Garrison

Garrison replaced his cutlery on his empty dinner plate and took a deep breath. Molly had excelled herself with the meal, turning Diesel's humble rabbits into something special. Reluctantly he pushed his chair back and made his way to his office. If he was to leave for his own break in the morning with a clear conscience there were a few things he couldn't leave until his return.

Time passed and gradually the house quietened around him as the men retired to their rooms. With a sigh the Lieutenant consigned the last item to the 'out' tray for the sergeant-major to deal with in the morning. He was done.

The effort of moving from his desk chair to his room seemed insurmountable. I'll move in a minute he thought, folding his arms on the desk and dropping his head on top of them. I'll move in a minute...

He awoke with a start some time later as his office door was thrown open. Deep in sleep, it took a few seconds for his brain and body to reunite and realise that it was Amber who had woken him.

"Problem?" he finally managed to ask, then listened in silence as the nurse explained what had been going on with Chief. He pushed the phone across the desk to her and listened, wide awake now, to the only side of the conversation with the hospital he could hear and then subsequently to Amber herself as she filled in the important bits he'd missed.

He involuntarily yawned, making Amber smile.

"Lieutenant..?"

"Yes?"

"Go to bed. You're out on your feet."

Garrison smiled. "Yes nurse," he responded as he headed for his room.

GG GG GG GG

Garrison felt almost human the next morning when woken by his alarm clock in time for his morning run. Surprisingly, Diesel was waiting for him. He knew the Mohawk had been helping Amber the previous night, so he couldn't have had much sleep.

"How is he?" he asked as they set off in the twilight.

"Sleeping. At least he's stopped being sick."

After that they ran in silence. Garrison was thinking whether he needed to stay at the base for his man's sake. Diesel was thinking of as little as possible, trying to centre himself in the way he'd been taught, but today it wasn't working. His thoughts kept flitting from place to place like moths.

By the time the two men parted company for their showers and to prepare for the coming day Garrison had made his decision. Providing Amber was happy with the scout's progress he would take his furlough.

Casino, Goniff and Actor were just leaving for the station as Craig headed for the kitchen to see what he could round up for breakfast. Casino was looking cheerful, Goniff and Actor not at all. "Don't get locked up. If you end up in the stockade you're staying there until I get back."

"Yeah, Warden. No sweat," responded the safecracker, not breaking his stride.

A moment later the roar of an engine and the crunch of wheels on gravel signalled the departure of the jeep. Garrison helped himself to a cup of coffee from the pot Casino had left on the stove and went to check on Chief before making his own departure.

GG GG GG GG

Eleven o'clock and Garrison had made it to the outskirts of Oxford. He felt slightly guilty using military fuel for a personal journey, but only slightly. He'd managed to secure a newish Austin 12 from the car pool - Major Cavendish had been only too happy to sign off the paperwork as his last act before handing the baton back to a now recovered Major Richards. It had been an 'interesting' trip - most of the pool cars were left-hand drive American imports and this was the first time he'd had to wrestle with a right-hand drive British vehicle with its gear-lever and hand-brake on the 'wrong' side. He'd mostly got it right and only occasionally reached for the window winder rather than the controls.

Despite himself, he was quite nervous. This would be the first time he'd spent any length of time with the lady he was meeting, even though they'd known each other for nearly a year.

Craig had bumped into Janine in London almost as soon as he'd arrived in the country. He'd been to a briefing at the G2 headquarters and was rushing to return to his new base, the requisitioned country house some miles outside the city that was now generally known as The Mansion. Bounding out of the front door he hadn't noticed the two young women wandering along the pavement - until it was too late. The lady nearest him ended up on her bottom, her friend was able to keep her balance but nearly fell off the kerb into the path of an oncoming bus.

Mortified, Garrison helped the downed lady to her feet. Were either of them hurt, he enquired? No, we're fine, both said, but the grazes on the fallen lady's palms told a different story, so the Lieutenant escorted both ladies back into HQ where they were able to use the bathroom to clean the dirt from the cuts. By the time Craig set out on his journey for the second time the young lady had her hand wrapped with his clean white handkerchief and he was in possession of not only her name (Janine) but also her address.

Their friendship had developed slowly. Craig's new responsibilities, in the form of four convicts, had run him ragged for the first few months. If they weren't on the continent he was usually having to bail them out of the stockade or fill in reports explaining away the breakages inflicted on their accommodation. Despite that, they had started a regular correspondence. Jan was an avid letter writer and kept him entertained with her perceptive and humorous observations of life in a university town. Their relationship had progressed from letters to occasional phone calls and the odd lunch either in her home town of Oxford or in London.

He drew the black Austin up to the kerb outside an old-fashioned looking bookshop. This was Janine's place of work. Not just her place of work - she was also the owner. It had belonged to her father and she had taken over its running when he died unexpectedly in 1940. It held an eclectic mix of books, mostly quite specialised ones that were sought by the academics in the university colleges, but also second-hand volumes that passed from student to student as their course-work progressed each year. Business had declined in line with the number of students attending the colleges, but so far Jan had been able to keep her head above water.

Sourcing rare books had always been something her father had done, attending auctions and country house sales in search of the exotic and unusual. Jan had found it a steep learning curve to predict what would attract a buyer and what might sit unopened on a shelf for years, but it was something she found she enjoyed. After all, if she hadn't been in London to attend a sale that fateful day she would never have met the polite young American soldier.

Garrison glanced at his watch. He was slightly early, but already the shop door was opening and a slim lady with dark blonde hair, constrained in a tight chignon stepped through and closed and locked the door behind her. He jumped out of the car and hurried round to open the passenger side door before resuming his own seat.

"Where would you like me to take you for lunch today?" he asked, smiling. It had been the same routine every time they had met so far, lunch in either one of the college halls or in the British Restaurant, a walk along the banks of the river, a chaste kiss then the long drive back to the Mansion. The Lieutenant found it odd. On the telephone or in her letters, Janine was chatty and flirtatious. What was it that made her reticent when they met in person?

"I've brought sandwiches," Jan replied, looking a little self-conscious. She opened the bag that she'd brought with her to reveal neatly wrapped greaseproof paper parcels and a bottle of something with a wire and rubber stopper. "I hope you don't mind?"

Craig didn't mind at all if it meant they would be spending more time privately. He intended to get to the bottom of what was bothering this enigmatic little lady, if it was the only thing he did on this trip. "The river?"

"Somewhere different this time, I'll direct you." Again there was that slight hint of nervousness.

Jan's directions took them further to the north of the city than he'd been before to a large park where grassy swathes swept down to the Thames. On this chilly January day the car parking area was deserted. Had she finally decided it was time to move their relationship on? He didn't know but neither did he want to make any assumptions or scare the girl off. All he did know was that his own excitement levels were rising.

As they pulled into the parking area, rain drops started to fall and soon there was a heavy drizzle falling. "Are you happy to eat in the car?" asked Craig.

Jan laughed. It was the first time she'd looked relaxed since he arrived, and the Lieutenant breathed a sigh of relief. "The sandwiches are soggy enough without adding water. Egg and cress I'm afraid. It was all I could get."

"It's fine, thank you" responded Garrison, accepting the proffered package and unwrapping the contents. Egg wasn't his favourite, but he knew how difficult it was for those like Jan without either access to farm produce or imported rations to put together something special. He kicked himself for not having brought a food gift, but it hadn't occurred to him when he was packing that morning.

Jan took a bite of her sandwich, then put it back into its wrapper and rewrapped the parcel. "This was a bad idea, wasn't it?"

"Why?"

Jan didn't say. "Let's go back."

What had he done wrong? Garrison didn't know, but simply handed over his lunch and did as he was asked.

Ten minutes later and Craig was back where he'd started, outside the bookstore. Jan hadn't waited for him to open the car door, but had quickly hopped out to open the shop door. Garrison started to reach across the car to pull the passenger door closed, but her words stopped him in his tracks.

"I don't want you to leave, silly. Get that pretty little uniform out of that car and come inside." Janine still looked slightly pink cheeked, but now there was the hint of a smile playing across her lips.

Now that was one order Craig had no issues about obeying

Garrison followed Jan through the shop, passed around a curtain that separated the front of the shop from its rear storeroom and up a flight of steep, narrow steps covered by a threadbare carpet into a bright airy living room with a large bay window. He had appreciated the rear-view as they climbed. She had a neat bottom and shapely calves, set off to perfection by a tight-pencil skirt.

Jan dropped the shopping bag onto the table and turned to face her guest. Now he was the one looking uncertain, standing 'at ease', cap in hand in front of him. She took a couple of steps forward, put her hands on his upper arms to steady herself and gave him the passionate kiss that she'd fantasied about for the last twelve months.

Taken slightly by surprise, it took the Lieutenant a few seconds before he lobbed the hat to one side and threw himself whole-heartedly into reciprocating. "What took you so long?" he asked huskily when they finally came up for air.

"I don't know," she replied. "I guess I just kept getting cold feet... and I didn't want you to think badly of me."

"I won't think badly of you," confirmed Craig gently, moving in closer to resume the kiss.

Jan pushed him away. "You're on leave. Don't you think it's about time you got out of that uniform?"

"With pleasure," came the reply as he scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom.

GG GG GG GG

"Do you mind if I smoke?" Craig was lying comfortably on his back, staring at the ceiling above him. Jan was lying alongside him, her hair now a loose and wavy cascade, tickling his arm.

"Of course not," she replied absently. She was staring at the scars visible on his chest and shoulders. "Are those bullet wounds?"

The Lieutenant tried to look down at the left shoulder that had taken most of the damage, but decided that the effort wasn't worth it. He knew what the scars looked like, he'd seen them often enough in the mirror. "Occupational hazard," he offered. He'd never told Jan what he did in the Army, but she'd guessed he was Special Forces. It was hard to hide his many unexplained absences and whilst they had never met until his injuries were mostly healed he was sure there had been some evidence for someone who was looking closely.

Jan was twirling her finger through the hairs on his chest, distracting his thoughts.

"Did I do everything right?" she asked self-consciously.

The question surprised Craig. "Yes, why?" The answer jumped into his mind as he asked the question. It had been her first time. But surely, it couldn't have been. She hadn't bled and had been knowledgeable as to how to please a man. How could that be?

As was so often the case, Jan answered his unspoken thoughts. It was uncanny how often she had done this over the months. "Not all the books in the shop are dry, dusty tomes... there are some beautiful illustrated manuscripts that my father acquired over the years. They are very... informative. I did not want to be found wanting...?"

Craig shook his head in disbelief, not knowing how to respond. He had seen plates from some of these books himself and dismissed the things he'd seen as impossible.

"Do you think everything they show is feasible?"

There it was, she'd done it again. Answered the unasked question. Was he this transparent to his men? "The only way to be sure is to try!" They both laughed. "But not just yet... whatever your books say I might need a little more time to recover."

GG GG GG GG

"Egg and cress sandwiches..."

"What about them?"

"I'll never think about them the same way again..."

Jan giggled. She'd been unwilling to throw away perfectly good food. Of course the Lieutenant had found a way to make a game of things...

"What's for supper?"

Jan looked at the man that was once again collapsed on her bed, his eyes closed. "Surely you're not hungry again?"

One blue grey eye opened to look at the woman alongside him, and a small smile played across his lips. He couldn't remember spending an afternoon like this for years. He felt relaxed both physically and mentally - and he still had another two nights before he had to take up his duties again. "Not yet... I was just wondering what the possibilities were..." He tried to grin in a lascivious way, but it only made Jan giggle even more.

"You have a... a..."

"Inventive?" supplied the Lieutenant.

"Inventive and devious... mind," finished Jan.

Craig closed the eye again. "Actor says the same thing, but I don't think he's talking about egg and cress sandwiches..."

Supper, when it arrived was actually a cottage pie, eaten in a conventional manner at the small dining table in the lounge. Unsure of what wine would be good or bad from the small selection on offer locally, Jan had settled for a bottled beer that her father had favoured.

Craig had been surprised by the drink. He wasn't a connoisseur of British beers and thought they all tasted like the ones the cons bought for him at the Doves. This had been very different, rich, sweet, smooth and a perfect foil for the food.

They had washed and dried the dishes together then, since the rain had finally stopped, taken a walk together through the deserted streets. Craig couldn't resist stopping every so often to kiss her again. Was he in love? At this instant he knew he was, but he also knew how easy it was to be seduced by the moment.

They wended their way back to the shop. "How would you like to spend tomorrow?" he asked, opening the door to let Jan inside. I have the car and there's enough petrol to take a trip if there's somewhere you'd like to go."

"Is it really my choice?"

"Of course."

"In that case I'd like to stay here."

Craig had to admit he had no objections.

GG GG GG GG

Jan slept late the next morning. Unused to sharing a room with anyone, she had at first found sleep impossible. She was far too aware of Craig's breathing and each small movement he made jiggled the bed and brought her wide awake again. Eventually though she settled and once asleep, slept deeply.

Craig awakened early. His body clock was used to waking him for his morning run. That wouldn't be feasible today, but he decided to get up anyway. He needed the bathroom and if he couldn't run there were always the exercises and meditations that Diesel had been teaching him.

Craig hadn't brought exercise clothing with him, but boxers and a singlet sufficed and a throw from the sofa protected him from the wooden floor.

Jan woke with a start, realised the other side of the bed was empty and panicked momentarily, before realising that the Lieutenant was in the living room. He'd drawn the blackout curtains back sufficiently that she could watch with interest as he went through the stretches he'd been taught. She stayed silent, not wanting to disturb him, even though she found what he was doing fascinating... and erotic. Finally he completed the routine, took a deep breath and stood.

Jan climbed out of bed and wrapped herself in her dressing gown. The flat was quite cold this morning, but she didn't like to light the fire until she had to. "What was that you were doing?"

Craig looked up at her voice. "Diesel says it's mostly Yoga, but that the man who taught him in Canada had mixed in a few other exercises to improve strength."

"Can you teach me?" Jan was curious. Running wasn't something that appealed but this she thought she would enjoy.

"I can try, but I'm still a novice." Garrison had a thought. "Perhaps we should take a look through those books of yours. If your father collected Indian love texts there's a good chance that there'll be some Yoga ones in there too. We might both learn something."

And so that defined the way they spent their day.

Jan began to learn the basics of Yoga, although whether she made much progress or not was debatable.

"Come onto all fours with your wrists under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Lift your hips up off the floor and straighten your legs," instructed Craig.

Jan did as she was asked."

"Very nice," commented the Lieutenant, admiring the view and moving in to 'inspect' more closely...

Later, they queued for food - a revelation for Craig. They were never hungry at the Mansion, there wasn't ever a shortfall even if it wasn't always your first choice. He was feeling even more guilty now for not having brought supplies or ration tickets. As an Army officer he didn't have a ration book, but that didn't mean that he couldn't have obtained one. He would have to make sure that Jan didn't go short the next week.

GG GG GG GG

When the time came to leave for the Mansion at the end of his leave, Craig was devastated. He knew now that what he was feeling for this woman was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. He thought she probably felt the same, though nothing had been voiced. Yes, the physical aspects had been special, but it wasn't just that. It was a mental thing. He was sure Diesel's tutor would've had a word for it, but he couldn't define it himself.

They had made love one final time that morning. "You'll write?" asked Jan carefully. She knew she was head over heels in love, and she was pretty sure Craig had enjoyed his time in Oxford, but that didn't necessarily mean he thought they had a future together.

"I'll write. And I'll call you when I can." It sounded like a put down. How could he make her know how he felt without making promises he couldn't keep. He lived a dangerous life and it was very likely he wouldn't make it through the war... but if he did, he was pretty sure he wanted this lady at his side for whatever life threw at him afterwards.

In the end he just bit the bullet and told her just that.

Jan was shocked, but also pleased that he felt the way he did. She understood that this wasn't a proposal, that he wouldn't do that whilst he was still fighting. She also understood that there would be long absences whilst he did the things he couldn't tell her about. He might even not be faithful to her, in body, and that was something she could accept too. He'd told her what had happened with Francesca in Italy and knew that this type of thing might come with the job.

"I'm going to leave instructions for you to be treated as next of kin. That way you'll know if I'm listed as missing... It doesn't mean I'm dead though... it's happened a couple of times so far and as you can see, I'm still here." He laughed wryly.

Jan didn't go downstairs to see him to his car, but watched from the bay window as he drove away. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she went to her bedroom to inhale his scent from the pillows. Did she regret the weekend? Life would have been so much easier if she'd held him at arms length, but she had no regrets.