Chapter 19

Cam

 

I had been busy with the cadets and had taught them the basics of unarmed combat. I taught them about the many situations, explaining that, in many circumstances, it would save your life; rather than any weapons or support from other members of your platoon. This situation would never be a maybe. It probably would happen. Statistically it would happen; it was just the time and the place that would vary.

I also taught them how to keep calm and try to read every situation before it happened. This could also be a life-saver. And it was just the moments that spring up where you’d have no advanced warning. And, it was that which could pass through you into a state of flux.

After the lesson, I sat at the desk and was just about to head over to Owen and go for lunch, when the office phone rang.

“Hello. Cam Cross here,” I answered.

“Hello, Cam,” I heard the Admiral.

“Good afternoon, Sir,” I replied.

Fuck, it’s one of those moments where my state of flux has been dumped on me.

“Cam, it’s just a quick call. I want to invite you around to my house this evening for dinner with Katie and me,” the Admiral said.

Mother fucker, I’m in a corner... again.

There was no way I would be able to decline. The Admiral asks, and you do. He's the guy, the one who says ‘jump,’ and then you say, ‘how high?’ No argument. Fuck.

“You can bring your daughter along with you. It is nothing formal. It is just a little thank you for everything you have done so far for Katie,” he said.

“It is nothing really. She just enjoys it,” I replied.

I especially enjoy the great sex.

“I must say, she's glowing just recently, it must be the effect of that cute daughter of yours,” the Admiral explained.

Or maybe it’s the great sex?

“Ok, no problem Sir, we will see you later,” I replied as the Admiral hung up the phone.

Shit, maybe no more great sex… fuck no, I need her.

I headed to the mess for lunch and Owen came over and grabbed the opposite seat. He looked at me as he broke his bread roll in half.

“Cam, is there something you’re not telling me?” Owen asked.

“Tonight, I have a dinner date,” I said and raised my gaze to his.

“Hooyah, is it Karry, or Katie?” Owen asked excitedly.

“The Admiral,” I replied. Owen dropped his bread roll into his soup from shock.

“Oh Cam, it has been nice knowing you,” Owen said with a smile. “Joking, serious, it may be a trap?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe he has sensed there has been something going on?” I said as I pushed my food around my plate.

“Well, if anyone can scan a situation, it is you. I’m sure you will be able to figure it out once you get there?” Owen replied. He was serious for once.

“You think so. I mean, have you ever talked to the Admiral up close and personal?” I asked.

“No, thank God,” he replied.

“He's as slippery as they come. He always talks in God-damned riddles,” I explained with a laugh.

Oh, shit. A nervous laugh.

“Well, there are just two solutions. Everything will be okay or your house will be vacant by the end of the month,” Owen said and he gestured asking if I was going to eat my pudding after he had removed it from my tray.

“You know how to leave a conversation on a good note,” I added sarcastically.

I had to be at the Admiral’s house for 6.30 pm, so I readied Emmy and myself. I had no idea what he would say, so I tried to dress in a way that would impress him. I had pants on and a shirt, which had been perfectly pressed. The shoes were so clean that you could eat your dinner off them.

“Just make sure you have daddy’s six, okay?” I said to Emmy as we left the house for the short walk to the Admiral’s.

We walked up the sloped driveway and, the closer I approached, I thought of the house. Fuck, I was going to enter and be swallowed whole.

Fuck, I’m nervous, and Emmy is just taking it in her stride. I wish I was only two.

I took a few deep breaths and rang the doorbell. I stood and waited.

“I will get it!” Katie shouted in the distance.

The lock jingles and the door handle turns. The door opens slowly.

“Hi Cam,” she said. I placed Emmy on the step.

Katie picked up Emmy and I stepped inside, my heart raced. I felt I wanted to puke, but instead I breathed deep and slow.

“Don’t panic,” Katie said to assure me.

“I’m shitting bricks,” I replied with a look of deep worry washed over my face.

“It will be okay, I’m sure. If it were bad, he would have just court-martialed your ass,” she said with a joking smile.

“That doesn’t help me much. I hate formal dinners anyway, and now with the Admiral, geez,” I whispered.

We entered the living room and chatted while Katie played with Emmy. But the Admiral was not there, so I finally relaxed a little. I looked at the clock. I was 6.25 pm.

“Shall we?” I heard the Admiral say from the stairs as he ushered us to the dining room.

Does he run like fucking clockwork?

I took my seat and quickly tried to read the situation. The Admiral sat at the head of the table, Katie sat opposite with Emmy and, by my calculation, I was in easy arms reach of the Admiral. Especially if he decided to punch me in the face. Great tactical maneuver Admiral. Bravo.

The food was placed at the center of table and we served ourselves, like it was the last supper. Christ, I hoped it would be a light-hearted event rather than the incredibly tense atmosphere that surrounded Katie and me.

“So, Cam, how is your daughter doing with Katie’s assistance?” the Admiral asked.

“She's doing great. She has come on leaps and bounds, I’m well impressed with Katie’s skills.”

And the sex is great.

“I’m glad to hear it. At least she may just have found something she's good at?” the Admiral answered and raised his serviette to his mouth.

She's really good at sex as well.

I looked at the clock, and we had chatted for nearly forty-five minutes. I had been interrogated for a long time.

I was just about to dig into my dessert, and suddenly an awkward silence was made even more uncomfortable. My cell phone rang in my pocket. I quickly apologized and turned it off.

“Sorry about that. I thought it was already off,” I said apologetically.

I looked at the Admiral and he gave me a look of disdain. I looked at Katie for support, and I was met with the same icy glare.

Oh crap, father and daughter just gave me a stare down.

We got over the phone incident and the Admiral chatted more about Katie.

“So, do you mind Katie coming around to your house so much?” the Admiral asked.

“Not at all. She's a superb help around the place, and the house feels much warmer when she's there,” I replied.

Especially the bed…

“So how do you think of the future?” The Admiral asked.

“Excuse me?” I answered.

“With Katie, the future with Katie coming around,” he replied.

“Ah, well, I think Katie will just get better and better. She's a natural with kids. It should be something she can look at more carefully,” I answered in detail.

Geez, I thought he meant the relationship.

I sat there and tried to decipher the whole dinner. This had been the quietest that Katie had ever been. And it was either a very smart move to keep out of it, or she was content just to cater for Emmy while she was at the table.

I should try and get Katie involved in the conversation; that would ease some of the pressure on me.

“Why don’t you take Emmy into the living room and play with here there?” the Admiral said to Katie.

“Sure thing Dad,” she replied as she removed Emmy from the high chair and headed off toward the living room.

Fuck me! Really?

The old man must have a sixth sense, or he can read minds. God, how the fuck did he know I would try and use Katie to diffuse the situation? Damn, now it was just him and me. It would become like a mental game of chess.

Fuck, I’m shit at chess.

“Ah, peace, at last, we can talk freely now she has gone,” the Admiral started to say.

“Whatever you say, Admiral,” I replied as sweat collected on my forehead.

“I’m sure you’re well aware of the bond between a father and his daughter?” he asked.

“Yes, I know only too well what you mean,” I replied.

I could hear Katie and Emmy playing from the faint sound of giggles entered the dining room from the living room.

Fuck, I wish I was rolling around on the floor playing.

“It’s hard being a single parent and having a daughter so young,” he said.

“Hell yeah, sorry. They just grow up so fast,” I said, trying not to blow my cover.

“Tell me about it. You look after them when they are vulnerable, and then they get to older, and they become curious, you have to take care of them in a different way. And they reach Katie’s age, and you feel you have to protect them even more, in particular against the world as they start to become a young woman,” the Admiral explained in great detail.

I cowered inside myself and was not sure if the Admiral’s remark was directed firmly at me or if it was just his general observation.

Was I fucked, or is he just probing?

“I understand entirely, and I have a very long way to go with Emmy,” I replied.

He was right about that. I did have a lot of stressful times coming up.

“It’s the men, you know,” the Admiral said.

“I’m sorry, you have lost me,” I said, slightly confused.

“When they get older, it is the men that you worry about. These are the biggest problems with your daughter,” the Admiral said.

“I suppose it is. Maybe it is human nature,” I replied, not sure which direction he was going.

“Human nature indeed. The men have urges, and the daughters of the world are reaching the stage where their bodies start to prepare themselves for becoming a mother,” the Admiral said as he drifted away slightly.

“That must be a very worrying time for any father,” I answered.

Did he know? I was bemused at his angle?

“You can see it in Katie. She has needs, and in a way, she's fulfilling these when she goes around to your house,” the Admiral said, looking deeply into my eyes.

I felt awkward, and I was sure he was going to dump a pile of shit onto me.

Brace yourself, Cam. Here it comes.

“Yes, I can see it quite well. Katie has bitten the bullet, and some of her needs have been met. She has...,” the Admiral started to say before he drifted off.

I began to put up my defenses and I was already thinking of where to find a new home. Owen could have been right in his assumption. I was screwed; my whole career and life were just about to plummet around my ankles, just as the Admiral well and truly fucked me.

“Admiral,” I said.

“Oh, sorry, I was just thinking, I was saying, Katie has now fulfilled some of her womanly needs, and not really in an order you would expect. She has filled some of her maternal instinct by spending so much time with Emmy,” the Admiral said.

“Ah, I see,” I replied.

“Yes, she will have that side of her well and truly under control by the time she's ready for the big step, one where she becomes a woman,” the Admiral said.

I was not sure if he’d guessed something was going on and did not want to mention it, but he’d spoken in a way like he had known nothing about what had been going on between Katie and me.

“I know me and Katie don’t have the best relationship in the world, but that is just regular daily stuff, you know, everyday communication and all that,” the Admiral said.

“Yeah,” I replied with a bit of relief.

“And I know you Cam. When Emmy is at that stage in her life, you’re the one person I know who would do anything to protect your daughter,” he said and sipped on a glass of port.

“I would Sir. I would protect her to my dying breath. She's all I live for,” I replied.

“As I was saying, Katie and I do have this bond, even though she may not show it most of the time. But it is there, and she does talk to me. And on occasions, it may seem I’m not bothered by her actions,” the Admiral commented.

“Relationships can be funny things. Who can explain them?” I said.

“Exactly Cam, who can explain how strange any relationship can be. It can be between husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend or father and daughter. Wherever a man and woman is involved, some very strange occurrences can go on,”

The Admiral raised his glass to his mouth.

Damn, I thought he was going away from the topic, and now he’s heading back toward it. He’s a clever old fox. It’s no wonder he became Admiral.

“That is why I try to have a special relationship with Katie, even if I don’t show it. I’m super protective of her, and I carefully watch all of her actions so I can read a situation, probably how you do yourself,” the Admiral said and looked into my eyes.

“I try my hardest, but I don’t have as much experience as you, Sir. And you’re way in front of me in that department,” I answered.

“I see changes in Katie, and I’m prepared for anything that goes on in her life,” the Admiral said.

“I couldn’t agree more Sir,” I answered.

“I was proud of you when you stood up for her at that party,” the Admiral said with a smile.

“Thank you, Sir,” I stated with a wry grin

The Admiral looked deep into my eyes “Yet if anyone hurt my Katie, not just physically but mentally, and I found out about it, they wouldn’t hurt her… or anyone else ever again. And the rest of their life would be a living hell.”

Fuck! Sir, yes Sir!!!