Why did I do it? Why do I let her get to me? He's a great guy, really. But there are days when he is just blind as a bat. We work together on an almost daily basis and I doubt he sees all the stares he gets. About half the women we work with would love to be seen on his arm, but he doesn't pay attention to them, not anymore. Lately he's been preoccupied. It's like the light's are on but no one's home, except when she's around.

And today... Today he was here, but he also wasn't. His mind was with her. I suppose that's where it has been for the last few months. That's the only reason I can think of to account for all the phone calls between them. She's not even here and she still has precedence over me and I was the one working in the field with him.

What kind of hold does she have on him? Sure they flirt with each other, but then most women flirt with him. But there's something else to their relationship. Something... pure? Something right? I don't know... She's the first person he thinks of when an assignment requires a female partner, or any partner for that matter.

I guess I do envy her. One of my friends pointed that out to me when I was doing my favorite tirade about how she doesn't have any training in this profession. She has everything I want but don't have... She has inner balance, I hope one day to achieve.

Francine closed the red cover to her journal and got up to pour herself a glass of wine. Heaven help her if Amanda ever found out about the conversation she over heard while she was in the Vault. "You're a lucky woman, Amanda King." Francine raised her glass in an imaginary toast and stared out a lone window into the dark of night.