no questions asked | ethma

2

Emma

The next few weeks were slow but fast at the same time. It sucked because I hadn't heard from Mark at all, and I was seriously missing him like crazy. I mean, his last letter made me feel like something bad really could happen, and I was really worried about it. I wanted Mark home, and I wanted him safe.

There was nothing better than whenever Mark got to come home. I got to see him when he gave a surprise visit last January. We got to spend the New Year together, and I couldn't have asked for anything more special than that. We made a whole weekend out of it together, and we got to spend a whole two weeks with his family back in Rochester.

I met Mark during my freshman year of college at DeVry University. We both were from upstate New York, and hit it off. We ended up finding out that our families lived thirty miles away from each other.

One day, Mark asked me to go to a New York Rangers game with him, so I obliged. We had been hanging out a few times, so I thought it would be fun. I was right. Mark and I had a blast. He asked me to officially be his girlfriend a few weeks later, and now here we are.

We've been dating for almost four years now, and this is his second year in the Air Force. He enlisted right after he graduated college (he was a year above me), and then he started basic training in South Carolina over the summer. Luckily, I had saved enough money to rent myself a little place just outside of the base, so I could still be with him in person.

After he completed basic training, he got shipped off to Montana, and I had to go back to college.

The long distance was rough at first, but he was able to call anytime because he was mostly doing office work in Montana.

He got deployed to Europe around October of his first year, exactly five months after he started basic training. He didn't get to come home for Christmas, but like I said, he came home for New Years.

He calls me whenever he's given the chance to, and we send letters and care packages to each other. I sent him another letter last week, giving him my love and encouragement in case he does have to go to the UAE. I really miss him, and I'm praying with every breath I take that he gets to come home to me.

When Mark came home for New Years, he gave me a necklace that had a smaller replica of his real military dog tag. I cherished it so much, and I still wear it every day. In fact, I play with the necklace all the time. I was always twirling the dog tag between my fingers. Mostly when I was nervous or anxious, when I was bored, or when I simply missed Mark.

Mark and I have talked about spending the rest of our lives together once he gets out of the military, but we never officially got engaged yet. I almost thought he was going to propose when he surprised me for New Years, but he didn't. We talk about our future, and we plan on getting married someday and having a couple kids.

I spent most of my time working four nights a week at the bar, looking for jobs around Long Island and the outer neighborhoods of New York City. I had my degree in high school education, and I was looking to be an English teacher.

I met a few of my neighbors, and some of them were actually good company.

One of my neighbors was a girl who was around my age. Her name was Olivia, and she was living with her boyfriend Mikey. They were super nice, and we ended up hanging out one night. I told them all about Mark being in the Air Force, and they told me that if I ever needed anything, or any support from them, they'd be there for me. That was greatly appreciated since I didn't know too many people on the Island yet. It was nice to have a couple of new friends around here.

Ethan wasn't exactly annoying, but he wasn't exactly considerate either. You see, he always seemed to be having parties at his place. He was always drinking, and always seemed to be bringing girls home. I only knew that because my shifts at the bar usually ended around the same time that he'd be baiting his girl for the night.

He always had music blasting, and the loudness traveled through his apartment walls, and across the hall to my apartment. I rarely got another quiet night to myself with wine and the Bachelor. At least Olivia and Mikey were usually up for hanging out.

I didn't know if Ethan was angry that his bait never worked on me (well, that definitely bruised his ego), or if he was just stand-offish to people he didn't know very well, but he was usually kind of rude to me. He always looked at me like I was a toy, or a piece of meat. I knew it damaged his ego that I wasn't gonna give him what he wanted.

The only time he ever showed any kind of humanity around me were the nights I worked at the bar. He always tipped me generously and told me never to share it. At least he had some kind of human decency.

One of my favorite neighbors was Mrs. McNamara. She seemed to be in her 70's, but she was still happy and healthy. I met her in the lobby one day, and explained to her that I had just moved here, so she invited me over for lunch one afternoon.

I really enjoyed her company. She was a very sweet woman, and she seemed like a grandmother figure. We got along great too, which was why I obliged to have dinner at her place on a random Thursday I had off of work.

I just didn't expect Ethan to be there too.