Fallen Soldier

Chapter three

“Finally bro” mark grumbled before heading off to the gate.

This was our tight knit group of friends here at the base, there was me, Mark, Taylor and Lee.  Taylor was our training officer when we first arrived at the base, the four of us had clicked and been best friends ever since.

“How come you’re still in uniform bro? Lee questioned Taylor.

“He’s bailing on us” I smirked, glad to be the one dropping him in it.

Taylor sent me a warning glance.

“I’ve got to look after Ella tonight” He said.

“Ah, that sucks dude” Lee said sympathetically.

“Not really” He shrugged.

Lee rolled his eyes at me, Taylor had always been the mature one of the group, he was already married when we all met him but Lee and I on the other hand liked to have our cake and eat it.  Recently Mark had found himself a nice girl and started dating her, but he used to be the same as us.

“I get it bro, just make sure you come out next time, I miss my wingman” I said as we walked towards the gate after mark.

“Hey, what about me?” Lee said looking slightly offended.

“You always want to steal the best ones for yourself”  I chuckled as we flashed our ID’s to the security officer and were waved through to join Mark.

“True” He grinned.

“C’mon guys I’m supposed to be meeting Claire in Rush at eight” Mark groaned

“You Lads want a lift into the city? I’m headed that way anyway” Ben asked.

“Yeah sure, thanks man” Lee accepted.

“You’re a life saver” Mark grinned slapping him on the back.

“No problem” He said casually as he walked us to where he was parked.

Three hours later we half walked, half stumbled into a relatively quiet little sports bar.  Me and the boys always liked to come here as a last stop on a night out, call it a little tradition of ours. 

“You go sit down while I get the drinks in” I said slapping Mark on the back as he walked off, from what I could see Lee had already gravitated towards the two chicks sipping cocktails at the back of the room.   If the fool puts the right groundwork in then we might just end up taking those girls home.

“I’ll have three beers, a dry martini, four…” I trailed off as I looked down the length of the bar.

Sitting on a stool as far into the corner of the bar as possible was a cute little brunette chick.  I took a second to watch her as she glared at a piece of paper on the bar in front of her, nursing a glass of amber liquid and ice.

“Sorry, four tequilas and whatever she’s having please mate” I quickly added to the barman before he could walk off, all the while never taking my eyes off this girl.

I edged slightly further up the bar to get a good look, something about her just captivated my attention, demanded it even.  My mouth watered as my eyes followed her bodyline down to her long legs that were encased in black leggings.  The barman walked over to her and placed the drink I ordered in front of her, saying something quietly as he did so.  She glanced up at me, my breath caught in my throat as I got a head on look at her breathtakingly beautiful face.  Her fearce eyes captivated mine and I got sidetracked into wondering what colour they were, I couldn’t be sure in this dingy lighting.  All too late I realise I must be gawking, I quickly plastered my most charming smile on my face but much to my dismay she completely ignored me and hung her head over the paper again.  I frowned as I watched her tuck her luscious long brown hair behind one ear pointedly ignoring the fresh drink, did she just brush me off?