Chapter Five - Derrick

“Aha, there he is! The future Mr. Sophia Rossi!”

I grimaced as a burst of cheers followed my buddy’s bold proclamation as I made my way into the outpost that served as my main office. “Ha ha, guys. Truly hilarious.”

Staff Sergeant Marcus Napier sidled up to me, grinning from ear to ear, and slung an arm over my shoulders. “Just let us know where you’re registered so we can all chip in and buy you a sweet gravy boat or some shit.”

More laughter.

I rolled my eyes. “Ya know, every deployment hits that point where insanity starts to kick in. I really had you guys pegged for the six-month mark. You’re cracking too soon, boys.”

Marcus, Stephen, and Kent—the three idiots I hung out with most of the time—all chuckled as I lowered into my seat at a long table that was stacked with way too much shit to be a place of productivity. Somewhere in the mess, a sticky note detailing my to-do list was probably attached to the underside of a folder. Ironically, I knew the first item on the list was to clear my desk…

Marcus threw himself into the chair at the desk opposite mine, his eyes still sparking with mischief. “You can’t blame us for being curious, Lawley. The entire platoon is buzzing that you’re getting a little slice of Sophia’s world-famous ass.”

My jaw tightened at the off-handed comment. “Well, you can take it upon yourself to spread the word that I’m not.”

Marcus’s eyebrows shot up, realizing he’d struck a nerve. “Hey man, we’re just teasing. I didn’t mean anything by it. You know how gossip flies around here.”

“Yeah,” I paused and rubbed a hand over the back of my neck, massaging the tension that had settled there from days spent hulked over a computer. For whatever reason, this tour of duty had me sitting at a desk way too often for my tastes. Perks of moving up a rank since my last tour, I supposed. “Well, let’s leave Sophia out of this. Her ass too.”

“Come on, Lawley. You can’t tell us that you’re not interested in hittin’ that. Shit, every guy I’ve talked to is trying to figure out how the hell you scored a dinner date with her last night.”

So, that’s what this was? Being seen in the mess hall with Sophia had sparked a base-wide hysteria that we somehow hooked up? Not that I minded the implication. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t been thinking about myself. Maybe there was something between us. A notion that was even more cemented in my mind after our coffee chat this morning.

Stephen and Kent were hanging around behind Marcus’s chair, waiting for my answer. I glanced at the three faces staring back at me and sighed. “Fine, you caught me, I had dinner with Sophia. But let’s put the wedding registry on hold, all right?”

They laughed. Marcus tossed his hands up. “Probably a safe bet. Lawley’s gonna be a big-time CIA guy. He can’t off and marry a famous singer. No matter how much he wants a taste of that—”

“Napier! Shut it,” I barked.

Marcus stopped his taunt, but chuckled all the way back to his desk.

The biggest problem wasn’t being heckled, it was the fact that Marcus was right. It was the same message the not-so-little voice in my head told me—the unbreakable one—the logical one. That little voice had followed me around for my entire life. In most cases, it was a good thing, kept me from jumping off barn roofs thinking I could fly, or out of fights with bullies two times my size, and all the other shit guys usually end up getting themselves messed up in. But in this case, I wished I could drown out the nagging thought that chasing Sophia was pointless and would likely leave me with nothing but the urge to take a cold shower.

“How long is she here?” Kent asked, lounging against the top of Marcus’s chair, sending him tipping backwards. Marcus shot Kent a dirty look and jerked upright again. Kent pocketed his hands and waited for my answer.

“Ten days,” I replied. “Technically, eight left. She’s got four concerts spread out over those days and filming for some TV special they’re running back home.”

“Aha,” Marcus said, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “That’s plenty of time. Come on, Lawley, you can seal the deal in eight days.”

I didn’t respond, instead I spun around to get to work, starting with cleaning the top of my damned desk.

Marcus and company took the hint—thankfully—and went back to their own work stations, picking up wherever they’d left off when they’d stopped to heckle my entrance. The silence in the room was only broken by the slapping of file folders, shuffled papers, and keyboard clicks. After a few minutes, the tense silence started to eat at me. I sighed. “Anyone wanna go to Sophia’s concert tonight?”

Marcus, Kent, and Stephen all chuckled. Marcus said, “You need three wingmen? Jeeze, Lawley, I gave you more credit than that.”

With a roll of my eyes, I chucked a rubber band ball across the room at him.

****

Later that night, with my three self-proclaimed wingmen in tow, I filed into the auditorium. The room had undergone a drastic transformation since earlier that morning when I’d escorted Sophia to the entryway. Soft white twinkling lights covered every surface, bathing the room in a light glow. On the stage, three fake Christmas trees were decked out with ornaments, tinsel, and more lights. Cameras and speakers were concealed behind more decorations and an instrumental version of Silent Night played as the troops filled the room.

We took seats in the middle of the room, having arrived early enough to get our pick, and found paper programs lying on the chairs. I studied the line-up, wondering how long I’d have to wait to see Sophia again. She’d been on my mind all day, eagerly waiting for the chance to see her perform, wondering just how much more she could blow my mind.

And boy, did she.

Watching Sophia perform was like something from a dream. I’d never been much for concerts, that was always my sister, Rebecca’s thing, but the few I’d been to over my teen years, were nothing compared to watching Sophia on stage. It wasn’t a flashy, pop music type of show with pyrotechnics and backup dancers, but somehow made it all the more mesmerizing because of the simplicity. Sophia was radiant in a red dress that hugged her lush curves and had me counting down the minutes until I could get her alone. Truly alone. I knew the perfect spot and hadn’t been able to stop thinking about taking her there all damn day.

I ignored the knowing glances, winks, and whispered comments from the guys on either side of me, blocking all their chatter out to focus on Sophia alone. I knew there was no way she could see me from her spot on the stage, but when her eyes swept the crowd, it was hard not to wonder if her beautiful smile was for me.

Damn, Lawley, you’re turning into a real fanboy, aren’t you? She’s not the Backstreet Boys and you are not a fourteen-year-old girl. Get it together!

The music died down long enough to give the audience a chance to applaud. When Sophia took the microphone again, the music stayed low. “Thank you so much,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “I appreciate you all taking the time to be here tonight. I hope you’re enjoying the show!” More thunderous applause and more than a few catcalls. “But really, the other performers and I are here to show appreciation and thanks for all of you! As some of you may know, I’ve had a bit of a rough year, and honestly, knowing I was coming here to meet all of you and bring some holiday cheer has been my saving grace over the last few months. So, thank you all, from the bottom of my heart. You are here, sacrificing time with your own family and friends at this special time of year, so that all of us back home can enjoy our holidays knowing that we have you all here watching our backs.”

Sophia paused and set the microphone back in the tall stand long enough to applaud, her own clapping swallowed up by the large room until the other acts who had performed before her, all rushed onto the stage, applauding and cheering loud enough to fill the room. Everyone in the audience joined in and a deafening noise rang through the large space.

When it died down, Sophia took the microphone again, tossing the trailing part of her dress back behind her legs before she could get tangled. She beamed out at the audience. “This is the last number of the show, so we thought we would all join together. We’d like to invite you all to sing along.”

The song Santa Claus is Coming to Town started playing and everyone smiled with sentiment as the bands on stage started singing. The crowd joined in, only stopping when a cluster of men in white beards and classic Santa suits raced in through the side exits, large bags strapped to their backs. A chorus of Ho Ho Ho’s punctuated the song as it went to an instrumental chorus. The guys in Santa suits spread out, each taking a section of troops, and started handing out wrapped packages. Each box was a different size and there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason as the gifts were doled out to cheering soldiers.

My eyes returned to Sophia, wondering what it was she had referred to when she’d told the audience that she’d been having a rough year. She seemed to assume some of the attendees would know what she was talking about, but I had no clue. I never paid much attention to celebrity gossip and hadn’t even thought to Google her after we’d first met.

Marcus elbowed me and handed me a shiny package wrapped in red paper with a huge silver bow on top. Sophia started singing again and I tucked the package under my arm to join in with the rest of the crowd as the song closed out.

When the last of the gifts had been distributed, Sophia gave a final speech, “Thank you, everyone! Truly, it’s been an honor. We’ll be out signing autographs and taking pictures in the dining hall. So, if you’re interested, please come by. Thank you and goodnight!”

The crowd applauded wildly for the concert and the gifts as the bands all took one final bow and waved their way off stage. Sophia went last, her long dress trailing behind her. A surge of hot blood roared through me as Blake Powell caught up to her, offering her his arm. She shot him a scowl, but quickly flicked the edges up into a smile as though she realized the entire roomful of people were watching her, and allowed him to lead her the rest of the way.

“Damn, that girl can really belt it, huh?” Marcus commented.

I just nodded.

Kent and Stephen were tearing into their gifts, a pair of wireless headphones for Kent and a pair of designer sunglasses for Stephen—which they immediately exchanged with one another.

“You going to see her?” Marcus asked me as we shuffled along the row of chairs as the auditorium emptied. It was slow going as most of the other troops were more interested in their gifts.

“Planning on it. You wanna meet that girl from the dancing group? Saw you eye fucking her like you had sex-ray vision during their set.”

Marcus laughed and slapped me on the shoulder. “You know it, man.”

I chuckled and we finally broke free from the crowd. We maneuvered around the clusters of people doing impromptu gift exchanges and got out into the main hallway. It snaked through the palace, back to the mess hall, which—to my dismay—already had a huge line of people waiting to get inside.

When we got inside, I went straight to Sophia’s table, surprised to see that she’d changed into a grey long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans. The casual outfit clashed with her heavy stage makeup, but she was just as heart-stoppingly beautiful as the first time I saw her.

“Guess you weren’t kidding about not being a dress-up girl, huh?” I said, stepping up to her table when the line in front of me was gone. “Couldn’t wait to get back into a pair of jeans.”

She laughed. “Well, I wasn’t sure where you were planning on taking me, but I figured a giant dress with a train would probably get in the way…”

I bit back the comment that it would’ve been a helluva lot harder to get it off of her as well.

“So, what will it be? Autograph? Picture?”

I chuckled. “Do I have to choose?”

Sophia cocked her head, playfully considering my request. She kept her expression serious as long as she could—less than three seconds—before a smile burst across her face and she nodded. “I suppose, just for you, I could do both.”

I laughed. “Thank goodness.”

Sophia grabbed a glossy photograph from the table in front of her and glanced up at me through her thick lashes before dropping her gaze to the picture and scrawling a message across the front. She handed it back with a wide smile and a wink. “For your sister.”

I chuckled as I took the photo from her, skimming the message.

“Aren’t you going to open your gift?” Sophia asked, glancing at the still wrapped package tucked under my arm. I’d completely forgotten that I even had the package. I’d been so focused on getting to Sophia that the gift had fallen to the back of my mind.

“I guess I should, huh?” I peeled back the edge of the paper and Sophia groaned. I flicked my eyes up at her. “What?”

Sophia smirked. “You’re one of those people. The kind that opens wrapping paper like they’re handling delicate china or something!”

I laughed and made a point of tearing the paper. Sophia cheered as I ripped it all apart, revealing a handheld gaming system. “Oh, nice!”

“Very fancy. I might have to borrow it for the plane ride home,” Sophia teased.

I glanced up at her, grinning. “Oh yeah? And when would I get it back again?”

Sophia shrugged. “That’s up to you, isn’t it, soldier?”

I chuckled but then leaned in a little closer and asked, “Whatcha doing for New Year’s?”