I didn’t acknowledge his remark. I was feeling proud of myself for being this forward.
Gwen curled her lips and tilted her head. “It’s a long story.”
“Maybe you’ll tell me it tonight,” I said, “at the Waterfront Grill.”
“Maybe.”
We chatted some more. Gwen told us about her friends she was going to set us up with. I pretended to be interested. But I didn’t want to be set up with anyone. I had fallen for her. She was the one I wanted; no one else.
We walked back to the base. Manny was gloating, feeling like a rock star for having scored a date with Gwen—even though it wasn’t really a date. We didn’t discourage him. Frankly, I was impressed. Also, I was excited. In my mind, I was the one who had a date with Gwen later that night.
“We have to invite the others,” said Santiago.
“Especially Axel,” I said.
Manny chuckled. “She thinks she’s going to meet three Marines and we show up with nine.”
“You should have got her number,” said Santiago.
“No worries,” said Manny. “All in due time.”
I was excited for the date—even if it wasn’t technically a date. But I was also nervous. I wasn’t nervous about how it would go, if Gwen and I would get along or anything like that. I was nervous about how Axel would react. I knew he was on duty tonight and he wouldn’t be able to go with us. He was definitely going to feel bad for missing out. And even though he’d wished me good luck, he suggested he would be OK sharing, somehow I didn’t believe him.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” I said under my breath.
Manny punched me on the arm. “Why would you say that? Tonight’s going to be great.”
“We’ll see,” I said.
Manny pointed to me and addressed Santiago. “Can you believe this guy?”
“It’ll be fine,” Santiago said to me. “Girls don’t bite, unless you’re into that sort of thing.” He and Manny laughed.
“But girls do get in between friends,” I said.
The mood quickly turned somber.
“Not these friends,” said Santiago. He put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed.
I looked him in the eye. I believed him. But still, I was worried about Axel.
I found Axel at the mess hall later that evening. I was dressed for my date—our date that wasn’t a date.
“Care to join me?” said Axel.
I shook my head. “I can’t stay.”
“Going to the Marina with Gwen and her friends?” he said.
“So, you’ve heard?”
He nodded. “Too bad I can’t go. Maybe next time.”
He didn’t look or sound upset. “Yeah, maybe,” I said.
He looked at me and smiled. “Have a good time.”
Either Axel was a much better actor than I’d suspected, or he truly wasn’t bothered by the fact that we were going out with Gwen and he wasn’t. I was impressed. I tried to think how I would have reacted if I were in his shoes. I told myself that I, too, wouldn’t have been bothered. But it was easy enough for me to think that. Harder to know if it was true.
Though we’d invited the others, ultimately it was just Santiago, Manny and I who went to the Waterfront Grill. Gwen brought two friends: her roommate Holly and a girl I recognized from The Bean Counter, Christy.
Santiago was in rare form. Everything he said and did was hilarious. Manny played the straight man opposite him quite well. Together they made a great team. I was left a bit off to the side, but that suited me just fine. Unfortunately, for much of the evening, Gwen kept her distance. She sat between her two friends. I sat between Christy and Santiago.
The table next to ours were celebrating an engagement. It didn’t take long for us to be absorbed in their celebration, and our party of six turned into a party of eighteen.
There was no intimacy in the evening, but that worked out just fine. I felt good and relaxed just being in Gwen’s presence. I was in no hurry. ‘All in due time,’ as Manny was fond of saying. ‘All in due time.’
4
Gwen
What a difference one date makes!—even though it wasn’t a date. I didn’t hook up; I didn’t fall head over heels in love. But I did go out with, not with one guy but with four! And both Christy and Holly came with me, so I was also able to show them that I wasn’t quite the stuffy, stay-at-home anti-social person they always insinuated I was.
The next day, at the cafe, I had an extra spring in my step. I was even humming while I baked!
“Well, aren’t you cheerful today,” said Christy.
“What can I say? I love my job.”
Christy smirked. “And it has nothing to do with the fact that four hot guys were drooling all over you last night?”
“I don’t know what you could possibly be talking about.” I said with a knowing grin.
Christy frowned and shook her head. She started toward the door.
“What?” I said.
She stopped at the threshold and turned to me. “I can’t believe you didn’t take one of them home.”
“They’re not puppies,” I said.
“You wouldn’t know that from the puppy-dog eyes they were making at you.” She shook her head. “Such a waste of good meat.”
I smirked. “I told you: I’m not dating.”
“Who said anything about dating?” She turned and walked out of the kitchen.
Truth be told, when I got home after the ‘date’, I did regret going to bed alone. It would have been nice to be held in those muscular arms, to have my inhibitions and hesitations cast off of me, if only for one night. But I’d stayed guarded, regrettably so.
It was in that confused state of mind that I prepared a tray of muffins and walked out to the front of the house.
“Hello, Gwen.”
A tall man with blond hair cut high and tight military style, wearing a tight T-shirt that hugged his bulging muscles greeted me with a smile. He knew my name, but I didn’t recognize him. I stared blankly at him, perhaps longer than I should have, until I finally got a grip and replied meekly, “Hello.”
“My name’s Taylor,” he said. “Taylor Montrose.” He stuck out his hand. “I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.”
I turned in half circles looking for a space to set down the tray I was holding. Jenny came to my aid and took it from me. I shook his hand. “Hello, Taylor. What can I do for you?”
He held on to my hand, not too firmly, but firm enough, as if he wasn’t going to let go just yet. His ocean-blue eyes locked on me and fixed me as strongly as did his hand. He smiled in a slightly mischievous way and said, “More than I deserve, I’m sure.”
I did not understand him. My confusion must have shown on my face because he laughed. Lightly, at first, but then I joined in, and we both stood there laughing and holding hands.
Finally he let go. I left my hand suspended in the air, thinking perhaps he would take it again. “I have to say,” he said. “my friends were not exaggerating.”