Lee stared at Amanda's retreating form. `Not exactly.' What
the hell had she meant by that? Not only that, but he hated being
left hanging. He needed answers. Shaking himself out of his stunned
state, he made his way quickly down the hallway after her. As soon
as he reached her, he gently tapped her on the shoulder. "And where
do you think you're going?"

Amanda pushed the elevator button and then turned to look at
Lee with a very innocent expression her face. She knew why he had
come after her, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.
It was her turn to leave him guessing. "I'm going home, after all I
have a lot of explaining to do."

Lee nodded. "You're darn right you do. What did you mean
back there?" He motioned back in the general direction of the bull
pen.

"I meant I had some explaining to do to Mother," Amanda
raised the picnic basket up slightly. "Do you know how hard it's
going to be for me to explain why I have a picnic basket with me and
I was gone for twenty-four hours. She's going to give me the third
degree and want to know who I was with, and she's going to assume it
was with a man, which of course it was, and she's going to want
details. Believe me this is going to be very hard to explain.
Although I did leave a note, which she said she never got, so now I
have to talk to Phillip and Jamie."

Lee put up his hand. "Stop. Don't think that you're going to
ramble your way out of this one…" Just then the elevator dinged, the
doors opened and Francine stepped out.

Francine took one look at Lee's face and smiled. "Aww,
trouble in paradise again?"

Amanda smiled sweetly. "Nope, Francine, no trouble at all."
She stepped on to the now empty elevator and then turned back to look
at Lee. "You're a spy Lee, so I'll just let you figure the answer out
on your own."

Before Lee could respond, the door closed, and he was left
with his mouth hanging open.

"Better close that Lee, before some steno clerk decides to
come along and close it for you." Francine chuckled as she walked
away, heading towards the bullpen.

Lee closed his mouth and thought about replying that he
wasn't interested in the steno pool anymore. Suddenly realizing how
true that was, he focused his attention on the closed elevator doors
instead with a small amount of longing. He was only interested in
one woman right now, and normally that idea would send him running
for the hills. But this was different, and right now the only thing
he was feeling was disappointment mixed with a dose of
dissatisfaction.

Were his mixed feelings because Amanda had gotten the last
word, or the fact that a small part of him had hoped she'd clarify
her comment. Then again, if she had, what would he have wanted her
to say? I mean they had almost kissed, and for the first time he
hadn't really believed it himself when he told her that it was two
people trying to stay warm. Could it be possible that he was
starting to develop feelings for Amanda, feelings that were more than
friendship? And was it also possible that she might feel the same
way?

"Scarecrow!" Billy's voice echoed back down the hallway.

Lee turned away from the doors and made his way towards the
bullpen. He'd have to shelve his thoughts for now, but he had a
feeling Amanda King would be back in them soon enough, causing him
many a sleepless night. He chuckled to himself. Amanda had been
causing him sleepless nights for the past two and a half years, only
before it was because of her annoying habit of getting in the way.
Now, however, he had a feeling that she'd be entering his thoughts in
a different, and hopefully, more enjoyable way and he found that he
really didn't mind that idea at all. But one thing was for sure, one
day very soon, he was going to get a direct answer to her `not
exactly.'

End