Semper Fi

The woman waited the five minutes for Nair to do its work and then rinsed it off, finishing her shower, paying close attention to her auburn hair as she rubbed out the last of her night's sleep.

Drying off with the softest towel she had, she stood in front of the bathroom's heater and brushed off her hair until it regained its natural curly bounce.

Moving into her bedroom, she put on her dress blues uniform. Her father deserved nothing less and this would be the last time she saw him as his burial was in two hours. She stood in front of her full-length mirror, adjusting her colonel's uniform and six medals for various actions over the last fifteen years, lastly putting on her diamond stud earrings.

The front door bell rang. Even though she was expecting it, it still startled her as it broke the morning's silence.

The colonel walked into the living room and opened the door, allowing her driver to come in out of the spring rain. He saluted, following military protocol even though they had come to a friendly understanding between the two and in a different lifetime might have even been lovers.

"Good morning, Colonel. Are you ready to..." The man stopped, realizing that this was no ordinary journey. He held her to him, lightly touching his lips to hers.

"I'm ready," she answered, "let's go get my mother."

*****

Mrs. Ripp was waiting for her daughter to pick her up for the funeral and in the background she had her husband's favorite music playing and as the Beach Boys segued into Jan and Dean's "Surf City" she saw her daughter approach up the driveway. Off came the music and she locked up her home and embraced the other woman, tears flowing once again for the loss.

"Mama, I'm..." was all the colonel could say, as she embraced the older woman who despite being fifty-nine had looks that denied her age.

*****

"And so, today, we lay to rest one of America's heroes who sacrificed his life for us all, the ultimate sacrifice..."

The military salute fired their rifles twenty-one times and the coffin was slid into its place in the mausoleum. Although there had been a spot at Arlington Mrs. Ripp wanted him nearby, knowing that one day she would be joining him.

Colonel Ripp had a week's off for personal reasons and spent the time at her mother's house or taking her to dinner at various restaurants that her parents enjoyed over the years. Robert Mondavi Cabernet was a good choice for the memory to go with the rib eye that her parents had always had.

By the time the week was over, Colonel Ripp had returned to her apartment to discover a messenger from the Pentagon who, after saluting, handed over a set of orders sending her to Europe... NATO, to be exact, in Brussels, Belgium. Included with the new orders was a promotion to USMC one star general.

She wondered if she could take her driver with her, not wanting to leave him behind. Their relationship was more important to her than the promotion,

The colonel took out her phone and called her mother. "Guess what?" she asked. "I've been promoted to general," she explained, "in Europe. Want to come with me? Please say yes."

There was silence from her mother.

"Mother... answer me, please."

"I don't know what to say," said the older woman, surprised at how her life had changed in the course of two weeks... and now, Europe.

"All right," she said, "when do we leave?"

"Early next week. I'm going to arrange for a Gulfstream that has the range to get there without a problem. We're going to Brussels and you can visit France and Germany and the Netherlands and England. It's going to be fun."

She didn't know how much free time she would have but John, her driver and bodyguard, could take care of the old lady if necessary. Then she thought again, it wasn't fair to call her mother old, she was as lively as anyone she knew.

Gulfstream G800 was her choice as its range was enough to go from Washington, DC, to Europe nonstop. And so, two days later, the three of them flew to Europe, with John, her driver and bodyguard, promoted to lieutenant. He had brought along ten cases of A&W for her, unsure if they could find it in Europe. She slept most of the flight, the hiss of the jet engines lulling her to sleep.

*****

The now General Ripp was assigned to the Nuclear Non-proliferation segment of NATO due to her degrees in Physics and Biology and several days later arranged for an apartment near headquarters for the three of them.

John got an armored Mercedes for their use and found a garage suitable for it. He spent his free time memorizing maps and roadways, determined to keep his charges as safe as possible. His biggest fear was the jihadists and their suicidal tendencies.

John obtained an M16 from the American Embassy military contingent of the Marine Corps, wanting something more powerful than just a 9mm hand weapon. He took it to the embassy's pistol range to familiarize himself with the rifle's idiosyncrasies.

John had lunch with the Marines of the embassy after he had finished his practice. Sitting next to him was a female Marine, lieutenant by rank, who was trying her best to interest him in her. John would have been interested if it wasn't for his personal feelings for the general. The problem was he didn't know if he would ever be able to do anything about it. As long as he stayed in the Marines it was impossible.

He knew that tomorrow he was taking Mrs. Ripp shopping at the Royal Gallery famous for its glass ceiling and checked to see that he had the general's credit card in his wallet. He had already gotten his service uniform cleaned and pressed and his 9mm was in his shoulder holster, not wishing to make his armament obvious to the public.

Later that afternoon he visited the general's new office at NATO's headquarters and asked how she was doing.

"I'm fine," she greeted him as he knocked on the office door. "How are you?"

"I'm good, just checking in to make sure that tomorrow is still on and what you want me to do."

"Just have mom a good time. You can leave me here in the morning and take her to the mall and then get me about oh eighteen hundred. I should be finished by then, I hope."

She looked at the paperwork on her desk. "You can bring mom here and give her the nickel tour if I'm not."

John looked into the hallway and seeing no one there, reached out and held her hand. "I miss you," he said quietly. "I..."

"I know," she answered, holding his hand in hers. "I hope you have a nice time tomorrow. There's a good chance she'll keep her mind off my father's death. The place has a good cafe... enjoy yourself, John."

He looked at the woman, unsure of what to say, knowing that military regulations kept them apart and yet there was nothing he wanted more than to take her in his arms and hold her as one.

"I'll see you in a few hours, with your mother... we can find a cafe for dinner, how's that?"

"Sounds like fun, I'll see you then. Take care of mom."

The lieutenant saluted and left the series of offices, paying attention to the way he came so that he could find her office easily later in the day.

*****

At six o'clock that afternoon, the lieutenant and Mrs. Ripp followed John's memory to the best of his ability and found the general shutting off her computer. She put on her service cap and shut off the lights to the office.

"So this is where you spend your days," said the mother as she backed out of the room and into the hallway.

"It's more exciting than it looks." She laughed at her own joke. "Tomorrow you can take the walking tour. You'll both enjoy it, see where Trader Joe's chocolate comes from."

John took up a defensive posture near the two women as they walked to the main exit of the building. Two blocks away was a well attended restaurant offering Italian food, the Pasta Divina. John thought it was funny to go to northern Europe to find Italian food but he had looked it up and it had gotten fine reviews.

It was late by the time they had returned to the apartment and after John had checked to so that it was safe, they all went to bed.

*****

The next morning, the general was taken to NATO and John then drove the mother to the mall. As they were walking up the entrance he saw a van slowly moving down the street with the side door opening and then he saw the rifle extend out. He pushed the old lady to the sidewalk and pulled out his gun, saying to himself "oh, shit," as the rifle began to bark, mowing down innocent shoppers. He started shooting back, hitting someone in the van and the shooting stopped for a moment and then there was a tremendous explosion, knocking him to the ground as he was hit by a piece of flying metal and down he went, face first to the cement.

*****

"It's been three days. Can't you tell me more?" asked the general to the doctor who had been assigned the lieutenant's case. She looked at the bed that held the man she admitted she loved.

Her mother sat in the room's chair, keeping watch the whole time, refusing to leave to go home.

"I'm sorry, General, but it's in God's hands now. We've done what we can."

Every curse word she knew floated through her mind as she continued to watch the man, knowing he was hurt because of what she asked him to do. The room's television replayed what had happened and she was surprised that he had lived this long, his body surrounded by smoke and dust and falling debris.

And, then, came a moan from the man and his arm slowly moved away from his body and his eyes opened, one and a time, "General," he said, "you came."

She walked to the bed and bent over, giving him a kiss and not caring who saw it. The time for protocol had long since passed.

*****

Two weeks later the lieutenant was released from the hospital, awarded a purple heart and a silver star and given two weeks furlough.

He watched the news, memorized by the events that he had almost forgotten. It was as if his life began when he woke up in the hospital. Why had the general kissed him? It seemed strange to him and definitely not military.

He walked down the street, the old woman staying in the apartment without him as she tried to learn the language from the television. It was all he could do by himself.

During the evening, the general returned and spoke with him, looking for that special something that they both had shared. "Let's go and get dinner," she said, reaching out to his hand. He stood up, warmth filling his soul for some reason that he expected it. They changed out of their uniforms.

The couple left the apartment building and walked down the street to the nearest cafe which they had been using ever since he left the hospital. She ordered for the two of them potatoes, leeks, shrimp and beer.

"Oh, John, come back to me." She looked at him, wanting his heart to return to her.

He returned the look, knowing there was something he was missing. "General," he started to say.

"Martine... you know my name is Martine. You loved me once, love me again."

He saw the despair in her face and it was killing him. He pushed his memory to see what was missing. He took her hand in his just as the server brought the food.

"Damn," thought the woman, knowing that something had almost happened.

"Martine... yes, I know that... something happened to me and..."

"You loved me," she repeated, "you saved my mother's life and all those other people and killed the terrorists. You're a hero, whether you remember it or not. The truth is the truth." She was determined to have him remember.

"It's not as easy as it was, it's even harder, now. What do you want me to do?" He was at a loss. Even if he couldn't remember, he couldn't leave her like this.

"Let's eat, shall we?" The general lifted her forkful of shrimp and ate it. He followed her lead, eating some potatoes.

Dinner was quiet as they ate until the cuberdon was served, a purple candy for dessert. "I'm going to try," he started to say. "You are a wonderful person, especially since you want me and I'm going to pursue you with all my heart. I loved you once and you still love me. Thank you." He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them.

It was a new day, they both thought.

It was a quick walk back to the apartment to find the mother had fallen asleep on the living room sofa, the television running to itself.

She led him into the bedroom, determined to bring them together. She took him by the hand and placed it on her blouse, bringing it around to her breast as her breathing became deeper. She unbuttoned her clothes and let them fall to the floor. He dropped his own to the floor and picked her up and carried her to the bed where he laid her down and then knelt down on the floor next to the bed and kissed his way up her leg until he reached the center of her being.

One hand and then the other reached for her breasts, massaging her nipples as he spent his attention to her body. "I remember," he said, "you're my love." And a moment later he entered, bringing her to a personal climax.

*****

"Let's get married," he said, knowing that he'd have to resign his commission. He could still be her protector, just unofficially. He promised that he would never let her be alone.