Migraine from Hell

She hadn't taken a bite in the last two or three minutes, and as she reached for her food, Leif also reached out and gently put his hand on hers.

"It just doesn't," he told her very quietly. "At all."

Bailey's heart skipped a beat when his hand touched hers and another due to the words he spoke.

"What are you saying then?" she asked so quietly Leif could barely hear him.

"I'm saying that I think you're incredible, Bailey. You're beautiful—inside and out. You're loving and caring. You share my feelings on commitment and love. You're also the only woman I've ever met that I can't stop thinking about. So I guess I'm saying that I'd very much like to see you again so I get to know you even better."

The stunned look on this beautiful, older woman's face gave him time to add, "As often as you'd be willing to let me."

"Leif. You're a very handsome man. You could be with someone beautiful who's closer to your age. Any girl would be lucky to have you, so why would you ever want to be with someone...someone who..."

"Whose car is nearly seven years old?" he said with a smile.

Bailey's heart raced when he squeezed her hand after saying that, and his smile made her smile, too.

"Yes. That," she told him.

"I just do," Leif told her. "Like I also just want to..."

He raised himself up then leaned across the table and kissed her softly.

"Kiss you."

Bailey was both shocked and thrilled when he did so, and after the shock wore off in an instant, she kissed him back.

"I...I see," she whispered as he pulled away.

"So...may I see you again?" he asked.

Her heart was still racing as she heard herself say, "As often as you like," even though she hadn't resolved her concerns.

They finished eating without saying much at all, and they spoke very little on the drive back to Bailey's house.

"May I walk you to the door?" Leif asked after he pulled into the driveway and shut off the engine.

Bailey had promised herself she would never again sleep with a man after the first date. But she'd never met anyone like Leif Elliot before, and with the very few other men she'd done that with in college and after the divorce, it had always been about sex and only sex.

But as she watched him staring into her eyes, she knew this was something different. Something...very different. She didn't need to have sex with him, but where they to do so, Bailey knew it wouldn't be just sex. It would be lovemaking, and that was something she hadn't done in so long that she yearned for it so badly she no longer cared about her promise.

"Or...you could come in," she said very quietly as her heart pounded in her chest.

"Are you sure?" he asked with genuine sincerity

"I am," she told him before leaning over and kissing him.

"Then I accept," he said when the kiss ended.

Lexi's soft woof made Leif smile and say, "Um...we...accept."

Bailey felt truly happy for the first time since before she began suspecting her husband might be unfaithful just before he bought her the new car she still drove.

"I'm glad," she told him just before he came around with Lexi to help her out.

This time, as they stood face to face, neither of them hesitated before embracing and kissing passionately for the first time right there in her driveway.

It was nearly midnight before they finished talking—and kissing, and while Bailey was still very interested in making love with this amazing younger man, she no longer felt as though she had to.

In fact, after Leif shared everything that happened on that one very bad day in a place so far away, she realized she might be falling in love with him. At that time, at least, his age no longer mattered as she saw this...this hero...fighting to save the lives of the men he led even after being so severely wounded and seeing what the horrible things he'd seen that day.

She cried quietly when he told her how the young Marine radio operator looked even though he spared her from hearing the worst of the details. She cried for a life lost so young. She cried for parents and family and the grief they'd experienced and undoubtedly still dealt with. And she cried for what Leif had seen knowing how it changed him, and for knowing that he would never be the same again because of it.

Rather than making love, they sat next to one another on her couch, his arm around her and hers on his chest as they talked and shared and felt things neither of them had ever felt before.

"Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me that, Leif," she said after he stopped talking, even though she knew he could tell she was still fighting back tears.

"I've never told anyone other than a counselor at the VA what happened," he quietly replied.

He kissed the top of her head then said, "Then again, I've never trusted anyone as much as I do you."

Bailey looked up with tears still falling on her cheeks and said, "I promise to never betray your trust."

Leif knew that because of what had happened to her that she meant that in more ways than one, and he understood it completely.

"Nor I yours," he told her as he gently touched her face before kissing her again.

"I...we...should probably get going," he said as a grandfather clock struck twelve.

"Is it okay if I say I wish you didn't have to?" Bailey asked, another weak little smile on her lips.

"Very," Leif told her. "But if I don't go now I may not go at all."

Bailey's body screamed out to beg him to stay, but her mind told her that there would be time for 'that' some other day. Some other better day when the mood was lighter and less somber.

"I agree," she told him, the smile becoming a little bigger. "I can't say I want you to go, but I do understand."

Bailey grabbed a tissue from the coffee table as she stood up, dabbed her eyes, then walked Leif and Lexi to the door.

"I never dreamed this...date...would be so amazing or end like this," she told him.

"I have to admit I hoped and maybe even dreamed it would," Leif told her with a warm smile as he put his arms around her.

Bailey smiled back, stood on her toes, and kissed him again before whispering, "Goodnight, Leif. And thank you for the most wonderful time I've had in many years."

Leif looked at her very seriously then said, "The pleasure was all yours."

It took Bailey a moment to 'get it', and when she did, she made a spurting noise before laughing and pushing his chest.

"I had no idea you were so funny!" she told him.

"Are you saying it wasn't all your pleasure?" he asked just as seriously.

"It was...very pleasant," a smiling Bailey told him. "I just hope it wasn't ALL my pleasure."

Leif finally smiled and assured her it wasn't before pulling her close and holding her next to him for several seconds.

As he let her go, he looked right at her again then said, "You are SO beautiful."

"Thank you," she said. "And you are quite handsome yourself."

"May I see you again soon?" he asked.

"Is tomorrow soon enough?" she asked back, a big smile on her tear-stained face.

"Wait. Tomorrow is Monday," Leif said very seriously.

"Oh, right! Duh! It's after midnight, huh?" Bailey said once she figured it out. "But you...both of you...could have dinner with me...today, if you'd like."

Leif looked down at his faithful companion who never took her eyes off of him and said, "You want to come back here, girl?"

A quiet 'woof' and a wagging tail made both humans laugh before they hugged and kissed one more time before saying 'goodnight'.

It was almost 1am when Zoe's husband, Nate, who'd been sound asleep for a couple of hours said, "Who's that from?" when heard his wife's phone swoosh indicating there was an incoming text.

"Bailey," a very sleepy Zoe replied as she read it with one eye closed.

Her husband looked at the clock then rolled over and asked if she was okay.

Zoe didn't reply right away because she was still reading. She finished, laid the phone down then turned his way and said, "She's...in love."

"What?" her very-concerned husband asked.

Zoe rolled over, kissed him, patted his chest, then said, "Go back to sleep. I'll tell you about it in the morning."

It was the weekend, but even so, Bailey was unable to sleep more than 3-4 hours. She got up at 5am, took a hot shower, got dressed then drove over to her sister's house. No one was up yet, but as a part of the family, she had a key and could come and go as she pleased.

So by 6:30 she'd had a cup of coffee and was making breakfast for the rest of the family, knowing that Zoe would be up before seven. Normally, she would be followed by her husband and then the kids, but the smell of bacon frying would soon bring them all downstairs almost as if by magic.

Zoe wasn't the least bit surprised to see her sister in the kitchen. Watching her cooking wasn't quite as typical, but it wasn't unheard of, either.

"Someone couldn't sleep I see," she said once Bailey turned to see her.

"True," Bailey replied as she turned the bacon over.

"Want to talk about it before the hordes arrive? It won't be long once that wonderful smell wafts upstairs."

"I have never been more confused in my life," her younger sister said without turning around.

Zoe dropped some bread in the toaster but didn't say anything as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"I mean, how is it possible for me to even like someone in their 20s let alone feel like I'm falling for them?"

"You mean 'him', right? As in...Leif?" her sister replied with a smile as she walked directly behind Bailey and looked over her shoulder.

"Yes! Exactly!"

"The heart wants what the heart wants, Bails," Zoe said with a smile before moving away.

"But the heart doesn't think! The brain does that, and my brain is screaming at me. And not in a nice way!"

"What about?" a deep, male voice said as he kissed his wife then pecked the cheek of his sister-in-law.

"Nathan. Hi. How are you?" Bailey asked as she laid the first bacon strips on a plate covered with a paper towel.

"I'm in love!" he replied with a wink that only Zoe saw.

"I hear that's going around," his wife said with a smile, and a touch of sarcasm which Bailey missed.

As an analyst, Bailey rarely overlooked clues of any kind, but she was so preoccupied with Leif that their comments went right over her head.

"What are you two talking about?" she finally asked.

"Don't you mean 'who'?" Nate said, redirecting Bailey's focus.

"Oh. You read my text."

"No. Zoe read it. But she did tell me you're in..."

Bailey finally turned around, and when she did, both Nate and Zoe had an arm around each other and were smiling at her.

"You...you think I'm...in love?" she asked, as though nothing had been said to her sister before Nate come downstairs.

"I don't know. Are you?" her sister asked, her head slightly tilted and her eyebrows raised a bit.

Bailey responded by doing kind of the same thing, so her sister said, "It could be nothing more than a crush. Or maybe just...puppy love."

"He is very young, right?" Nate asked as he looked at his wife.

"Yes. Very. He's a very...young pup," Zoe told him very seriously.

"Ha, ha! I'm glad this is so funny to you both!" an exasperated Bailey said.

"What's funny?" Molly asked as she headed straight for the plate of bacon.

Her aunt gently slapped her hand and told her to wait.

"Then tell me what's so funny," the new 16-year old asked with a tilt of her own head.

The boys, Zach and Gabe, were right behind their sister and their presence allowed Bailey to avoid any further discussion until after breakfast. For a good 30 minutes, she was able to mostly set aside her feelings of confusion and enjoy being with the people she loved the most. But at one point the realization that this very thing was what she wanted more than anything else in life hit her so hard she found herself again thinking about the possibilities. The very unlikely possibility of a life with a much-younger man named Leif Elliot.

"You got very quiet all of a sudden at one point," Zoe said once the two of them were alone again.

"Oh, right. I...I was just thinking."

"About?"

"You know. How amazing your family is and how much I'd like to have that, too."

"With...him?" her sister asked without the teasing.

"I don't know," came the quiet reply.

"You sounded pretty enthusiastic—and happy—last night."

"I was. I was very happy."

"And now you're confused."

"Very."

Zoe set her coffee cup down then put her hand on her sister's.

"That's okay. It means you're being smart."

"How so?"

"You're doing what any good analyst does."

"Which is?"

"You're...analyzing. You're looking at the potential pros and cons. You're trying to make sure of how you feel so you don't make a mistake."

"You mean another mistake, right?"

"Hey. No one could have known that would happen, Bails. No one. But you can't let one asshole... Sorry. One...jerk...prevent you from falling in love again."

"You're right. And I really do want to fall in love again. But Leif is..."

"Young. I get it. But is he...mature?"

"Yes. Very. He's been through so much already. He's done and seen unimaginable things. He's also an engineer, and he has an amazing perspective on life."

"Then what's the problem?" Zoe asked.

"Hel-looo! Earth to Zoe!"

"Okay. He's young. We've already ceded that point."

"It's a pretty big point, don't you think?"

"It certainly could be. But that depends on him as well as how you feel about him. It could be anything from insurmountable to no big deal."

Bailey let out a long, slow breath then looked right at her sister and asked, "So what should I do?"

"If it was me, I'd keep seeing him until I discovered something about him that made me not want to keep seeing him."

"Even though he's so..."

This time Zoe laughed before finishing her sister's sentence.

"Yes. Even though."

Feeling more confident now that she had her sister's opinion, Bailey asked a little less seriously, "Really?"

"Uh-huh. Really."

A heartened Bailey got almost excited as she said, "I think you'd like him. And I'm pretty sure Nate would, too."

"If he's as cute as you say he is, Molly will like him, too. She's very mature for her age herself, but she's gotten extremely interested in boys these last few months."

"Boys? Did you have to bring up that specific word?" Bailey asked, causing her sister to nearly spew the sip of coffee in her mouth.

"Sorry! That wasn't intentional, and from everything you've told me, Leif is no boy."

"No. No, he isn't," Bailey replied almost absentmindedly as she recalled the conversation about what happened in Afghanistan on that fateful day.

"Is he ready to settle down?" Zoe asked.

"He is. The things he's been through have changed his perspective on a lot of issues, and settling down is one of them."

"Does he want children?"

"Definitely."

"May I ask you something very personal?"

"Zo. You can ask me anything."

"Is he...broken? From the war?"

Bailey gave this thought provoking question some serious thought before replying.

"No. He isn't broken. But he was...damaged."

She shared as much as she knew about what happened to include his leg, the migraines, and the PTSD he still dealt with.

"But through all of that he's remained optimistic and kept his sense of humor, and I think he's pretty incredible."

"Then go find out for sure," her big sister said supportively.

It was as though a cloud lifted when Zoe said those words. The doubts and questions were still there, but they moved from the forefront of her mind to the proverbial back burner as she smiled and promised she would.

"Why don't you bring him over here?" Zoe suggested with a smile.

"I'm not sure he's ready for that just yet. But maybe soon?"

Zoe laughed then told her sister that anytime would be fine.

"And if there's a game on TV that he and Nate can bond over, that would be even better!"

Bailey laughed along with her sister as the 'pressure valve' in her mind opened up releasing whatever was still in there.

Just then her phone buzzed, and when Bailey saw it was from Leif, her heart leapt.

"Speaking of the devil," she said as she read the text, a huge smile on her face.

"Oh, my. My baby sister really is in love!" Zoe teased, loving watching her sibling being really happy for the first time in much too long.

She put the phone down, smiled at Zoe, then admitted, "You know what? You might just be right!" as she stood up.

"I take it someone wants to see you?"

"Yes. We kind of agreed to have dinner at my place tonight, and honestly? I really want to see him again, too."

"Then go! Shoo, fly!" Zoe said as she got up to hug her sister and wish her all the best.

"Thank you, Zo. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Same here, Bails. I'm really happy for you, and you know I love you."

"Thank you. And back atcha!" Bailey told her as she grabbed her purse.

"Have fun! Oh, and send me a pic or three of this handsome, younger man, okay?"

"I will! I promise!" Bailey said as she walked out, her mind now focused on one thing and one thing only—seeing Leif again.

That wasn't exactly true. She also wanted to look amazing and have a great meal prepared, too, but mainly she just wanted to be near Leif again now that she felt 100 percent better about doing so.

As a GS-14, Step 6, in the Washington DC area, Bailey made just over $140k a year. As a single woman she was able to live quite well on the money she made in spite of a very hefty mortgage payment. She and her former husband had purchased the 2,500sqft home in 2012 for $695,000 and she was now paying just over $3,000 a month for the home plus insurance and property taxes which took a big bite out of take-home pay.

Like Leif, Bailey had never cared much about money beyond having enough to live on, but she'd managed to put a fair amount away in the last three years. She only bought the things she needed and rarely spent money on herself except for work clothes. So on her way home she stopped at the Springfield mall and splurged a little before going to Giant to pick up what she needed for dinner; dinner with the handsome younger man who was consuming her every thought.

Just as she was thinking the day couldn't get any better, Bailey saw a text from Leif just as she got home. She read it and smiled before replying to him.

"Please tell me you're as excited to see me again...today...as I am to see you!"

"I am! Maybe even more!" she wrote back. "I'll have dinner ready at 7 o'clock. Is that soon enough?"

"I guess I can wait that long. If I have to."

Just this brief exchange of electrons caused something more than the flip-flops her tummy had been experiencing. She was...wet for the first time in ages, and it made her yearn for her younger boyfriend, if that's what he was now, even more.

"You could help me make it, but I'd rather surprise you!" Bailey wrote, the smile glued to her pretty face.

"Okay, fine. I'll suck it up and tough it out until then. I'm not gonna like it, but I guess I'll have to take what I can get!"

Bailey SO wanted to tell Leif he could get anything he wanted, but she felt very confident he (and she) would be getting that very soon.

"Sorry! I just want this to be extra special, okay?"

Leif responded with a few smiles and that ended their back and forth and let Bailey get her groceries and new things inside so she could start getting things—and herself—ready for the most-anticipated event in her life in many years.

Bailey's dinner plans centered around a meal she hadn't made in forever called Lemon Asparagus Chicken Pasta. Chicken breasts were seasoned with salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings cooked in a skillet with olive oil until no longer pink. Then butter, red onion, and asparagus were added to the skillet and cooked for another five minutes when a little heavy cream, chicken broth, lemon juice, and garlic were added and allowed to simmer for another five minutes. The lemon chicken was then sliced and spread out over a bed of pasta with a bit of Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.