Fly Away - a fighter pilot story

Chapter 9 - Smile

Unsure about the clothing I wear, I look in the mirror in my bathroom. I have to admit, that it looks good, but I am not used to showing that much skin. My arms are completely bare and only two thin straps are holding the white top I am wearing and hiding the straps of my bra. The light blue linen paper bag shorts reach to the middle of my thighs and my feet are in the pair of shoes that I wore two days ago. These are all cloths that Claire shoved at me with yesterday before I left Wifi's and her house.

Before I can even think about changing into something more comfortable, I feel my phone vibrating in my left pocket. I take it out, look at the screen and see the text that Dave sent me.

I am here.

I run a hand through my loose hair and sigh. Yeah, that happened. After Wifi left us this afternoon, Dave had the idea to exchange numbers and carpool there. I should not complain about it, as I get to drink, and I have the feeling that I might need it.

Quickly I go into the living room and grab my bag, before leaving my apartment. When I walk down the stairs, I pass couple of other bachelor officers that live in the same building and see them checking me out. I can even hear a low whistle. With my head shaking I get out of the building and Dave is leaning against his care with his phone in his hands. As soon as he looks up and sees me, he starts to smile.

"Are you ready to go?", he asks me as he opens the door for me.

"You know, I have two hands, so you don't need to do that all the time.", I say as I get in the car, and I can hear him sigh.

"I got raised to be a gentleman. If you have a problem with that, you can talk about it with my mum." He closes the door and walks to the other side of the car to get in himself.

"Claire is a force to be reckoned with and I definitely don't want to get on her bad side.", I tell him as he starts the engine, and he laughs.

"I can tell you from experience that you don't want to do that."

"Wifi needs someone who can keep his feet on the ground."

"She is doing that. I was at their place when I moved here two months ago and she got angry at him, because he made a mess in the kitchen. He started to call her Ma'am."

"Oh my gosh, I would have loved to have been there."

"It was certainly fun to witness.", he says as we leave the base.

"You know, it's weird to see you in normal clothing.", I tell him and look at his outfit. In that moment I realize that we match. He is wearing light blue shorts and a white button down.

"I could say the same to you, but this looks better on you." He turns his head to me and winks. Why do I get the feeling, that he is flirting with me?

"Are you telling me, that I don't look good in my uniform?", I ask him with mocked anger.

"First of all, you are a bad actress. Second, who does look good in a uniform? It's unflattering." He looks good in a uniform, but he is right. They are unflattering, but that's the point. All of us should look quite similar. Only the badges and the insignias on our uniform tell us apart. There is a whole history behind it, that I needed to learn in basic training.

"Fair enough. You know, I am actually surprised that you own something else than black jeans and t-shirts."

"Mum insisted on me wearing this. I think I now know why.", he says and shakes his head amused.

"I can't shake the feeling, that they want us to bond."

"Not just you. She called me the other day and asked me about you." Surprised I raise my eyebrows. Why would she ask about me? It's not like we are close or anything like that.