first I had to get Terry out of my system, my mind, and yes, my heart.
Captain wasn’t kind with his words to me and told me that I was to watch my step around base; that he would be watching me.
CHAPTER 3
I woke to the sound of my alarm clock. I forced myself to look over at my nightstand and there they were, the bold numbers telling me that I was only thirty minutes away from losing my job, or worse, being court-martialed.
I pushed the toys out of my way, threw the remote at the TV, probably breaking something in the process, and quickly jumped into my fatigues. There was no time for a shower and, while tossing out everything in my dresser drawer from socks to head scarves, I realized I hadn’t washed clothes in almost two weeks. I thought about rummaging through my dirty clothes hamper for underwear, but the heat and stank panties wasn’t going to happen. I stepped out into the August summer only having washed my face and brushed my teeth.
“Oh, well, it’ll have to do.”
I did a quick jog to the other side of the base and walked into class two minutes late.
The officer was standing at the front of class, facing the chalkboard. I wanted to thank the heavens above; his ass was fit for a magazine. My nipples stood to attention.
“Good Lord, help me survive this class.”
“Excuse me?”
“No, no, no, this is not happening, I did not say that out loud.” He couldn’t have heard me; his back was to the class. With myhead down and on a serious mission to find a seat, I heard his footsteps.
“Indeed, you did, officer.”
Before I could slide into my seat, the man was standing directly in front of me. I raised my head and my hand in salute. When I looked up, I was face-to-face with Lieutenant Terry Williams. “Oh, no.”
Terry looked at my very erect nipples, pretending his eyes were on my name tag.
“Officer Sanders, get to the front of the class.” All I could do was follow his orders.
Standing in front of the twenty-something cadets who were fresh out of boot camp, with my breasts screaming to be suckled, was embarrassing as hell and Terry knew it. But he wouldn’t smile; he hardly looked at my face. Then it dawned on me; he was upset.
It had nothing to do with me being late, and everything to do with me cutting out of Texas like a thief in the night.
“Officer Sanders, please tell the class why you’re late.” I opened my mouth but he shut it for me. “No, don’t tell them; show them how we do fifty push-ups while you give them your job description.”
I didn’t dare hesitate; I wouldn’t challenge him because I knew what would happen. Terry wouldn’t hesitate to write me up. He stood over me the entire time; he even had the nerve to put his foot on my back for a couple of those push-ups.
“I control the route and the terminals used for air traffic.”
Up, then down.
“And what else, Officer?”
Up and down I went, seven more times before I caught mybreath and summoned the strength to proceed. “I do this using visual, radar, and non-radar means.”
Oh, God, I thought he was trying to kill me in the process of punishing me. “I supervise and manage air traffic control, better known as ATC, and its facilities.”
Finally, I had finished both the job description and the pushups while the pimple-faced cadets took pleasure in my pain.
When I stood to go back to my seat, he hit me on the ass, causing the class to burst into laughter.
• • •
All day Terry called on me to answer the questions from the manual he used to teach the newbies. He drilled me, challenged my answers, and insulted me when I couldn’t solve a problem. By the time class was dismissed, I was more than ready for another emergency transfer.
“Class, that’s it. Pick up your details out front. Petty Officer Sanders, I need to see you, now.” The rest of the class filed out while I stood in place, afraid to move.
I was nervous; scared even. I began to make my way to the front but Terry told me to go to