SIXTEEN
Cooper
When I got back to my apartment, I called Logan, my old bunkmate in Afghanistan. We hadn’t talked in almost a year, but with everyone else from Afghanistan coming back into my life, I figured I should search him out too. Maybe he had the answers I sought.
“Hey, Cooper. It’s been a while.”
“Yeah, I’ve been laying low since I got out.”
“I hear you. What’s up?”
“Want to grab a beer? I’ve got some stuff I want to talk out.”
“Oh no,” he said, chuckling. “More of your crazy theories on the origin of the universe or why oranges are the perfect fruit?”
I smiled.
“You remember all that shit?”
“Dude, we spent so many hours together. Your stories and monologues kept me going.”
“Glad I accomplished something over there. Let’s grab a beer tonight.”
“I had some plans, but I’ll change them. Where do you want to meet?”
“Let’s go to that joint down Seventy-Fifth Street. What was the name?”
“The Irish Paddler?”
“Yeah, that was it. We met there before we shipped out. Remember?”
“How could I forget. One of the craziest nights of my life.”
“I don’t think we’ll get that crazy tonight.”
He laughed.
“That’s what you always say. I’ll meet you there around seven. That work for you?”
“Sounds great, Logan. Good to hear your voice.”
“Yeah, you too man. Later.”
I ended the call. Afghanistan, even at the late stages of a war that had lasted longer than a decade, had been a place where lifelong bonds were formed for better or worse.
Was that why Jade wouldn’t vacate my thoughts no matter what I tried? Maybe a night of drinking with Logan would eject her, and I would be able to move on.
I did not need a crazy woman in my life. No matter how much I enjoyed fucking her. After talking to Logan, my spirits were lifted enough to make the afternoon tolerable.
While reading an autobiography from a man who had served in Vietnam, I kept glancing over at my phone, thinking Jade might call, but she never did. Fucking women.
* * *
Later that evening, I walked in the bar like I owned the place. It was pretty much empty, which wasn’t surprising for a Tuesday night. Most normal people who frequented bars had to work hard for their drinking money.
I saw Logan sitting at the bar and walked over. Taking a seat on a stool to his right, I patted his back as he looked in the other direction. He turned around and smiled the moment he saw me. We had been through so much together.
“How you been?” he asked then turned to the bartender. “Two glasses of your top-shelf single malt.”
“Not bad. Yourself?”
“Things went to hell after I got back.”
I nodded.
“For me too.”
“You seem to be doing okay for yourself. I mean, you’re drinking on a Tuesday night.”
“Oh, I’m doing okay. You’re here too. Glad you came.”
“No problem.”
The bartender returned with our drinks. I pulled out a twenty and shoved it across the bar at him.
“Keep it,” I said.
He nodded his head then wandered down to the other end of the bar. I lifted the glass.
“To the family the government gives you.”
Logan grinned as he clinked his glass against mine. We both took a healthy drink. He set his down on the weathered wooden bar. I kept mine in my hand, staring at the ice cubes floating.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked. “I can see it on your face.”
“Remember that reporter chick who showed up and got kicked out by Captain Jeffries?”
“Yeah. What about her?”
“I looked her up.”
His face scrunched up in confusion.
“What?” I asked then finished the last of the alcohol.
“Max called me all excited about a week ago. He said he found her and they were dating.”
“That’s not possible. I just saw her yesterday.”
“She didn’t tell you?”
“No, she didn’t say anything. He didn’t either. I talked to him earlier today.”
He shook his head.
“That man is bad news.”
“Tell me about it. He wants me to go into business with him.”
“You have the money.”
“Yeah, but I don’t know if I can trust him. And now I find this out. Maybe I can’t trust either of them.”
“Some days it seems like everything was so much simpler in Afghanistan. I mean, it was more dangerous, but we knew what to expect, you know?”
I nodded.
“Definitely. Max showed up after I found her.”
“And you figured why not add good old Logan to the list, huh?”
He laughed then finished the rest of his drink. I raised my hand to fetch the bartender for another round. Before it was finished, I had turned off my phone.
Fuck her if she tries to call, I thought, still unsure of what to think after she had flipped out after we fucked the other night. I did not need that kind of confusion in my life.
I had enough of my own crazy to deal with. More than enough.
Logan and I spent the night catching up, drinking and forgetting our problems. I parted ways with him after he picked up some woman with brunette hair and big tits.
On the way back to my apartment, I turned my phone on, thinking about giving Jade a call and seeing if she was okay. When I saw no messages come in, I put it in my pocket and kept walking.
Maybe it’s for the best, I told myself. If this business opportunity with Max turns out to be legit, maybe I’ll be able to have something in my life with actual meaning. Then again, maybe not.
Climbing the stairs to my third-floor apartment, part of my daily routine for keeping in shape, my phone rang. I dug it out of my pocket and saw Jade’s name. After half-a-second of consideration, I ignored it.
With liquid courage running through my veins, I didn’t see any need for her in my life. I had done fine enough without her. I would keep doing fine
She appeared in my dreams that night, chasing and teasing me in a thousand different ways. I woke up the next morning with the hardest boner I’d had since my teenage years.
What is that woman doing to me?