Chapter 3

My KENYAN DIARY; CHARLES JAMES

{Mark 2)

What a ride Episode 2 was and how lovely to look at were CJ and Elvis. Seriously, the storyline raced along and the violence, sadly, was only too believable, given what we frequently see and hear in the media. The violence I applauded, though, was Georgie clouting Elvis in the helicopter.

A day I don't want to repeat any time soon. I'm totally stuffed tonight. Too much adrenalin, I guess, though we all did brilliantly in the end. Lane was incredible. I'm in awe of her gutsiness. I gather the scene in the helicopter at the end of it all was something to behold. Apparently when Elvis took off his mask and she saw who her "hero" was, she up and cracked him across the face. Good bloody job, actually.

We were good mates, but things have been strained between the two of us since he got me to do his dirty work when he left Georgie at the altar. I'll never forget the look of devastation on her face when I told her he couldn't go through with the wedding. She looked absolutely beautiful when I arrived and it took ten seconds to transform her into a sobbing mess. What could I say when she asked me why he was doing this to her. How would I know? The bastard had really dropped me in it.

I could never do this to Molly, but then again, I probably love her a lot more than Elvis did Georgie. He's always been a bit flippant with women, pretty shallow actually. Bares his chest, bats his eyelashes, flips that bloody hair of his and then talk about "Me Tarzan, You Jane!" He's got it down pat, all right.

When he turned up this morning all Gung-Ho with his troops with totally crass names like Spunky, for fucks sake, my first thought was "Fuck me, this is just what we need, I don't think." I thought he was in Syria, so I didn't ask them to not send him when I asked for SAS support. My bad, I guess but I get bloody sick of the dramas that follow Elvis around. Shouldn't have to deal with this kind of shit, so I told him how I felt. I reminded him he'd broken Georgie's heart and was the very last soldier who should be tackling this job and he came back at me saying he would fix the damage. Can't believe how superficial he is, as if it would just be like gluing the pieces of a broken vase together. Does he not get it, even now?

Trouble is, he is still my mate, though Molly would give it to me with both barrels if I told her that. She's always been a non-subscriber to his fan club and was absolutely septic when he humiliated Georgie, who is her good mate. She was at the wedding and saw for herself what the effect was on Georgie. It was just six weeks before our wedding and I could pick up that she was feeling insecure about us. Over and over again I told her that nothing could keep me from her on our day and that I was actually afraid she would bail out on me. The lovemaking that followed most times we reassured one another was mind-blowing, which is not unusual for Molly and me. We are bloody great together in bed. Perhaps Elvis hasn't found that yet, I don't know.

"Ha!" she'd said after the wedding day that wasn't. " Never did trust him,. Charles. Don't like him. The only person he's in love wif is the one in the mirror. And I hate it when he calls you Charlie. Me, I only like people to call you Charles and me to call you "Bossman" when I want to get up your nose or I'm pissed off with you."

He did a good job today, though. There'll be a lot of cleaning up tomorrow, so I'll need to get some sleep. Kiki's death is going to leave a big gap in the hospital and there's a lot to do to get it up and running again.

I'll have to see Lane first thing in the morning to work out what she's going to need to get through this. Certainly a debriefing and she might have some other needs I haven't a clue about because I'm a hopeless male. I hope she isn't holding herself responsible for Kiki's death. Those mad fuckers are the only ones to blame. She's had time to clean herself up and get some food and fluid into her. Guess I'll head off now and check up to see if she's rehydrating OK and has got someone with her, probably that woman from the hospital.

And I'll check up on Elvis. He should leave her alone tonight. And what the fuck is this "Laura" tattoo on his arm all about?

Please read and review. I think I'm beginning to enjoy the series now. I hope you all are, too.