“Hi,” Lee replied, standing awkwardly  in the doorway.  “Is your mother home?”

“Sure, come on in.  She’s in the kitchen cooking dinner.”

Lee followed Jamie inside, and Amanda soon greeted him.  “Finally got out of the office, I see,” Amanda commented.

“Yeah, busy day.”

“Hey, Lee, you want to play basketball?” Phillip asked, coming into the house twirling the ball on his finger.

Looking down at his suit, he answered, “I would, you know, but I’m not suitably dressed for…”

Phillip gave him a funny look, and then laughed, tossing him the ball.  “Great, Jamie and I will meet you outside.”

“What about dinner?” Lee asked, glancing over to Amanda, hoping for a reprieve.

Amanda went over to the closet, got the spare set of clothes and sneakers for Lee, handing them to him unceremoniously.  “You’re not the only one who was running late today at the office.  Dinner’s going to take another half hour.  Go on and play with the boys.  You look like you need to unwind.  Maybe the exercise will clear your head.”

“Uh, yeah, maybe…” Lee muttered as he walked towards the laundry room to change.

“Lee,” Amanda nodded.  “The bathroom is still upstairs, unless of course, you want to fold the towels.”

“Guess I do need to clear my head, huh?” he laughed before heading towards the stairs.

****

The dinner conversation was lacking.  Lee usually engaged the boys in sports talk, but tonight he was unusually reticent.  Jamie chatted about school, but Phillip was bored with that topic and changed the subject to basketball.  Not to be left out of the conversation, Jamie jibed Lee.

“Hey, Lee, I’ll give you a rematch after dinner if you want,” Jamie exclaimed excitedly before gulping down a big forkful of mashed potatoes.”

Lee shook his head, picking up his glass of soda and gulping down the contents.  “No can do.  I must get home and unpack.”

“I still can’t believe that you let Junior here beat you!” Phillip remarked.

“He didn’t let me win, did you, Lee?” Jamie boasted proudly.  “I won fair and square.”

“He’s right, Phil.  I didn’t have my ‘A’ game tonight, that’s for sure,” Lee replied, pushing his finished plate away, looking rather uneasy.

“You missed three lay ups, fouled him twice and you were tripping out of your own sneakers,” Phillip recounted.  “It was like your sneakers were too big.”

“Enough, fellas,” Amanda warned, trying to give her husband a break.  Although she hadn’t spent much time with him at all during the day, his basketball game wasn’t the only thing off.  Lee Stetson didn’t seem to be himself at all.  “Lee’s tired.  You know he’s been out of town on business for over a week.”

“A rematch this weekend for sure,” Phillip suggested.

 “We’ll see,” Lee replied, then briefly looking over at Dotty and then Amanda.

“Would you care for seconds, Lee?” Dotty asked, noticing his empty plate.

“As delicious as dinner was, I really need to get home.  I have to stop at the market and pick up some things, and of course, unpack…”

“We understand,” Amanda replied.  “I’ll walk you to the door.”

“No, finish your supper.  Dotty, Phil, Jamie, it’s been a pleasure…” Lee answered, as he exited out of the dining room faster than a KGB spy on the run.  Only a few seconds later, they could hear Lee’s Corvette peel away from the curb.

Jamie turned towards his mother looking both concerned and perplexed.  He put his fork down on his plate and asked shyly, “You don’t think he’s mad at me, do you, Mom?”

“No, sweetheart,” Amanda answered her son with a reassuring smile.  “I don’t think his assignment went as well as he wanted it.  I’m not sure if it’s location issues or the budget.”

“You know how movies are always going over budget, Amanda,” Dotty chimed in.

“He sure was acting weird,” Phillip added.  “When we were playing two on one, he called me ‘Jamie’ twice, and he keeps calling me ‘Phil’!”

“Sweetheart, adults often call their children by the wrong name, especially when they’re playing a game.  Heaven knows I do it all the time!” Amanda reassured her son.  “Now, if you two are finished eating, I suggest you get upstairs and start your homework.”

“Ahhww, Mom!” Phillip groaned, but Jamie dutifully exited the room, taking his plate into the kitchen and soon vanished up the stairs.

“Phillip King, get a move on it,” his mother ordered in a stern voice.  There was no further argument from her eldest son.  Instead, he grabbed his plate, disappeared into the kitchen before he stomped up the staircase rather loudly.

Dotty got up, and began clearing the rest of the table.  “Did you and Lee have a disagreement?” she guessed, gently prodding her daughter.

“No, Mother, I barely saw him all day, but the few encounters we had, it’s like…  I don’t know what.  Something’s definitely bothering him,” Amanda replied evasively, as she started cleaning the dinner dishes.  “He certainly seems preoccupied.”

“It also looks like he put on a few pounds while he was away,” Dotty mentioned, “Maybe it’s a good thing he skipped seconds.  I certainly don’t remember Lee Stetson ever turning down second helpings before.”

 “Heaven knows what he ate while he was away,” Amanda answered, having noticed the same thing, but didn’t want to dwell on the subject.

“He was acting like he’d never been here before.  He ‘forgot’ that he kept a spare set of clothes in the closet.  I honestly thought he was going to change clothes in the laundry room.  Did he hit his head on location or something?”

Amanda shrugged, wondering what the problem was.  He’d been extremely distant to her since he surprised her at the Georgetown entrance.  “I don’t know, Mother.  I didn’t get to speak to him much at all today, and you saw how he flew out of the house.”

“Maybe he’s coming down with the flu.  He didn’t look like himself.  I’ve never noticed bags under his eyes before.”

“It’s hard to sleep sometimes when you’re on location.  Once he gets a good nights’ sleep he’ll be back to his old self,” Amanda suggested, but she was worried.  Something seemed to be bothering her husband, and she wasn’t sure what it was.

End Part One
 

Go to:  Part Two
 

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