Page 21 of Operation: Valiant Angel

“So, maybe you’re thinking about this all wrong. Maybe you should be asking yourself why considering her a friend is so bad,” Tessman posed.

“Maybe that’s it. I don’t do friends with women. I do coworkers and coworkers’ wives, a few of whom I’d say I’d consider friends because of a work relationship. But if those work relationships went away, so would the contact with that woman.”

“Unless it was sexual or became sexual,” Tessman said.

“Yeah. Does that make me shallow?” Wilson asked.

“Fuck if I know. I’m not a shrink,” Tessman said.

Wilson finished his drink in one swallow. “I won’t be asking Lassiter about that. Okay, I consider this resolved. Now we focus on diving. We get in early enough that we should be able to get a dive in this afternoon at the shallow reef at Coki Beach.”

Tessman motioned to the flight attendant for two more drinks. Since they’d be diving later, it would be their last until after. She included her phone number on a napkin with the soda pop cans and mini rum bottles she dropped on his tray table. He flashed her an appreciative smile as he picked the napkin up, making a point of folding it up and putting it into a pocket while she watched. Yes, he’d be getting in touch with her while on the island.

They didn’t exchange too much more conversation until they deplaned. Both men traveled with only a backpack, so they exited the airport and hailed a taxi quickly. They checked intotheir rooms and changed into clothes appropriate to wear for diving.

As he plunged beneath the waves, enveloped in the seventy-eight-degree water, calm washed over Wilson. Through his mask, his gaze took in the immense beauty of the world under the water. The water all around sparkled as the sun penetrated it, displaying a multitude of blue and aqua shades. The reef was just under him, teaming with life in an array of brilliant colors. And the current gently caressed him, which he always found relaxing. When he was diving, he felt at peace.

Due to the time of day, it was just a short dive, and they were topside before either man would have liked. After they returned to the hotel and showered, Wilson met Tessman at the hotel bar. When he arrived, Tessman sat at the bar chatting with two women who appeared to be in their late twenties or early thirties. Wilson took a seat beside Tessman.

The bartender, a tanned and tattooed blonde older woman, flashed him a smile. “What’ll it be?” She had a New York accent.

“Bacardi and Diet,” he ordered. “Lime, if you have it.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, motioning to the lime slices in front of her in her prep area. “You just get in today?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, mimicking her formality. “Got in early enough to get a dive in.”

“Here’s my friend,” Tessman said. “Wilson, this is Tanya and Jackie. They’re from Atlanta.” He motioned first to the dark-haired woman, and then the blonde.

“Hello, ladies,” Wilson said with a nod and a smile. They were both attractive, tanned, and it looked like the drinks in their hands were not their first of the day. They had that look of vacation day drinking, spilling over to night drinking. Thebartender slid his drink in front of him. “Thank you,” he said, beaming her a more natural smile than the forced one he’d put on when greeting the two women.

“So, what do you do when you’re not on vacation?” Tanya, the dark-haired woman, asked, her gaze sweeping over both men. She had a southern accent one would expect.

“Talk about when we can take our next vacation, but while on vacation, we don’t talk about work,” Tessman replied with a wink and a smile. “We’re here to enjoy diving and our drinks and have a good time with any lovely ladies we may meet while doing either.”

“Diving, snorkeling or scuba?” Jackie asked.

“Scuba,” Tessman answered.

“We’ve been out snorkeling several times since we’ve got here, but neither of us are dive certified. Is that even the correct way to say it? Anyway, I bet that would be incredible to see what’s down twenty or thirty feet,” Jackie said.

“It is,” Tessman said. “You two should definitely do it. Get certified.”

They had a second round of drinks and then Tessman invited the ladies to join them for dinner at the patio grill. It was obvious that Tessman and Jackie were attracted to each other, and the two instantly became engaged in conversation. Wilson noted that Tanya was friendly, funny, and showed glimpses of being extremely intelligent in some of her statements, but she was not nearly as friendly as Jackie was.

“So, what do you do for a living?” Wilson asked Tanya. It was something he normally wouldn’t ask, but they seemed to exhaust the vacation talk, and it was beginning to feel awkward.

“You’re not going to believe me,” Tanya said.

“Try me,” Wilson said. He was enjoying the evening far more than he thought he would. And while Tanya was friendly and pleasant, she wasn’t flirtatious, like Jackie was with Tessman, which was good. He wasn’t in the mood for that.

“I’m a student in the final year of my PhD program in astrophysics,” she answered plainly.

Wilson smiled and nodded. “I believe you.”

“This is where you say pretty and smart too, because you don’t know what else to say about it.”

He couldn’t read her tone of voice. “I would never say anything that demeaning,” he said. “That’s quite an accomplishment. What’s the topic of your dissertation?”

---