***
Jill responded to Jack with a smile. He has never used the word “intimate” before. “It is nice to get away from the military occasionally,” she said. “It is a good reminder that there is normalcy somewhere, even if we don’t always see it.”
“Normalcy—some days I wonder.” Jack’s gaze dropped to the sand.
“I’m sorry, Jack. I suppose you never had a normal life, being raised in orphanages and foster homes.”
“No offense taken.”
“Jack, I’ve wanted to mention something to you, but I have been hesitant.”
“I don’t think we should have any secrets.”
“It is not really a secret, just an observation. I think you are a wonderful person, Jack.”
“But?” Jack raised an eyebrow.
“There are no ‘buts.’ In fact, I want to expand a little if I can.” Jill took a deep breath. “You might be a bit sensitive talking about your childhood, so you can tell me to shut up at any point and I’ll understand.”
“That’s a deal.”
“I think that you are such a swell guy, and very talented. You are the best shot in the Army, not to mention hand-to-hand combat skills, pistol skills, light anti-tank weapon skills, navigation, and I could go on and on. I realize that any soldier should be pleased with a record like yours. But, and here is where I hesitate because I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, I am not feeling sorry for you, I just am facing the fact that you had a difficult childhood being raised in orphanages and foster homes. Most people would not have been able to eke out a normal life after something like that, but you have not only achieved normalcy, you’ve excelled. I think that you should be proud of yourself.”
“I have never thought of it in that sense. It has been challenging, and at times it was all that I could do to keep my temper under control. I got in a lot of fights as a result of the teasing, but when I enlisted in the Army, that all fell behind me. It seemed like the Army accepted me regardless of my background, and I liked that.”
Jill watched the waves breaking. She pondered Jack’s relationship with the Army. It’s sad that he had to join the Army to find acceptance. I am so fortunate that I had a wonderful family that not only accepted me, but also loved me.
“Jack, can I say just one more thing?”
“Sure.”
“First, I want you to know that I am telling you this because I think you are special, Jack, and you deserve to know that you are special.”
“Okay. Where are you going with this?”
“Well, when the Army was putting together our sniper team, they picked me first. Then they gave me files for six different snipers in the Army. They said you were the best shooter of the six, but I could pick any of the six for my partner.”
“Jill, I am not sure what you are saying.”
“Here is the point that I wanted to make. The others were pretty normal soldiers. They had reasonable family lives and would have been good selections for this sniper team.”
“So?”
“So when I read your file and found that you were an orphan, I realized that you had a lot going against you and yet you managed to somehow make the best of a bad situation. You excelled when others would have failed.”
“Jill, I don’t know how this relates to us.”
“I needed to make a decision and select the person that I thought would work best with me. It was a rare privilege to select someone from a list of top-ranked soldiers. My decision ended up being made on the basis of compatibility. As it turned out, you were the sniper that was most compatible with me.”
“I still don’t see your point,” Jack said.
“What I am trying to say is, I picked you because I wanted the perfect sniping partner, but now I realize that you are also the perfect friend for me. And, besides that, you’re more than the perfect friend . . .”
Now it was Jack’s turn to gaze at the waves crashing on the shore. “So we are a perfect match—in more ways than just sniping?”
“Yes. And I don’t want to be pushy about our relationship, but I think that you have a right to know how I feel. You don’t have to feel like I do, and maybe I should’ve been quiet, at least for now. You have a right to your privacy and I don’t want to pry. You can feel however you want. I don’t want to influence you, but I need to be honest. It is not—”
“Jill.”
“Yes, Jack.”
“Let’s go swimming.” Jack nodded toward the breaking waves.
Jill wondered why Jack changed the subject so quickly. Maybe Jack feels awkward talking about our relationship. I thought he liked me. He must be upset that I brought up this subject.
They stood and Jack took Jill’s hand. Jack and Jill walked into the crashing surf. They continued to wade into deeper water. Jack was still holding Jill’s hand when the water was chest deep on him.
“Jack . . .” Jill sounded distressed.
“What, Jill?”
“It’s my water phobia. I am starting to get the creeps. I don’t think we should go in any deeper. The waves are crashing and the water is almost over my head.”
Jack smiled reassuringly and said nothing. He continued into the deepening water. Jill’s body tensed. As the water rose to her chin, Jack took his free hand and placed it around Jill’s waist. He continued walking into the deepening water.
“Jack! Please don’t go any further.”
Jack paused. He placed one of her hands on the side of his neck so she could hold onto him. Then Jack placed his free hand on the other side of her waist. Jill glanced toward the ocean and saw some large swells approaching. She took her free hand and put it on the other side of Jack’s neck. As the swells approached, her grip on Jack’s neck tightened.
“The waves usually come in sets of five. The first two are small, the third is the largest, and the last two each get smaller,” Jack said, speaking calmly.
Jill wanted to be brave. If Jack sees me panic, he will never respect me as an officer. He will never want to be under my command again. I can’t let my phobia get the best of me. I must be brave and not let my fear control me; I must control it.
“Hold on as tight as you want,” Jack said.
Jill’s body was so close to Jack’s that they lightly brushed against each other as the waves roiled around them. She felt his muscles against her skin and wanted to look into his brown eyes, but she couldn’t stop looking at the approaching waves.
“Jack, will this hurt?” Jill bit her lip as soon as she said these words. She had dropped her guard. She said something that made her look weak. She couldn’t take back the words, but she wished she could.
“When the first swell hits us, hold on. I will do all the work. You can trust me,” Jack whispered into Jill’s ear. His calm voice was giving Jill a hint of reassurance.
Maybe this won’t be too bad. Jill swallowed hard as the first wave approached.
Jack had slowly moved them further out into deeper water. Jill’s feet were floating. She kicked them as she searched for someplace to brace for the impact. Her body tensed. The first wave picked up speed as it neared them.
“Jack, it’s speeding up.”
“It’s okay; it just looks like it is getting faster because it is closer. It is like our HALO jumps. At first, when we were at thirty thousand feet, we felt like we were floating, but we were falling at two hundred miles an hour. We had no sense of falling until we got close to the ground.”
“Hmm . . .” That made sense to Jill, but it was difficult to think logically when they were about to be crushed by the first of five huge waves. Jill slid both hands behind Jack’s neck and intertwined her fingers so they were locked firmly together. If the approaching wave crushes and drowns me, I want my last memory to be hugging Jack as tightly as I can.
Jill could now feel their bodies begin to rise slightly as the front of the swell swept into them. Jill’s body tensed even more. She squeezed Jack’s neck close to her. Her body was so close to Jack that she co
uld feel his leg muscles tense as he pushed on the sandy bottom. This, combined with the swell, lifted them about two feet. Jill buried her face into Jack’s neck as she prepared for the worse. She could feel Jack pulling her waist close to him, pressing her body into his solid muscles. At the last second, she gulped as much air as she could. She didn’t know how long they would be underwater. Jill was going to closed her eyes tightly, and take a deep breath, hoping she didn’t drown. As the wave started to hit them, she changed her mind. If I have to die, I will at least get one kiss from the man I have fallen in love with. She pressed her lips firmly against Jack’s lips, and then closed her eyes.
Jill heard the loud crash of the wave as it broke. Her body tensed. I don’t want to die like this!
Jill waited. She waited some more. She continued holding her breath. Her lips still pressed against his. Soon her lungs would not be able to hold the air any longer. Then she heard a strange noise. It was quiet. She did not hear the crashing of the wave any longer. She could only hear the sound of seagulls honking at each other. She relaxed her death grip on Jack and their lips parted. So this is what it is like to die. Everything gets real quiet, and then you hear sea gulls.
Jill now heard a different sound. It was super-imposed on the sea gull’s song. It had a staccato essence that was mixed with the sound of a man’s voice. What is that strange sound?
Jill opened her eyes. She looked at Jack.
He was laughing.
“Wha . . . what is going on? Are we dead? Where are we? Why aren’t our heads wet? What happened to the wave?”
“No, we’re not dead.” Jack continued laughing. “We are still in the ocean, and we are wet from the neck down, but from the neck up we are still dry because the wave broke after it went past us.” Jack struggled to get these words out between laughs.
“We are not dead?” Jill said sheepishly as she lowered her gaze to the water that was still lapping at Jack’s neck.
“No, of course not. I will never let anything bad happen to you.”
“But the wave was huge.” Jill glanced at the next wave that was now approaching.
“Yes, but I brought us out where the water was deep enough that the wave did not break until it passed us.”
“Oh, yeah.” Jill felt ashamed that she was so upset about something that was not a problem. Jack is going to think I am so stupid. Why didn’t I trust him? I bet Jack really hates me now, especially after I forced myself on him.
“That was fun,” Jack said.
“Fun? You may think it is fun to scare your sniping partner, but I don’t think it was fun. In fact I think it was pretty mean!” Jill’s voice went up half an octave as she reprimanded Jack.
“I wasn’t referring to the part about scaring you.”
“You weren’t? What were you referring to?”
“I meant that I liked the way you drew close to me and squeezed tightly when you saw the swell approach.” Jack smiled at Jill. “And by the way, you’re quite a kisser.”
“Hmm . . . yes, that was fun.” Jill began to relax. She rested her cheek on Jack’s neck as she thought about how the fear turned into a passionate experience. That was quite a first kiss. Jack tricked me, but I liked it.
Jill glanced up and again saw the second wave approaching. “Jack, the second wave will be bigger, won’t it?”
“A little bit, but it will also be longer. As a result, it will not feel much different.”
Jill heard Jack’s comforting words, but her muscles still tensed as the front of the swell began to lift them. Jack drew close as their bodies floated over the top of the swell. His feet left contact with the bottom as the swell passed under them. Seconds later, his feet touched the sandy bottom again. Jack looked into Jill’s blue eyes. He pulled slightly on her waist and leaned into her. Their lips met in a gentle kiss. Jill closed her eyes as they were immersed in the moment. Their lips lingered. Finally their lips parted just before the third swell lifted them. They both looked at the swell as it passed under them. Then they looked into each other’s eyes as Jack’s feet gently touched the ocean bottom. Again Jack gently pulled Jill close and leaned into her for another kiss. He gently nipped at her lips. They both closed their eyes again as their passions swept over them.
The up and down motion of the swells continued, and the kisses continued, but Jill’s eyes remained closed as her interest in the waves waned.
“Jack . . .”
“Mmm?”
“How many waves have passed us?”
“I lost count. I would rather kiss you than count waves.”
“Hmm . . . me, too.”