Page 21 of Stuck With My Christmas Crush

Charlie holds onto me as we make our way back to the living room where Rocko, sensing something is up, is alert and ready for a command. I tell him to wait, then Charlie says, “Oh, okay,” and sits on the couch. Rocko jumps up beside her.

“I know I have candles and a lighter in here somewhere,” I say as I keep walking to the kitchen, shining my phonelight ahead of me. I pull open one drawer and then another. “Ah, here they are on the counter where I left them.”

I open the box, pull out a candle, and light it with the Zippo. Then I find a small plate. I drip some hot wax onto the plate, then push the candle onto it so that the candle stands up straight and doesn’t fall over. The tiny flickering flame throws out its brave yellow glow that fills the kitchen. I take the plate with the candle, shielding it with my hand, into the living room and place it on the sideboard. I turn to Charlie who has her arms around Rocko.

“I’ll have a look at the fuse box to see if anything’s blown in there. I’ll be right back.” I head back into the kitchen and open the cupboard door where the fuse box is located.

“Okay, we’ll be right here,” Charlie calls after me.

The fuse box is old, but the switches are all in the ‘on’ position. Everything looks okay. I turn off the main power then pull out each fuse to check. They look fine. I carefully put them back, but I don’t turn on the mains in case of a power surge which would surely knock everything out when the electricity returns.

“Nah. It’s nothing I can fix,” I say, returning to the living room with another lit candle. “Must be a powerline down somewhere.” The wind whistles down the chimney. Thumping and bumping, a tree thrashes its branchesaround, just outside the window. “I have more candles, but we don’t know how long the blackout is going to last,” I say putting the plate on the sideboard but blowing out the candle. Charlie listens. Her eyes are large dark shadows in the dimness. “So, we’ll use them sparingly.”

“Okay,” Charlie says getting up to check her phone that’s still plugged into the wall. She turns it on. “Oh, no. There’s no reception. I have an error message.” She holds it up for me to see. “Try again later. Have a nice day.” She laughs. “The storm must have knocked out the cell towers as well as the power.” She puts down her phone on the sideboard. “But well done having candles. Were you planning a romantic evening? With Rocko or… ”

“Nope. It’s just best to be prepared.” I sit on the other side of the couch next to Rocko who takes up most of the space in the middle. “Especially when you’re out of the way. In a place like this with ancient wiring.” A snort of laughter. “And ancient everything else.” I pat my dog’s head.

“Sounds to me like you’ve been in this situation before.” Charlie resumes her position on the other side of my dog. She pulls up her feet and faces me. Rocko lies down between us and yawns.

“Not exactly. But military training and time in the forces makes you…” I take a deep breath. “It hardwires your brain to survive in any environment.”

“Wow. I’m glad you’re on my team.” Charlie wraps her arms around her knees. “So, where were you stationed? Is that right? Stationed?”

“Yes. You can ask that. But if I tell you, I might need to kill you.”

“Ha! Really?”

“No. Just jokes.” I reach down to stroke Rocko’s velvety ears. He sighs and smiles with his tongue out. “I was stationed in a few places.”

“That’s not descriptive or helpful at all.”

“No. You’re right.”

“Okay. Let’s try this one.” Charlie sits up and looks at me directly. “Where was the last place you wore a military uniform? When was that?”

I’m quiet for a minute, then I say, “Kabul. Afghanistan. The airlift out after the Taliban takeover.”

“You were there?”

“Yup.”

“That must have been insane!”

“On one level. Yes. There’s no denying the madness in a situation as complex as what was going on there, but… we, the servicemen and women, when we’re called in to do ajob, well, we just go ahead and do it…” I shrug and ruffle Rocko’s ears as a distraction. “It’s hard to explain.”

“You must have seen some…” Charlie pauses. She breathes out. Then she says, “Jason, you’re a hero.” She shakes her head. “I couldn’t be somewhere so chaotic. So violent.”

“Yeah. Peacekeeping in a hostile place isn’t for everyone. That’s for sure.” I smile and flick a sideways glance at Charlie. “I’m not a hero. I was one of many who were there because it’s what we do. It’s tough. No question about that, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.”

“So, now you have all these military survival skills to use on your derelict hotel.”

“That’s right. And as you can see, Charlie. I’m putting them to good use tonight.”

We laugh quietly in the warmth of the living room with a giant dog between us: I’m stroking Rocko’s ears and Charlie’s feet are wedged under his big furry body.

“I’m going to take a candle and go to bed now, if that’s alright,” Charlie says slowly extracting her feet, one by one, from beneath the sleeping dog.

“Okay. Well, take the Zippo and careful with the flame. The last thing we need tonight is a housefire.”

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