I put my hand over Chris's and looked at him. I knew that I didn't love him. Every part of me said that it was straight lust and he knew and felt the lust too. "Chris, I..."

"I know. Lust is a strange thing, isn't it?" He leaned his forehead against mine. I could smell the spearmint on his breath. He leaned in and began kissing me again. I felt my body give in and for one moment, the lust for his Sergeant overtook the love for Tariq.

I sat up in bed, feeling guilty as I looked at Chris lying next to me, sleeping. I wondered what type of girlfriend I was to give into the lust. I put my robe on and headed out to the kitchen and made me a cup of tea. The sun was just starting to rise and while the night before had been amazing, I wanted the new day to come and start over and forget what had happened the night before. I wondered if Chris and I would now act uncomfortable around each other, making Tariq suspicious. I started to cry.

"It wasn't that bad was it?" Chris's voice startled me.

I looked at him. "No. It wasn't. It's just..."

"Tariq?"

"Yeah." I stared out my balcony window.

"Yeah." Chris sighed.

"How do we act now? I mean, we start acting different, he'll suspect something."

"I know." He sighed again, only heavier. "But, I've got shit on him that woul..." He stopped.

"You've what?" I looked at him.

Chris stepped back. "Uh, nothing." He gulped.

"What did he do?"

"I don't know." Chris seemed out of character to me. He was nervous and anxious.

"Okay." I looked at him, lips pursed. "If you don't tell me, I'll have to give you stitches."

"No. I..."

"Stitches."

"Her name was Tiana and she was an embedded journalist and..."

"WHEN?" I screamed.

"Just before we came home." He ducked as I threw my mug. "Didn't we just do the same?"

"Yes and he'll be as mad as I am." I sat down. "How long was she embedded with you?"

"A couple months. It was while you and Tariq were claiming your love for each other. What I know was that, like last night, it was a moment of lust and didn't happen but one time. He's regretted it since."

"That's why..."

"That's why he's been super nice to you." Chris smiled. "So, if he finds out about your moment of lust, you can point out his."

"How do you know about it, Chris?" I looked up.

"About his sleeping with Tiana?"

"Yeah."

He pulled himself up and sat on my counter. "They weren't...well, they sorta fell asleep in the back of the Humvee and fortunately for him, I was the one that discovered them. Trust me, I gave him an earful. Shortly afterwards, she had her story and left. She says that it wasn't because of that night, but Tariq and I both knew." Chris rolled his head, something that I noticed that he always did before saying something with depth. "What we need to decide now is how to deal with last night."

I sighed. "I know." I put my elbows on my knee and planted my chin in my palms, looking up at Chris. "How do I ask him about that knowing that I'd have to talk about last night?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to." He tilted his head and looked at me.

"What?" I bolted straight up.

"If you talk to Tariq about Tiana, thus revealing what we did last night, you may get answers you're not prepared to hear. I'm not saying don't tell him."

"Then what are you saying?"

"Bide your time. Wait for the right opportunity." He jumped off. "You'll know when you need to talk to him and get the answers you want. Right now, I don't think you're ready for them." He headed down the hall for a shower.

"You are so exasperating!" I yelled at him.

He turned around and looked at me. "You're not ready to handle the answers you seek."

"What are you now? The Dali Llama?"

He laughed. "No." He sighed and leaned against the wall. "Look, I've been in a spot very similar to yours. When I pushed the issue too early and got the answers I didn't want to hear because I wasn't ready for them, well, it's why I'm still single. You will know when you can handle the answers." He went into the bathroom and started the shower.

I sat down, even more puzzled. He was not just frustrating, but he was also very enigmatic. There were times I swore he was speaking in riddles that only the Sphinx knew the answer to. He never really talked about his life, though he'd mentioned his parents and brother. But, what did he mean by he was in a spot similar to mine? What point was he trying to drive home? I laid down on the couch, thinking about the answers and the questions that preceded them.

I was back working in the ER when Tariq and Chris came in. "Glad to see you're finally heading to Benning." I kissed Tariq.

Tariq sighed. "Yeah, it is." He looked around and appeared nervous.

"It's alright, Riqy. We've been separated before. We'll do this" I soothed.

"It's not that." He looked at me.

I glanced at Chris, knowing he said something to Tariq about our night. Chris looked at me. "I'll be in the waiting room. Good luck, Riqy." He patted Tariq's shoulder and left.

"Can we go into the break room real quick?"

"Sure, Riqy. What's up?" I opened the door and sat on the couch.

Riqy sat next to me. "I was talking to Scream and he said something." I sighed because I knew it was coming. Chris had told Tariq about our one night stand. "To tell the truth, I'm a little nervous." He sighed again. "The past few months here in the hospital have...I've never actually seen you work...and...well, the whole thing is..." He leaned his head back and looked at me. "I never realised the depth of what I feel to you until now. I mean, I knew I loved you and everything, but I didn't realise until..."

The door burst open. "Ciara, you're needed." Dr. Dvorsak closed the door behind him.

"I gotta go. After work, we'll talk?"

"Marry me." He suddenly said.

"Marry you?" I stopped in my tracks.

"Yes. I can't and don't want to go to Benning alone. I need you by my side. Marry me."

I looked in his eyes. "Under one condition."

"What's that?"

"Kiss me."

"Gladly." He gave me a soft kiss and got something out of his pocket. He slipped my mother's engagement ring on my finger. "Brought your parents luck, right?" He smiled.