Vicky could tell, Aidan was speaking from her heart now, instead of the prepared speech, and she couldn’t wait to hear what she would say next.
“There were two other female soldiers in that convoy, driving the trucks. One woman was killed during the attack and the other woman was taken hostage. That woman..,” Aidan choked back her emotions as she remembered finding the broken shell of the woman that she had once loved, “That woman was forced to work as a slave, enduring horrific hardships that I won’t go into here. You have to understand, until recently, women were not trained for combat, because they weren’t allowed on the front line. But the reality is there’s no such thing as a front line anymore. Reality is, untrained women have been on that invisible front line for a while now, and the reality is that we’re dying out there, just like the men are.” Aidan paused again, fighting off her tears, “Uh..,” she looked down at her notes and realized she had drifted from her speech, but it didn’t matter, the audience stood and applauded feverishly. She looked at Vicky, who was clapping the loudest, tears spilling from her eyes. Aidan smiled, and quickly wrapped up her speech, “Anyway… today, women are closer than ever before to being equal to the men. When I was in the Army, and by the way, I’d join up again in a heartbeat, if they’d asked me to. Anyway, back then, only sixty-seven percent of the positions available were open to women. I am happy to say that now, ninety-five percent of all positions are available, and by the year 2016, we will be afforded the same privileges as the men. And all of it will be because of our fallen comrades. Their sacrifices will not be forgotten. They will not be forgotten. Thank you.”
Aidan stepped away from the podium, and her Aunt walked up and hugged her. Vicky could see Aidan stiffen, but she didn’t try to stop her aunt.
Later, as the luncheon came to an end, people lined up to talk with Aidan, and she greeted them with her usual, off the cuff charm. Vicky watched proudly, as Peg pulled Aidan to first one table, and then another. Aidan made sure she pointed her hidden camera at each person, lingering long enough for Bradshah to take their picture. Finally, after the greetings died down, Aidan and Peg walked over to where Vicky and Brigh sat. Vicky jumped up and hugged Aidan, telling her what a great job she had done, and Aidan kissed her tenderly.
“She’s right, Aidan, you were very good. You could have a whole new career as a guest speaker,” Peg proclaimed.
“Thanks, but it is way to nerve racking for me.” Noticing something out of the corner of her eye, Aidan said softly, “Tom, two men at my ten o’clock. I just saw one hand the other something covertly.”
“Roger that. Make your way over so I can get a closer look.”
“Aunt Peg, would you mind introducing me to those two over there?”
“Senator Coghlan? Is something wrong?”
“Probably not, I just need to make sure we have a picture of him and the person he’s with.”
Peg put her arm around Aidan’s and led her over to where the two men stood. “Conner, may I introduce you to my niece from America, Aidan Cassidy. And I’m sorry, I don’t know your name?” She indicated the swarthy man standing next to the Senator.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Cassidy.” He held his hand out to the man beside him, “This is Abdul Musa, a diplomat from Kuwait.”
Aidan shook hands with Musa, leaning in close to make sure Bradshah could get a good clear picture. Musa wore the traditional Kuwait clothing, with the gutra, or head dress, held in place by a double circlet of twisted black cord and the dishdasha, the traditional long, white robe that came down to his ankles
Out of the corner of Aidan’s eye, she saw a waiter loitering beside the large column in the corner of the conference room. He was close enough that he could hear their conversation, yet far enough away not to draw attention to himself. Or so he thought. When he met Aidan’s eyes, he lowered his head, and adjusted the empty glasses on the tray he carried.
There is something very odd about that waiter. He keeps checking his watch and looking this way.
“Excuse me, waiter. Waiter over here,” she called to him, but he didn’t seem to understand her. Then she called to him in Arabic and he looked at her with fear in his eyes, as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Aidan had picked up a few Arabic words like waiter, when she was stationed in Baghdad during her military career, and on a hunch, used them to ‘out’ him, as it were.
The waiter panicked and dropped his tray, sending broken glass skidding across the wooden floor. He had been hiding a gun in his hand, under the tray.
“Gun!” Aidan shouted as she ran toward the man.
The waiter turned to run but his feet went out from under him and he landed on his back, knocking the air from his lungs, sending his pistol skittering across the floor.
Aidan was on top of him before he could get up again, and she jabbed her knee down hard on his chest, pinning him to the broken-glass covered floor. She wasn’t wearing her weapon, so that was the best she could do under the circumstances.
“Who are you?” she shouted at him.
“The future,” was all he said before the MI5, the Prime Minister’s security agents, swooped in and relieved Aidan of her prisoner. As they escorted him out of the room, Aidan heard a loud commotion and watched helplessly as the man broke free and escaped out a side door. The agents gave chase, but Aidan heard the squeal of tires from the street outside, and knew he must have had a car waiting for him.
“Aidan, I’m running his photo through the database now,” Bradshah said through her ear piece, “I’ll have to report this right away to our team leader. Who do you think was his intended target?”
“It could have been anyone of a number of dignitaries at the luncheon, including the Prime Minister,” said Aidan.
Chapter Fifteen
“Okay, you understand, I don’t want to marry you or anything, right?”
“Oh, doll, I just want to have some fun, no strings attached.”
That’s all Samantha needed to hear. She knew she was still attracted to women, but after talking with Dr. Kline, she had to know if women still found her desirable.
She’d heard rumors around the hospital that this woman would be an easy lay, and as self-serving as it sounded, that’s exactly what Samantha was looking for. So she sought the woman out. All it took was a sweet smile, a hand strategically brushed against her arm, and it wasn’t long before they were behind closed doors, about to make love.
Kate Moore’s reputation preceded her. Executive assistant to the finance director, Kitty-Kat-Kate, as she was known around the coffee maker, loved to lurk the halls of the hospital, looking for her next sexual conquest. The favorite joke of her coworkers was that you’d better lock your chastity belt tight, when Kate was on the prowl, because she didn’t care what sex you were. If she wanted you, she would have you. And what was also well known about the nympho, though not to Samantha, was that Kate loved to kiss and tell, to anyone that would listen.
“Any special request, sweetie?” Kate asked, as she hurriedly undressed and threw her clothes to the side. Kate knew which offices were vacant, and exactly how secluded they were, so she led Samantha to an office on the ninth floor of the hospital.
“The kinkier the better,” Samantha answered flatly.
“Oh, you are not only beautiful, but smart too.”
Kate’s compliment went straight to Samantha’s ego. She had not had that kind of female verbal stimuli, since before she was captured, and she found that suddenly she was craving more of it.
“You think I’m pretty?” She asked innocently, as she slipped off her clothes, letting them fall to the floor. The rush of cool air on her breasts made her nipples harden with anticipation, an anticipation that ignited Kate’s fire.
“Yes!” Kate said, ogling Samantha’s trim fit figure. “Honey, don’t you know how gorgeous you are?” Moving in close, she cupped Samantha’s breast and blew her warm breath across the harden nipple. Samantha felt a quick stirring in her clitoris.
“Okay, I’ve changed my mind. Could you just keep doing what you’re doing and forget the kinky stuff?”
“Want it slow and easy instead, do you?” Kate replied thickly, as she cupped the other breast. “A little tender loving care is my specialty, doll.” Kate squeezed Samantha’s breast as she sucked on the tip.
“Oh!” Samantha drew in a sharp breath, and the tingling in her clit became stronger, more urgent.
“Shh, just relax and enjoy yourself, honey,” Kate encouraged, as she ran her hand down Samantha’s quivering abdomen, and back up to her breasts again, pleased with Samantha’s reactions to her touch. She led her to lie down and then laid on top of her. “You have the most perfectly rounded, large breasts, I have ever seen.”
But Samantha was feeling some discomfort. Not just because her breasts were full of milk in anticipation of feeding her baby, milk that Kate was suckling on with pleasure, a new sensation for her. But also, because the suffocating claustrophobia was quickly enveloping her, cutting off her escape, so that the only option Samantha had left, was to disassociate to a different time and place. She blanked out.
***
Jerry looked at his mother as if she were crazy. “What kind of prank are you trying to pull, Mom? You’ve never been sick a day in your life, unless you count this joke, that is.”
“It’s no joke son. I have cancer.”
Virginia’s face was cold stone sober, and the rising hairs on the back of Yvonne’s neck told her that she wasn’t kidding. She put her hand to her lips and said, “Oh, no.”
“Mom?”
“I’m sorry to tell you this way, son, but I need to make some decisions. If you refuse to take over the business, I need to find someone who will run it like I would.”
“Mom?” Jerry said again, his voice low and shaky.
“I’ve rewritten my will‒‒”
“Stop! Just stop a damn minute. How long have you known, Mother?”
“For a few months.”
“Damn it, Mom! Why didn’t you tell me? And don’t give me some bullshit story about I was too busy. I have a cell phone, email, hell, you could have sent that damn detective to get me.” Jerry threw his napkin on the table and left before she could say anything.
“He’ll be all right, he just needs some time,” Yvonne offered.
“He didn’t give me a chance to explain. It’s not a death sentence. I’m in remission.”
Yvonne looked at her dubiously. “You are two of a kind. He doesn’t tell you about his new job and you don’t tell him about your cancer. Have you two always been this way with each other?”
“You’re strong, and you state the obvious. I like that. And to answer your question, yes, we pretty much have been like that and its worked for the most part.”
“That’s a matter of opinion. Jerry’s so upset that he had to run away from you, and you’re sitting here regretting it,” Yvonne stated simply. She grabbed her purse and stood up, tucking it under her arm. “Personally, I would have thought that being told you have cancer taught you something.”
Virginia watched her walk out and nodded her head. You’re right, my dear, it taught me a lot. It taught me how fragile time is.
***
“Are you very mad at me, darling?” Ellen asked sheepishly.
“For what? For deceiving me? For tricking me back into the OR where you knew I was afraid to go?”
“Um, yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
Joyce smiled, “No, baby-doll. I’m not mad. I know why you did it and I appreciate the lengths you went through to get me in there. You’re the best wife a girl could ask for.” Joyce felt around for Ellen’s hand and pulled it to her lips for a kiss.
“Honey, I was so proud of you. You’ve accomplished so much today. You know I was in the gallery with the interns when you made your speech and they were talking to each other about it.”
“What did they say?”
“Well, one of them thought it was crazy that you were in there at all, but most of them agreed with what you were saying.”
“You know I learned something in there myself,” said Joyce.
“What’s that, honey?”
“I learned that it’s not the end of the world. I can still be useful, still be in surgery, even if I don’t get my eyesight back.”
Thank you, Jesus! “How so, sweetheart?”
“I can teach. One of the interns came up to me after the surgery, and thanked me for my speech. She said she had never considered that smelling a patient’s heart might help her see what she wasn’t seeing. I was very gratified, Ellen. I actually reached someone today, and not in the usual setting either, where I’m their boss in surgery, but where I’m their teacher.”
“But I thought that’s what you were supposed to be doing anyway.”
“You’re right, I just sort of forgot that, and was having more fun bossing them around. But now…”
“What honey?”
“All I ever wanted to do was cut, and all I ever wanted to cut into was the heart. As an intern I had to rotate through a lot of different specialties and I did it begrudgingly, because I knew where the real creativity was. Cutting into a beating heart. But now, now I want to teach other’s to appreciate what they bring to the table and let them learn how to use all their creativity to save the patient.”
“And will you still feel that way when your eyesight comes back?”
Joyce gave it a moment’s thought and said, “Yes, I really think I will.”
“Then you’ll make a wonderful teacher,” Ellen said confidently.
“Are we very far from home? I’ve got some pent up energy I’d like to share with you,” Joyce said with a lecherous slur.
Ellen looked at the smile on her lover’s face and said, “Then my plan to get you out of that bed so I can get you into bed, worked perfectly.” Distracted with Joyce’s laughing face, Ellen didn’t see the drunk driver swerving right toward her. The last thing either of them heard, was the sound of metal crushing metal.
***
“No! Stop! Please, don’t do that!” Samantha was begging for him to stop but he grunted and thrust his shaft into her again, as deep as he could push. The pain was excruciating and she fought him as hard as she could, but he only laughed at her and thrust harder.
“Hey, doll, are you all right?”
“What?” Samantha looked up to find Kate lying on top of her, with one hand on her clit and the other on her breast. “Son of a bitch!” she shouted.
“Hey, I thought you said you didn’t want kinky?” Kate pouted.
Samantha looked at her in disbelief. Then she realized, Kate had no clue that she had blacked out, and she wasn’t about to tell her either. What she wanted was to prove to herself that she was in control, not him. It was her body, not his. She laid there for a moment, looking up at Kate, who looked down at her with confusion on her face. Samantha softened her edginess and put a hand on Kate’s cheek.
“If it’s all the same to you, I need to be on top for this one, okay?” The problem with being the receiver is that your body had no control over the sensations being given to it. She learned that the hard way in Syria, and Samantha desperately needed to be in control.
“Sure, doll, makes no-never-mind to me.” Kate rolled off of her and Samantha positioned herself over her.
At first what she saw was the sand eroded face of her husband, but then she smiled, not at Kate, but at her tormentor. The kind of smile that said, sorry you bastard, you lose this time. Samantha wasted no time in stimulating Kate into a full blown orgasm, ignoring her own tingling needs. And though Kate rode the waves of ecstasy, it was Samantha who came away with a feeling of pure euphoria. She was in control. She decided what to touch, how to touch, and when to touch. Most importantly, she decided when to send Kate into a climax, and that was only after Kate begged her too.
Afterwards, laying with her back against the small office sofa, Samantha contemplated what she had just done. Sure, she’d had h
er share of flings before, but she had never had a one night stand purposely so she could have control over a woman. She appreciated that, though satisfying, it wasn’t what she wanted in the long term scheme of things. It did have dual purposes though. It gave her a confident feeling of having won some of her life back, if only a small part of it. Plus, it was enough to answer her questions about being desirable. Kate found her very desirable indeed, so much so, that she hoped Samantha would become a regular.
“You know, whenever you need some more special care, just come see me, okay?”
Samantha’s first thought was to say that was it, no more. But then her still tingling clitoris convinced her it might not be a bad idea after all. “With no strings attached?”
“No strings, doll, but I can guarantee plenty of fireworks.”
Samantha thought, and maybe I can be the receiver next time.
***
“Oh. My head. What happen?” Joyce felt around and her fingers touched the air bag, which had deployed on impact. She began to panic as she realized they must have been in an accident. “Ellen?” She felt for Ellen, but when she touched her wife’s limp arm, she screamed, “ELLEN!”
Joyce struggled against the seatbelt until she was able to free herself. Then, using her trembling hands as her eyes, she felt her way over to Ellen, who was slumped unconscious against the air bag. Joyce ran her hand over Ellen’s head, cupping her face, willing her to wake up. She tried to feel around to see if Ellen had any wounds, but something was blocking her way. Joyce felt the length of the blockage and realized it was the dashboard, pressing against Ellen’s torso. The driver’s side door was folded in half, holding the dashboard in place. She felt for the steering wheel, but it was not where it was supposed to be. The steering wheel had bent upward and to the left, almost behind the car door. She could tell that the air bag tried to deploy, but even so, it wouldn’t have done Ellen much good. Her legs! Oh God! Joyce frantically felt her way past the dashboard and down to Ellen’s legs, which were still attached. Thank you, God! It didn’t feel like they were trapped under the dashboard, there was room to move them around. But then she felt something warm and sticky, and she knew, Ellen’s leg was bleeding. “Shit!”
Remember, It's Our Honeymoon Page 14
