Work Text:
December 31st, 1985
Years of boarding school and etiquette lessons meant that Francine didn't do anything as inelegant as flop into the chair beside Amanda, but her descent into it was definitely less graceful than usual and accompanied by a significant sigh of relief.
"You're getting to be such a good little spy, finding the good hiding places," she said, placing her glass on the small table beside her.
As Amanda had put it to Lee, being almost frozen to death together had thawed Francine a little and so she took the comment as the almost compliment it was intended.
"Actually, I learned all those skills playing hide and seek with the boys," she laughed. "You escaped the dance floor at last?" she asked with a sympathetic smile.
"What they lack in ability, they definitely make up for in enthusiasm," agreed Francine, easing a shoe off and rubbing a rapidly forming bruise just below her toes.
"Parties at embassies are usually so dull," said Amanda, "but somehow, you add New Year's Eve into the mix and everyone goes wild." She glanced towards the doorway of the small room off the corridor where she and Francine were currently ensconced and lowered her voice. "If it wouldn't be rude to leave before the midnight countdown, I'd have begged Lee to leave already."
"Fat chance getting him out of here," scoffed Francine. "He's in his element out there, being praised to high heavens by his legion of fans."
Amanda sighed, rolling her eyes slightly. "He gets to be applauded with backslaps and free drinks and all I get is "I must dance with the beautiful lady who saved us!" and a lot of crushed toes."
"It does always seem to work out that way, doesn't it?" Francine agreed with a slight frown.
Amanda nodded. "Last year, the Soviets were all over him for defusing that bomb and preventing nuclear war and this year, it's the Estoccians and all his terribly hard work saving their prime minister."
"Do you think the Soviets didn't invite him this year because of that run-in with Gregory?"
"It probably didn't help," said Amanda, a grin lighting up her face. "But I'm sure last year's Borschtgate may also have been on their minds. He's probably permanently on their blacklist over there."
"Or the red list, given how that borscht went absolutely everywhere," quipped Francine, making Amanda snort into her wine glass. "Anyway, he's not accepting the drinks everyone keeps pressing on him out there, so he learned his lesson, I guess."
"Then I won't have to drive him home," replied Amanda with no little relief. "Trying to get him into the car last year should have come with danger pay. At least I was wearing black, so the borscht stains didn't show too much."
Francine eyed the beautiful blue gown Amanda was wearing. "No black tonight, I see. And where did you get that dress? You don't rate a clothing allowance, do you?"
Amanda used her glass to hide her smile, recalling how Francine's own allowance had been lowered several months back. "I definitely do not," she answered after a sip. "I made this one, just like I made last year's."
"Seriously?" asked Francine, incredulously. "It's stunning."
"Seriously," said Amanda. "I could show you how if you'd like."
Francine shuddered. "I don't think so. Domestic skills are hardly my forte. I'll leave that to you." She leaned back and sipped at her own glass of wine.
"Oh, come on, Francine, I've seen you clean a toilet, just like a regular housewife," Amanda teased her. "You didn't even break a nail."
"You promised you'd never bring that up again," Francine protested.
"Actually, I promised I'd never let Lee bring it up again," Amanda countered. "But you're right – it's much too nice a party to be thinking about housework." She made a zipper motion across her lips. "So, how was your Christmas? You went home to see your parents, right?"
"Yes, out in California," Francine nodded.
"I thought maybe you'd change your mind and go to Greece with Efraim Beaman," Amanda chuckled.
"If he'd offered me a four-star hotel on Santorini maybe," replied Francine, "but he offered me goats. What on earth was he thinking?"
"I think the question is what was he drinking," Amanda offered.
"Exactly. That's why I took his keys and his pink slip," nodded Francine.
"You did?"
"Oh, I gave them back the next day obviously," said Francine. "Why would anyone want a Buick, for heaven's sake?"
Amanda laughed again and sipped her drink. "So was California nice?"
"It was gloriously warm."
"You still getting the shivers too?" Amanda asked, voice full of sympathy. "Tonight's the first time in weeks I haven't been bundled in layers and parked in front of a fire at home. Lee's annual scarf really got a workout this year – Mother was sure I was coming down with something."
"You stayed in? Really?" said Francine in surprise. "I'd have thought Lee would have dragged you out to a few parties."
Amanda tried unsuccessfully to hide a guilty expression. "Well, I mean… I guess we might have gone out a few times."
"I knew it!" exclaimed Francine triumphantly. "You two have been making goo-goo eyes at each other for weeks now." She leaned forward, eagerly. "So spill – where did he take you? The Blue Fox? Chez Tahir?"
"Oh no, nothing like that," Amanda demurred. "We stayed in, mostly."
"Stayed in?" Francine echoed incredulously. "Stayed in where?"
"Well, at Lee's apartment of course," answered Amanda. "He could hardly come over to my house with the whole family there, could he?"
"Well," said Francine blankly. "That must have been, um, cozy."
"Oh, it was," smiled Amanda. "I made all his favorite foods."
"His favorites?"
"Oh yes! Microwave popcorn, Twinkies… Bean dip, of course." Amanda pretended to ignore Francine's shudder. "Steak."
"Oh, of course," Francine nodded. "Lee loves a good, thick, juicy steak."
"Well, not that kind of steak," Amanda conceded, "Salisbury steak."
"What is Salisbury steak?" asked Francine.
"Oh, you know," said Amanda and then looked at Francine. "Well, maybe you don't. It's a kind of flattened hamburger patty."
Francine couldn't have looked more appalled. "Hamburger?" she said faintly, then her expression cleared. "Oh! Is it like Steak Tartare?"
"Oh no," said Amanda firmly. "This one is cooked. Well, in this case, not really cooked – just heated up in the oven. It's Lee's favorite TV dinner." She took in Francine's puzzled look. "You know, those frozen dinners from the supermarket."
Francine's expression shifted to outright horror. "Frozen dinners?"
Amanda nodded firmly. "He likes to eat the dessert first."
"They come with dessert?" Francine showed a vestige of interest.
"He also likes the turkey dinner because the peach cobbler is his favorite," said Amanda. "Especially when the gravy spills over into that section. I think they remind him off mess dinners from when he was a kid."
Francine leaned forward, dropping her face into her hands. "That sounds… delightful," came her muffled comment as Amanda's lips twitched. Hearing the quiet chuckle Amanda gave off, Francine raised her head and stared at her. "Wait a minute – you were lying about all of that, weren't you?"
"Well, of course I was, Francine!" Amanda gave way to laughter. "How on earth did you think I could be off gallivanting with Lee at Christmas?" Off Francine's quizzical expression, she went on. "Francine, I had two small boys on break from school, my mother and her sister arguing over every little thing and Joe dropping in every other minute to spend time with the boys."
"And with you?" Francine asked with an arched brow.
"No, not with me," Amanda reprimanded her. "Not in that way, anyway. So, even if I'd wanted to go help Lee with whatever little threat to national security was happening, I couldn't have left the house without a lot of questions. In fact, I hardly left the house at all."
That was the truth – she hadn't left the house much. but she didn't feel it necessary to mention the late-night visits when everyone else had gone to bed, where she and Lee chatted – and maybe flirted a little - over a hot toddy or that Lee had come by on Christmas night for a plate of leftover turkey with all the fixings. And that lovely dinner at Lee's apartment with a really good bottle (or two) of wine didn't count since that had happened before Christmas, right?
"I didn't say he'd dragged you out to work, I said parties," Francine corrected her, sensing she wasn't getting the whole story. "Although I suppose those come with their own set of questions. But if that's all true, how did you get out tonight then?"
"As far as Mother knows, I'm Joe's date," said Amanda. She sat up straight as a thought struck her. "Oh my gosh, is he out there being given too many drinks too? Am I going to have to pour him back out on his parents' doorstep?"
"He's fine," Francine reassured her. "Just a little tipsy. And as your belated Christmas gift, I'll make it my job to make sure he gets home safe."
"Thank you," said Amanda gratefully. "Chevy Chase is the opposite direction from Arlington from here, so that'll save me a long trip."
"Just don't think I won't pry all your most embarrassing secrets out of him en route though," Francine added. "There has to be some value in risking a trip to suburbia."
"I'd expect nothing less," Amanda replied. "Oh! Speaking of the suburbs, I did find a pair of houses for rent in my neighborhood for the-" she lowered her voice and whispered "that defector. They're close enough together for you to be able to keep up surveillance easily."
"Oh good! I'll alert Billy and we can get the paperwork moving right away."
"And you can tell him I'll stock up the fridge for the team like I did last year when Lee was keeping an eye on Doctor Fletcher."
"That's very kind of you…" Francine began, but Amanda continued brightly.
"It's no problem, Francine. Like I said, I know all Lee's favorites."
"I'm sure you do," replied Francine. "He is a man of simple tastes, after all. Look at all the time he spends with you."
Amanda pretended to clutch her heart. "Oh my gosh! I knew you were going to get back at me, but not so fast."
Francine raised her glass in a silent toast as they exchanged grins, both of them enjoying the banter, but neither acknowledging that maybe, perhaps, they were getting to be friends. Even so, Francine was a little pang of disappointment when a voice interrupted their silent camaraderie.
"Hey, there you are." Lee spoke from the doorway. "I wanted to have a dance with you before the night is over."
She pretended to rifle through her clutch, not wanting either of them to notice that disappointment. There was a long pause and Francine finally looked to see what was taking Amanda so long to answer, only to find Lee looking at her quizzically with his hand held out and Amanda looking at her, eyes brimming with humor.
"Francine?" said Lee. "Can I have this dance?"
"Oh! Yes! I mean – I assumed you-" she gestured between Lee and Amanda.
"He's probably bored of dancing with me," said Amanda. "I can do a mean cha-cha, but that's about it."
"Come on, Francine" Lee said in a coaxing tone. "We're hardly ever at the same parties and off duty anymore, and it's been years since we got to dance on New Year's Eve. Let's go show them how it's done."
"I'd love to," beamed Francine. She jumped up and placed her hand in his, letting him lead her to the door. "Oh!" she stopped and glanced back. "What about you?" she asked Amanda. "We can't go off and leave you here alone – it's almost midnight."
"Oh, I'll go find Joe and see if he needs a couple of cups of coffee," said Amanda, getting to her feet. "You two kids go have fun and I'll catch up with you later."
As Lee led Francine from the room, he glanced back, sharing a smile with Amanda, and a wink that told her there was a very high probability she and Lee would share a quiet dance later, although at this point, it would almost certainly be in her kitchen. She smiled at the thought and followed them out to the party.
A few days later…
Francine eyed the bag of groceries in Amanda's arms with thinly veiled suspicion. It was possible that Amanda hadn't meant any of what she'd said on New Year's Eve, but then again, Lee really had been becoming quite domesticated under her influence.
"Oh, isn't that sweet," she began, "but you know what when we're on stakeout we usually send out for food."
Amanda smiled and handed the bag to Lee. "Well, I thought you might get a little tired of pizzas."
"Pizza? …No, no, no, no, that's not what we had in mind. Lee, do you know that the Blue Fox actually caters to parties of two now? Now I stopped and got their takeout menu on the way over here." She waved the menu at him, but Lee was already face deep in the grocery bag, making happy sounds.
Amanda rolled her eyes. "Francine, you can't have the Blue Fox deliver here three times a day, the whole neighborhood will notice. Now I brought you groceries, you can, you know just whip something up." Amanda's tone was innocent but the gleam in her eyes was anything but.
Francine's eyes narrowed as she prepared to zing Amanda back, but the friendly banter came to an abrupt halt as they all heard the voice over the eavesdropping equipment.
"Hello, I'm Dotty West."
"That's Mother," said Amada in horrified disbelief, as if any of them needed to be told that. She and Lee shared a long look.
"Go," he ordered. "Fast."
Amanda whirled and disappeared back out the door. There was a beat and then she reappeared. "Put that in the fridge," she instructed, "Some of it's frozen," then vanished again.
Lee shoved the bag into Francine's arms. "You put this away. I'll call Billy before Amanda gets over there and let him know we have a new King family member in play."
"This is getting to be a habit with them," Francine clucked in disapproval, then carried the bag to the kitchen. She paused and braced herself for the horrors of what Amanda might have packed for them. She reached in and pulled out the loaf of bread that rested on top, followed by a bag of apples. A small jar of peanut butter came next, followed by a jar of jelly, a jar of mayo and some cold cuts. Francine was just starting to feel confident when she reached for the last thing in the bag and her hand closed around a cold carboard box.
"I am going to murder you, Amanda," she muttered out loud. "I will do a lot of unpleasant things from my country, but I draw the line at TV dinners." She gave a deep sigh and pulled it from the bag – only to find herself looking at a box of Dove Decadent Dark Chocolate ice cream bars.
"Oh Amanda," she breathed out happily, clutching the box to her chest. "You know my favorites too."