Chapter 3
1995
Evan left her apartment with her the next day. She looked so tired and he was almost angry at himself for keeping her up so late the previous night. Almost. But not quite.
Evan dropped the shopping back on his bed. He couldn't quite look away from it. What had happened in hers was incredible to say the least. Who'd have thought he'd be so smitten with a woman after they'd only just met. He felt like he'd known her for years and yet, at the same time, being around her was exhilarating. Touching her, kissing her, was beyond anything he'd ever imagined. He'd been clumsy, he knew that. Being out of practice had only been an excuse. He hadn't been with a lot of girls, and the last time had been ages ago. His last girlfriend could barely be called that.
He still felt like he'd been hit over the head, but he was almost sure that he'd be okay.
Throwing his shoulder bag on the bed next to the shopping bag from the drugstore, he pulled his shirt over his head. He'd showered at her place, but the sweat from yesterday was of course still clinging to the clothes from yesterday. Just as he'd put on the new shirt, he heard the soft ringing of the phone.
"Please don't let this be work…" he muttered, hoping against hope he wouldn't be called in today. Alex had said she'd come over right after work and no amount of flying could make up for that right now. "Hello." The phone was hot against his ear. He really shouldn't keep it in the sun like this.
"Evan? Where have you been?" He relaxed instantly. Not work.
"Hey, mom." He sat down on the bed and let himself fall back.
He could hear the smile in her voice. "I've been trying to call you all day. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. How about you?"
"Good, I'm good. Just wanted to wish you a happy birthday!"
"Thanks. Your package arrived the day before yesterday. Thank you! I took the sketchbook with me straight away. Tried drawing some of the buildings here."
She chuckled. He could just about imagine the dimples in her cheeks. "You should've been an architect."
"Nah, too much time sitting at a desk."
"Maybe… you have a few days off right now?!
"Yeah, until the day after tomorrow." He felt his lips shift into a wide smile. "And guess what, I'm not even intending on spending them on base."
"Taking a short trip?"
"No. I don't think so. I met someone, mom. Really nice girl. She has the day off tomorrow as well, so I guess I'll be spending it with her."
"Evan, are you sure you're okay?" The mock worry in her voice made him grin even wider. Where was she? Standing by the window and staring into the small garden behind the house? Probably. And most likely her loyal dog Pepper was sitting right next to her, begging for her attention. "You've never told me about any of the girls you're dating."
"Well..." They weren't dating per se. There hadn't been a single date. But he couldn't tell his mother about that crazy night he'd just spent with her. "Her name's Alex and she's pretty special. I think. She's from England, doing a summer job here at one of the historic sights."
"How did you meet? When?"
He closed his eyes. "Long story." Nope, pretty short story, actually. "We only just met and I'm not sure about anything yet, but I really like her. That's why I wasn't home." He paused for a moment. "Hang on, isn't it close to midnight over there?"
"It's still your birthday here, honey. This was going to be my last try."
Evan grinned. "Alright. And how is Ellen?" He hadn't seen his sister in forever. The last time he was home, she'd been at college, slaving away at her master's thesis."
"She called yesterday. She got a job in Colorado. Some local newspaper."
He nodded. "That's good. I'll have to call her."
"Yes, you do… and I've been wondering, do you think you'll be home for Thanksgiving? Nana wants to throw a big party. Don't know why she's planning it already. It's only July."
"I don't know yet, mom," he said. This wasn't easy at all. It was highly unlikely that he'd be back home by then. "I'll let you know as soon as I can."
"I thought you'd say that." She sighed. And it wasn't easy for her either. "Listen, Evan. Take care of yourself, ok? And if you get the chance to come home, do. If you want, you could bring your girlfriend… that is, if it isn't too soon?" At the sound of the word girlfriend he felt something inside him do a weird kind of somersault. No, he wouldn't tell his mom that she wasn't his girlfriend, because trying to explain would take forever and Alex was certainly more than a one-night stand, but she was far from being his girlfriend… or was she? No. Not really.
"I'll think about it," he said honestly. But he wanted some alone time with her first, before he started showing her around. She was his little open secret for now. Maybe that was a good way of putting it. "Mom, these calls are super expensive. Let me call you again in a few days, okay?"
"Okay. Take care. Love you."
"Love you too, mom."
He hung up and stared up at the ceiling again, feeling his eyelids beginning to fall shut. Just a little nap. And then, later, maybe in a few days, he'd figure out what this thing with Alex was.
She arrived a bit earlier than he would've thought. The trip from Trier to Wittlich wasn't a long one, though, and she apparently had a good sense of direction.
"So, you found it okay?" he asked as he let her in. How could he have forgotten how incredibly blue her eyes were?
Without a moment's hesitation, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, her lips warm and soft against his… She smelled incredible, but she wasn't wearing any perfume. He was falling for her badly. He wasn't even sure he wanted to let go of her.
"A colleague lives nearby," she said as she stepped into the apartment. "Nice place you have here."
He shrugged, putting his hands into his pockets. "I'm not here too often," he said, following her with his eyes as she moved through the sparsely furnished apartment. He preferred living off base, or rather sleeping off base. Having his own space, even if he spent so little time here, made things a bit more comfortable. For a few moments he'd thought about taking down the few pictures he'd made over these past two months, the ones he thought were only good enough to add some colour the room, but he'd decided against it. Why shouldn't he let her actually see that side of him.
And of course they were the first thing she looked at. Not the few books he had stacked on the couch and not the table he'd set for the both of them. She was standing in front of a painting he'd made a few weeks ago. Nothing special… he'd just sketched the view from the mess hall one evening. The trees and the hills beyond a narrow strip of green. The colours had come later and he wasn't at all satisfied with it, but once again he hadn't had his paints with him, so he'd had to do the colours from memory. The painting looked terribly flat somehow, but he still liked the way he'd managed to capture the contours.
"This one looks a bit depressing," she said. Not a great compliment. But the way she stared at it made up for it. But he also had to agree. He'd made the sketch on a stormy evening. The clouds had been almost black, the trees bent far to the side. It wasn't a cheery picture.
He stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Why's that?" he asked, wondering if she could see what he could.
Alex didn't turn around in his arms, didn't put her hands on his. Instead, she raised her right hand and traced the thin lines of pencil which set the contours for the dark green trees. "Well, not depressing, exactly. Threatening maybe… but also… I don't know... It's also… the colours are a bit off, aren't they? That makes it weird. And I still feel like I can almost smell the rain that's about to come."
He laughed, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks. "You don't have to humour me."
"I'm not." Her hand was on his now, tracing his arm softly. "You're really good."
At this he could only smile and pull her closer. Evan couldn't think of anything to say at this. He couldn't help enjoying her admiration. Kissing her neck, he pulled her even closer. "Are you hungry?"
"Yes. Can I take a closer look at the others?"
"Sure…" He was silent for a moment. "Uhm… you know, I was wondering yesterday… I have to get back to work after tomorrow and I know it's not like I'll be leaving forever or anything, but I guess I'd like to draw you? Is that totally weird?"
Alex grinned and she squeezed his hand. "You're gonna have to show me a lot more of your stuff, then."
He laughed. "Deal. Dinner?"
"Dinner." She patted his hand again and he let go of her to fetch the plates from the fridge. "What are we having?"
"Okay, so I don't know what you like, obviously, but since it's still so hot outside, I made some veggie carpaccio."
"You made what?"
He turned around with the plates in his hands and saw her gawking at him. "Sit down. It'll be okay." He laughed nervously as he put one of the plates down in front of her. "It's beet, carrots, zucchini and turnip," he pointed at the different, thinly sliced and colourful spots on her plate. "There's some parm on top aand, I have some bread and olive oil."
She blinked up at him as he poured the oil delicately over her vegetables and then seasoned the whole thing with freshly ground salt and pepper. "Wow," she muttered, staring down on her plate. "Evan, I'm so impressed right now."
Sitting down opposite her at the small table, he pushed the basket of bread towards her and sprinkled his own plate with oil. "Why? Never had a man cook for you?" She blushed deep red now.
"Not like this… this is so… this must have taken forever!"
He shrugged. "Not really. And I had some time to kill. Dig in."
He watched as she picked up her fork and popped the first few slices into her mouth. "This is perfect," she said.
"My nana taught me. She's also really good at making pasta."
"She makes her own?"
He shrugged. "Not anymore. She says I'll inherit her pasta maker though. I'm gonna make you some one day." Wow, that had just popped out. He could only hope he hadn't scared her away with this promise.
But instead of shrinking away, she started tracing her foot up his leg. "Sounds nice. You'll have to teach me though. I'm a terrible chef. Barbecue is about all I can do."
"Don't say that, your sandwich last night was amazing."
"Oh yeah, bread, butter and a bit of cheese. That was quite something."
Watching her eat was really satisfying. The way she didn't wolf it down, but savoured it. It was almost enough to make him forget to eat. "You bought nice bread. That's a good sign. Don't think I'd call you a lost cause."
"Gee, thanks," she muttered with a smile.
"So? How was work? Meet any other cute guys today?"
"Yes. I'm meeting him tomorrow." She winked at him and shook her head. "I read a weird article at lunch, actually…" She hesitated for a moment. "Sorry… Shop talk. You probably don't want to hear about it."
"No, I do!" Evan broke off a piece of bread and dunked it in the oil on his plate. "Talk some shop to me. Dirty talk can come later."
Alex didn't blush. Instead, she leaned back a bit, thought for a moment. "Okay, there's this archaeologist. His hieroglyph translations are exceptional, and he's as clever as you can get. Dr Daniel Jackson. I read some of his research on connections between ancient cultures for my thesis…" She was quiet for a moment. Evan frowned slightly. That didn't sound too weird. "Well, and he was set to have an article published in one of the most renowned archaeological papers there are. I was really looking forward to reading it today, but it got pulled. And that almost never happens. It was supposed to be on the history of Egypt before the 4th Dynasty and… well." She raised her eyebrows, eyes focused on her plate. "Turns out, there's this Dr Jordan, I applied for a job with him, a friend of mine started working for him a few years ago, and he made sure that article wasn't published. He even put a note into the magazine that Dr Jackson had decided not to publish his research after all."
"Okay… maybe it turns out he was wrong about what he thought he'd found out?"
"Doesn't work that way." She sat up again and leaned forward. "Even getting something wrong is a big thing. What this Dr Jordan wrote sounded more like Dr Jackson had lost his mind." The way she said it made it sound like she almost considered this assumption as a personal insult. "I don't know… maybe he has. Sorry to bore you like this."
"You're not boring. It's kind of nice to hear that you history buffs gossip as much as anybody else."
She scoffed, almost choking on the piece of carrot she'd just swallowed. "I think we do gossip…"
"So, this Dr Jackson. Is he a nice fellow?"
Alex shook her head. "How should I know. Maybe he is brilliant, but gaga. Who could say?"
"What do the tattletales at your work say? You can't be the only one who reads that magazine over there."
"I'm not… but I guess," she laughed softly. "Someone said he's heard this Dr Jackson was touring universities around the US, trying to get a job with a talk about how the Egyptian pyramids weren't actually built by the Egyptians."
"Ah…" Evan said. "Who built them then? Blood sucking aliens?"
"Probably," she muttered with a wide grin just as the doorbell rang. "Expecting someone?"
"Not really…" Evan sighed, he was almost sure who it would be. Opening the door he discovered that he'd not been wrong. "Hey…" he said, wishing the two men standing in his doorway would just disappear.
"Hey! Want to go out and grab a beer?" Sam looked tired, but happy enough. He and Javier did that sometimes, ask him to go out with them and he usually went along… but not tonight. The two men were friends, close friends, but he'd see them again soon.
"I… I'm kind of busy," he said quietly as he heard her move behind him.
"Oh…" Sam looked over his shoulder, his eyes a bit too wide. He'd spotted Alex. "I see… uhm…"
Evan sighed and waved them inside. He knew Javier and Sam needed him on these occasions. They needed someone to cover for them, in case one of their superior officers ever got suspicious. Usually Evan didn't mind. Usually… but today he did.
"Javier, Sam, meet Alex. Alex, these are some idiots."
"Hey." She'd stood up and shook their hands. What she must be thinking of him… she put her hands into her pockets.
"Hey…" Javier said, raising an eyebrow at Evan. "Our Lieutenant never mentioned he had a girlfriend."
Evan coughed and averted his gaze, wishing he hadn't asked them to come in.
"I admire your talent of always putting your foot in," Sam said. He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "Tricky subject? Not there yet?"
Out of the corner of his eye Evan saw Alex shrug. "Not sure what's going on yet, rather," she said bluntly. "Do you live nearby?"
"Kind of… we just wanted to know if you wanted to grab a beer or something."
Evan sighed again and strode over to the fridge. "I have a couple here. Let's have one each and then you can bugger off." He only wished they'd leave sooner rather than later.
