"Are you going to take the shot or not?"
Jake blinked a couple of times upon hearing Javy' voice.
"Yeah, sorry. I zoned out."
"Obviously," replied Javy.
Jake aimed the dart and took the shot. It landed right in the 50 points rose. He walked over to the board and removed the three darts and headed back next to Javy.
"Who did you zone out on?" asked Javy with a side smile.
Jake turned his head in the direction of the bar and narrowed his eyes. She was gone.
He looked around the sections of the bar that he could see, but she was nowhere in sight.
"She was at the bar a few minutes ago," replied Jake as he handed Javy the darts.
"Are you sure she was real?"
"Of course, she was, I heard her talking to the barmaid, she even ordered a Blue Moon."
"Well, in that case," said Javy as he put the darts down, "let's go ask Kiley. You'll get your answer, and it will be a great excuse for me to engage in a casual discussion."
They walked over to the bar, Jake his eyes on the lookout for his mystery woman.
Javy settled nonchalantly on a barstool and smiled as Kiley stopped in front of him.
"Can we have two other Buds, please?"
She nodded, headed for the fridge, and brought them to him. He handed one to Jake as she added the receipt to their tab.
"There was a woman here a few minutes ago, do you know where she might be?"
Kiley laughed.
"You want to know how many women I've served in the past five minutes? You're going to have to be a bit more specific."
Javy eyed Jake, almost egging him on to give the information he had.
Jake shifted his attention to Kiley. "She ordered a Blue Moon. Has long brown hair, brown eyes, and an amazing smile. She was wearing a flowing long red skirt and a black over-the-shoulder top."
"Does that help?" asked Javy as he locked eyes with her.
"Yes, that helps. She's around here somewhere. She went to say hi to the owner of this place. I think she headed toward the back section of the bar, and I haven't seen her since, so she must still be there."
"Are you sure she didn't leave?" asked Jake.
"No, she would never leave without paying her tab."
Javy leaned in toward Jake. "Why don't you go do your reconnaissance and I'll stay here and do my thing?"
Jake nodded and walked away from the bar with his beer bottle in hand.
The back section was not as crowded as the front but there were still a lot of people. He was surprised to see some Naval officers in their uniforms with obviously plenty of women hovering around them. 'Show-offs' he thought to himself. Yet he felt a pinch of jealousy as he figured that at this point, they'd have a better chance at not spending the night alone, compared to him.
As he advanced through the crowd, he heard her voice. Almost like a beacon he followed it, hoping it would lead her to him.
From afar, he saw her talking with a much older man; he appeared to be in his sixties. He wore a black bandana over his head which contrasted with his long white beard. He must have been the owner.
She laughed as she reacted to something he was telling her, and it echoed through his entire being.
He stood partly frozen as he watched the owner excuse himself from her company and walk away. Before he could do anything, she had turned in his direction and was walking toward him.
As she neared him, he snapped out of it. He managed to make eye contact with her and smiled. She smiled back as she eyed him. Her smile was so genuine that you didn't even need to look at her mouth to see it, it showed in her eyes.
She stopped a few inches from him.
"Hi," he said casually.
"Hi."
That had been all it had taken. If it hadn't been the case earlier, it was now…. He was a goner. That stupid line in Jerry Maguire where Tom Cruise says, 'you had me at hello', well, he would never make fun of it ever again.
He put his hand out. "I'm Jake."
She took his hand and shook it. "I'm Olivia. It's nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is all mine," he answered, and it was the truth. Finally, there was at least one woman in this place who he could envision finishing the night with.
"Can I get you a drink?" he asked.
She lifted her other hand and he saw that she still had her Blue Moon bottle.
"Thanks, but I'm OK for the time being."
He took the opportunity to check out her hand and noticed that there was no ring on it… she wasn't married and maybe even not engaged. His criteria were slowly being met as he checked off the various boxes in his head.
"Tourist on vacation?" he asked.
"No. Local."
He raised an interested brow. "Really?"
"Yes."
He was about to ask her what she did for a living, when he saw her eyes unlock from his and shift momentarily to somewhere behind his head, bringing another smile to her face.
Before he could turn around, a figure just a few inches taller than him passed by him and stopped between him and Olivia, his back to him. He was dressed in a nice, light blue layered long sleeve sweater and pair of jeans.
"Hi beautiful…"
Jake was about to tap the guy's shoulder to tell him that he was being rude and that he was not only in a conversation with her but that he had also been there first when he heard the rest of the sentence.
"… I'm sorry I'm late."
He watched speechless and unable to move as the guy lowered his head slightly and kissed her. Well, he couldn't see the kiss as whoever this guy was, was blocking his view, but he highly doubted that he was giving her a dental exam.
As the man resumed a more upright position, Jake looked at the back of his hair, broad shoulders, even the voice sounded somewhat familiar.
"I'm sorry," said the man's voice again, "I didn't mean to interrupt your discussion."
The man pivoted at the same time as he placed himself alongside Olivia and put his arm around her waist.
Both men looked at each other and Jake wanted to do two things; the first was to take this guy's place, the second was to turn into a mouse and flee to the nearest hole.
"Lieutenant Seresin. Good to see that you are back on solid ground."
Jake swallowed.
"Thank you, Admiral Simpson, it's good to here."
"You two know each other, I take it?" said Olivia.
Beau looked at her and smiled. "Yes, he was one of my pilots in a mission a couple of years ago."
"How long are you staying in Guam, Admiral?"
It might have sounded like a mundane question, but it was a way for him to know if the odds were in his favor… If Cyclone was only going to be here for another day or two, well… he could hopefully try again.
"No plans to leave, Lieutenant. I transferred here a year ago and as far as I know I'm here for another three years minimum."
Jake smiled, but it was fake. "Fantastic!" 'NOT!' he thought to himself. He mentally erased the checked boxes from his criteria list. It was obvious that Cyclone had blown into town before he had and seeing how he was holding Olivia, he was stating his claim, even if he didn't intend to. And if Cyclone had gotten here a year ago, who knew for how long this thing was going.
Beau looked at his watch.
"We should get going," he said as he shifted his eyes to Olivia, "if we want to get to the movie theater on time."
Olivia nodded then looked at Jake.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant. I hope you enjoy your stay in Guam."
"Thank you," he replied.
'Lieutenant'? What happened to Jake? She wasn't Navy, why was she suddenly this formal?
"Enjoy your evening, Lieutenant," said Beau as, still his arm lovingly draped around Olivia's waist, started to walk past him, "I'll see you on base, I'm sure."
"Yes, Sir."
