Howie's
point of view
I knew when I met him, I was hooked. As I watched
him sleep, I realized that I was telling the truth the other day; I
won't be going back to England when my tour is over. I will
be coming back here as soon as I can, to the young man who stole
my
heart all those months ago.
Flashback
He looked so sad and lonely in the mess tent, sitting alone in the corner, just eating his macaroni and cheese. I had planned on sitting with my unit, but something about him called out to me, and I headed in his direction. I quickly signalled to my unit that I would not be joining them that day; I wanted a chance to talk to the newcomer, alone.
When I sat down, he didn't look up. It wasn't until several minutes after I had finished my meal and it was evident that I was not leaving, that he finally turned towards me.
"Can I help you?" came his shy question, looking in to those eyes made my heart beat a little faster
"I'm Howard. Just thought I would come say hello" I said as I reached my hand out for him shake. We were interrupted all too soon, when one of the Sergeant's in my unit came over, saluting me and telling me that it was time to go back to work.
I looked towards the young American in front of me.
"I'm sorry, but I need to go back to work. Would it be alright if I joined you for dinner…?"
"Zack" he supplied, a hint of a smile on his lips.
"Ok Zack, I will meet you here at 20.00"
"Okay" he said quietly, breaking into a full out grin. The difference in his appearance was striking, and I vowed to myself that I would make him smile much more frequently. I walked back to work with a smile on my face; I had a date tonight with the most beautiful man in the whole encampment.
I finished my days work at 18.00, went to take a shower and dressed in clean uniform; that was one of the down sides of being over here, I couldn't wear my nicest clothes to impress young Zack.
At 19.55 I was ready. I entered the mess tent and gazed around, he was sitting in his usual corner, eating macaroni cheese again. I had to smile at that. I got my food and made my way over to him, sitting down in front of him.
"Hi Zack" He seemed slightly startled by my presence.
"Hi…Howie" I felt lost in his eyes, eyes that reminded me of warm melted chocolate. I didn't know what to say to him, so we just sat there eating.
"I best be going" he said as he stood starting to walk to the door
"Can I walk you to where you are going?" I asked not wanting to part from him so soon
"Sure." We walked out of the mess tent and started towards the
medical
tent. It suddenly dawned on me,
"You're a doctor?"
"I'm an anthropologist" he clarified.
"Right… that means…" he smiled in understanding, probably accustomed to describing his profession.
"An anthropologist is someone who uses bones to help identify bodies that have been mutilated, burned, mummified, or decomposed beyond recognition. We can determine age, race,
sex,
time of death, and even cause of death, all from the bones."
Zack
said as we walked towards a small, corner tent. I stopped at
the door, not wanting to see the men who died; I was never good with
the dead, I was better with the living.
"Would you mind if I joined you for breakfast or what time do you finish tonight, maybe I could walk you back to your tent" I babbled, suddenly nervous. Part of me wondered how he felt to be courted by a man several years his senior.
"Howie, why are you being nice to me?" I think he could see the fear in my eyes.
"Well…Zack,
you looked lonely, but that's not why I sat down with you. You're
very handsome, and when you smile you, look even more handsome then
you do normally. You intrigue me, the passion about your work
makes me want to learn more about it" I babbled away again. I
don't why I was so nervous, I
had asked a lot of men out, but I
suppose this time I was still in uniform, and on a encampment with
hundreds of other men and women in the service, and my superior
officers watching every move.
"Howie thank you…but I..." He started to say, but I interrupted him.
"Zack how about we start as friends, then see where it goes from there?"
"Okay" he replied in a small voice. He turned and quickly sped off towards the personal tents that littered the camp. I followed, unsure of where he was going, but I had to find out.
"I'm not at work tonight, but I have no friends, so I keep working" He looked at me as if to ask me if I wanted to come in. I followed him in and we talked for hours, I was grateful that I had the next day off, as it was quite late when I left his tent.
I walked to my tent that I shared with the other officers of my unit. They were all asleep, so I quietly got undressed and got settled in my bunk to go to sleep, when suddenly the siren for an attack sounded. We all jumped up and got dressed and went to our station.
It was several hours later when I finally got to the mess tent. I noticed immediately that Zack wasn't there. I headed off in search of him, first checking the medical tents, before hurrying towards his tent. When I got there, I heard quiet crying coming from inside.
"Zack." I entered his tent to see him lying on his bunk in the fetal position, crying his beautiful eyes out.
"What's the matter, baby?" I swallowed nervously, hoping he hadn't picked up on the pet name.
"It's the anniversary of Kenny's death." He started to tell me of his first love, but when he got to the part of where the killer got away, I just hugged him tightly.
Soon
he fell asleep, tired from crying nearly all day. I must have
as well, for when I regained consciousness, there was someone
standing over me, my group captain. I jumped up without
disturbing Zack and saluted him, and he returned
the gesture
before speaking.
"What's going on Howard?"
"Nothing sir" I wondered how he had learned my location. I hadn't told anyone about Zack.
"Then why weren't you at your post this morning?" he said with a hint of a smile. Me and the Captain, Jimmy, went back years; we were friends before we were officers.
"I'm
sorry sir, I'll go straight away." I said, wishing jimmy
would
stop being my boss and becoming my friend just for a second
"Howie, what's going on with you and this kid?" There it was. I knew I wasn't in trouble now.
"Oh,
Jimmy, he's beautiful, isn't he?" I smiled down at Zack before
dragging Jimmy to the other side of the tent so we could talk. I was about to tell him everything, when Zack woke up looking for
me. I rushed to his side, hugging him. I told him that I
had to go back to work, but I would meet him
in the mess tent at
dinner. That seemed to make him smile, so I headed back to my
post, excited for my dinner date that evening.
This went on for weeks, Zack and I eating together. I even got him to join the rest of my unit once, but he got so quiet we never did that again.
Then one day he wasn't there, so I went looking for him. When I got to his tent, he was packing; I was shocked.
"Zack where are you going?" The sad look on his face told me that wherever he was going, it wasn't his idea.
"I'm
being shipped home, I don't fit in around here Howie. If
it
wasn't for you, I probably would have been shipped home weeks
ago." He said as he started to cry. I did the one thing that
I could think of doing, I hugged him. Soon those hugs turned in
to kisses, and before either of us realized it, we were making love
on his bunk. We fell asleep wrapped around
each other. I woke when he started to get out of my arms, but I kept my eyes shut
to hear what he had to say.
"I love you, Howie. If you're ever in Washington DC area, come to the Jeffersonion and look me up." He then kissed me on the cheek and left
End
flashback
So that was what I did. I knew the one way to
shock him was to turn up at his work. I'm just glad all his
friends were all right with us. As I looked at his beautiful face, as
he sleeps I realized that I wasn't going anywhere, and when my tour
was over, I would be where I wanted to be for once. Right
next
to Zack.
