A week later
Lisa walked down the hall and a cowboy hat caught her eye. She looked again and stopped. "Clay?" she called confused but humored at the same time. "Ensign Davis" Clay replied tipping his hat with a mock southern accent. "Ok, I know you and Sonny have this tortured bromance thing, but I think you are too far in" she laughed. Clay chuckled. "You don't like it?" he pretended to be offended. "Nah, we uh decided to take a trip to Texas and see him since he wasn't answering any phone calls." Clay explained. "We?" Lisa asked. "Bravo. It was just for two days" Clay responded. "Oh" Lisa replied and Clay could see the hurt on her face. "I was going to call and tell you to see if you wanted to come but didn't know if, you know and, I" Clay tried to figure out what to say. "It's ok, I totally understand." Lisa assured. "How is he?" she asked. "Eh, he's working through it" Clay told her. He could see that Lisa was hurting. "He has this old friend that is keeping him in line which I think is good." "Well, I'm glad to hear that there's someone there that he can lean on." Lisa replied still thinking about their last conversation. "Ensign Davis!" Jason smiled as he approached them. "Hey, heard you took a trip" she smiled "Yeah, you know, we had to go check on him." Lisa smiled, "I'm glad, I'm sure it helped." "I think so. I told him just to keep his head on straight and he'd be back before he knew it" Jason chuckled. "Yeah, Clay was just telling me he had a friend there keeping him in line." Lisa replied. "Oh yeah, she is a firecracker!" Jason looked at Clay "right?!" "She?" Lisa thought to herself. "Yeah" Clay nodded uncomfortably. He purposely tried to leave that part out. "Oh. Oh, that's good. I've got to get back to work but, I'm um, glad you guys went and that he's doing good" she said as she turned to walk away. Jason looked at Clay. "Was that weird?" he asked. "Was what weird?" Clay replied. "That whole" Jason gestured with his hands in circles "thing." Clay pretended not to notice "No" he replied. "Hmm." Jason shook his head before walking away.
Lisa sat at her desk wondering what this friend looked like. Was she pretty? Were they close? She was an intelligence officer there had to be some way for her to find out covertly. She pulled out her phone and went to Clay's Instagram. There it was. A picture of the guys with Sonny and a woman that was petite with dark blonde hair. "Ugh. She is pretty" Lisa thought to herself. "Leave it alone Davis" she thought to herself as she sat the phone down. She picked it back up. "She's not his type" she said again examining the picture. "Hey Davis" a voice called pulling her out of her thoughts. Lisa looked up. "Yes, sir?" she replied seeing Blackburn at her door. "Here's the file I borrowed earlier" Blackburn replied handing her a mission he had reviewed. "Oh, thank you" she said taking it. "I saw Clay and Jason, apparently the took a trip to Texas for the weekend" she mentioned. "Yeah, they were telling me about it. I think it was good for them." Blackburn nodded. "Yeah" Lisa replied. "Ray was trying to talk Sonny's friend into moving here to keep him in line" Blackburn chuckled. "Leave it to Ray" Lisa replied under her breath. "Have you talked to him? Sonny?" Blackburn asked. "No. I um, texted but he never replied and I didn't want to push" she shrugged. "He'll be ok" Blackburn assured as he turned to walk out.
Lisa arrived home at her empty apartment and turned on the lights. Sitting her bag down she sat on the couch. She pulled up the Instagram pic on her phone again. "Why can't I be her?" she wondered outloud. Lisa wanted to be happy and she wanted to let people in but she just couldn't. At a certain point she had to push them away if they didn't leave on their own. Typically once she did that, she didn't miss them… until now.
The team was being deployed in two weeks so they would have a couple extra days off. Maybe she should try and see him. God forbid something happen on deployment she didn't want their last conversation ever to be the one they had. She pulled up flights and hotels in Texas.
The next couple days seemed to crawl by. She started to wonder if she should really do this or not. Sitting at her desk she thought about trying to cancel her reservations but was stopped by a knock. Looking up she saw Clay. "Hey, how's it going?" He asked taking a seat. "Good. Staying busy" she replied. "Got any plans for your time off?" he asked "You know" Lisa tried to think of how to avoid this "just getting ready for deployment." Clay nodded. "You should at least call him" Clay replied. "I don't mean to get in your business, I'm just saying" Lisa laughed and put her face in her hands. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't go there but as a friend" Clay stood feeling awkward for now coming into the office. Lisa leaned back in her chair. "I booked a ticket" Clay paused where he was. "You booked a ticket?"
"Yeah. Am I stupid?" she asked. "No, you're not. Does he know?" Clay said sitting again. "No" Lisa looked at him nervously. "I've lost it, I know" she said fidgeting. "It'll be find" Clay assured her. "Please don't say anything" Lisa asked "About what?" Clay asked with a smile. "Be safe" Clay told her as he stood up. "I will" she smiled. "I mean if you …" Clay paused "use protection" he tried to hold back a laugh. Lisa threw a stress ball from her desk at him. "Unbelievable" she said shaking her head and laughing.
Lisa pulled up in her rental car to a ranch. "Woah" she thought to herself as she drove down the driveway covered in oak trees. It was beautiful. She pulled up towards the house and felt a slight panic like she should turn and leave. After sitting there for another few seconds she turned off the car and got out. Walking up to the door she again paused and considered turning around but something wouldn't let her. She lightly knocked on the door. A woman with blonde hair up in a bun answered the door. "Can I help you?" she asked after a couple seconds of silence. "Oh, I um, I'm sorry." Lisa replied pushing her hair behind her ears. "Is Sonny here?" she asked "He's out in the field but should be back soon. I can call him" the woman offered. Lisa felt extremely uncomfortable. "You know, that's ok. I'll um call him later" Lisa forced a smile. "Can I tell him who stopped by?" the woman asked. Lisa was flustered, "Um.. it's.." she wanted to say not to worry about it but didn't, "Lisa" she finally got out. "Lisa?!" The woman asked. "Yeah, but you don't have to mention it I can just call him later" she replied as she started to turn. "Wait, I didn't know you were Lisa" the woman reached out to stop her. "I'm Ashley, Sonny's sister. I've heard so much about you" she said hugging Lisa before it was all even registering in Lisa's head. "Oh" Lisa said with a laugh. "Come in, you have to stay" Ashley told her leading her into the house. "I…" Lisa tried to protest but there was not an option. They walked into a kitchen where an older woman was sitting at a table with sweet tea. "Mama! This is Lisa" Ashley introduced her. "Lisa.. Oh! I'm so happy to meet you" the woman stood and gave her a hug. "I'm Sonny's Mom, Jean" she said as she pulled back. "Call your brother and tell him to come up" she told Ashley.
Ashley pulled out a phone and put in on speaker. "Yeah" Sonny answered. "Hey, I need you to come up to the house" Ashley told him. "I'll be there shortly" he replied. "No, like now." Ashely instructed. "I'm in the middle of fixin this fence Ash so it's gonna be a little bit unless someone is dying" Sonny replied annoyed. "Mama said you better get your ass up here now before she heads out there and gets you"
"What the fu.." Sonny started "LANGUAGE" he heard his mom yell. "Uh, yes ma'am. I'm coming" Sonny rolled his eyes. Ashely hung up the phone and burst out in laughter. "He's probably cussing up a storm." Lisa chucked. Ten minutes passed and he still wasn't there. "That jackass" Ashley said picking up the phone and calling again. "I'm coming already" Sonny answered. He didn't notice the car in the driveway and walked in the door. "Ugh. FINALLY" Ashley said hearing him come in. "What the hell is there a fire? Why are you all…" Sonny said as he walked in and saw Lisa sitting at the table. "Dayvus… hey" he said thrown off guard as he looked from her to his sister. "Hey" she stood to greet him. "Hey" he smiled. "I'd hug you but I'm dirty and sweaty" he replied as he stood there ball cap on his head, shirt in hand, bare chest in jeans and boots. Lisa couldn't help but give him a once over. "Yeah" she smiled. "I'll go clean up" he said curious as to why she was there. "Better hurry, Mama is going to pull out the baby album" Ashley teased. "Don't" Sonny replied as he ran up the stairs.
"Where are you staying while you're here?" Sonny's mom asked. "At a hotel, not to far away" Lisa replied. "You should stay here! Mama has plenty of rooms" Ashely interjected. "No, no, it's ok but thank you" Lisa replied. "It's silly to pay for a hotel when we have room" Sonny's mom replied, "just think about it". Sonny came down the stairs "That had to be the fastest shower ever." Ashley told him. "Did you actually shower or just change and douse yourself in cologne?" she asked. "Not everyone has to take two days Ash" Sonny shot back. "Ok, well I'm going to head home I'll see you guys later. It was nice to meet you Lisa" Ashley said smiling. "You too, thanks" Lisa smiled.
"I have got a hair appointment so I will be gone for a bit but I'll see you when I get back" Sonny's mom said as she got up and grabbed her purse. "Don't let her just leave" she told Sonny. "Yes ma'am" he nodded.
Jean and Ashley walked out the door. Once is shut Lisa let out a sigh. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to intrude, I… you didn't answer my text and we are being deployed next week and I didn't want to leave like this" she told him holding her breath on a response. "Like what?" he asked "Like we did" she responded looking down. "Lisa, it's ok. I get it. I do" he tried to assure her. "No, you don't" she replied. "I told you I don't have a good track history on relationships. I mean any relationship. I don't let people get too close and have no problems walking away if they try" she explained as she fidgeted with her hands. "But you.." she shook her head, "you… I've tried my best but, it hurts so bad when I'm away" she choked back tears. Sonny wiped her tear with his thumb then pulled her close. "How about I show you around?" he asked changing the subject. "Yeah" she smiled. They got on a golf cart and he gave her the tour of the stables, and paths on the ranch. "It's beautiful," Lisa said looking around. "So, I have a question" she turned to Sonny. "Yeah?" he replied. "What did you tell your family about me? They seemed to know who I was" she laughed. "Oh, you know" Sonny chuckled. "So how long are you here for?" Sonny asked. "Four days. I booked a hotel not too far away" she answered. Sonny chuckled "you do realize they aren't going to let you stay in a hotel right?"
"Your mom said something but I didn't take her to be serious" Davis replied. "Oh she was" Sonny told her as they headed back towards the house. "So you've seen the kitchen, obviously" Sonny told her as they walked in. "Over here is the living room, then back here is a den. There's the pool, he said pointing out large French doors. Back here is a study" he said leading her into a room with floor to ceiling bookshelves on one wall. "It's beautiful." Lisa replied as the headed upstairs. "This is game room, and over that way is a guest room and bathroom. Then if you go this way, there's another guest room, this.." he said opening the door "Is my room" inside were football trophies on shelves and a few pictures. "Is that little Sonny?!" Lisa asked noticing a picture of him and a dog. "Ha ha, yeah" he replied watching her as she took it all in. "So what made you come out?" he asked leaning against the dresser. "I didn't want to leave things how they were, and I missed you" she replied. She had told him earlier why she was there but a piece of him needed to hear it again. "If this is uncomfortable Sonny, I can go I should have called first" she started but was interrupted when his lips met hers. "I'm glad you're here" he said leaning his forehead against hers. "Me too" she smiled.