Signed, SEALed, Delivered

by Jaime Russell

  I love being able to design and draw, but my passion is actually in photography. I love taking candid shots. It’s the way to really capture life. Mr. Richmond, my neighbor I was telling you about, always has me tag along on some of his family functions to take pictures of his family, so he has pictures on his walls. He also helps take care of my puppy, my baby, Annie. I often refer to her as my baby, but I don’t have any children of my own.

  As I was growing up, kids would pick on me for being Elle, as in like the letter L, so I decided to change my nickname to Ella. I like it a lot better now.

  When you’re not off saving the world on your secret missions, what do you do for fun, besides letting Alec teach you guitar?

  This time she doesn’t even sign her name. I quickly hit the reply button back.

  Gabriele,

  I’m going to think of a different nickname for you now, since you didn’t even sign your last email. From your annoyed pen pal, Zachary.

  I hit send, and then grab my iPad, as I climb into bed, and within seconds, there’s an email.

  Dearest annoyed pen pal,

  My apologies. Where are my manners? My southern mother would disown me, if she knew. Bless your heart!

  I stop reading, as I laugh out loud, because she pretty much told me to fuck myself in the nicest way.

  Please forgive me. Your very sorry and embarrassed pen pal, Ella.

  I can’t help it. I have to reply back.

  Dear sorry and embarrassed pen pal,

  My advice to you about being rude in your letters is to be more open and chattier with your pen pal. I’m pretty sure he wants to sleep, but this more entertaining, so please don’t stop with your smart, sarcastic remarks. Signing off, as a very entertained pen pal.

  I laugh, while I wait for her reply. After a bit, I start to doze off, when my iPad pings.

  Dear entertained man who has high pen pal expectations,

  GO TO SLEEP! My sister just got here, and she wants to go shopping. I know you told me not to send you a care package, because of your secret missions, but I can send them to someone you care about. It would be an honor for me. It’s your choice, but remember, it’s not a problem for me. Get some rest please, and I look forward to talking to you soon. Sweet dreams. Signed from your favorite pen pal, Ella.

  This time I don’t even bother with a name. I just jump right in.

  Favorite pen pal, huh? I don’t ever remember saying those words, but are you sure that you’re my only pen pal? You really don’t have to do the care package, if you don’t want. I was told that was optional, but I can make a list for you. I just need to talk to my cousin, Kelly, first.

  I hope this mission is almost over, and then I can go home. I do want to ask you a question. How personal do you want to get? I’m not talking about the dirty talk because I’m not into that. I talked to one woman, and she wanted to get down and dirty about my likes and dislikes in the bedroom by the second email.

  When I’m stationed on my missions, I get lonely. It’s hard on me knowing my son is home, being raised by a family member, and the time differences are rough as well. He’s in school at the moment, so I don’t get to talk to him, whenever I want. It’s always a hit and miss for us.

  Well, have fun with your sister. Sleep in an unknown location.

  I hit send, and then put my iPad down on the floor next to me, as I shut off my lamp. I need to get some sleep, so I close my eyes, as I drift off, dreaming about Alec and what he’s up to right now.

  I wake up to my roommate coming in laughing and turning on the light. When we go on missions, depending on where we are and what our mission is, we stay in a hotel, an apartment building, squat at an abandoned building, or even stay with the local military people. This mission has us in an Airbnb, which is a house that we rented and share the costs.

  “Oh, sorry man.” The newest member of our team, Tyler, remarks.

  “What time is it?” I ask, yawning.

  “Two in the afternoon.” Mark kicks my bed. We’ve been teammates, since the first day of boot camp.

  “I think I’m going to be sick after looking at your ugly mug first thing.” I laugh, as I sit up. “What’s going on?” I take my hands, rubbing them over my face.

  “We might be going home soon. We got a call to come back here to wait for the boss. So, get up and shower.”

  “Then leave the room,” I warn them.

  “Why?” Mark looks at me.

  “I’m naked under the blanket, so you are about to see a whole lot of me, if you don’t get out. Once you see it, you’re going to be envious. I’ve seen your truck.” I wink at him, standing up, wearing my gray sweatpants, as he groans. He calls me a mother fucker, as I laugh, walking out of the room to shower really quick.

  “He’s in the shower buddy. How was school?” I hear Mark, talking to Alec, as I step out of the shower and put on my basketball shorts. “Oh, here comes your dad.”

  “Hey, buddy.” I smile into my iPad.

  “Hi, Dad. How are you?” He yawns.

  “I’m good. I just got up, but it looks like you’re going to bed. How was school? Were you good for Aunt Kelly?”

  “School was boring, but I had music class today. We’re learning a new song for the Veteran's Day Parade. I’m always good for Aunt Kelly. I even did the dishes without being told.” He smiles back at me.

  “What do you want?” I ask with a chuckle, as I get a bottle of water from the fridge.

  “She said the same thing to me!” He laughs. “My friend is having a birthday party this weekend, and I want to go, but it’s the same weekend, as Grandma’s birthday, and she’s coming into town. I want to go to my friend’s house, instead of visiting with grandma.”

  “What did your aunt say?” I ask.

  I will have to talk to my cousin to find out. I don’t have a problem with him going to his friends because he needs to be able to socialize. He’s moved around so much that he finds it hard to make friends.

  “I told him that I’d talk to you about it.” I hear Kelly say in the background.

  “Do you know the family?” I ask.

  “Yeah, they’re good people. They go to our church. We have Stan over every other weekend. They’re best friends.” Kelly tells me.

  “If you’re good with it, then I’ll call her to tell her that Alec is busy. Alec, if your aunt tells you no anytime from now until the party, then her word is final, got it?”

  “Thank you, Dad. Thank you, Auntie.” He tells us.

  He continues to yawn, and I go into my room to grab my Harry Potter book to read a few pages, as Alec falls asleep. I kiss the screen and tell him goodnight, as I hear him snoring softly. When I hang up on Skype, there’s a knock on the door, and I see Tyler standing there.

  “He’s here.” I nod.

  “Afternoon, fellas. Sorry for the cryptic message earlier. We got some intel that we might be able to go back to the states, as our target has moved there.”

  We came here to begin with, because there was chatter on the message boards about some terrorist threats that someone was to steal from the oil refineries, so they can set fires to important capital buildings and monuments. We are a five-man team at this location. We divided it up to go to some of the major refineries.

  “So, pack up and head home for a few weeks, until we can gather up more intel that we can guarantee. We might not be able to stop the stealing of the oil, but maybe, we can stop the burning down of the buildings.”

  He tells us, as he passes out our plane tickets. Knoxville, TN here I come. I’m going to let Kelly know about it, but I want to surprise Alec. I head back to my room, so I can pack.

  “Not wasting any time, are you?” Tyler chuckles.

  “No way. If I can be home by tomorrow night to put Alec to bed, then I’m going to do it.”

  We start to clean up, per the instructions of the house owners. Once that’s all done, we get ready to head to the airport. As I sit in the back seat of the truck, I check my email. I s
ee there is one from Kelly with a list of items of things that they could use. So, I forward it to Gabriele. Kelly also gave permission for the two of them to email, so if there are things that Alec needs or wants, they can talk without going through me. I did stress to Gabriele not to ask for a picture of Alec because his safety is important. As I keep scrolling, I also see an email from Gabriele.

  Zachary,

  I would never ask you to sexy talk. I don’t know why women are like that, but I’ve had men ask me for some lewd pictures and acts in public! It drives me crazy. Where are the normal people who want to get to know a person, before jumping into bed? I want to find that person who wants to talk to me for hours, days, weeks, or even months, before we even think about taking the relationship to sex.

  I’m a pastor’s daughter, but I’m not wild. I did that rebellion act, when I was a teenager. I’m an adult now who has my own place with my own responsibilities, and I don’t have time to be bed-hopping to find my future husband. I get called old-fashioned all the time. I often tell Mr. Richmond that I was born in the wrong time period. I like the time of courting and getting to know someone, compared to the time of sex, before knowing a person’s birthday.

  Sorry, I’m rambling. Have a good night’s rest and talk to you, when you get up. Off to watch Must Love Dogs with my sister. I wanted to watch Fifty Shades of Grey, but she vetoed that in a hurry. I don’t know why. Your pesky pen pal.

  Gabriele Marks

  Finally, I’m climbing into bed, after watching all of the safe romantic comedies that my sister picked. We also downloaded the Christian movie apps for us to watch tomorrow. I pulled out the sofa bed for her. When she stays here, she doesn’t like to stay in my bed, because she’s not a big dog fan, and Annie always sleeps with me.

  I decide to check my email, and I have a forwarded email from Zachary. I click on it, and it’s an email from his cousin, Kelly. It looks like there will be more shopping tomorrow. I look down at the address, and realize they live in Knoxville. That’s under three hours from us.

  “Do I mention this, or let it go for a little bit?” I say out loud to Annie, who grunts at me, like she’s annoyed that I woke her up. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry. Did I disturb you?” I chuckle, as I hit a reply back.

  I would never ask for pictures of your son. You have to be comfortable with me.

  I hit send, and then put on a movie for background noise, so I can fall asleep to it. I hate the silence at night. Annie is softly in my ear on her pillow, and I pet her, as I start to fall asleep. My phone email dings, letting me know that I have a message. I immediately throw on my glasses on to read it.

  To whom it may concern,

  Are we not signing our emails anymore? I’m so hurt by this. Where is the love? Who are you again? Where did I meet you? I have some good news. I’m going home for a few weeks. My mission has been put on hold for a little bit. Alec doesn’t know, and I can’t wait to surprise him. Thank you for your words today. It’s nice to read someone who feels the same way as I do, when it comes to relationships. I’ve had one serious one, and since then, I’ve dated a few people, but I think it was more a sex thing, because they didn’t even care to ask about Alec.

  I want the house, the white picket fence, kids, animals, and family dinners nightly. What time zone are you in? I only ask, because even though I’m not currently deployed, I still want to email you. We could text, but I don’t think we are ready for that. I like these emails because they’re the modern-day version of the snail mail. Would you be opposed to snail mail?

  Zack

  I sigh. He’s coming home. Would it be possible for us to meet up? I quickly hit reply back to him.

  Zack,

  Thank you for signing your name because I couldn’t remember it. Ha. So, to answer some of your questions, I’m in the central daylight time zone. I like the idea of snail mailing each other, but the way we talk, would we be waiting too long? I like the idea of sending ‘Just Because’ cards and letters, but every day talk, would be pure torture, waiting on those letters.

  I saw your address, when Kelly emailed me, and I see that you live in Knoxville. It’s kind of funny because I live in Oak Hill, but I work in Nashville. I was surfing Facebook the other night, when I saw this meme that said it perfectly. “If you take away sex in your relationship and you have nothing to talk about, do you really have a relationship?”

  I know that I’m not the virgin goody two-shoes that my sister is, but sex shouldn’t be the first thing in a relationship. I’ve had two serious relationships in my life, and they each taught me something important about myself and what I want in my next relationship.

  I will never let someone make me feel horrible about who I am. I march to the beat of my own drum and won’t change for anyone. So, what is it like the first couple of days of Zack, the superhero, when he comes home from a mission? This is me, ELLA, signing off for now. In case you don’t remember my name, it’s ELLA or Gabriele.

  I yawn, as I fall asleep. I feel Annie, pawing at my arm. “Does someone want to go out?” I look over at the alarm clock, seeing it’s five a.m. “Really? You couldn’t wait for another hour, when the alarm actually goes off?” She barks at me. “Fine. I’m getting up.” I grumble, as I throw on my sweatpants and sweat-shirt, that I keep on the hook on my door, so I can easily get dressed to take Annie out early in the morning.

  I use the flashlight on my cell phone to guide me through the house, but I notice that the sofa bed is already put away. I don’t hear the shower running, but there’s a noise in the kitchen, so I walk into there, seeing Ruth making coffee.

  “Hey,” I say, and she jumps.

  “Oh, my gosh. You scared me. What are you doing awake?” She says, grabbing her chest.

  “Annie needs to go to the bathroom. What are you doing up so early?” I ask her.

  “The seminar is in Nashville, and it starts at eight a.m. So, I figured that I’ll stop over at Mom and Dad’s house to get him, and then we can drive into the city together.” She tells me.

  “Let me know what time you’ll be home, and we can go get something for dinner, or are we going to Mom and Dad’s?” I ask, as I slip on my crocs.

  “I’ll let you know. Joshua will be at the training.” I smile. It all makes sense now. “Don’t say it. It’s the only time we can be normal without our parents and everyone watching us. We can actually hold hands.” I roll my eyes. I hate how she feels so weird about her dating her fiancé. “Please don’t.”

  “I’m not going to say anything. You’re the older sister and know what’s best for your relationship. I just wish you didn’t have to feel like you’re sneaking around about it. Tell Joshua hello. If it makes you feel better, he’s welcome here, and I’ll be in my bedroom, so you two can have some time together, too.” She squeals and comes over to hug me.

  “We won’t be having sex, but maybe, some g-rated making out.” She giggles like a teenager.

  I walk out of my apartment, shaking my head. It’s so weird how relationships are different between Ruth and me.

  “Oh, young love, right Annie?” I chuckle at her, as we walk down the stairs. There’s a chill in the air, which means that the fall season is coming fast. “Brrr, it looks like we’re going to be making some stew and soups this weekend, depending on how things are this afternoon, but I do know apple cider is going to be bought and made.”

  Annie ignores me completely, as she walks round, sniffing the ground. We make it the grassy area behind the building, where the owner dubbed for the pets, as long as we clean up after them, or he’ll start adding a tax onto our rent. I unhook Annie, so she can run through the grass for a little bit. I shiver, as I pull my phone out, seeing an email from Zack.

  Ella, is that you? It’s been so long, since you’ve messaged me.

  Oh, this man and his sarcastic remarks.

  I didn’t mean to come across as an ass about Alec and his pictures. I get protective over him, especially when meeting someone like this and giving them
my address. I don’t know why I didn’t think about that before. People could just show up at my house anytime. I need to talk to Kelly’s pastor about sending him the care packages from now on. I’m not worried about you because you understand my old soul.

  I can’t believe we live less than a few hours away from each other. I promise not to stalk you, unless you’re okay with that.

  I laugh out loud, making Annie growl.

  I’m no superhero, but the first few days, are getting used to the time zone change, being a civilian, and most importantly, being a dad. Alec lets me get used to sleeping, but I get to cook for him and take him to school and band practice. It’s always nice to feel like a dad again.

  When I’m on missions, my priority has to be my teammates, because one false move would kill one of us. It can get pretty scary.

  A chill goes up my spine, thinking about these guys and what they go through.

  I couldn’t ask for a better career. I get to save lives, as well as be someone my son can be proud of. It does get lonely, but there’s a new bright spot, and it’s not even been twenty-four hours, since she sent me an email.

  Well, they’re calling for my flight. I will talk to you, when I land in the states. I’m not sure when that will be, but before I go, it’s my turn for questions. How did you get into the graphic design business and not follow in being a pastor? If you love photography so much, then why are you not doing that? This Mr. Richmond, do you think that I could take him, if I asked you out on a date in the future, if you are single?

  I’m assuming you’re single, since you said that you had only been in two relationships before, and not that you were in one. Also, what do you want out of life? I told you, and now, it’s your turn. Talk to you soon. Sweet dreams, and I hope you have a good day at work. It’s going to be a long day of travel. So long for now from a very cranky traveler.