Christmas Day in LA mid seventies.
Trigger raised his hand to knock and hesitated. Why was he here? He felt responsible for the fact that she'd be alone. It was a guilt he wasn't used to. Vietnam had taught him to live every day as if it was his last - a mantra he held close - but he'd really crapped on his own doorstep by having an affair with his best friend's girl. Worse, while his life had continued, hers had been destroyed in the blink of an eye. Was that the only reason he'd come? He wasn't exactly sure. Although he'd promised Duce not to mention Kelly's name again he couldn't let her spend Christmas Day on her own.
Trigger composed himself and knocked firmly.
"Hello?" Kelly's voice called suspiciously, from behind the closed door.
Trigger grinned. The twelve - no, fourteen - hour long shift had left him fucking exhausted. But the fatigue lifted at the sound of her voice. It
had
been a good idea to come here. He wasn't sure until just now. "It's fuckin Santa Claus," he answered.
As the door flew open. Kelly threw her arms round his neck and squealed with delight. "Merry Christmas!"
"Happy Christmas, TC." Trigger chuckled and hugged her back. "You gonna leave me standing out here like an idiot or invite me in?"
Kelly finally let him go. "Of course. But I wasn't expecting anyone, sorry." She looked embarrassed, moving to one side.
With the practiced ease of a soldier used to quickly assessing any location, Trigger scanned the tiny, bleak room. Single bed, rickety table and fragile looking wooden chairs that reminded him of Saigon. The addition of a kitchenette behind a threadbare beaded curtain was the only indication that they were in the US, not a Southeast Asia hooker's joint.
Trigger dropped his bag and leather jacket on the table, kicked his boots off and jumped onto the bed. The worn springs groaned as he arranged his large frame to lean against the wall where a headboard should have been. In his brief appraisal, it looked to be the only place safe enough to sit.
"I can get you some tea. Sorry I haven't got any coffee," Kelly said moving to the kitchen area.
"Tea'd be good," he agreed, then added a teasing, "Tea and Crumpets."
"How about turkey sandwiches?" she called back from behind the beaded curtain.
He looked at the tobacco stained, bland walls and grimaced. "Yeah, that'd be good. I'm starving." Having been on shift in the hospital since twenty-one hundred, then held up by a trauma coming in, he'd missed breakfast and now felt like he could eat his own arm. As a medic in 'Nam, he was used to hunger when out with his team, but a few years back in LA and his body preferred regular chow.
Kelly came out of the kitchen only a few moments later, carrying a plate with two sandwiches. She set it, and his tea, on the bedside cabinet before sitting on the edge of the bed.
"How did you find me?" she asked sipping from her own mug.
With his mouth full, Trigger grinned at her. "I'm a fuckin commando, I can find anyone." He took another large bite of sandwich. "You not eating?"
She smiled patiently. "It's a bit early for my lunch."
"What your fuckin' Christmas dinner is sandwiches?" he asked, starting on the next one.
"With a camping burner that's about all I can do here," she answered flatly. Then, suddenly, she beamed at him, the smile lighting up her pretty face. "But it's good to see you."
Trigger smiled as she squeezed his lower leg. Finishing his food in a few big bites, he smoothly swung his legs high over her head so that he was sitting next to her.
"Got you a Christmas present." He stood and from his bag pulled out a flat parcel, wrapped in brown paper. He handed it to Kelly, before picking up his mug of tea and propping a shoulder against the wall.
"Oh no, you shouldn't have." Kelly dropped her head, embarrassed again. "I don't have anything to give you."
He shrugged. "Gifts are not a business transaction," he assured her, happy when she looked up smiling. "Are you gonna open it?"
Carefully, Kelly started tearing the paper. She stopped and threw her hand to her mouth. When she took her hand away, she was biting her lower lip, chin trembling. Freeing the picture from the paper, she lightly traced her finger over it.
Kelly looked up at him, her eyes glistening with unfallen tears. "It's-it's perfect." She sat staring at the small, lifelike portrait he had painted of her old dog and the tears silently made their way down her cheeks.
"It's meant to make you happy, not cry," he said, watching her with a frown.
Kelly stood up and placed the picture on the bed, then wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. "Thank you. Thank you,Trigger. It's the most amazing present I've had. Thank you."
"Don't think that's saying much," he chuckled, before realising it was probably the only thing she'd been given. "Why the hell are you still in LA?" he asked, patting her back absentmindedly as she clung to him.
She let him go and looked up. "I'm just working until I can afford to move on." Her smile was half-hearted. "Got a Christmas job. I'll go when it's over."
Trigger knew all about the 'Santa Sleigh Rides' in the park; Kelly dressed as a little green elf leading two antler-wearing ponies around, while 'Santa' sat in the back of the carriage fleecing gullible tourists. When he'd found out, he had made it his mission to get to the park by midnight, unseen.
Covert tracking skills weren't ones he expected to use back in the U.S. but the streets of LA were a different jungle. The image of Kelly's body bloodied and broken was enough to crush any idea he was stalking her. It helped him mitigate the guilt. It had taken two to tango but Kelly wasn't street savvy and now she was on her own. At least this way he made sure she got home alive, even if Kelly never knew he was there.
"What's your plan for the rest of the day?" Kelly asked, bringing Trigger's focus back to her as she picked up her tea and sat on the bed, still staring at the picture. "Is Duce doing you all a massive meal?"
Trigger's jaw ticked at the mention of his friend's name and the complete lack of feeling in Kelly's eyes as she said it, but he knew how to roll with the punches. "I can't stomach all the memory lane shit even when I'm stone cold sober," he replied smoothly. "I'm back on shift at eighteen hundred. Just enough time to get some shut eye before patching up every fucker who decides to hack their fingers off with an electric carving knife."
Kelly giggled. "You make it sound like such fun. Almost as exciting as my Christmas reading a book in here." She picked up the picture and carried it over to the table, propping it against the wall. Then she stood in front of Trigger, gently took his empty mug and leaned over to put it on the bedside cabinet. She raised up on tiptoe and kissed him lightly. "How about something more fun?" She caught his hand to draw him towards the bed.
That wasn't what he came here for and last time it had been a bad idea BUT... no commitments now. He grinned, letting her push him so he was sitting on the edge.
"Now you're talking." He wasn't stupid enough to turn down a hot girl and they weren't hurting anyone.
She straddled his lap, resting on her knees. Meeting her dancing eyes, he felt his groin stirring. His smile widened and more blood pooled when she lightly rolled her slim hips, rubbing against him.
"This'll be my present to you," she offered, low and sultry.
Her lips rested on his again, softly teasing, requesting permission to enter. He met her willingly, deepening the kiss as their tongues danced. With a light kiss on the corner of his mouth, she withdrew and trailed her lips along his jaw until they grazed his ear.
His breathing deepened as her warm wet breath caressed, whispering in his ear, "I take it you've got some...protection, because I don't."
He ran a hand through her long blonde hair. "Back pocket, baby."
Catching his breath, he felt her delicate hand tracing under his shirt, across his back and working into the pocket of his jeans. She slowly withdrew the condoms as her hips rolled and stroked him with her crotch. It wasn't what he had expected. He hadn't spoken to her since the night she had left, nearly two months ago. But she was right, this was a better way to spend Christmas. Holding her small waist, he dropped onto his back and lifted his legs up so that she was sitting astride him.
As soon as he let go, Kelly pulled her t-shirt over her head. Trigger reached up to stroke her glorious breasts encased in a simple black bra, but she surprised him by pushing firmly on his chest.
"No touching. You just lie back. This is your Christmas present from me," she said firmly, her sweet voice dripping with lust.
