Time Sensitive Target

Part 50 - Lucid Dreaming

I scrawled a note and left it on the kitchen island, Jase would be able to find me if he needed to. The thrill of solitude rushed me out of the door as silently as I could manage, practically running down the corridor to the elevator. It wasn't until it opened at the top floor that my heart stopped drumming loudly in my chest. I'd made it, I was here without being reprimanded or hauled back inside. The undisturbed turquoise beckoned, I shunned my clothes and sank my foot in to the water, cool and tempting. 

I slipped in, feeling the traction of the water against my limbs as I tread softly, feet undulating in rhythm. It was blissful, after a few gentle laps I circled around, doing nothing in particular but enjoying the seclusion as the sun reached higher into the sky. When the doors of the elevator scraped open I knew it was over, either somebody else would come to interrupt my solitude or it was Jase, demanding I came back at once. 

The latter proved true, Jase whirled around a sun lounger- clearly hastily dressed in jersey shorts and flip flops. His tanned rippling torso was bare, silver chain glittering in the sunlight. Of all the mornings to confront me topless. 

"Jack called, he wants you in," Jase glared down at me from his lofty position. 

"Okay," I replied, waiting for an immediate chiding that promised to come. I hauled myself out of the pool, privately smug when a splash of water wet Jase's feet and he stepped back in irritation. You didn't bring a towel- well that wasn't ideal. Droplets slipped down my body, standing straight but awkwardly as Jase stared impatiently. "I forgot to bring a towel," I murmured, uselessly swiping my hands across my skin a little to try to wipe off some of the moisture. 

"Too much of a hurry to get out?" He glared tempestuously. He was right. I'd been so preoccupied with hurrying out of the apartment before he could stop me that I'd forgotten to bring anything with me. I slipped my shorts and vest on, the white fabric clinging to my chest and instantly soaking through. 

It wasn't until we were in the elevator that he cocked his head slightly towards me, the doors sliding to a groaning close. 

"You think this is how it's going to be?" Jase folded his huge defined arms across his naked chest.

"I thought... I thought you'd backed off a bit, you didn't come last night," I replied lamely. 

"Something came up," he levelled in a low growl. "What I do is none of your business. But every move you make from the second you get up in the morning is my business." The doors opened at our floor, before he could say another word I stepped into the corridor and began towards the front door, skin still slick with water and the soft scent of chlorine. 

"Get showered and get dressed," he ordered as soon as the door clicked to a close behind us. 

"I'm not a child, you don't need to instruct me on how to get ready," I retorted hotly. I was irritated, the placidity the pool had inspired dripped off me along with the beads of water. Jase provoked such a childish streak of rebellion in me, but I was grating on myself just as much as I probably was him. Combined with lack of sleep, I felt ready to rip his head off at any point. 

I dressed quickly in jeans and a top, and lightly applied some makeup. My hair had been up in a bun and was only damp in a couple of parts, it could survive being unwound and left natural. The drive was tedious in the thick of morning rush hour, road blocks and diversions hindering the journey in the direction we were headed. By the time we arrived on base I felt even more intensely irked by Jase's presence, the few occasions of freedom from his oppressive company with Ant made me yearn harder for a life without him in it. Although your dream seemed to say otherwise. 

"Look who it is," Jack smiled tightly, haughty arrogance exuding from him. Jase had bumped in to a commander or someone high ranking, judging from his look of importance, and was deep in conversation in the corridor.