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Brother

“Ma’am, your brother is on the phone.” My assistant says as he pokes his head into office a week later.

“Who? My….brother? Really?” I ask incredulously. My brother never calls me.

“Hello?” I ask cautiously as I answer the phone.

“Sis? How are you????” My older brother asks.

“I’m…..okay. How are you? What’s wrong?” I ask, still uncertain as to why he’s calling.

“I’m great. I called to say congratulations.” I can hear my troops in the background.

“How did you find out? Did she call you?” I ask confused.

“No, I haven’t spoken to her since you guys left. Why would she call? I just got notification from headquarters.”

“Headquarters? What the fuck? How do they know?”

“Sis? What the hell are you talking about?” My older brother asks laughing now.

I take a deep breath, shake my head and close my eyes before answering.

“They promoted me here. Director of European Operations or some shit. I can’t get the title right to save my life. What are YOU talking about?” I say as I sigh and reopen my eyes to look at the screensaver on my laptop. It’s a photo of my son being silly.

“You picked up rank. Congratulations.” He answers, laughing still.

“I WHAT?” I scream into the phone, causing my assistant to come running into my office.

“Who the fuck promoted me? Why?” I am pissed. I don’t want another promotion. I smile weakly and wave to my assistant that I am okay.

“Who do you think?” I can see him rolling his eyes at my inane question.

“Why would they fuck me like that?” I ask, head in hands.

“Calm down, Sis. It’s not so bad. You’re the same rank as me now.” I hear him trying to stifle his chuckling.

“Greaaaaaat. How are the troops?” I ask with a sigh as I change the subject.

“They’re awesome. Proud of you.” I hear the smile in his voice as he answers.

“Hmmmpfffffffff.”

“How’s she?” He asks in a quiet voice after a minute.

“SHE is fine. She’s on an LOA. They won’t promote HER.” I answer trying to be angry but failing. So instead I sigh again.

“Heh. Yeah they won’t promote her. Not yet anyway. That’ll happen after we get home.” He chuckles.

“No shit.” I answer smiling for the first time during our conversation.

We talk for a few more minutes about inane things.

“Oh lookie here.” I say as I see an alert in my inbox alerting me to an official email.

“What?” My brother asks.

“Headquarters is emailing me. I got promoted. Fuck.” I moan. It’s true. I picked up rank. Not that my brother would lie to me, but still, part of me had hoped it was not true.

“What? Did you think I was lying?” He asks.

“No, but I was hoping you were joking.” I say on yet another sigh.

“So, who’s pinning your new rank on?”

“Uh. I hadn’t thought about it. You wanna do it?”

“Really? I was figuring Two A’s would do it.” He stammers, apparently shocked by my offer.

“Yeah really. He can pin the next one on me.” I joke, knowing I probably won’t make the next rank.

“Fair enough. He’ll be older then and more able to understand it. I’ll pin this one on you! Thanks!” I can hear the excitement in his voice.

“Yep.” I reply smiling.

Office

I walk into my office. It is crammed with still unopened boxes from the recent move. The company recently moved offices from one part of Spain to another and we still have not finished unpacking. My desk phone is ringing as I make my way through the stacks of boxes. Slamming my foot into a box, I let out a stream of curses as I lunge for the phone.

“Yes?” I answer as I drop into my chair and rub the foot I just smashed.

“Did you check your email this morning?” A male voice asks. I instantly recognize his voice. I narrow my eyes as I answer.

“Nooooo. I just got in. Why?” I ask suspiciously. At the same time she walks into my office and plops herself into the chair opposite my desk. She wears a Cheshire Cat grin. I know NOW something is up.

I now stare at her with narrowed eyes as I wait for my MacBook to boot up.

“Ohhh, no reason.” He answers. I hear the grin in his voice. It matches the grin she wears.

“What the hell have you two done?” I ask as I impatiently wait for Mackie to boot up.

They burst out laughing simultaneously. I plug the headset to my phone in and put it on while I start tapping at keys on the keyboard.

“Oh noooooooooo. You didn’t.” I groan as I read the email announcing I am the Director of European Relations for the company.

“Oh yes. I did.” He laughs.

“But why? What about her?” I ask waving at her sitting across from me.

“I offered it to her. She declined.” He says at the same time she says:

“He offered. I declined.”

“But….me? What the fuck? Why didn’t you OFFER it to me? Instead of just GIVING it to me?” I ask as I shake my head. I already know the answer.

“You wouldn’t say no. We both agreed. And how would it look if I put her in charge?” He says, referring to their ‘item’ status.

“Fuck you both.” I groan despite my grin.

“It helps if you don’t grin.” He says.

“Fucking webcam.” I curse as I stick my tongue out at the damned thing.

Now he’s laughing hysterically. As is she.

“Oh man, he’s going to throw a hairy fit.” I say referring to the man who runs our Paris office.

“Ma’am, there is a call on line two for you.” My assistant says as he sticks his head in my door.

“Oh I bet there is. Put the asshole through. I gotta go dude.” I say to my boss as I switch to line two.

Before I can get a word out, the man on the other end of the line is cursing up a storm in French.

“You know my French is limited to ‘poulet’, so if you’re going to speak to me or yell at me, do it in English.” I say calmly.

“Goddamned fucking Americans….” He says in a thick French accent.

“You’re pissed that I’m a woman, not that I’m an American. At least curse me correctly.” I reply calmly.

“I will not stand for this. This is….this is an…an outrage! I will not work for you!!!” he screams into the phone.

“Take it up with him. I am more than happy to accept your resignation though.” I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose in a lame attempt to ward off the oncoming migraine.

“I will not resign. Never. I was here first. I am calling him now.” Click.

“God help me.” I sigh as I take off the headset and drop it onto the desk.

I attempt to get some work done for the next twenty or so minutes. I see my boss on the phone with the irate Frenchmen on the webcam we always have on. When my phone rings, I know it’s my boss again.

“Did he resign?” I ask.

“Not yet.” He chuckles.

“Mmmm.”

“How are you doing?” He asks me.

“Ha. I’m fine.” I answer with a chuckle.

“How’s she?”

“She’s fine. She misses you.” I say with a smile as I look across the desk at her. Her face says it all. She misses the man she is in love with.

“I miss her too.” He says with a smile. I nod.

“You sure you’re okay? Have you heard from him?”

“What? Him? Pfffffft. No. I don’t expect to. It’s been four months. He proposed. I said no and moved to Spain. I’ve moved on.” I say shaking my head, somewhat confused by the question.

“Yeah I know. With the Major.” He says, drawing out the word major.

“What the…..” I look up at her sitting across from me. She has that ‘oh shit’ look on her face.

“That was harmless flirting. Nothing happened.” I say throw narrowed eyes.

“Yeah, right. Whatever. And she and I only ‘harmless flirt’ as well. Why are you blushing?” he asks laughing.

“Fucking webcam.” I curse as I slam my laptop shut.

Now they are both laughing hysterically.

“She knows nothing happened. We flirted. He’s one of our Marines. He’s in charge when we’re not there.” I throw my hands up in the air in defeat. In the meantime, she’s reached across my desk and reopened my laptop. After she and I had left the States and before arriving in Spain, we had spent a week with our Troops in Iraq.

“But you liiiiiiiiiiike him.” She says as she backs up to the door of my office.

“What the hell is this? Gang up on me day. What the fuck? I’ve been in the office what? An hour? Are you trying to torture me?” I ask the two of them.

“No, just making sure you’re okay.” He answers.

“Uh huh.” I answer, unconvinced.

“Hey, when’s Munchkinhead get back?” He asks, changing the subject suddenly to the topic of my four year old son.

“End of the week. Thursday. What’s today? Tuesday? Yeah Thursday morning.” I answer waving my right arm briefly.

“You going to take Thursday and Friday off then?”

“Maybe. You know he loves coming to the office. I may bring him in for part or all of it. Just depends on how much his father has exhausted him.” I reply.

“Okay. Either way is fine.” He says smiling.

“You know, we’d be lost without you. That’s why we gave you the job.” He says after a moment.

“No, you wouldn’t. You’d be just fine.” I say as I shake my head.

They both laugh in response.

He and I end the call moments later.

She walks back to the chair she vacated earlier and plops herself down into it.

“Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? Take your camera and go take photos?” She says after a moment. I am sitting at my desk with my eyes closed pinching the bridge of my nose.

“I just got here. I was out all last week. I’m now in charge of all of fucking Europe.” I answer.

“We know where to find you. And you and I both know you’ll get done what has to get done. And you’ll get it done early.”

I sigh and open my eyes. She’s right.

“Okay. You win. I’ll leave. Maybe I’ll wake up and realize this is all a nightmare.” I say as I begin shutting down my laptop.

“Oh and by the way. We’re going out to dinner tonight. To celebrate.” She says as she exits my office.

Flat

Our flat is above a restaurant. It is a gorgeous flat. The floorplan is open and spacious. Our rooms are on opposite sides of the living area. The front of the flat is a wall of windows overlooking a plaza. There is a fountain in the center of the plaza which both of us spend hours looking at.

In one corner of the living area stands an easel. Since moving abroad she has started painting and drawing again. Her artwork can now be found all over our flat. Seeing it as I enter the flat, I smile. I’m home. Sighing happily, I drop my bag by the door and kick the door closed with my foot. I then collapse against the closed door. I groan after a moment, realizing I cannot remain against the closed door forever.

It has been a long week. There was a problem with the Paris office which is what prompted my visit. The man who manages that office does not like me, so my unannounced arrival in his ‘territory’ did not make him happy, which in turn meant he did his best to make my life hell during my visit. It always makes for long, tiring visits to that office. I’m happy to be home now. Leaning down, I pick up my bag and carry it into my bedroom. Looking on the dresser, I see the vase of fresh flowers she has placed there. She always makes sure there are fresh flowers around the flat. Smiling at the flowers I walk over and lean closer to smell them.

Both of us left a lot and nothing at the same time when we moved abroad. Many people did not understand our decision. Even more disagreed with it.

My cellular rings shaking me out of my reverie. Shaking my head I look around for my bag, trying to recall where I dropped it. Muttering to myself I walk to the bed and pull the ringing phone out of it.

“Yeah?” I answer gruffly.

“Ma’am?” I hear one of my Gunnery Sergeants on the other end.

“Yes Gunny. What can I do for you?” I ask as I close my eyes and drop onto the bed.

Since moving abroad I have taken on much more of the responsibility of the Marine Corps unit she and I lead. She has officially taken an indefinite leave of absence thereby placing the responsibility on me. I had been pestering her for months to take the leave of absence. She kept refusing until Gunny asked her one day “Ma’am, why don’t you let her take over for a while?” After that call, she put in her LOA.

“Ma’am. I’m sorry to bother you; I know you just got home, but…..” Gunny goes on to explain the issue he has.

The phone call lasts ten minutes during which time she arrives back at the flat. I hear her moving softly across the hardwood floors looking for me. She pokes her head into my room and sees me pacing the floor as I talk to Gunny. Putting my hand over the mouthpiece of the phone, I say “Gunny” quietly. She smiles and waves that I should pass along her greetings. I smile and nod in return and continue my pacing.

After I disconnect the call with Gunny, I drop the phone onto my bed and make my way into the living room where she is sitting on the couch with her legs tucked under her as she holds a cup of coffee. She is staring at her easel in the corner with the look on her face that tells me she is going to either paint or draw soon.

“Watercolor.” She says without looking at me or away from the easel.

Nodding, I join her on the couch. On the table in front of the couch is a cup of coffee she has prepared for me. Reaching for the cup, I curse as I realize how hot it is.

“It’s hot.” She says laughing at my cursing.

“No shit.” I mutter, still cursing.

“Yep. It is.” She says laughing still.

“How are they?” She asks, looking over at me now. She is referring to the troops.

“They’re fine. They received some supplies they can’t use. Gunny wanted to know what they should do with them.” I answer as I look over at her.

“What’d they get that they can’t use?” She asks sipping her coffee.

“Parts for vehicles we don’t have. Someone is pissed at me, so they sent the wrong parts.” I say as I shake my head.

“Are you sure they’re pissed at you?” She asks, knowing her LOA angered many people in power.

“Yep. Pretty sure. I told Gunny to send the parts to the Pentagon.” I say with a sly smile.

“How many parts are we talking about here?” She asks warily.

“I think there were 100 crates of doors or some shit. It should piss off the powers that be.” I answer as I shake my head and roll my eyes.

“Damn, girl. Good job.” She says laughing now.

“I learned from the best.” I answer with a single nod, which she calls my ‘official’ nod.

Cafe

It’s a beautiful summer day in Spain so I sit outside the café awaiting their arrival. I am writing a letter to a penpal as I wait. My iPod sings in my ears. I’m bopping slightly as I sit in the chair. The baristas are used to me by now, so they smile kindly as they go about their daily routines. I have been coming to this café for several months. I am a bit tired today having arrived that morning on the train from Paris.

I feel rather than see them approaching. Looking up, I watch as they turn the corner and I smile as they draw nearer. They haven’t spotted me yet, so I am able to watch them unnoticed. She is looking up at him as he laughs at something she has obviously said. They hold hands as they walk.

They’re so love and it makes me so happy for both of them. It’s been a long time getting there for them. She and I reside in Spain. He does not, although he visits her whenever he is able to. Our flat is not far from the café I now sit at.

He spots me first. She looks over when he points to me. A huge smile breaks out on her face when she, too, spots me. Turning off my iPod, I pull the earbuds out of my ears and place it on the table on top of the pad of paper I am writing on. Standing up, I move towards the narrow street to greet them.

After we hug and say our hellos, we return to the table and they order lunch. We talk for a bit and when their food arrives, I depart.