by Tina Maurine
“‘Ey, sweet Tess.‘Ey can see that. ‘Ye are there a lot, but that’s not what ‘ey meant when ‘ey said ‘ey missed ‘ye.” With that, he reached up, placing his strong hand at my jaw, his thumb grazing my bottom lip. Instantly, my core fluttered. “Ég hef saknað snertingu þína, lyktina þína, kossana þína...
“In English please.” My request fell breathily from my wanton lips.
“‘Ey, sæta mín.” He looked searchingly at me, his blue eyes questioning mine, penetrating their depths, “‘Ey have missed ‘ye touch, ‘ye smell, and ‘ye kisses.”
No sooner had he said that, than he brought his mouth to mine. His lips were soft, seeking, against my ill-prepared ones. His hand slid to the nape of my neck and encouraged me to fall deeper into the kiss, an understated suggestion. My mouth relaxed, inviting him in as he explored and sparred with my tongue, and I savored my favorite beer on his tongue. He nipped at my lips, passionately sought all I had to give until he pulled away, leaving me breathless.
Jeezus, fuck! Damn, he can kiss! What am I doing?
“Like ‘ey said,” he repeated, eyes glinting mischievously, “‘ey have missed ‘ye, Tessa. There’s no reason why we can’t be enjoying each other more…”
I went to open my lips to respond, but he placed his index finger over them, effectively shushing me.
“Just think about it ‘ey?” I nodded, before he shifted in his seat, smacked on the wipers, and took off in the direction of the hangar.
“Hiya, hooka!” I jumped at the sound of Sammie’s voice.
I must have been in that weird zone between being fully aware and asleep; you know, kind of like napping with my eyes open. “Jeezus, you startled me. What time is it?”
She sat down beside me on the ugly vinyl shop couch. “After nine.”
“Holy fuck!” I started to get up, but she grabbed my belt and pulled me back down.
“Best as I can tell, AE1 Dunnmoth was letting you rest. I heard him in the ‘Dunk’ talking to that chick in your shop and Ari, about how impressed he’s been at the effort you’ve shown—coming in early every day for the past few weeks just to get shop sign offs and learn.” I smiled weakly. “You should’ve seen it though. Rodriguez…”
I interrupted her before she could finish, “Roz is looking for me?”
Again, Sammie pulled me back down on the couch. “Chill out. Rodriguez went over to AE1’s table to ask if he’d seen you, since you’d missed the 0600 shop muster and passdown. I’d been standing at the table next to them, talking to the guys from my shop, so I was able to hear it all. He said that you’d been in the AE shop for the shift passdown, and that he’d mustered you with the shop. That Chief knew, and for her not to worry.”
I shook my head. I’m going to be in so much trouble the next time I see her. She made it explicitly clear that I was to check in with her for the day, NO MATTER what. “So, what’s she think I’m doing?”
“AE1 said you were out on a generator change. She threw a bit of a fuss, and he said he’d have you back no later than ten.”
I smiled at her and relaxed back into the couch a bit. I truly appreciated what AE1 had done for me. He had become a lot like my ‘shop daddy’… not like ‘who’s your daddy’, but more like someone I could count on to watch my back and for sound advice. When I’d first seen Tim Dunnmoth on the hellish plane ride to this godforsaken base, I’d no idea that this dark-skinned, dark haired, and even darker eyed individual would end up impressing me more than his short, unimpressive stature would suggest. AE1 was fun to work for and had taken personal interest in getting me assigned to the shop. I’m truly grateful to know him.
“I’d better get going. All I need is for Petty Officer Cai to come in and give me shit—I’m surprised she hasn’t already.”
“Yeah, well about her…”
I looked at Sammie, raised an eyebrow and waited. And waited. “What the fuck, Sam? What about her?”
She laughed at my angst. “I’m not too terribly sure, but I guess the Line was short a supervisor for the day, and Dunnmoth volunteered her. She’s supervising a wash!” Her voice cracked from holding back laughter at Cai’s misfortune.
“No shit? Who’d she piss off?”
“You know, she asked that very question, and AE1 said something about lightening up on the shop newbies and future newbies who were making an effort to learn. He told her that maybe…” she paused, taking in a breath and fighting back more laughter, “and now get this… he told her that maybe she needed to remember what it was like to be a ‘newb,’ and it might do her some good to go work with them for the day.”
We both cracked up. The laughter bubbled out of us. It’s so great to hear that that bitch has been checked. We sat around drinking coffee for another fifteen minutes or so, before Ari came in.
“Hey, Sam, Tessa.” He nodded to us. “You know, Petty Officer Rodriguez was looking for you guys a while ago?” He motioned towards the door that lead to the passageway. “AE1 covered for you, but I’d get going if I were you.” He smiled at us kindly. “I’d hate for you to have to pull extra duty…”
“Thanks, Ari,” I accepted his extended hand for a boost up. When he tugged, I stumbled from the force of his pull and fell into him. His eyes locked onto mine, but his usually warm, friendly gaze looked different—more heated, shining with an unspoken fire. Quite frankly, it startled me.
“Anytime, baby girl.”
I stuttered while I thanked him again and, backing up, grabbed Sammie’s hand and pulled her out of my shop.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“Get the mop bucket,” I replied. “No reason to put off the inevitable. The fucking floors have to be done just like they’ve had to be done every damn day prior, and every next day for the foreseeable future.” In my discomfort over Ari’s sudden change in demeanor, my voice came out snappier than I’d intended.
“Jeezus, Tessa, did you see the way that Ari was looking at you?” Sammie commented.
Damn. She noticed. I’d hoped I was imagining things. Our feet echoed in the long, worn tile passageway, and her voice echoed off the bulkheads.
“Shh! That’s all I need, Sam! People will hear that and then all of a sudden I’ll be fucking him,” I exclaimed in an agitated whisper.
“Sorry, I forget gossip here travels like the damn Telephone game.”
I nodded in agreement with her, then shook my head. People can be so stupid.
Hours into the day, we had already mopped the entire downstairs passageway, placed our cones out, and were now laying fresh wax over the clean tile… not that you could tell; half of them were cracked, broken or stained. It was a thankless job, and didn’t make the slightest bit of difference in how they looked. I’d busted my coveralls down to my waist, knotting the arms like an old sweatshirt, and my t-shirt was damp with sweat when I heard my name.
“Petty Officer Christy?”
I looked up, saw it was, AE2 Simone Cai, my shop nemesis, and decidedly blew her off.
“Christy!” I looked up at her again, and if looks could kill, I’d have died, right there, on the spot.
“What, Cai?” I demanded with clear distain. I frowned, one eyebrow raised as I eyed the half French-Creole and African-American standing not far from me. Beautiful, creamy, café-colored skin, a petite nose, exotic green cat eyes and curly, short, dark brown hair. She purred in a soft southern accent like the actress Jasmine Guy.
How can such an angelic looking creature be such a raging bitch?
“Excuse me for stating the obvious, but…” she paused for dramatic effect, “…how the eff am I supposed to get by with these cones in the way?”
I shifted my weight and put my hand on my hip. As if you can’t see we were laying fresh wax down and waiting for it to dry so it could be buffed to a shine. What the fuck is your problem?! Jeezus, crawl back into the miserable hole you crawled out of! “Well, Petty Officer Cai, you aren’t supposed to get by.”
Sammie chimed in. “That’
s what the cones mean. You can easily get past us in the hangar and cut through a shop farther down…”
Sammie’s response was cut short as Cai began walking with her wash-rack wet coveralls and heavy-footed flight-line boots, through our freshly laid wax.
That BITCH! She’s leaving footprints!
She shoulder-checked me and then turned around with that bitchy face of hers. “Oops. Did I do that?” She laughed snarkily. “Maybe next time you’ll only do the hallway one side at a time, LIKE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO?”
“That’s it!” I seethed, thinking about all the work she had just created. We’d have to strip the floor now… the whole fucking thing, re-mop it and then lay new wax down before it was even ready to buff. I’d be lucky if we were even halfway done before night check arrived. I swear I would’ve taken her down—and I’m not even the fighting type—if AE1 Dunnmoth hadn’t heard the commotion and stuck his head through the shop door.
“What’s going on here? What’s the commotion about?” He turned first to me, then to Cai for an answer.
“I feel so terrible,” she drawled on in that sickeningly sweet accent of hers, “I wasn’t paying any attention and accidentally walked through Christy’s new wax.”
“Accidentally?”
She interrupted me before I could go on. “You know me, Tim. I can get flighty sometimes… especially after such a long night.” She smiled at him angelically, suggestively.
I wasn’t an idiot. The hunch I’d had on the plane that they were DFBs… didn’t look that far off.
“Well, Christy, it’s an honest mistake. I’ll take a look at the shop and flight schedules, and if we’re caught up, I’ll see if I can’t get a body out here to help you guys get done.”
I felt defeated. I’d gone from pissed and ready to throw down to just plain beaten. I nodded. “Thanks, AE1.” I must have sounded as downtrodden as I felt, because he went on.
“Don’t let this small set-back get you down. It happens to the best of us and will happen. It’s not what happens to you in life, it’s how you take it that counts.”
All I could do was nod. What the fuck? Seriously? That’s it? She added at least another four hours of work onto our day!
Cai sauntered off. As soon as the door to the shop closed, and Sammie had checked to make sure we were alone, she erupted. “What the fuck is wrong with that bitch? Didn’t she see the cones?”
I shrugged and headed off toward the utility locker for the floor stripper.
She trotted after me. “I don’t get it…”
“What’s that, Sam?” Annoyance laced my every word. I wasn’t annoyed with her, but just generally with the whole situation.
“I’ve heard Cai is as easy to spread as Country Crock on a hot summer day. How can anyone want to get with that?”
“I don’t know.” I pissily grabbed the supplies and gear we’d need out of the closet at the far end of the passageway. “Ari’s been in there, so has that young married guy, Towers, and who knows who else… I mean, it sure seems Dunnmoth is getting a piece of the action too, since he’s divorced.”
“I just don’t get it, Tess. I mean, if it weren’t for her personality, her demeanor, how miserably she treats people, I wouldn’t fault the guys, but her attitude sucks!”
“It’s not how she treats people.” I closed the utility closet and started back down the hall, lugging the supplies. “It’s just me.” I exhaled heavily, out of breath. “She seems to think I’m some sort of competition.”
“Well, you guys both have cute bodies and have to be within maybe six or seven years of each other. Maybe she feels threatened? Younger competition and all that?”
“Yeah, I just don’t know. You saw her. She’s a roaring bitch to me anytime we’re alone, and then sweet as a newborn kitten when any of the guys from the shop are around.” I stacked the cones out of the way and dumped stripper onto the floor, splashing it on my boots, not even caring that they’d need a good polish after this. “You know what sucks the most?” I paused, looking up at Sammie.
“What? Let me guess, that she’s been with Ari?”
I shot her a look like she was crazy, “No! I don’t care about that. What sucks the most is that I could’ve really used an ally in the shop—a woman who knows how to hold her own in the sea of testosterone and pass on some pointers.”
“Yeah.” She smiled at me. “Sorry, Tessa. That definitely would’ve been better than all the shit she’s giving you.”
“Oh well. Why beat a dead horse?” I slumped against the wet mop as I dragged it against the floor. “What the fuck else can I do? What the fuck over…”
11
“Yay! We’re off, we’re off, WE ARE OFF! Three day weekend, here we come!” Sammie exclaimed exuberantly as she opened our door. I followed her in. I could hear her incessant chatter behind the wardrobe as she grabbed her robe and shower stuff, but all I could think of was getting my dirty coveralls and sweaty t-shirt off.
I love how Cai royally fucked the day up with her little stunt earlier. Thank God AE1 sent over two shop newbies to help. They hadn’t seemed too thrilled at first, and who would’ve been? At least it got them out of the wash scheduled for this afternoon. I laughed to myself. Their whole demeanor changed once they realized he was doing them a favor. I am SO glad we were able to get it all done! Funniest part though, was that Cai was left two bodies short on her last wash of the day; we actually left before she could.
I closed my eyes and lay half-crashed on my bed, pulled my feet under me as I drew in a deep, calming breath.
A three-day weekend after working eleven 12-hour shifts straight. I sure hate duty weekends, but the three day weekend that follows almost makes them worth it.
It suddenly dawned on me that Sammie had continued speaking while my mind wandered. “Sorry, Hon. What were you saying?”
“Get showered. We’re going out tonight.”
I responded with a grunt. “Ugh. I. Don’t. Want. To. Move.” I stood in an honest effort to get the ball rolling, but my ass only moved two feet from my bed before it found the welcoming cushion of the Blue Beast, and I collapsed.
“Get up, lazy butt! The guys from my shop and our friends from the Privateer are meeting us in less than an hour. Get up!” She tugged on my arm in a futile attempt to get me moving.
“I’ll be there soon.” I closed my eyes, indicating that I was done arguing.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Sammie full-on collided with the side of the recliner I was curled up in and tipped it over.
“What the fuck?!” I said more out of surprise than anger. I got up, righted the chair she’d just bull-rushed, and grabbed my shower stuff. “This had better be worth it,” I mumbled.
“I promise, it’s just what we need,” she said as she bounced out the door and headed off in the direction of the showers.
Slumping limply again, I pondered my options…
Doing nothing but work and coming back to the BEQ was boring, but it kept me out of trouble. I sighed. She’s not going to take no for an answer, so I guess I’m going out. I can see the potential for two things happening tonight. I could have a great time keeping it real with Sammie and my boys, Ace, Lucas, and the rest of them. Or, I could get raunchy-dirty and dust the cobwebs out of my VaJayJay. The idea had definite merit. I’ve been craving some good loving, ever since that amazing night with Dane. Decision made, I heaved myself to my feet.
I pushed open the bathroom door. As I entered the hall wrapped in only my towel, I bumped into Officer Ian Daniels. He stopped. The stunned look on his face and red creeping up his neck to his ears deepened as he slowly dragged his eyes from my bare calves up my legs to where my short towel grazed my upper thighs. He paused before he drew his gaze up my towel and over my chest. I’d hadn’t planned on running into anyone, since this was a ‘strictly’ female floor.
“Ian, a picture would last you longer,” I laughed teasingly, and in no way meant any bad-will by it.
His eyes snapped up to mine, a
nd he had to clear his throat before he could speak. “Tessa.” He cleared his throat again and gave me a weak smile. “Trust me, if I had my camera, I would take you up on that.” he chuckled.
I made sure to brush into him as I walked past, turning to check him out, and as I expected, he was looking… so, I winked. I sauntered down the hall to our door, knocked, and as soon it closed behind me, I dropped my shower basket and began giggling.
“What’s so damn funny?” Sammie urged, clearly curious what had brought on my serious fit of giggles. She stopped getting ready and sat on the edge of her bed, smiling, eyes prying.
“Oh my God.” I paused, trying to regain my breath and stop laughing before I continued. “Oh man, I just ran into Ian in the hallway, and you’d think I was a playmate the way he was gawking. Shit, you’d think he hadn’t gotten any since we’d been here, he was drooling so damn bad!” I began laughing again.
“Well, look at you. Pretty hot and bothered yourself by his sincere attentions, huh?” Sammie smirked, only half serious. “Maybe you can remedy that for him tonight? You know, I’m pretty sure he’ll be there, and after seeing you ninety percent naked, if you wanted to take advantage of him, it probably wouldn’t take much.” She roared with laughter, knowing full well I was not planning on taking advantage of him at all. Not tonight, not tomorrow or any time in the foreseeable future.
“You’re such an ass. I love you so much.” I blew her kisses before I slipped over to my side of the room, out of her view, and began getting ready. Not too long after, Sammie knocked on my wardrobe before she popped around on my side.