The Cure - Ch. 08
by Ghostwalker
After three glorious days of making love to Gail, I'd hoped it would continue for the rest of my leave. Unfortunately, that wasn't meant to be. The instant Jen arrived, everything shifted from talking about a possible future for us to preparing a wedding for her and Gavin.
So each day, we spent scurrying from one shop to another, and back again until I was sure we'd visited every shop at least two or three time before heading back to the beach house. And each night, we were so tired that neither of us had any energy to do what we really wanted. More than once I heard Gail say, "I really want to, sweetheart, but I'm just too tired."
After 4 agonizing days, and 4 equally frustrating nights, I had to return to base. Gail tried to make up for everything the night before I left but fell asleep wrapped in my arms. After that, it was a game of phone tag as we went round and round trying to catch each other for even a few minutes.
I got one more weekend pass before she was due to return home. We were able to slip in 'a quickie' in the bathroom which only succeeded in leaving us even more frustrated than if we hadn't even bothered.
And then she was gone, back to the mainland with Jen. In the beginning, I got daily e-mails from her and occasionally 'candid nudes' but over time even those slowed and stopped. It wasn't until a week before Gavin was due to be released, that I received a flourish of e-mails from her, all saying basically the same thing. She was sorry for not writing but all her time had been taken up by Jen's wedding and 'personal issues'. She'd see me at the wedding, or sooner if possible.
"Yeah, sure,"
I thought.
The day that she and Jen were due to arrive came,... and went, and I didn't hear a word from her. My world felt like it was slowly crumbling in on itself. Then, the day Gavin was released, Jen showed up at the base. But Gail was still nowhere to be found.
"Hey, Jen."
"Hi, G," she said, with a smile on her face, as she threw her arms around me, giving me a hug.
"How you been?"
"Going crazy. Trying to get everything ready for the wedding and..." she faltered. "And some other stuff."
I didn't ask about Gail, afraid of what she would say. Typical of most men in my position, I imagined her living a care-free life or worse yet in the arms of another guy. "Well, I'm glad to see you. And I'm sure Gavin will be even happier."
"I hope so," she blushed. "You're coming to the rehearsal dinner tonight, right?"
"Of course. Where else would the Best Man be?"
"See you then," she waved as she turned back towards the Base HQ.
I was still watching her when I saw Gavin exit the building. He carried himself like someone who'd spent 90 years in prison rather than 90 days in the stockade. The glimmer in his eye was gone, replaced by a dull, lifeless stare.
"Sweetheart!" Jen called as she ran towards him.
The twinkle returned to his eye briefly as he wrapped her in his arms and buried his head in her shoulder.
I walked back to the barracks figuring that the two of them needed some time alone. I was still sitting there when he entered a little while later. He saw me and cocked his head for me to follow. We walked leisurely to the obstacle course and found a place to sit where we couldn't be overheard.
"I'm done, bro."
"What do you mean?"
"Through, kaput, finished. My time in the military is over."
"I thought you and the Skipper worked everything out!"
"I thought so too, but it turns out those two armchair warriors from Regional filed reports even after they said they were gonna leave everything up to the Skipper. They recommended I be charged with desertion instead of AWOL. So, right now, my options are to leave the service with a 'Less than Honorable' discharge or try to plod my way through. The problem with that is this stupid mistake will always be on my record so my chances of a decent assignment or a promotion in the future are somewhere between zero and none."
"So what are you gonna do?"
"I'm not sure. The one thing I do know is I need to talk to Jen and explain everything before the wedding. I want her to know how hard this might be whichever way we decide to handle it."
"At least you're not considering backing out of the wedding."
"I love her too much to do that," he said and then halted before continuing, "But I also love her too much to hide this from her. So I'm gonna give her the chance to bail out."
We sat there, each lost in our own thoughts until I noticed how late it was getting.
"Come on, bro. Time to get you ready for the rehearsal."
"At least I'll be able to wear my dress uniform for the ceremony tomorrow," he quipped.
Forty-five minutes later we stood at the altar, waiting for Jen and her Bride's Maids to enter. That was when I saw 'her'. Gail stood at Jen's arm escorting her up the aisle. For those that didn't know them well, they could have easily confused them as sisters rather than step-mother and daughter since Gail was only 9 years older than Jen.
Gail looked absolutely gorgeous! Her 'bob' cut had grown a bit but was swept back over her ears, revealing a set of pearl, dangle earrings and her grey-green eyes seemed to sparkle the instant she saw me. She wasn't wearing any make-up except a modest pink lip gloss that made me want to run down the aisle and kiss her even after everything that had happened.
She was dressed simply, yet elegantly, in a loose-fitting, white silk blouse, a knee-length blue skirt, and a pair of white wedge-style sandals. The only thing that seemed slightly out of place was the pearl necklace that wrapped around her neck twice before disappearing into her cleavage.
For the briefest of moments, I wondered if the necklace had hoops on the end that were wrapped around her nipples. Then real-time surged back in.
Jen and Gail walked up the aisle together and I got the second surprise of the evening. Gail was also Jen's Matron-of-Honor which meant she was my 'date' for the event.
The rehearsal went off with just a few minor mistakes, after which we all headed to the hall where the reception would take place the next night. As was expected, Gail sat next to me.
I was polite but withdrawn as we ate prime rib, small 'Irish' potatoes, and a salad with a house dressing. We talked in generalities until the meal was over, That's when she leaned over and whispered, "You're eyebrow's raised."
Reflexively, my hand moved up to hide the 'tell'.
"What's wrong? You've seemed distant all night."
"Hmmmmm, I don't know. Maybe the fact that you started 'ghosting' me almost a month ago," I snarled, softly.
"Didn't Jen tell you?"
