U.N.E. Book Two: Precipice (ON HOLD)

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Angela looked out the small oval window of the jetliner and tried not to sigh. It was late at night in Japan, and her flight had landed a few seconds ago on the wet tarmac of the Tokyo Narita Airport. Lots of blue, white, red, and yellow lights flashed in the distance as the plane slowly taxied towards the terminal, stuck in line behind a dozen or so other passenger airlines who had also arrived during that time. Most times Angela would groan and get frustrated that she had to wait to get off the plane, but not this time. Now she sat in her slightly uncomfortable seat and peered out the window, wondering just how badly this whole week was going to be for her.

Angela couldn't believe she was really there, not even when the captain of the plane came over the intercom and announced their soon to be arrival in both Japanese and English. She honestly felt like the stupidest person on the planet as she sat there. Flying all the way to Japan to meet up with a man who she hadn't heard from in several weeks; a man who, for all she knew, might not even show up. Why would he show up? He had been stuck in a hospital for five months, and then forced to go through Marine Corps basic training for three months! He probably just wanted to be alone before going back to the war, and she couldn't believe she had just assumed that he would show up in Japan just because she mentioned that she was going to be there.

The first week of her vacation had been spent much like it was right now, staring out the window and wondering if she was doing the right thing. She had made up her mind and changed it almost hourly, and if it hadn't been for Sarah telling her to just suck it up and do it, she probably would have never even have gone to the airport. Then again, she may just have; just to get away from her parents and brother who had been on her back from the moment she had arrived home.

Her father had constantly barraged her with questions about the war, and what kind of battles she had fought in while stationed in Germany. Thankfully Sarah seemed willing to answer those questions, as Angela wasn't so keen. She didn't really like talking about what went on overseas, and she wasn't sure her father would really understand everything that was going on. It was a completely different world she and the rest of the squadron lived in, and people back home couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like. Not even when they watched those dumb television shows about it. No one who wasn't there really knew.

Now, Angela's mother should have been a different story. She had never been okay with the career choices her children had made, and she rarely asked about what life was like for them. However, this seemed to be overpowered by her insatiable hunger for gossip, and Angela was subjected to questions that she never wanted to answer; as they were all about her and Alexander.

It was actually the strangest thing Angela had ever come across when dealing with her mother, and it shocked her a little. She didn't pester her about staying safe or maybe thinking about finding a different posting like she usually did. Instead she wanted to know everything about what had happened in Japan, when Alex had kissed her before hopping into the cockpit of the Ruka Boga. She wanted to know what led up to it, who made the first move, what was said, how he was doing, why wasn't he there with her this time, and so many other things that Angela's head felt like it was going to explode. Never in her life did she think that she would have a conversation about boys with her mother like that. It just wasn't something she ever saw happening, as she had been so focused on her dream of becoming a Mech pilot. It just kind of snuck up on her.

Angela's brother, Derrick, was the worst of the entire family though. It wasn't that he loved to pick on her, or that he took advantage of the fact that, while they were at home, her superior rank in the military meant nothing and he could say and do whatever he wanted without getting into any kind of trouble. It was really the fact that she had to constantly keep an eye on him and Sarah for most of the day. Sarah became a totally different person around Derrick, and it was honestly a little scary.