(c) 2004 by Paul C. All rights reserved.
Rubies are Red. Part 18zu
Paul.
I lay on my bed feeling awful. My mouth felt like the bottom of a Parrot's cage. I didn't think I'd had that much to drink the previous night. I looked at my wristwatch. It was just after seven am. Time for a shower.
Grandfather told me at dinner he required the American authorities to promise to contact England with news about our all being safe. The Admiral told us Howie and Heather were both being flown to the naval hospital at the base just north of Miami today. They might even be there before we were. The naval fitters would service the engines on the Catalina overnight. All I had to do was let Louise down gently; after a good fuck of course.
I sat on the toilet seat then stepped under the shower, shaved and washed my teeth. That felt better. A fuck was definitely the next requirement. If breakfast was at eight, then I only had twenty-five minutes. I opened the door and left the room walking down the corridor to Louise's room. I looked at the door to Bill's room. The door was closed and everything was quiet. I knocked gently on Louise's door and it swung open. I looked inside. The bed was stripped of its bedclothes.
"Louise." I called softly. I tried the door to the bathroom. It opened. There were signs of use but no sign of Louise. Strange. I went into the corridor. Bill's door was closed. The room was quiet. Had they killed her in their drunken orgy?
That would explain her not telling the police. What should I do? I could hear a bugle play in the distance. A door further along the corridor opened and my grandfather stepped from his room.
"Ah. Paul." He said closing the door behind him. "I'm glad you're up. I want to get away as soon as possible." Was he trying to run from the scene of the crime? But what about Roddrego? I supposed he could claim diplomatic immunity. "Let's get breakfast." Grandfather continued. "Where's Louise?"
"I don't know." I replied walking slowly towards him. "She's not there." I'd known him all my life. I'd probably spent more time with him and my grandmother than with my parents. Now I didn't want to be near him.
"What's wrong?" He asked as I drew level with him. "Don't you feel well? You'll be fine when we get to ten thousand feet. Clears your head like nothing. Always did it in the first war."
We walked through the entrance hall and into the dining room. Louise sat at a table with three officers. They all rose as we approached. "Good morning, Gentlemen." A man with two and a half stripes on his epaulet said holding his seat for us. "We were keeping your young lady company."
"Don't leave on our account." Grandfather said sitting in his chair.
"It's time for us to be at our stations." He replied looking at his fellow officers. "It was great meeting you." He directed his last comment to Louise.
I remembered him now. He had been in the bar the previous evening and had asked Louise to dance after dinner. They seemed to keep strange hours on the base. Dinner had been at six-thirty and a small band had played until we had gone to bed at ten-thirty. Still, it had been nice of them to look after us as they had.
I saw Louise watching the back of the officer as he walked away from the table. "You were awake early." I said to her as I sat in the chair next to her and rubbed my calf against hers. She jerked her leg away. Now what had I done?
"I have been on the phone to my office and home." Louise said, taking a drink from her coffee cup.
"How did you manage that?" Grandfather asked as a steward approached to take our breakfast orders.
"Drexel. You just met him. He fixed it for me. He was very helpful."
"He seemed a nice man." Grandfather agreed. I could feel something tying a knot in my stomach. Did Louise fancy this Drexel? I would be great if she did. Take her attentions from me. But I didn't want him to have her. I didn't want anybody else to have her. "A good breakfast is what we all need." Grandfather said turning to the Steward.
"I've already had mine." Louise said standing. "I need to get some things from the shop on the base." She looked at me. "Do you have any money?" I stood and took my wallet from my hip pocket. I removed a sorry looking collection of bank notes from various countries, sat down again, and spread them on the tabletop.
"Two of the biggest breakfasts you do." Grandfather said to the Steward. "And a fresh pot of coffee, please."
I separated the notes into little piles and offered the American dollars to Louise. "Only about thirty dollars I'm afraid." I said.
"That'll be plenty. I'll bring you the change." She replied brightly. She seemed very happy. There was a light in her eyes that made her highly fuckable. I wanted to go with her. Take her to my room. "See you later." She turned and almost skipped from the room.
As she left the room, Roddrego entered. He looked suddenly old. He smiled weakly as he sat. "Are you not well?" Grandfather asked.
"Too much last night." He mumbled.
The Steward returned carrying a tray with two glasses of orange juice and a coffee pot with cups and a jug of milk. Roddrego took one of the glasses of orange juice and drank deeply. A second drink emptied the glass. His hand reached for the second glass.
"What is this?" He asked looking at my little collection of banknotes.
"Just checking the state of our finances."
"We have had less." Roddrego stated. "Remember Haiti?"
I usually loved hearing them talk about the old days. Not today. "I need some fresh air." I said rising to my feet and returning the notes to my wallet. "I'm not really hungry. You can have my breakfast." I turned and walked from the room before either could speak. I couldn't breathe. I needed to know what had happened to Bill.
I stopped in the main entrance and looked outside. The bright sunshine hurt my eyes for a few seconds. I saw large parade square surrounded with barrack and administrative buildings on the other three sides. That looked like Louise on the far side of the parade square. She talked to Dexter. She kissed him on the cheek. Now they were walking around the side of the building together. Fuck Bill. I had to find out what was happening.
I left the Officers club and hurried across the parade square. I'd have been locked away in England if I had done that in some of the Army barracks. But here, others used it as a shortcut. Besides, I was a civilian. I reached the corner around which they had disappeared from view. A road at the rear of the building contained more office blocks on the far side. I crossed to the far side and looked about me. There was no sign of them. Where could they have gone? Was he showing her his office? His bedroom? His prick?
I walked along the side of the building until I came to another road at its rear. Here, flats and houses stretched for blocks. It must be the married families area. Looking right, I could see a long low building with car parking spaces on three sides. It looked like a super-market. She said she wanted to go shopping. I walked towards it. Perhaps he was only showing her where it was. But why the kiss? She may have been thanking her for letter her use a phone of course. It hadn't been a passionate kiss. Nothing more than a peck.
A blast of cold air hit me as I walked through the automatic doors into the shop and I shivered then sneezed. The girl behind the cigarette counter looked at me and smiled. I checked the first two aisles and I saw them at the end of the third. Louise carried a basket and put what looked like a packet of biscuits into it. Dexter stood by her side pointing to something. I leapt out of sight as they turned in my direction. I stepped back and hid behind the far side of the first aisle until I could see which way they were going. Away from me. They moved from sight. Dexter held her arm. I hurried to the third aisle and try to walk along it parallel to them. They weren't saying much.
"Turn your back." I heard her say. "I need something here." I heard him laugh. Then her.
"Have you ever been to California?" He asked.
"Yes." She replied. "I worked there for a short time. Before..."
"Before what?" He asked.
They were moving again. I turned and banged my legs against the trolley of a woman in her thirties. "Sorry." I said, disentangling myself. She said something I didn't catch as I hurried away.
"Paul helped me a lot." Louise was saying.
"Is he your boyfriend?" Drexel asked.
"He's married." Louise sounded on the defensive.
