by George Nagle
The journey home took a mere twenty minutes because of the late hour. As James pulled into the parking space, he saw the light on in the apartment that had become his and Carissa’s only a few months earlier. She was certainly staying awake late to see him. Her day would have started very early, but they both knew that once she was asleep, there was little chance of waking her.
“Seeping Beauty,” James called her. Whenever she heard him say this, she would reply, “Well, now, where is me prince to wake me then, as your kiss doesn’t.”
The sass made him smile.
“Hello, Love, how was your trip?” Carissa stifled a yawn and rose from the sofa to greet him as James opened the door.
“Hi Risa,” James set down his bags and closed the door, then turned and kissed her.
They stared at each other, holding the moment, before resuming their normal manner of just enjoying one another’s company. Theirs was different from most relationships, and James truly valued how they expressed their love, but didn’t go on and on about it in some overly dramatized manner.
“The trip was okay, aside from the layovers. I’m just glad to be home. How was your day?”
“Ah, had a bit of a toss with the system this morning that caused some issues, but nothing we couldn’t solve with a spot of help from a new consultant,” she started. “And then there were some odd lads hanging about outside a good portion of the afternoon. One came in about half past three to exchange some £10 for coin. Sara had tae come get me tae get him tae remove his sunglasses, you know. Odd, but no worries. Oh, and Rian, you know Susan’s boy, had a nasty turn and is in a cast now. Broken wrist, poor thing.”
She paused a moment and gave him a look. “You have tae be tired. Did you manage any sleep on the flights? By the look of you, I would say no then. Are you hungry?” she said in her natural rambling way, though she seemed to be restraining herself out of consideration for him.
“I’m fine, but yes, tired. I didn’t sleep, but that isn’t all that different. I ate just before I left Amsterdam. Just want to get a shower before bed. I’m shattered,” said James, truly exhausted now that he was home. He smiled at her, knowing she was tired too.
“Why don’t you get to bed, and I’ll be in soon.” He walked his bags to the bedroom as Carissa followed.
“Well, be quick as poss,” she said, grabbing him and kissing him good night. She knew she wouldn’t last the few minutes it would take James to shower, and he knew it too.
“Good night, sassy lassie,” he said as his fingers gently slipped from her shoulders.
As he showered, he thought about her description of her day, but was distracted by a slight acidy smell, almost like something decaying. For some reason, the same feeling he got when things were about to happen came over him. It was strange, to have that feeling in the shower in his own home.
Perhaps it was the thirty hours he’d been awake, or the anticipation of the jetlag he always got when traveling east by more than four hours. Or perhaps it was what would happen that weekend, or just the relief of finally being home after all that had happened.
A few minutes later, James smiled to himself as he quietly got into bed and lay listening to the gentle sounds of Carissa breathing. Within moments, the rhythmic pulsing of the fan blades had lulled him to sleep, too.
***
The vibrations from Carissa’s side of the bed came all too soon. As she always had trouble waking, James had created a device that would shake her side of the bed when set to an alarm. She typically needed a solid five minutes of shaking and then a very loud alarm clock to get her to stir properly.
James was in the middle of a long dream when the vibrations woke him. This annoyed him, but not as much as the headache he was now getting from the jetlag. He lay there, dreading the alarm, but it didn’t go off that morning. Luckily, Carissa rose quickly.
“Good morning, my love, I will be quick and quiet as poss, then. Go back tae sleep.” She ran her hand over his head as she left the bed. Her touch was as soothing a feeling as any he had ever known.
Fifty minutes later, he heard her depart. She made every effort to be quiet, but that wasn’t really her strong suit. Feeling he could finally get back to sleep, James decided to set an alarm for a few hours later. He wanted to get up and get a workout in. The endorphins would help him work through the jet lag. Plus, he needed to check on the arrangements for tomorrow. Unfortunately, his bladder was in need of relief, so that needed addressing before going back to sleep.
Slumping off to the bathroom, James let out a loud yawn before making use of the toilet. After flushing and turning to rinse his hands, he got that faint odor again. He started to look for the source when his cell phone rang. It was Carissa’s ring tone, so he answered.
“Hello, Risa,” he said, a slight crack to his voice.
“Sorry to wake you, Love, though I was sure you weren’t back asleep yet.”
James smiled. She knew him well.
“I forgot tae tell you something. Well, truth be, I just didn’t want tae bother you last night then, you know. But the telly is on the blink. I missed me shows last night. Can you have a look then, please? It just stays black, the picture, and I would like tae see that documentary tonight.” As was customary for her, she said this all quickly, as if getting off the phone would make it easier for him to get back to sleep.
“I’ll give it a go. I’m going to try to get a session of weights in before taking a nap. See you tonight then.” James turned off the alarm, having returned to the bedroom, feeling he might as well stay up and fix the television and start the day.
“Bye, Love,” came Carissa’s voice as he hung up.
It turned out she’d somehow managed to unplug the TV from the power strip.
The TV turned on when plugged in and a news caster said “. . . has been missing for two weeks now. She is the daughter of the long time congress. . .” James turned it off.
Normally this would annoy him, but with Carissa, it just made him laugh. Details were not her strong suit in most everyday things, but somehow when it came to math and bank ledgers, she was as keen as could be.
She had risen quickly within the Royal Bank of Scotland and was on a fast track. Her coworkers adored her, and she had great relationships with customers. Everyone seemed to love her, and James constantly felt lucky to have her. For the life of him, he didn’t see what Risa saw in him, but he didn’t care, either. He was happy and in love.
James went to make some food, but quickly found they were out of eggs and bacon. He didn’t want cereal with milk before going to the gym. After finding his gym clothes and making a protein shake, he was off.
At the front desk, he greeted Janie.
“Hi there, stranger. Had another long trip?” she asked as James handed her his identification.
“How did you know?” James asked.
“Well, you haven’t been here in as many months, it’s the middle of the morning, and to be honest, you look a bit worked over, lad,” she said with a smile.
“Is that your way of saying I look like hell in a hand basket, then?” James said.
“Yep.” Janie smiled, handed him a towel, and returned to her work.
“How goes finding a lad of your own?” James asked with a slight smirk, knowing full well that Janie was a lesbian.
“Har, har, har,” she replied, looking up at him and giving him a rather rude hand gesture that made James chuckle as he walked away.
The gym was a fair size with an indoor pool that connected via the women’s and men’s locker rooms. The locker rooms were set up in large stall areas with double-stacked wood cabinets for lockers, giving each stall about fifty lockers. The shower area/toilets were nearest the pool entrances. James tended to quickly look for the areas with the least amount of people changing, but also with the most locks so that, at least in theory, he could get ready without a lot of people casually loafing around and getting underfoot. Like many things, gym time was work time for James, not social
hour.
The gym was a single level with racquetball courts on the far left, while cardio equipment stood in rows in front of the courts. A mixture of equipment organized by muscle group stood in front of the dance studio and basketball court that made up the far right wall. Toward the back, were walls lined with mirrors, free lifting weights, and machines that utilized manual plates. It was a relatively new gym, built in the last year, part of a franchise from the U.S. that attempted to keep its facilities within three potential designs.
For James, this was leg day. He reminded himself of the saying, “Friends don’t let friends skip leg day.” After last week, he clearly needed to build more leg and lower back strength. Then again, if he was walking away from all that, what did it matter?
Sixty five minutes of squats, lunges, presses, step-ups, abductors, adductors, and calf raises later, James didn’t feel his best as he made his way back to the locker room. He hadn’t even finished his last set of calves. He sat down on the bench that split the middle stall where his locker was and instantly downed half of the protein shake. He sat for a minute and felt better.
After finishing the shake, stripping down, and grabbing his towel, he noticed that a man wearing sunglasses had walked in and was looking around. James headed to the showers, but once again, he had that strange feeling that something was off. Simultaneously, he noted that faint acidy odor again. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what that was.
Upon returning to get dressed, the odd fellow was gone, and James felt much better. Back home, before taking his nap, he called Paradise Stadium to speak with Larry, who was helping him get everything in place for the next day.
“Hi, is Mr. Flent there, please?” he asked the young woman who answered the phone with a cheerful “Thank you for calling the home of the Celtic, how may I assist you?”
“One mo’ please, sir, I will check to see if he is in,” she replied, and a few seconds later Larry was on the line.
“Oops.”
James heard a banging sound, then “Damn!” followed by, “Sorry ‘bout that, dropped the phone, right, ‘ello this is Larry Flent.” He spoke rapidly, with a strong Scottish accent.
“No worries, mate, this is John Boyd, how does the day find you?” asked James, silently laughing.
“John, mate! Cheers. Back home, then? O’course you are. All set for tomorrow then, eh?” exclaimed Larry.
“That’s what I was ringing you about,” replied James. “We have everything in place as we discussed?”
“Ah, yeah, no worries t’all mate, won’t be a trouble in the world. I will have the chef on board and have the wait staff know what we got brewing, Mr. Stewart will be there, and we can get the team to help out after the match. You done your part, then? You picked out the ring and ‘ave it and all?” said Larry.
“I’m all set here, thanks, mate. Just wanted to make sure you’re all set,” answered James.
“Could I get a current picture of you two, so we can know we have the right bloke and lass then?” Larry asked.
“Yes, sure enough. I will send it in a fax if that is all right?”
“Yer, no worries. Thanks again for paying up front in cash and all. This should go down well with the boss after some messes up I had a few weeks’ past. But this one, I have planned out and will go smooth, promise mate.
James felt a little less than reassured, but he didn’t let Larry know that. “Right, thanks, Larry. Tomorrow is going to be a great day, and I seriously appreciate all the efforts, mate. I’ll chat with you later, then.”
“Yeah, alright then, cheers,” said Larry.
James lay down to take a much-deserved nap.
Just then, the phone rang. James listened to the ring tone and picked it up.
“Hey, Risa.”
“How was your workout?” she asked.
“Good, thanks, did legs. How is your day going?” James inquired.
“Not bad, just getting things going for the property’s office. So for dinner tonight, would you like tae go tae a new pizza place? Sara was telling me about it then, and it is a make your own pizza with a lot of add ons. I am really craving pizza, oh and blue cheese, oooh, and capers. The chair in my office broke today as well—it won’t lean back properly. And this cute old couple walked into today whilst Sara was training the new lad to make deposits for their grandchildren, which is just so sweet.”
Carissa said all of this in her normal way, to which James replied, “That’s fine. Odd topping choice, especially for you, but pizza sounds great. Ask Jim to give the chair a look, and yes, that’s sweet. Risa, I was going to catch a quick lay down and …”
“Oh, you should do that, sorry, Love, but good then on dinner. Talk when I get home. Love you,” she said quickly.
“Love you, too. See you tonight.” James hung up the phone and collapsed just as the phone rang again. It was Risa.
Ugh. “Hello?”
“Sorry, Love, forgot tae tell you what I called to start. I will be a bit late tonight, have to make a stop and check on something, but really shouldn’t be more than an hour or so.”
“Right,” said James through a pillow.
“Sweet dreams,” Carissa said and hung up. This time, James shut his phone off.
***
The pizza parlor was very nice indeed. The center was the cook’s area and visible to the customers. A doubled-sided brick oven with multiple layers cooked the pizza. Carissa’s friend had been right about the topping selection; you really could get just about anything you wanted.
“So can I get the small pizza, with the variety cheese, plus blue cheese and sliced prime rib with onions and capers too, please? Oh, but I also want this bacon pizza. Look John, it has two cheeses and four kinds of bacon, but I really want the other too, but ...”
“Risa, how about I get the bacon pizza and you get the other and we can share?” The waitress looked a bit dumbfounded as Carissa went through all this.
“Oh yes, then, good idea,” and she leaned in to kiss him. James leaned in to meet her halfway and noticed in a reflection in his water glass what seemed to be a very short man staring at them. Thinking it would be rude not to finish the kiss, he did so, but quickly looked behind him when they broke apart.
No one was there except a kid dancing in his seat and drawing with crayons, and James dismissed what he’d seen in the water glass. It must have been the kid.
The evening passed uneventfully, unless you counted Carissa eating her entire pizza, of which James got one bite, and a third of his.
Climbing into bed later, after making up for lost time with Carissa on the couch, reminiscent of the night before he’d left for Operation Joshua, James felt excited for the next day, a day he would never forget, as this would be the first day of the rest of his life with the person he loved.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The next day started just like the one before. This was a little odd, as Carissa was never the first up. When James awakened and came out of the bedroom, she greeted him with a big smile and a kiss. She immediately pushed him away, saying, “Ewww, go brush your teeth, eck,” before patting him on the backside as he walked away.
“And don’t be coming back out with that ‘morning problem’ not sorted. We have tae be going soon and don’t have time for that, but you know, later we can have some fun.”
James couldn’t help but laugh. After he showered, he looked in the mirror, very happy that today would be the last time he would have to place these fake cosmetics on his face. Today would be the last day she called him John. Today, he would finally let someone completely in to his life and his heart.
While at home in the States, in addition to seeing his parents and Todd, he had made the needed arrangements to have everything, and he meant everything, settled. He was done with any new operations, done living a crazy life. He was going out on top. He would advise on operations for the kids with the major and his team, but that was the end of it. All he had left to do now was transfer the files, and
that would be at the top of the list of things he would take care of tomorrow.
Today was all about focusing on Carissa and his marriage proposal. He felt confident that she would say yes, but it wouldn’t hurt to wait until after she knew everything to release that old life.
Carissa finished getting ready while James double checked that he had the tickets and ring. He felt slightly nervous, just like he had at the start of Operation Joshua.
No doubt, it was all the change coming. It was a lot, even for him, and that feeling that something was coming right at him was legitimate. Something was coming, and it was going to be wonderful.
James smiled and called out, “Nearly ready then?”
“Just a mo’,” called Carissa from the bathroom.
They were off five minutes later, heading toward the Celtic match. As they drove, they had a lively debate about their anniversary date.
“You are mad. How can you claim that today is an anniversary? You yourself say that tomorrow’s date is the date we went to the match,” Carissa said, her hands bouncing up and down.
“Aye, I do, but that doesn’t stop today being an anniversary for us,” said James. He knew what she was getting at, and he was really just having a bit of fun with her.
“What? You admit you are wrong, then?” she said, looking at him funny. “Need to write that down as a real event, we do.”
She dug in her bag as James laughed. She got out her organizer and wrote down, “John finally admits he is wrong about something.” She said the words out loud as she wrote, then looked up and smiled. “We will have to celebrate this day, now.”
“We have to celebrate it for a different reason—it’s our anniversary,” James said slyly.
Carissa tapped him on the head with the organizer. “You have gone around the twist.”
“Risa, today is the day we met. Just like this morning, you hit my backside a year ago today. Tomorrow is just the anniversary of our first date, my love,” James said softly.
