***** Breakfast Friends *****
Sara pulled up to Andrew's house in the pale light of morning, eager to surprise him. She had given a lot of thought about the control he had shown the previous night. Something about it made her curious to see just how much control he actually had. Getting out of her car she walked up to the front door, happy to find that it was already open.
Michelle was in the kitchen pouring herself a cup of coffee, when she heard Sara knock against the doorframe. "Good morning, Sara. I'm afraid the boys are still sleeping."
"That's fine, Michelle. Is it cool if I wait for Andrew?"
Michelle looked at her watch. "I would love the company. He should be up in about twenty. Can I get you anything?"
Sara smiled at the older woman while she walked to the dining table. "Water would be great, if you don't mind." Sitting at the table she was happy to see that Michelle had a spring in her step that paired well with her satisfied smile.
"Here you go, sweetie." Michelle set the glass down before picking up a document and taking her usual seat.
Sara noticed the subtle smell of sex as Michelle sat next to her. The scent reminded her of how much she craved Andrew. Monday couldn't come soon enough for the kind of deep satisfaction that Sara could smell wafting off of Michelle's athletic body. Rubbing her legs together, Sara looked for any kind of distraction as she took a sip from her glass of water.
"So how did you and Dave meet? If you don't mind me asking."
Setting down the folder, Michelle looked at Sara with a warm smile. "Well, we met in bootcamp. Dave was the toughest man in the unit. All business, all the time." Michelle sipped her coffee, and gave a contented sigh as the warm bitter liquid teased her tastebuds. "I was about to burn out due to FTA when-"
"FTA?" Sara interjected.
Laughing, Michelle responded, "Sorry, dear. Failure To Adapt. Spend as much time in the military as us and you kind of forget to talk like normal people sometimes."
Sara flashed Michelle a fond smile as she waited for her to continue.
"Boot was rough. Even though I ran track in high school, I was not prepared for the brutal training that we faced every day. All the written exercises and studying was easy, but my body ached down to my bones. I just didn't think I could take it anymore."
Sara was intrigued with this insight into a life she would never know. "So what happened? Did Dave come to your rescue?"
Michelle smiled, happy to see the genuine interest from the young woman.
"No, Sgt Henry made me run up and down the beach after I dropped my weapon during drills. He made the rest of the unit stand and watch. God I hated him in that moment."
Despite her words Michelle's face lit up with a warm smile. "Of course he knew what he was doing. After twenty minutes Dave came running out, followed by the rest of the unit. They all took formation and for an hour we ran up and down that damned stretch of beach. Every time I fell, someone would help me up. By the end, it was like a scene from a comedy movie. We were all haggard and Dave was the only one left standing."
Sara watched Michelle, spellbound by the fondness she could feel from her story. She was reminded of Andrew and realized that he must have gotten his story telling cadence from his mother.
"It was then, that day, that I realized how selfless Dave was. Despite his stoicism he genuinely cares for people, especially those that can't look out for themselves."
Sara thought about Michelle's words, and realized how difficult it must have been for Dave to see Andrew struggle through life. Knowing that there was nothing he could do to help.
"So is that when you realized you liked him?" Sara asked, sensing the importance of the story.
Michelle looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "If I had to pinpoint a moment, I would say that is when it started. Of course, it developed through boot. Dave is a powerful man, but he struggled with the academic requirements. I might have taken advantage of that, finding opportunities to spend more and more time with him." She took another sip of her coffee as she blushed at the memory of her child like crush.
"So when did you find out that Dave liked you?" Sara leaned in.
"You probably haven't noticed, but Dave wears his emotions in a safe buried somewhere in a field."
Both women laughed at Michelle's observation.
"We pushed each other through boot. He helped me succeed physically while I helped him academically. We were already a great team, but I had no idea how he felt about me. We graduated top of our class, and as a result we could have joined any unit we wanted.
"I was in love with the ideas behind this experimental program that was just starting up. I ran the idea by Dave to see if I could get a sense of how he felt about me, and I got nothing from him. So I swallowed my feelings and signed up. It hurt having to give up on the possibility of being with him, but we all knew where he was heading. I couldn't follow him, though I would have if I could."
They both drank from their respective glasses as Sara struggled to understand how that must have felt. She always knew how much Andrew loved her. The idea of not knowing made her heart hurt, even just to consider such a thing.
"Throughout boot all Dave talked about was the SEALs. With his scores he would have been accepted immediately. He would have excelled there, we all knew it. But he surprised everyone when he chose to join SOAL, like me-"
Sara laughed as she interrupted, "I hate to ask, but SOAL?"
Michelle blushed at having done it again. "Sorry, dear. Special Operations And Logistics."
Sara gave a grateful grin and responded, "Never heard of it."
"Not surprised. Dave and I were the only real success stories to come out of the program before it shut down. We are in our strange position within the military today because of our experiences in that program."
Michelle took another drink of coffee while she relaxed, trying to remember where she left off.