Part Three – A Night to Remember

I had several of my secret dress collection laid out on my bed; I honestly could pick one… I had it narrowed down to a red open-backed plunging halter neck slip dress, a black tube dress, and a white sequin cami dress. The nice part about them is that they all work with my lack of torpedo bulges…

I rub the back of my head and call out into the flat, "Eugen, are you busy?"

I start to count to myself, five… four… three…

The door bursts open and in walks my sister in her underwear, her red eyes landing right on my bed and a smirk starts to play at the edges of her lips as she says, "Why Hipper, I never thought you'd have anything like this…"

Letting out a sigh I inform her, "The Kommandant wants me to look good tonight… Normally I wouldn't waste my time going to one of these things…"

Eugen moves over to me, placing an arm around my shoulders as she asks, "Ja, I knew that… But the real question is both why you have and where did you find these dresses?"

My lips press together as I go over to my bed and pull out my magazine and I sigh out, "I like looking at the pretty clothes… sometimes I even order some of them."

I know I'm giving ammo to the devil herself, that at some later point I am going to pay for this, but I need her help right now. Eugen flips through it quickly, clearly amused by this new information, thankfully she wasn't in a mood to have a go at me right now. Eugen looked around my room before telling me, "Sit on your bed, I'll be right back."

I sat down and leaned forward a little, I wonder what she had in mind for me… I got that answer shortly after as she came back with a makeup bag, kneeled in front of me, and said, "Never did I think I would be doing this for you."

I feel as she starts to apply makeup on my face, she was right; this was something I just didn't bother with. After what felt like an eternity she said, "Done, put on the red one."

Opening my green eyes I look at the mirror I had on the other side of my room, I could barely tell she had put anything on me at all, the only real clue was the light red eyeshadow I had on, making my green eyes really pop. Once I have the dress on, I look at myself, I don't look like me…

Turning to Eugen I say, "I don't look like me…"

Eugen shrugs, taking out some red lip gloss and a cotton swab before she applies it to my lips as she says, "I'd say it's an improvement… don't press your lips together for a few minutes, you need to give the gloss a chance to set."

When Eugen steps back I give myself another glance, I really do look good, but it feels weird to actually be dressed like this. Normally I just looked at the dresses in my closet… I never thought I'd actually be wearing one of them.

Eugen moves behind me and teases me with, "I think you put on some weight up top…"

Eugen!

I round on her, bending forward at my hips, I'm just about to dig into her, but she hugs me, disarming me almost instantly as she whispers, "It's not a bad thing and I think it's great you were even willing to do this for the Kommandant."

She leans back and smiles at me, I can see a twinkle in her fire red eyes as she says, "Now, I'm going to get ready, and then we can make an entrance to show the Royal Navy how it's done."

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Just when I had started to feel confident in my dress, I saw my sister; damn I wish I had a figure like hers and the self-confidence to pull off a dress like hers, black on black material you could see through all over it. As we crossed into the hall, she vanished into the crowd, likely to go and find the open bar…

Looking around, I was reminded just how out of place I looked for my ship class, doubly so when I saw Baltimore, hard to believe we are both heavy cruisers. I sigh to myself and remind myself that the Kommandant had asked me to be his date to this… this… personal flotation display…

I tried to relax, but when I felt a hand on the small of my back, I jumped a little, rounded on whoever had the nerve to touch me. My lips pressed together as I saw him standing there, looking like he was trying to avoid laughing, I pushed him a little as I snapped, "H-haah?! You did that on purpose, didn't you?!"

I had to admit he did look good in his dress whites, surface warfare badge at the top of the board of ribbons. I guess he's seen more actual action than I had thought…

"Maybe…" he says, looking down at me before he leans in and whispers in my ear, "You look very pretty by the way."

My cheeks get so hot when he says that to me. I straighten up as my hands slide in front of me, causing me to fidget with them a little before I whisper back, "You look handsome tonight, by the way…"

It was true, he did! But damn him for the way he's keeping me off balance like this. The two of us stood like this for a moment, facing each other, but not really looking at each other. I really don't know what to do right now, I never come to these things…

He clears his throat and asks with nervousness to his voice, "Would you like to dance?"

I blink a couple of times that would mean we have to actually touch each other… he never said anything about that!

My attention was taken up by the sudden appearance and twisting of brown foxlike ears in our direction that made me realize I was here for another reason than just being a date, I was here so he could avoid Akagi…

As I saw the ears start to move towards us, I leaned in and asked him, "Am I here just so you have a reason to avoid Akagi?"

He has a look of surprise on his face, stepping in closer to me to whisper, "Partially. It's also expected that I spend the evening with whoever is serving as the secretary."

Rolling my eyes as I sigh and take his hand and we step out onto the dance floor to vanish into the crowd as I say to him, "Just because I'm going to let you touch me, doesn't mean you get to touch me. Got it?"

He nods as he starts to lead me through various dance steps, I keep an eye over his shoulder and every time I see those fox-ears get closer we move off to a different spot. I hated to admit it, but I was actually having some fun at this. We kept dancing and I was impressed with just how nimble he was on his feet and because of that, I missed the approach of that fox.

He spun me out and as I came back in, it felt like my dress caught on something for a moment before it came free, as I bumped into him, I looked up and saw his cheeks get very red and his eyes dart away from me, I also heard the talking in the rest of the room come to a stop… All I could hear was the taunting laughter of Akagi.

As my brow knit together the Kommandant said, "Hipper…"

"What?" I asked as I picked up on a sudden chill.

I looked down and see my bust and not my dress. I press myself harder against the Kommandant and start to look around and I see Akagi, holding my dress off of one of her fingers, a wild look in her red eyes. I drop down to my knees and cover my chest with my arms as I try to hide my face. Damn her!

I feel something getting placed around my shoulders and I take a moment to look at it, it's the Kommandant's jacket… why the hell is he doing this for me?

When I look up to him, I see this hard look in his eyes and he places himself between me and Akagi, does a quick scan of the assembled kansen before he speaks in a very commanding tone, "Akagi, give the dress back."

"No, she is an insect and not worthy of you Shikikan-sama." That fox says back.

The Kommandant pinches the bridge of his nose as he says, "I'm going to say this, one last time Akagi. Give the dress back, now."

I watch as Akagi takes my dress in both of her hands, her face becoming hard and cruel as she pulled it apart and said, "I said, no."

I felt like I'd been punched or kicked in the stomach, that was one of my favorites from my dress collection! I wanted to do something, but well, I was topless right now and feeling really exposed and embarrassed. Without missing a beat the Kommandant spoke in a level, hard tone, "Then you leave me no choice. Georgia, Enterprise can you take Akagi to holding, I will figure out what to do with her in the morning."

From my position of kneeling on the floor, I watch as Akagi is gripped by her arms and lead out of the hall by two of the kansen I never really saw or interacted with, in my day-to-day, but I figured there had to be a reason why the Kommandant would've called on them, rather than any other kansne here, perhaps they were extraordinarily powerful. Once she was gone, he turned to face me, got down on his keens and said to me, "Let's get you home… I'm tired of this party anyway."

I grip his jacket tightly around me and I notice just how much bigger he is than me; his coat goes down to my mid thighs and easily wraps around me. As we walk back to my flat he doesn't look at me, but says, "Sorry about Akagi…"

I sigh out, "I really liked that dress…"

"I'll buy you a new one." He offers out and I shake my head as I say to him, "You don't need to, that bitch does."

He laughs before sighing out, "I wish I knew what to do about Akagi, she's just becoming more and more of a problem."

I shrug and hold the coat around me, it smells like him, and he does smell nice… no! I can't get distracted by this… but then again he has been actually nice to me since I started in the secretary role, we've fought a lot less and been laughing a lot more. When I don't answer right away he asks, "Hipper, is everything okay?"

Shit, I'm running out of time to be able to stall…. "Why?" I ask him.

"Why what?" he asks back to me.

I turn to look at him walking beside me, his arms folded behind his head and I look down to my feet and ask, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

He sighs and says to me, "Maybe Hipper, just maybe I'm starting to see you in a different light, and maybe, just maybe I'm starting to like what I see."

My cheeks get so hot and he teases me, "Are you blushing?"

"N… no!"I holler back and give him a little shove.

He laughs harder as he continues, "You are so!"

I make a noise like I'm irritated and stomp off ahead, I only a little mad though, mad at myself that maybe a part of me is liking the idea of him starting to like me. Once I get to my flat, I leave his coat on the door and head into my room to get into some loungewear. After a moment of looking at myself in the mirror, I go back to the door and crack it open to see him heading back down the hallway, his jacket over a shoulder and I say to him, "Would you like to come in?"

He stops in his tracks and turns to look at me with those blue eyes of his as he starts to walk back and say to me, "Sure."

I wonder if he's got some motive for this, but I did offer… I sigh inwardly and go into the kitchenette and grab a couple of beers before returning to the living room, where he's standing, looking around. That's when I spot it, my underwear hanging on the balcony! I told Eugen to take those in before we left… This is not happening… then again, he's already seen me in my underwear, thank-you Akagi…

Taking them down I toss them into my bed, when I turn around he's sipping from his beer, I can see a smirk on his lips and I can't help myself, a haughty tone comes out as I say, "What?"

"Just wondering if you have any that don't have little prints on them…" he says with a wink.

My cheeks get so hot again, I knew he saw them! Both the ones I'm wearing and the ones that were hanging. He even goes so far as to add, "I thought the little ribbon bow was cute."

"Dummkopf!" I holler at him all but throwing myself at him.

To my surprise he catches me by both arms, holding me back a little, a twinkle in his eyes as he says to me, "Maybe it's the beer, but you're kind of cute when you're mad."

I feel my cheeks get hot again and for the briefest of moments, I thought he might try and kiss me, I even tilted my head slightly… But what did he do? He let go of me and said, "Good night Hipper, I'll see you Monday morning."

I watched in a numb state as he left my flat, when the door shut behind him I grabbed a cushion off of the couch and threw it at the door while I cursed out, "Dummkopf! Take the hint!"

Once I'd put the cushion back I went and took a shower, leaning my head against the wall while the water beat down on me I looked down at myself and saw water dripping down. I knew it was not shower water, I knew what it was, something I hated to admit. I was crying, crying because some idiot didn't kiss me, crying that I was even sad that I didn't get kissed. Crying over the fact that I even wanted him to do that, what the hell is wrong with me?

I shut off the shower, dry off, and make sure I've got no more tears before I turn in for the night.

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Come Monday I've done my best to put the events of the gala behind me, yet I spent all weekend trying to figure out the Kommandant, ugh this was pissing me off. Once I've got my cup of coffee in hand I settle in behind my computer and start to go through the built-up of messages, but my heart just isn't in it today. I sit back in my chair and just sip my coffee and look at the calendar, making a mental note that this week marked my last week in this position, thank god. I think if I stay on as secretary any longer, I'll do something stupid.

I sigh and sip more coffee as I start to think about the last month. I had to admit I was starting to look forward to my time in the office, even starting to like spending time with the Kommandant, not that I could actually tell him that. My attention is drawn to the door as it opens and I see him, I do my best not to react, and I can't help it, "Dummkopf."

I see his brow twitch, as he comes in I see a box under his right arm, just as he goes pat me he says "Hipper." then drops the box on my desk and goes into his office.

After a few minutes, my curiosity gets the better of me and I pull the box over to me and I see a tag with my name on it. I tilt my head to the side and open it up, pulling away the packing material to see what looks like red fabric inside. I slowly take it out and my lips curl into a smile, it's a copy of the dress that Akagi had ripped in half… No, this one is nicer, much, much nicer… this one is silk… I hold it up to myself and see that it's a little longer too, not a bad thing really.

I fold the dress back into the box and put the box under my desk before I knock on his door and wait. Once he gives me permission I enter his office, folding my hands behind me as I close the door, I look at the floor and tell him, "Thank you."

When he doesn't say anything, I look up and see him sitting at his desk, his arms folded across his chest; clearly, he is looking for something more than that now… I sigh inwardly as I snap, "What?"

He sighs and looks down before saying, "I don't know, maybe something along the lines of an apology?"

For what? Calling you what you are?

I move closer, my nostrils flaring out as I continue to snap, "For what?"

I see it now, he's getting irritated, his arms unfold and he pushes himself up from his desk as he says, "For the insult, even when I had gone out of my way and called in a few favors for you!"

Still, I kept closing the distance as I started to holler back at him, "I never asked you to!"

He moved closer to me and he hollered back at me, "I was just trying to be nice!"

And then I got up close to him and started to poke him in the chest with my right index finger as I said something that I probably shouldn't have, "Nice?! Nice?! Nice would've been kissing me back in my flat!"

Oh crap! Me and my big mouth!

His eyes went wide, my eyes went wide while my cheeks started to get hot and I tripped over my own tongue, "N... Ne… Never mind!"

I spin on my heels and go to hurry out of the room, but I feel something, or rather someone catches my right arm. I start begging inside that he doesn't force me to turn around right now, rather he whispers, "I wanted to."

The room is dead silent, I can only hear my heartbeat in my ears, I turn my head slowly so that I can see over my shoulder, he's looking down, his cheeks a little red, and I ask, "Then why didn't you?"

He sighs, letting go of my arm, and tells me, "Honestly, I wasn't able to think clearly because of everything I had drunk that night… I didn't want to ruin what was starting to become good."

I turn back around and ask him, "So you thought it was a good idea to just let me stew on that all weekend?"

He shook his head and walked back to his desk and sat behind it while he said to me, "I was embarrassed and I was sure you'd be mad."

"Of course I'd be mad! I was embarrassed that I tried to signal to you that I wanted you to and got shut down!" I shout as I move to sit across from him.

He looks down at his desk and smirks with a half-laugh, shakes his head, and says, "We are quite the pair, eh?"

Like… like… damn… maybe he's got a point.

I cross my arms under my lackluster bust line, lifting them slightly and making them more pronounced as I cross my legs at the knees and I ask, "Why do you though…"

He shrugs and sits back, a smirk on the corners of his lips as he says to me, "Sometimes life is like that…"

I give him a sideways glance and ask, "You sound like you're speaking with some experience in that, want to explain that?"

He took his cap off and ran his hand over his head before telling me, "About ten years into being married, I found that I just didn't feel any passion with my ex-wife… and she didn't either, she found someone else…"

Huh, didn't know he'd be married before.

"So what does that have to do with me?" I ask, this was actually interesting to me.

He sits forward a little and says, "For better or worse Hipper, you bring something out in me."

I feel my cheeks get hot and I find myself asking, "So is that why you…?"

He sighs and nods, "Yes."

Huh…

I get out of the chair and start to make my way to the door as I say to him, "Good talk."

Truth is, I was feeling super awkward right now. I'm almost at the door when I hear him get out from behind his desk and start to cross the room and he says, "Hipper, wait."

Damn it!

My hand was on the door handle and I turned to look at him, he was so close, my eyes kept looking at his lips, my cheeks were getting so hot, even he was blushing a little too. I could smell his aftershave; damn does it make him smell good.

I let go of the door handle and start to fidget with the hem of my skirt, my heart pounding in my ears, then I feel this, electric feeling as his hand touches my right cheek. I look up into those sapphire pools of his before my eyes dart down to his lips and back up to his eyes. I see him lean in closer, his head tilting slightly, out of instinct I get up onto the balls of my feet, my own head tilting slightly. Our lips were so close together, I could feel his breath on my lips, just like I'm sure he could feel mine, it made me wonder what he was waiting for.

It felt like this moment just went on and on, it was like he wasn't going to go any further. I give my lips a quick lick and move those last couple of millimeters. When my lips touched his, it was like an electric shock ran from my lips to my knees, they started to buckle. I could hear a voice that sounded like mine making a noise like it was enjoying whatever it was doing, as my knees started to give out, I felt one of his arms go around the small of my back and pull me closer to his body. My hands went up to either side of his face to stroke his cheeks, when my lungs started to burn I broke the kiss, the two of us stood like that for a few moments, my heart was still pounding like crazy. I could see that he was blushing so much and I knew I was too.

He smiled at me and I smiled back as I said with a teasing tone this time, "Dummkopf."

The Kommandant placed his forehead against mine and said, "Yeah, but I could be your Dummkopf."

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A/N: Chapter three done. I'm glad to read that this story is being so well received, only one more chapter to go now.