Migraine from Hell

"She's really nice, isn't she, girl?" Leif said, as he sat quietly with his eyes closed.

Lexi knew to bark quietly and made another little 'woof'.

"So you did notice, huh?" her human said which caused her to softly bark one more time.

By the following morning, Leif's headache was mercifully gone. The difference was so incredible it was hard to imagine he'd been in that much pain just a few hours earlier. He'd had migraines that lasted longer but none that hurt as badly as this one had.

From the moment he showed up for work, the ribbing began. Several of the guys he worked with were former military like him. A couple of others were retired from the various branches, and none of them cut anyone any slack. Oddly, it was one of the things Leif liked the most about his job.

"Oh, look who decided to show up!" a colleague said the moment he walked in.

Another called out, "Did we have little headache again, Leify-wafey?" as he came over to say 'hi' to Lexi who wagged her tail.

A third guy, the jokester, set a huge bottle of aspirin on his desk with a big note on it that ready, "Take two anytime your P***Y hurts!"

Leif laughed it all off knowing they had no idea how a severe migraine headache differed from the kind they occasionally got, mostly from having had a little too much to drink the night before. They really were a good bunch of guys, and he was grateful to have them in his life.

He thought back on when he chose civil engineering as his major in college and recalled how his dad couldn't have been happier. But when he ended up joining the Marine Corps, his father couldn't have been more surprised. He wasn't angry or upset, he just felt like his son should go straight to grad school then 'hit the bricks.' This little four-year detour was going to be a big setback, but it in the end, it turned out to be 'just' three years before he was medically discharged, something neither he nor his family really thought might happen.

He'd loved being a rifle platoon commander, and the truth was he'd wanted to see combat. But after having seen it, he couldn't unsee it, and that was the source of much of what troubled him so much, at least in terms of the mental anguish. And then, on top of that, there were the numerous, large scars from the mortar round that nearly cost him a leg; scars that were both literal and figurative.

The leg was now healed well enough that he not only didn't limp when he walked, but he could go for quite some time without any serious discomfort. He could easily ride a bike again and swim without pain, too, but the mental part was the tougher nut to crack, and so far he hadn't had as much success in that area.

Work helped, so Leif was happy to be back doing what he loved. Not having a master's degree meant less money and not doing the kind of things he really wanted to do, but for now he was very satisfied with the job he had.

Leif worked for the Federal Department of Transportation as a Civil Engineering Technician which meant he was under the supervision of a Federal Civil Engineer who had an advanced degree. The latter made between $102-$158k a year, while Leif toiled away for a measly $78,500.

That was a lot of money in most places, but living in the DC area meant that it was just enough to get by on comfortably and put a little away each month. It was the disability payment that really made up the difference in income, and each time the 1st of the month rolled around, Leif was very grateful to the country that had provided so well for its veterans, even as the tax-free money reminded him of the worst day of his life.

Money had never been his goal, and after serving his country, he was just happy to be doing something else he enjoyed. The bigger money was out there, and he could always chase it later on if that became an issue.

The only other thing in his life that currently was an issue, beyond dealing with the PTSD, was finding someone to share his life with. He'd had no interest whatsoever in settling down before, but he spent a lot of time during his recovery phase thinking about a special someone and what she would be like. Now that he was gainfully employed and as close to being back to normal as he could be, finding a woman like that was at the top of his list of things to do.

But not just any woman. He hoped to marry once and for life the way his parents had. Attracting women had never been hard. Attracting the right kind was, and his focus now was on finding someone who was as committed to being committed as he was. She needed to be the kind of woman who didn't expect perfection in a man and who knew that marriage had its up downs but who would be faithful and stick with it through thick and thin.

He wanted that in his future wife because that's exactly how he felt. He didn't have the personality to deal with arguing, bickering, and pettiness. He needed a calm, stable woman who was in it for the long haul, and were she easy to look at, that would be a huge bonus.

And that thought made him smile when he recalled that Bailey was very easy on the eyes.

"You doing okay?" the only female on their team asked when she saw him. She even bent down to give Lexi a little roughing up which the dog loved.

Katie Holder was 29, single, and not at all unattractive. She'd taken an interest in the handsome, former Marine Corps officer the first time they talked, and Leif knew she would go out with him in a heartbeat were he to ask.

The problem was that she, like the girl at Giant, set off alarm bells in his brain on several levels, and he pictured a life with her as one being full of drama to include getting the silent treatment for days at a time over something as trivial as forgetting to put the toilet seat down or not recalling something she'd told him during a long talk—about herself.

"Much better, thank you," Leif told her with a pleasant smile.

"I...we...missed you around here," Katie told him.

"Anything new shaking?" he asked.

"Just the never-ending problems with the Mixing Bowl."

The 'Mixing Bowl' was the name given to the Springfield Interchange where I-95, I-395, and I-495 met. It was a maze of on and off-ramps and almost always under review or construction.

"Great. So...where are we?" Leif asked.

Katie smiled sweetly at him and said, "Follow me and I'll show you."

She turned and smiled over her shoulder and added, "Everything."

Leif ignored the flirting and got down to business, and before he had time to think, the work day was over.

On his drive back to Springfield, in what was always bumper-to-bumper traffic, he had plenty of time to think, and the thing he wanted to think about the most was a person. A person who was a woman; a woman whose name was Bailey Chandler, as the latest entry in his phone now told him.

He was aware that she was older than him, but other than that, he liked everything he knew about her so far from her kindness and caring ways to her very attractive looks. Were she that kind of woman in other areas where it really mattered, and those areas were much more important to him than things like sex, Leif could easily see himself settling down with her, or a woman like her, the age difference aside.

The bigger question seemed to be whether or not such a woman could see herself with the likes of him. In terms of his own looks, he knew that wasn't an issue for most women who were single and interested. But, of course, it might make all the difference in the world to any specific woman, and he had no idea what Bailey found appealing. And it was quite possible that any man his age, no matter what he looked like, wouldn't be a candidate for any kind of romantic relationship for her.

Beyond that and the things any couple had to deal with, would she be able to handle the additional baggage he brought along with him? The migraines, the nightmares, the night sweats, and even the scary-looking scars on his lower body?

By the time he got home, Leif knew that any woman who had a problem with any of those things could never be someone he'd want to be with, so he set his concerns aside for the time being. He decided he would take a chance and send this beautiful, older woman a text once he got inside. But first, he needed to take Lexi for a walk, and see if her recent 'business' was still outside in the grass.

Fifteen minutes later, with Lexi, and the mess taken care of, Leif settled in for the evening, but unlike other evenings, he wasn't interested in dinner. What he cared about was saying the right thing to Bailey. But after several minutes of trying to decide what that might be, he finally gave up on saying anything profound, relaxed, and decided to keep it simple.

"Bailey. Hi. I hope you had a great day. I wanted to let you know I felt a lot better this morning and went back to work. It's always so amazing how good it feels to be over a migraine. I also wanted to thank you again for bringing me home and for going back for my truck. Oh, and for checking up on me. I appreciate all of that more than I can say. Literally.

I'm an engineer and not all that good with writing, so I'd like the opportunity to thank you in some other way. In person. I don't always remember everything I said when I'm dealing with pain that severe, but I'm pretty sure I at least hinted around about asking you out, so I was wondering if you'd consider letting me take you to dinner somewhere nice to thank you for your kindness. Just as a warning—if you say 'no' I might get another migraine, and well, you'd just end up back here checking on me, so let's make this easy on everyone, shall we?"

Leif read the text and knew he could revise what he'd written a hundred times and still find fault with it. Bailey was either going to be interested or she wasn't. If she was, the specific words wouldn't matter. Were she not, it wouldn't make any difference how eloquent his writing was, so he reread it once then sent it.

Bailey had stopped by her sister's house on the way home from work, and she was sitting at the table with Zoe when the text came in.

"Oh, my! Look who's texting!" Zoe said in that teasing voice Bailey hated when her phone buzzed and the name 'Leif' showed up.

Bailey grabbed the phone before Zoe could read anything and quickly scanned it. She had no idea she was smiling until her sister began kidding her again.

"Wow. That's quite the smile he's put on your face!"

"What? No. I...he was just telling me he's feeling better," Bailey replied while omitting the part about asking her out.

"I see," Zoe said in a way that told Bailey she wasn't buying it. "He's better and that's it, huh?"

"No. He also mentioned going back to work."

"Ah. Well...that's interesting," Zoe said, keeping the sarcasm alive.

"I'm happy for him. He's a very nice guy."

"Isn't he also a...very...young guy?" Zoe asked, her head tilted a little and her eyebrows raised high.

"Well, he's young-er than me, yes."

"A lot younger, right?"

"I...I don't really know," Bailey replied, the defensive tone still there.

"So are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"What else he said."

The look on Bailey's face told Zoe she was still hiding something, even after she said, "He just wanted to thank me again for helping him out."

"So you're not going to tell me," Zoe said as a statement rather than a question.

"That's pretty much all there is to tell."

Bailey didn't even look at her this time, so Zoe asked if she could read the text herself.

"No, you may not!" her younger sister replied.

"Because there's something you don't want me to see, huh?"

Bailey waited several seconds before finally saying very quietly, "Maybe."

"Oh, for crying out loud! Just tell me, okay?"

"He...he may have, you know, kind of...asked me out."

Zoe's eyes got even bigger as she smiled and said, "Please tell me you're going to say 'yes!"

"I...I haven't decided," her sister lied, not sure why she wasn't fessing up and being completely honest.

"I wish you could have heard the way you talked about him when you came over for Molly's birthday party. You were positively GUSHING!" Zoe said.

"I was NOT!" Bailey replied a little to quickly and loudly.

"Oh, yes you were. You positively were. Gushing."

"Was not," Bailey replied just as Molly walked in and said 'hello'.

"There she is! My favorite 16-year old in the whole world!" her aunt said, happy to have an excuse to talk about something else.

"Hi, Aunt Bailey. Guess what? Dad let me drive to school today by myself for the first time," Molly said proudly.

"Well, you're so responsible, it's no wonder," her aunt told her with a smile.

"Thank you!" Molly said before turning to her mom.

"You heard that, right, Mom?"

"Yes. And?"

"Well, there's a party at Stacy's house this Saturday, and I was wondering if I could maybe drive over there."

"Ah, okay. Does that mean Jeremy will be there?" her mother teased.

"I don't know," Molly said in the voice that told her mom he would.

"Hmmm. Maybe you and your Aunt Bailey could double date."

Now it was Bailey's eyes that were open like saucers.

"What? Aunt Bailey has a boyfriend?" the surprised teen asked.

"Yes," her mother replied before her aunt could say, "No, I do not!"

"See how defensive she is?" Zoe teased.

"Who is he, Aunt Bailey?" Molly asked, not yet getting the bigger picture.

"No one!" she said again.

"It's the handsome younger man she helped out at the store. Before your birthday party."

"Oooh! A May-December kind of thing. That is SO hot!" a bubbly Molly said, a huge smile on her pretty face, even though, like her aunt, she didn't think she was beautiful.

"Okay. Stop! Both of you!" Bailey called out. "There is no May-December anything, because there is no boyfriend. Period!"

"Then let me read the text he just sent you," Zoe said as she tilted her head again and held out her hand.

"Can I see it, too?" Molly asked, now genuinely excited.

"Okay. Fine. He...asked me out. To dinner. But it's just to say thank-you, okay?"

"Awesome! I'm so happy for you, Aunt Bailey!" Molly told her aunt as she bent down and hugged her before asking her mom, "so...can I?"

"You and your father had the talk—and I don't mean about...that," her mother began. "You know the rules. No drinking and driving. Ever. No texting and driving. Ever. No loud music and driving. And no more than two other people in the car with you at one time."

"You are SO cool, Mom!" Molly replied, knowing all of that meant 'yes'.

"And so are you, Aunt Bailey! And I really am happy for you!"

"It's just dinner, sweetie," she insisted.

"Yeah, but he's hot, right?"

"He's...not...un-attractive."

Molly looked at her mom who made 'goo-goo eyes'.

"He's very hot," Zoe said, causing Molly to laugh and her sister to feign anger.

"So he's a little younger. Go have some fun for a change," Zoe told her sister. "Lord knows you deserve to have a little."

"It has been quite awhile, hasn't it?" Bailey said almost absentmindedly.

"I have trigonometry homework and an essay due in two days, so I'm going upstairs, but I really am happy for you, Aunt Bailey."

"It...it is kind of...flattering," she finally admitted which made her sister and niece laugh, and that allowed her to laugh, too.

"You should text him back," Molly said on her way out of the room. "Soon!"

"No! Your aunt should call him and Face-time with him so we can see him!" Zoe said.

Molly stopped immediately and turned around.

"I think my homework can wait a few minutes."

"I'm...I am not calling him! And I'm most definitely not going to show him off like some kind of..."

"Trophy boyfriend?" her sister teased.

"Okay! I am SO leaving now!" Bailey announced, causing the other two people to laugh again just as Zoe's middle child, Zach, came in and asked what was so funny.

"Aunt Bailey has a boyfriend!" his sister told him. "And he's hot. And a lot younger!"

"Yeah! Go, Aunt Bailey!" the 14-year old said as he asked for a high five.

"Honestly! All of you have lost your minds!" Bailey said as she stood up in a huff.

Zach grabbed something from the fridge then said, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do if I could, Aunt Bailey!" on his way out.

"With friends like this!" Bailey said as her sister stood up, too.

"We just want you to be happy, honey," Zoe told her.

"I know," her sister replied with a loud sigh.

"Just go have some fun, okay? There's nothing wrong with that."

When they got to the door, Bailey said, "I am kind of looking forward to it."

"You should be! I'd be excited, too. Were I single. And as pretty as you," Zoe said.

Bailey had always been the better looking of the two of them, and while she loved hearing that, it always made her feel bad even though it was her sister who was married to the love of her life and had three amazing children.

"Thanks, Zo. I just don't think he sees me quite the same way as you do."

"You don't know that!" her sister said immediately. "He might think you're even prettier than I do, and unless you go out with him, you'll never know, right?"

Before she opened the door, Bailey asked, "Do you think I'm being foolish?"

Zoe got serious then said, "Were you to tell me you'd accepted a proposal from him, I'd think you were out of your mind. But accepting an invitation to have dinner with a handsome, single man? Not at all."

Bailey reached for the doorknob then stopped.

"I...I don't think he's even...30 years old."

"And?" Zoe replied as though it was no big deal.

"And? 'And' is all you have to say?"

"For now, yes," her sister told her before giving her a hug and telling her again to go have a nice time.

"You know I love you, right?" Bailey said.

"How could you not?" Zoe said before striking a pose and saying, "when you're talking about...all this!"

Bailey laughed then hugged her again and thanked her for her support.

"Hey, that's what sisters do, right?" Zoe said before telling her her BFF 'goodbye'.

Well over an hour passed before she responded to Leif's text. He'd he'd finally gotten hungry and was eating something he'd nuked when his phone 'swooshed'.

"Leif, what a pleasant surprise to hear from you! I'm so glad you're feeling better! I've been worried about you, and was hoping you'd let me know. As far as dinner goes that sounds wonderful. You don't have to do that, but it sounds very nice, so if you think you could stand being seen in public with the likes of me, then I'd love to! Just let me know when and where, okay? Again, I'm glad you're feeling better!"

He read her reply three times and smiled the entire time before replying.

"If I could stand being seen with you. Ha! Listen to you! As if I wouldn't be the envy of every guy who sees us together! I'll text you back as soon as I have some time to think of someplace nice enough to impress you, okay?"

Bailey laughed out loud when she read his reply and texted back, "You've already made quite an impression on me, so there's no need to spend a lot of money. I'm a simple girl who doesn't need much to be happy. Anywhere will be just fine, okay?"

Leif laughed, too, then wrote, "You are definitely a keeper!"

A part of Bailey wanted to text back, "Tell that to my ex-husband!"

Instead she wrote, "You're very sweet, and I really am looking forward to seeing you again."

"Me, too," was all Leif said in reply as he began looking for five-star restaurants in the area on his laptop.

The cost didn't matter to him. Leif just wanted to find a place that would be memorable and if possible, fun. He spent quite a while looking then settled on a place called Pineapple and Pearls on 8th Street in downtown DC. It served delicious gourmet food and from the reviews he read, it also had a fun vibe to it. Wanting to be sure, Leif read several more reviews that confirmed what he thought, so he called immediately and reserved a table for two for Saturday evening.