Officers and Men Ch. 03

"Bastards!" hissed Andy hugging me tight, "well, I doubt they'll send me with you."

"No," I wept, "just me, nothing to do with the company, just that I have special skills." I wiped my face with my sleeve, "Fucking woman, I think she suspects Andy."

"We'll just have to Skype and face time each other," he said, you'll get leave after three months and chances are because you are so clever they'll send you back early." He grimaced, and said what Dad should have, "It's what we both signed up for Baby."

So we had another night at my parents place with Andy holding me as I cried myself to sleep into his shoulder. Following Christmas I'd left a toothbrush and clean shirt, boxers and socks for Andy in my room and we headed back at different times of the early morning. Driving back through bleary eyes I had the same thoughts that Andy confessed to in Canada.

This all used to seem so easy when I was single, and the idea of putting on a tropical dress and spending some time doing something so exciting would have been bread and butter. Now I just thought of it as a further six months of my life stolen from me and away from my... boyfriend? We had been in a relationship now for ten months and while I quite like having a 'boyfriend' it didn't seem to cover even half of what I felt for him, and term 'partner' seemed so cold and politically correct that I never used it, not once.

So after a few booster injections, a fortnight back at Intelligence Corps HQ practicing my modern languages I signed out some tropical issue dresses, bought some flat shoes and sandals, packed three month's supply of sunscreen, I wished a very teary goodbye to Andy, Pam, Dave, Katy and Lee while Mum and Dad drove me to Brize Norton for my flight to Bahrain.

The facilities there were quite superb, fully air conditioned and seeing as I hardly drank quite comfortable. Sadly it was comfortable but 7 hours flying time away from the most important man in the world to me.

We emailed and Skyped almost every night, and I had lots of face time with Mum and Dad, Pam and Dave, particularly Katy and I threw myself into my work, having a couple of pictures of him in a frame I kept in my beside table and put away each morning, just in case someone might see his handsome face and ask who he was.

Six weeks into my posting I received a letter from my old mate Mick Turner who wrote telling me that he was being posted to Washington DC for a year on an accompanied posting taking his school teacher wife with him.

"So Lin, I suppose before closing I should tell you about how that cunt Carmody came upon his injuries on the second to last day of the Canada trip. The Brigadier was a fine chap and you'll remember I was pretty much his runner for the whole exercise and he liked me. I called into his office one evening and stood just outside his tent to hear Carmody at the top of his voice going to great lengths telling him that you'd got the Military Police to come after him and threaten him and how much of a disgrace you were to the Army after he'd seen you kissing a Corporal or a Sergeant and playing tonsil tennis with him in the lorry park.

He then went on to say that you'd had an affair with Lord Turnball's son and had him kicked out of his regiment, and he wanted something done about you as you were no better than a common whore.

Lin, I was minded to rip a hole in the canvas right there and then, but didn't and I pleased because the Brigadier ripped a hole in him instead.

"Carmody? Some of us remember the Incident very clearly and to be honest Turnball was lucky he wasn't cashiered and drummed out of his regiment for the shit storm he almost caused. His father, who is also Colonel of the Regiment, had him transfer out; hide the name hide the shame, that kind of thing. Now if you really want me to go and talk to military police about their chat with you and go on the record then I am more than prepared to do that. Not a particularly good career move for someone of your age and rank?"

Carmody of course tried to splutter out some shitty defence, but the Brigadier said that if he heard his name in context with the highly regarded Captain Major, he would find himself in charge of a rear party in some arsehole garrison town counting blanket until he qualified for his pension.

Later than night I'd finished packing and went into the mess to clear my bill, and Carmody was taking a piss in the bushes by the door and I coughed to let him know I was there. "More fuckin' Int corps," he railed, "More fuckin' green slime secret agents, well green slime..." he said taking hold of my shirt collar, "you tell that fuckin' whore Strumpet Major..."

Sorry Lin, but I wasn't having that. The nice graduate, the Sandhurst qualified officer took a step back and the nasty little street shit from Swindon appeared and I decked the bastard. I punched fuck out of him, and told him that the Brigadier had himself sanctioned some 'human resources with extreme prejudice'. I punched him another half a dozen times telling him that if I ever heard him talk about my good friend and boss like that again, he'd find himself with his own 76mm gun up his arse with no lubricant.

A risk I know but it was dark and he was shitfaced so I took the chance. Sometimes it's nice to be from the dark side of the road.

And finally, I think Andy Sargeant is a great bloke and you two are totally suited to one another and I trust that when he finally sees sense and asks you to marry him, Jane and I get invited to the wedding.

How did I know? I'm a Psyche graduate from one of our nation's finest Universities and while you were good at hiding your tracks you weren't that good.

A final word of warning, I know you've been in the army for a while but I'm not sure that Andy, as an Int Corps Corporal, should have uniform shirts and jackets that smell of the same perfume that you wear.

Remember my invite to your wedding, All my love

Mick"

I laughed folded the letter and emailed Andy about its contents.

A week or so later, I emailed my old team just to let them know how it was all going and including a photo of me in my tropical dress. The email to Andy's account bounced back as 'undeliverable'.

I thought nothing of it and just figured it was a bit of a glitch. It was one hell of a glitch but not so bad in the end.

It turned out that the cow of a 2IC had started to give Andy a hard time and a distinct drop in his productivity since Captain Major had gone. Andy said he was sure it was just a bit of some cold and flu symptoms and he'd be back punching at his weight really soon.

"I know you and your sort Sargeant," she said, "You grunters need to remember your place and keep away from officers." Andy said nothing, "Keeping quiet are we? Good, nice to see that you DO know your place." She stood and leaned across the desk, "If I had my way when that silly starry eyed bitch went to Bahrain, I wanted to send you to the Falklands but there were not spaces. You take a big fat step back and leave the officers alone!" Andy still said nothing. "Well?"

"Nothing to say Mam!" he said, the Guardsman in him keeping him safe.

"Get out of my sight!" she growled and Andy turned to the right and marched out of the room at speed. He emailed me on my Hotmail account from his Hotmail account and told me about it.

Andy had long since qualified for his pension, and without my knowledge contacted Human Resources and applied for the many redundancy places available. He had been recently promoted and was now, like his Mum once was, Sergeant Sargeant and filling in the form on line applied to join the Avon and Somerset Police and after some tests that he was given time off for, he was readily accepted.

I emailed another officer in London and asked why Andy's emails were bouncing back.

"He's left the Army," came the reply.

The next skype to Andy was a bit tense "When were you going to tell me Andy?" I said with just a hint of peevishness about it.

"All we be revealed when you get home," he replied, "trust me."

I was sent photos of Andy's presentation and the dining out on his last day, and during his speech, the commanding officer said that Sergeant Sargeant... a few giggles, would be leaving the army to become Police Constable Sargeant as part of the Avon and Somerset Police.

He made some jokes about his time in the army and everyone laughed, except for the new woman boss who really didn't like his familiarity, even though he was on his way now.

The one positive thing was that now Andy was a civilian, I was told that my job was done, I was presented with a very fine Arabic sword and a headdress and told I would fly home at the end of my third month after a job particularly well done.

I emailed everyone with the time that I'd be home and back in London, that was still my unit.

There was a reply from Andy, "Hey Lin, that's wonderful! Pack enough gear for a long weekend and I'll pick you up from the Union Jack Club across from Waterloo at 1800 on Friday." This was another of our favourite meeting places and easy to get to, and I will confess that we had shared a double room once, slightly pissed from a great Friday evening out, we visited and showed our ID cards and where given a very nice en suite double room with a bit of an old fashioned look because we had no bags. We bought tooth brushes and everything and had a crazy night of semi pissed lust, so much so that was the first night that I blew him all the way to orgasm and let him come in my mouth. Another first for us that showed how close we were.

At least I thought it did; but somehow he had left the army, joined the police and had moved home all without telling me. He loved me and I loved him, so I agreed to the meeting, and looked forward to my fortnight disembarkation leave and packed my bag.

Dressed in my raciest undies, still copied from the pair that his sister had given me almost a year ago, in my tightest black Levi's and a tailored top I stood in the small parking area across the road from the special Army Hotel in London.

He swung into the bay at exactly six o'clock and I beamed a grin at him. Soon I was in the car and kissing him.

Pretty soon, he'd pulled out into the slow stream of traffic and the north circular and before I knew it we were heading into the Cotswolds and the same lovely hotel we'd stayed in before.

We had dinner, wine, and we walked around the gardens in the moonlight.

"I've just realised, I don't have to salute you anymore Darling," he said taking my hand and kissing it.

"Just don't you forget who's in charge PC Sargeant?"

"Yeah, I can pretty soon show you who the boss is Captain Major." With that he grabbed me and pulled me into his arms and kissed me long and hard, I rubbed my hands across his face and neck loving the feel of him against me.

"So... so you've err... left the army then?" I said.

"All part of my master plan," he said.

"A master plan," I kissed his cheek, "From a fucking Guardsman?"

"You are so going to regret that comment Captain."

I pushed myself against him, feeling him grab my arse and give it an experimental slap.

"Yeah," I whispered into his mouth, "you wish."

He gave me that wonderful smile of his, and I could have forgiven him anything.

"Other than a reserve commitment to Her Majesty, I'm now free of the Army's controlling influence and I can now do what I've been wanting to do for nearly a year," he kissed me again, "Darling Lin," he dropped to his knee, "will you marry me?"

I was totally lost for words.

While we spent weekends, holidays and evenings together and when we weren't being military we were boyfriend and girlfriend and the whole rank structure that was so much of our lives just disappeared. I had just really been enjoying our time together and I had a tiny fear that this trip was just a way for Andy to let me down and talk about how our lives were going to be so different so we would be seeing less of each other and down would go our relationship, but this?

"Lin?" he said looking just a bit worried by my inactivity.

The tears coursed down my face for what was the most romantic moment of my life. I stared up into the face of my big strong man, now a civilian, "Yes Andy!" I all but cried out, "Yes, I'd love to marry you."

"I know you will love and honour," he said, slipping the most gorgeous diamond ring over my finger, "How about obey?"

"You'll be fucking lucky..." I said, twisting and turning my new jewellery to catch the moonlight; I wore it proudly from then on. We went back to our room and stripped out of our clothes and made the most wonderful love.

Laying naked in his arms and drinking champagne he explained that he, like me, had started to begrudge the army for keeping us apart. He decided the best thing was for him to leave before that Bitch of a major did something shitty to him, so he joined the police as he'd always planned and that way spend more time with me, as my husband this time.

Our engagement was the best news my Mum had heard since I graduated from University, Dad was just happy that I was happy.

Pam and Dave were just as they usually were, but she spotted the ring as I walked into her kitchen and she shrieked and hugged me, stopping only to kiss my cheek dozens of times, and I again thanked her for spotting how good we were for each other.

"Oh that was easy Darling," she said still hugging me, "When he first got home, he said about Starbucks, then the mix up and how gorgeous the officer that locked him up was; he'd never spoken of any girl like that. Then I could hear it in the way you talked about him, and then the look in his eye when he saw you confirmed it all.

If I wasn't sure about the attraction in my kitchen, the way you took to coming out with us and the fact that neither of you could take your eyes off of the other once when you both dressed up, all we could do to keep you apart," she giggled.

"Yeah but you took her up to Katy's room that first night," said Andy, "thought you were trying to save her from me for a moment there."

"Final test Andy," she said looking at me, "I knew that Darling Lin was still confused and would have to make that particular decision for herself, and if I made it too obvious I could spoil what you two had going on. Had total confidence in my Linnie of course." She kissed my cheek again, Pam has been like a second Mum to me since that very first weekend and still I love her for it.

We married that summer after he had completed his basic police training, and I had been finally been promoted to Major in time to change my name.

Katy had arranged my hen night being chief bridesmaid, and it was decided it would be a little black dress night and made up to the nines. I was joined by a couple of flat mates from Uni that I'd stayed in regular contact with and a few female officers that I could count on as good friends, one of which had served with Andy in Germany. In our room at the hotel Katy did our hair and make-up and checked that we all co-ordinated.

Katy improved on my look from the first time I'd worn the stretchy LBD and we were all head turners that weekend we invaded the City of Bath. I had never had so much male attention before in my life, and even the silver 'Bride to be' sash I wore did little to limit the comments and wolf whistles I got.

Katy loaned me her lovely lacy yet still sexy looking wedding dress and my Dad walked me down the aisle in that lovely church in that lovely village that Andy came from and Andy wore his Police uniform with a chest full of medals that announced his previous employment.

Two rows down in the church was of course my mate Mick and his wife Jane, flown back from Washington especially, along with a few more colleagues in their khaki uniforms, all of their medals glinting in the sun. For a joke my new sister in law Katy and taken the miniature medals that I usually wore with my mess dress and attached them very cleverly to my garter that I showed to the photographer.

We honeymooned in America again, driving Route 66 in a huge RV and sharing the driving and enjoying small town America as much as we did the big ones. Being really tall, being military honeymooners and being English we were met with warmth wherever we went.

I decided that I would keep my maiden name at the unit in London for the sake of simplicity and no 'didn't we have a Corporal Sargeant here some months back?' comments that were bound to happen, but once back home I managed to swing a transfer to a training base not far from his parents place and we bought a house, Andy's redundancy providing the deposit and taking a fair lump off of the asking price.

At a conference there, I bumped into David, my old 2IC now a colonel and he noticed my name badge, Major Sargeant.

My promotion to Major passed him by, he went straight for the name change. "So you married Steve Sargeant then," he said taking my left hand and inspecting my ring finger and both of my rings I wore with so much pride now.

"Yeah," I smirked, "A couple of months ago, he's a police officer now, just down the road."

"Well you give him my warmest regards Lin, he always was a nice lad, and you two had something, right from the start."

"Did you know?" I said.

"I'm an intelligence officer Lin," he said grinning over his tea, "and despite the obvious drawbacks of that as a job title I had my suspicions to start with; you two could just communicate in a way that most officers and men never do." He grinned, "But more than that, I was in an Italian Restaurant in the West End one Friday night and saw you and him in a booth."

"David..." I stuttered, "I... you never said anything, you never told..."

"Lin," he soothed and walked me further towards the window of the conference suite looking out over the parade ground, "You kept it to yourselves so well, neither of you upset the balance of the unit and after a while I didn't think it was the army's business." He sipped his more of his tea and looked across the parade square, "besides, the restaurant was a nice unobtrusive one, far from the madding crowds and the British Army wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"Which was precisely why I was in there; I was there with my partner Edward." I smiled and he smiled, some questions not asked answered, "I know it's a twenty first century fighting force that allows its soldiers to live their lives the way they wish but an intelligence officer that was gay? Not something I wanted to scream from the rooftops at least until I'd made Colonel. The grandees at HQ, The Ministry and UK Land Forces wouldn't have taken to that kind of thing at all." He turned and looked me up and down, "But the thing that really convinced me? I don't think I'd ever seen two people so much in love." That brought a tear to my eye, "I'm so pleased for the pair of you," he looked around. "I'm a Colonel in the Intelligence Corps Darling, I can keep a secret." he said putting a finger to his lips.

On my arrival at my new posting I was finally able to introduce myself as Major Lin Sargeant; Major Sargeant, Sargeant Major, Hahaha, said the admin Staff Sergeant.

"The last person that took the piss out of my name spent the weekend in jail," I said, not adding that the following weekend that person and I screwed each other senseless.

But laughing about names became pretty academic, as within four months I was pregnant and a few months after the birth of our daughter, I accepted an offer of a part time job with the Foreign Office that I could do mostly from home and some part-time work with a London University I resigned my commission and Andy and I lived the normal life of a married couple. My Mum is quite the Grandma, nearly up there with Pam, and even though I loved my job as a soldier it doesn't begin to come close to my job as a Mummy and our daughter Sofia made us into the perfect family. I can't wait to have more.