Volition: Noah & Tessa's Story Book One (A Uniform & Lace Romance)

by Tina Maurine

  “Have you checked out on the flight line? I know some birds were getting back. Maybe she’s out recovering them?” He smiled as though considering what I said when our bud Lucas showed up.

  “Get my egg sandwich?” he asked Ace, but I already knew he hadn’t, so I threw on a slab of ham and cracked an egg for Lucas’s order.

  “Yup, it is almost ready.” I winked at Ace.

  The breakfast crowd completely tapered off by 1000, and then it was time for a little break before lunch. Since I’d taken the orders, cooked them, and run the register—efficiently by myself—I’d earned a 30 minute break before I had to be back for the lunch crowd.

  I headed out to my secret chill spot; the Line Shack. I say secret, because only a few of us were actually privy to what happened out in the Line.

  I walked into the Line and Sammie, wearing her yellow Line vest, greeted me with her usual, “What’s up, hooka?”

  I sarcastically stuck my tongue out as I plopped down on the green vinyl couch opposite the chair she was spinning side to side in. She and the line shack runt who was saddled with training her were the only ones there. I guess the others were hanging out in their respective future shops. That or the Geedunk.

  “So, you gonna tell me what your and Noah’s status is? I mean, where exactly do you stand?”

  I looked over at the young airman. He must have been eighteen or nineteen but looked more like fourteen with his high and tight haircut, and acne. He was busy playing the air drums to whatever CD was in the player, so I doubted he was listening. Even still, I lowered my voice and said, “Okay Sam, so what EXACLY are you wondering, since you keep bringing it up?”

  She rolled her beat-up, dilapidated office chair right in front of me on the couch. “So, you guys did do it, didn’t you? You have to tell me… I bet he was good as fuck, huh?”

  I just smiled back knowingly.

  “I knew it!”

  “Shh… we didn’t do IT, but I did let him slide in me for just a sec, so I could feel him.”

  She made the strangest face at me, “Uh, hoss… you do know THAT is considered fucking, right?”

  “Well, technically, but not really since he pulled out before he came. I mean, yeah, I know, I know… but if we ever get the chance to actually do it, I intend for him to be in longer than for just the one pump I allowed him. Ya know what I mean?” I gave Sammie my ‘serious’ eyes.

  “Well, if you want my opinion…” Our eyes shot over to the airman in the corner, who wasn’t supposed to be listening, and answered in unison, “We don’t!”

  Sam, the airman and I laughed.

  “Maintenance to Line, come in,” the Maintenance Chief crackled over the radio.

  “Rodger Maintenance, it’s a go from Line Shack one.” Sammie silently busted up, she loved this radio shit.

  “We have bird 610 ready for recovery.” He was calling out for a Line Captain to recover the P-3 that had already hit the deck.

  “Rodger bird 610 ready for recovery. Where do you want to park her?”

  I could hear some back and forth discussion over the radio in the maintenance office while they discussed the best place to pull her into. “Take spot A-04.”

  “Rodger parking pig 610 on spot A-04.”

  The radio com went dead and the airman, acting as captain and training Sam ran out the door first with his wands. Sammie grabbed her cranial and wands and quickly followed suit.

  Typical. When a call comes in, they have to fucking hustle, since they have fewer than sixty seconds to be geared up, out the door and beating pavement. They have to get in place to recover the birds as they taxi into their spots.

  Since their departure emptied the Line Shack, I made my way back to the ‘Dunk’ before my 30 minute break ended. Still fighting the emotional hangover from the weekend, compounded by the lack of sleep, suddenly, I just felt… drained. I didn’t want to deal with the lunch crowd; I didn’t have the energy for keeping a fake smile on my face and making meaningless conversation with each new order.

  “Petty Officer Rodriguez, I feel kinda shitty this morning. Headache, you know.” I looked at her with half-lidded eyes and tightened my lips, imitating hangover nausea. “Can I go lie down in my shop for a bit?”

  Thankfully, in spite of Roz’s reputation as a hard-ass, she and I generally hit it off. She gave me a good once over, “Christy, make yourself scarce. If Chief sees you, he’ll wonder why you aren’t at your assignment, and I’ll have to tell him I don’t know where you went off to… so either suck it up and do your job or take my one get out of jail free card and hide in your shop for the day. I’m serious. Scoot.”

  If we hadn’t been at work, and if she wasn’t the epitome of a warden at a women’s correction facility in the States, I would’ve hugged her. Truly. “Thanks, Petty Officer Roz.”

  “Go. I’ll tell your shipmates that you have a migraine. Don’t make me regret this.”

  I high-tailed it out of there, my head really beginning to hurt, and found my way to the AE shop. When I walked in, Stu was just carrying his toolbox in from a repair.

  “Hey, Stuie, what’s up?”

  “Two birds down for us; one for power supply, the other main wheel well landing gear.”

  “Bummer. No wonder everyone’s out. Where’s Ari?”

  “Signing off on the four-hour wire bundle repair I just made in the ‘closet’ of bird 36.”

  I nodded, understanding that Stu was probably in no mood to visit with me after having been in the confined space. Even someone small like me had to stand sideways, completely straight, or risk a substantial 12 volt DC shock from touching the walls of wiring on either side. The last time that I went on that repair, I came out drenched in sweat.

  I sat down on the red vinyl couch, and Stu plopped down next to me, tossed his ear protection onto an unoccupied chair across from us and put his feet up on the tool box he’d just carried in. His head hit the back of the couch and his eyes closed as he reached over and patted my leg.

  “I heard you had a pretty rough weekend.”

  “Oh?”

  Shit, I had no idea news traveled so fast.

  “Yeah, I can’t remember if it was Ari who heard it from AD2, or if it was from Airman Anders…”

  My ears perked when I heard Sammie’s name. I’m so gonna kill her…

  “…but I heard you and that security guy Garren rode one hell of a rollercoaster this weekend.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but he continued. “Which, I have to say, was quite a surprise to me. You guys seemed pretty damn chummy to me… hell, to everyone at the Lagoon on Friday.”

  “Well shit, Stu. You know how that goes. Speaking of, what happened to your wild and crazy night with the college girls? You know, the ones that were what? Seventeen?” I started laughing, and he leaned over and pretended to kidney punch me.

  AE1 Dunnmoth and my Division Officer, Lieutenant Kupps walked in at that instant. “Petty Officer Towers? Get out on bird 218 and help Petty Officer Cai.”

  “Sure thing, LT.” Stu rolled his eyes at me, grabbed his box and headed back out into the hangar.

  “So, Petty Officer Christy,” …AE1 Dunnmoth paused, hanging my name out there flapping in the wind, while he kicked back in the old office chair and threw his feet up on the desk. Lt. Kupps casually took a seat beside his feet. “Seems your name has come up quite a bit as of late. Anything you care to discuss or share with us, just shipmate to shipmate? I can’t speak for LT,” he nodded to where he was sitting, “but I promise not to pull the ol’ supervisor card on ‘ya.”

  Lt. Kupps shifted so he faced me more directly, “Tim’s right, this is not us coming to you as your superiors, but rather as friends—so this time you don’t need to worry about what you tell us. It’s behind closed doors, so to speak.”

  I shifted uncomfortably on the couch. If I had known getting away from the Geedunk would turn into an interrogation, I wouldn’t have even tried to take off. It really sucked, because this was my ONE ge
t out of jail free card, and now my shop supervisors were raking me over the coals.

  “Petty Officer Dunnmoth,” I began.

  “Tim is fine for now,” he interrupted me.

  “Okay, Tim,” I said, nervously glancing at LT, “I’m not too sure what you’ve heard, but I met Petty Officer Garren from base security Thursday dancing at the club. Ari, I mean Petty Officer Benson, invited Airman Anders and me on a day trip to the Blue Lagoon Friday morning, and Petty Officer Garren also came along. Long story short, everyone but Towers and Benson spent our three day weekend together off base,” I paused, fearful that I may have let too much slip since I knew we weren’t authorized overnight off-base trips.

  “Petty Officer Christy,”

  I interrupted him, “Tessa please, Sir.”

  LT nodded, “Tessa, please—consider us friends—there’s no need to be concerned about repercussions from this lack of judgement, just don’t let me find out if you take another overnighter,” he smiled and motioned for me to continue.

  “Sir, AE1, with regards to Garren, I cannot even tell you what’s going on. Honestly, I’m surprised you’re asking me about it, ‘cause parts of it were fine; parts were great; and some parts of the weekend were really fucked up, but I cannot figure how it would make news back here at the squadron.”

  Tim gently rocked back and forth with his feet propped up. It seemed like forever until he addressed me. “Well. Hmmm, not too sure either why we’ve heard about it, but it would seem some of your fellow shop shipmates are concerned about the choices you are making. Not saying they’re right or wrong, but something you should know—everyone makes everyone else their business on deployment.”

  Lieutenant interrupted, “Tessa, you want to make sure that when you make squadron ‘news’ it’s in the best possible light, if you catch my drift.”

  “Petty Officer Dunnmoth,” I lowered my voice and looked into LT’s mismatched eyes, “I didn’t even fuck anyone. I really can’t figure why it’s anyone’s business anyhow.”

  LT shifted his position on the desk and continued to eyeball me, his mismatched eyes unnerving me, “It’s not, but you’re a young, attractive girl who is new to the squadron. To put it delicately, lots of eager eyes are on you, Christy. Lots of speculation surrounds you.”

  “Yes, “AE1 chimed in, “and I’m just saying, as a friend, and if you were my daughter I’d give you the same advice, watch your Ps and Qs. Take that as you will. It is not actually my place to tell you what to do, and if you file a grievance,” he glanced up at our Division Officer who nodded in agreement, “we’ll both deny this conversation happened. You don’t have a lot of friends here, and you needed to hear some sound advice from someone who’s not trying to get into your pants. Understood?”

  I nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

  “Don’t address me as sir; I work for a living.” With that, he stood up, grabbed his mug and left.

  My eyes followed Dunnmoth as he left the shop, then returned to look at LT. I’d seen him around plenty of times but hadn’t noticed how striking he looked—I mean for a superior officer that is. I’d never even allowed myself to be intrigued by anyone in a paygrade that far from mine, and I didn’t intend to start now… although it was altogether unsettling how he just sat there staring at me.

  “Sir.”

  He stood up from his perch and took the two lithe strides to reach me. “Call me Tad.”

  It was my turn to eyeball him. I narrowed my eyes and cocked my right eyebrow, gunning him down with my piercing, emerald green eyes. “Sir. Thank you for your sound advice. I will take it into consideration, Sir.”

  I could’ve sworn I saw the corners of his mouth curve up the minutest amount before he headed towards the door. Stopping just short of it he turned, “Petty Officer Christy…”

  “Lieutenant Kupps?”

  “I look forward to seeing what you can do on this deployment—seeing what you’re made of.” With that, he turned back to the door, opened it and was gone.

  I breathed a sigh of relief… What the fuck was that about?

  Before the front door of the shop had closed behind Lieutenant Kupps, the hangar door opened. As luck would have it, Petty Officer Simone Cai, aka ‘Bitch-Lady’ sauntered in… talk about a revolving door!

  “Don’t you have work you should be doing?” Cai eyed me haughtily.

  “I’m doing it, holding this couch down,” I answered smugly before I laid my head back and closed my eyes.

  “Don’t get too comfortable, sweetheart. If I were you, I’d be doing damage control. Your reputation is going up in flames.”

  Fucking Bitch. Just fuck off. “Really? Hmm…What’s that saying? Oh yeah! Isn’t this the pot calling the kettle black? Maybe you should open your ears to what’s being said about you, Petty Officer Cai.” I held my ‘snark’ in check. In fact, I oozed syrupy sweetness, just so she couldn’t file a complaint about how I’d addressed her. She was, after all, a paygrade above me and could claim insubordination if she really wanted to push the envelope. Before she could answer, AE2 Ari Benson walked in from the hangar.

  “Hey, Christy! Taking a break?” He sat down next to me and patted my thigh. I opened my eyes, smiled wearily at him and motioned at Cai with my head, giving him an exaggerated roll of my eyes.

  “Ah, Tessa, you crack me up.”

  “Petty Officer Christy,” Cai addressed me, dripping with syrupy goo; she was always less of a cunt when others were around. “I’m sure your supervisor from the Geedunk is probably looking for you, since it’s about lunch time.”

  “Thanks, Cai, but she’s released me for the day to the shop under Benson’s supervision, so I can have him sign off some of my training cards.” I looked at Ari. It was total bullshit, but that bitch needed to step off my shit. She got the hint and slammed out into the hangar.

  “Tessa, you don’t want to make an enemy out of her. She can, well, to put it nicely…”

  Before he could continue I cut in, “Ari, there is no way to put it nicely. She’s a bitch and is on a witch hunt directed squarely at yours truly.”

  He smiled. “Yup, pretty much where I was headed with that.” We both laughed.

  Ari and I sat in the shop for only twenty minutes or so before the shop started to fill up with AEs and ATs for lunch.

  “Hey Stu, bring me some of that over will ya,” Ari motioned over to the crock pot of nacho cheese and salsa goo that had been warming for the last ten minutes or so.

  “Sure thing; so, after lunch, what do we have planned?” Stu asked while dishing up a heaping pile of nachos for Ari and himself. Ari shrugged. “Tessa, want some?”

  “Nah, I just called out to the Line Shack. Sammie mentioned she has a huge order out there and needs me to help her chow it down.”

  Just then, the hangar door slammed open and the floodgates opened. AEs and the ATs who shared our shop crowded in, dumping their tool boxes and hearing protection, and stacking their parkas in a huge pile off in a corner. The many who took off through the squadron door towards the Geedunk flooded back in with their food. Pretty soon it got way too crowded for me; uncomfortably so, since I barely knew anyone on this shift except Stu, Dunnmoth and Ari.

  I leaned over close, “Ari, it’s gotten crazy crowded. I’m outta here.” I accidentally brushed Ari’s ear with my lips. He spun his head and those eyes, those damn green eyes of his… looked at me in surprise, warmly questioning. They pulled deeply at my heart.

  Jeezus, why’d I have to fall for a guy like Noah with all of his bullshit baggage? Ari’s so damn sweet.

  I patted his leg and mouthed “Sorry.”

  He nodded slightly before quickly looking away and pulling his leg from under my hand. There’s my cue. I tossed out my goodbyes to the shop and received a few from those who weren’t stuffing their faces, before heading out the heavy hangar door.

  On the way to the flight line, I couldn’t get Cai and the conversation Ari and I had just had out of my head. It didn’t help that I swear I s
aw her throw me the finger as I passed her on my way out there.

  I threw the door to the Line Shack open, “Oh my fucking word! I cannot believe what a roaring bitch she is!” Several pairs of eyes, including Sammie’s, turned and focused on me. I marched over to where Sammie sat and hopped up on the desk, planting my ass on the large desk-calendar and dived in for a loaded nacho chip.

  “Her again?”

  I just nodded, appreciating her discretion. I hadn’t really even considered if the shack would be full.

  “Just let it go. Pretty much everyone knows it. The only reason some don’t agree right now is ‘cause she’s blowing them, but they will soon enough.” Sammie winked and held out the plate of nachos for me to have another.

  “Oooh, this sounds juicy!” Airman Butler, ‘NayNay’, as we called her, was another squadron ho. In fact, she probably took lessons from Petty Officer Cai. She checked in right before me but had already left a line of married men in her wake. Trash like her was the reason I didn’t use names in the shack, that way nobody could say I said shit. Loose lips like hers sank ships.

  “Trust me, Butler, it’s never as exciting as it sounds. It’s just the same old fucking drama.” I smiled at her, faking sincerity. The last thing I wanted was more bitches like AE2 Simone Cai gunning for me.

  “Bummer, and here I thought the afternoon was looking up!’ She shone her pearly white, bleached teeth at me and tossed her bottle blonde, shoulder length bob. She was maybe 4’10” with at least a ‘C’ rack. Guys thought she was cute, and I mean I guess I could see that. However, her whole better-than-me attitude made me look at her more like an obnoxious little hobbit, what with her stocky build and piggish, upturned nose. But who was I to judge?

  The afternoon dragged on. Several birds were down, and those needing repairs had been bumped from both the flight and wash schedules. The Line Shack basically had a vacation day. Sammie was out with her plane captain, working on getting her fuel tests signed off, but other than that, everyone just sat around. Kids in the shack played cards, some were dancing—albeit more jokingly than seriously—and two Linemen slept against the back wall where the vests and ear-protection hung.