Thanks for the reviews.
I'm not sure if there's a Navy VOQ around Virginia. Skates in "Goodbyes" said she finished LSO school which is in NAS Oceana. So if could be real or fictional.
US Navy VOQ
Near NAS Oceana
Late Afternoon
I flipped my pillow over and over again as I tried to reason with myself. Harmon Rabb…is he the guy for me?
I reflected back on my past social and love life. In a summary, it wasn't really much. In elementary school, girls grouped themselves as girls. There was this boy at twelve years old who gave me flowers and even some pearl necklace—well fake pearls. But that was the pre-pubescence times. In high school, well there were many boys who tried to flirt with me or even ask me out. None of them matched the kind of guy I wanted. These boys—or rather girl-chasers—simply were all not into the hobbies or interests that I was into. They were into sports like basketball, football all the sports I didn't like. I was more interested in physics and chemistry and less aggressive team sports like swimming and tennis. It was probably my fascination with mechanical and electronic equipment, especially aerial technology that made me choose Mechanical Engineering as my major in college and join the NROTC.
I said NROTC and that mean loads of teamwork and interaction with girls and well boys. This was especially the case for my engineering class. The boys, well as what the case in high school, tried to ask me out. Although I shared the same course and classes with them, none of them seemed liked the kind I would want to date or even spend time with. There was this guy Stephan in my junior year who was a star tennis player and someone who came from my grandmother's hometown. We had quite a number coffee breaks and dinner outings together and he hugged me several times. Then one night, I spotted him holding hands with a girl I've never met before. I secretly followed both of them to a street corner where they started making out. Afterwards, I broke out all forms of contact with him and threw the pictures and the gifts I received away and dumped all his emails. I also reduced my social outings, focusing more of my time on my times. Perhaps this failed dating pushed me to achieve a summa cum laude in the end.
School of course was not area where I attempted to have some for of social life; there was my neighbourhood and family. Another lot of my friends came via my older brother Edward and younger sister Victoria. (Yeah, my parents named us after British Royalty, a nod to the Special Relationship). Ed's friends, especially his guy friends, were nice, but none of them had anything in common with me. Vicky was the wild child. In contrast to me sparse dating and social life, Vicky had a huge load of girl friends and practically a load of boyfriends every since she hit puberty. My flirtatious sister probably had a sexual history that I really didn't want to dream of. Her boyfriends, were simply boys, and not gentlemen to me.
That was the pre-NFO social life of Elizabeth Hawkes. My commissioned officer and NFO life was all about flying and sea duty. Being the one of the two female RIOs in a male-dominated F-14 squadron, I saw two choices: either resign to the fact that females could never be part of this elite Navy fighter, or proven them wrong. I guess I did achieve the latter as CAG Tom Boone called me the "Best RIO" in the Navy.
Ok, ok, so that's the life of Elizabeth "Skates" Hawkes. Zero boyfriend. Absolutely no boyfriend. Thus I was big liar to Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb. No sir, I thought, no I didn't have a fiancé who worked for SECNAV's office. No, I heard about your transfer via scuttlebutt. I probably broke a few regulations to get you the F-14 flight manuals, weapon systems handbook and NATOPS check. I just wanted to see you again. Wait why? Why Elizabeth do you want to see him? Is it because of his looks? His voice? The very fact his risked his own life, jumping across the side to catch your parachute immediately after your unwanted rampstrike? Why Liz, Why Skates why? And he has a girlfriend already, that Lieutenant Commander what's-her-name, oh Parker. Why both fantasising after him?
I got out of the stone-hard Navy bunk and saw the time. Darn, nearly 1800 hours. I could grab a free meal at the base chow line nearby but I didn't feel like having state Navy food. I changed into civvies—simple slacks and shirt—(I was never one to care much about dress sense like Vicky)—head to my rental and head out. Soon enough I found myself at the outskirts of DC and picked a steak joint. It certainly wasn't late in the evening but the place was already pretty full. "We only have a seat at the bar, miss," the waitress drawled in a Texan accent. I accepted and took it. I do like a good steak every now and then and they have served it on board carriers. But being navy food, the mess management specialists would never cook it to order and would often used cuts of meat that I didn't like. I spotted my favourite black pepper sirloin and just as I turned around, I came face-to-face with the same Lieutenant Commander, Jordan Parker.
To Be Continued.