“Hey, where is she?” Paula somberly asked Mo entering Lisa’s front door.


“She’s is her room. She won’t talk to anyone but you’re welcome to try.”


Paula unwrapped, tossed her belongings in the chair and went to the kitchen and fished two wine glasses from the cabinet, along with Tony’s best red reserve, passed Mo a glass and poured. “Where’s Tony?”


“He and Charlie are still on base. This all happened so suddenly. How do they expect him to get out-processed in four days?” a rare morsel of anger came with her words. “He’ll be gone for a year. They could at least postpone until after the wedding.”


“It’s the United States Government, they can do whatever they damn well please.” Paula downed half her glass. “If they can ship Tony out on short notice then none of us are safe; uniform or not.”


“Hey,” Stacy came joined them and asked Mo. “Did you tell her?”


“Tell me what?” Paula asked more than a little nervous.


“Shane and Harley have also been pulled. They’re all going to Johnston Atoll.”


Paula grimaced. “This is ridiculous! What the hell is going on in the South Pacific that they’re pulling three of our programmers off the Y2K project mere weeks before rollover? It doesn’t make any sense!”


“Like you said, they’re the United States Government, they can do whatever they damn well please” Stacy pointed out.


“Will Lisa be able to visit him?” Paula retrieved another glass for the cabinet.


“No. Johnston is a tiny island, about a mile by a half a mile including the shore wall. No families allowed, but they’ll receive two weeks of leave.” Mo explained.


“Has anyone spoken to Lisa’s family?” Paula asked Stacy disappointedly.


“Lisa called them earlier. They’re not coming to see her.”


“Damn it,” Paula spat. “They were all to ready to fly in for the wedding but run for shelter when she needs them. Fine!” she passed her glass to Stacy. “I’ll take care of her. You two straighten the house in case company comes by and have dinner ready before Tony gets home. I’ll go talk to Lisa.”




Paula drew a long weighty breath and tapped on Lisa’s bedroom door. “Lisa, its Paula. Can I come in?” she waited for a reply that never came. She entered and found Lisa sitting against her headboard staring blankly across the room. “Oh Lisa.” She muttered and climbed into bed and pulled Lisa’s mass of brown hair to her. Lisa’s tears prickled Paula’s shoulder. No words of comfort could take away the sting of Tony’s leaving so Paula simply held Lisa until she was capable of speaking.


“I can’t believe it, Paula. I was right there; everything was finally falling into place and this happens. I should’ve known it was too good to be true. Nothing this good ever happens to me.”


“Lisa, don’t say that.”


“Why not, it’s true. My family is shit.”


“They love you.” Paula tried to sound genuine.


Lisa sat back against the headboard. “Really!? Then why aren’t they here?” A mix of pain and anger was etched across her tear soaked face. “My entire family lives three hours away and the only reason they’ve called is to make sure I’ve canceled their hotel reservation. Me! I’m the one hurting and they couldn’t even be bothered to do that much for themselves,” she wept with such agony Paula found it difficult to bear. “Tony was the first man who took the time to get to know me. He saw passed all of my hurt and he loves me. And now they’re taking him away like it’s nothing, but they don’t know he’s everything to me. He’s all I have, Paula, and he’s leaving.”


Paula fought to register Lisa’s anxiety, to say something meaningful. “We can’t choose our families but you have friends, Lisa, and we’re not going anywhere. We can’t keep Tony from leaving but we’ll see you through this.” Her word rang hollow even to her. “Look, Lisa, I have very little patience for unruly family members so I am probably the wrong person to talk to about your family problems,” she brushed Lisa’s cheek. “But I will sit here if you want to talk.”


“You always talk about what the wives of the servicemen go through. But what about us? What about the fiancés who are asked to put our lives on hold while our men serve? I wake up every morning and put on that uniform,” she pointed to her closet. “Do they think it’s easier for me to bear watching my fiancé leave just because I’m in uniform? Do they think that we’re machines?”


“Yes, they do. I was one of them before I came to work at Gunter.”


“Well, I’m not, Paula. I’m not strong like you.”


“What do you mean,” Paula was struck by her words. “I’m not always strong.”


“You’re stronger than I am.” Lisa shook her head. “You walk around all day pretending like there’s nothing going on between you and Charlie when it’s so obvious to everyone around you. You won’t even admit to yourself how much you love him. But one day you will and it might be too late.”


“This isn’t about me.”


“Yes it is,” Lisa grabbed Paula’s arm. “You see how quickly things can change for women like us. You may not wear the uniform but he does. And you have a top secret clearance, you can be sent away just as easily as we can.”


Paula cleared her throat and gave Lisa with a weak smile. “Did you say that for your benefit or mine?”


“Both,” Lisa laughed. “I need something else to focus on and you’re problems seemed ripe for the pickin’.” She leaned her head on Paula’s shoulder and Paula leaned her head atop hers. “I’m sorry, that was too easy.”


“How did you know about me and Charlie?”


“Please, anyone can tell you two are a couple. You didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.”


“I do love him.”


“Then you need to tell him”


“Well, well, well! Aren’t we full of advice now that we’ve stopped crying.” Paula teased and brushed Lisa’s hair.


“Are you gonna come over every day because you feel sorry for me?”


“No,” Paula closed her eyes and yawned which proved contagious. “I’m starting a new tradition: Girls fondue night.”


“Sounds good,” Lisa curled into Paula’s side. “I didn’t know people still did fondue.”


“We’re gonna bring it back. We’ll make it classy though with seafood and rich desserts.”


Lisa closed her eyes. “Don’t forget the veggies and marinated pork.”


“Did you say pork because I’m Black?”


“Shut up, you’re ruining my fantasy.” Lisa lolled into Paula lap.


“Oh sorry,” Paula rubbed her hair. “Are you hungry?”

“No, I’m fine. Thank you for distracting me.”


“That’s what I’m here for. We’ll get through this.” She began plaiting Lisa’s hair.


She sighed. “I can’t believe this has happened. I was almost married.”


“You still have time. He doesn’t leave until Sunday. We could have something small at my house---Judy is an ordained minister, she can perform the ceremony. And the ladies and I can organize everything so you and Tony can spend your remaining time together.”


“You’d do that for me?”


“Of course I would. I’ll work with the caterers, I’m sure under the circumstances they’d be flexible. Hell, we’ve ordered a ton of food and we still have the DJ on reserve.”


“I’ll talk to Tony about it, but right now I’m glad you’re here. Mo and Stacy kept trying to cheer me up. You didn’t.”


“You and I both know nothing changes the fact that Tony is leaving. All I can do is be here and listen.”


“Thank you, Paula.”



Paula was a generous listener. An hour had passed before Lisa paused to breathe. By the time Tony and Charlie arrived, Stacy and Mo were gone and Lisa was asleep. Paula warmed their dinner and sat talking in the living room. Charlie was to take on Tony’s clients while he settled into his new station and Paula was to keep an eye on Lisa. They would both stay the night and offer their time.


She sat listening to Tony and Charlie speak of logistics: clinic paperwork, SQL backups, house and bill maintenance, but they mentioned nothing of the emotional impact his departure would inflict. She soon realized that this was their way, the Military---handle business first and then sort out the emotions later. Lisa knew this; she knew Tony would leave their house in order and see to her once the smoke cleared. This is what they do, the servicemen. They leave knowing what they’ll return to has been well-handled.


The doorbell rang at nearly half passed eleven. It was Tess coming to check on Lisa. Seeing her place her overnight bag in the closet struck an indiscernible raw nerve with Paula. Charlie hadn’t given Tess a second glance yet Paula felt her neck bristle whenever she was in their presence. She knew that Tess had a small crush on Charlie but she also knew that Tess’s Puritanical upbringing compelled her to wait for him to make the first move.


And that was never going to occur.


Charlie’s love for Paula was earnest and unchanging. She transcended everything in his wildest dreams: feisty and bold, modest and demure, clever and witty; she was his end all be all. Admittedly, there were times when her suspicion drove him up a crag, luckily they’d moved passed those days. The only speed bump was Tess. Paula was still trying to figure out which category to place her: friend, foe, love rival, hapless victim of circumstance. It didn’t matter because Charlie only had eyes for Paula.


In Tess’a defense, she was unaware of Paula and Charlie’s relationship. If anything she relied on Paula for guidance in the situation. Paula did as much as anyone would when trying to conceal her relationship from the pubic and keep her love rival tethered. She encouraged prudence which at times made Tess look like a jackass when Charlie, none the wiser to the ladies dealings, shot her down. Could this have been perceived as bitchy behavior or was Paula sparing Tess’s feelings? Tess wasn’t what Paula would consider a friend but neither was she a bad person. Generally speaking she was an endearing and, were it not for Charlie, she might even have secures a position in the friend zone.



Returning from the kitchen Paula curled up beside Charlie on the sofa in an obvious display of affection. They exchanged warm smiles and Charlie kissed her lips tenderly and then once more. Tess expression went from stabbing embarrassment once she realized she’d been made a fool of to quiet anger.


“I’m glad you two are finally coming out of the closet,” Tony proclaimed. “Lisa and I were hoping you do it before the wedding. What took you so long?”


“We didn’t want to ruffle any feathers in the office,” Charlie went on. “There’s enough scandal going on.”


“Do you love her?” Tess asked with an inkling of hurt in her tone.


Charlie gave a weak smile. “Yes, yes I do love her.”


“Then that’s all that matters,” her eyes aching gazed into Paula’s. “I’m going to bed. See you all in the morning.”


As she left Paula felt a sense of relief because the truth was finally out, but with it, a sense of sadness for Tess. “Well, I’m going to bed. I’m on vacation for the next few days.”


“The Major approved your time off this close to rollover?” Tony asked.


“Yeah,” she kissed Charlie and stood. “He’s not a heartless man. He knows Lisa’s alone.”


“I love you, goodnight.” Charlie said. “I won’t be long.”


“I love you too.”