Page 3 of Believe in Me
Now that she was out of sight, Mike released a breath. Wow, she was stunning even with the bags under her eyes. She was maybe five-three, small breasts pushed against her t-shirt with dark hair caught up in some twist. She wasn’t classically beautiful but something about her pulled his attention. Didn’t seem attracted to soldiers. Ah well, he needed to get his head straightened out from Denise before he started dating again.
§ § §
Trish leaned against the wall right inside the kitchen and took a deep breath. Who did that man think he was? Nice ass? She wasn’t one of those barely dressed women that dropped to their knees for anyone in a uniform. Yeah, he wasn’t in ACUs but she could tell he was in the military. He had the bearing, and the way his eyes kept moving around the café told her that he’d been deployed.
She’d make him his food. Package it up all nice and pretty and watch what she knew had to be a good view as he walked out the door. Never to breach it again, please and thank you. Nice ass indeed.
Chapter 2
It was always interesting the first few weeks at a new unit and post. But this one might just take first place. Mike wasn’t sure where the guy he replaced had gone to school, but he’d damn well forgotten everything the minute he walked out the door. Theprocedures— and he used that word lightly — that were in place were inefficient and outdated. Keeping on top of the different chemicals in the categories of fuel was essential in keeping all the vehicles and aircraft running at optimal capacity and was tantamount to operational readiness. It was going to take Mike at least a month to get things corrected. Please let him not have to deal with a lot of push back from the soldiers. It wasn’t like he couldn’t deal with it, he’d just rather not.
“Mullvaney, where are you?” First Sergeant Flowers called out from somewhere near the door. His Southern twang echoing in the empty lab. Mike had been hiding in the back storeroom going over the last month’s paperwork.
“In here, First Sergeant,” Mike called back. He looked up as the first sergeant stopped in the doorway. The first sergeant maybe topped out at five-six but had learned to project a presence that seemed eight feet tall.
“Why aren’t you in your office?” Flowers asked.
Mike placed the papers that he was holding facedown on the desktop before answering. “All the paperwork was in here so it was just easier.” Not a lie but not the whole truth either. He wouldn’t cover up for the previous sergeant, but if he could get away without telling the first sergeant about the mess, he would in a heartbeat.
“Oh really? And why is that?” Guess he wasn’t going to let it go. Mike took a deep breath and stood.
“I’m finding some inconsistencies and errors in the random reports that I’ve reviewed. So I’m diving into the data from the last few months to determine if there’s an issue, First Sergeant.” Mike didn’t think he was going to get away with that half answer but maybe he’d be lucky today.
“Errors? What kind of errors?” Yup, the first sergeant wasn’t happy. “And why am I now hearing about these? Why weren’t they brought to my attention prior to today?”
Hearing the aggravation in Flowers’ voice, Mike snapped to just a tad bit under attention before answering. “I’m not sure on that, First Sergeant. As you know, I just took over a week or so ago after in-processing. I’m still trying to get my bearings. Why you weren’t informed, I can’t say. I can say that I’m not happy with the routines and schedules of the lab.”
Flowers pursed his lips before speaking. “I’ve heard good things about you, Mullvaney. Seems like they weren’t blowing smoke up my ass. You’re on the master sergeant list, aren’t you? I’ve had suspicions about the lab and the results coming out of it but nothing I could put my finger on. I’m sure that once you’ve got your data in line, you’ll report it to me.”
“Yes, First Sergeant, I am on the list and of course I’ll share the data with you. I’ll need to brief Lieutenant Cassidy but…” Mike trailed off. He wasn’t sure if the lieutenant was, a – clueless, b – stupid, or c – didn’t care but he didn’t want to set him up to fail either.
Nodding, the first sergeant filled in Mike’s hesitance. “Yeah, you’re a good NCO like I’ve been told. Teach the young officers how to do their jobs, and mentor them in dealing with soldiers. Am I correct?”
Mike wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It was always what he and the heptad had done. They’d commiserated more times than he could count about officers. He just shrugged and didn’t say anything.
“Okay, Mullvaney. I’ll let you off the hook. I’m sure you’re wondering why I stopped by. I try and get together with all the senior NCOs a few times a quarter, one-on-one, to act as a sounding board and give guidance when needed in an informal setting. Got plans for lunch?” Flowers asked.
“I like the sound of that, Top.” Mike used the honorific for the first sergeant for the first time. He’d always thought it was something that was earned, something with meaning behind it. Appeared to Mike that Flowers was one of the good ones.
§ § §
The café had been crazy busy this morning and it didn’t look like it was slowing down any time soon. Which was a good thing overall, but they were short-handed today with Christy out sick, so Jess and Trish had been running non-stop.
Leaning with her back to the door, Trish was taking a small break while Jess pulled another batch of cookies out of the oven. They’d already gone through four dozen today. Hearing the bell above the door, she stood straight and faced the front. Seeing one of her favorites coming through, she smiled.
“Hey Hal. I was wondering what day you were coming to see me this week? How’s Susan?” Trish asked, grabbing up her pad. Hal was a creature of comforts and never veered from his order of tomato soup and grilled cheese with a sweet tea. “Same thing today?”
“Susan’s doing just fine this week. And yes, please on my order. As for coming in, I’ve got a new sergeant to introduce to your fine establishment. Trish, let me introduce Sergeant First Class Mike Mullvaney. He’s one of the good ones,” Hal said as he motioned someone behind him.
“It’s nice to— are you kidding me? You’re here again?” Trish finished as she saw the man standing there. “Hal, I think you’ve hit your head and forgotten about it. I’m not sure that I’d call this…man, one of the good ones.” She glared at Mike.
“I said I was sorry. I’d been driving for sixteen hours and was close to dead on my feet. I thought you’d decided to forget about it by the time I left,” Mike snapped.
“Forget about it? The first thing you said to me was ‘nice ass’. What kind of man says that unless he’s trying to pick someone up, and not a high-class someone at that,” she argued back.
The silence that fell between the three of them could’ve been cut with a Ka-Bar. Out of the corner of her eye, Trish could see Hal just standing there turning his head and frowning at each of them.
“Trish? I’ve never—”
