Authors: Brittany White
Trent smiled. “You are really the greatest girl who a guy could ever find. How the hell did I miss out on these last 20 years? Sometimes I am such an idiot!” He laughed.
Kimberly laughed on the other side of the phone. He had to wonder if the Captain was an acquaintance of Kimberly’s dad. For the first time since yesterday he felt like his chances of staying in the military was good.
“You are an idiot at times dear. I love you though idiot part and all!”
Trent looked up as he heard Melissa’s phone buzz. “Hey I think I have to go. I love you and I’ll call you soon!”
“Okay love you too Trent!” He heard her say as he took the phone away from his ear.
“He would like to see you again.” Melissa said to Trent.
He got up and entered the Captain’s office. “Sit down Senior Petty.” The Captain said.
Trent took a seat. His stomach clinched up on itself. He hadn’t been this nervous since he had first asked Kimberly out.
“You know this meeting could have been a lot shorter if you had told me about you and Ms. Sanks engagement.” The Captain looked at Trent seriously.
“I’m sorry sir; I didn’t realize it might have benefits at that point.” Trent admitted.
The Captain smiled and said. “He said Kimberly had told him that when she talked to him last night.” He laughed. “Jake and I have been buddies since our days at the Academy together. Your fine no problems and the rules are being rewritten as of now. “
What are you kidding me? She knew when I talked to her it would be okay.” Trent shook his head.
“No she didn’t Jake told me that he wouldn’t interfere in this unless you told me something. He wasn’t taking any steps to help. He said Kimberly wouldn’t have it any other way. He also told me that she said to tell you that you would understand that statement now.”
He shook his head. “Yes sir I do understand it. I know I have the greatest wife in the world. It won’t be a long wait either. I love that woman.”
Trent walked out of the office and headed straight to Kimberly. She was waiting outside for him and as he approached she ran to him and jumped in his arms.
“Hey watch the PDA
lieutenant
.” He stated.
“Hell with those rules, we’ll get them changed one day if we can! Plus I’m not in uniform. I just look like the wife who is very happy to see her husband home. Now come in because I’m going to welcome you home in another way.” Kimberly pulled him in through the door and shut it behind them!
THE END
Desired by the biker
Derrick Jonas slowed down as the figure grew closer in the distance. It was a nasty night out, hell if he wasn’t trying to get away so badly he wouldn’t even be out on a night like this. The rain was coming down in folds, as if the skies had opened up and a bucket was being poured down to earth. Why was this person out on the side of the road on a night like this? Derrick wasn’t positive until he was almost stopped and about 20 feet from the figure that it was actually a person and not simply a figment of his imagination.
“What are you doing out here?” He said, looking at the soaked figure in front of him. Her hair was long and brown; it was wet, hanging over her eyes. Derrick looked closer at her, he barely could make out her dark brown eyes, but he saw fear in them.
“Hey, are you okay?” He asked her, walking towards her now that he had parked his bike.
She looked up finally, realizing there was another person with her now. Derrick saw a small spark of fear in her eyes, and she began to back up.
“I’m not going to hurt you. It’s okay. Come on; let’s get out of this weather.” He waited to move toward her though.
It took a few minutes before she seemed to decide he was okay. But she didn’t move towards him, instead her shoulders slumped in and she began to fall forward. Derrick moved quickly to make sure she didn’t fall, grabbing her a second before she sunk into the wet floor of the waiting ground. He picked her up and carried her to his bike.
“Look I’m going to need you to hang onto me so you don’t fall off.” He looked into her eyes, waiting for some kind of response that she understood. She shook her head, but he wasn’t sure, so instead of putting her behind him, he placed her in front of him.
Derrick started up the bike, hoping that there was some shelter coming up soon. This girl looked soaked to death, and scared along with it. There was a little part of his mind screaming out, don’t take her anywhere, leave her there, let whatever will happen, happen.
It was the good guy in him that won out in the end though, the one that had been hidden for many years now. But there was no way he would be able to continue down the road, leaving this helpless young woman there, without help, or shelter.
As he drove his mind kicked into overdrive, and he began to wonder. The questions came at him with a force so great; he almost had to yell out for them to stop. Who is she? Why is she out there near the forest, on the side of the road? What is she so scared about? Too many questions and no time to ask them, at least not right now, maybe later.
He saw the hotel come out of the tapestry of rain as he got a few miles up the road. Derrick began to pull over and felt the girl tense up a bit. “I have to stop; it is too dangerous to drive right now.” The rain had begun to come down even harder in the past few seconds. Derrick knew his bike well enough, and his skills to know that there was no way that what he was doing was safe.
The girl shook her head in response. Derrick pulled in and got off the bike, then lifted her, setting her on the ground. She stood on her own, though a bit precariously. He wrapped his arm around her slight frame and felt her body tremble.
“Come on; let’s get out of the rain and cold.” He pulled her towards the restaurant that was beside the hotel. Even though he really wanted a bed and some much needed sleep, he knew this girl would think he was trying to do something bad to her.
The waitress placed them near the back of the restaurant, which was perfect for Derrick. He loved being out of the way, away from where he could easily be spotted. When the waitress came back for their order, Derrick got them both some coffee. The girl looked like she needed something to help warm up her body, and Derrick knew that and the caffeine were something he would be able to handle as well.
“So you want to tell me what you were doing out there?” Derrick said looking into the dark brown eyes of his unknown guest.
As she sat there, he studied her more closely. Her face was nice, but she wasn’t striking, however, there was a strange pull in his body. Her mouth was small and pleasant; it was also a bit crooked. There were many contradictions to her. A mixture of beauty, and something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on. At least that was the only thing Derrick could compare how she looked.
Maybe she had been hit in the past, and those were old scars that had healed, leaving a permanent mark on her skin, and her soul. But Derrick still waited for her to answer, until that point it was all just guesses.
Her voice was so low when she started talking Derrick almost missed it. Thought it was the music playing from the juke box, or anything else, except her voice.
“He left me there. He said he was done with me once and for all, that I would never see him again.” Tears began to stream down her face. She stopped talking and just looked as the tears rolled; there was no sound with the tears though.
Derrick knew that state, it was one where you had cried so much about an event that you had no emotion left, but the tears just wouldn’t stop. He wished he could hug her, comfort her even, but knew it would be too forward.
Instead Derrick looked down at the table and allowed his mind to float back to the time in his life that had been normal. It seemed like a lifetime ago, even though it had only been a few years. Those years he had been happy, living a normal life, one that had him smiling each and every morning he woke up. He would gladly go back to those days, but they were too far away now.
It hit him like it did every time he would think back, the pain and anguish was always quick to replace the feeling of happiness he would first feel when he thought back. Now it was a mixture of shame, anger, grief, depression, and a bit more anger in the mix.
Had he done it differently, would he be where he was right now? It was part of the overall process of his grieving during this memory. He thought he had considered every option there was in this situation, but maybe the right one hadn’t come to his mind yet. So he would scour every recess of his mind to think of the other things that he might have done all those years ago.
What would he do with that new plan though? It wasn’t like he could turn back time and go to that one fatal night. No so why did he do it each and every time? Derrick often chastised himself about this type of thinking, but he would never change the pattern. Each time he would do this to himself, each and every step was the same, however, that didn’t mean he ever stopped it.
If he sat long enough he could see her long brown hair flowing behind her as they rode in the car. She was so beautiful, so much of his heart belonged to her, that after all this time just the memory of her would make it ache. Tears threatened to escape from his eyes, but he would stop them. It had been too long; he shouldn’t even waste his time on this. But he had to do it.
She had turned to smile at him and say something; he had looked over at her too. Taken his eyes off the road, only for a split second, but that had been long enough. Derrick tried to turn the memory off, stop it; he didn’t want to see anymore.
He cleared his mind, and looked up at the girl sitting across from him. He wondered what her story was, why had this guy simply left her on the side of the road.
Derrick took a deep breath in, trying to stop the memory that was trying to push the way to the front of his mind. He couldn’t do it right now, there was no way. He wasn’t ready to live the rest of that night, not right here, not now. It took him several minutes to compose himself enough that he could look up at her once again.
He looked up and saw her brown eyes, shinning, and staring right at him. She was studying him, he felt raw and open, like she could see into his inner core. He felt a blast of quick shame, and looked down to shake his head once again.
There weren’t many people who would ever see that part of him, in fact he couldn’t think of one. But he had not been paying attention. Had wanted to give her the time she needed to think of her pain, relive her past. Derrick had taken too long in his own past though, and she had finished hers. After all it was much fresher for her, it had happened recently, today even.
I know how this feels, Derrick thought to himself. Maybe I can help her. But he knew he shouldn’t do it. Instead he should simply pay for her coffee, give her a few dollars and leave her there. She would eventually find her way back to wherever she was from. It really wasn’t his problem, and he should just stay out of it.
But he looked back up at her, and saw the flash of pain in her eyes. Was it for him or for her? He wasn’t sure. But he saw the compassion that also came across her eyes. It had been so long since he had seen that look. It made him tingle inside. The good guy in him won the battle at that very moment. He wouldn’t be able to walk away and ever live with himself. It would be too much on what already weighed deeply on his soul.
“What is your name?” He asked her. Finally bringing his mind around enough that he could focus on the reality of what was in front of him.
“Mackenzie, Mac for short.” She said.
Derrick studied Mac a bit closer. He still saw a little bit of fear in her eyes, but not near as much, now that they were inside. “That’s an odd nickname for a girl.”
“I grew up with three brothers and they treated me like a boy too. So needless to say they gave me a boy’s name. It stuck through the years, and I’m so used to it I never changed it.
“Why were you out on the road?” Derrick asked, trying to not push her too quickly. Hoping he could learn enough about her that he would know he was making the right choice.
She looked down for a second, he knew that look, it was the one where you were trying to consider what parts of a story to share, and what to hold back. He watched her take a deep breath, and look up. It had been his turn to study, he knew how to read people well, he had always known, but had gotten much better at it in these past years.
“I wanted too much from him. He wasn’t willing to give it, he’s a bad man. He really is, but I thought I could change him. I should have listened, should have stopped pushing. But I didn’t learn. It was too much, too far, and he had enough of me.” Mac said her eyes glazed over; Derrick was sure she was reliving the event.
“But why did he leave you on the road?” Derrick asked.
“I told him I wanted to get married. If he didn’t marry me I was done with him. I couldn’t do it anymore.” Mac sighed.