“Thank you, Kass. I’ll call you afterwards, okay?”
“Sounds good, sis. You got this.”
I tell her bye and hang up the phone and then go open my bag. I sift through it, and right in the middle are the linen paper resumes that I had printed yesterday. I breathe a sigh of relief. Stupid nightmare. It seemed so real.
Knox
I can barely catch my breath, but I’m not going to stop. Not until we have everyone on the plane and we’re airborne.
Stone is helping the last couple onto the tarmac as I stand guard with my gun. It was supposed to be a simple mission. In and out. But I’m finding that the ones that are supposed to be simple end up being the ones that get out of hand really fast.
Luckily, we have all the hostages and eliminated the terrorists. Now all we have to do is get everyone on board and get back to the States.
“We’re good. Let’s roll!” Bear’s booming voice can barely be heard over all the noise, but when I look, he’s giving me the thumbs-up so I give him one back and climb aboard the plane before shutting the door behind me.
Aiden is already in the cockpit, preparing for takeoff. I stick my head in. “Package is secure. Wheels up.”
He nods his head, and I barely make it to my seat before Aiden has us airborne. Not until we’re about twenty minutes in flight do I finally start to breathe normally again. I’ve been doing this for a while now, and each mission is different. I know that shit can go bad fast.
I look over at Stone. “You good?”
He nods. “Yeah, I’m good. A little too close for my liking, but yeah, I’m good.”
I stand up and hit him on the shoulder. “We’ll have a few weeks stateside after this.”
I walk down the aisle, checking on the rest of the crew and the saved hostages aboard. Bear is sitting in an aisle by himself, and I don’t even consider approaching him. He’s the quiet one, and even though he has definitely mellowed out a little since he got with Sam, he usually takes time to process everything before he talks to anyone after a mission. I do make a point to catch his eye, and he nods his head, so at least I know he’s good.
Logan and John are talking, seemingly unfazed by it all. And after everything we’ve been through, I imagine it’s the truth. The hostages are another story. It’s always something to see how people react to different situations, and this time was no different. When we got there, a man was defending his wife and was about to be murdered. It’s obvious by looking at them they are both shaken up. I stop at their seats. They are guzzling the waters that were handed out, but what I can’t take my eyes off is the way they’re still clinging to each other. “You’re safe now,” I tell them, taking time to look each of them in the eyes.
The man nods. “Thank you for saving my wife.”
The wife squeezes his leg as if she’s reminding him of something. The man shrugs. “And me too. But most importantly my wife. She’s my life.”
They look at each other, and I can’t take my eyes off them. The love they have for one another is obvious. I never really had that growing up and seeing people in love. The guys are all settling down now, and they all look at their wives like that.
I put my hand on the man’s shoulder and squeeze before I walk past them to the back of the plane. I sit down in the very back and look at the couple’s heads that are close together. Witnessing a love like that makes me think about how I have no one at home waiting on me. I lay my head back and know that the couple is lucky. Not everyone finds a love like that. I cross my arms over my chest. At least I love my job.
Karina
“Rent’s due soon.”
That’s the first thing I hear when I walk out of my bedroom. The roommate that I found through an online service isn’t the friendliest person, but I really can’t complain. I can’t be too picky since I’m using my savings to pay for my part, and it’s already dwindling fast. My job working in the library and dorm room at the college ended when I graduated, and I had to find something cheap and quick, so here I am.
I bite my lip even though I want to say something back. Getting into an argument with her is not going to help me with my interview. I just nod my head on my way out the door. Hopefully neither Kassie nor anyone else back home will ever meet my roommate because the fun-loving description I’ve given them won’t match in the least. I roll my eyes. Just one more thing I’ve lied to my family about. It isn’t like I enjoy lying to them about my fictional dating, my crowd of friends, or positive feedback on my job interviews. It’s because I love them that I lie to them. I don’t want them to worry, and if they knew the truth, they’d definitely worry.