Officers and Men Ch. 03

He mentioned lots of names of people he knew but we just pointed out that no one wants to go stirring up bad memories, as all kinds of people will get to hear about it; the least damage it will do to anyone is you, while Major Turnball of the Royal Logistics Corps, who is just starting to surface out of that particular cesspit doesn't want to have to start treading water now if you get my drift."

"Yes," I said wondering how they had got all of this information.

He smiled guessing my thoughts. "Lee and Katy both send their regards Lin," he said with a grin, "our secret yeah?"

"Yeah," I said extending a hand.

"Don't tell... err... anyone else about it until you're safely across the pond, right? Katy insisted and she sounds proper scary over the phone. Lee was my platoon commander in Afghan, and we're good mates still."

"Right," I said, "Our secret, thank you so much."

"No probs Mam, don't you worry about a thing."

I was able to hide my part upset, part rage from my colleagues, and was conscious that my Andy would read me like a book and I made it so that he didn't see me until we were on the plane and flying back. I did see Major Carmody of the Dragoons one more time as we were all sorting out our flights at Gander Airport for our trip home. He appeared to be somewhat the worse for wear and had a black eye, a fat lip and other facial bruising. While I saw him there was no eye contact between us, and despite the assurances of the MP's I still felt there was every opportunity for him to speak to David (who had flown out especially for the end of the exercise) and any number of senior officers. But it wasn't to be.

Landing at Brize Norton we went through the normal airport checks people go through, even those carrying SA80(A2) assault rifles and Glock 17 automatic pistols. Being officers David, Mick and I led the move through customs and I noticed that Mick had some marks on his hands.

"I was out for a run on the shingle track at BATUS," he said, "Showing off in front of some pretty Canadian MP girlies and tripped, went down on to my hands like a twat." he said holding them up.

That was weird; Mick was one of those that hated running for the sake of it and all but lived on a machine except for the those bi-annual fitness tests we all had to do.

Besides which the previous summer, I had gone to his wedding in Swindon along with David. He never showed off in front of girls, or perhaps she just never showed off in front of me.

We all headed back to London on a coach and Andy and I fought our desire to just check each other out, and like a complete amateur I had packed my phone charger in my bag and my battery had gone flat somewhere over the Atlantic I so couldn't even text Andy to start a bit of a conversation with him.

Back in London we handed in our guns and as Mick handed back his Glock I had a better look at the back of his hand.

His knuckles didn't look they had impacted on gravel, they looked like he had impacted on someone's face. Our guns checked over and handed in we walked back to our office to put away some of the company documentation we had taken with us.

"So Mick," I said, "I notice that when you fell over you didn't bash your face, and... aah... some of the gravel was teeth shaped?" I brushed gentle fingers across the back of his hand.

"Nothing for you to worry about Lin," he said with that cheeky but still business like grin of his.

"Are you sure?" I said, "the last thing I want to hear about is..." then it came to me. Carmody of the Dragoons. "Mick, tell me you didn't beat up..."

"Lin," he said, "Ask me about it on the day you leave the army and I promise I tell you, but not before."

I gave him a bit of a look that I'd learned from both my Mum and Pam, which let him know that he wasn't off the hook by a long stretch but I wasn't going to take it any further.

We all just wanted to get into our civilian clothes and go home for our weeks leave, but David insisted that military protocol was followed and the twenty of us that went on the exercise were all into the large briefing room and doing a SWOT analysis, one of David's favourites, being strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

It took for ever and while I could normally sit through this kind of thing relaxed and calm I just wanted out of the meeting, out of the office, out my uniform and into my tight jeans and tailored blouse, into my car, into a quiet bedroom somewhere and then get Andy into me.

David noticed my distraction and was kind enough not to take me to task over it. Had he so desired he could have ordered us to stay on camp to rest until the next morning before facing our journey's home - the fact that he hadn't just added to my impatience! It was six thirty on a bright spring London Thursday evening and I'd just had enough.

Everything conspired against me that day and once released after a hellishly long debrief, I dashed back to my room to find that I'd left my mobile on charge in the office along with the small pack that I kept my 'life' in -- keys, ID, some cash, emergency plastic, some feminine hygiene products (you never know), some mints and a tiny scent spray that clipped onto my kit or my body armour - all in my desk drawer where I put it for safety when I stripped my gear down prior to handing in the guns.

Back at the office I bumped into David and apologised for my shortness and unprofessional approach during the meeting and passed it off as 'time of the month' temper with added tiredness and a touch of jet lag, and promised him that it wouldn't happen again.

"Don't worry Lin," he said with smile, "it was a tough month, for you more than anyone, and I've had some great feedback from the Brigadier;" he reached out and took my hand, "I'm proud of what you had the team doing over there, we've earned some significant brownie points on the back of this."

"Thank you sir." I said.

"Right, now for heaven's sake fuck off home and don't come back for a week!"

"Yes sir!" I said with a grin and stood.

"Oh and Lin?" I stopped and turned and didn't take a deep breath. Which was good because David had filled a paper cup from his filter coffee machine, "Have some caffeine before you drive home?"

"Yes sir." I took the cup, sipped it and then nodded and smiled at the quality.

As I returned to my office and got my things, I counted down to control my displeasure with myself and checked that I finally had EVERYTHING and stepped outside only to see Andy's car slowing and stopping level with me.

I bent down and looked in at the window that he powered down.

"Hey Baby!" he said quietly but with real enthusiasm.

"Hey You!" I replied trying not to let my smile at our brief reconciliation overtake my military bearing.

"I'm driving straight to Mum and Dads," he said, "You coming? We can go back to yours tomorrow or the day after honey, or yours tonight, I'm easy." We hadn't had a second to plan our weeks leave as we might have done.

"Sounds perfect," I said, "If I can ever get out of this fucking place." I explained my mishap with my 'purse' as he called it.

"Just stick a clean shirt on, drive out of camp and you can have a proper soak at Mum's place." He narrowed his eyes. "You OK baby?"

"I'm fine," I said, "Long days, tough fights and not all of them the battlefield. I'll tell you the whole story when we get back to your Mum and Dad's place tonight I promise."

"OK baby, See you soon and drive carefully."

My burst of adrenalin at seeing Andy and our jolly talk soon wore off and I trudged up the stairs dragging my booted feet up each one; David's coffee was helping but not that much.

I pulled my kit off and stuck it into my holdall and fighting the temptation to follow Andy's advice had a shower and felt way better. I reconciled myself with the fact that the traffic would have cleared and my drive down to the West Country would be that much easier.

Partially refreshed by my shower, invigorated by being back in girlie clothes and smelling of deodorant and perfume and having some cleavage on display I got in my car and headed west.

The radio was enough company and my car just seemed to know the way and before I knew it I was driving along the narrow country road with the large drive that I knew so well.

Pam's welcome was as wonderful and warm as it ever was and I swear she hugged me or held my arm all evening except for the arrival and consumption of another of her Fish and Chip suppers around her wonderful warm and welcoming kitchen table.

Knowing that I had to have a chat with him before Katy or Lee, I took his hand and said simply 'Bedtime' and we headed up to his room.

I stripped naked slowly and he watched as every item came off, "Now Andy," I said, "I have something to tell you and I don't want you to be angry." I lay back in his big strong arms and told him the story of Ranger Roger and Strumpet Major, the I Corps Ice giant. I then added the bits that had taken place over the last few days, the MP's, Katy and Lee, Carmody being taken to one side and warned and subsequent black eyes and Mick's scratched and bruised knuckles.

He took it well, but did thank me and by implication Katy and Lee, for not telling him over the pond.

"I promise Darling Lin," he said pulling me against him so we could feel naked flesh against naked flesh, "No one is ever going to hurt you again." He had a bit of a growl to his voice.

"Thank you Andy," I said, "but I must point out that of the twenty four officers involved, chances are most of them are still in the service and are still senior commissioned officers while you are just a Corporal."

"Just a Corporal?" he grinned.

"Yeah, a Corporal," I replied stroking his handsome face with my fingertips, I lowered my voice "But you're my Corporal and no one is going to hurt you either."

We both stared into each other's eyes and as one, mouthed 'I love you'.

We made love gently, but passionately and while the orgasms where quite quick in arriving they were still wonderful and we both slipped into a deep sleep almost straight afterwards.

We packed his car with lots of stuff and after another day and night in Somerset, drive to Oxfordshire and my parents, after all we spent more time in the West Country than we did in Oxfordshire, sorry Mum.

Dad was greatly impressed with Andy and finally had a man he could talk to about cars and football, while I think Mum took a while to warm to him because of his wacky sense of humour and that he was sleeping with her daughter and wasn't an officer and/or a graduate. His charm worked after a while of course and I think that the prospect of grandchildren was now much closer.

His car was packed with camping equipment and we headed to the Cotswolds and camped for two nights just enjoying the countryside and the 'Us' time. Then it was into Cirencester and a really nice hotel having both had enough of 'roughing it' even in his luxurious tent.

He had all of the kit but it was still camping and we'd both done enough of that in the last month, especially for Andy who had been playing soldiers more actively than me in the relative comfort of Brigade HQ. But the real clincher was the fact that both of us woke at least once from nightmares reaching around the tent for our guns...

Then it was back to Pam and Dave's house, the reunion with Katy and Lee and my long overdue hug for them both, a huge bunch of flowers for Katy and bottle of Lee's favourite Irish whiskey.

Pam had done all of my laundry while I'd been away, plucked from my black holdall in Andy's room, then dried and ironed so I could step straight into them, then we were both back to London and the delights of our day jobs.

We worked really hard to keep our relationship a secret, and we did have to work at it. After all our relationship was so tight now and we were starting to get to that 'answering the other's questions and finishing their sentences'; we went out for nights together, we'd stagger our leaving times, giving it at least half an hour so we didn't establish too much of a pattern for the squaddies on the gate to recognise. We ate out, sometimes just sitting in a pub and having a drink, a few movies, at least two West End shows, one night we even ended up on the M40 and called in to see my Mum and Dad. Mum convinced us to stay over and I was so pleased that I'd bought a double bed to replace my King size single after our cosy but quite wonderful first night sleeping at my home. Andy didn't have any other clothes with him, but we had tea with Mum and Dad, went to bed early, and got up at six had a shower and headed back into London, with Andy pecking me on the cheek and jumping out of the car at some traffic lights, a short run to Baker Street Tube station and his coffee stop arriving back at the barracks half an hour after me but still in time for duty

In the summer we booked a fortnight in Florida during a period of downtime for the company when it just shut down prior to a build-up in the autumn and our turn to be the Intelligence team on high alert and readiness for deployment across the globe. I left my car at his parents place and Katy drove us to Heathrow in her car.

We had a wonderful time acting like kids (again) and did all the parks, ate too much food, swam in our very own pool, went to the beach and got a tan and, of course, screwed like rabbits. Our rented villa was self-catering and I just got into the whole thing of cooking for us both and being 'her' to 'him' with no distractions or interruptions from any family, much as we loved all of them.

The American holiday was another big moment in our relationship. Back in London and back to normal I still had to hide the fact that I was completely head over heels in love with Andy and I knew he felt the same way about me; it was getting harder and harder for us to work together and there had been a few occasions that our familiarity had almost got the better of us.

There were times that I just wanted to go sit on his lap and hug him, especially when it was time of the month; there was one occasion that he started to stroke my hair back from my face, the way he did when we were on our own time, and he realised and made like he was swiping at an insect. Our love lives were the opposite of everyone else's. Most people saw their loved ones at home and missed them at work. We saw each other at work and had no home during the week to go to.

There was another period of operational training just as British Summer time ended and the season turned from a fine balmy late summer into crisp and damp autumn and the company found itself back on exercise again, on the training areas around the garrison town of Colchester (home of the military prison, known to old soldiers as the Glasshouse) and after three weeks of hard training, not just our trades but including real soldiering and practising our military skills we became part of the reaction force for six months.

There being nothing to react to, at Christmas we spent the day with my parents all dressed up to the nines. So much so, that Andy pulled on his warm coat and took Dad to the pub and bought him a pint. Dad was never much of a drinker and after half of his beer he was approached by a neighbour and Dad introduced 'Linette's boyfriend Andy' and told him of his war hero status, along with my exploits. More beer was bought but Andy was a much more seasoned drinker than my Dad and he was watching the time, bringing my slightly tipsy Daddy back to the roaring fire, my slightly cross Mum and the wonderful lunch that Mum and I had prepared.

Mum and Dad had even bought him a Christmas present and he was very touched, and shook hands with Dad and kissed my Mum on the cheek, almost unheard of in our house.

Boxing Day morning we dressed up again we drove to his parents and relived the whole day again, this time in the West Country, and Pam's huge house was full with her lovely family, with toddler Laura evident for the whole day. Pam and Katy continually handed her to me or encouraged her to wobble across to 'Auntie Lin', and while I put up with their giggles and smiles I have to admit it was wonderful and I did start to feel extremely broody, and even Andy noticed.

We stayed over for the rest of the holidays at Pam and Dave's with one day where I was on duty and had to head back into London. Andy offered to come back in with me, but I said that could be just a bit obvious.

New Year's Eve was celebrated at the village pub down from Pam and Dave's house. Asking what my parents were up to for that celebration, Pam was amazed when I said that they'd never really celebrated New Year and she seemed genuinely shocked. At once Pam invited my Mum and Dad to come to her place for the celebration and I was just as amazed and shocked when both Mum and Dad said they'd love to come. They stayed over in Katy's room, and despite their advancing years they managed to stay up until past one thirty, and had a wonderful time, even singing along to the songs on the stereo. My Mum was most impressed with the whole set up, especially Katy and Lee's baby girl Laura, and she got on with Pam like a house on fire, setting too with her in the kitchen for the food when everyone declared an attack of the munchies after the five minute walk back to house and the cool crisp moonlit night and fresh air.

Mum and Dad went home on the second of January, with Katy sending me a short video of Laura toddling across to my Mum and her look of shocked delight when the Laura held up her hands to her and said 'Nan-nan."

The New Year began with news; David, the old Unit 2IC was on the move with his promotion and had been replaced by a new Major, a woman who was not used to so much banter and looked at us rather strangely sometimes. She was a hard arsed regular like me, and not used to the kind of happy chat that existed between many of us in the unit, again particularly Andy and I.

She was there for a reason, and the budget cuts had finally arrived. At a management meeting she discussed new cost saving procedures and staffing, suggesting that we were over-staffed and several of the unit members could be spread across country, then using the available technology we could be that much more efficient with our resources.

I noticed that Andy's name was right up there, first on the list for staff that could be posted, and while the suggested site for him was only in Hampshire and not the ends of the earth, it was still furthest away from the rest of the unit and much farther than I wanted to travel.

I held my emotions in check, but think she saw something in me.

Bitch.

I only say that because within two weeks I was given a warning order to fly out to Bahrain and the large coalition of Navies fighting off Somali pirates. I would go to Bahrain for between four months and six months, depending on the need. Not because I spoke Arabic or Farsi as you would expect but because there was a need for someone to ensure that the Europeans were all singing from the same song sheet.

I rang Andy on his mobile in the office, almost unheard of between us, and I asked him to meet me at my Mum's. We both drove there in separate cars.

Once there I fell into my Dad's arms and cried, telling him that the bloody Army was sending me to the Middle East and not sending Andy along to take care of me.

Dad held back the obvious 'Well you did join up Darling and it kind of goes with the job' instead doing what he did best and giving his little girl (even though she towered over him by a foot almost) a hug and telling her it was all going to be OK.

Andy arrived minutes later and with one look at my face pulled me into his arms.

"Bahrain Andy!" I sniffed and snarled at the same time, "That fucking woman is sending me to Bahrain! She said it's because there's been some falling out between the Europeans and an alleged 'lack of understanding'; beside which, apparently, Horseguards Parade reckon the whole project is far to Navy Blue and they think some squaddies should go out."