Eye of the Storm

-> the last night

The last day of training was over. The mission was tomorrow.

I never got nerves like this before a mission, but today was different. I was going on a date with Rooster tonight, as a little celebration before tomorrow.

I'm walking out if the locker room, after taking a nice, long shower, when I hear Phoenix chastising someone in another hallway. It's probably Hangman again, but I freeze in my tracks when I hear Rooster's voice.

I tiptoe over, pressing my back into the wall, trying to be as close as possible to hear their conversation without being seen.

"...yeah, I noticed Hurricane was off the other day, but she's fine now," Phoenix covers for me.

"That doesn't mean I'm not worried about her. What do I do?" Rooster asks my closest friend.

"Let me put it this way. Rooster, you are the eye of her storm. You're her calm, her home, whatever you want to call it. As long as you keep doing what you're doing, I think you should be fine."

Rooster asks Phoenix, "So what I've planned for our date tonight is good?"

My eyes widen, and I try to lean in closer, to hear whatever we're about to do in just a few hours.

Phoenix doesn't reveals anything when she says, "Don't worry, it'll be perfect."

"Are you sure? Is there anything else I should do for her?" Bradley double checks.

Phoenix sighs, because now she has to spell it out for him. "Rach is in love with you, she trusts you. If she needs support, she'll come to you. Just... don't mess it up this time."

★★★

A knock on my apartment door breaks my focus. No pressure. It's not like it's our first official date or anything.

But it is.

I take a quick, deep breath, and open my door to see Bradley.

"Hi," I say first, looking at him. Checking him out.

Bradley's regular pair of aviators are on top of his head. He's wearing a nice pair of jeans, a white t shirt, with a blue hawaiian shirt over it, one that accents his muscular figure. Same old Bradley.

"Hey." He says a little breathlessly, looking at me in the same way I was looking at him.

I was wearing a calm yellow sundress, hitting just at my knees. It was one I had bought years ago, but never got the chance to wear, and it made me look really tan. It's matched with gold jewelry, and I did my dark brunette hair for once, instead of my standard military bun.

He snaps out of his staring, "You look gorgeous, honey."

Caught off guard, I repeat, "Honey?"

He blanches, "What, you don't like it?"

"No, I like it. And you look handsome too." I say with a grin that shows off my dimples. I close my front door behind me, and lock it.

Rooster leads me to his truck, opening the door before I hop in. He gets in on the drivers side, and we begin driving.

"So where are we going?" I ask, trying to gather more information than what I got spying on him and Phoenix.