The title is borrowed from Def Lepard.
Chapter 1. Bobby sighedBobby sighed. Love is in the air, and all that rot. Damn it, he felt lonely, and the fact that people around him were pairing up only reinforced the feeling. Tank - Tank! - was almost unbearable to be around. He was so happy he had a glow around him. Tank, a glow. Wasn't that something reserved for pregnant women and new brides? Definitely not for a man aptly named Tank.
Bobby sighed. No, he was genuinely happy for Tank and Annie. But then it was Hal and Nicole. Hal - can't talk to a woman without blushing and stuttering Hal - had bagged a German blonde (natural!) who looked like she should be modelling swimsuits, and she worked as a lab assistant at the Trenton Police Department, which meant that they even had something to talk about in between…
Bobby sighed. Even Hector had found a partner. Annie's friend and former neighbor Bart Stevens had hit it off with Rangeman´s scary electronics expert. He was too afraid of Hector to say anything about it within his hearing range, but he was jealous of their connection. He had happened to pass outside Hector´s apartment two doors over from his own, had witnessed their greetings, and…
Bobby sighed. Ranger and Bomber had stopped living in denial land a couple of years ago. And rumours had it that Frank Plum, Stephanie´s father, had found a woman down in Miami. He took a deep breath, intent on letting it out as a sigh.
"Something wrong with the air?" Cal asked.
"What? Why do you think that?"
"Considering the trouble you seem to have with breathing without sighing."
"Extremely funny. Not."
"Come on man, what's the problem? I can be your agony aunt."
"You?"
"I could so be an agony aunt. I could have a column in the paper, I'm that good."
"That might be. The fact that you can't keep your mouth shut if it isn't anything related to your work at Rangeman would make you a very loose lipped agony aunt, though."
Cal looked like he was about to debate what Bobby said, but he didn't bother. He was fond of talking, at least a little, if it was about his colleagues. Mostly about the humorous things happening. And he could almost always spin it into something humorous. And Bobby usually was fond of talking. Bobby and Lester still talked at least weekly, and generally there was a bout of gossip in there. Or maybe bragging was a better term when you considered Lester.
"Well, it seems that you need a break from all of your respiratory problems. I'm on my way to the gym."
Bobby decided to go with him. As he ran on the treadmill he pondered something Annie had told him back in April, when he had asked her if she had a sister or a friend. Unfortunately she didn't have any siblings, or close female friends in Trenton.
"You should think of what´s the more important parts of your life. If you're really into scuba diving, join a club, if medical care is top priority and interest take some classes, or maybe volunteer at the veterans´ hospital, if you like dancing take some classes. The odds of meeting someone with similar interests are a lot better than just hoping to meet the right one when you're in a club."
He wasn't into scuba diving, nor ballroom dancing, which was another of Annie's suggestions, but he thought she had a point in that you should try to find someone with at least some common interests.
He tried to do a mental list of his interests:
Medical care
Working out
Military history
Bobby sighed. That sounded pathetic. Even if you added sex it sounded so boring it could make you cry. And the odds of finding a woman with those interests… He sighed.
A hand turned off his treadmill, and he came to a stumbling halt.
"What the hell, man!" he said to Cal, who was the one who had turned off the treadmill.
"One - be aware of your surroundings; two - fuck it, stop your sighing, you sound like a wimp."
Bobby almost answered him in the same way, but then he just sighed. He wasn't in the mood for brawling or cussing.
Cal looked worried.
"Are you sure there's nothing wrong. This is not you, man."
"There's nothing wrong. I just feel - lonely, I suppose."
"Broody, more like it," Cal said. "Come on, hit the showers and get dressed. I'm taking you to a club."
"I'm not in the mood. And besides, I have the early shift tomorrow."
"Alright, then we're going out tomorrow night. And I know you're free for two days after that. But get showered and dressed anyway, we're having pizza, you don't need to sit in your apartment alone."
x
Cal had managed to get a few more of the off shift Rangemen to come with them, and they had a nice evening at Shorty´s. Bobby looked around the table; Hector, Ram, Vince and Binkie had accompanied them to Shorty´s.
"So," Cal said. "We were thinking of going out tomorrow. Anyone who wants to go with us? And which place would be the best to find Bobby a woman?"
Bobby felt his cheeks blush when all the men around the table turned towards him.
"Were you thinking dancing or a stip club?" Vince asked.
"I wasn't thinking anything at all," Bobby said. Then he looked around the table and… sighed.
"Sorry," he said. "I guess I'm just feeling a little lonely. Who would've thought that Ranger and Bomber would get married and have a baby, and then Tank finding Annie. Lester at least still seems like the perpetual bachelor. I guess I always thought that if one in the core team ever would settle down it would be me…"
He was silent for a while, then looked around the table.
"And it isn't just Ranger and Tank. I mean, you have found Nicole, Hal, and Hector, you have Bart."
Binkie got suspiciously red cheeks, and let his gaze drift away.
"Oh man, you too?"
"I hope so. I met Joanna a couple of weeks ago at the cooking class."
The other men congratulated Binkie, and Bobby sighed again.
"Honestly, man," Cal said. "You're coming with me to the club tomorrow."
"I'm really not in the mood," Bobby said. "Besides, I've been thinking about something Annie said. Back in April, I think."
"What?"
"I asked her if she had a sister or friend she could introduce me to. The only close friend she had here was Bart, and no siblings, so that didn't work out for me. But then she said that there were better odds of finding someone more compatible if you tried to find some common interests. Like Hal and Nicole. Or now Binkie. I didn't know that you were into cooking, though."
"I'm not. But I thought the odds were good of finding a woman interested in cooking there. And the cooking has been much more fun than I thought."
"Devious," Cal said to Binkie.
"What are your interests?" Hector asked Bobby.
"That's just it. The only things that came to mind are medical care, working out and military history."
Cal shook his head.
"Man, those aren't things that will find you a woman."
"I know that. But I don't think I'll find anything more than a one night stand at a club, and I'm not especially interested in that."
"OK, I get the thing about you not wanting to go clubbing, but we need a plan. Otherwise we won't have enough air for the rest of Trenton, since you're sighing so much."
"The cooking class is holding a dinner as a sort of exam," Binkie said. "We are allowed one guest. Why don't you come with me, there ought to be at least some single women. Maybe I could ask Joanna to bring a friend?"
"Sounds like a great idea," Cal declared, before Bobby had time to say anything. "And if he doesn't get lucky, you other guys could think of something for him to do. I'll stick to the club. Maybe a gentleman´s club."
And so it was decided, that Bobby, without really getting a say himself, would get the chance of finding a woman, or at least, some new interests.