Dreams and Flashbacks
Chapter 3
By Ermintrude
See part 1 for disclaimers
Lee had no dreams Sunday night. He’d spent a couple of hours at the zoo—but seeing Amanda and her family wasn’t as soothing as it usually was. He kept being reminded of the Colonel and the Murphys and living with his Grandma Clayton.
He left in the early afternoon and went back home. Then he got dressed and went out to a bar he had frequented for years…but he hadn’t been there in a while. How long had it been? Since last fall? Was it that long?
He entered and the bartender looked surprised as he greeted Lee.
“Been a while. You been working out-of-town?”
Lee nodded, “Something like that.” He gave the man a nice tip as he took the scotch the bartender poured for him. He sat back and surveyed the crowd.
It was a Sunday night—which meant the crowd would be thin. He saw one or two women that might have interested him in the past—but not tonight. ‘Ever since Leslie—I just haven’t felt like dating around. And we’ve been pretty busy—Amanda and I have been working almost constantly since last fall.’
He thought back on the past six months. ‘Amanda took off a week at Christmas—and for once we didn’t have a case. I took her to the British embassy on New Year’s Eve. Emily was there and it was good to catch up with her.’
He thought back to that party—Amanda had worn a midnight blue gown with a flowing skirt. They had danced and drank champagne and had a wonderful visit with Emily. They had also had dinner—just the three of them a few nights before the big party—to catch up on the real news in the covert world they all lived in.
And Amanda said she had lunch with Emily and Dotty on yet another day. Lee shook his head at the thought of Dotty and Amanda together—Emily was certainly braver than he to brave the both of them simultaneously. But Emily spoke well of Dotty—and Lee did admit—privately to himself—the woman was a pistol. She was certainly more outgoing and aggressive in her dating than Amanda was. Not that he wanted Amanda to date. The last one had been…he thought back…Alan Chamberlain? He thought back to Joe—who had wanted to start back up with Amanda again—but Amanda wouldn’t have any of it. He had been pretty jealous—jealous?—yeah jealous. Lee had even backed off a bit with their partnership—they had worked the Marvelous Marvin’s case as brother and sister. It hadn’t been nearly as satisfying as usual—but when Marvin Metz had expressed a personal interest in Amanda it had been helpful to the case. And she had assured Lee it had been purely professional, and Lee had believed her.
He finished his scotch and signaled the maitre’d for a table—for one. He ate a fine dinner and afterward drifted off to a sports bar near his apartment. He spent the rest of the evening drinking beer and watching hockey with the regulars. He got home relatively early and went to bed.
Monday started a very busy week, and Lee was too caught up in work to think about anything else. Thursday had been a close call—he had gone to meet an informant and he’d told Amanda to stay in the car—she didn’t—and that was very lucky because the Agency sedan they were driving had been totaled by a city bus that had lost its brakes. It was an accident pure and simple—but it had still shaken Lee deeply.
They had taken a cab back to the Agency and he insisted on following Amanda home to make sure she arrived safely, after they finished their day. He had returned later after dark to watch over her and make sure everything was all right. Amanda, Dotty and the boys had a normal evening. He thought about tapping on the glass—but they had all gone upstairs together and he didn’t get the chance. Briefly he considered climbing her trellis to tap on her bedroom window—but he didn’t. It reminded him of the Alan Chamberlain case—and he really didn’t have anything to say to her.
That night he had another dream.
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He was at the base with his schoolmates. He was in fifth grade then. His friend Alicia was with him. They had been walking together back to their quarters after school. Lee liked Alicia—she was blonde and had curls and was nice. They hung out together—she was something of a tomboy and Lee liked that, too. She could keep up with him. He didn’t like those girly-girls that were all giggles and tea parties. Alicia liked bugs and running and getting dirty—just like he did. Suddenly, three of the older boys were blocking their path.
Ralph, the ringleader spoke. “Hey Alicia—you put bugs in my desk.”
She stood tall and faced him. “Maybe I did and maybe I didn’t. What’s it to you?”
“The teacher found them and I spent time in detention. Now you gotta pay.”
“Oh yeah—sez you!” She bristled and tried to look menacing, balling her fists.
Suddenly a fourth boy came from behind and grabbed Alicia and held her. Lee saw him and yelled.
“Hey—that’s not fair—let her go!” Before he realized what he was doing he attacked the bigger boys with his fists and feet, punching, kicking, doing whatever he could to keep them from hurting Alicia. Alicia soon got loose, and they both waded in to the gang, wailing on them for all they were worth. Some adults heard the yelling and pulled them all apart. Lee had a black eye and a bloody nose, but so did Ralph and the others weren’t much better off. Alicia had a few scrapes and bruises herself, but they smiled at each other in triumph. They made a good team.
Then the Major was there—he put his hand on Lee’s shoulder. “Who started this fight?”
Lee looked his uncle in the eye and replied boldly, as he pointed to the bully that had grabbed his friend. “He was holding Alicia and they were gonna beat her up. I wasn’t gonna let them do that—it isn’t fair. One-on-one—that’s fair. That’s what you told me, sir.” He sniffed as the blood ran from his nose, but he wasn’t going to cry. His uncle didn’t allow tears, even though his nose hurt really bad, and his eye smarted.
The Major looked around at the six miscreants and noted the difference in size between his nephew and Alicia, and the other four boys. He nodded. “I see. I’ll be sure to report this to your parents, boys. You shouldn’t be picking on the younger students.” The major turned to look at Lee and Alicia. “But you shouldn’t be fighting either, boy. Or you, missy. Maybe a few hours of cleanup detail will help reinforce that lesson for all of you.”
The four boys noted the major’s insignia and looked abashed. “Yes, sir.” They mumbled.
All of them got into trouble, but Lee was glad because he and Alicia had managed to hold their own against the bullies. They gave as good as they got and came out of it with only a few scrapes. He looked back at Alicia—and suddenly it was Amanda. They had gotten into quite a few scrapes too, and still made it out alive. He liked Amanda—she wasn’t like the other girls in his life—she was tough and stubborn and kept up with him—just like Alicia.
Amanda smiled at him and they embraced. They had made it out of yet another tight situation. They were a great team. ‘We’re partners—we watch each others’ backs—we take care of each other—Amanda will take care of me—she’s always there for me—I’m always there for her—I can’t imagine my life without her—what would I do if she left?—if she found someone else?—I want her for my very own—I want to be with her always—we belong together—we’re a team—in everything…’
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Lee awoke at 5:07am with a start. He was breathing hard—like he’d just been in a fight—which he had—in his dream. ‘This is getting ridiculous. I wonder if this could be a delayed reaction to that drug from the crispy terrorists? Maybe I can talk to someone about it. But I’ll have to be subtle…’ He got up and dressed for the day. ‘Might as well go in early and clear away some paperwork. I’m not gonna sleep any more anyhow.’
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.