Life of the Party - tagalogue

Written by Stephen Hattman (excerpts from the episode belong to him)

Lee watched Amanda walk into the bullpen, and he started to set down the long box in his hands. He greeted her as soon as she approached. "Hi!"

"Well! Somebody's birthday?" Amanda nodded at the box he held, her voice a mixture of suprise and curiosity.

He gave her a mischievous grin. "No, this is a little something I picked up for Francine."

"Oh, well, she did do a good job."

"Yeah."

"Everybody did a good job. We broke up the Private Party ring and you arrested Frank Columbus."

Francine walked into the bullpen and approached them, her self-satisfied grin signaling her good mood. "What a great morning! I got the pleasure of personally arresting Mrs. Flannigan!"

"Good!" Lee exclaimed.

"And during the booking I got to ask her height, her weight, and her age! Oh wonderful!"

Lee smiled and held out the box in his hands. "Francine? This, is for you. A little memento of the case."

She took the box from him. "Oh, Lee! Thank you!" It appeared to be a box of long-stemmed flowers, so Francine's excitement was to be expected. Lee tried very hard not to smile as Francine set the box down on the desk to open it. He waited in breathless anticipation as she opened the box and glanced inside. With a look that could shoot daggers, she tossed the box lid onto the desk to reveal a feather duster nestled among tissue paper.

Amanda was the first to chuckle, and when Francine picked up the duster, Lee released a loud and hearty laugh. However, Francine didn't find it a bit amusing and shoved the offensive item into Lee's chest in a huff. "Very funny!" she stated, then stormed off, muttering threats of revenge. Lee couldn't help but smile, but a part of him knew she would get him back for what he'd done. Oh well. It was all in good fun, anyway.

"You know, that really wasn't a very nice thing you did to Francine," Amanda pointed out. "That box does look like it would contain flowers." She nodded at the now crumpled item Lee held.

"Oh, come on, Amanda! Tell me you didn't think it was funny!" he dared. "Tell me the look on her face when she opened this box wasn't well worth it all!"

For a moment, their eyes just locked as he silently dared her to deny that he spoke the truth. He could see the inner struggle she had as she decided whether or not to agree with him or stick to her sugary sweet personality. The humor of the situation won out, though, and she cracked a smile. Lee gave her a pointed look and made no effort to conceal the laughter in his eyes. He knew she moment she saw it, and smiled when she let out a full-fledged laugh.

"All right, all right, I admit, it was funny. It wasn't nice, but it was funny!" She sobered for a moment and leaned closer to him. "But you know she's going to get you back for this." She gestured at the now empty box on the desk and the feather duster Lee still held.

Lee placed the duster in the box and set the lid on top of it, but didn't close it all the way. For a moment, he looked down at the gift he had given Francine and thought about the many ways she would concoct to get even with him. It was something they had been doing for years, and it was something he found himself unable to resist. Sometimes, though, she caught him unawares. He sighed, then looked again at Amanda. "Yeah, you're not kidding! She'll get me back all right!"

"She obviously didn't like the reminder of this recent assignment, so I'd watch out for a delayed reaction from her, if I were you."

"Well, you worked with her, and I can only imagine what her reaction was to actually cleaning a house!" Actually, Francine cleaning anything was a far stretch of the imagination. He rolled his eyes at the thought as he placed his right hand in his pocket and leaned casually against the wall of the cubicle.

"Oh you have no idea!" Amanda replied. "Since cleaning is certainly more my area than hers, I directed her on what needed to be done."

"I'll be you enjoyed that!" Lee interjected with a knowing grin.

Amanda smiled. "You bet I did! It was a nice change of pace." She waved her hand in the air in a dismissive gesture. "Anyway, when I asked her to clean the kitchen, she fed me this line about being an expert at hand-to-hand combat and wealthy men between thirty and forty, but she said she was definitely not a kitchen person!" Amanda rolled her eyes and shook her head, and Lee laughed.

"Somehow, I have no trouble believing you."

"But that's not the best part!" she added, the sarcasm in her voice evident. "You should have heard her complain when I handed her the toilet brush and told her she needed to clean the bathroom!"

"I'll bet!"

Amanda placed her hands on her hips and gave him a pointed look. "She actually tried to bribe me into doing her work for her, called me enterprising and offered me money." She paused shook her head, then looked around to make certain no one was listening and lowered her voice. "You know, I always knew that Francine was very accustomed to living the 'good life,' but until this assignment, I had no idea she was so..."

"Spoiled?" Lee supplied.

"If you want to put it that way, yes," she agreed. "You know, I have a question, and it's something I've been wondering for quite some time..." Her voice drifted off, and she paused.

"Oh? What's that?" He pushed himself away from the wall and stood straight, his right hand still in his pocket.

"You've mentioned that Francine has worked with you on cases before..."

He nodded. "Yeah, when it's necessary."

"And she's attended parties with you, like we did at the beginning of this case?"

"Yeah, what about it?" She didn't answer right away, and Lee found his patience wearing a little thin, wanting her to get to point. "Amanda, what's the question?"

"Well, I just have a hard time imagining Francine going to the parties with you like I do and agreeing to be your cover. I mean, when the ladies come up and ask you to buy them a drink or want you to dance with them, I have this picture of Francine telling them to get lost or something along those lines."

Lee laughed. "Well, if she were playing the role you normally do, I would tend to agree with you. However, she doesn't do that. She's usually off mingling with the men and coercing all of their deep, dirty secrets out of them," he explained, his eyebrows raising with those last words.

Amanda grinned. "Now, see, that seems more like Francine!"

"Yeah, well, you both have your unique skills, and depending upon the assignment, we ask whoever fits the bill the best," he told her honestly.

He watched her dip her head in a mock bow. "Glad I can be of service."

Lee shook his head, then chuckled when he heard the teasing note to her voice. "Well, you certainly were on this case. Amanda, I meant what I said earlier," he reiterated as he softened his voice. "Your quick thinking and courage really did save my life."

"Well, when I saw you and Billy getting carted off, I couldn't stay there and do nothing, and since Francine and I were already undercover, it was a perfect way to help. She tried to get me to stay in the van, but..."

"You didn't listen," he interrupted with a knowing grin.

A slight flush creeped into her face, and she ducked her head, but then she looked back up at him. "Actually, I told Francine that I was the only one Mr. Columbus knew as strictly a maid. If she went in there, it could blow everything, and she might have ended up with the rest of you, strung up on butcher hooks."

"And it was that reasoning that got us all out of there." He reached out to take her right hand in his left and covered it with his right. "You know, you're really starting to get the hang of this spy business and act more and more like a real agent."

"Really?"

"Really." His thumb absentmindedly began to stroke her fingers as they looked at each other for a moment. Although it went against everything he ever told himself, he had to admit that he did enjoy working with Amanda very much, and he had almost come to depend on her involvement and assistance as much as his own skills. They had only been working together for a little over a year-and-a-half, and he was only just now to the point of being able to admit that she had managed to break down one or two of his defenses. However, there was a long way to go before he'd be able to admit that he needed her.

"Lee?"

Her whisper interrupted his thoughts, and he focused on her face. "Yeah?"

"Do you think I can have my hand back, now?"

He glanced down in surprise, completely unaware that he still held it between his, then almost reluctantly released it. Feeling very self-conscious, he cleared his throat and was about to come up with some form of an apology when he raised his eyes to meet hers and noticed the telltale twinkle in them. His hand slipped back into his pocket and he gave her a wink, then turned to head over to his desk. When he arrived, he glanced up and found her eyes still on him, and they both grinned at the same time, as if they shared a secret no one else knew.

(THE END)

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