Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 32

Julie misinterpreted my gesture, thinking I was inviting her to hug. She moved forward into my open arms and enveloped me with hers and started to sob. I was totally floored for a moment. What the fuck did I do now? The only real option was to accept the hug. I carefully placed my hands on her back, freezing them in place. I remained silent, allowing her to vent her emotions in her own time and way.

There was absolutely no sexual intent to her embrace, but I could not help but notice the feel of her body against me, the smell of her perfume and the touch of her hands behind me. I prayed I would not throw a boner and had to use every bit of will power I had not to do so.

After a few minutes, her sobs decreased to soft snivelling, then stopped. I felt her arms loosen their grip on me and I also let mine fall back to my sides. She stepped away and turned from me, composing herself, wiping her eyes with her hands and shirt sleeves. When she faced me again, I could see her distress had turned to utter embarrassment.

She cringed and apologised “for being a wuss.” Begged me not to “tell the blokes’ what a girl I am.” I assured her I absolutely had no intention of doing so. Nobody would hear about it from me, it was just between us, and I’d already forgotten about it. I reiterated that she was one of us now, and we looked after our own, period! Her relief was clear. She noticed the wet patch on my shoulder, where her tears had fallen. She reached out and rubbed it with her hand, trying in vain to dry it (one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three…). Then, she leaned forward and, for just the briefest part of a second, placed her lips on my forehead, in a kiss. “Thank you”, she said and went to gather her tools.

I too collected my stuff, signed the maintenance log, grabbed the vehicle keys and headed for the door. We had to leave right now, before I did or said anything utterly, utterly stupid. My word was my bond, I never told anyone what happened that night, until now.

Mercifully, the last shift of the cycle was much more sedate. Once the routine tasks were completed, the cleaning done and the paperwork filed, it was into the boredom of overnight watch-keeping. Monitoring systems to ensure things were performing as planned. Hoping nothing would fail to disturb the peace, yet perversely secretly wishing for some activity to break the tedium.

We had a crew room with comfortable (?) chairs and brewing tackle, where we could relax a little. We’d often have marathon card games (Find the Lady, or colloquially ‘Hunt the Cunt’ was most popular), backgammon contests or vicious Risk campaigns. There was a quick flurry of activity at midnight (we’ll 2am actually, as for work purposes we followed Zulu time (GMT), so the world was synchronised) as we transitioned the systems to a new day’s settings. Things then went quiet, people would often doze in the crew room until dawn came. It was my turn to man the control room until morning. To my surprise, Julie said she’d keep me company in the watch office, so she could learn the routine.

I sat at the control desk and offered Julie the one ‘comfy’ armchair, which she gratefully accepted. We were alone for the first time that night, and Julie once again apologised for the previous night, but also that she felt much better for getting things off her chest. That was all that really mattered, I told her. Time to forget and enjoy her time in Cyprus.

We talked a bit of shop as I prepared job sheets for the next day, and then chatted in general as we just chilled. Soon, the conversation dried up and when I turned to face Julie, I saw she had fallen fast asleep in the chair. I kept quiet and let her sleep. A bit pervy maybe, but I just sat watching her slumbering. A cute smile on her face. A wayward tendril of hair had escaped from its grips, tickling her cheek making her twitch. Her full breasts rising and falling under her shirt. My thoughts were definitely drifting away from the professional. I was smitten and developing feelings for this woman. I had no idea at that point if she felt anything for me.

Morning broke, people started to stir and make a brew. I gently teased Julie awake and handed her a cup of coffee, to kick start the day. She was a bit embarrassed that she had zonked out on me, but I assured her it was not a problem. Coffees drunk, we cleared up for shift change, and when relieved, headed for breakfast. The other shift members didn’t join us that day, so we ate alone. I suddenly had a weird thought, were they ‘giving us space’? We’d see.

As we finished up, I asked Julie if she was going to Max’s ‘gozome’ piss up the following night. She said probably not. She hadn’t actually been invited, and besides, she wouldn’t know anyone there. “That’s bollocks”, I said. Firstly, it’s open to all, so I’m formally inviting you now; and secondly, you’ll know me and the rest of the shift members, at least. I suggested I would accompany her to the venue (only the unit bar), we’d meet up with the others there, I’d make any necessary introductions, then she could do her own thing; stick with us or go her own way, as she pleased. “Who knows” I said lightly, “you may meet the man of your dreams and hook up with him there.” She blushed deeply, but smiled at me and replied, “Okay, it’s a date.” What? Just an expression, surely? But my heart missed a beat.

As arranged, I met Julie at the ‘Lady Garden Gate’ (our name for the entryway into the grounds of the female accommodation, innuendo intended). I was seeing her out of uniform for the first time. She looked stunning. She was wearing a loose fitting, long sleeved, white blouse, with pale blue vertical pinstripes breaking the plainness. It was open just enough to reveal a hint of cleavage, but nothing excessive or slutty. The blouse was tucked into cream coloured, tailored slacks, a thin belt showcasing her slender waist and hips. Canvas court shoes and a small shoulder bag completed the ensemble. Her hair was down, but tied back in what, these days is called a messy ponytail. She wore just enough makeup to compliment her natural beauty, nice! (one of my pet turn offs is excessive slap, especially on already pretty girls. It’s just not necessary!) I gave her a “wow, you look nice, you’ll be fighting them off with a stick.” She blushed again, but thanked me for the compliment and we set off for the short walk to the club.. You idiot Titus…You’ve got to stop giving her the impression you want to hook her up with someone else, and start promoting yourself.

We arrived at the club door and could see there was already a fair crowd inside. Julie paused and took several deep breaths. I didn’t have her pegged as a nervous type, but let her do things in her own time. A few moments later, she stood up straight and proud, grasped my hand, I assumed just for a bit of extra support, and into the lions den we strode together. Miraculously, she didn’t wither and die, nor did she burst into flames, but inevitably she turned a few heads with her looks. I felt her relax, but made no effort to remove her hand from mine, much to my delight.

I led her to the bar, where the duty barman warmly welcomed her, by name, which she appreciated. He asked what her poison was. She said she had heard about Brandy Sours and how good they were. “An excellent choice, Madame.”, quipped mein host. I wasn’t a fan myself, so stuck to my bottle of Keo.

We did the rounds and I introduced her to a few people, who exchanged pleasantries, welcomed her to the unit and asked all the normal first meet questions; where, when, who, what, how, etc., she responded without hesitation and chatted away, though I noted she stayed close by my side throughout. She was really pleased when the CO, who had already had an arrival interview with Julie, made a point of coming over and greeting her. She grabbed my hand again as he spoke with her, an action that didn’t go unnoticed by The Big Boss.

When I sensed she’d had enough, I manoeuvred her toward the table where the team had saved a couple of seats for us. We joined in with the banter and bollocks. Enjoyed the curry supper Max had provided. Jeered and booed as Max received his leaving plaque and tankard from the CO and gave his speech, which was basically ‘I’ve finished my tour, I’m going home, you can all fuck off’, in a good humoured way; and we drank.