Ace
I stood from the desk in our debrief room and stretched, working the kinks out of my neck. My squadron had an overnight training flight, followed by hours of debriefing.
We spent tons of time analyzing the five percent of our training that didn’t go well. It was tedious, but it served a double purpose that morning. Not only did it improve my flight skills, but it also kept me from thinking about Savannah.
A week later and I still hadn’t moved past the fact that she’d casually walked into The Rustic that night.
I ran my hand through my hair, ready to take my ass home, eat, and get into bed for the next eight hours. Hopefully, I was tired enough not to think about her while dozing off.
“Hell of a sortie, Cannon,” my wingman, Maple, said, slapping me on the shoulder from behind.
I nodded in his direction. “Did you expect anything less?”
He chuckled. “And they say fighter pilots have egos.”
“We’re humble as shit,” I lied.
He laughed louder.
We made our way to the room where we kept our personal belongings and retrieved our packs before heading to the front of the office building to sign out.
“You’ve been quiet for the past few days,” Maple said, eyeing me as we walked down the hall.
I frowned at him. “What? You want to talk about your feelings or something?”
He held up his hand. “I got a wife for that, but you don’t.”
I tightened my hold around my pack but didn’t say anything.
He shrugged. “Just thought something might be up.”
“Nothing’s up,” I told him. Maple and I had flown together for three years. He was a hell of a wingman. He, like every other guy in my squadron, didn't know everything about my past. I planned to keep it that way, too.
“Hi, Ace,” Tricia, one of the administrative support specialists and a past fling of mine, purred as we approached her desk.
I had to keep myself from rolling my eyes.
“How was your flight last night?” she asked, leaning over just enough to expose an untasteful amount of cleavage.
“Hello too, Tricia,” Maple interrupted.
I chuckled.
Tricia gave Maple a quick wave but then turned back to me as I signed out.
“Ace, I wanted to know if I could speak with you for a minute?”
I shook my head before she even finished. “Can’t. Maybe next time.”
I moved around her desk and quickly exited the building, leaving Maple to follow closely behind. His laughter echoed through the doorway.
“Why’d you leave that girl hanging like that?” He elbowed me.
“Like what?” I asked as I slid my aviators over my eyes to block out the bright sun.
It was a perfect day. Not a cloud in sight. Beautiful day for flying. A piece of me wished I had an afternoon flight instead of another night flight. It would serve to keep the thoughts of Savannah at bay.
“You know she still likes you,” Maple continued, talking about Tricia. “Maybe you should give her another chance?”
