* * * Then * * *
No way out of it. I detailed the ‘Vette, and put protective tarps in the minuscule trunk. The original seats were still in storage, and I had the reupholstered cloth seats installed, so I wasn’t too worried if we had wet bathing suits. I wore surfing shorts and a garish Hawaiian shirt, a going away gift from ‘A’amakualenalena, my uke instructor.
At 11:55 I was parked outside the address of the apartment Sue had given me. She walked out with a large foil tray in her hands just about the time I was going to head up to the door. I opened the trunk and helped her put the potato salad down, turned around and found myself in her arms. She gave me a quick kiss.
“There, that’s out of the way. You won’t be too nervous giving me a good-night kiss when you drop me off. First date, you know, so a kiss is all you’re getting, but I can promise you it’ll be a good one.” She gave me a wink, and climbed into the passenger seat.
I was stunned. I had no idea how to handle someone like Sue. I closed the trunk, and got in the car.
“How old are you?” she asked, as I started up the big 427.
“Twenty-six.”
“Really? How do you have such cool toys?”
“Careful with my money.”
“You have a lot don’t you?”
I wasn’t real comfortable with the direction of the conversation. “Enough.”
She leaned back, shaking her hair out. “I bet.”
The Gods had blessed us with a beautiful day, and I had to admit, I enjoyed the feeling of driving the ‘Shark’ through the streets, top down, with a gorgeous girl sitting beside me. We turned a lot of heads.
“Damn, I look good in this car,” Sue laughed. “I should be pissed at you for making me wait this long for a ride.”
“Sorry,” I said, with no idea what kind of response that required.
“No problem, handsome. I’ll let you make it up to me.” She turned in the seat. “I’m a one man girl, mister. So when all those other sluts start trying to dig their claws in, you remember, you came with me, and you’re going home with me. Got it?”
“Other sluts?”
She blushed. “You know exactly what I mean. I know how you guys operate. Not with me, understand? No playing around on the side. I won’t put up with it.”
“No playing around?” Every time she opened her mouth, it left me in a deeper quandary.
“None. Of course you’re going to flirt and shit. I can hardly stop that, now that you’re out in public. But that’s all. You so much as grope one girl, and that’ll be the last time you see any of this,” she said, opening her bathing cover, and showing me her exquisite bikini clad body.
She giggled. “Eyes on the road, Mystery. Let’s get there in one piece. We have an understanding, right?”
“Right.” I guess. I think.
She was a lamprey. We got to the outdoor party, about 30 people from the building were there with friends and spouses. From the moment I dropped off her potato salad, she was clinging to my arm, and parading me around like some visiting celebrity. I only knew maybe half-a-dozen of them by name, but was quickly introduced to everyone. Someone stuck a beer in my hand, and when it was empty, it was replaced. I had no idea what the hell was going on.
I met the ‘girls’ and Sue took over. “We had options, of course, but hey, how fun would it really be without y’all?” she was explaining.
“Options?” I asked, still thoroughly confused.
She pulled my head down, and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Don’t be that way,” she pouted. “Next time we’ll hang with your crowd. You know I already told them we’d be coming.”
“Next time?”
“Yes. I promise. I’ll make it up to you.” She was mugging for her friends and they giggled.
“Spill, Mystery. What did you really do overseas? And no more of that BS about being on a chunk of ice in the Antarctic,” the giggly red-head asked.
Sue jumped in. “Spec Ops, Erin. You know better.”
Shit. I worked in the Special Operations building. They must think I’m part of that crowd. Truth is, I had no idea what those guys did, although working on their computer systems, I guess I had the clearances to find out if I wanted. I really had never thought about it. I guess it was a lot like the scientists. I did my job, they did theirs.
Working with the JSOU, we always had Green Berets, SEALs and other Special Operations Force guys coming in for training. I dealt with a lot of the teleconferencing and training infrastructure. That must be part of the confusion.
“How’d you get that scar?” the tall blonde asked, stepping forward and running her finger across my forehead. I felt Sue’s grip on my arm tightening.
“Fell down,” I explained. I didn’t want to go into the details of wearing the wrong boots for climbing an icy ladder.
The girls giggled. “Sure. Fell down. I wonder how many guys died for you to walk away from that ‘fall’.” Marie, a diminutive brunette asked.
The blonde had moved even closer. I could smell her coconut tanning lotion. She ran her hand over my arm, fingering one of the uglier scars I’d earned spinning knives for fun. Warning to anyone smart enough to listen: Don’t use sharp kitchen butcher blades while trying anything new. Forty six stitches.
“I bet there’s a hell of story behind this,” she said sultrily, looking up into my eyes from about a foot away.
“Don’t play with sharp knives,” I said. Earning more giggles from the peanut gallery.
“Heather…” Sue said, her voice tense.
The blonde wasn’t backing off, and I swear Sue was cutting off the circulation to my left arm. “I bet you’re good with a knife,” Heather said.
Truth was, I wasn’t bad. I pulled out my balisong, and started in with some basic twirls, then a zen rollover into a cherry-picker finishing with a trebuchet. “I’m Ok. Master Keno always gave me grief for putting style over substance.”
The girls had all stepped back a few steps, including the blonde. They were staring at me like I’d grown a third eye. “What?”
“Do you always carry knives? Even on the beach?” Erin asked.
“Pretty much,” I said.
Sue stepped in. “Geez, Erin! You expect a guy like Mystery to ever be unarmed?”
Erin shook her head. “I… I guess not.”