The Ring

by Sarah Anne Carter

  Before she could respond, he leaned in for a quick kiss. As he pulled away, she found herself smiling.

  “Be safe, Lucas,” she said as he turned to go back to his car.

  “I will, Amanda,” he replied. “See you soon!”

  CHAPTER SIX

  In the 16 days while Lucas was gone, Amanda stayed busy with work and seeing friends who were in town for the winter break. She started reading ahead for some of her classes and updated her resume for when she would apply for a student teaching position in the fall. Christmas had been quiet with just her parents, but Juliana had thrown a huge New Year’s Eve party like she had since they were 16. Amanda enjoyed it more than usual as she found herself being able to talk to the guys without feeling any pressure of Juliana trying to match her up with anyone. Instead of trying to find some random person to kiss at midnight, she just closed her eyes and remembered Lucas’ kiss.

  Lucas wasn’t back by the time Juliana left for MIT, so she didn’t get to meet him.

  “You’ll meet him this summer if he’s still around,” Amanda said as she helped Juliana pack up her car on her break between the Coffee First shift and her Amelie shift. Juliana usually came back home for spring break but was headed to Mexico for spring break that year – a present from her parents. “I promise I’ll keep you updated.”

  “You better. Remember your daily mantra – ‘This is all for fun. I will not fall for a military guy.’“

  “This is all for fun. I will not fall for a military guy,” Amanda repeated and laughed. “Drive safe!”

  Amanda was driving back from work when Lucas called the next day. She could tell he was tired right away.

  “I just got back to my dorm room,” he said. “That was a long trip. How are you doing?”

  “I’m good. Just one more week until classes start again.”

  “Man, I missed just about all of your break. You wouldn’t happen to have any days off this week?”

  “Just Sunday. My last day at Amelie is Friday, but I have to work at Coffee First Saturday morning.”

  “I was thinking, if you were willing, you could give me a non-touristy tour of the area on Sunday. But I don’t want to wait that long to see you. Can we do dinner one night, too? I was able to pick up some German chocolate.”

  “Sunday sounds good. I just have to be back by 6 to have dinner with my parents. We have a tradition of celebrating the night before school starts. It’s a teacher thing. We could do dinner on Wednesday again. I still get off at Amelie at 4 on Wednesdays.”

  “Remember, though, you have to pick the,” he paused to yawn, “restaurant.”

  “We’ll visit one of my favorites,” she replied. “Now, get some rest.”

  “Okay. See you Wednesday night.”

  After Lucas picked her up, Amanda gave him directions to her and Juliana’s favorite place, Phyllos. She didn’t tell him it was Greek food, wanting to see his reaction when they pulled up.

  “Is this Greek?” he asked.

  “Yep, it’s one of my favorite restaurants. My friend Juliana and I ate here at least once a week in high school.”

  “I love Greek food!” he said.

  As they went into the restaurant, Amanda was greeted by name by the hostess, Elana, who only offered a menu to Lucas.

  “You’ll be having the regular, right, Amanda?” Elena asked.

  “Yes, please,” she answered.

  “You really do come here often,” Lucas commented. “What do you usually get?”

  “The lamb gyro is my favorite, and it comes with a Greek side salad. Everything is good here, though.”

  Lucas decided on the chicken gyro, and they planned to split an order of baklava for dessert. They got caught up on the past two weeks, and the conversation flowed easily between them.

  It wasn’t until they got back into the car that he gave her the German chocolates – six different kinds of candy bars. She opened one right there for them to share, and they sat in the car almost another hour talking until they both started yawning.

  “I better get you back so you can get some sleep before work,” he said. “I have to head back into the office tomorrow, too. They’re having a commander’s call.”

  “What is that?”

  “It’s a mass briefing,” he said. She must have looked confused because he started to clarify his answer. “Our squadron commander will have all of us who work for him gather in the big conference room and he’ll talk to us about how the squadron is doing, upcoming activities, and any news about our career field. They’re usually pretty boring.”

  “Well, I hope for your sake it’s somewhat interesting.”

  When they pulled up to Amanda’s house, he walked her to the door again. Just before they reached the front step, her parents pulled into the driveway where the garage was on the side of the house.

  “Would you want to meet my parents?” she offered, hoping he would say no.

  “I would love to,” he replied, so she opened up the front door and they went inside.

  “Mom and Dad, this is Lucas,” Amanda said. “Lucas, this is my mom, Veronica, and my dad, Charles.”

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. And Mrs. Schaffer,” Lucas said and reached out to shake her dad’s hand.

  “Where are you from, Lucas?”

  “I grew up in South Carolina – Charleston,” he replied. “I’ve been living here for almost a year now.”

  “Charleston is such a nice city,” her mom said. “We went there on our honeymoon. It was our first RV trip.”

  Amanda yawned and sighed.

  “Oh, sorry,” she said as they all looked at her. “I must be tired.”

  “I should go then,” Lucas said. “It was really nice to meet you.”

  “You, too,” her mom said. Amanda walked him to the door and stepped outside. Lucas gave her a quick kiss and then said goodnight.

  “See you Sunday,” he said as she walked back into the house.

  “Well, he seems nice,” her mother said as she picked up their bowling shoes to put in the hall closet. Her father was right behind her with their bowling ball bags.

  “He is. Do you want to try some of the German chocolate he brought me back from his trip?” Amanda asked.

  “Yes, please. He was in Germany?” her dad asked.

  “He travels all over in a military plane – something 17,” she replied.

  “That’s interesting,” her mother said. “Let me know if we should have him over for dinner sometime.”

  “Oh, it’s nothing serious like that at all. It’s just fun to have someone to go out to dinner with,” she replied.

  “Okay,” her mother said, sounding like she was unconvinced. “Well, I think it’s time for me to turn in. Coming, Charles?”

  “Right behind you, Roni,” her dad said.

  Amanda sighed. She realized she wasn’t very convincing the way she was talking about Lucas. She headed up to bed herself but was thinking about all the places she wanted to show Lucas on Sunday. He had been so busy going on trips, he had hardly seen any of the tourist spots in the area. She decided they would start with the Puyallup Fairgrounds and end at Mt. Rainier.

  Amanda was about to head out to door to pick up Lucas at Coffee First on Sunday when her phone rang. It was Lucas.

  “Good morning,” she said. “I’m just about to head your way.”

  “I’m glad I caught you before you left. I have bad news. I got a call last night that I have to go up today for some requals. Something about an inspection coming next month before we ... well, it’s a big hassle, but I can’t go out today. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” she said, trying to hide her disappointment. “What’s a requal?”

  “Oh, we have to be qualified to do certain things in the aircraft every quarter, and I’m missing a few. They normally schedule the flights a few days out but they’re wanting these to get done quickly. Our files are going to get checked in a few weeks,” he explained.

  “Sounds complicated,�
�� she said. “We could always do it another Sunday.”

  “True,” he sighed. “They’re also talking about sending me on the road again this week. I would probably leave really early on Wednesday. It’s a Pacific trip, so I’ll be gone for at least a week.”

  It was Amanda’s turn to sigh. That only left Monday night to see Lucas, and that was when the Future Teachers Association met at the school and they were starting to really get into how to navigate the student teaching job applications. She told him she couldn’t miss the meeting.

  “I guess I’ll see you when you get back then.” She knew she wasn’t doing a good job of hiding the disappointment in her voice.

  “Could I start emailing you while I’m on the road?” he asked. “It gets really expensive to call from overseas, but I could take my laptop and email you with the hotel WiFi.”

  “That would be nice,” Amanda said. They swapped email addresses, and she wished him safe flights.

  “If you see a big, gray plane flying around the area around noon today, that’ll be me.”

  “I’ll wave,” she said.

  She spent the morning doing homework and decided to go to the library for research in the afternoon. On her way to the library, she did see a military plane flying, so she waved and smiled. It was nice that he wanted to email her and stay in touch instead of going another week or two without talking.

  When she checked her email Monday morning before heading to work, she had a short email from him saying hi and wanting to make sure he had the right email. He wished her a good day. She sent a quick reply back just to let him know he did have the right email address.

  Amanda was surprised to see two cars in the parking lot when she got to Coffee First Wednesday morning. One was Jodie’s red VW Beetle. The other one looked like Lucas’ blue car. As she parked, she saw him emerge from the blue car.

  “Good morning, Amanda,” he said. “I don’t have to report until 5:30, so I thought I should bring the crew some coffee and muffins.”

  “Well, we don’t open until 5:30, but maybe I could help you out,” she said. “If you ask nicely.”

  “Actually, if I don’t get the coffee, I’m fine. I really just wanted to see you before I left,” he reached out and grabbed her hand before she started to unlock the back door and pulled her closer. He kissed her before she could even think about what was happening. She smiled at him after he stepped back and turned to unlock the door.

  “Okay, I guess you asked nicely. How many coffees would you need?”

  Jodie helped her make the coffees and wrap up the muffins for Lucas. She asked him a lot of questions, and both Lucas and Amanda knew she was grilling him for Amanda’s sake. Jodie was smiling at the end and sent Amanda to help him take the items to his car.

  “I’ll send you an email when we land in Japan,” he said after they set everything in his car. She let him give her one more quick kiss before he got in his car and left.

  She could tell Jodie was trying hard to not say anything when she went back into the shop. They quietly got everything set up, and as Amanda went to unlock the front door and turn on the “Open” sign, Jodie finally spoke up.

  “Amanda, that boy is really into you,” she said.

  “What?”

  “I’m saying if you don’t want to get serious, you better be careful. He already looks like he has eyes only for you.”

  “He’s fun to hang out with when he’s in town,” Amanda said, shaking her head at Jodie. “There’s no getting serious with someone who’s not here half of the time.”

  “We’ll see,” Jodie said and then door chimed.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  When Lucas got back in town nine days later, they went out to dinner at a new Mexican place Amanda wanted to try, Los Amigos. It was nice not to feel the need to get completely caught up about the last week since they were able to email a few times while he was gone. For Amanda, the start of the conversation felt less awkward than it ever had. After they got caught up, they talked more about their childhoods and families.

  Lucas explained why his parents divorced. His parents had always acted civil toward each other, but they had grown apart. They had both met people through work and ended up having affairs at the same time. They didn’t get emotional – at least not in front of him – and they let him choose who he would live with permanently. They didn’t want him moving his things back and forth all the time, but he would be welcome at either home any time. His father kept the house, and his mother moved into an apartment downtown to be closer to the art studio where she worked. He decided to stay with his dad at his house, but made sure to visit his mom at least twice a week. It actually worked rather well, and his parents were able to spend time together with him when he wanted, which was mainly on his birthday and some holidays.

  Amanda told him about Juliana – how they met and how even though they were opposites in a lot of ways, they always remained good friends. They shared worst date stories and found out they both only dated two people in high school.

  After they ordered dessert, Lucas got quiet and started staring at the back wall. She wasn’t sure if she should say anything, so after a minute or two of silence, she excused herself to go to the bathroom. When she came back, the fried ice cream with two spoons was at the table. Lucas looked at her when she sat down but with a serious look on his face.

  “I have to tell you something, Amanda,” he said. “I kept waiting for the right time to bring it up, but it’ll never be the right time. I found out at the commander’s call I have to leave next month for a six-month deployment to Qatar.”

  Amanda moved the spoon that was almost to her mouth back to the bowl.

  “You’ll be gone for six months? To where? That’s a really, really long time.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. Qatar is in the Middle East. I’ll show you on a map later if you want,” Lucas hesitated and then spoke up again.

  “I didn’t think it would be an option for our squadron for another year or two, so I hadn’t brought it up yet. I’m sorry.”

  “I hadn’t even realized you could deploy,” she said. “I was just getting used to you being gone for your trips.”

  Amanda took two bites of the ice cream while she let it sink in that he would be deploying. He reached for her hand after she put the spoon down.

  “Amanda, I know we haven’t known each other very long, so I can’t ask you to not date anyone else while I’m gone. But can we stay in touch and just see where things go?”

  “I’m not sure. Can I think about it?”

  “I think that’s the best I can hope for right now,” Lucas said. He gently squeezed her hand and then let it go.

  “I’m done,” she said.

  “Me, too,” Lucas replied. “I should probably get you home.”

  They met up twice more for dinner and then finally had the tour of Tacoma on Sunday, Feb. 14. He was scheduled to leave three days later. They acted more like friends on those dates, though. Lucas didn’t try to kiss her and she was glad. She knew she was going to miss his company while he was deployed, but didn’t want to feel more attached than she already was. For the tour date, she picked him up in the parking lot right outside the base, and they visited the art museum and glass museum in downtown Tacoma and had lunch at a little deli nearby. They spent the afternoon visiting Mt. Rainier National Park and had a picnic dinner. When they got back to Lucas’ car outside the base gate, he asked her to wait for a minute – he had something for her.

  He brought over a small bonsai plant and six envelopes.

  “I packed up all of my things, but I didn’t want to throw away this plant. I bought it when I first moved here to have something green in my room. Will you take care of it for me?”

  “Sure,” she said, taking the plant and looking at the Oriental designs on the planter. She put in on the passenger seat in her car.

  “I also wrote you some letters – one for each month I’m gone. It’s nothing big, but just in case the Internet isn’t
working well and I can’t email, you’ll have something from me.”

  Amanda took the letters from him and then gave him a big hug.

  “Take care of yourself, Lucas,” she said. “I’ll email you.”

  “You, too, Amanda,” he kissed the top of her head and then let her go. “I’m going to miss you.”

  Then he walked back to his car and she got into hers. She drove away first, looking back in her rearview mirror just once to see he hadn’t moved yet. He was watching her drive away. She would miss him, but she was trying really hard to just think of him as a friend now. She’d go back to her life of school and work, just with an added pen pal.

  “He’s just a friend,” she said out loud. “He’s just a friend.” A few tears fell down her cheeks as she repeated it a few more times on her way home.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The envelopes Lucas had given Amanda were marked with each month he would be gone from March to August. Lucas was scheduled to return August 15, just two weeks before the start of her senior year. When she called Juliana a few hours after saying goodbye to Lucas, Juliana told her it was the perfect time to date a few other guys now that she remembered how fun dating could be. Jodie was more sympathetic as she saw day after day how Amanda’s mood was affected by Lucas’ leaving. It was almost a week before Amanda got an email from him. By that time, she was ahead on her schoolwork and starting a research paper that wasn’t due until early May.

  His email told about their long travels to Qatar and described where he would be living for 6 months. It was a large, metal rectangular container that he would share with three other loadmasters. There were two bunk beds at either end and each wall had two desks and two lockers alongside it. He had a bottom bunk, a locker, and his own small desk. The Internet was spotty, but better in the early morning when most people were working out or heading to work. He said a few other guys were going to train for a half marathon while they were there and he might join them. They would run in the evenings. His training would be spotty as they would be flying at least a few times a week, but there were two others in the group who had schedules like his and they could adapt the training plan together. He was actually leaving in three days for his first mission. He couldn’t tell her where, though. He asked her about classes and work and how his bonsai plant was doing. He signed off by writing “Missing you, Lucas.”