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They decided to spend the rest of the weekend together and made a brief stop to the Navy base so she could grab some clothes. She was so much like him in personality that it was scary. But they were really enjoying each other’s company in a weird non-sexual way. Tony loved women, but other than co-workers he couldn’t ever remember having a female friend before, but yet he sensed that that was what Isabel was fast becoming.
She had confided in him over Mexican food and margarita’s that she didn’t have many close friends. There were her shipmates and her fellow pilots but they were just buddies to her, not really friends. And it was her doing not theirs; she didn’t want people to get close to her. And after her third margarita he found out why when she told him about Jason.
She and Jason had been high school sweethearts and best friends, inseparable. They had both grown up at the airfield and shared the addiction to flying, but while she flew planes, his passion was helicopters. They silently got engaged the summer after high school and she was soon off to Annapolis. Jason enlisted and was soon flying helos for the Marines, his natural skill shining through. They didn’t see each other often those four years but letters and phone calls kept their connection strong. And within weeks of her graduating they were married in a small ceremony. Dealing with two different deployments was often difficult but their marriage was happy. They had been married almost five years and had just started talking about starting a family when the situation in Kosovo came to a head and they both found themselves deployed as part of the NATO forces.
Her voice grew very quiet as she told Tony about the horrific day that she had been called into her CO’s office and was told that Jason had died on a mission. The details of the mission were classified and sealed and she never knew what really happened to him. She had taken him home and buried him in the small town they grew up in and accepted his folded flag and Silver Star and tried not to think about a future without him. She had known him her whole life and been in love with him for more than half of it.
“So after that I just buried myself in my work and flying and learned not to get too close to people. Pure self-defense mechanism.” She gave him a wane smile as she accepted a fresh margarita from their waiter.
“God, Isabel. I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry seems a little trite.”
She shrugged, “He was a solider, I’m a soldier. He knew the risks. Just like I know the risk every single time I climb into the cockpit. Something could go wrong, the mission could go to hell, or I could meet up with a bogey that’s better than me. Although…” she wagged her eyebrows and smirked, “those are few and far between.”
He smiled gently at her little joke, but said, “It sounds lonely.”
“It has its moments. So now that I’ve shared my sob story, what’s yours?”
The look on her face let him know that he wasn’t going to get away with not sharing so he told her what he could about Jeanne and the whole disastrous situation.
“So you haven’t heard from her since she left?” Isabel asked gently.
“No.” He fidgeted with his margarita glass nervously, deciding to tell her the important part. “She left me a note, saying she wasn’t coming back and that I had to make a choice. So I did. And here I am.” He toasted her with his glass.
“Aren’t we a pair?” she teased lightly as she clinked her glass to his.
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She crashed on his couch and the next morning they went for a run in the morning sun. Swinging by the park they joined in a pickup basketball game and he found out that she was very competitive and always played to win. She could also trash talk better than a lot of the guys but her mouth never wrote checks her body couldn’t cash. They crashed in the grass after a couple of hours, sweaty, thirsty, and hungry. Isabel managed to say what Tony was thinking but couldn’t put into words, “This has been the best weekend I’ve had in I don’t know how long, Tony.”
“Yeah, it has been.” He answered with a grin.
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That weekend cemented the foundation of a wild and crazy friendship. They spent time together when they could and phone calls and email kept their bond strong. The weeks and months went by quickly in their busy lives and Tony got a call from her out of the blue one day.
“So I have some leave coming up, any chance you can take some time off and we can escape somewhere fun?”
“I could be convinced. What do you have in mind?” he teased, somehow knowing that she had a plan already.
“I’m thinking sun, sand, a killer night life, and no grey paint to be found anywhere. How’s Miami sound?”
“So when are we leaving again?” Isabel and Miami could be a deadly combination, but he would be willing to bet that he would never enjoy a vacation more. She played as hard as he did but yet there were no expectations between them. They just had fun. It was what they needed from each other most.
They talked and planned a bit more and later that night Tony had the airline tickets and hotel booked, and dropped the vacation request form off on Gibbs desk.
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Jack had his elbows on his desk and was pressing his temples roughly trying to get rid of what seemed to be the ever-present headache he had all the time. His administrative assistant knocked gently on the door and at his “enter” came in bearing a fresh coffee, a bottle of ibuprofen, and a stack of phone messages.
He accepted the first two gratefully and teased her, “Major Waverly, have I told you in the last hour how much I appreciate
you?”
The pretty major smiled and teased him back, “Yes sir, but it’s nice to hear anyway.”
He gestured to the stack of phone messages as he threw three pills in his mouth, “Anything important?”
“Two Senators, three Congressmen, one Joint Chief, and last but not least, one retired Air Force Colonel, Matthew Horton.”
Jack perked up at the name, “Horton called? Did he say what he wanted?” Horton had been a friend since Jack’s special op’s days and he hadn’t had a chance to catch up with him since he retired to Florida.
“He said something about turning an old flyboy into a sailor for a long weekend, sir.” Her eyes were flashing in humor as she relayed the message.
Jack had insisted that she be comfortable with him and their working relationship was very pleasant. Major Waverly was a bright young woman who in many ways reminded Jack of Sara and of Sam, very strong and independent with a wonderful sense of humor. Her husband was a former Marine that was disabled in Iraq and now worked for the Veteran’s Administration. They had met shortly after she accepted the posting as Jack’s assistant two years ago and had been married soon thereafter and she was now six months pregnant with their first child. As she turned to go back to her desk Jack realized he was going to miss her terribly when she went out on maternity leave in a couple of months. She helped to keep him out of trouble and somewhat sane here in Washington.
He took a big gulp of coffee and dialed Horton’s number.
When he burst out of his office after the phone call with his day planner in hand he was wearing a big grin on his face. He plunked the planner down on Waverly’s desk and pointed to a four day long weekend that he had boxed in red marker and told her that he was absolutely unavailable that weekend unless, you know, the fate of the universe hung in the balance or something.
He also had her book him a commercial flight to Miami where Horton would pick him up so they could spend the weekend deep sea fishing on Horton’s boat.
Major Waverly just shook her head and grinned at the sight of the two-star general practically skipping in glee back to his office.
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Tbc….feedback always appreciated!
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.