Page 46 of Very Special Forces

"You areall too manly to have a curfew," I laughed, then threw a wink inSimmons' direction. A little flirting didn't hurt to get the jobdone and apparently, I nailed it. Simmons immediately dropped hiseyes to his glass, then snuck another look at me when he thought Iwas busy serving.

"Hithere!" I looked up after serving the last glass and winced at thesight of Lily appearing next to me. "I'm Lily. Are you having agood night? Is Lexi getting you everything you need?" sheasked.

"She'sbeen great," said Kafsky. A chorus of yeses and nods emphasizedthat.

"I haveyou all pegged as Army," continued Lily. "You know, my girlfriendfrom high school once joined the Army. Do you have any girls atyour base?"

"A few,"said Harris, "but we don't call them girls because that'spolitically incorrect."

"I betyou've had a few girly girls join up though, am I right?" Lilyteased. "Can you think of any?"

I glaredat her and thought about elbowing her into the crowd but Iremembered Lily did me a big favor by letting me eavesdrop andobserve tonight. That said, she probably wasn't paying me and I wasproviding her with extra cocktail waitress labor. All the same, Ikept my elbows to myself as I tried to remember what embarrassingincidents I might have buried in my past which I preferred remainconcealed. If Harris and Kafsky still wanted my help, hopefullythey wouldn't suddenly remember anything.

"Therewas this one chick," said Harris. "Do you remember her from bootcamp, Kafsky?"

"Oh,yeah." Kafsky leaned back in the booth and laughed. Neither of myold friends looked at me. "She was... not particularly suited forthe job."

"How'sthat?" asked Simmons.

"Yes,tell me everything," encouraged Lily, grinning at them.

"Sherolled off the bus that first day with her makeup all just so andannounced she was ready to serve our country but she had to fix hernails first and asked where was the nearest manicurist?" saidKafsky, his face creasing at the memory.

"Nailsare very important," I said, rolling my eyes. "The Army encouragesclean nails."

"Justnot long, pink ones," countered Harris. "Or with little, glitterytips."

"Amazing," said Lily. "Tell me more."

"Shedidn't like the uniform, remember?" said Kafsky. He nudged Harrisand they both laughed as the other guys leaned in, eager to hearmore.

"That'sright. She cropped the standard issue camouflage pants and gave hert-shirt little turn-ups on the sleeves." He pretended to roll uphis t-shirt sleeves and flexed his bicep.

"Sheasked if the boots came with a peep toe."

"Shewanted to wear her hair long and flowing."

"Sheasked if there was Army-issued lipstick or should she could bringher own."

"Shewanted to know if it was true if there were dancing classes todisarm the enemy."

"To befair," laughed Harris. "I made that one up and toldher."

"Shesounds very creative," I interjected as Lily bit back a laugh. "Andanyone would fall for dancing countermeasures classes."

"Is thisfor real?" asked Simmons. "Does this woman exist?"

"Soreal," said Harris. "She was a great gal, just not a greatsoldier."

"Did she ever actuallytryto be a soldier?" Lily wondered.

"Shetook part in everything," said Kafsky.

"Do youcall the morning runs taking part? She wasn't exactlyenthusiastic," chipped in Harris.

"She didpetition for sleep-ins three times a week."

"And sheasked for a boot camp mixer on Saturday nights."

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