True Blue - A Second Chance Romance (Complete)

Chapter 30

When they exited the plane, the warmth hit Emily like a wall after the cool of the cargo plane. The sun blindingly bright as her eyes tried to adjust to the daylight and Finn insisted on giving her his sunglasses. A strong wind whipped her hair around until she captured it in an elastic. Everything had a washed-out feel to it like colour had been banned from the place. Grey concrete, pale beige one-story buildings, people milling about in light brown attire.

As the crew unloaded their equipment, Finn took them straight to the Commander's office. Obviously, Finn had been here before because he knew exactly where he was going.

The Commander was expecting them, but he was anything but happy to see them. Emily in particular. He had received intelligence about her presence on the plane, but her passport had not arrived yet.  This left her in immigration limbo. In no uncertain terms, the senior officer made it clear he wanted this anomaly off of his base.

Emily attempted to plead her case, but the Commander was not even paying attention to her.  She was on the verge of demanding he speak to her when Finn stepped in front of Emily and negotiated her stay.

At last, the Commander acquiesced for the sake of the mission. Emily was to stay on the base but restricted to the makeshift quarters assigned to her.  She was not to get in his way or the way of his people. And as soon as Finn was back, both of them were to leave the base at their earliest convenience. 

Finn looked at Emily to see if she would agree to the terms.  Part of her wanted to scream she was not going to be treated like a prisoner, that she had the right to move about like any other free citizen. The look of concern in Finn's eyes quickly quelled that response.  She did not need his mind distracted on her potential errant behaviour.  Instead, she donned her best compromise-is-the-way-forward face and nodded in agreement.

Everything happened very quickly. She was told to wait outside the office while they found a place for her. Then she was handing Finn back his sunglasses. It was time for him to leave her.

Her calm, cool, in-control Captain Wainwright was replaced by an agitated Finn who paced in front of her as if he was already fighting a war but inside him. She stepped up and placed a hand on his arm.  Stopping, he turned to face her.

"Hey, you.  Talk to me," Emily prompted.

"You promise to stay here on the base. You won't...go away." Emily felt a pang of guilt at the inference to her leaving. Time to instill trust. She hadn't had a chance yet to prove her loyalty, not repeat the sins of the past. This was not eight years ago. Her family would not intervene. And even if they tried, nothing would make her leave this base without him. 

"Yes, Finn." She soothingly reassured him, "I'm not going anywhere.  I plan on enjoying my army base vacation. Take in the spa facilities." Finn smiled weakly at the lame joke. But the smile did not reach his eyes.

"It's not much, but the base is safe." Finn looked around as if to confirm what he was saying. "Just follow the Commander's orders so he doesn't have any reason to send you home. If that happens, I'll follow as soon as I can."

"I'll be quiet as a mouse. I'm good at it." Another half-smile from Finn. "I'll be here when you return. Passport in hand."

"I...I'll get back here as soon as possible." It was almost like now they were here and presented with the reality of being apart Finn didn't want to leave her. "I don't know how long .... I'll find a way-"

"Finn." She placed both hands on his upper arms, "You go out there and do what you need to do. I'll wait. No matter how long it takes." At her proclamation, she felt him relax a little.

"Ok." Then in a rush of words, he added, "I don't know what to do.  I can't stand the thought of leaving you.  Especially... in this place. But I need to do this. It's my job.  My crew needs me.  Still... my mind is going to be on you and what's happening here." Emily could feel his agitation as his muscles tensed below her fingers. "It's like the thought of moving away from you has me frozen.  This is crazy."