15
For a split second Harm stood staring at Sue in horrified disbelief and then as the import of what she had said sank in he felt his ears burn and knew that without doubt they were glowing bright red. But it was impossible not follow the direction of Sue's gaze to where a stricken Gill stood, temporarily isolated as the group of officers to whom she had been talking all of whom, more or less by instinct, fell back a step, and who were now staring at her with varied expressions of surprise and even shock on their faces, all except of course Marie Westwood who was staring between the visiting officer and Gill, with that infuriating little smug smile that she habitually wore whenever she enjoyed another's discomfort.
Gill's head had swung around at the first sound of Sue's voice and her face at first went white as she recognised the tall American in the white uniform and then Sue's words sent the blood rushing to her face and all she could do was stare in red-faced and wide-eyed horror at her so-called friend, whom she was going to kill – slowly, and try to gather her nerves as the US Navy Captain turned and took a hesitant step towards her.
Gill briefly closed her eyes and then opened them to see Harmon Rabb regarding her with an expression, and a look in his eyes that spoke not only of his shared embarrassment but also sympathy and uncertainty and something like nervousness. However when he spoke, his voice was low-pitched and full of understanding, "Good morning, Captain Shephard, it's good to see you again!" as he held out his hand.
"Thank you, sir, it's good to see you again too,"Gill replied in an instinctive reaction but almost tonelessly as she fought for self-control.
Colonel Mike, whose attention had been attracted, like everyone else, by the clarity of Sue's call, glanced at his Adjutant, "Ah... so that's why Captain Rabb decided to grace us with his presence," he said tolerantly, "But Tony, try and find something for young Sue to do, to keep her out of further mischief, that really was quite naughty of her. Even if she did do it with the best of motives!"
"Yes, sir," Tony Latham replied. He could hardly believe his ears when Sue had piped up and felt torn between laughing out loud and strangling her on Gill's behalf. And he had never, never in his life seen a senior officer's ears turn that brightly crimson!
As the blood ceased pounding quite so loudly in her ears, Gill started to make sense of what Captain Rabb was saying quietly to her, "I'm sorry, this must be really difficult for you, but I had no idea she was going to do that! But if we walk away from each other now..." He gave a mini-shrug and a look asking for understanding before he took a breath and continued, "Look, your friend is about to take me to where they've hidden the food and drink, according to Colonel Mike, would you care to walk with us?"
Gill would rather have been in any other place on earth, but Captain Rabb was perfectly correct, to snub him now, especially after Sue's intervention, would only fuel rumour of the worst kind, and so with a defiantly raised face she replied in cool, but perfectly audible tones, "Thank you, sir. I would enjoy that!" and turning, fell into place at his right elbow, but as they rejoined the waiting Sue, Gill shot a venom-filled glance at Sue, who intercepted it, but merely gave a gurgle of amused laughter at the threat it contained. "But first, I just need to say well done to Bombardier Walker!"
"Of course!" Harm replied, "And I need to tell him Bravo Zulu, too!"
"Bravo Zulu?" Gill inquired, momentarily diverted.
"Uh... yeah, Navy-speak for well done," Harm explained slightly diffidently.
"Ah, perhaps an ordinary 'well done' or 'congratulations' might be better, sir?" Gill suggested. "After all, he may not be familiar with US Navy slang."
"Oh, I wouldn't want to bet on that!" Harm smiled nodding to where Bombardier Walker could be seen talking quietly to Yeoman Two Martinez.
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
As soon as he fallen out from the ranks, Johnny Walker had to endure a round of back-slapping and good natured joking at his expense, from his friends along with more general demands that he set 'em up in the NAAFI bar. The latter he was able to avoid by a grinning shake of his head and the excuse, "Sorry, no can do. Ma and sisters are here!" 'and Julia' he added silently. He had spotted her on the stand next to the tall figure of her boss. Julia he could understand coming to see his award, he would have been disappointed if she hadn't, after the last two successful weekends they had spent together, but he was at a loss to explain her boss' presence. That is until he approached the slim figure in US Navy Summer Whites. His eyes flitted around, trying to spot the American Navy Captain, and he almost missed a step as he saw that he was shaking hands with Captain Shephard. Now that was another face he hadn't expected to see, but was glad that she had made the effort to come down from London. He muttered a quick "Heads up! Incoming!" to Julia as he saw the three officers veer in his direction, and with a brief smile for Julia, he turned to face them, freezing into the attention position, and firing off a salute that would have gladdened the RSM's heart had he seen it, "Good morning,sir, ladies!"
"Good morning, Bombardier!" Harm said warmly and, as senior officer, returning the salute. "We won't keep you long, I just stopped by to say well done," he shot a quick look at Gill, "and congratulations. By the sound of it, that was well done!"
"Sir!" A bright red Johnny managed.
"Indeed, Bom," Gill smiled, "It was very well, done. Congratulations!"
"Thank you, ma'am!" an even more embarrassed Bombardier Walker replied.
"Well, we'll leave you to get over the shock," Gill smiled and with a nod to Julia, "Petty Officer."
"Ma'am!" Julia answered, a smile as wide as the Mississippi on her face as she looked at Johnny.
"Yeah, looks like you've got company headed your way," Harm said looking over Johnny's shoulder at a group of three women who had nervously come to a halt and were obviously waiting for a chance to speak with Johnny, who looked over his shoulder, "Ma!" he exclaimed and then remembering military etiquette, he turned back towards Harm, "Thank you, sir!" he repeated as he produced a second Pirbright-Perfect salute.
"Bombardier," Harm said gravely as he returned the salute, and then as Johnny towards his mother he said to Gill and Sue, "Shall we?"
"Of course, sir!" Sue answered, "This way if you please!"
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
"Hello Timothy," His mother smiled as she subjected him to a brief hug, "I suppose congratulations are in order... but don't you ever do anything so dangerous again!"
Johnny freed himself from his mother's arms, "I won't, Ma, I promise. One medal is more than enough! Honest!"
"Yes, don't you ever go frightening us like that again!" One of the younger women, who bore a resemblance to Johnny interjected as she threw herself at him and planted a smacking kiss on his cheek.
"Behave yourself, Zoe Walker!" Johnny frowned once he'd unwound her arms from around his neck, braced himself and turned resignedly to the other young woman, "C'mon then, get it over with!"
"No scolding from me!" the last of the trio said as she planted a light kiss on her other cheek, "But you've been keeping more than one secret, haven't you?" she asked as she looked over Johnny's shoulder straight at Julia.
"Not really," he demurred, "Ma, Zoe, Ali … uh... Alison," he corrected himself at his mother's frown, "I'd like you all to meet Yeoman Second Class, Martinez. Julia, this is my mother and two of my sisters, Zoe and Alison."
"Ma'am, pleased to meet you," Julia managed as she felt herself reddening under the gaze of three pairs of curious eyes.
"Nonsense!" Mrs Walker announced as she stepped forward to offer her hand. So you're the mysterious Julia that our Timothy has been telling me so much about these past few weeks!"
"He... he has, I mean... I am, ma'am? Uh... I mean, I guess so," Julia stuttered casting an anguished but silent plea for help in Johnny's direction.
"Just an occasional word, is all Julia, Ma's exaggerating!" he frowned in an effort to repress his broadly smiling mother. "And talking of people, where's Stephanie? I knew Anne couldn't make it, she's in New York, but I thought Stephanie was coming with you?"
"She was!" Alison responded, "right up until six this morning, when she 'phoned me, to tell Ma that she couldn't come. Apparently Petey suddenly developed an ear infection overnight and she had take him to the doctor!"
"Suddenly? Huh, conveniently!" if you ask me!" Zoe muttered rebelliously and just loud enough for Julia to overhear and then noticing that the pretty American sailor was looking at her speculatively, she moved closer and in an undertone commented, "Sorry about that, you weren't meant to hear. Don't want to drag you into family squabbles."
"No... that's all right, I was just a bit lost with all the names being thrown around..."
"Oh, OK, I'll try to fill you in, but we'd better walk while we talk, Ma's got a lunch booked for us at a pub a couple of miles away"
"The George at Thruxton?" Julia asked.
"Yes! But how did you... oh... Tim, of course!"
"Yeah, he took me there on our first date," Julia admitted with a smile, "But what's all this about Petey, Anne and Stephanie...?"
"Oh, right. Well Stephanie's the eldest of us, she's married to James - never Jimmy, God forbid - some sort of big-shot money-making merchant banker – in both senses of the word – in London. She's thinks she's too good to associate with us commoners now. She such a stuck-up bitch, so I was surprised when she said she'd come to the parade, I suppose she thought having a Military Cross hero for a brother would look good to her toffee-nosed friends. So when she called this morning to say that Petey – that's her three year old, a spoiled brat if there ever was one – was sick, I wasn't particularly surprised!"
"Ah... OK, got it." Julia had sisters of her own, none of them quite as bad as Zoe had made Stephanie out to be, but there were underlying tensions that now and then erupted. "And Anne?" she asked.
"Oh... Anne's a real sweetie. She's married too, to an Air Traffic Controller at Heathrow. She was on a layover in New York last night, otherwise she would have been here; she's a flight attendant for one of the big airlines."
"And then there's Alison and you?"
"Oh, neither of us is married, although Alison's been engaged for years – well, eighteen months or so. She and her fiancé are waiting to get married until they can afford to put a deposit down on a house... I keep telling her that if they do, the they'll never get married." She chuckled at the puzzled expression on Julia's face. "It's house prices, they keep going up faster than Ali and Mike can save!"
They strolled on a few paces in silence until Zoe asked, "And what about you?"
Julia laughed, "Oh... look, I know I'm going to get grilled by your mom, so if you don't mind, I think I'll keep my story to myself for a while, and then tell you all together!"
"That's a deal, but don't think you're going to get out of it, 'cos I'm not going to let you forget!"
"No... I don't expect you will!" Julia answered, drawing a crack of laughter from Zoe.
Johnny heard the laugh and glanced back over his shoulder, relieved to see that Julia and Zoe, by far the most judgemental of his sisters, appeared to be getting on so well.
Mrs Walker caught his glance and said with a smile, "Your Julia seems like a nice girl, Timothy?"
Johnny looked at his mother in fond exasperation, "Back off Ma, I expect Julia will tell you all about herself just as soon as she feels comfortable. In the meantime stop trying wheedle scraps out of me, 'cos you aren't getting any!"
"You are a very naughty boy!" his Ma exclaimed, but with a twinkle in her eye.
"Ma! If you use those words, out loud, in front of Julia, I'll... I'll... I'll..."
"You'll what, Timothy Walker?" his Ma inquired.
"I don't know yet," Johnny admitted in crestfallen tones, "I was still trying to think of something bad enough!"
Mrs Walker broke into a delighted chuckle, "Never mind, here we are!" she indicated the gold coloured Isuzu Trooper.
"Wow, I know you said you were thinking about buying a new car, Ma, but this?" Johnny asked in surprise.
"Now, don't you start, Timothy Walker!"
"I'm not, Ma. In fact if you feel comfortable driving it, then good for you, as far as I've heard these are pretty safe, pretty rugged vehicles!"
"Yes, and it's a diesel engine, so that makes it more economical..."
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
The walk from the square would have passed in almost complete silence as both Harm and Gill sought to come to terms with their feelings, had it not been for Sue's stream of inconsequential chatter, but focussed mostly, it must be said, on the parade that had just ended.
Harm gritted his teeth and mostly ignored Sue's comments, injecting only a "Yes, Lieutenant,"" or "No Lieutenant" where it seemed appropriate. It was ill-mannered of him, but he was still angry with her, and the best part was that because he out-ranked her, she couldn't call him on his behaviour. He took a small crumb of comfort from that thought.. He was suddenly unsure of his future course of action. He had thought to either get a contact telephone number from Sue, or persuade her to 'phone Gill and and pass his number to her. Now, unexpectedly faced with Gill in the flesh, he felt as shy as a High School freshman trying to work up enough courage to ask a cheerleader to the Summer Dance.
Gill too was quiet as she alternated between forming plans for Sue's imminent, messy and extremely painful demise, and wondering what her reaction should be if Captain Rabb, Harm, was going to ask her for a date. She was almost certain he was, otherwise why would he have travelled down to Tidworth, just to ask Sue about her, and to have told her that he, Harm, wanted to speak to her, Gill, in such a public forum was... was... was... unforgivable! And so typically damned American! Full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes! One of their admirals was supposed to have said that at one time, Harmon Bloody Rabb apparently had absorbed that absurd mentality at that absurd academy of which he was so absurdly bloody proud!
But then again, she told herself, he had looked as shocked and almost as embarrassed as he'd felt when Sue Marshall opened her bloody big mouth! And he had looked quite cute, and totally dumbstruck, with his ears flaming that particular shade of crimson, his eyes wide open and his chin practically on his chest! No, although he was the cause of her embarrassment, it wasn't right to hold him responsible. No, the credit for that little episode belonged solely to Susan Patricia Bloody Marshall! But she still needed to find a graceful, and gentle way of letting him down gently...
By the time Gill reached her conclusion, they reached the Mess and passed into the ante-room, where a cold buffet had been laid out on tables covered by snow-white linen. Gill grimaced as she placed her Number One Dress Hat on a side table already covered by other hats, and Harm taking his lead from her placed his cover on the same table, reflecting that at least he would have no problem in identifying his one, white cover, from all the others in their regimental colours.
The reasons for Gill's grimace became clear when she indicated the buffet, "I'm afraid that it's mostly just fit for meat-eaters," she half apologised, but I hope you'll be able to find something..."
"Oh, I'm sure he will!" Sue smiled, "And while you two are making your choice, I'll get the drinks in! Vodka tonic for you Gill?"
"Yes! And make it a long double!" Gill answered.
"And Captain Rabb?"
"Oh... I'll just have a pint of shandy... I think you call it?"
"One pint of shandy coming right up," Sue turned towards the bar but then hesitated and looked over her shoulder, "Now play nicely, and Gill don't be too hard on him!" With that the blonde dropped an outrageous wink at Harm and ignoring the dagger glare from Gill continued on her way to the bar.
Gill blushed again and turned to Harm, "I'm sorry..." she began.
"What for? You haven't done anything to be sorry for!" Harm interrupted her.
"I was going to apologise for Sue's appalling behaviour!" Gill retorted, "Not my own. As you so rightly say, I have nothing to apologise for!"
"No you haven't," Harm said, apparently unfazed by the edge to Gills voice, "And as you cannot be held responsible for your friend's behaviour, I don't see that you have to apologise for her. You're not her mother and she's not a child. Your friend can take responsibility for her actions."
"Soon to be my ex-friend, or maybe even my late friend!" Gill gritted through her teeth, but despite her embarrassment fuelled anger she warmed to the note of humour in his voice, and in fact Harm was beginning to see the funny side of Sue's blatant attempts at match making, even down to leaving them alone for this little interlude while she went to the bar. Allied to that was also the feeling of peace and contentment that came over him after just a few minutes in Gill's company.
Gill took a grip on her temper, and with a fair pretence at coolness asked, "So, assuming Sue was telling the truth – even if it was at the top of her voice!" she glowered for an instant at the memory, "What was it you wanted to say to me?"
"Actually, I didn't say that," Harm began to explain, "And in fact, I hadn't seen you among the crowd. The fact is I didn't expect to see you, I heard you'd been posted. And I actually came down here today to see Sue..." he grinned mischievously as he saw Gill's face start to darken, "specifically to ask her for your contact details, or to pass on my contact details to you!"
Gill was about to reply that from Harm's point of view that it was just as well that she had been there. There would have been no way she would have agreed to Sue passing on her contact number or address, and even less likelihood that she would have made use of Harm's details, but something stopped her. A realisation that if she had said those words, that she would not have been telling the truth, but she would have been speaking from anger, and also the realisation that no matter how she phrased it, those sentiments would cause hurt to the tall sailor standing in front of her. And no matter how undecided she might be about having any further contact with him, she realised, pretty much to her own surprise, that she didn't want to cause him hurt.
"I see..." she eventually said slowly and to her surprise saw a look of relief wash over Harm's face. Studying him more critically she saw more than that, she suddenly became aware of a vulnerability in his eyes, and the fear of receiving further hurt. Some woman, she decided, had hurt him badly, and in the not too distant past.
"So... now we've got that hurdle cleared... I can ask you the other question that I would have asked over the 'phone back in London..."
'Oh God, he is going to ask me for a date!' a despairing Gill thought, 'And I don't know whether I want him to or not!"
"I was wondering, if you'd like to have dinner with me tomorrow evening?" Harm asked nervously and then held his breath as he waited for her reply.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Gill said almost automatically, "But I'm riding out early Monday morning, and I do need an early night if I'm going to do that..."
"Oh... I see..." Harm's face fell and he fumbled in his tunic pocket for his card, but then stopped as an even riskier thought crossed his mind, "Uh... look... I... uh know it's short notice... but if you can't do tomorrow evening, how about dinner this evening?" he ended on a hopeful note.
"No... I'm sorry, I really am... I've already made arrangements to have dinner with Sue..."
"Oh, I'm so glad you brought that up!" Sue said disingenuously and with a bright artificial smile, as she arrived with a small tray holding their drinks, "It's a little bit awkward, and I'm really embarrassed to do this, and I feel such a fool... It's just that Alexander, you know from Burns' Night? Well, he's just got back from his tour and called me last night. And asked me to dinner this evening. And Gill I'm so sorry, I was so excited to hear his voice again that I clean forgot about our deal for this evening..." she let her voice trail off on an almost pleading note, and with such a puppy-dog expression in her eyes that Harm nearly laughed out loud at her patently transparent excuse.
Gill glared at her friend again, but with the ground cut from beneath her feet by this betrayal, all she could do was to muster a smile and say with the best appearance of good grace that she could, "In that case Captain Rabb, as I appear to have become Sue's second best choice for dinner, I will gladly accept your invitation!"
Harm smiled and he let out the breath he didn't even know he was holding. "So... do you have any preferences... I really don't know this area very well..."
"It will have to be somewhere very casual," Gill conceded, "I haven't exactly brought any of my Sunday best, and it will have to be quite early, as I don't want to be too late back to London. Sue, what's the name of that bistro pub at Newton Tony, they still do quite decent food, don't they?"
"Oh... you mean the Malet Arms? Yes, they do, and from what I've heard, quite an inventive vegetarian menu," Sue added in a helpful sort of voice.
"H'mm... will you excuse us a moment please, Captain Rabb?" Gill asked with a polite smile, and taking Sue's elbow in a deceptively firm grip, she steered Sue in the direction of the Ladies Toilets. Once she had closed the door behind them a quick check reassured Gill that they were alone , and she released Sue's elbow.
"Thank God for that!" Sue complained rubbing the afflicted part, "That was beginning to hurt!"
"Good!" Gill said savagely, "And that's just a foretaste of what's coming your way, lady!"
"Why, Gill, whatever do you mean?" Sue asked with a wide-eyed and innocent stare.
"I mean I'm not going to get mad at you, I'm going to get even! Firstly for embarrassing me and poor Captain Rabb in front of the entire regiment. And then for that... that... that blatant act of treason out there!" Gill indicated the rough direction of the ante-room.
"But you were the one who said yes to his invitation to dinner," Sue said smugly, "and you must have wanted to, on some level, because even without the excuse of having dinner with me, you could have said 'no' if you really wanted to!"
"That's as may be!" Gill fumed, "But it's entirely beside the point. I'm still really pissed at you Sue Marshall, and I think you've forgotten where I work! So if your next posting turns out to be Benbecula, then you'll only have yourself to blame!" And then before giving Sue a chance to reply and with something that looked to that giggling blonde's eye distinctly like a flounce, Gill pivoted and on her heel and left Sue alone to mop her streaming eyes and recover her breath and poise.
When Gill returned to the ante-room she found that Harm had been accosted by Colonel Mike, and the Very Senior General, whose curiosity had been piqued by the presence of the single white uniform amongst the press of khaki and his own ceremonial blue Frock Coat. Gill hovered just out of earshot, attaching herself to a group of regimental officers, all wanting to grill her about her 'dishy sailor'. Gill fended off their questions and dismissed their more outrageous comments, all the while keeping a wary eye on Harm and waiting for the General to move on, and simultaneously wishing she she'd throttled Sue Marshall.
To Gill's relief the old warrior moved on after a couple of minutes, and she saw Harm visibly relax, "Phew!" he said as she rejoined him, "I'd sooner fly an Alpha Strike over Afghanistan than do that again!"
"Really?"
"Hell, yes!" Harm said with a grin, "At least when I'm in the air I know what I'm doing, but the British Army seems to have so many shibboleths that every time I speak with one of their officers, I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing..." he finished teasingly.
Gill, however, saw the bait dangling and refused to rise to it. "H'mm... yes, you do have a tendency to put your foot in your mouth from time to time," she agreed with just the hint of a grin.
"Gillian Shephard, I saw that! You are so busted!" Harm chuckled.
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Gill protested with as straight a face as she could manage.
"Talking about no idea, and putting feet in mouth, where's Sue? You haven't killed her have you?"
"No..." Gill replied mournfully, "I left her in one piece and giggling entirely unrepentantly in the loo, but I did threaten her that her next posting would be Benbecula!"
"Where's that? Or should it be what's that?"
"Oh, it's a missile range on one of the Outer Hebrides Islands, off the West Coast of Scotland in the middle of the Atlantic... a thoroughly nasty, wet and cold posting..." Gill said dreamily.
"Remind me never to get into your bad books!" Harm said in mock alarm, "You're bad!"
"Yes, I am, aren't I?" Gill remarked smugly.
"So... changing the subject, are we going to eat at this Malet Arms? If so, do I need to make a reservation for a table, and if you're in a rush to get back to London, then if we take two cars, you wouldn't have to come back here to collect yours..."
"You have a car now?" Gill asked in mild surprise.
"Just a rental for the weekend... and given that I still haven't gotten back into being comfortable driving on the wrong side of the road, maybe it's just as well you've got your own car here!"
"H'mm, probably!" Gill agreed, "Let's see if we can find you a phone number for the pub!"
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Julia stood back a little as Johnny – she couldn't get her head around calling him Timothy, or even Tim – submitted to a round of farewell hugs and kisses from his mother and two sisters. But finally they tore themselves away and climbed back into the family Isuzu.
"That was well embarrassing!" a red-faced Johnny half grinned and half complained, jerking his chin the direction of the Regimental Guard Room, where the Provost Sergeant and half a dozen grinning RPs have every indication of having watched the show with massive enjoyment, "Those sods are going to take the piss out of me for weeks now!" he grumbled.
"Oh, I don't know about that," Julia said as she fell into step beside him, "Oh.. this way..." she directed him to the parked Vectra, one of the few cars, other than a dark blue Mondeo left in the temporary car park.
"Uh... look, I really need to get out of this ginger suit," Johnny protested.
"Yeah, and I need to get out of this ice-cream seller's outfit, but I need you to give me a lead into Amesbury, so I thought that if I take you round to your barracks, then you can get changed, pick up your car, and then we can get off base for what's left of the day."
"Sounds good to me! You remember where the Battery lines are?"
"I'm sure you can direct me if I get lost on the way!" Julia laughed.
"Yeah, I reckon I can manage that... but tell me, what's so special about Amesbury?"
"Oh... I've booked a room at the George Inn on the High Street, and I'm not sure exactly how to find it..."
Johnny laughed in his turn, "Julia, the High Street is about the only Street in Amesbury! I believe it's what used to be what you colonials call a one horse town, except that the horse died! I cannot believe you booked a room there; there is absolutely nothing to do in Amesbury, not even on a Saturday night!"
"Well, in that case," Julia said placidly as she stopped the car outside Johnny's barracks, "I'm sure we're quite clever enough to make our own entertainment!"
xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Harm guided Gill across the car park to the entrance to the Malet Arms, a surprisingly small white painted two storey building with dormer windows in the roof indicating a third storey, but with a larger and much more modern extension built onto one end.
Harm cast a speculative eye at the cryptic 'Duck or Grouse' sign on the door lintel, "What's that all about?" he asked Gill.
Gill looked at the six feet four inch sailor alongside her and decided not to tease him on this occasion, "It's a warning that this place has got low ceilings, it gives you a choice, duck, that is lower your head, or you can grouse about it if you don't!"
"Yeah, but grouse? I thought that was a bird, like a pheasant or a partridge or something..."
"It is a bird when it's a noun," Gill explained carefully, "but when it's a verb it means to grumble or complain. And I can guarantee you if you forget to duck under one of those old hammer beams, you'll be grousing soon enough! The sign is a bit of a pun..." she added.
"So the unsuspecting stranger who cracks his head on one of those beams doubtless provides hours of amusement to those people in on the joke?" Harm replied.
"Very probably," Gill agreed.
"So, I suppose I owe you my thanks for saving my skull?" Harm said as he cautiously ducked under one of the aforesaid hammer beams.
"Well, not your head, not exactly," Gill said, her eyes dancing, "But I'd hate for you to get blood on that lovely blue shirt!" And it was a lovely shirt, Gill decided. It brought out the blue in his eyes, and as the evening was warm enough for him to go without a jacket or sweater it revealed enough of his body without being overly tight, especially across his shoulders and on his upper arms, that Gill almost licked her lips. There was no doubt about it in Gill Shephard's mind, Harmon Rabb was not one of those guys that was made to look good by his uniform, he was on of those guys who made his uniform – and anything else he chose to wear – look good, damned good!
While she had been day-dreaming Harm had spoken to the barman, and now with a pair of menus in one hand, he guided Gill to a side table, seated her, handed her a menu and said, "They'll take our order out here, and then walk us into the restaurant when they're about ready to serve. In the meantime, what would you like to drink?"
"Oh... just a tonic water, with ice and a slice, please" Gill said.
Fighting down the pang that her choice of drinks caused him, it was one of Mac's favourites, Harm smiled and with a murmured, be right back, crossed the room again to the bar, successfully negotiating the ceiling beams on the way there and back.
Studying the vegetarian options of the menu, Harm was surprised to see one item, "Now that I didn't expect!" he exclaimed out loud.
"What's that?" Gill asked.
"Butternut Squash Risotto," Harm explained, "I didn't think civilisation had reached this far!"
"Oh, it did... quite a long time ago..." Gill said sadly, "but we've been invaded by the barbarians, and we're sinking back into the dark ages... the importing of such barbaric dishes is only symptom of the rot..."
Harm looked at her she had said all that with such a straight face, that for a moment he almost believed her. Then he saw again the laughter dancing in her eyes, and realised that he had very nearly fallen victim to the dry British sense of humour – again!