The Western Frontier.
It was an early summer afternoon, with the occasional cicada chirping around and a bit of vegetation lining the barren frontier, and the soldiers were running at an orderly pace in the direction of the mess hall.
It was Friday and there would be a little holiday in the afternoon, so Aurelio ran up and asked, “Master of the Court, we have the evening off, shall we go into town together?”
Eduardo Tercero looked at him with disgust in his tone, “What’s to be done with a big man like you.
“… This … big man can’t go out for a drink and eat together? Is it fun to eat with women?”
Eduardo Tercero sat on the fence, his two long legs stepping over the railing from underneath, his eyes watching the sunset and the sky in the distance.
Eduardo Tercero said casually, “Well, I’m waiting for a woman for dinner. For you, I’m not available.”
Aurelio mentally scorned, “No way, is that Claudio Belles going to fly tonight?”.
“What, you don’t believe me?”
“I’m afraid that woman is deceiving you in her feelings, Grand Seigneur.”
Eduardo Tercero was still looking at the sky, which was ablaze with a red haze, when suddenly a helicopter streaked across the sky.
Eduardo Tercero’s thin lips curved and he hopped down from the fence, reaching for the belt he had unbuckled from his waist and tapping it in his hand, raising his eyebrows slightly as he gestured for Aurelio to look up at the sky not too far away.
“There it is.”
“…”
Aurelio frowned suspiciously and twisted his head to see that a helicopter had indeed fucking arrived.
Eduardo Tercero walked past, and as he passed Aurelio he patted him on the shoulder, “Excuse me, you’ll find someone else for drinks on Friday.”
The look was smug and showy.
Aurelio growled: “You forget your duty! And thanks to me I saved your life.”
Eduardo Tercero slapped his belt against his palm the old-fashioned way and blurted out unceremoniously, “It’s your inability to save my life that’s killing me.”
“…”
Deh, it’s the boss, it’s the bully.
Aurelio shouted behind him, “It’s great to have a girlfriend!”.
Eduardo Tercero raised his hand and returned the gesture in a cloudy voice: “It’s not great at all, but a girlfriend flying on a plane to meet her boyfriend is great.”
The corner of Aurelio’s mouth twitched.
Aurelio looked toward the helicopter that was about to land not far away, and a grateful smile appeared in his eyes.
If she were an ordinary woman, she would not be able to fly alone to the western border to meet her boyfriend.
…
Claudio Belles, with his backpack over one shoulder, was getting off the helicopter when he saw the man waiting for her not far away.
The early summer breeze brushed his face.
Eduardo Tercero looks at his wristwatch and sees that it is ten past six.
The man looks at her with smiling eyes: “Just in time for dinner.”
Eduardo Tercero opens his arms wide as Claudio Belles approaches with his bag.
Claudio Belles smiles slightly and moves in for a hug, throwing herself into the arms of a boyfriend she hasn’t seen in days like a normal girl.
She rests her chin on his broad shoulder and jokes, “President Eduardo, you smell like sweat.”
It was the frontier after all, and besides, she hadn’t showered after a day of military practice, so it was only natural that she smelled like sweat.
“Don’t you like me?” Eduardo Tercero pushed her away slightly, with a soft look as he contemplated her.
Claudio Belles smiled and shook his head, pursing his red lips and hugging Eduardo Tercero again. “I’ve missed you, it’s true.”
With those words, Claudio Belles looked up and deposited a sloppy kiss on Eduardo Tercero’s thin, soft red-lipped lips.
Although the kiss parted quickly and was not prolonged, it was exceptionally warm and seductive, tickling the tip of his heart.
Claudio Belles was already moving forward with her bag, and Eduardo Tercero followed in her wake, taking her backpack straight from her shoulder.
The man carried her bags in one hand and encircled her waist with the other as he made his way to the bedroom.
“It was after one in the afternoon when I left, so I haven’t eaten, what are we having for dinner?”.
Eduardo Tercero’s dark eyes glared at her, a hint of mischief crossed his gaze, “How about we eat you first?”
“… I think it would be best to fill my stomach first and then think about my desires.”
A serious discussion about what to do first.
Edward the Third looked at his serious look and the smile on his forehead deepened, “You’ve come all this way to see me, of course I want to invite you to dinner.”
Claudio Belles raised an eyebrow, “A canteen feast?”.
“Am I that stingy?”
Claudius Belles scanned the desolate backwater around him, “What else is there to eat here?”.
Half an instant later, as if something occurred to him, Claudio Belles couldn’t resist remembering, “By the way, President Eduardo, I don’t eat grilled fish.”
Not that grilled fish wasn’t good, but for someone like her who was always doing missions and surviving in nature, the most she ate was grilled fish and shrimp, and now that she was out of that circle, for a short time, she really didn’t want to eat grilled fish anymore.
“Who said anything about grilling fish to eat it? The first time I grilled fish myself was to show you my handiwork, but a man who would do something like that for the second time must be pretty boring.”
“… President Eduardo you know a lot and seem experienced.”
A total veteran in relationships, Claudio Belles does not believe Eduardo Tercero when he says it is his first time in love.
Eduardo Tercero said, “Because you want to be taken seriously, so you get it.”
The woman looked at the side of his rigidly handsome face with a clear gaze and smiled slightly, “I wanted to kiss you again.”
“Why do you restrain yourself from such things?”.
Edward the Third tilted his head slightly and their lips pressed together, tightening.
Shadows crept as they snuggled against each other in the setting sun.
…
Eduardo Tercero drove Claudio Belles to town in his car.
In early summer, three or four tables were set up outside the bar, with customers sitting across from each other, engaging in conversation and eating.
As dusk fell and the sky darkened, the lights came on outside the bar.
Eduardo Tercero and Claudio Belles are seated at a table outside the bar.
The food, a mix of East and West, features the best lamb and beef dishes in the area, as well as other small stir-fries.
When the lamb skewers arrived, they were still raw and a grill plate was placed in the center of the table.
Eduardo Tercero was in charge of grilling the lamb and Claudio Belles was in charge of eating it.
“How did it taste?”
Claudio Belles commented sincerely, “It must have been lamb that had been made on the savannah, it’s chewy, with plenty of spices and not much smell, it’s delicious.”
Seeing that he had been helping her grill the skewers and hadn’t bothered to eat much, Claudio Belles picked one up and popped it into Eduardo Tercero’s mouth.
Without hesitation, Eduardo Tercero opened his mouth and ate the food she brought to his lips.
The intimate gesture came very naturally.
Claudio Belles hooked his lips, picked up the skewer he had eaten, passed it to his mouth and continued eating, darting every now and then towards Eduardo Tercero.
The owner’s wife was very welcoming and it was not the first time she had seen Eduardo Tercero, who often came to the restaurant with Aurelio for dinner on Friday nights.
When she saw Claudio Belles, she brightened and asked Eduardo Tercero with a smile, “Presidente Eduardo, is this your girlfriend?”
Eduardo Tercero nodded politely, “Yes, his name is Claudio, my girlfriend.”
“President Eduardo, your girlfriend is very pretty, bring her often for dinner in the future, I will give you a discount.”
Eduardo Tercero looked at Claudio Belles sitting across from him and smiled warmly, “Sure.”
The owner handed them two beers.
Claudio Belles was not a bad drinker, and it didn’t take long for him and Eduardo Tercero to fill up as they ate the skewers and drank the beer.
“Do they give you a discount for being handsome? How come I’ve never come across that before. As a general rule, if I’m that good-looking, don’t I get a bargain?”
Eduardo Tercero pondered, “Maybe if the owner was a man and you were eating alone, the bill wouldn’t be charged.”
Claudio Belles rested his chin, frowned and asked Eduardo Tercero seriously, “But I don’t look like a man to be trifled with, I’m not the nice type despite my good looks.”
If she was nice …, Dulcina Calvo was the nicest of all the girls he knew, with her sweet looks and soft, quirky personality.
It was clear that she was not the kind of girl that strangers would want to approach as soon as they saw her.
Eduardo Tercero was amused at how serious she seemed, and how he hadn’t realized before that his Claudio could be so cute and clueless.
“My grandmother would love you.”