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Honestly, he was a mess.
Adrenaline from the near-fight, happy to be emailing Giselle, and on cloud nine at the idea of them having a secret date(ish) tonight at the fence.
Austin followed behind Paradox, playfully playing ‘drums’ loudly on the wall with his palms and fists, causing a few heads to pop out to see what the commotion was.
“Concerto-time… Signore Maestro y Ricochet!” Austin sang out loudly, wanting to get everyone’s attention and have a little fun. He heard Paradox laughing ahead of him, knowing where he was going with this, and looked backwards, meeting Reaper’s gaze down the hallway.
The cool, stoic squadron leader was actually grinning and shaking his head at him.
“Arrivederci! Ciao! Molte belloooo…. Ayeeee-ya-ya-yaaa! Cielito lindo, que a mi me toca! Sing it with me, boys!” Austin hollered wildly, putting his arms over his head and pretending to conduct music, being deliberately annoying as could be…
He was singing and laughing as several voices began to sing with him from the other rooms, making up words with him. Some were enthusiastically singing, and Austin laid a hand over his heart - and the other flung into the air, serenading anyone who would listen.
As he moved down the hallway, Cajun leaned out of the barracks doors… and handed him a hairbrush to use as a microphone.
“Oh! I’m a professional now,” Austin grinned – and began belting out the lyrics once more, not dissuaded in the slightest as someone else nearby hollered ‘shut up’in the distance.
Throwing open the doors as the end of the hallway, Austin exploded into the sunlight, still singing and humming happily, tucking the brush into his pocket so he could return it later – making his way towards the mess hall for lunch… and feeling like a million bucks with plans to smuggle two bananas or two cookies out of there for his hot date tonight.
CHAPTER6
GISELLE
This is craaaazy…
Giselle was silent as she harshly brushed out her long brown hair and began to plait it tightly into a braid.
She had always been accused of being an optimist, a dreamer, or focused on the positive and never seeing the negative… yet, knowing she was breaking a rule that Captain Logan had set down for her, Austin guessing her location, and the fact that they were going to try to talk in person for the first time?
Every negative thing was crashing down on her shoulders, making her feel so insecure and self-aware of how badly this could end up being.
Austin wasn’t helping things either.
He was pointing out facts, coercing her to meet him, wanting to say ‘hello’ in person… and meeting someone out here, in the middle of nowhere, was so far from any of her dreams or fantasies? It almost felt like someone was taking the possibility of a fairytale away from her – from the person she was truly coming to like a lot.
It was a bitter pill to swallow.
She would never meet her Prince Charming if she settled for starting a friendship or budding relationship with the first guy who was sort of sweet to her.
Was it settling?she mused silently.
Austin was very nice, but everything within her was screaming that this was never going to end like she hoped it would, because reality wouldn’t let it.
No, reality was a harsh taskmaster, and the daily grind would forever remind both of them that they were in different worlds despite being in the same location.
“Come and meet me, Giselle,” she mocked bitterly, making a face and staring at the mirror as she finished tying her braid with a rubber band. “Let’s say hello and meet. I’ll bring you a banana. Be still my aching heart.”
She dropped the braid, looked at herself in the mirror, and sighed heavily. Dropping her shoulders, she put her face in her hands and took several deep breaths to call her nerves.
“This is nothing,” she whispered into her palms. “This is nothing and you’ve got to quit making it more than it is, because that is how you’ll get your feelings hurt.”
Looking up, she took a deep breath, held it, and let it out, before shaking out her fingertips.
“Just go for the run, enjoy the evening air, and keep your head on straight. It’s no different from talking to anyone else… so don’t make it that way.”
Except she desperately wanted it to be different.
Yesterday evening, Perry showed up at the clinic at the end of Gretchen’s shift with a piece of paper in his hand. Giselle watched the two of them for a few moments as they silently whispered to each other, smiling, before Perry unfolded the paper to reveal a crayon drawing… of badly sketched flowers.
