Meant For One Thing Ch. 04
Keywords: One, Meant, Ch., 04, Thing, For,
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They got to the buffet and everything was cool. Wicks had to admit that he was having a really good time with Leese. For some reason he was drawn to her from the day he met her. He didn't know why. It wasn't exactly attraction but this Mil-Ar-Tel project was boring and he was looking for a friend other than Franzle to hang out with while he was on base. He didn't take the whole Mil-Ar-Tel thing too seriously because if it didn't get the funding then it wouldn't continue anyway. He didn't have the heart to tell that to his new "recruits", especially Leese because he liked her a lot and she really had her heart set on doing something good for herself.
Leese seemed like one of the best prospects to be friends with even though there were a few other ranking officers on staff. One of the reasons was because connecting with the other officers was hard. It could've been that the other guys saw him as an authority figure since he was higher in rank than everyone except Franzle, or that most of the other guys reminded him of the friends he made in high school and college: young dumb jocks and frat guys who were immature and kind of ignorant. He didn't exactly want to be "that" guy but he kept being mistaken for "that" guy—even by the guys who fit "that" description. He knew that there was something deeper to him than what other people saw.
The other reason he chose her is because he thought Leese could be "one of the guys". There was something about her that wasn't exactly feminine but he had mistaken the androgyny he had perceived for a soft-butch quality in the girl. He thought it would be cool to hang out with her since he'd had "butch" female friends before (the entire military was rife with these types). However, after spending time with her, even after just speaking with her for the first time he knew his initial assessment was quite wrong. Getting to know her, he realized that she was an unconventional, albeit feminine-in-her-own-way, girl. In fact, she was so much of a 'girl' that he'd find himself unintentionally flirting with her. He kind of liked her reaction to it—when she wasn't being naïve enough not to get the joke she blushed and looked away coyly. It was cute, but harmless. Wicks couldn't help flirting with women, even his friends, though he tried to keep it at a minimum with Leese.
He liked her. Genuinely as a person. And since he had moved from back East, it was hard to find people that he liked. She was different. Her hair, her face, the way she moved, the way she spoke...she possessed some kind of weird combination of innocent youthfulness played out in her childlike ways and a common sense down to earth maturity that didn't care much about putting on airs or what kind of role she should put on for others. She was just herself. That was enough.
In her eyes he could see that she'd seen more than most twenty-three year olds had seen even compared to the other troubled cases in the Second Chance program. Maybe they had all gone through the roughest of times as she had, but there was something in her eyes that told him that she knew how to handle it better, differently. So many of the recruits came in with a chip on their shoulder and acted as if they were still out on the street and not in a military program. Many were out for themselves, either ass kissing or rebelling hard, tattling on each other for minor offenses like children in order to make themselves look good. They started petty rivalries and formed alliances when there needed none to be formed. They didn't know how to work as a team and didn't see that there was much more to their lives than the here and now. They weren't thinking about the future. They were still weighed down by the past. He didn't see most of them making it to graduation. But he saw Leese who was smart, athletic, disciplined and humble, along with a precious few others making it. And even if Mil-Ar-Tel went bust, he'd see to it himself that she got another position in the military somewhere.
But he didn't start noticing her, really noticing her until tonight. Since she'd begun training her body was getting a little bit more tighter, her waist smaller, her already pronounced hips spreading just a little bit more in comparison. He noticed how bright her face was, how ageless it was. Her lips, full and mauve with that glossy stuff she put on it...
"What the hell are you looking at Wicks?"
He shook his head, "You got something on your chin..." he lied but reached over and thumbed off the imaginary thing before she could realize it. She seemed a bit taken aback but said nothing.
"I'm gonna get some more Lo Mein, you want?" he said standing.
"I'll eat off of your plate."
He tried to keep himself from smiling at the idea of her eating off his plate. He didn't know why the visual sort of made him feel warm and fuzzy inside but it did. "I'll be back," he said and then walked over to the buffet tables, nearly bumping into someone.
"I thought I saw you sitting over there."
"Whoa, my bad," he said realizing who it was. "Oh snap...how's it going Reynolds?"
Reynolds was a drill instructor down at the base, he smiled and shook his head, "Not too well man. Got this bitch I'm here with and she is nagging the shit out of me."
Wicks laughed out of politeness, "Sounds like a bad situation."
"Long as I get me some pussy tonight, I'm good..." He said stroking the hairs of his goatee, "Say, who's that you with over there?"
Wicks looked back nervously at Leese eating her food.
"I thought that was her," Reynolds smiled. "Ha...I knew it. I told everybody you had to be fucking her."
"What?"
"Fuck a fiancée right now...I hear you..." Reynolds laughed and held up his hand to slap down on Wicks's showing his approval. "Greene brought that girl in huh? He's probably fucking her too. Shit, his wife look good and all but ain't nothing wrong with a little fucking on the side. Shorty over there ain't nobody to take around your boys but she probably sucks a mean one. She acts a little weird, and I don't know what the fuck is up with her hair but ain't no use of you trying to hide her in some far away joint like this. We all know you fucking her. You ain't gotta take her out too."
Wicks shook his head, "It's not like that man..." He had dismissed the strange and sly looks he got from his co-workers every time he was seen with Leese. Now it all made sense. Leese was sort of right. People did have the "wrong" idea. These people included Reynolds, who often crept him out with his sly smiles and nods every time he was on his way to lunch with Leese.
Reynolds snickered, "Oh yeah? Don't be ashamed now. I'd fuck her man. Her body is nice. Thick but toned. Put her face in the pillow and just..."
"Listen Reynolds...it ain't like that." He said sternly.
Reynolds stared at him suspiciously and then a look of understanding came over his face. "Ohhhh. I see. I knew it."
Wicks just stared at him holding his plate.
"Dyke ain't she? Yeah. I knew it. All weird and quiet and shit. Don't even laugh. Shit most of these Mil-Ar-Tel bitches is dykes anyhow but at least they know how to socialize, unlike that chick over there. Try to act all business like she's Uncle Sam her damned self," he chuckled, "I feel you though. She must be cool as shit. I wouldn't be chilling with a bitch I couldn't fuck."
"Yeah," Wicks said feeling so awkward, "She's cool," he answered, immediately feeling a pang of guilt for not trying to set Reynolds's straight. But wouldn't it be easier this way if Reynolds's thought Leese was gay? Besides, he didn't "really" know what Leese was into, so he couldn't exactly argue that she was straight.
"Who is she to Greene then? Well fuck it, does it matter? I see you. Score those browning points with Greene. Maybe he can get you the fuck out of Mil-Ar-Tel and somewhere where they don't actually bore the shit out of you every chance they get. How's your girl? You ain't seen her in a while right?" He flicked his hand against Wicks's chest.
"Yeah." He said suddenly feeling guilty thinking about Natalie. "She might come out here to see me soon."
"While you're in Cali, get as much pussy as you can before you get married, trust me." Reynolds looked behind him, "Shit, I gotta go, see you on Monday alright?"
"Yeah," he said, "cool."
When Reynolds went on his way Wicks got his food and returned to the table.
"Who was that?" Leese asked.
"Somebody from the base." He answered, wondering if he should tell her what just happened. For some reason he was so ashamed that he didn't even want to mention it. He rationalized: did it really matter anyway?
Ever since he had told her that it was no big deal that they hung out, she seemed very comfortable with people knowing that they ate lunch together and carpooled home. She didn't seem phased anymore, but right now he was the anxious one, wondering if Reynolds was watching them right now. What would he tell everyone else? Was what Reynolds said about her the way everyone else thought? That she was strange and anti-social? That the way she dressed and did her hair was so weird that he should be ashamed to be seen with her in public? The thought made him sick. He had never seen her that way before, and even now he didn't see anything bad about her personality or looks. Regardless, suddenly it seemed as if he were in high-school again and afraid to be seen with the nerdy girl he had made friends with in English class; not only did it feel like he was afraid to be seen with the nerdy girl, but afraid that everyone thought he'd be taking her to the prom. It was so immature of him, he knew it, but he couldn't help feeling a little self-conscious now that he knew what people were thinking. Is this why Wicks didn't correct him? Wicks felt suddenly shamed.
"You alright Wicks? Wicks? Wicks. Oliver?"
"Huh?" He was in some sort of daze. "Oh, sorry."
When he drove her home she asked him inside for some coffee or cake. He really wanted to come inside, tempted as he stared into her large brown eyes, but for some reason anxiety took over again.
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Keywords: One, Meant, Ch., 04, Thing, For,