The Wager
Billy’s office
“Come.” Billy motioned to the pair standing outside his office. A slight smile graced his face as he watched his best agent, Lee Stetson, open the door to let Amanda King enter first. He watched Lee’s hand quickly go to the small of her back as he led her to the two chairs in front of the desk. ‘When will they ever figure it out?’
Shaking his head, Billy addressed the twosome. “Good morning, Scarecrow, Amanda.”
“Good morning, Sir.” Amanda settled into the chair on the left.
“Hey, Billy. What’s up?” Lee sat in the remaining chair.
Handing a file folder to Lee, Billy reached into his drawer for his morning antacids. “I need you two to make an exchange. We don’t have many specifics yet. Just the where and when.”
“No idea what kind of info we’re supposed to be getting?” Lee flipped through the file. “Can’t you get a freshman agent to handle this?”
“Since we don’t have much to go on, I’d rather have you there, just in case it turns out to be something important.”
Amanda leaned toward Lee, laying her hand on his arm that held the folder. Lee shifted the folder so that she could read it also.
“Bowling, Billy? You want me to go bowling?” Lee handed the file to Amanda.
“Yes, Scarecrow, bowling. Surely you can handle an evening of bowling.”
“I haven’t been bowling in years,” Lee mumbled as he stood and started to pace.
“Yes, you have, Lee,” Amanda laid the file in her lap as she looked up at him. “We were bowling a year ago when you had to disarm that bomb, remember? The Agency went Operation Possum, and you had to go to the bowling alley to be contacted, since the Agency closed down. It was so weird to walk into the Agency and everything be gone. But we were bowling, Lee.”
“Amanda, that doesn’t really count. We only bowled one round.”
“It’s called a frame.”
“Whatever.”
“And you did get a strike.”
Lee sat back down next to her. “That was all beginners luck. I hadn’t really been bowling since I was about twelve.”
“Are you serious? I thought you were just acting like you didn’t know what you were doing.”
“Nope, sad to say, that wasn’t an act.”
Billy cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry, sir. Do we know what time the switch is supposed to take place?”
“We don’t have a specific time, only that it will be tonight at the Rack & Roll Billiard and Bowling Alley.”
“Come on, Amanda. Let’s see what kind of background we can find on this. Later, Billy.” Lee placed his hand on his partner’s back as they left the room.
After the door was securely shut, Billy voiced his thoughts. “That boy is definitely falling for his partner. I hope he realizes what he’s got, before he screws this up.”
That evening at the bowling alley
“I still can’t believe you have your own ball, Amanda.”
“Well, I was on a parent-teacher team for a while, and before I had the boys, Joe and I were on a league.” Amanda set her bowling bag on the floor in front of the counter.
“What size shoes you folks need?” The kid working the counter popped his gum.
“I need an 11. Amanda?”
“No thanks, I have my own.”
“You have your own bowling shoes, also?” Lee let out a little chuckle.
Amanda lowered her voice to a whisper. “Well, I always hated wearing the alley shoes; you never know how clean they are.”
Lee picked up his shoes and looked at them doubtfully; at least he had worn some good thick socks.
He watched as Amanda took a pink marbled bowling ball out of its bag and began polishing it with her bowling towel. He shook his head. “I guess I need to go find myself a ball. At least we got a lane here in the middle, near the door. We can see the whole place from here.”
Lee returned to see Amanda filling out the score sheet. “Do you want to go first or second?”
“We don’t need to keep score; we just need to play a little, while we wait for our contact.”
“But, Lee, won’t we stand out if we don’t really play?”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Ladies first.” Lee placed his ball on the ball return, then bowed to Amanda with a flourish.
“I hope I still remember how to do this. It’s been years since I’ve been bowling regularly.” She picked up her pink ball and walked up to the second set of arrows. She held the ball in front of her, her left hand steadying it. Lee watched as Amanda stood up on her toes, rolled back down with a slight wiggle of her bottom. Left, right, left, then she drew her right arm back. On her next step with her left leg she let go of the ball. Halfway down the lane it bounced into the gutter. “Boy, I’m rusty.”
Lee watched as she rubbed her hands over the air blower, then grabbed her bowling towel to wipe her hands. He had only bowled a few times when he was younger, but felt he could surely do better than Amanda. “How ‘bout a little wager, Amanda?”
“You want to bet on our bowling game?”
“Sure, why not, it’ll add a little excitement to this assignment.”
“Okay, what’s the wager?”
“Hmm, good question.” Lee crossed his arms in front of him as he leaned back in his chair.
“How about dinner? I’ll cook you anything you want if you win.”
“Sounds good, what about for you? That is, on the off chance that you win? What do you want?”
“I’ll take dinner at the Sir Walter Raleigh Inn”
“Mmm, one of my favorite restaurants. Too bad we won’t get the chance to go.”
“You’re pretty sure of your bowling abilities, now, aren’t you?”
Lee winked at her as he made a show of marking her gutter ball on the score sheet.
Amanda’s ball came up out of the return. She took her time starting her second routine. This time the ball headed toward the gutter, but curved at the last minute. The pink ball spun its way toward the head pin, hitting it on the side. Nine pins fell as the tenth rocked back and forth, finally falling forward. She turned on her heels and strode back toward Lee. “I guess I didn’t forget as much as I thought.”
His jaw dropped as she slipped behind him and marked her spare on the score sheet. “Your turn,” Amanda whispered into his ear.
“I think I just got hustled.”
“Hustled? I told you I used to be on a league.”
Lee was now a little worried. He knew he wasn’t very good at bowling, and had hoped that the first gutter ball was more indicative of his partner’s bowling ability than the strike she had a year before. He took his ball, lined up at the first set of arrows, looked back at a grinning Amanda, shook his head and took up his stance. He prayed as he released the ball that he wouldn’t get a gutter ball. “I’d better be more specific with my prayers,” he muttered as his ball knocked over one pin. Lee was careful not to make eye contact with her as he waited for his ball at the ball return. His second ball went better, but not much: four more pins.
Lee relaxed as the game progressed. By the fifth frame, his game had improved. He was only twelve pins behind Amanda. He continued to scan the large alley for their contact, even though he had no idea what the man looked like. They would be recognized by their matching baby blue bowling shirts, with their names embroidered on their chests.
Soon they were to the tenth frame. The score was closer. Amanda was ahead by only 3 pins. She was building on a strike in the ninth frame. Her first ball rolled smoothly, arcing near the gutter, then hitting the head pin, throwing all ten pins back. Another strike.
“Good job, Amanda. One more and you’ll have a turkey.”
“Wow, I didn’t think you knew all the bowling lingo.”
“There are a lot of things about me that you don’t know.” Lee winked at her as he marked her strike on the score sheet.
“I’ve never gotten a turkey before.” Amanda covered her mouth, as if trying to stifle a giggle.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh, nothing really. I was just remembering some of the little wagers Joe and I used to have when we bowled.”
“Tell me.”
“Well, it’s a little embarrassing.”
Lee took a sip of his beer. “I promise I won’t laugh.”
“Okay, but you have to promise.”
“Cross my heart.” Lee crossed his right hand over his heart.
“I can’t believe I’m telling you this. Okay, here goes. We had little wagers on strikes and on turkeys. Each strike was worth a kiss . . .” Amanda looked down at the ball she held in her hand.
“Go on, what was a turkey worth?” He stood and took a step closer.
“Oh, no. I don’t think I could tell you that.”
“Come on, you can tell me anything.”
Amanda looked up at him. “Well, a turkey had to be worth more than a strike, of course, since a turkey is three strikes in a row.”
“Yes?”
“It doesn’t really matter does it? That was a very long time ago.”
“Amanda, you know I will eventually find out. I’m not giving up until you tell me.”
“Huh uh” She shuffled her feet as she looked everywhere but toward Lee.
“Amanda.”
She lowered her eyes again. “It was worth, well . . .” Her eyes again locked with his as she blushed crimson. “Oral sex,” she whispered
Lee coughed. “I guess that is worth more than a kiss, huh?”
“Yeah.” Amanda turned around and took up her stance. With a quick glance back to Lee, she began her turn. Nine pins fell from the impact of her pink bowling ball.
Lee didn’t understand why he was somewhat disappointed. He couldn’t get the wager out of his mind. For some reason though, it wasn’t Amanda and Joe that he was imagining. It was Amanda and himself.
“Oh well. I guess I’m not be meant to ever get a turkey.”
“I’ve never gotten one either.”
“Well, you still have a chance. Since it’s the tenth frame, if you get strikes you get an extra ball.”
“You do? I mean, that’s right, you do. I guess I do have a chance.” Lee had only one strike during the whole game so far. Maybe he’d get lucky.
“Good luck.” Amanda smiled
“Thanks.”
His first ball struck the head pin, one after the other they all fell down.
His second ball hit the head pin. All ten fell.
Lee released his third ball. It seemed to go in slow motion down the polished wooden lane. It headed toward the gutter, and then curved back toward the head pin. Lee’s grey marbleized ball struck between the head pin and the one behind it on its right. The ball continued through the pins, knocking them down on its way to the back. Some pins flew in the air, knocking more down as they clattered on the lane. The only pin still standing was in the back right corner, it wobbled slightly. One pin rolled across the lane, bumping into the lone upright one. The last pin wobbled left, then right and finally fell over.
Another strike.
A turkey.
“Congratulations, Lee.” Amanda clapped as he turned, a smile on his face.
“Thank you.” Visions of the wager she had just told him assaulted his mind. He shook his head. He had no business thinking things like that.
“Lee.” Amanda’s voice brought him out of his wonderings. “I think that guy up at the snack bar has been watching us.”
He scanned the room. “How about I go get us a snack?”
He soon returned with a plate of nachos. “Here you go, Amanda.”
“Do we need to play another game? Or should we head back to work?”
He showed her the receipt with a microdot attached to the back, and then slid it into his wallet. “We can go ahead and leave, unless you want to play another game.”
Amanda popped a nacho into her mouth. “We can go whenever you want. Hey, these are pretty good.”
Lee took a big bite as Amanda continued, “I guess we have a little wager I’m gonna have to pay up on, huh?”
He choked on his nacho. His mind raced back to the turkey wager they had been talking about earlier.
“So, what exactly do you want?”
What do I want? She can’t be serious. Can she?
“Lee, are you alright?” Amanda laid her hand on his leg. “Lee?”
“I’m fine, sorry.” He coughed, looking to where her hand rested on his thigh, then up to her face. He watched as her eyes also traveled to where they were touching. She looked back up as she quickly pulled her hand back into her own lap.
“I guess I’ll put my ball away then.” She walked to the ball return to get her ball.
Lee watched as she walked away. She really did look kind of cute in that fitted blue bowling shirt and faded jeans. ‘Stop it, Lee. This is Amanda. She wasn’t talking about that wager; she was talking about the meal. I won, so she’s going to cook me any meal I want. She wasn’t talking about the other wager. She wasn’t.’ He noticed that Amanda was standing at the ball return holding her ball. ‘I wonder what she’s thinking about. Surely not what I’ve been thinking.’
If he only knew that she was. Amanda stood holding her ball. ‘I can’t believe I told him about that wager Joe and I had about getting a turkey. Then he has to go and get one. I can’t believe he actually got one. Oh my gosh! When I said I had a wager to pay up, he was thinking of the meal, right? Surely he didn’t think I was talking about the other wager. Of course not. He doesn’t think of me in that way. He’d probably be disgusted to think about me doing that to him. Wouldn’t he?’ Amanda turned back to find Lee staring at her with a smile on his face. ‘Surely he isn’t thinking . . . Or is he?’ Amanda shook her head trying to rid her mind of the vision of . . . ‘Stop it, Amanda. This is Lee you’re thinking about. You are never going to be doing that to him. Stop dreaming and put your bowling ball away.’
Later that evening in Amanda’s back yard
“Well, Lee, what did you think of your very normal evening of bowling?” Amanda leaned against the house.
“I guess if you forget about the fact that we got some top secret information, then yes, we did do something normal this evening, didn’t we?”
“So.” Amanda looked down at her clasped hands. “What do you want for your winning meal? Mother and the boys will be gone next weekend. If you want, you can come over Saturday and collect on your winnings.”
“That sounds great. As for my meal, I’ll let you surprise me. How’s that sound?” Lee reached down, taking each of her hands in his own.
Amanda’s eyes traveled from their clasped hands up to his twinkling hazel eyes. She was glad of the darkness on her patio as a blush crept up to her cheeks. “That would be fine, Lee.”
“Good, until next week then.” Lee lifted one hand after the other, placing a gentle kiss on each.
A voice pierced the quiet peacefulness of the moment, causing Amanda to spin around to face the door. “Amanda, is that you? How did the bowling go?”
Amanda turned back around to catch a glimpse of Lee’s backside as he disappeared into the shadows.
“It was a lot of fun, Mother.” Amanda grinned as she opened the door and headed in to greet her family. “I definitely enjoyed myself.”
The End
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and make no money from this story