by Bella Juarez
* * * *
Anna said nothing as Captain O’Malley turned and walked out. She could hear Captain O’Malley and Mac in the next room, but she couldn’t make out that they were saying. She shook her head and let out a sigh. Reaching for the phone, she knew she had to get out of the office for a little while if she wanted her equilibrium to return to normal. She punched in five numbers and waited.
“Civilian Personnel, Mrs. Zarrachi speaking,” the voice on the other end said.
“Hey, it’s me. Can you do lunch today? I really need to talk to someone.”
“This isn’t Friday. Didn’t you bring your lunch?” Tammy said.
“Yes, but I really need to get out of here,” Anna said urgently.
“This better be good. I’ll be breaking my date with Jessie.”
“Please, Tammy. I need to talk to you,” Anna said seriously.
“This is good. What time?”
“Now?”
“Okay, I’ll see you in about five minutes. O Club?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
Anna fished money from her purse and grabbed her BlackBerry. She noted her destination on the board in the front office. When Anna saw Tammy, she almost started to cry. It was a relief to see someone so familiar and comforting. They walked through the serving line and found a table. Tammy seated herself as Anna quietly took her seat and looked down at her food. Tammy started in on her salad. Anna took a long drink of her iced tea and picked at her fruit plate.
“What’s up?” Tammy asked.
“I’m going TDY.”
“Oh? Where?” Tammy asked in the same even voice.
“I can’t tell you.”
“Okay. When?” Tammy asked with a frown.
“Sunday.”
“This Sunday? Is there a reason for the sudden trip?” Tammy asked, returning to her nonchalant, conversational tone.
Anna had been rattled since her experience the weekend before. She’d called Tammy in panic the day she’d been reassigned. Anna picked at a strawberry before answering.
“My boss,” Anna said.
“The new one? What do they do again?” Tammy asked as she stabbed a piece of chicken in the middle of her salad.
“They’re Navy. Special Operations.”
Tammy had berated Anna for her habit of turning a conversation into a cross-examination. Tammy was giving her the look. Anna was doing it again and it was starting to wear on Tammy.
“Anna, what’s wrong? So you have to go TDY? It’s not like you have plans,” Tammy asked, somewhat annoyed.
Anna dropped her fork in frustration.
“I do have plans. I planned on working on the house, like I do every weekend. By the way, you can’t tell anybody about this. It’s him,” Anna said venomously.
“Him? Your new boss? I thought you liked him? And who am I telling that cares?”
“No, not the guy who’s right next door. It’s the captain, the commanding officer of the group.”
“The panty dropper?” Tammy teased.
“God! He sends me into a panic attack every time he walks into the office. The worst thing that ever happened to me was running into that guy. My life has not been the same since! He ruined my weekend, he’s interfered in my work, and now apparently I’m on his time, not mine. I didn’t join the Navy and I don’t wear a uniform,” Anna said, releasing her pent-up frustration at her situation.
Tammy munched on her salad and listened as Anna ranted about Captain O’Malley. Anna looked toward the entrance and stopped. She dropped her head.
“Oh my God! I’m done, let’s go.” Anna stood to leave.
“I’m not! Sit down. What the hell is wrong with you?” Tammy demanded.
“He just walked in! I can’t get away from him!”
Tammy’s face brightened.
“Really? Where?” Tammy asked, turning around. She looked at Anna who had started to leave again. “Sit down. You’re starting to look stupid.”
Tammy was busy scanning the dining room as Anna sat.
“Quit turning around!” Anna demanded.
“Where is he, damn it?” Tammy insisted.
Captain O’Malley and Commander Wilson were seating themselves at a table on the far side of the dining room. Captain O’Malley remained standing while Commander Wilson seated himself. Captain O’Malley picked up his glass and walked to the bar where the water and tea were located. Anna nudged her head in the direction of the pair as she picked up her fork and started in on her fruit salad. Tammy waited for Captain O’Malley to appear. Anna looked down at her food and started to eat a piece of cantaloupe when she heard Tammy suck in a breath through her teeth.
“Holy testosterone, Batman! I think he’s gotten better looking since Saturday. Is that even possible?” Tammy stared at Captain O’Malley.
“Oh my God! Tammy, please, help me here,” Anna pleaded.
“Damn it! He’s beautiful!”
Tammy gave her full attention to Anna as she reached for Anna’s hand.
“Honey, I know it’s been a while, but I think you’re confusing a panic attack with an orgasm. I know. I just had one looking at him,” Tammy said.
“Seriously? It hasn’t been that damn long!”
Anna rolled her eyes. She wanted to hand Tammy a napkin so she could wipe the drool from the corners of her mouth.
“Will you focus? What am I supposed to do?” Anna demanded.
“Do? Do him, if he’ll let you! Is he a SEAL?”
“They’re all SEALs,” Anna snapped.
“I knew it! What the hell are you bitching about? Do you know how many women would gladly trade places with you?” Tammy scolded.
“Yeah, well, let them! I would gladly go back to where I came from.”
* * * *
Tammy sat back in her chair and stared at Anna. There was a lot more to this than Anna was letting on. She’d known Anna for years and no one had ever flustered her like this before.
“What’s up? I know it’s been a while but you’re no cold fish,” Tammy said, returning to her salad.
“So? Your point is?”
Tammy kept sneaking glances at the men seated on the other side of the room. She smiled inwardly as she looked back at Anna. Anna was sneaking glances over at Captain O’Malley as well. Tammy shook her head in disbelief. Watching Captain O’Malley and Anna was like watching two master fencers duel. It was fluid poetry. The two of them were flirting with each other from across the room! Tammy watched in awe. It was so natural that neither of them realized they were doing it. Tammy sat back and took a hard look at Anna and then glanced at Captain O’Malley, who was looking at Anna, again. Despite all Anna’s efforts to turn into a shrinking violet, her natural personality was something she couldn’t smother. He had noticed and honed in on her like a magnet.
“What’s his name again?” Tammy asked.
“Who?”
Tammy rolled her eyes. “You know damn good and well who!”
“Captain O’Malley? Jack is his first name.”
“Anna, what’s got you so upset about this guy? Did he try something with you last weekend?”
“No!” Anna said incredulously.
“Is that what’s got your panties in a wad?” Tammy asked playfully.
“What?” Anna asked with a pained expression.
“Maybe you want him to try and he hasn’t?” Tammy teased.
“No! Okay, here’s what happened…” Anna went on to detail what she’d seen and heard in the base commander’s office.
Tammy started laughing uncontrollably. When Anna got to the part about General Schultz’s call Tammy was beside herself.
“Shut up!” Tammy giggled
“It’s not funny, Tammy!” Anna said in a harsh whisper.
“The hell it isn’t! It’s about time someone put Spivey in his place.”
Anna told Tammy she didn’t disagree but didn’t want to give Captain O’Malley any brownie points, either. Anna finally came to what had been botheri
ng her since she’d been reassigned.
“I don’t want that directed my way. I guess I just worry about not being able to do what he expects. I’m way out of my league here,” Anna said.
Tammy looked to the other side of the dining room. Captain O’Malley was engaged in conversation with two other men who had joined him and Commander Wilson at the table. Anna was clearly overreacting, in her opinion.
“I like him. Spivey’s an asshole. And I don’t think you can compare your situation with the show you got last week,” Tammy said.
Anna looked across to where Captain O’Malley was sitting. He looked up at the same time. He smiled and turned away. Anna turned to Tammy.
“Damn it!” Anna exclaimed.
“Now what?” Tammy asked, trying to stab a tomato.
“I feel like I’m in high school around him. That’s the second time I’ve done that. The second time I run into him maybe I’ll knock him down,” Anna said miserably.
“Whoa! What? Knock him down? Back up, I didn’t hear this one.”
“It’s nothing.” Anna resumed picking at her lunch.
“Oh no, you’re not getting out of it that easy. What happened?”
“I ran into him,” Anna said simply.
“I run into people every day, but I don’t knock them down. So?”
“No, I literally ran into him. The Friday of the Spivey thing, that morning I was coming in and I was reading an e-mail on my BlackBerry. He was coming from the break room and I was going to my office which is down the hall. When I turned the corner, I ran into him. My BlackBerry went flying and landed in pieces on the ground. I was so embarrassed. He had to put my BlackBerry back together again. It was a miracle the phone worked after that.” Anna popped a grape into her mouth.
Tammy chuckled and glanced over at the table once more.
“Anna, I think you’re letting his rank get to you. He seems like a nice guy and he doesn’t seem half as hung up on his position as you are. If he were so damn stuck up, he wouldn’t be eating with his guys. What happened to the five-star chef?”
“What do you mean?” Anna asked, confused.
“Don’t screw with me. I’ve known you way too long.” Anna looked away. “Look at me! You remember, eight years running, Texas Monthly, the spread in Good Housekeeping, Southern Living. Five-diamond resort. Need I go on? The five-star, I-don’t-take-crap-from-anyone chef. You were the wife of a powerful politician. No one ever screwed with you. All of a sudden you act as if you’re helpless and clueless. It doesn’t become you, Anna.”
Anna said nothing. They’d been down this road before. Tammy had suggested Anna get therapy after Marc and Alyssa had died. Anna seemed to crawl into a shell, never to be found again. It was hell getting her to even get out and get a new job. Not to mention talk to anyone she didn’t already know. Anna’s self-confidence had suffered almost irreparably. Tammy glanced at Jack once more. He could fix her right up.
“Anna, for a long time you have underestimated yourself. I talk to people and know that you’re very good at what you do. In fact, they prefer to see you instead of most of the pompous-ass kids that think they’re God’s gift to technology. This guy had you moved for a reason. Either he’s uncontrollably hot for you and is about to rock your world. Or, he really believes you can help them.”
Anna smiled wistfully and looked down at her half-eaten salad.
“They both told me that, Colonel Jackson and Captain O’Malley. They believed I could help them…” Anna said.
“You have nothing to worry about. He’s probably married and he’s the noble type all those hero types are. I think he really believes in you and you need to do your best and not disappoint him. I know you can do it. You can handle whatever these guys throw at you,” Tammy said with a dismissive wave of her fork.
Anna looked away. Tammy could tell she was deep in thought and maybe even a little confused at her feelings. It was clear she and Captain O’Malley were attracted to each other. Tammy wanted to smile. Captain O’Malley had no idea what he was in for with Anna Santiago.
“If you would quit dressing like a bag lady, you could be a knockout. Again. Get out there and show him you can handle him and whatever else comes your way. For you, it’s not hard and he sees you for what you really are,” Tammy said nudging her head in Captain O’Malley’s direction.
Anna took a deep breath. Tammy knew what she was asking was easier said than done at this point. Anna liked her comfortable, quiet life with no one inside. In essence Anna was comfortable in the world of self-pity she’d created. Tammy had been pushing Anna for months now to get off her cross and move on.
“I guess you’re right. The faster I get this thing over with the faster I can get back to normal.” Anna sighed.
“Uh huh,” Tammy said, glancing at Captain O’Malley once more.
Captain O’Malley was looking their way again. There was nothing normal about the man looking at Anna. Anna’s life was about to change whether she liked it or not. By the way Captain O’Malley kept looking their way, he would be that change and it would rock Anna’s world down to the very foundations. Tammy smiled inwardly. Anna needed to be dragged out of her dull, miserable existence, and the guy across the room was just the SEAL to do it.
I hope he’s not married. Yeah, baby, he’d rock your world all right. In ways you never thought were possible. You may have met your match with that SEAL…
“Oh, by the way, I get to help you pack for your TDY,” Tammy said with a sinful smile.
“Don’t even go there.” Anna groaned.
* * * *
Jack had been watching Anna throughout lunch. Rafe noticed he’d been looking to the other side of the room for most of the meal. Lieutenant Dan Gamez and JG Shaq Harman had joined them as promised, the younger pair just having returned from their mission. Rafe finally turned to see what Jack had been looking at throughout the meal.
“She’s cute, but not your type,” Rafe commented to Jack.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jack asked.
“Anna.”
“The new computer chick?” Lieutenant Gamez questioned.
“No, the computer babe! I’ve been trying to get her to look my way since I saw her. I want to find out what’s behind those glasses,” Rafe confirmed, staring at Jack as he took a drink.
“She’s not for either one of you,” JG Harman said.
“No, she sure as hell ain’t! She’s a nice, classy lady. You two ain’t got no business even looking her way. She’s too good for you,” Gamez said, digging into his meal.
What Dan in his own clumsy way was trying to say was Anna was likeable and didn’t deserve what either one of the two of them would do to her. Dan had been working with Anna since his return. Jack and Rafe turned sharply and looked at Dan’s amused expression.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Jack questioned sharply.
“Yeah!” Rafe agreed.
“She’s not a frog hog,” JG Harman added, referring to the crude name assigned to women who were considered SEAL groupies.
“Listen junior, I don’t do frog hogs. I don’t have to,” Jack said, taking another bite.
“Hey! I think we just found Shaq a handle!” Lieutenant Gamez exclaimed.
“What’s that?” JG Harman asked, clearly not liking where this was going.
“Junior!” Gamez exclaimed.
Shaq threw down has napkin in disgust as the entire table broke out in laughter. They all knew that the nickname was hitting a little too close to home for JG Shaquille Harman. It was no secret that he was a momma’s boy. Some of the new SEALs that had graduated BUD/S with Shaq knew that weakness had almost been his undoing during his initial training. It was too late. The nickname would be his until the end of his career.
“Aw, hell no! Hell no! Ain’t you supposed to be on my side, dive buddy?” Shaq snapped at Dan.
“Aw, hell yeah! Junior! It fits!” Rafe exclaimed.
“Thanks, Captain,” Shaq s
aid sarcastically.
“Glad I could help.” Jack smiled.
Chapter 14
San Antonio International Airport, Texas
Terminal Two
American Airlines Check-in Counter
August 3, 2008/1130 Zulu
Jack sauntered into the terminal after parking his vehicle. No one was in line yet. Just the way he liked it. He approached the counter with his carry-on bag and proceeded with routine check-in.
“Good morning, sir,” the agent greeted him as fingers flew on the keyboard.
“Good morning. No bags to check,” Jack politely replied.
“San Diego, sir. Your flight is on time and leaves at seven forty-five, gate thirty-seven.” Jack merely nodded his head. “Would you like an upgrade to first class, sir? There’s room on the flight and because you’re a priority flyer and have the points, I can put you in first class,” the agent offered.
“Sure, go ahead.” Jack shrugged.
“There’s another ticket under your frequent-flyer number, sir, leaving on this same flight. Do you want that seat upgraded, too?”
“Yeah, give her the window seat.”
Jack walked into the terminal. As he passed the security checkpoint, he instantly spotted ten security flaws that any common al-Qaeda terrorist could exploit. Jack put aside his threat detector and tried to relax. He really wanted to catch up on the news and get a cup of coffee. He turned his head from side to side. Starbucks, on his left, had their typical clientele filing in line. Jack opted for the bar on his right. It was empty and he was no Starbucks guy. The bar was more his speed. Seating himself at the bar, he decided to wait until a few minutes before he was scheduled to leave. Jack glanced at the TV and absently reached for a newspaper sitting nearby. He ordered his cup of coffee.
* * * *
Anna pulled her bag from Tammy’s car. She cursed as she lifted the handle on her bag. She slung her purse over her shoulder and cursed again. Anna was no morning flower, as Marc had always teased. Damn these navy people scheduling a flight at this ungodly hour!
