Soldiers in Love

Chapter 3: The Real You-1

CHAPTER 3: THE REAL YOUSHAQUANNA DIDN’T EVEN LET ME get in the door good the next day before she was on me, hounding me for the details about my date with Daniel.

“So?”

“So what?”

She frowned. “Don’t play dumb with me, Regan Masters. I told you I wanted details. And you didn’t even call me. So spill it. What happened?”

“It was late when I got in,” I explained. I knew that wasn’t going to be enough to placate Quanna. I told her about my date last night while we set up for the day’s business. I left out certain details about our conversations and my observation of Daniel’s interest. Or lack thereof. She didn’t need to know all that.

She waved a hand. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah. Forget all that. What I want to know is if he tried to kiss you? Did he try to make a move on you?”

“No.”

“Did you try to make a move on him?”

“Quanna!”

She twirled the towel in her hands, pouting. “You’re no fun Regan. See, if that had been me, he’d be somewhere resting right now.”

I shook my head at her though I was smiling. “You are so nasty, Shaquanna,” I said.

She grinned, not the least bit ashamed of herself. “Well did he at least try to kiss you?”

I nodded nonchalantly, though my heart was racing at the memory of his kisses.

Shaquanna’s claw-like nails bit into my arm. “And you weren’t even going to tell me? Is he any good?”

Flo came by, tucking her towel in her apron. “You really should think about leaving him alone. He ain’t no good.”

“We had a good time, Flo,” I said in defense of my new relationship. “He was super sweet and very much a gentleman.”

Flo shook her head. “You young gals today are all the same. A man grins at you and you’re all up in his face. That man is trouble. I just know it. And-”

“You don’t even know him, Flo,” Quanna said, rolling her eyes.

“I don’t need to know anything about him, missy. I know his type. And his type is always bad news.”

The three of us looked up as the door opened and Daniel shuffled in. Flo glanced at me and sucked her teeth. “I sincerely hope that you’ll take my advice and leave him alone before it’s too late,” she said and walked away.

Quanna rolled her eyes at Flo’s back again. “Don’t even worry about her, Regan. She’s just being a busybody as usual.”

“She’s wrong about him, Quanna. I know she is,” I said, looking over at Daniel. He was sitting, waiting patiently as he always did for me to get over to his table. As usual, his right hand covered his left on the table and the collar of his jacket was turned up, hiding the scars on his neck. He watched the people walking along the sidewalk. He looked like any other man. There was no neon sign on his back that screamed ‘Danger! Stay back!” He had some quirks, but then so did we all. That didn’t make him any more of a threat to me or anyone else than did Tony or Joey.

“Of course she is, woman,” Quanna exclaimed “She thinks that just because her old man was a crazy vet and he beat on her every day that means that every military man is that way.” She picked up her order pad as more people started coming in. “Besides, how does she even know he’s in the military? You can’t just make assumptions about people.” She glanced back at me over her shoulder. “Is he military?”

I nodded. “Yes. He is. And he’s not like Flo says he is. I refuse to believe it or let her put any doubt in my heart about him.”

“Dang, you sound like you’re in a relationship already. Y’all just had your first date.”

I shrugged. “Yeah. I know. I just don’t like hearing her talk like that about people she doesn’t know.”

“Yeah. I hear that. And besides, she chose to stay with his crazy ass. So that’s on her.” She grinned and gave me a gentle push. “Your man’s waiting. Go get him.”

I nodded, smiling, though inside I was trying to shake off Flo’s words. She was wrong about Daniel. I knew it.

Screw her. She wasn’t going to mess this up for me. With that thought in mind, I went over to the table where he sat, looking out the window.

“Hi,” I said softly.

He looked up, seemingly pleased to see me. “Hey.”

“You want your usual coffee?”

“Sure.”

I set the steaming mug in front of him. And I couldn’t help staring at him. God, I wished that I had the courage to just kiss him right there in front of everybody. Last night when we kissed, he’d seemed to like it. But then that was last night.

“Can you sit a minute?” he asked breaking into my thoughts.

“Huh?” I said when I realized that he was talking to me. “Oh sure. For a moment.”

I slid into the booth across from him. From the corner of my eye, I saw Flo giving me disapproving looks, but I pretended that I didn’t see her. Instead, I watched Daniel stirring the spoon around in his cup.

“You don’t want sugar or cream?” I asked, pushing it towards him.

The corner of his mouth turned up a bit. “I’ve learned to eat and drink foods without flavor.”

I nodded. “So last night,” I began.

“I had a good time,” he answered.

“Me too. Look, why don’t-”

“Regan,” Flo called. She gestured with her head for me to get up. Daniel looked over his shoulder at her.

“Is she telling you to get away from me?”

Damn he was perceptive! And I couldn’t lie. “Yeah.”

He looked down at the coffee mug he cradled between his hands. “And what will you tell her?”

I stood, wadding the towel in my hand. “To mind her own damn business.”

His lips curved slightly. “Well okay then.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot. I talked to Tony about you,” I said. Daniel had mentioned last night about looking for a temporary job. I’d wondered if that meant that he was going to go back into the service at some point. He didn’t really talk about that.

“Oh thanks. What did he say?”

“All he’s got is a dishwashing gig.” I shrugged. “He said it’s yours if you don’t mind busting suds.”

“No. I don’t mind.” His eyes fastened on mine and heat slid up my spine. “As long as I get to see you, then I don’t care.”

That warmth spread throughout my body. No one had ever said something so sweet to me and meant it. And I suddenly longed to feel him close and have his arms around me. But I didn’t do anything. I couldn’t, not with Flo staring at me disapprovingly and Quanna’s interested stare.

So I decided to give them something to talk about, I put a hand on Daniel’s shoulder and leaned over to whisper in his ear, “I’ll be needing a cigarette soon.” He actually grinned and it left me breathless. Mesmerized by the way his face changed when he smiled, I straightened. “I’ll get Tony.”

I stood behind the counter, making a latte for a customer. I watched as Tony and Daniel talked, negotiating his potential employment. Flo moved to stand next to me at the coffee maker.

“So you got him a job here?”

“Look Flo, he’d mentioned that he was looking for something. You know how Earl is working at that restaurant around the corner now and his availability is cut in half. An extra pair of hands never hurt.” I handed the customer their latte and took their p*****t. “And besides-” I started to say but stopped when Tony approached. Flo seized the moment to voice her dislike of Daniel again.

“I don’t want him working here, Tony. You don’t know nothing about him.”

Tony shrugged. “So? I didn’t know nothing about you when I hired you, did I?”

Flo snapped hard on her gum. “That’s not the point,” she said angrily. “He’s a weird one. I know his kind. He ain’t no good.”

Tony held up a hand. “He’s a soldier, Flo. He sacrificed himself to protect us and this country. The least I can do in return is give him a job. He deserves more than dish pig, but that’s all I got and he took it. So drop it and play nice.”

“I ain’t trying to tell you how to run your business, Tony. I’m just saying that something about him just don’t set well with me.”

“Listen old girl,” Tony said softly, putting an arm around Flo’s shoulders. “Every soldier ain’t like that sorry excuse for a husband you got. He’s a hero. He won the Medal of Valor. He can’t be that bad.”

Flo’s eyes were hard and unyielding. “So did Otis. Remember?”

Tony sighed and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “How about we give him a chance, huh? If he messes up one time, then ciao baby.” He chucked her chin with one hand, causing her to smile in spite of herself. “Come on. What do you say?”

A tinge of pink colored her cheeks. Flo wasn’t so old that Tony couldn’t still make her blush. “Okay, Tony. I guess it’ll be alright since he’ll be in the back and all. Just so long as he stays away from me.”

I shook my head as Tony headed back into the kitchen and Flo went to check on her tables. Flo had no need to worry. Daniel didn’t want her old ass anyway. He was interested in me. I liked Flo pretty good. But as nice as she was, she could be mean sometimes too.

Quanna moved up behind me. “So your man is working here now, huh? I know where to find you from now on.”

I shook my head. “It won’t even be like that, Quanna. He and I both have jobs to do. There’s no time for playing around. And nowhere to hide. Flo’s going to be all over the both of us.”

“That’s for sure.”

Suddenly, I wanted to be near him for a few minutes. “I need a cigarette break,” I said.

Tony waved a hand dismissively. “Yeah sure. It’s slow right now.”

Daniel didn’t turn around or even acknowledge in any way that he’d heard me. But I knew that he had. Quanna gave me a knowing grin.

“Guess you need to congratulate him, huh?”

I shrugged and put my rag on the counter. “I need a cigarette,” I said to her.

“It ain’t a cigarette that you need,” Quanna said, snickering at her own joke.

“Shut up Quanna,” I said giving her a playful shove as I passed.

Daniel didn’t turn around or even look up as I headed out of the coffee shop. I leaned back against the wall. I was tired. Between classes and working full time, I didn’t have a lot of time for sleep. And then I was adding a relationship onto that? I must be crazy.

“Excuse me, ma’am. Do you have a light?”

I opened my eyes to see Daniel standing there. It was a bit unnerving to see him there and I hadn’t even heard him approach. I grinned at him, playing along. “No. I don’t smoke.”

“You don’t smoke?”

“Nope. I don’t smoke.”

Daniel drew his bottom lip between his teeth as if debating his next move. I smiled, liking this game. I wondered if he wanted to kiss me because I so badly wanted to kiss him. He slowly approached me until I was backed up against the wall. He braced his right hand on the wall beside my head.

“You know, that’s really too bad,” he commented.

“Why is that?” I said, gently tugging on the lapels of his green army jacket.

“Because I was kind of hoping to spend your cigarette break smoking.”

I looked up at him. “You don’t smoke either, Daniel.”

The corners of his mouth turned up. “There are other ways to smoke, darling,” he murmured.

“Oh yeah?”

“Hmm.”

I surprised myself by saying, “Show me.”

Daniel didn’t need any more encouragement. He leaned forward and kissed me. I kissed him back, deepening the kiss. I curled my hands in his lapels, pulling him closer. He encircled me in his arms, pressing me back against the wall as he kissed me. He moaned against my lips as our tongues dueled wildly, leaving me melting against him.

“Do you like my kisses?” he asked, nibbling at my lips.

“Hmm. Yes I do,” I whispered.

He rested his forehead against mine, trying to catch his breath. “How long is your break?”

“Fifteen minutes,” I answered.

He sighed. “I just want to hold you for a while then.”

“I won’t complain.”

Daniel chuckled, a burst of warm air brushing along my cheek. “You know, I was thinking about you all night last night. I couldn’t wait to see you again.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face against his neck. “You don’t have to,” I whispered. With my face buried in his shoulder, I felt that I could be the bold woman that I couldn’t be any other time. “I was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner or something. I’ve been looking for a reason to grill out. We could go swimming or something if you want tob or watch TV.”