The Long Separation
The door to the Stetson office was closed, the blinds drawn. Amanda and Lee had taken over the office five years ago, when Billy retired and left his position to Lee. Still, every agent nearby heard the yelling part of the argument, which had been raging for who knew how long.
"Amanda! Don't! Don't do this!" came Lee's voice
And then hers, "I'm going, Lee! You can't make me stay!"
"When did you get this idea? What's come over you?" he asked.
"Oh, sure, a man can have a midlife crisis, or cheat on his spouse and it's just boys being boys, but a woman gets the nerve to change her life and it's 'What's wrong with you?' Well, mister, I'm going!" she hollered.
"But…I don't WANT you to!"
"This isn't about what you want, Lee. I've changed. You have, too, and it's time for me to get away. I don't want to be with you…or anyone! I have another job and a place of my own…don't touch me!"
"Please, 'Manda, please, don't go…what did I do wrong?" Lee's voice had lowered, but a group of agents cowered by the office door and could easily hear his voice.
"It's what you haven't done…you don't cook, don't clean, and--" Amanda opened the door to leave, startling the agents outside, who scattered. Amanda finished, "--you're a boor in bed!"
The door slammed behind her as Amanda left. She carried with her a purse and coat and that was all. None of the contents of her desk left with her. Lee didn't follow Amanda out the door, much to the agents' surprise. After all, the Stetsons had been a dream team for the last ten years, running the Agency even more smoothly than Billy or Dr. Smyth ever had. Now it appeared they were splitting up and after Amanda's last comment it could be for good.
Lee couldn't believe Amanda was leaving him just like that. She'd been stewing for the last two days and he'd tried to get her to open up to him, but she wouldn't. He'd tried seduction, but that was a no-go, also. Now she was leaving him alone.
Well, not totally alone. There were the quintuplets. Eight-year-old boys with brown hair and their mother's ramble. Get all five talking at once and you were in real trouble. His sons were different from each other, even though they were identical. Hank was the family musician. Charles liked football, baseball and hockey. Victor was serious about golfing and art. Doug collected comic books, watched action movies and read a lot in his free time. Timothy took his dog Basil everywhere, rode his bike and played piano along with Hank.
Amanda had told him in quieter conversation that she would be by to visit them, but she didn't know when. She'd composed a sneak attack in the last two days, packing up a few personal things and leasing an apartment of her own. Kindly, she hadn't cleaned out their bank account. Taking care of the boys would be up to Lee; that was very clear.
Two Weeks Later:
Lee pinched himself, trying to wake up from this nightmare. This couldn't be happening in the waking world. But he just said, "ow," and flopped in the chair in his office. No dream was this, but real life.
Lee sat at his desk, plotting how to get the boys to their many after school activities. He had to attend a parent-teacher conference for Charles and Doug, who were in the same third grade class. Then it was getting Charles to soccer practice, Hank and Timothy to piano and Victor to art class. Doug needed to get home and do his homework and walk Basil, since Timothy couldn't.
Lee's head was swimming. He had been leaving work every day at two-thirty and finally had three days off next week, when embassy parties weren't one a night anymore. He hated having vacation time and being limited in its use, but that came with the territory of being boss.
He hadn't had time to find a babysitter. It seemed his and Amanda's old stand-ins had sided with her and somehow disliked him, but he couldn’t fathom how. Dotty lived in Pennsylvania with her husband Kurt. She hadn't taken sides, she said, because she didn't know, or want to know, all the intimate details of the break up. Her one comment was that this was hurting the boys and she didn't like her grandsons to be hurt. Phillip lived in California now and Jamie was in Louisiana.
Lee sighed and came to the conclusion that the boys would just have to be late for practice. Then his phone rang and he got one piece of good news…he could go in at lunch for the parent-teacher conference. That would ease his after school stress greatly.
Amanda had stopped by each Saturday to spend time with the boys. She had driven them over to her apartment and showed it to them, taken them for a trip to the park, and dropped them off promptly for dinner. They were allowed to call her for anything. Lee was not. She seemed to be a totally different woman.
Although Lee had a couple of rookie agents watching her, they couldn't tell much. She wasn't seeing a man. Work was done from home, apparently. No unusual packages were delivered. No long distance calls out of the ordinary showed up on her phone bill. Just calls to Phillip, Jamie and her mother.
When Lee saw Amanda the second time, he tried to tell her how much Doug missed her, but she seemed oblivious. He asked her to talk with their boy anyway. Since then, their son's mood hadn't changed very much so Lee was keeping a closer eye on him.
He had assigned the boys to chores like setting the table and loading the dishwasher, to help with the workload around the house. Every few nights, he had the boys round up their clothes to be washed. Anything not in the laundry room at the appropriate time wouldn't get washed. The boy who did the best job on his chores got a treat, like picking the movie of the week, dinner, or staying up for an extra half-hour on Friday night.
Lee got up and locked the door to his office. He double-checked that the blinds were closed. Tightly. He sat at her desk, put his head down on his arms and cried. He missed Amanda, needed her, and wanted her back worse than ever.
A key jiggled in the lock, but he didn't care. Whoever it was could go ahead and come in. Then the thought came to him that only a few people had the key to his office. Must be important if they wanted in so much.
"Lee, stop that," Amanda ordered him. "What on Earth are you crying for?"
"Well, you're gone, and…" Lee sniffled, having raised his head to answer her.
"Come on, Lee, we don't get written this way." Amanda comforted him, hugging her to him.
"Written?" Lee asked.
"No, of course not. This story only has one purpose." Amanda promised.
"Uh, what's that?" Lee was clueless.
"APRIL FOOL'S!!!"
The End
Story Notes:
10 years post marriage, which is public, as are their jobs. Slight A/U for reasons I can't explain here.