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“Did he really?”
“Yep. Just emailed a memo out…”
“Six…” Vapor muttered in disgust. “Not all of us are morning people.”
“Yeah, you are,” John laughed. “You’re Air Force – so we areallmorning people, my friend… it’s just going to take three cups of coffee instead of two to get things started in the noggin.” He tapped his temple knowingly.
“I know,” Vapor smiled. “Best of luck with you and Emily, X-Ray. She seems really nice.”
“Thanks. She’s amazing… and I can’t believe she’s real.”
Vapor chuckled and patted him on the shoulder as they left the room, walking down the hallway towards the conference rooms. He saw several other pilots entering and taking their seats, while he slid into a chair… unable to fight the dumb grin that seemed to be permanently affixed to his face since he and Emily had gone to dinner together.
“Listen up team, let’s get started…” Reilly barked as the lights were dimmed, the screen illuminating with a diagram of the area, causing X-Ray to hesitate as he realized he needed to focus.
He wasn’t going anywhere if he was dead or crashed… and he desperately wanted to kiss Emily again.
* * *
John scouredthe exchange and picked up several items to stuff into a box for Emily in the hopes of surprising her for Christmas. He bought her an Air Force T-shirt, and a pen and pencil set in a wooden carved box knowing how she ran her own business. He hoped she liked something like that, but felt extremely nervous because it was so impersonal… and then he spotted the perfect gift.
There were several boxes in the case that was crammed full of charms, earrings, and other baubles for the men to send home to their families for Christmas… but there, in the back, were custom gifts – and the one that caught his eye was the kit consisting of simple chains that were decorated with beads representing Morse code.
They had one kit on display that said ‘Mother’with the color coded short and long beads that were placed on a simple silver chain. The colors were bright Air Force blue, silver, and gold… and you could customize them with anything on the thin bracelet.
It was so simple, so classic, and so stunning that he knew it was something she would wear – or at least he hoped so.
“Can I get one of those?”
“Sure.”
“How much?”
“Fifty-six bucks…”
“Yep, ring me up for that. Do you make them or…”
“Nope. String your own beads, Lieutenant Masden,” the clerk laughed. “I had to put that one together, and it was a pain to do.”
“Gotcha,” John nodded in understanding. This would give him a little time to decide what to put on there, string the beads, and then wrap it back in the velvet gift box before mailing it.
“Do you want anything else?”
“No thank you,” he replied easily, realizing that it was indeed perfect, because the silver of the small chain would match the necklace and charm he’d already sent her… and he was curious if she had received it yet.
Paying, he gathered up his items and immediately headed towards the mess hall so he could spread out the beads on a table and put it all together.
“Thank you,” he nodded – and took off to assemble Emily’s gift.
* * *
Hey X-Ray,
You and Emily, huh? I’m so happy for you both!
She’s incredibly sweet and kind, but you need to be yourself and tote your attributes, my friend. When we were prepping for the wedding, we were both a part of a very serious conversation regarding guys… and while I think you have most of what she was looking for?
You need to make sure she knows it!
