Saturday, January 17th 2015

12:30 a.m.

After spending several minutes fumbling with his keys an inebriated Rick Hunter was finally able to open his front door. His attempts to be as quiet as possible were dashed when he tripped over his own feet and landed face down on the living room rug, sustaining a nasty rug burn on his left cheek.

Shit. I hope I didn't wake her up (he thought to himself, referring to Minmei who was sleeping in the bedroom) Good thing she sleeps like the dead. I'm in no mood to explain myself right now.

Rick groped his way through the dark room before falling on to the living room couch. A bad case of the spins made lying down uncomfortable, so he sat back up and turned on the TV. After watching infomercials for an hour or so, he decided that he needed to talk to Lisa – right now. So what if it was the middle of the night and she was pissed off at him? He showed up at her place at weird hours before. She was always there for him when he needed her, and he needed her now more than ever before. Besides, he needed to tell her that it was over between him and Minmei, and that she was the one he wanted to be with. He put on his coat and opened the front door before remembering that Max drove him home. Lisa's place wasn't that close and it had gotten really cold over the last few hours, too cold to walk. He decided to call her instead.

Rick dialed the number quickly, and incorrectly the first time. The very angry Zentradi on the other end of the line did not appreciate his late night phone call. He tried again. The phone didn't ring but went directly into Lisa's voicemail. Apparently she had turned her phone off. He decided that he would just go ahead and leave her a message.

"Uh, Lisa. Hi. It's Rick. Um, listen. I, uh, don't know when you'll get this, maybe in the morning, but , uh, I uh, really need to talk to you…about us. You and me us. I really, um…miss you. Please call me, on my cel phone, as soon as you get this, okay. Bye.

There, you did it. Now you've got to follow through on this Hunter.

Rick went back to the couch and fell asleep.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Late Afternoon

Lisa Hayes went directly to Admiral Gloval's Office. She wanted to tell him right away that she could not accept this new assignment because she had decided to resign.

"Admiral Gloval? You wanted to see me, sir?

"Yes, Lisa. Come in. Have a seat."

"Thank you, sir."

"So, Captain Hayes, how do you feel about accepting a new assignment?"

"I'm — I'm sorry sir. I can't. I've already decided to resign from the RDF. Here's my official resignation." Lisa placed a sealed envelope on the desk in front of Gloval. " I'll stay on until the end of this month. If there's anything I can do to help with the personnel transition, I'd be happy to, sir."

"Lisa, what's this all about? Don't tell me it's because of you and Captain Hunter."

"I didn't know how much you knew about that, sir. I'm afraid it is. Right now I am in no state of mind to take on anything new, or to even stay here in Macross City for that matter."

"First of all, I would have to be both blind and stupid not to see what was going on between you two, Second, I'd have to be deaf because of all the gossip floating around. I'm sorry to hear that. I take it that you've thought this decision through."

"Yes, sir. I have some prospects in Monument City. I'm planning to move there."

"Very well. I guess that means that I will have to recommend someone else to command the SDF-2."

Lisa felt her whole face turn red and her heart begin to pound. Admiral Gloval was going to offer her command of the SDF-2?!!

Gloval pushed the envelope on the desk back toward Lisa. "I can see by your reaction that you are surprised."

"Yes…yes I am. I had no idea."

"That's exactly why I am giving you back this letter. Take a couple of days to think about this, Lisa. You have until Monday, 10:00 a.m. to give me your decision. The plan is for the SDF-2 to leave earth within the next week. You know how important this mission is, and I know that you are the best person for the job. Of course this mission will take you away from earth for a long time, and I don't have to tell you that we have no idea just how dangerous it will be."

Lisa stood up and gave Gloval a crisp salute. "Thank, you Admiral. I will reconsider."

"Good. Now I'm sure you have some personal business to take care of, so I'll see you on Monday."

Lisa left Admiral Gloval's Office feeling deeply conflicted. Just a half an hour ago she was determined to resign and get on with her life outside the RDF. Now she was facing the most difficult decision of her life. Being given command the SDF-2 was beyond her wildest dreams. Accepting the assignment would take her away, far away, that's for sure. She could be gone for years, if she were to return at all.

Lisa went home to begin packing and decide on her future course.

Sunday, January 18th

Morning

"Rick, Rick, wake up."

Rick Hunter opened his eyes to the sight of Minmei standing over him. Her arms were folded in front of her and she looked a little annoyed.

"What time is it?" He said as he sat up and realized that his head hurt.

"It's 8:00 a.m. What time did you get home? And what happened to your face?"

"My face?" He reached up and remembered, sort of, what happened last night. "I think I tripped coming in last night."

"Were you with Max?"

"Yeah, at Slammers," he said as he slowly stood up and headed for the bedroom. "Guess I had a little too much to drink. Listen, I don't feel too good. I didn't get a lot of sleep. Wake me up if anybody calls, or comes by, okay." He closed the door behind him, put his cel phone on the nightstand, and went back to sleep.

Minmei stood there staring at Rick in disbelief. She had never seen him hung over before. Hell, she had never seen him drink before. Maybe something really was bothering him. Given his condition, she decided to hold off on asking him to resign until tomorrow.

Sunday, January 18th

Morning

Wile standing in line at one of downtown Macross' coffee shops, Lisa Hayes discovered that her cel phone battery was dead. She intended to call Claudia and ask her to meet her that morning so that she could tell her that she had made her decision. She would stay in the RDF, accept command of the SDF-2, and ask Claudia to serve as her First Officer.

She resolved to say goodbye to Rick Hunter and tell him that she was in love with him, once and for all, tomorrow after she assumed command. That way she would already be committed to leaving, and no amount of hesitancy or second-guessing could change her mind. She had even decided exactly what words to use, and had been rehearsing them in her mind. She didn't want to sound like a lovesick teenager, and she certainly didn't want to break down crying in front of him. She did, however briefly, allow herself to fantasize that he would also declare his love, and join her, but she knew that wasn't going to happen. She would tell him and she would leave. And that part of her life would be over.

Lisa realized that for the first time in months, she felt like she had a sense of purpose and direction.

She ordered an expresso and a blueberry muffin and sat down in a table in the corner and began to read the Sunday newspaper, when she heard someone call her name. She looked up and was surprised to see Kyle Lynn standing in front of her.

"Good Morning, Captain," he stretched out his hand to Lisa.

"Uh, Hi, Kyle. It's Lisa." She said as they shook hands.

"So, from what I hear we have a lot in common lately, Lisa. Mind if I sit down?"

"Uh, no." This is surreal. I don't think I like this.

"Um, yeah, I guess we do. I thought that was a big secret. How did you know she's at Rick's?"

"Where else would she go? It's not like she has a lot of friends. So what are you doing these days, Captain, er, Lisa."

To think I used to have a crush on this guy!

"I'm getting ready for a new assignment, and you?"

"This and that. I'm opening a martial arts school in Monument City. I just came to Macross to see…to see ….my friends, before I go back." Kyle gave Lisa a weird grin at this point, and she could tell exactly what he meant. He was going to go over to Rick's to see Minmei.

This should be interesting. Wish I could be there to see that.

"By the way, I'm having a grand opening next Friday at 6:00. You should come by and check it out."


"Thanks, but like I said, I'm leaving….leaving town for an assignment."

"Oh, that's too bad. The invitation still stands, Lisa. Come on by next time you're in Monument. Nice to see you."

Why is he being so friendly? Go ahead and ask him. What have you got to loose?

"Um, thanks, Kyle. Hey, I thought you didn't like Military People."

"You're okay Captain Hayes. Good luck on your new assignment."

Lisa watched as Kyle left the coffee shop. After finishing her coffee she went home to resume packing.

The first thing Lisa did was plug in her cel phone to charge it, and call Claudia. Before she had the chance to make the call she retrieved her messages and was utterly stunned to see a call from Rick Hunter at 2:14 a.m. that morning.

What could he possibly be calling me about in the middle of the night? Did something happen? Do I want to listen to this message?

She decided not to, yet, and called Claudia to tell her she needed her to come over right away. Claudia agreed, knowing instantly from the tone of Lisa's voice that something was up, so she dropped what she was doing and ran out the door.

Claudia arrived at Lisa's place a few minutes later. She found an agitated Lisa pacing around the living room with her cel phone in one hand and a beer in the other.

"How's that for fast, Lisa. What's going on?"

"Well, for starts, Admiral Gloval offered me command of the SDF-2. I know you knew that he was going to do that. I told him I'd reconsider my resignation, and will tell him tomorrow that I accept. I'd like you to be my first officer. What do you say?"

"I say, yes, Lisa, of course. I'm honored to serve under you."

"Good. I also decided to go to Rick's tomorrow morning to say goodbye and tell him everything. I figured that way I could leave without regretting that I never told him… that I love him. And it will be too late to change my mind about leaving."

"I think that's a good idea."

"Just a little while ago I found a voicemail from him, 2:14 in the morning, last night. I haven't listened to it. I'm afraid to, Claudia. Will you listen to it and tell me what he said?"

"Why are you afraid, Lisa? He's been calling and leaving you messages you for weeks."


"Please, Claudia….."

"Oh, all right, give me that." Claudia pulled the phone out of her friend's hand and let out a large sigh. She pushed the button to retrieve the message and put the phone to her ear. First her mouth dropped open and then she began to laugh.

"Oh my God, what?"

"Well I can tell you or you can listen for yourself."

"Tell me first."

Claudia let out another long sigh and rolled her eyes; still amazed that Captain Lisa Hayes was still acting like a 16 year old over Rick Hunter.

"Well, he was very obviously drunk."

"No!"

"Yes, and said he said he needs to talk to you right away. About you and him. And he said he misses you."

Lisa's heart began to pound. Why, why, why would he do this? Why now, when she was finally ready to make peace with the fact that she lost him and was ready to move on. She plopped herself down on the couch, put her head in her hands.

Claudia sat down next to her on the couch and put her hand on Lisa's back. "Well honey, congratulations, you've finally gotten a late night drunken phone call. That's a good sign."

Lisa lifted her head and looked at Claudia like she was crazy. "What do you mean?"

"You've never gotten one of those before? It's when the guy, who is either unable or unwilling to express his feelings in person, gets sloppy drunk and calls you in the middle of the night. Roy did it to me several times before we finally got together." Claudia held the phone up to her face and imitated a drunken Roy Fokker "Hello, Claudia. It's Roy. Listen know I've been a real asshole lately, but you know what, I really love you."

Lisa laughed and looked at Claudia. "But Claudia he didn't say he loves me."

"No he didn't. But he obviously has something to say to you. Maybe things aren't working out with him and Minmei. Who knows? At least he'll have her out of his system if it doesn't work out."

Claudia left shortly after, ordering her friend not to back out on going to Rick's in the morning.

Lisa resumed packing. Even though the SDF-2 wouldn't be leaving for a few more days, she wanted to move into her new quarters on the ship as soon as possible.

Notes: In the original series, the bridge crew pushes Lisa into the ejection pod telling her that she is the one who has something to live for (meaning Rick of course). I could never understand how they knew Rick and Lisa were finally together that morning. As far as they all knew the two were totally on the outs, right?

And of course, I hate that Claudia, Sammy, Kim and Vanessa were lost in Khyron's attack. It never made sense to me that Lisa didn't seem utterly devastated that she lost almost all of her friends. I like the original Macross storyline that they survived much better.

It also drove me nuts that Lisa never gets hurt. Don't get me wrong, she's the best, but even when there's death and destruction all around her she never gets a scratch, and her uniform is always perfectly white. I would think that she would probably get pretty darned beat up once in a while.

And finally – I know I've received two of those "late night drunken phone calls," and so have most of my girlfriends. I always they were funny..