Disclaimer: Scarecrow and Mrs. King belong to Shoot the Moon Productions
and Warner Brothers and I'm making absolutely no money for this writing!
Ideas were taken from "There Goes the Neighborhood" , "The Long Way Home"
and "Stemwinder",etc.
Time Frame:This is a real stretch--What if Amanda and Lee had never met until 2002--while in their 50's? I was thinking along the lines of "It's a Wonderful Life"--How would their lives have been affected if Amanda had never taken Dean to the train station that fateful day in the 1980's?
Setting: Washinton, DC
Amanda walked swiftly past the lawyers and would be politican's milling around the Occidental Grille during Happy hour. She had just seen a matinee performance of Martinet's new avant gaarde piece "Apples in the Squash" and the sun was beginning to set.
DC was beautiful this time of year and still relatively warm in early January. Many people were still out on the street. She continued past the street vendors and past the homeless hanging out on Pennsylvania Ave. Amanda whipped out her cell phone and made a quick call to Jamie.
"Hi Jamie, It's Mom. I'll be right over to babysit little Joey and Marnie. I just have to pick up my bonus check at Honeycutt before I catch the Metro."
Jamie and Amanda exchanged the usual greetings and Amanda made her way to Honeycutt's main office on 12th Street. She pushed open the heavy revolving door and made her way to the lobby. Usually the checks would be direct deposited but , for whatever reason, Accounts Payable had missed several employee's bonus checks this year.
Amanda mused as she waited for the desk clerk to find her check. She had seen many changes over the past 20 years. Honeycutt had changed from Honeycutt Typewriters to Honeycutt PC. Amanda was now Assistant Supervisor for day shift although she still worked part time. She was definitely looking forward to early retirement in the next several years. Yes, despite that nasty sexual harrasment suit against Warren Davenport, Honeycutt had treated Amanda just fine. There was never any excitement but it was a steady job and Amanda couldn't imagine her life any other way.
The clerk finally found Amanda's check and said "Thank you Mrs. King!" as Amanda made her way back to the street. "Yep", Amanda thought, "Mrs. King for the last time now. " Following a brief marriage to Dean, Amanda had remarried Joe twice. Once after his return from Estocia and, after a five year split, once again in 1995. The divorce had been finalized for a year now. They both realized that they would always love each other but that they just were not meant to be married.
Amanda had decided to keep her most recent married name for the sake of the grandchildern. Now, that was one thing Joe and Amanda had done right. Both Jamie & Phillip were successful businessmen and both had married wonderful women. Phillip and his wife did not have any children yet, but Jamie and his wife had two and one on the way! Amanda picked up her pace as she thought about seeing those adorable grandkids.
As Amanda made her way through the crowd to catch the Redline at the Metro station on 12th and G, she walked past a world weary middle aged man fawning over a "sweet young thing" at least half his age. "The big fella must have been quite a looker in his day", thought Amanda. "What a pity he's holding on to youth for dear life!" Amanda shook her head in disgust and walked on.
***
"Oh Leesy, weesy, you are so smart!", that 'young thing' said to Lee. Despite Lee's haggard appearance, he still had a killer smile.
"Well babycakes, It's all natural talent!" Lee tried to ignore that glare from the brunette that had just walked past them. "Look doll", Lee couldn't remember her name, "I've gotta a few important errands to run..."
"Ewwww, what are errands?"
"Uh, yeah, things, there are things I need to get done..."
Lee thought to himself, "I can't keep this going". He was really beginning to tire of these useless relationships. He said farewell to Ms. Eye Candy and made his way down 12th to meet his contact. As Lee strode along, his breathing was labored. He admonished himself for not losing those 20 extra pounds yet. Too many Chinese dinners and canned food. He never, ever had a decent home cooked meal.
As Lee paced himself, he pondered his life, especially his love life. After he had broken up with Francine several years ago, things in the relationship department had gone decidedly downhill. Other than Dorothy and Francine, the only other half serious relationship he had ever had was with Randi.
Oh, yeah, there had also been Sonja Chenko, that Russian double agent, who had led to Lee's expulsion from the Agency and near death. If you could call that a relationship. Other than getting away with his life and the clothes on his back, he had never recovered from that fiasco. Dr. Smyth, Billy, even Francine had determined he was a traitor and worthy of death. No one, not one single person had come to his side or covered his back.
Since then, Lee made a living as a glorified bounty hunter/detective/lone ranger. He always accepted the highest bids, which, by the way, were getting lower all the time. Today he made his way to meet good old TP Aquinas to get some background info on a certain Middle Eastern "philanthropist". Lee thought the guy smelled up to high heaven and needed to protect his client, a wealthy socialite with an interest in funding foreign charitable causes.
"Hey TP! " Lee exclaimed as TP sat on a concrete planter and madly wrote on the palm pilot in his hand.
"Hey there Lee! Francine and Beamon send their regards. Who'd a ever thought those two would make such a good couple! By the way, I uh, couldn't help but notice the 'green' arm dressing back there, wasn't she a little young?"
"Alright TP, layoff! I didn't come here to meet you so I could discuss my love life--Do you have any information?"
"Yeah, Scarecrow", despite Lee's expulsion from the Agency 15 years ago, TP still called him by his code name. "This guy's great at deception and money laundering. He hooks into society types, gets their charitable donations and turns the cash into ammo for hezbolah. Here, take this CD-- it has all the information you need to bring this guy down."
Lee combed his fingers through his hair. "I knew it! The b*st*rds! My client has a soft heart for orphans and this "philanthropist" is milking her good. The only reason she became suspicious was when she saw the news report about the government shutting down 'fund raising' organizations that actually laundered money for the Taliban. I'm sure it's all connected."
***
Amanda prepared to board the Redline when she realized she had left her cell phone on the clerk's desk in the lobby at Honeycutt. Exasperated, Amanda once again made her way through the crowd, out to the street, and back down 12th toward Honeycutt.
"Great, Amanda!", she said to herself, "How could you be so careless!" It was getting dark by this time and Amanda was getting a little nervy. Her life was so structured, so secure. She almost never allowed for any inconvieniences or interuptions. Amanda entered the lobby, retreived her cell phone from the clerk, and was ready to exit when WHAM! someone crashed into her head on!
"Excuse me," said Lee.
"What the samhill!", exclaimed Amanda.
Lee apologized to the frustrated brunette and didn't notice that the CD he had recieved from TP had accidently dropped into her purse.
Amanda sighed in frustration and took off at a faster pace to catch the next Redline. She called Jamie again letting him know she'd be late. She hadn't yet noticed the unusual object in her purse.
"Man!", Lee thought, "There's a beautiful woman with an attitude!" Just as he was to make his way to Harry's for a beer, Lee realized he had lost the CD. "Alright Lee, where could you have misplaced it?" Instantly, Lee looked up , he could still see that brunette making her way down the street.
"Hey lady! Wait up there!" Lee shouted. It was no use, she couldn't hear him at that distance. Lee took off to follow her.
You just never know what chance meetings can turn up!
Time Frame:This is a real stretch--What if Amanda and Lee had never met until 2002--while in their 50's? I was thinking along the lines of "It's a Wonderful Life"--How would their lives have been affected if Amanda had never taken Dean to the train station that fateful day in the 1980's?
Setting: Washinton, DC
Amanda walked swiftly past the lawyers and would be politican's milling around the Occidental Grille during Happy hour. She had just seen a matinee performance of Martinet's new avant gaarde piece "Apples in the Squash" and the sun was beginning to set.
DC was beautiful this time of year and still relatively warm in early January. Many people were still out on the street. She continued past the street vendors and past the homeless hanging out on Pennsylvania Ave. Amanda whipped out her cell phone and made a quick call to Jamie.
"Hi Jamie, It's Mom. I'll be right over to babysit little Joey and Marnie. I just have to pick up my bonus check at Honeycutt before I catch the Metro."
Jamie and Amanda exchanged the usual greetings and Amanda made her way to Honeycutt's main office on 12th Street. She pushed open the heavy revolving door and made her way to the lobby. Usually the checks would be direct deposited but , for whatever reason, Accounts Payable had missed several employee's bonus checks this year.
Amanda mused as she waited for the desk clerk to find her check. She had seen many changes over the past 20 years. Honeycutt had changed from Honeycutt Typewriters to Honeycutt PC. Amanda was now Assistant Supervisor for day shift although she still worked part time. She was definitely looking forward to early retirement in the next several years. Yes, despite that nasty sexual harrasment suit against Warren Davenport, Honeycutt had treated Amanda just fine. There was never any excitement but it was a steady job and Amanda couldn't imagine her life any other way.
The clerk finally found Amanda's check and said "Thank you Mrs. King!" as Amanda made her way back to the street. "Yep", Amanda thought, "Mrs. King for the last time now. " Following a brief marriage to Dean, Amanda had remarried Joe twice. Once after his return from Estocia and, after a five year split, once again in 1995. The divorce had been finalized for a year now. They both realized that they would always love each other but that they just were not meant to be married.
Amanda had decided to keep her most recent married name for the sake of the grandchildern. Now, that was one thing Joe and Amanda had done right. Both Jamie & Phillip were successful businessmen and both had married wonderful women. Phillip and his wife did not have any children yet, but Jamie and his wife had two and one on the way! Amanda picked up her pace as she thought about seeing those adorable grandkids.
As Amanda made her way through the crowd to catch the Redline at the Metro station on 12th and G, she walked past a world weary middle aged man fawning over a "sweet young thing" at least half his age. "The big fella must have been quite a looker in his day", thought Amanda. "What a pity he's holding on to youth for dear life!" Amanda shook her head in disgust and walked on.
***
"Oh Leesy, weesy, you are so smart!", that 'young thing' said to Lee. Despite Lee's haggard appearance, he still had a killer smile.
"Well babycakes, It's all natural talent!" Lee tried to ignore that glare from the brunette that had just walked past them. "Look doll", Lee couldn't remember her name, "I've gotta a few important errands to run..."
"Ewwww, what are errands?"
"Uh, yeah, things, there are things I need to get done..."
Lee thought to himself, "I can't keep this going". He was really beginning to tire of these useless relationships. He said farewell to Ms. Eye Candy and made his way down 12th to meet his contact. As Lee strode along, his breathing was labored. He admonished himself for not losing those 20 extra pounds yet. Too many Chinese dinners and canned food. He never, ever had a decent home cooked meal.
As Lee paced himself, he pondered his life, especially his love life. After he had broken up with Francine several years ago, things in the relationship department had gone decidedly downhill. Other than Dorothy and Francine, the only other half serious relationship he had ever had was with Randi.
Oh, yeah, there had also been Sonja Chenko, that Russian double agent, who had led to Lee's expulsion from the Agency and near death. If you could call that a relationship. Other than getting away with his life and the clothes on his back, he had never recovered from that fiasco. Dr. Smyth, Billy, even Francine had determined he was a traitor and worthy of death. No one, not one single person had come to his side or covered his back.
Since then, Lee made a living as a glorified bounty hunter/detective/lone ranger. He always accepted the highest bids, which, by the way, were getting lower all the time. Today he made his way to meet good old TP Aquinas to get some background info on a certain Middle Eastern "philanthropist". Lee thought the guy smelled up to high heaven and needed to protect his client, a wealthy socialite with an interest in funding foreign charitable causes.
"Hey TP! " Lee exclaimed as TP sat on a concrete planter and madly wrote on the palm pilot in his hand.
"Hey there Lee! Francine and Beamon send their regards. Who'd a ever thought those two would make such a good couple! By the way, I uh, couldn't help but notice the 'green' arm dressing back there, wasn't she a little young?"
"Alright TP, layoff! I didn't come here to meet you so I could discuss my love life--Do you have any information?"
"Yeah, Scarecrow", despite Lee's expulsion from the Agency 15 years ago, TP still called him by his code name. "This guy's great at deception and money laundering. He hooks into society types, gets their charitable donations and turns the cash into ammo for hezbolah. Here, take this CD-- it has all the information you need to bring this guy down."
Lee combed his fingers through his hair. "I knew it! The b*st*rds! My client has a soft heart for orphans and this "philanthropist" is milking her good. The only reason she became suspicious was when she saw the news report about the government shutting down 'fund raising' organizations that actually laundered money for the Taliban. I'm sure it's all connected."
***
Amanda prepared to board the Redline when she realized she had left her cell phone on the clerk's desk in the lobby at Honeycutt. Exasperated, Amanda once again made her way through the crowd, out to the street, and back down 12th toward Honeycutt.
"Great, Amanda!", she said to herself, "How could you be so careless!" It was getting dark by this time and Amanda was getting a little nervy. Her life was so structured, so secure. She almost never allowed for any inconvieniences or interuptions. Amanda entered the lobby, retreived her cell phone from the clerk, and was ready to exit when WHAM! someone crashed into her head on!
"Excuse me," said Lee.
"What the samhill!", exclaimed Amanda.
Lee apologized to the frustrated brunette and didn't notice that the CD he had recieved from TP had accidently dropped into her purse.
Amanda sighed in frustration and took off at a faster pace to catch the next Redline. She called Jamie again letting him know she'd be late. She hadn't yet noticed the unusual object in her purse.
"Man!", Lee thought, "There's a beautiful woman with an attitude!" Just as he was to make his way to Harry's for a beer, Lee realized he had lost the CD. "Alright Lee, where could you have misplaced it?" Instantly, Lee looked up , he could still see that brunette making her way down the street.
"Hey lady! Wait up there!" Lee shouted. It was no use, she couldn't hear him at that distance. Lee took off to follow her.
You just never know what chance meetings can turn up!