„Where are we going?", I ask him as soon as we step outside the bar.
"Have you eaten anything yet?" Confused, I draw my eyebrows together. What a weird question as it is almost 9 p.m. or 2100 in military time. I wouldn't go to a bar to have a drink if I hadn't eaten beforehand. Well, only if I would want to get drunk as fuck...
"Yes, I had a good old frozen meal. It was delicious. One of the best things I've eaten", I joke, and he makes a grimace.
"Yikes. You can joke about everything but please not about food.", he says and yet again I draw my eyebrows together.
"I love food. I live for food. I love to cook. I love to eat at places that serve good food."
"Okay, I get it, you are a foodie, and I will not make jokes about that." I raise my hands in surrender and he grins.
"Good. Do you have room for dessert?"
"I always have room for that!"
"There is this small place I know that serves these amazing cheesecakes. They are the best and let me tell you, I have tried lots of different cakes over the years.", he says as we start to walk down the parking lot. I wonder where the calories of all the cakes went, because he doesn't look like if he has much body fat.
"But how do we get there?" Dave looks at me as if I have grown a second head.
"Obviously by car or do you want to walk seventy miles to Reno?"
"Could be a nice walk, except I am not wearing the right footwear for that.", I joke and look down at my sneakers as does Dave.
"You are definitely not. How about we take my car, because both of us driving there for about an hour and finding a spot to park is a pain in the ass. And I guess you want to save some gas of your rental car.", he says as he leads me to a brand-new looking SUV.
"Yeah, something like that. This is your car?"
"Don't look at me like that. It's a good car and all purpose. My wild days are over.", he says after seeing my shocked face and opens me the passenger door, waits until I am seated and then closes it.
"If I had to guess, I would have picked a Ford Mustang.", I tell him as he gets into the car and starts laughing.
"Oh hell no. Never ever. Their engines are horrible at least in my opinion. But I used to own a Camaro before this one." Now I am the one laughing as he pulls his car out of the parking lot onto the street.
"I just want to emphasize again that my wild days are behind me."
"You could have kept it in case of a midlife crises." He sighs and shakes his head.
"What is the story behind your call-sign? Swift doesn't sound too bad compared to Jabba. Is it a reference to Taylor Swift?", he says and completely changes the topic. That's usually my strategy!
"I could say yes and leave it that way, but I would deprive you of a story." Briefly he turns his head to me and raises one eyebrow.
"Okay, where do I start?", I think out loud.
"How about at the beginning?"
"Okay, Captain Obvious."
"We both know I am not a captain.", he immediately replies, and I huff. Smartass.
"Funny, really funny. So back in the day when I was done with my training, which I think is not too different to yours: IFT - Initial Flight Training, then three phases of pilot training and then IFF - Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals. At least for the Air Force it is common that you get your call-sign in your first squadron, so no one had one." I stop for a moment to look at him and he kind of nods.
YOU ARE READING
Fly Away - a fighter pilot story
Romance"Is it becoming your habit to run away from me?", he says as he has caught up to me and is now walking next to me on my left. I stop and he does the same. Again, I look at him and shake my head. "Lieutenant Commander Johnson with all due respect, bu...
