Hollywood tipped the bottle and chugged down the last few gulps of his beer.
Correction, scratch that. Not beer.
His ‘lager’.
He’d been to the UK a handful of times before, usually in transit, travelling between the US and some godawful posting. On the one occasion he’d been based here for a few months, he’d learned that the beer they served in pubs and bars was nothing like they served back home.
If he wanted a cool refreshing drink, he had to remember to order a bottle or pint of draught lager, and not a beer or ale. In Hollywood’s humble opinion, the only drink that should be served at room temperature was a red wine, and even then, he wasn’t a fan.
Hollywood smiled as he watched his new team-mates drinking and kicking back. Logan and one of the Russian brothers, Kris, had taken over the pool table and were kicking the ass of the locals, thankfully in a very light-hearted way that was winning them friends rather than pissing everyone off.
Even the few women that had approached them under the pretext of looking for a game of pool, had just been looking for a bit of fun. Well, as soon as they realised the guys weren’t interested, anyway.
This was a bit of male-bonding time, and Hollywood had to admit that it had been a fun evening, which was surprising after the seriousness of the meeting today with Danny and Abbey.
Both of them had been through hell in their different ways, and they’d shown remarkable courage in talking about it.
“Penny for them?” Evan leaned over. “You’re sitting there looking like you’re contemplating and shit. What gives?”
Hollywood, who’d been sitting quietly with Yuri, glanced up at the Welshman and grinned.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been accused of ‘contemplating’ before.” He mused. “I’m more of a cogitator, myself.”
“Yeah? So, what are you cogitating in that head of yours, hmm?” Evan asked. “Something to do with the operation?”
“Indirectly.” Hollywood admitted. “Just thinking over what Danny and Abbey had to say to us, and how they’re expecting us to act unaffected while we’re on the op. That’s gonna be tough to do.”
“I’ve got three sisters, my mum and five aunties back home, plus I don’t know how many female cousins.” Evan stared at his glass. “If anyone so much as touched one of them, I’d beat the living shit out of them. They’d be lucky if I left the hospital anything to fix!”
“That’s my attitude exactly.” Hollywood nodded. “I’ve been fortunate to have known a lot of women in my life. I’ve never hurt a single one of them, other than by leaving them behind, that is. On the one occasion I ever actually smacked a woman, I promise you, she had to beg me to do it, and she got a whole lot more pleasure from it than I did.”
Evan grinned.
“Ladies’ man, huh?” He snorted a laugh.
Hollywood shrugged, a half smile on his face.
“What can I say? I’m just an accommodating sort of guy.” He said quietly. “A lady tells me she’s got an itch that needs scratching, I’m not gonna leave her without seeing to her comfort, am I? What kinda guy would that make me?”
“I can tell that you’re a good guy.” Evan nodded seriously. “When you’re prepared to put yourself out like that for a lady you’ve never met, that shows you’ve got a caring heart.”
“Yeah, that and a healthy sex-drive.” Kellen dropped down into the seat next to Hollywood. “I’ve never known the guy go without sex for more than a day.”
“Yeah, d’you think you can qualify that statement?” Hollywood chuckled. “When we’ve been posted overseas, I’ve actually gone several months without sex.”
Kellen spluttered a laugh.
“Ok, yeah, I wouldn’t want to give anyone the wrong impression.” He grinned. “Let me rephrase that… When we’ve been in the vicinity of women, Hollywood’s never been known to go without sex for more than a day. I mean, I’ve seen him giving me that look from time to time, y’know, when we’ve been posted away for long periods, but I just put that down to my animal magnetism. Because, let’s face it… who could resist this?”
Kellen pumped his chest out and struck a pose, which had most of the women in the bar looking at him with undisguised interest.
Hollywood chuckled. Kellen Davis was one of the best people he’d ever known, and they’d been like brothers for the last ten years, but the guy was a wise-ass. A joker who made it his mission to cheer up the world.
He was also over six and a half feet tall, weighed two-fifty in his skivvies, and had black hair and steel grey eyes that had women the world over panting after him.
Of course, to a lesser man, Kellen could have been considered to be competition. But to Hollywood, who was more than happy that the world contained enough women to go around, Kellen was just his friend. His very best friend.
“Trust me, I’ve been finding it easy to resist your charms for the last decade.” Hollywood snorted. “It’s been no more difficult after six months of celibacy, than it was the first day I met you.”
Kellen shrugged good-naturedly.
“That’s only because you prefer blondes and red-heads.”
“Not true.” Hollywood shook his head. “I just prefer soft curves and female genitalia. Last time I bothered to notice, you possessed neither.”
Kellen pouted.
“It’s true, sadly. But you could’ve let me down gently.” He sighed. “All this time I thought you were just playing hard to get.”
“The day I decide to switch sides, let me assure you, I will make sure I have your number on speed-dial.” Hollywood promised Kellen. “Until then, I think we can safely say that you’re not my type.”
“Who’s not your type?” Kris sat down next to Evan.
“Kellen’s not my type.” Hollywood repeated.
“No?” Kris sounded surprised. “You shock me. With those pretty grey eyes and long dark lashes, that clear skin and especially that winning smile, I would have thought he’d have been at the very top of your ‘most wanted’ list. What could you possibly be looking for that Kellen doesn’t have?”
“A vagina.” Hollywood smiled.
All eyes turned to Kellen.
“Nope, don’t have one.” He shrugged, picking up his drink.
“Ok, so now that we’ve established that we’re all very much in appreciation of the female form, how are we supposed to cope with watching the violence towards them that we’re supposed to expect?” Yuri looked around the group. “I understand that in every situation we’ll face, there will be the potential for someone to be hurt or killed. In the majority of cases, the ones being hurt will be the female victims being trafficked. I genuinely don’t know how I’ll respond to seeing that. Maybe it’s because Kris and I have been out of the military for ten years that I worry that I’ve gone soft, but do any of you feel the same way?”
Hollywood watched the faces of his team-mates as they mulled over Yuri’s question.
“Collateral damage.” Logan said quietly. “That’s how you have to look at it. If we have to stay silent and watch one person die so that fifty or a hundred can live, then that’s what we have to do.”
“You think it’s going to be that easy?” Kris stared at the Scot. “Knowing that the woman could be someone’s daughter, mother, or sister? You think you can just watch one of them die without showing any reaction?”
“I never said it was going to be easy.” Logan shook his head. “I was just pointing out that the alternative could be a hundred times worse. To my way of thinking the best scenario if one of the women is killed, is if none of us react to it. The worst scenario is if one of them dies and one or more of us reacts badly. If that happens, any or all of us could die. If you don’t know which way you’ll react, perhaps you shouldn’t be going on the operation at all.”
Hollywood reluctantly had to admit that Logan was right.
Whether he would still be able to be as detached once they reached Turkey, he seriously doubted.