Falling for the Seal

by Mia Ford

  "Clint isn't going to get in trouble is he?" Brian asked. She hadn't even realised that he had stopped talking.

  Shaking her head to snap herself back to it, she looked up at Brian. "I'm not sure Brian. I'm really not sure."

  --

  Five minutes later and Olivia was on her way back to her lodgings. She barely remembered leaving the café and she wasn't even sure if she had said goodbye to Brian or not. She was far too preoccupied with thoughts of what she was going to do.

  Really she could just do nothing. It would be only too easy for her to conclude that there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute and to leave it at that. But then again...

  Unfortunately Olivia just wasn’t that type of person. She had a career to think of too and she knew coming to that conclusion would make her look weak. And she knew that looking weak was the last thing that she wanted, considering that she was trying to become a Navy SEAL.

  It was thus with a foggy head that she crossed the docks towards where she was staying while in Pearl Harbor. And it was because of this state of mind that she was only vaguely aware of the voice calling out to her as she walked. As she was on the docks, she at first assumed that it was just a sailor or two, cat calling her. So she ignored it. It wasn't until the voice grew louder and more persistent that she finally turned around to see who it was.

  She shouldn't have been surprised to see Lieutenant Randall hurrying toward her. There was a definate skip to his step and she got the distinct impression that he had been waiting for her to finish her meeting with Brian. In fact she was sure of it.

  "Ms Conway, I was hoping I could have a quick word with you?" he asked, pulling up beside her. Olivia chose to keep walking as he did. She had no desire to stand in the middle of the docks and chat where everyone could see them.

  "Should I be recording this conversation?" She asked. She said it half jokingly, but something told her that Randall's sudden appearance wasn't official in nature.

  "There's no need to be like that," he assured her. "I was just made aware that you met with Brian Fischer. I was wondering how the meeting went."

  "I'm afraid that's between me and Brian. You will receive a full report when I finish my investigation." Of course that was what he was after. She wouldn't have been surprised to find out that Randall had tried to coach Brian in his answers too.

  "Listen," he pulled up, indicating for Olivia to follow suit. She really didn't want to but she also wasn't going to be rude and continue walking. "I have a proposition for you."

  "OK," she said curtly.

  "I know what Fischer said to you. I know because he told me what happened and I trust that he told you the same thing. My concern is that you might interpret the evidence a little more... with a little more leniency than others would."

  "Lieutenant Randall, I assure you that I will only interpret the evidence as it is presented. In fact I really don't know what you're implying."

  "OK, OK. I believe you. I do. I just wanted to let you know that I was recently speaking to you C.O. Boothes. We're old buddies, go back quite a way we do. He was telling me about your ah... about your desire to join the Navy SEAL program."

  "Ok..." Olivia replied, starting to understand where he might be going with this.

  "Well like I was saying, me and Boothes go back. Now he wasn't to enthusiastic about you joining the SEAL program. Not too enthusiastic at all. I on the other hand can see the upside to it. In fact I encourage it. And I'm sure that were I to push the case, I could make Boothes see it in the same light. Do you see what I'm saying?"

  "If you're suggesting that I misconstrue the evidence --"

  "All I'm saying is that it would be in your best interests to view the evidence through an unbiased scope. If you do that... well there's no telling what your future holds." He finished by flashing her a most obvious wink and exceptionally sleazy smile. He then patted her on the arm, turned and scurried off before she had a chance to say anything.

  She was glad that he left in fact because she had no idea what she would have said. His words were loud and clear too. He wanted her to convict Clint. If she did so he would recommend her for SEAL training. In effect he was bribing her.

  Usually such an act would repulse Olivia. Usually she would even go so far as to report it. But this time... she had wanted to be a SEAL for the longest time now and despite the help that she was getting from Clint, she never really thought it would be a possibility. But now...

  Even as that thought crossed her mind, her thoughts fell back on Clint and what would happen to him if she did bring him up on charges. They might kick him out of the military all together? For someone like Clint, a dishonorable discharge was the worst thing that could happen.

  She had no idea what to do. The fact that she was even thinking of convicting Clint made her feel ill. But on the one hand a new path was open to her, one she had never expected. On the other, that path would hurt the man she was coming to love. She had never been so confused in her life and as she made her way back to her lodgings, she had no idea what she was going to do.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  It had been three days since Clint had gotten back into Pearl Harbor and taken Olivia on the tour of the USS Arizona. It was probably one of the more vulnerable moments of Clint's life and at the time he wasn't so sure if he had made the right choice in opening up to her like that. But the way that she had hugged and consoled him afterwards alleviated that concern.

  In fact following that date, Clint was blindsided by a sensation that he had never felt before and as such had no idea how to classify it. He went to bed that night feeling as light as a feather and woke up the next morning with the eerie sensation that nothing in the world could hurt him. He knew that day Olivia would be busy, so he spent it in his barracks, with the other SEAL's and although some of them made fun of him when he told them about the date, he didn't care. He actually welcomed it as he relished the sensation of their words bouncing off him. He didn't care what they thought. He only cared what Olivia felt.

  In short, Clint was in love. He just didn't know it.

  What was odd though was that Olivia didn't seek to contact him that night. He assumed that her investigation was taking longer than she had predicted and was thus OK with it. He went to bed with that same light feeling. The next day however she didn't call him and when he tried to call her she didn't answer. He told himself that it was fine, and for a while he truly believed it. But then night hit and he still hadn't heard from her.

  But even so, he convinced himself that it was all fine and he was just being obsessive. Although he told himself this, when he went to bed that night it wasn't with the same feeling of self-confidence and belief he had experienced the previous two nights.

  Waking up, Clint felt his heart sink when he checked his phone to find that there were no messages from Olivia. And if that hurt, what followed was essentially a kick to the face as he tried to call her only for his call to go straight to voicemail.

  He didn't know what was going on. If he should be worried or concerned for Olivia? Perhaps she was in trouble? Perhaps... perhaps it was his story on the Arizona that turned her off? This thought washed over Clint like a tidal wave and suddenly, a moment that had seemed to pure, somehow felt dirty. He had opened himself up, too much by the sounds of it. He had opened up and scared Olivia off...

  Clint just couldn't believe that were true. In fact he refused to. The real problem was that he had too much time to think. Since he was brought up on charges he had been put on temporary leave and thus hadn't worked in days. He thus decided that the best thing for him to do was to get to work. Something, anything really to keep him occupied.

  He was on his way to his barracks when he got the bad news.

  "Clint! Clint!" The voice called out to him from across the dock. It belonged to Hartman, another SEAL on Clint's team. "Wait up!"

  "Hartman," Clint offered as he came to a standstill. "What's up? You look nervous." Indeed, Hartman didn't look quite right and nerv
ous may have been an understatement.

  "I'm sorry man," Hartman began as he pulled up. "I drew the short straw here."

  "What are you talking about?" Clint asked, genuinely having no idea what the heck he was going on about.

  "Word just came down. You've been reprimanded for that thing with the Coast Guard the other day. You're on leave until further notice."

  "What?!"

  "Yeah, like I said I pulled the short straw here having to tell you. I was also told to tell you that you're on thin ice and one more foot out of line could see you disbarred entirely. Sorry man," he offered, patting Clint on the shoulder. "We all think it's bullshit too. I would have done the same thing were I..."

  But Clint had stopped listening. The docks seemed to spin around him as the words sunk in. There was an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach too. One he didn't recognize. One he had never had the displeasure of feeling before. It didn't hurt, at least not physically. But it made him feel ill.

  As Hartman droned on about how unfair the decision was, Clint continued to stare off into the distance, out across the bay. The funny thing was that he didn't even care about the fact that he had been put on leave. As much as that stung he knew that it would eventually end.

  What really hurt, what made his head spin and what was responsible for that feeling in his stomach, was the fact that it was Olivia who was responsible for it all. She had a choice. She could have looked past his actions. She knew what being a SEAL meant to him. He had told her as much. But even still she chose to prosecute him.

  He thought that... he thought that he loved her and that perhaps she felt the same way about him too. Now it seemed that wasn't the case. Not even a little bit.

  --

  Clint waited outside Olivia's apartment for exactly two hours and fifteen minutes before she came back. He had no idea where she had been. And really he didn’t care. She may have been at work. She may have been training. She may have even been with another guy... although that possibility he preferred not to think on. All he cared about right then was why. He just wanted to know why.

  "Clint?" Olivia said when she spotted him, waiting outside her door. She was staying in a small hotel lodging just off the Naval Base. Clint was slumped against the wall in the hallway, leaning against her door. "What are you doing here?" Her voice was shaky and uncertain. You would think that two hadn't been sleeping together for the past week.

  Spotting her, Clint slowly climbed to his feet, using the wall to balance himself. He wasn't drunk, or even tired. He was just weak, as if his whole body had given up. "Hey," he said, trying to act as normal as possible. "I've missed you."

  "Oh right... yeah I've been busy,' she rushed through the words as she made her way to her door. And as she pulled out the keys, she fumbled with them, trying to unlock the door. "What have.. What have you been up to?"

  "Nothing. Nothing at all," he said. It was as if they were two strangers, talking for the first time. Clint could feel the tension between them. He knew what she had done and she knew that he knew.

  "Did you want to --"

  "Actually that's not entirely true," Clint cut in. As Olivia went to go inside the room, Clint stepped in front of her, blocking her off. "I was down on the docks earlier. I was going to run some drills with my team."

  "Oh?" Olivia offered ducking under Clint's arm as she stepped inside. Clint didn't follow. Instead he leant in the doorway, watching Olivia nervously wander through her hotel room. She walked from the kitchen to the bed and back to the kitchen, playing with her hands the whole time as if trying to think of something to do with them.

  "Yeah, it was funny though. I got down there and I was told... they told me I was on leave. Isn't that odd?" He was still in the doorway, watching her.

  "Haven't you been on leave all week?" She asked, still not looking at him.

  "Well that's what I thought. But then they confirmed that this was official. Turns out I've been brought up on charges. I'm on leave now until further notice. Until they know what to officially charge me with."

  "That's... that odd --"

  "How could you!" Clint suddenly exploded, storming into the room as he made for Olivia. "How could you do that to me?" He grabbed her by both arms as he reached her, forcing her to face him.

  "I had no choice!" She wailed, tears beginning to brim beneath her eyes. "Randall he... he..."

  "What? He ordered you to charge me? He forced you to disbar me?" His voice was shaking as he tried to control himself. He wanted to yell and scream in her face. But he couldn't. Being this close to her hurt to much. "I trusted you..."

  "He promised to help me," Olivia admitted, full fledged tears streaming down her face now. "He promised to help me become a SEAL."

  Clint let her go as if she had suddenly caught fire. The look he offered her was one of disgust, because indeed that was how he felt. "So what? You turned on me so you could become a SEAL? That means more to you than us? Than what we... than what we had?"

  "No of course not! You're not in that much trouble. I made sure to keep the charges light. All you have to do is behave and you'll be fine. It's – it’s a slap on the wrists," she stuttered through the words. To Clint it sounded like an excuse. It was poison to his ears.

  "Just a slap on the wrists?"

  "Yes!" She exclaimed.

  "You don't get it. It had nothing to do with the punishment. It's... never mind." Clint was done. He didn't want to stand there and argue semantics with Olivia. He didn’t want to explain the betrayal and how much he hurt. So he didn't.

  As Olivia fell to the floor, weeping openly, Clint turned and left. He could hear her crying as he stormed down the hallway and a part of him wanted to turn back and console her. But another part of him didn’t. That part never wanted to see her again.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Olivia hadnt' slept at all the previous night. It was probably the worst night she had experienced in recent memory, which was saying a lot as she was also coming off what had previously been the best week in living memory. How could things turn around so quickly?

  The worst part was that she only had herself to blame. When Lieutenant Randall had approached her with the deal, she had initially considered telling him to go to hell. That would have been the right thing to do. If she had done that she wouldn't be feeling as awful as she currently did.

  But she was weak. She saw her end goal, so close and for the first time actually tangible, and she couldn’t say no. So she told herself that she could have her cake and eat it to by bringing Clint up on lesser charges. She had convinced herself that he would be OK with it. That if she explsained the situation he would be fine and nothing would change between them. But as witnessed, that wasn't to be. Not even close.

  When he accosted her, when he yelled at her, she knew that it was all her fault. Like a knife driving into her stomach, she had never felt such pain. She spent that entire night, curled up in a ball on her floor, crying her eyes out. She considered calling Clint maybe one hundred times, but never did. She was just too weak.

  Her only consolation, if it could even be called that, was the fact that soon she would be entered in the Navy SEAL training program. That was all she had to hang on to. That was the only thing that got her out of bed. And as such, that was where she was headed. She had an hour before she had to be on a boat back to San Diego, so before she made that journey, she just had to confirm with Randall that their deal was still a go ahead.

  Lieutenant Randall was just about to leave his office as Olivia approached him. In fact, when he spotted her heading towards him, he seemed to pick up speed, quickly locking the door and rushing from his office as fast as he could.

  "Lieutenant Randall. A quick word," Olivia said as she hurried toward him.

  "Ah, Conway. I'm actually a little busy," he began, not bothering to slow down as she fell in line beside him. "Maybe another time?"

  "It will only take a second," she insisted.

  "OK. But just a second. I really am... In a
rush."

  "I just wanted to double check that our... I don't want to say deal but, well that the understanding we came to is still in place?" she asked.

  "Ah," Randall said. It may have been her imagination but he seemed to increase his pace, which was pretty impressive considering his size and physical fitness. "Well you see Conway I spoke to some people and it turns out that they really just don't want a female Navy SEAL in the program."

  "Wait a minute," she said, reaching for his arm in an attempt to pull him up. Unfortunately he dodged her manoveur, continuing to speed ahead.

  "Like I said, I'm in a rush and I really can't stand around talking all day."

  "We had a deal," she said, trying to maintain her composure, but finding it very difficult.