Zach the Captain

by Anna Joung

  Goddamn, that’s fucking adorable, I thought. I looked away and kept my eyes on the road while I answered.

  “Yes, we have,” I said through clenched teeth. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, willing myself to calm down. I needed to control myself or I might jump her. She’s so fucking adorable even when drunk that it was killing me.

  “Oh, I remember now! You’re the Rum and Coke guy!” she exclaimed.

  “What?” I asked, not getting it.

  “Rum and Coke. That’s what I spilled on your pants,” she elaborated, her eyes looking a little sleepy. I nodded in understanding, hoping she’d give up talking and fall asleep. We were nearing her apartment building now.

  “You’re so handsome,” she complimented.

  “Thank you,” I replied.

  “Too bad you’re a douche.”

  “…”

  “Nice to look at though.”

  “Please stop talking,” I begged, parking in front of her building. I unfastened my seatbelt and moved over to take hers off.

  “Yeah, you’re right. We should stop talking.”

  She put her hands on my face and pulled me toward hers, her mouth wrapping around mine in a hot, steamy kiss that made me lose my breath and set my loins on fire. I couldn’t help but close my eyes and kiss her back, burying my fingers in her hair as I angled her head so I could kiss her better, plunging my tongue inside her mouth and tasting her moan.

  I snapped out of it and back off, breathing heavily. There was a tiny bit of drool glistening in her mouth as she stared at me with hooded eyes and half-open mouth.

  “I can’t do this right now,” I told her adamantly. She just stared at me for a moment before collapsing back on her seat with a sigh.

  “You really are an asshole,” she mumbled.

  I took a few minutes to calm myself down and she had finally fallen asleep. I carried her in my arms and then placed her in her bed, cleaning her up a bit and then leaving a note plus my ID and phone number there before I got out, locking everything behind me.

  Holy shit. That was…unlike anything, I’ve ever experienced before.

  ***

  My first agenda the next day was to beat the crap out of my brother. Actually, scratch that. This wasn’t the Army anymore. I couldn’t use my dirty tactics anymore in order to make someone talk. I guess I’m going to have to threaten him in another way.

  I didn’t bother knocking on the door and I saw him sitting cross-legged on top of his bed, mashing his thumbs on his Nintendo Switch furiously, not even bothering to look up from the screen.

  I saw the suit he wore last night on the floor and I recalled everything he said to Emily, filling me up with a range. Without further ado, I slapped that little console out of his hands before picking him up by his collar, slamming him against the wall.

  “Hey, what the fuck are you doing?” he cried.

  “What the hell were you thinking last night?” I bellowed.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked, trying to pry himself out of my grasp, but I only squeezed harder.

  “You! I was there watching you on your date!” I hissed. “Why in the fuck would you say those things?”

  “What do you care? She’s not your date! Besides, you’ve done the same trick before. Girls like it when you’re an asshole to them!”

  I saw red and punched him in the kisser, forcing him to slide down on the wall.

  “I may be a huge asshole, but I would never talk about a woman like that,” I sneered. “What’s happened to you? You’re not the brother I remember.”

  He stood up slowly and used his knuckle to wipe the blood from his mouth before fixing me with an icy glare.

  “I’m not the same person I was ten years ago, Zach, so stop pretending like you know me,” he said coldly.

  I fixed him with a shocked and disappointed glare before storming off, my heart feeling all sorts of conflict for the first time.

  Chapter 7

  Emily

  I woke up with a huge hangover this morning, cursing my alarm for waking me up and my damn date for being so horrible that it made me drink myself to a stupor. Fuck. I don’t even remember how I got home, but thank heavens I’m not lying in a ditch somewhere, covered in my own vomit.

  I was still in my cocktail dress but the pin in my hair was gone and my hair was down, so I probably remembered to make myself a little comfortable before I conked out. I saw a glass of water and aspirin on top of my counter and grabbed it, frowning as I saw a note with an ID and my keys on top of it. I read the note while I drank water, almost snorting at what was written there.

  Hey,

  In all the times I’ve met you, you’re drunk. Lay off the alcohol. It’s not good for you.

  Don’t forget to drink aspirin. I left your keys and my ID, just in case you want to thank me for bringing your drunk ass home.

  Btw,

  I’m Zach. I forgive you for dousing my pants. ??

  I looked at the ID and laughed out loud, realizing that the guy that brought me home was that handsome asshole from the barbeque.

  Well, he’s not much of an asshole now considering he brought your dumbass home, I thought to myself. I keyed in his number on my phone and checked the time, cursing to myself that I was going to be late again for a wedding I was going to organize. I jumped out of bed and quickly threw myself under the shower, cold water be damned. I am not about to make this a habit. I was going to be on time for this meeting, I swear to God.

  I knew I should be focusing on my work, but since I was pretty much confident about what I was going to do and what I had in mind for the wedding and reception, I was more preoccupied with how I was going to talk to Zach and show him my appreciation. I mean, I don’t even know how or why he took me home, but I’m grateful regardless.

  I met up with the couple and their parents and took them on a tour of the church, describing what I was going to do and showing them a sketch of how it was going to look. They loved most of it and worked out the kinks before we went to the venue of the wedding reception, which was also the place they were holding the wedding rehearsal today. To be honest, it was a good idea to hold it now so they only had to go to the place once before the actual event.

  I made a mental note to add a couple more tables due to last-minute people who RSVPed, and then looked around for a place to sit while I waited for the rehearsal to be over. I still had a few things to clarify with the couple and I didn’t have anything scheduled after this meeting, so I was good to wait. I sat on the back so I wouldn’t be a bother and leafed through my portfolio when I saw someone sit down on the seat next to me from the corner of my eye.

  “You know, we have to stop meeting like this,” Zach said, smirking. I blinked a few times in surprise.

  “Zachary!” I cried, wincing as some of the guests turned around and shushed me to be quiet. “What are you doing here?” I asked, and he shrugged.

  “Groom was one of my scouts until he relocated to Europe’s branch,” he answered.

  “Oh, wow. Uh…about last night—,”

  “Don’t mention it. Really,” he cut off, shaking his head. “What about you? What are you doing here? Last time I checked, they weren’t serving alcohol at dinner later.”

  “Ha ha, very funny,” I said, pushing his arm lightly. “I’m their wedding planner. We had a meeting earlier.”

  “Wedding planner, huh? That’s pretty neat. You get to plan people’s once in a lifetime thing,” he said, and I blushed.

  “Thank you for saying that,” I said sincerely. He shrugged again, making nothing of it.

  “So, does that mean I’m going to be seeing a lot of you until the big day?” he asked, and I nodded.

  “I think so.”

  “Great. At least I know you’re going to keep me entertained,” he said cheekily, making me roll my eyes.

  ***

  For the next few days, Zach and I spent a lot of time together. Since we were pretty much hanging out within the sam
e social circles, there were a lot of opportunities for us to talk. At first, it was really great. I was starting to see underneath his bad boy persona and I have to say, I liked what I was seeing.

  I was starting to feel something for him, I knew that much. What I couldn’t figure out was whether it was butterflies in my stomach or if it were moths and I should run for the hills immediately.

  I planned on bringing it up with him the next day we met, but all of a sudden, he started acting strangely. He kept his distance and wouldn’t even look at me. When I made a move to approach him, he would slyly tell another person he was going to take a leak or some other excuse and then pull a Houdini. It was just fucked up.

  But he picked the wrong girl to fuck with. I’m scary determined when I want to do something, so I pushed and pushed until finally, I was able to corner him one night and make him tell me what the hell his problem was.

  “Nothing, I’m just over it, is all,” he said, and I looked at him strangely.

  “Over…what?” I asked, my heart suddenly pounding so fast. I felt like I knew where he was going with this but why was I feeling so nervous?

  He sighed and looked at me, his eyes dead and unemotional. “I’m not good for you, Emily. You’re getting paired with someone I can’t mess with, and I’m not much better than he is. I can’t fool around with you anymore. So, stay away from me.”

  He slid away and I just stood there, frozen, still unsure what the hell was wrong.

  Chapter 8

  Zach

  I was a stupid fuck.

  Xavier and I were still at odds with each other, and I was getting tired of it. I didn’t want him to hate me any longer, especially because it wouldn’t be long until I had to go back to the Army and continue my tour. I was only out on furlough, after all. Besides, I was starting to feel like he may be more interested in Emily than he let on, based on how affected he was.

  As for Emily, she was…she was fucking incredible. The more time I spent with her, the more I discovered things about her that I liked, maybe even…

  Stop it, Zachary West. She was a special girl that may or may not be already set to be with your little brother. Other than that, she doesn’t deserve the kind of life I was could give her. She needed a man that she could count on to always be there. My job forces me to be somewhere else, and more to that, there was always a high chance for me to die every single day out in the war. Emily can be a lot of things, but a widower? It didn’t fucking suit her.

  I knew I was blowing this out of proportion, but this…thing I was feeling for Emily was starting to overtake every crevice of my heart and I can’t help but think of everything.

  Which was the reason why I thought it would be best for me to stay away from her. The sooner I cut off contact, the sooner she’d forget about me. I didn’t mean to lie to her so bluntly like that, but if that would do the job, then I was going to do it, no matter how horrible it made me look.

  I just hoped I was doing the right thing.

  Chapter 9

  Emily

  It was finally the day of the wedding, and I was still distracted.

  Oh, everything looked fabulous; I accomplished all of my tasks…but was I as focused on my work as I was in all my other works where I was still on even after everything was done? Nope.

  I was still thinking about how peculiar Zach acted the last time I talked to him. He was cold, aloof, and pretty much said he wanted nothing to do with me…but his eyes were so dead. They were devoid of emotion which just confused the shit out of me. I mean, if he meant the things he said, then why do his eyes tell me he doesn’t mean it?

  During the wedding ceremony, I looked over to the Groomsmen’s seats and frowned when I noticed Zach wasn’t in there. I looked around the guests’ seats and he wasn’t there either. I bit my lip and got up, lowering my back so I was hunched over while I walked over to the front and asked them where Zach is.

  The other guy, Jeremy, who I also met at the barbeque, spoke up with a look of surprise. “You didn’t hear? Zach requested to get back to work early.”

  “What? He’s going back to the warzone?” I asked, my heart plummeting from my chest. “Well, when is he leaving?”

  “I’m pretty sure he’s at the airport already. He mentioned his flight was in the afternoon,” he replied.

  I could hear the Priest in the background asking something but all I could think about was Zach. He was leaving? Without saying goodbye? Without hearing me say what I feel about him? Without hearing him tell me what’s bothering him so much he wanted to push me away? HELL NO.

  “I DON’T ACCEPT!” I exclaimed, and I realized that I had stood up abruptly and that everyone in the church was looking at me with outrage. I looked toward the couple and the priest, the bride looking at me with rage while the other two sharing looks of astonishment.

  “Do you have a problem with this union, child?” the priest asked, and I turned red, realizing what everyone is thinking about my outburst.

  “Oh, God no! No!” I cried, shaking my head adamantly. “I was…erm… I have to go,” I said, not bothering to explain. I ran out of the church like my life depended on it, and jumped into my car, hitting the pedal to the metal. I knew it was going to be a longshot, but I was hoping that the movies I watched were all accurate and that by some miracle, I could get to the airport in time and stop Zach from making a terrible mistake.

  And then, if everything went according to plan and we’d be well on our way to making some mad, passionate love to each other, I was going to yell at him for how fucking idiotic he was.

  Chapter 10

  Zach

  I was already waiting for the gates to open so I can board my flight when my phone rang, Xavier’s number flashing on my screen and requesting a video call. One of them probably saw my goodbye letter telling them I was cutting my vacation short. I wasn’t very good at saying goodbyes, so more often than not, I would just leave a letter or a note saying that I left and to take care. It sounded impersonal, but that’s just how I was. I pressed the ‘Accept’ button and waited for my screen to load.

  “Hello,” I greeted.

  “Are you insane?” Xavier yelled back, our parents trying to squish together so all three of them can fit on the screen. “Mom was frantic when she saw your letter and had half a mind to call the Army and halt the plane you were on!”

  I winced at this. My mother, ever the drama queen. “Sorry about that. I just didn’t think there was another way to fix things between us.”

  “Huh? What are you talking about?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Fix what?”

  “Aren’t you mad at me because of Emily?” I asked him, growing confused now.

  “Who is Emily?” he asked again, and I blinked in shock. Mom then hit him upside the head, looking at him like he was an idiot.

  “You dolt! She’s the girl I set you up with!” she cried.

  “Oh, her! Nah, she’s not my type. Besides, I was only rude to her so she can go tell her parents she hated me,” Xavier explained mildly. My eyes widened and I couldn’t help but stand up from my seat, looking at him in shock.

  “Wait, what? Then what was all that about when I confronted you in your room?” I asked him.

  “Well, when you said you watched us, I panicked. I thought you were going to tattle on me with mom and then she wasn’t going to let me continue my gap year, so I thought I could improvise,” he explained.

  “You already did your gap year in college! You’re taking your Master’s now, for crying out loud!” she defended.

  They were still arguing as I dropped the call, my head swirling into a million thoughts, all centered around Emily. All this time, I was overreacting to what I thought was the truth. Turned out, I could never be more wrong. Xavier wasn’t interested in Emily. Not by a long shot. Which means…

  Wait…what about all that talk about her not deserving a soldier like me?

  …Fuck it, I couldn’t ignore this anymore. Wherever this road leads, the journey
won’t start until I take the first step. I had to go find her.

  I grabbed my stuff and ran towards the waiting room exit, hoping to catch a cab and make it to the wedding where I knew Emily was going to be. I didn’t care if I was going to end up crashing their moment, but I had to tell Emily everything.

  Something weird caught my eye over at the adjacent gate, where a crowd was forming. I could hear someone yelling over there, and my eyes widened as I realized who it was. All the tension in my body slowly seeped out as I watched what was happening.

  “Look, I’m not asking you to cancel the flight. I’m just asking you to please send someone in there and tell a passenger named, ‘Zachary West’ to come out because I need to talk to him,” Emily begged.

  “We already told you, madam, that’s just not possible,” the ground attendant said.

  “Look, please,” Emily pleaded, wringing her fingers into her hair before going down on her knees. “This may be my last chance to tell him what I feel about him. This, right here, is maybe the last time I will ever have to tell him that I love him. Once that plane leaves the tarmac, it’s over. He will never know, and I will end up always thinking about ‘what if?”

  The ground attendant took pity on her and offered to call the FAs in the plane to look for me. It only took about a minute for her to get a callback, and she quickly told Emily the result. Okay, I think it’s time for me to go and talk to her.

  “Madam, I’m sorry, but they said there is no Zachary West that boarded the plane,” she said kindly.

  “No, that can’t be. He has to—,” I cut her off.