Chapter 4
Miller walked into the hotel bar. The reception was at least 8 people deep as the crew were trying to check in. He knew it was a waste of time to stay in the queue so he headed to the bar to kick up his feet and enjoy a cold beer.
It looked like the right decision to make as he spotted Larrin at the bar nursing a half empty glass of beer. She looked lost in her thoughts, but it didn't put him off as he walked over to her. He leaned his sea bag against the bar. The movement caught her attention and she looked to him.
"Hey, you finally showed up." Larrin said to Miller, a beautiful smile spread across her lips that warmed him from the inside. He really loved her smile and that she seemed to only have eyes for him. It was a real ego boost but it also made him wonder why him? and made him nervous as he was pretty sure he would screw it up somehow.
"Yeah sorry last minute stuff came up." Miller explained to her as he took the empty seat beside her. He didn't know what Wolf would have told her but given she wasn't scowling at him. It was safe to tell that Wolf hadn't sandbagged him yet.
"No worries, I still got half a beer and was about to order a club sandwich and fries as the beer's just going to my head. You want to go halves with me?" Larrin asked him, she couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat as she felt nervous. She really wanted their second meeting to go as well as their first. Sure it was awkward but she had enjoyed it.
"Sure, but let me get this." Miller said as he signalled the bartender.
"Ah- ok. I was just going to make Wolf pay for it." Larrin said after Miller ordered the food, water and a beer for himself. She watched him sit down and placed her hands into her lap to stop herself from fidgeting as she was already a little tipsy and didn't want to make an ass of herself.
"Where is Wolf?" Miller asked as he sat down on a stool. The bartender placed the drinks beside them on the bar. Miller moved one of the glasses of water so it was easier for Larrin to grab it as he refused to let her get drunk on his watch.
"The President came over like ten minutes ago and had to talk to him in private." Larrin said with a shrug as she waved over her shoulder. Miller leaned to the side and saw Wolf talking with Michener in the corner which backed up her story.
"Cool." Miller said as he relaxed in his chair and looked to her. Her cheeks were a little fluushed and her eyes just a little glassy but he knew once she ate something and drank some water she'd sober up.
"So-" she started but as the same time he said "Do-"
They both laughed somewhat nervously at the awkward start.
"Sorry," Larrin apologised.
"Don't be, you go first." Miller told her.
"So, you glad to be back on solid ground again?" Larrin asked, she inwardly baulked at her lame question but then she felt a little nervous. It was one thing when they first met to be awkward but now she felt like she had to pull out the stops and she was not exactly an expert at flirting.
"Yeah, it's good to be home." Miller said with a smile of his own.
"But where is home because you don't sound like you're from the south." Larrin said as she picked up the water and took a sip. She wanted to sober up as she tended to say stupid things while drunk and the last thing she needed to blurt out was how she thought he had amazing eyes. They were a beautiful golden brown. Yep, cause guys just love to hear that...Larrin told herself.
"Iowa, originally." Miller said to her.
"Farm country and the future birth place of Captain Kirk." Larrin offered as that's all she knew about the place. Miller laughed and nodded.
"Yeah, there's more to Iowa than that." He assured her.
"I assume as much. So you got family waiting for you?" Larrin asked him.
"My Mom or I hope she's still alive. I haven't been able to get in contact with her since all this began." Miller said looking thoughtful and depressed by it. It made Larrin wish she hadn't mentioned it but she blamed the beer for her next question.
"No brothers or sisters?" She asked.
"Nope. Just my Mom." He told her.
"Lucky, I got four older brothers." Larrin said with a roll of her eyes. Miller's eyes however bugged out of his head at the knowledge.
"Four? Do they all look like Wolf?" He asked. Larrin shook her head and smiled ruefully as she knew from the last guy she dated that having four very physical and dangerous brothers was an unattractive quality.
"Not identical but you know they are fit like him but leaner. They practice Martial arts but they don't lift weights." Larrin explained with a half shrug.
"Can you fight like Wolf?" Miller asked her, Larrin gave nod but looked reticent to tell him. Something he didn't understand as he thought it was pretty awesome.
"Yeah, but I'm not as impressive as Wolf but it's a family thing, our Dad was Navy. So he was all about us kids learning self defence and survival skills." Larrin answered.
"It's a good idea and it looked like it helped cause you're here now." Miller said as he felt like maybe the reason she had survived as long as she had was thanks to the training her father gave her.
"Hmm yeah it's come in handy but I'll be honest I'm not really a confident fighter. My talents lay in more intellectual pursuits." Larrin said carefully testing the waters so to speak as she knew some men didn't like to be outsmarted by their partner.
"Nothing wrong with that." Miller said, the bartender came over to them and placed a plate that was laden with french fries and a club sandwich cut into triangles on the top.
"Ah food!" Larrin said with excitement. She picked up a quarter of the sandwich and took a large bite. Her eyes rolled back into her head in pleasure as it tasted amazing. "Mhmm." she moaned.
"Good?" Miller asked in an amused manner as she looked like she was in heaven. a blush crossed her cheeks as she hadn't meant to be so vocal about her pleasure. She chewed with a closed lip smile nodding emphatically before she swallowed the bite.
"Perfection, this is the first civilised meal I've had since I got out of a Cordon Sanitaire in Colorado." Larrin told him in an off handed manner as she picked up a bottle of ketchup and squirted a sizeable dollop to her side of the plate before she continued eating.
"Cordon Sanitaire?" He asked as he watched her eat. He'd never seen anyone enjoy their food so much but it made him wonder how long she had been without a good meal.
"Quarantine zone. We heard about the virus in Europe but they had been playing off like an outbreak of the new flu strain. You know nothing serious. But when I got to Colorado a couple days later it was a full blown pandemic. Anyway, we should talk about other stuff. By the way what's the time?" Larrin asked not wanting to talk about it as she felt her appetite threatening to leave her.
"1600-Ah 4pm." He said quickly translating for 24hrs clock to a time concept he figured she would recognise. He didn't miss the way she quickly changed the topic but figured it was best to keep things light with her as she looked like she wanted to be distracted.
"I'll have to go in an hour. Will you be at the ball tonight?" Larrin asked him before she dipped a couple French fries into the ketchup. She hoped she wasn't being pushy or coming off as desperate but she liked being around him. She felt grounded and enjoyed how he made her smile non stop which felt amazing after months of misery. It was why she wanted to hold onto him for as long as she could.
"Yeah all the crew will be there." Miller said to her, he was already dreading it as he needed to iron his dress uniform and then there was the fact that Larrin would swarmed by guys from the Nathan James as it was like Fleet week for them.
"Awesome because I have to go get a dress at 5pm. But at least we can pick up later tonight. Assuming you don't mind me hanging with you?" Larrin asked him in a hopeful manner.
"I don't mind at all." Miller assured her.
"Well we still have an hour before then." Larrin said stating the obvious with a coy smile.
"Yeah, we do." Miller agreed with a smile as it meant even when they finished up here he'd see her later tonight. He didn't know why but he liked that she didn't want to end their time together.
"So tell me about your home and yourself. Did you grow up on a farm?" Larrin asked him as she continued to eat.
"No, but we lived in a small town. My mom was the local nurse and midwife." Miller told her.
"Wow, that must have been educational for you." Larrin said as she assumed being the only child of a single parent meant he would have been taken to emergency situations when there wasn't an sitter.
"Well, I learnt I didn't want to be a doctor." Miller said to her, Larrin chuckled and nodded as she picked up another quarter of the sandwich.
"Medicine isn't for everyone." She said in a conversational manner.
"Yeah, but I did want to serve my country and see the world." He offered.
"But you only get to see the miserable war torn parts." Larrin argued.
"Not always, but it's a part of the job." Miller conceded.
"Yeah, I can understand that and you're trying to put some good back into the world." Larrin added for him. Miller nodded and smiled as she understood his job but then it was expected as she grew up as a military brat.
"So what do you do or what were you going to be?" Miller asked her before he picked up some fries and ate them. He wasn't hungry for food but figured he should eat some of it before he made Larrin finish the rest of the sandwich. He could tell by the way she looked at his half of the plate that she was already figuring out when it was a good time to ask if he would eat it or if she could.
"I was going to be scientist and doctor. My field of interest is Biomolecular Engineering. My supervisors said if I got my MD and practised medicine as well as my research on the side then I'd hold more credibility in my field." Larrin explained with a sigh as she hated how irrelevant her life felt and that it still burned that she realised her supervisore would have stolen a lot more than just her PhD in the time she was under his tutelage.
"Why would you need credibility?" Miller asked.
"It's a small and male dominated field in Australia. They already hate me because I'm a girl but I'm also younger than them so it just burned their ego that I have the potential to outshine them. It's politics." Larrin said making a face.
"That blows." Miller told her.
"I know, but it doesn't matter now." Larrin said as she ate the last of her sandwich slice and took a sip of her water. The food was settling nicely in her stomach and evening out the buzz from the beer.
"So what are you going to do now?" Miller asked.
"I have no clue. I'm just sort of living every moment as it comes." Larrin said, she had to bite her tongue as she wanted to confess that she craved to go home, that she wanted stability and to find somewhere safe.
"Well, like my friend Cruz said to me earlier today is a day for celebrating." Miller told her.
"It is." Larrin with a soft smile, as he was right. Today was a good day. She'd gotten back her brother and made new friends who made her feel like she wasn't alone any more.
"So I say we kick it and have some fun tonight." Miller told her.
"Ok." Larrin agreed.
"What's this?" Wolf asked as he joined them. He grasped Miller by the shoulder making his presence known as he looked to Larrin for an answer.
"Miller here was saying we're going to have fun tonight." Larrin said to him. She looked at him waiting for him to react and in big brother style Wolf took her answer to mean that Miller was going to take her back to his room for 'fun'.
She wished he would give her and Miller a break as she wanted to tell him that not every guy wanted in her pants. Frankly Miller had told her a kiss was intimate so that she highly doubted the Miller would ravish her if Wolf turned his back on them.
"Did he now?" Wolf asked looking to Miller.
