Chapter 8 - An Unexpected Weekend

When Leslie woke up, she stretched and looked around she looked around, suddenly she sat bolt up right in bed, realizing something was wrong, sunlight was streaming through her small window. She reached for her watch laying on the dresser and looked at the time 12:30. “Whoa, it's really late,” she exclaimed “and really quiet...” Leslie jumped up out of bed and grabbed her robe she stepped out into the hallway it was eerily quiet, very unusual for a Saturday morning “Saturday ... I'm supposed to be on my way home by now” Leslie said out loud “Great, I'll never make it home now!” she headed downstairs, the place was a little less messy then usual, she stepped into the kitchen the dishes were done and drying on the counter, as she glanced around the room trying to find anything that would tell her where the family was. Nothing. Frustrated Leslie headed to the phone and dialed Sandy's cell phone number. 

“Hello?” Sandy answered

“Hey, Sandy this is Leslie. Where are you guys?” 

“We're in Stuttgart, what's wrong?” 

“Well, for one thing I don't have a ride to the train station... and ...” 

“You're still at our house!” Sandy interrupted with a shriek.

“Ah... yeah, I was helping Jamie with Chad's party last night... where did you think I was?” Leslie rolled her eyes and tried not to freak out “My Dad is so going to make me come home for good if he finds out about this.” she thought to herself. 

“I totally forgot you were there and we got this great opportunity to go to Stuttgart for the weekend, so we just went” Sandy said, starting to sound a little apologetic “I'm so sorry.”

“That's ok” Leslie responded “I'll call Jamie or Michelle and see if one of them can drive me to the train station. Don't worry about it, I'll call my mom and let my folks know that I'm going to be late.” 

“Ok sweetheart, there's some food in the fridge make yourself a sandwich before you leave” Sandy replied sweetly “I'll talk to you when we get back on Monday night” 

As Leslie hung up the phone she got a brilliant idea “It's really too late to take the train home I won't get home until 10 or later depending on when Jamie can get me to the station” She ran upstairs and got dressed and grabbed her cell phone, dialing Jamie's number as she headed back down to the kitchen. 

“Sergeant Jamison speaking, how can I help you?” 

“Hey, it's Leslie. Can you come get me? The Hollands left yesterday afternoon for a long weekend in Stuttgart, and won't be back 'til Monday night.”

“What? How did they expect you to get home?” Jamie said frustration lacing his voice.

“Believe it or not she forgot that I was here!” Leslie replied laughing “I told her I'd see if you or Michelle could take me to the station, but even if I left right now, I wouldn't get there until almost 10” 

“Ok, I'll come get you, call your folks and tell them you over slept and won't be able to make it home this weekend. You can stay with me and Chad this weekend. I'll get you home before they get back on Monday.”Jamie said “I wish I would have known this yesterday I wouldn't have had to take you home so late. You could have just stayed here.” 

“I'm sorry I didn't know they were gone until about 20 minutes ago when I woke up to silence” Leslie apologized, sounding a little unsure of herself. 

“Oh, sorry, Baby, I'm not mad at you. I'm mad that they would just up and leave you like that. Don't worry, I'll be right there!” 

“Ok, just don't be mad at me.” Leslie said.

“I'm not. Baby. Have you had lunch yet?” 

“Nope, I'm rummaging through the fridge to find something now. I haven't eaten anything yet today.” 

“Well, don't eat anything and I'll take you out to eat when I pick you up. How 'bout I let you go and you can pack what you need and call your folks so they won't be worried.” 

“Ok, I'll talk to you later. Love you” Leslie got off the phone and called her mom told her that she had over slept and it was too late to try to make it home that weekend and she promised to call some time on Sunday. As she hung up and started packing she felt a little guilty for not telling her mom the whole truth, but that didn't last for long, the door bell rang and she rushed down the stairs to answer it. 

“Sorry, I'm not quite ready yet” she said as she opened the door and let Jamie in “Almost done though.” 

“That's ok I'm not in a big hurry” Jamie said as he followed Leslie inside. She rushed around grabbing the things she would need for a two night stay. When she was all packed they headed out to Jamie's truck and Leslie locked the door. 

On their way to the base they stopped at their favorite restaurant “Zum Erbprinz” or in English “To the Crown Prince” the waiter seated them at a cozy corner table and handed them the menus.

 “I love the rustic feel of this place” Jamie said “it feels like I stepped back in time to 'Hansel and Gretel’. ” 

Jamie, who was still grousing a bit about having to come and pick her up, shrugged  “I guess, But I don’t understand why Sandy couldn’t have told you that she was leaving town for the weekend yesterday before you left!”  

“Probably because she didn’t know she was going,” Leslie shrugged “They do this a lot they see an opportunity and they just take it.” 

“Without giving any thought to how their actions will affect others.”  Jamie interrupted abruptly, “Come on, Leslie, she could have at least called your cell phone and let you know they were leaving. It’s just plain inconsiderate!” 

  “I don’t know,” Leslie replied slowly  “she probably just didn’t think about it, is it really all that bad?”

“Why do you keep defending her?” Jamie asked his anger barely in check “ they try to control your life by telling you, you can’t have a boyfriend, you can’t do this, you can’t do that but when it really matters when your safety is really at stake they don’t care they just up and leave for the weekend. GRRRR … I’d like to get my hands on them and teach them some manners.” Jamie  froze as he noticed the look on Leslie's face “Baby, what's wrong?”

Leslie was biting her lower lip trying to keep from crying. She blinked furiously, “I'm sorry,” she stammered “I’m not trying to defend them really I’m not. I’m mad at them too. But there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m sorry you had to drive all this way again really I am. If it’s going to be too much of a bother you can take me home now.” Leslie turned away so Jamie wouldn’t see the tears that were threatening to spill over.

Jamie reached across the table took her hand in his, she dropped her eyes and a big tear splashed on the table, James quickly jumped up and walked around to her side of the table put his arm around her “Honey, I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you and I don’t think it’s a bother to pick you up, I just think they should treat you with much more consideration and respect. ”

“Oh, like you do?”  Leslie looked up her eyes somewhat defiant now, “You are oh so considerate, you pick me up and then complain the whole time that you had to come and get me again!” Leslie was furious now, she brushed his hand away, the tears were gone and a fire he had never seen before blazed from her eyes. “It’s not my fault, if I had known that they were going to be gone I would have told you and saved you the trip. And if I’d have known that it would be such a problem I wouldn’t have asked you to come this morning…” exhausted she stopped.

Jamie reached for her again and pulled her up against his chest “I'm sorry, honey, I was just frustrated with them and I took it out on you.  I’m sorry I didn't mean to upset you . I love you, Leslie Ann, and I would never do anything to hurt you. I’m just really tired. Let’s try and get something to eat so we can get home and I can get some sleep” 

The defiance melted away and Leslie slumped against him swallowing hard “You just reminded me of my dad and scared me half to death” she shivered involuntarily “I had always promised myself that I would never...” she paused trying to think of the right word “...get involved with someone like him.” 

James bent his head and tenderly kissed her on the forehead then placed his hand under her chin and tilted her face up so that he could look into her eyes “Leslie, I don't know your dad but I do know this I’m not mad at you, and I’m sorry I took my  frustration out on you. It won’t happen again, ok?”

Leslie nodded, tears glistening in her eyes again “I'm sorry” she whispered as Jamie leaned in and kissed her firmly.

 With that Jamie scrunched up his face picked up his menu held it upside down and declared in his most silly voice “I think I'll have the Fish” 

Leslie relaxed a bit and giggled, “Jamie, you are so silly!”

“Now, no more tears ok?” he grinned and waved to the waiter who came immediately

“Jawohl, mien Herr, kann ich ihnen helfen?”

“Ja, sprechen Sie Englisch?” Jamie's accent was very pronounced, Leslie sniffled a giggle, but almost busted up laughing when the waiter answered in very broken English that he did indeed speak that language. Jamie ordered two specials for them as well as two Pepsis. 

“You know that we won't get anything close to the special.” Leslie said “He's probably back there trying to figure out what a special is.” 

“So what is it?” James asked 

“You don't know what you ordered?” Leslie did laugh then.

“Nope, not a clue.” Jamie said as he reached for her hand 

Leslie grinned “I hope it's not Squid or something gross like that.” 

Jamie chucked and then attempted to change the topic of conversation “Do you know you have a beautiful smile?” This made Leslie smile even bigger. “You do, you know. It lights up your face from the inside and gives you this glow!” 

The waiter returned and set their plates down and refilled their cups and with a “Gutten Apettite!” he left them to enjoy their meals. 

“Well what do you know?”Leslie said “Two specials just like we ordered.” They both laughed and ate their beef rolladen in mushroom gravy with a big side of mashed potatoes and corn. Jamie ordered them Apple Dumplings and coffee for desert. Leslie was relaxed when they got done eating the tears of earlier completely forgotten. They paid the bill and walked out to the truck hand in hand, Jamie opened the door and helped her in, then went around and climbed in on the driver's side. When he got in Leslie leaned against him and he put one arm around her shoulders and started playing with her hair and Leslie snuggled closer to him as they continued the drive to his apartment. 

When they arrived and walked inside they heard some yelling and stuff being thrown around. “What's going on in here?” Jamie asked as he headed toward Chad's room where noise was coming from. 

“Oh, hey Jamie, you will never believe this...” Chad said as he continued sorting through things and stuffing them into his duffel bag and foot locker “I was supposed to ship out on Wednesday... well you know the Army, they can never do anything when they say they're going to, my platoon got bumped... up and I leave tomorrow.” 

“Dang, that stinks...” Jamie said “is there anything we can do to help?” 

“Yeah, could you help me sort through this stuff, I've got most of it done but I was going to finish it tomorrow night and now...” 

“That's fine, we'll pitch in, won't we Les?” 

“Oh, hey Les, how are you?”Chad said looking up just long enough to say hi and then going back to his packing. 

The three of them worked hard for several hours then Jamie stretched and said “No offense man, but are we about done? ‘Cause I'm starving, I think we need a break” 

“Yeah, I know, I'm bushed but I have to get this done tonight...”

“Well, why don't you guys finish up here and I'll go see what I can whip up for supper.” Leslie suggested standing and stretching. As she headed out of the room Jamie's eyes followed her, he exhaled deeply. This was going to be a long, hard weekend. Leslie was unaware of the longing in Jamie's eyes or how her being there was effecting him. She hurried down the hall making a quick stop at the bathroom before heading to the kitchen, once there she rummaged around the cabinets, fridge, and freezer to see what was available. There wasn't  a whole lot, the boys were better at eating out then they were at cooking. The only appliances she saw were, a toaster and coffee pot, there was a microwave built in above the stove but those were the only things visible. Opening the cupboards revealed, a bag of paper plates and a stack of plastic cups, a few canned goods, several bags of Rahmen noodles, a frying pan, small pot, and a pizza pan. The fridge wasn't much better, but she did find some sliced ham, and cheese. Suddenly she had an idea, she headed back to the cupboard and sure enough she found a can of sliced pineapples, she also found a pizza pan and placed it on the counter. Then she buttered several slices of bread and laid them on the pan, placed a slice of ham, a slice of pineapple and a slice of cheese on each one, then she opened the oven door and placed the pan inside, she closed the oven door turned the oven on and went in search of the dishes. While the sandwiches were cooking she set the table and found some juice to go with dinner. She checked on the sandwiches the cheese was melted so she pulled the pan out took the sandwiches off of it and placed them on a large plate then she made some more sandwiches and placed the pan back in the oven, she placed a single sandwich on each of their plates and hollered down the hall “Dinner's ready!”

“All right! I'm half- starved” Jamie said as he and Chad emerged from the bedroom, Chad headed to the bathroom giving Jamie the perfect chance to steal a kiss from Leslie, he held her close to his chest, “you know ... this is great, having a woman in the house. The food looks great. I'm going to have to figure out a way to keep you here permanently” Jamie kissed her forehead and released her as Chad came into the room. Then he quickly turned and headed back down the hall to the bathroom “be right back” he said. Leslie turned to the oven and pulled the second pan of sandwiches out. 

Chad sat down at the table, he didn’t want to admit it but he was very glad his orders were sending him to Iraq. As much as he wanted to support his friend, he didn't know how much more of this he could take. He was falling for Leslie and it was killing him to see her with his best friend. He smiled at her as Jamie came back into the room and they sat down to eat. The conversation during dinner centered around Chad's leaving in the morning. 

Suddenly Jamie looked at the time “Oh, Crap! I got to get to work!” he jumped up and ran to his room. After a few minutes he returned dressed in his camo uniform, he grabbed his work bag, kissed Leslie good bye and took off. After he left Chad excused himself to his room and Leslie worked on cleaning up the kitchen. When she was done she asked Chad if he needed any help, he told her no, so she asked if he would mind showing her how the TV worked, he agreed and after showing her how it worked he went back to his room. Leslie watched several hours of Nick-at-Nite until she started to dose off. Then she got up and went to Jamie's room and got herself ready for bed, she had planned on sleeping on the couch, but since she had no idea where the extra blankets were and she didn't want to bother Chad again, she decided to just sleep in Jamie's room, it felt a little wrong sleeping in a guy's bed, but it didn't bother her for long as she was tired from her long day and was soon asleep.

That is how Jamie found her when he came home from work, he sighed, “Beautiful!” he thought to himself “she's absolutely beautiful, I wish I didn't have to wake her up!” How he longed to crawl in bed with her and fall asleep, but he knew he shouldn't and he couldn't because they needed to see Chad off in about an hour. He knelt beside the bed, brushed a few stray hairs from her face, kissed her cheek, and whispered “Leslie, baby, it's time to wake up.” She stirred, snuggling deeper under the covers, he sat on the edge of the bed and kissed her again, this time on her lips. As he pulled away she sighed and her eyes fluttered open. She smiled dreamily. “Mornin', Baby” Jamie said, returning her smile. Suddenly, as if she just realized she wasn't dreaming, her eyes popped wide open, she sat bolt upright in the bed, clutching the covers to her chest as she did. Before she could say anything Jamie stood up “I was just letting you know we need to leave in an hour, if we're going to see Chad off, that is.”

Leslie glanced at the clock “Ok, I'll get ready... if you'll be so kind as to leave so I can get up!” 

Jamie grinned “and what will you do if I don't?”

“I'm not getting out of this bed until you leave” Leslie shot back “so you better get!”

“Hmm...” Jamie appeared to ponder his options “maybe I should join you?” he said. As he took a step toward the bed, part of Leslie was scared he might actually join her and the other half of her knew if he did she wouldn't resist him, in fact there was a strong part of her that wished he would. Then suddenly Jamie winked at her and quickly turned and headed out the door “hurry up and get dressed” he said over his shoulder, as he shut the door. 

Leslie was a little confused by the abruptness of his tone and departure, but also relieved that he hadn't tried to climb into the bed. She scrambled out of the bed, pulled the sheets up and made the bed, went to her suitcase grabbed her robe, toiletry bag and a clean set of clothes, opened the door, and headed straight to the bathroom. Luckily no one was in there, she hurried to shower and dress, she was done in about 20 minutes and put her stuff back in the bedroom then headed to the kitchen. Jamie was there frying some eggs, he turned and whistled when he saw her, Leslie grinned and spun around showing off her outfit. It was a simple outfit really, the straight ankle length skirt was a light blue, and her blouse was a peach gingham, button down, with puffy cap sleeves and an elastic gathered neckline. Her short blonde hair was pulled up in a banana clip, her blue eyes were sparkling, she had put a little bit of Makeup on not much, but enough that Jamie noticed. 

He grinned and as she opened the fridge to get some juice he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her close to him “Have I told you how much I love you, Leslie Ann? You look so good,” he nuzzled her neck “mmm... you smell good too! Do you know what you're doing to me?” Leslie snuggled against him and shook her head “yeah you do, you little stinker...” Jamie started tickling her, and she giggled as she squirmed out of his reach. 

“Well, look who finally woke up...” Jamie said as Chad entered the room “Hey, man, the pan's still hot if you want to make some eggs.” He scooped some eggs on a plate and handed it to Leslie “There you go sweetheart! Breakfast is served!” Leslie laughed “You call this breakfast” she shook her head, grabbed the fork out of Jamie's hand, spun into the dinning area, plopped on a chair next to the table and dug in “hmmm, not half bad” she said “where did you learn to cook?”

“My mama taught me” Jamie said with a thick southern drawl.

“Oh, come on Jamie” Chad cut in “you can't blame your momma for that... I've eaten her cooking and it is way better than yours.”

“I didn't say I was as good as she is, just that she taught me.” 

Leslie giggled and the boys laughed, it was nice to be able to joke around and not have someone take it the wrong way and get all upset. She thought back to last week when she was home and had tried to make a joke with her dad, it hadn't gone over well and he had threatened to spank her for being sassy, it had gotten worse from there. Her weekend home had been ruined, actually she was really glad that she did have to go home this week she had been dreading it all week. 

After they saw Chad off Leslie and James went back to the house. “I hate to do this to you, babe,” James said “but I have to get some sleep.”

Leslie smiled “that's ok ... I can manage to entertain myself for a while” 

James went and laid down on his bed, he was tired enough that he should have fallen asleep right away, but as he laid down he could smell the scent of her shampoo on his pillow and he couldn't get the picture of her lying there out of his mind, making it hard for him to fall asleep.

Chapter 7 - A Party and a Kiss

The next morning Leslie told Victoria about the movie and dinner. 

“It wasn't near as good as the old movie” she said speaking of ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ “but then Jamie and Chad have never seen the old version so they had no idea what I was talking about.” 

“So Jamie's roommate's name is Chad ,” Sandy said entering the room as Leslie was finishing her story “You need to be careful about what kind of friendships you make,” she warned “they might lead you astray from the truth”

“Oh, it's not like that, Sandy” Leslie said with a grin “they're just good friends, they grew up together, they're just like family and just happened to be assigned the same living quarters. And before you get any ideas about me liking Chad. I don't! And Chad's going to be shipping out to Iraq at the end of the month so I won't be seeing much of him anyway.”

Over the next several weeks Leslie and Jamie spent a lot of time together, they went and a saw the sights in Heidleberg and the surrounding area, went to the movies and sometimes just hung out at the boys’ apartment and talked. Occasionally one of the guys would go along too, but for the most part they let Jamie and Leslie hang out on their own. These guys were the first boys who didn't make Leslie feel stupid because she was a girl and the first people to really treat her as an equal, they actually valued her opinion and didn't put her down. That made Leslie feel really special, in away that she couldn't put into words. Within two weeks she had quit resisting Jamie's advances and considered him her boyfriend. She enjoyed how he would come into her work and grab a sandwich before heading to work, just so they could have a few minutes of conversation each day. On Mondays, he would pick her up and take her in to work and then before he went to work he would pick her up and they would go some place to talk about the things that they had learned that week in their personal devotion time. Chad's departure was getting closer and closer, and one day Leslie approached Jamie with her idea.

“Chad ships out next week, doesn't he?” she said tentatively, hoping Jamie wouldn't take this the wrong way, “I was thinking, maybe we should have a going away party for him.”

Jamie looked at Leslie and grinned as he gave her a big hug, “Yeah, that's a great idea! I’ll invite the guys! Do you think 6 pizzas would be enough? And 4 dozen wings?” 

“Sure” Leslie grinned “that should be enough, I guess how much do you guys eat? Do you want to get a cake too? Or just the pizza and wings?” 

Jamie thought for a minute before answering “Probably get a cake, too. We could get it from the bakery in the PX and have them write something on it.... something like 'We will miss you, Chad', what do you think?”

“Sounds great, so when are we having this little shin-dig?” 

“Well, Chad ships out Wednesday of next week, so I guess we should probably have the party on Friday, can we get the stuff we need by then?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Leslie said “Today is Tuesday, I could have Sandy drop me by the PX tonight on my way home and order the cake, and we would just have to call Dominos the day of to order the pizza and chicken wings. So yeah I think so.” 

“Ok, sounds like you got it all figured out,” Jamie said as he leaned over and kissed Leslie on the cheek “Here's $40 for the cake and if need more you just let me know, Ok ? Anything else?”

“Uhmm... nothing that I can think of... Oh wait, we should probably get some drinks, and plates, napkins, cups, utensils, and any decorations you want to use.”

“Are you working Friday?” Jamie asked abruptly

“No,” Leslie responded wondering where why he was changing the subject “Why do you want to know?”

“Well, if we can figure out a way to get you on base then you and I could do the shopping together and you could help me get the apartment ready for the party.” Jamie grinned and leaned closer to Leslie twirling one of her blond curls in his fingers “And the best thing; we get to spend the whole day together. Leslie giggled playfully as she pulled away from Jamie.

“And how are we going to do that?” 

“I don't know, let's think about it and see what we come up with.” 

On Friday morning Leslie woke early and showered and dressed for the day before the rest of the family was awake. She hummed softly to herself as she started a load of laundry and also started a batch of cinnamon rolls. With the rolls in the oven she grabbed a red pen and a stack of papers. Sandy wanted her to finish grading the kids school papers before she did anything else, like go to Chad's good-bye party tonight. Leslie felt much like Cinderella and hoping she could get everything done in time and Sandy wouldn't think of any excuse for her not to go. She had just headed to the bathroom  when her cell phone rang. Before she could finish what she was doing, it stopped.

 “Oh, there you are!” Victoria said, as Leslie came out of the bathroom “There's a guy on your cell phone who wants to talk to you!” Victoria gave Leslie a knowing glance.

Leslie tried not to explode as she answered “Well, of course he wants to talk to me he called my cell phone didn’t he” Leslie grabbed the phone from her and headed to her room. 

Victoria smirked, “You’re going to get in so much trouble when I tell mom that you’ve got a boyfriend!” 

“I don’t either have a boyfriend” Leslie shouted over her shoulder “it’s probably someone from Burger King seeing if I can trade shifts or something” to her phone she said “Hello, this is Leslie?”

“Good morning, beautiful” At the sound of Jamie's voice Leslie nearly melted and almost forgot her lines.

“What seems to be the problem?” she asked trying not to sound too excited, in case Victoria was listening at the door.

“I'm missing my girl” Jamie said “I need a lot of loving today. Do you think you could come and help me with that?” Jamie said without missing a beat.

“I don't know” Leslie responded, trying not to snicker, “it's kinda short notice ... I'd have to ask”

“You do that” Jamie continued 

“I'll ask” Leslie said “Hold on” She opened the door again and waked down stairs “Sandy,” she called “it Burger King, they want me to come in and do some work, they're real busy and one of the guys is sick and couldn’t make it in, I could really use the extra hours...” she let her voice trail off.

“Fine with me if some one comes to get you, I'm not driving you back and forth all day.” Sandy yelled back.

“Hey, I'm back,” Leslie said to the phone “I can come in if someone comes and get's me” 

“Thanks, Les, you're an angel!” Jamie said “I’m already waiting at the station.” 

Leslie headed up stairs, grabbed her bag, that she usually carried her work clothes in, and her purse, slipped her phone in it and ran back downstairs and grabbed a roll as she headed out the door. Once outside she walked across the street and speed walked to the station, she smiled when she saw Jamie’s white Dodge pickup, parked by the curb “Need a ride?” he queried with a grin. Leslie climbed in and they were off. 

“Well, we pulled that off pretty well, don’t you think?” Jamie asked “By the way, who answered your phone?”  

Leslie rolled her eyes “Victoria, she is such a little snitch! You didn’t say anything did you?” 

“No, I knew it wasn’t your voice the minute she answered so I just asked for you I figured that was the safest thing to do.”

Leslie nodded Victoria was becoming such a pain, she was going to have to figure out a way to deal with her. Any guilt she felt for letting Sandy think she had to go in to work, was quickly replaced with anger at Victoria’s latest shenanigan, but she quickly pushed it all aside, there was no way she was going to let it ruin her day. 

 “I think we'll head to the PX first, get the cake, decorations, ice and anything else we can think of and then we'll go to the apartment and get everything set up. Blake and Justin said they would pick up the Pizza” Jamie said bringing her thoughts back to the present.

“Ok,” Leslie answered “you didn't give Chad any hints, did you?” she asked.

“Nope not a word” 

“Cool, you really think he'll like it?” Leslie asked a little unsure of whether Chad would really like a surprise party.

Jamie reassured her and soon they were very busy finding the items they needed for the party. After they were done at the PX, they headed to Jamie's apartment they were laughing and joking as they unloaded the truck and put up the decorations. Leslie was standing on a chair trying to hang up the banner they had just printed, she stretched and asked Jamie to hand her the tape. He walked up behind her putting one hand on her waist and with the other hand started tickling her under the arm, she squealed and twisted around, dropping the banner to floor.

“I like this,” Jamie said trying to pull Leslie to him. Leslie struggled to get away and lost her balance. As she started to fall, Jamie tried to catch her, but his weight only knocked both of them and the chair to the ground. He landed on top of her, his face inches from hers. Leslie giggled, Jamie leaned closer and kissed her, tentatively at first and then a little more eagerly as she responded, kissing him in return. Slowly he moved back “Sorry, I didn't mean to knock you down.” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. He stood and offered her his hand “Are you ok?” he asked as he pulled her to her feet. 

Leslie grinned “If you wanted to kiss me you could have just asked you didn't have to throw me to the floor” she teased.

“Well...” Jamie drawled “if I'd 've known that...” he winked at her “How about we trade jobs, you hand me the tape and I will hang this silly banner. If you didn't rip it with all your horsing around.”

“My horsing around...” Leslie sputtered, not sure what to think, she was reeling from her first kiss and he was acting as if it was nothing and giving her a hard time about messing up the banner, part of her wanted to cry, but she bit her lip and blinked back the tears as they hurried to finish decorating. They finished with plenty of time to spare so they went and sat on the couch and watch some TV. Jamie finally decided to broach the subject, “Hey, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have kissed you like that, it was your first kiss and it should have been special and I kinda blew it for you, I want to apologize.” 

“Oh, that's ok” Leslie said “it wasn't that bad. Of course I have nothing to compare it with, but I liked it.” She shrugged, feeling very awkward, because of her inexperience.

Jamie moved closer and put his arm around her “Well... would you like to try again?” he asked as he lowered his lips to hers. It wasn't a long kiss, but it took her breath away, she clung to him as he pulled away.

“Wow!” Leslie's eyes were huge “that was really nice, better then the one when I was pinned to the floor.” She said with a grin, as Jamie leaned in to kiss her again. They spent the next few minutes in each others arms, kissing and talking, dreaming of the future. 

Suddenly the back door banged open and Blake and Justin came in yelling “Surprise!!!” at the top of their lungs. Both Jamie and Leslie jumped, then they looked at the clock “Oh, my gosh, we got to get the rest of this stuff set up!” he exclaimed. Leslie jumped up and started setting out the cups and plates while the guys blew up the balloons. A task they were well suited for Leslie quipped since they were so full of hot air. 

When Chad finally made it home they all yelled “Surprise!” and Justin threw confetti right into Chad's very shocked face. 

The party was a blast, they played video games and Blake had brought over his ‘Tremors’ movies for every one to watch, Leslie curled up next to Jamie on the couch while they watched the movie, and all the guys teased her when she screamed! Since they watched all three movies, it was well after midnight when Jamie dropped her off at the Hollands. They said good bye with a quick kiss and Leslie quietly let herself in the house and tiptoed quietly to her room, it didn't matter though because as she passed Victoria's room she realized the bed was empty and that no one was home. Breathing a sigh of relief Leslie quickly got ready for bed and lay down. She replayed every moment of that wonderful day in her mind. And fell asleep thinking about, the feel of Jamie's lips against hers.

Chapter 6 - Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave...

For Leslie time seemed to drag a bit that evening, she could hardly wait to close the store and head home. She was even a bit put out when Sandy arrived on time, she was kinda hoping she would be late again so she would have an excuse to walk to the guard shack and talk to Jamie. As it was she had to put up with Victoria’s whining all the way home…once there, however, things brightened considerably Mrs. Holland had ordered pizza for the girls and was letting them stay up to watch the rest of “Pride and Prejudice” The kiss at the end was fabulous, Leslie positively got goose-bumps. As she headed to bed her phone rang, it was Jamie calling to say goodnight. She talked with him for a few minutes and they decided to go see another movie when she got back into town on Sunday. As she hung up, Leslie sighed with happiness, was this what it was like to be in love, to feel cared for and appreciated? “God,” Leslie whispered to the ceiling, “Please, let...” she paused should she really ask God to help her lie, “everything go good when I go home this weekend and give Jamie a good weekend too.” Wearily, Leslie crawled into bed and fell asleep dreaming of Jamie's arms around her. The next morning, Leslie helped Sandy grade the younger kids papers and did some touch up cleaning, she didn't want anything to make her suspicious when she told her about Sunday. She was still deliberating how to tell her when Victoria unknowingly gave her the perfect opportunity. “Hey, Leslie,” she said excitedly, “we can watch ‘Sense and Sensibility’ Sunday night when you get back from your folks” “Sorry, kiddo, my friend Jamie and I are going to the movies Sunday night when I get back ,” Leslie answered slowly “Oh, that reminds me, Sandy, you won't need to pick me up at the train station, Jamie is going to meet me there and then bring me home after the movie.” “Oh, who's Jamie? Do we know her?” Leslie breathed a sigh of relief, she was glad that Sandy had picked the feminine pronoun for Jamie so she wouldn't be lying when she responded “Oh, just one of the soldiers that comes into Burger King for lunch, we got to talking and realized we had a lot in common, so we decided to meet up and see a movie and hang out when I get back in town.” “That’s fine” Sandy said, “just don’t stay out to late. Oh, and, I hope I don't need to remind you of the no boyfriends rule!” Leslie smiled lazily “No, you don't have to remind me.” Luckily they were at the train station, so there was no more time for questions, Leslie jumped out of the van waved good-bye and hurried to catch her train. By the time she got to her next stop the sun was high in the sky and it was getting warm, Leslie daydreamed about what it would be like to take Jamie home to meet her family, what would her mom say? Leslie giggled to herself at the thought of taking Jamie home with her and introducing him as her husband, she figured they would be married before she could take him to meet the family, especially since no one thought she was old enough to do anything. Leslie really wanted to get married, she wanted someone to take care of her, and treat her special. She thought she had a realistic view of marriage, but in reality she had no idea how much work a relationship was. She figured they would get married and all of her problems would disappear. Sunday morning James got off work at 6 am and headed home, since there wasn’t a Baptist church on base, his routine pretty much stayed the same, the only difference is that he, Chad, and the guys would have their weekly Bible study and accountability check-in that afternoon. This was something they did in addition to meeting with the guys every morning for prayer. Jamie and Chad had done this together every week, since their senior year of high school. They had been to a youth conference (just for the guys) and the speaker had talked about the importance of having regular Christian fellowship, studying the Word with other believers so we don't become reliant on our own wisdom or interpretation of the Scripture. He had also talked about the importance of having some one that you were accountable to; for your walk with the Lord and your thought life. He had said this was especially important for men because as the head of their home they are the first point of attack and in a vulnerable position; a position that makes it easy for them to think that they have all the answers and get cocky, acting like little gods in their “kingdoms” and forgetting that they ultimately will answer to God for how they lead and treat their families. With great power comes great responsibility! Before they had even got home Jamie and Chad had sworn to be each other's accountability partners for life, when they had gotten to Germany they met Justin and Blake and had decided to form a bible study group based on those principles. Jamie woke up and went for his usual run and got ready for the day. He really wasn't looking forward to this meeting, he knew Chad would pick up on his feelings for Leslie and he was pretty sure he wouldn't agree with the course of action they had chosen. “Oh, well it can’t be helped, at least not right now. Maybe talking about it with Chad, and the guys, will help me see things clearer and come up with a solution for our predicament.” He thought as he showered and changed. When he returned to the living room the guys had already gathered, Jamie walked through to the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge trying to find something to eat. He found a pizza box that had half a pizza in it, after checking it carefully for mold, he threw a couple of slices on a plate and put it in the microwave. His quest for food successful, Jamie reached for his Bible to look up the verses they had been studying. “Let’s start with prayer requests today I have a rather important one,” Chad began “I got my orders...” he paused “I'm headed to Iraq. I leave the end of the month” Everyone present was torn, they knew the seriousness of his orders, they knew he was excited to get to be where there was some action, but they also knew his family would be worried sick about his safety. “Man I don’t know what to say,” Blake said “We’ll definitely be praying for you and for your family as well!” “Yeah, definitely” Justin echoed They talked and prayed together for some time, and since most everyone was focusing on Chad’s new orders the subject of Jamie and Leslie never came up and though he didn’t say anything Jamie was relieved. They were out shooting some hoops at the park when Jamie's cell phone rang. “Hello? Sergent Jamison speaking” “Hi, Jamie, it's Leslie.” “Leslie, how are you? I missed you so much.” “I'm great! I missed you too! I'll be at the Hauptbahnhoff in about 30 minutes.” “So, how was your trip home?” Jamie asked It was ok,” she said “I tried to convince Dad that I need to get my own place, but he got all upset and almost made me quit my job and move back home. Saying Mom needs my help there anyway. So, I don't think I'll bring it up again anytime soon. Other than that it was the same old, same old stuff, my brothers fought, my sister wined and I scrubbed the house for Sunday. And Mom and Dad fought again.” Leslie sighed as she ended her description of her weekend home. “I missed you and thought of you a lot” she added quickly. Jamie laughed “I missed you, too, and can't wait to see you again. How 'bout I get off of here and so I can come pick you up, Ok?” “Sound good. I'll see you in a bit” Leslie said as she hung up the phone. Suddenly, 30 minutes seemed like an awfully long time. To Jamie however it seemed just the opposite, he was wearing his dirty shorts and was covered in sweat. As he hung up the phone Chad turned to him and asked “Who was that?” “That, was Leslie.” Jamie answered, “I’m going to have to split. She’s on her way back into town and I got to go pick her up, we’re going to the movies this evening.” “Oh, really?” Chad teased “I think these two might need a little watching what you say guys, you want to go see a movie?” “Whoa, slow down I haven’t seen her in three days I sure don’t want to share her with you buffons! And secondly I got to get home and take a shower.” Jamie said as he headed to his truck. The guys followed. “So what does her family think of her dating any 'wild' soldier boy?” Justin asked. “Well, actually they don't know,” Jamie paused contemplating how to continue, “Leslie just casually mentioned that she had made a new friend, Jamie, and they assumed Jamie was a girl, and she didn't correct them.” “Wow, seriously, bro, do you think it's a good idea to be lying to her family?” Chad said. He held up his hand as Jamie tried to interrupt “even if it's only lying by omission.” Jamie sighed “I've gone over this and over this a thousand times, and I don't see any other way. We're not 'officially' dating, we're just friends, and it's not her family that has a problem with it, it's just the people she's living with and they don't really have any authority over her. So I think we're doing the best that we can considering the situation. I'm hoping maybe by Christmas we'll have figured out a better way. Maybe I can take leave and go meet her family.” “Wow” Blake exclaimed “I'm speechless. You're serious about this girl, aren't you? How long have you known her?” Jamie laughed “Two weeks. I know this sounds crazy, but I think she's the one” “I hope you're right and be careful. I don't want to have to come bail you out of trouble.” Justin said as the truck squealed to a stop in the driveway. Jamie threw the truck in park and bolted for the house peeling off his shirt as he went. “That boy’s got it bad!” Chad said as they followed him into the house. Thirty minutes later clean and fresh they walked into the train station. Jamie scanned the Arrival board “Ah, there it is. The 1:30 from Koblenz, Track 4b.” Leslie scanned the crowd waiting on the platform nervously, she hoped Jamie would be there especially since she had told Sandy not to pick her up, she also hoped that she wouldn't end up regretting going out with Jamie, she knew what could happen, of course, but she would just have to be very careful. Then she spotted him “Oh, my Gosh, he is sooo cute!” she thought to herself, “and he looks good in civilian clothes, too. Come to think of it this is the first time I've seen him out of uniform, he really makes jeans and a T-Shirt look good” she took a deep breath and tucked a stray curl behind her ear “I'm glad I changed into something more casual before I left.” she had almost tried to wear her church dress to the station, but had decided that would attract too much attention. The train pulled to a stop the doors opened and Leslie stepped from the train. “Wow,” Chad thought, standing next to his best friend, “I can see why you’ve fallen for her. She's beautiful, even in that simple jean skirt and pink blouse she looks stunning. With that blonde, curly hair softly framing her face she looks like an angel.” Jamie stepped forward “Hey, babe, you look great. Can I take your bag?” He asked, reaching for her suitcase as she walked toward him. “How was your trip?” “Yes, thank you.” Leslie answered, as he took the suitcase from her “The trip was ok. That last half-hour seemed to take forever, but I made it. So what movie are we going to see?” “Hello there, just where do you think you’re going?” Suddenly Chad stepped in front of Leslie, she looked around and noticed Justin and Blake circling around the other side. “Oh yeah,” James laughed, rolling his eyes “the guys thought we needed a posse of chaperones. Now our movie choices are: Legally Blonde 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, The Hulk, and Cheaper by the Dozen. So what's it going to be?” “Ooh, Cheaper by the Dozen sounds nice,” Leslie gushed, then checked herself, “ but why don't you guys pick something you would like to see” Leslie stammered to a halt, nervousness straining her features. “You two lovebirds decide,” Chad said leaning casually against the pillar “I'm just here to chaperon.” “Cheaper by the Dozen, it is then.”Jamie said briskly “It doesn't start for another two hours so Leslie and I are going to grab a bite to eat. I'm sure Leslie's hungry and I could do with some chow myself. The rest of you guys can come if you want but you’re paying for yourselves ” “You're always hungry,” Justin said rolling his eyes. “Oh, and you're not.” Jamie teased back “So where are we going to go try and fill your bottomless pit,” Blake asked “Actually, I was thinking maybe we could go to that little authentic German place on the Square. That is, if you wouldn't mind translating, Leslie.” “Of course not” Leslie replied “However, I do charge 50 bucks an hour for my translating services. Just to let you know.” Leslie busted out laughing at the looks on the boys faces.

Chapter 5 - As Love Grows

The next day was pretty normal, she got up early, helped Sandy with Kyle and Erica's lessons, did some touch up cleaning, and made lunch for the kids. It was then that Sandy remembered that Leslie had been out late the night before and began to question her about it.

“So, what was the meeting at work all about?” she asked Leslie who sat at the kitchen grading Victoria's science homework.

“Oh, a couple of the kids families are being transferred and she needs us to step up and cover the shifts, I have to work Monday 6 to noon. I already found someone to come pick me up, so you don't have to drive me in that early. Speaking of which I've got to go change so we can leave.” Leslie said as she stood up and headed for the stairs, she hurried to her room and quickly changed. Less than five minutes later she was standing at the front door in her uniform ready to go, but as usual Sandy was not. Ten minutes later they were finally on their way.

The first thing she did when she got there was find Michelle and tell her that she would be able to take the Monday shift as well, then she headed to the front and started her shift. Knowing that Jamie was going to stop by made time seem to drag and she was really glad when they started getting busy because it took her mind off of the wait. Around 6 it started slowing down and she had a chance to restock the front and clean some tables, she was just finishing with that, when Jamie walked in. As he placed his order, Leslie found Michelle and asked if she could go on break, then she clocked out and ordered her supper. Jamie had slipped around the corner with his tray, so Leslie headed that way too.

“Hey,” she said, as she sat down at his table “Thanks for not saying anything in front of the others about us meeting for supper.”

“I kinda figured it would be better if they didn’t know you were having dinner with a guy.”

“That way they can’t say anything to Sandy” they both finished together.
Jamie asked if she wanted to pray for their meals, she hesitated for a second, but then went ahead and prayed. When she finished Jamie asked her why she hesitated.

“I was raised where, it’s the man’s job to pray over the meal” she answered

“Really,” Jamie asked “your mom never prayed for the food at your house?”

“Not, if my dad was home” she said “if he was gone, she could, but not if he was there.”

“Wow” Jamie said “at my house we all took turns praying, even Mom.”

“Well, my dad is a firm believer in the husband is the head of the home, and he made sure we never did anything that might remotely be construed as usurping that authority.” Leslie said, rolling her eyes.

Jamie laughed and they discussed what the headship of the husband really meant. They found that they agreed on what the Bible meant, that the husband and wife were partners, equal in every way and both needed to check with each other to see how they would be affected before making any decisions.

“It really ticks me off, when I see these men that take those verses about submission and beat their wives over the head with it, but completely ignore the verses about loving their wives as Christ loved the church.” Jamie said vehemently.

Leslie smiled “You just described my dad to a T!” she said wryly “I’m not kidding! he thinks women don’t have any purpose other than to keep the house clean and have babies”

Time flew as they talked, suddenly Leslie looked at her watch “Oh my gosh, I got to get back to work” she said jumping up and grabbed her tray.

“Here let me take that” Jamie said reaching to take the tray from her “I’ll see you later!”

“Thanks” Leslie said and waved over her shoulder, as she hurried back around the counter and clocked back in. There were several people waiting to be helped so she opened her register and started taking orders. Jamie dumped their trash into the trash can, refilled his soda and then stood back and watched her work. The customer she was dealing with couldn’t make up his mind what he wanted; Leslie smiled courteously and patiently tried to help him. Jamie straightened, smiled and waved at Leslie; she met his gaze and returned his smile as he headed out the door.

They didn’t see each other again until Friday, Jamie called her about 10 in the morning.

“Hey you about ready to go?” he asked when she answered the phone.

“I don’t know I will have to ask”, Leslie said for the benefit of Victoria who was standing close by. “Hold on a sec.” she told Jamie and laid the receiver down. Turning to Victoria she asked “Where’s your mom?”

Victoria shrugged “Out back, I think” and then headed upstairs.

Leslie ran out the side door and into the back yard, where Mrs. Holland was helping the youngest two kids move their pet bunny’s cage to some fresh grass. “Hey, Sandy” Leslie said as she ran up, pausing to take a deep breath “Burger king just called, they are short staffed this morning and want me to come in a little early.”

“How early is a little early?” Sandy said, irritation visible on her face.

“uhm…, I think they want me to be there by 12” Leslie hesitated “Michelle said she might be able to send someone to pick me up, if that was ok with you.” she finished with a smile.

“Did you get the kids papers graded?”

“Yep.”

“Well, if they’re sending someone to pick you up I don’t see why not.”Sandy said grudgingly.

“Thanks, Sandy!” Leslie said as she turned and raced back into the house. She was breathless when she reached the phone. “Hey, you still there?” she asked into the receiver

“Yeah, what’d she say?” Jamie asked

“I can go!” Leslie was almost squealing, she was so giddy.

“Ok,” Jamie said “I’ll see you in about 20 minutes”

Leslie raced upstairs to her room her eyes sparkling with excitement “I can’t believe I’m going to pull this off” she whispered to herself then quickly looked around to make sure no one else was around to hear her. She quickly brushed her hair, thankful that she had had the foresight to dress nicely that morning, she looked critically at her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing a jean skirt and patriotic t-shirt, her hair was pulled back in a pony tail. “It will have to do!” she muttered as she stuffed a clean uniform into her back pack and grabbed her purse. She tore back down the stairs, and saw Victoria coming out of the family office she wondered if she had been listening in on her conversation with Jamie. Sandy and the kids were coming inside as Leslie ran out the front door.
“Where are you rushing off to?” Sandy hollered after her.

“My, ride’s meeting me at the train station” she yelled back “I don’t have time to change so I’ll change when I get there!”

As soon as she was out of sight of the house she slowed down a bit, but she was still too excited to just stroll along, Apparently Jamie was excited to ‘cause when she arrived at the station there he was waiting for her.

“Hey, beautiful” he said as she climbed into his pick up.

Leslie blushed at the complement, “Hey, yourself” she replied as Jamie started the car and they drove off. “We might have a little problem” she told Jamie.

“What’s that?”Jamie asked.

“When I was leaving I saw Victoria come out of the office, I think she was listening to our conversation on the other phone. Not that we said anything that would make her suspicious, but if she gets mad at me there’s no telling what she might twist it to mean” Leslie grimaced at the thought of the stories that Victoria could concoct if she wanted to.

Jamie smiled as he adjusted the volume on the radio “Well,” he said, as the Backstreet Boys singing “Anything for you” came over the airways, “There’s only one thing to do in a situation like this…”

“And that would be?”

“We’ll just have to stop and get you a cell phone” and with that Jamie pulled out on to the Autobahn and headed back towards the base. But when they came to the PHV turn off he kept going. Leslie looked at him questioningly “We’re going to the Heidelberg Shopping Center; it’s close to the movie theater we’re going to. You can look for a cell phone until it’s closer to time to meet the guys for the movie” Jamie said, he could see that Leslie was nervous and having second thoughts about coming with him today and he was trying to put her at ease.

When they arrived at the Shopping Center they headed straight to the cell phone store and after talking to the clerk for a few minutes, she decided to get a simple Motorola camera phone, with a pay as you go plan. Nothing really fancy but enough that she felt confident in being able to get a hold of someone when she needed to, it also gave her the feeling of being cool and grown up. After they finished up there, they went into Popeye’s Chicken to grab a bite to eat. When they got their food, Jamie prayed for the meals and then helped Leslie set up all the functions on her new phone. Then it was time to go meet the guys, Leslie was really nervous, for two reasons, though she was really comfortable with Jamie, she hated meeting new people and was constantly wondering what they were thinking of her. And secondly, she was concerned that the more people that saw her with Jamie, the bigger the chance that Sandy would find out about it and throw a fit. However she did her best to hide her feelings and smiled bravely as they drove to the cinema complex.

“It ok, relax Les” Jamie said, as he parked the car and walked around to open her door “I told the guys you were coming. They’re cool with it.”

“Are you sure?” Leslie asked, ashamed that her feelings were so visible on her face, but glad that Jamie saw her concern and was trying to put her at ease.
It was easy to spot the other 3 guys as they were the only ones standing outside the theater and even though they weren’t wearing uniforms, Leslie could tell that they were military just by the way they were standing.

“Hey, guys what’s up?” Jamie said as they walked up to the entrance.

Leslie scanned the group, trying to remember their names as Jamie made the introductions; Chad was his roommate and best friend, the only blonde in the group. Justin was the shorter one with the dark black hair and Blake was the biggest of the 3, and had dark brown hair, and a fiancé at home in the States.

“Well, there seems to be a little problem.” Chad said as he and Jamie greeted each other with a typical male hand shake.

“And what would that be?” Jamie asked, putting his arm around Leslie’s waist and drawing her closer to him.

“Well, I was talking to Jim and he said he had seen a film here that was in English, I assumed that it was a regular occurrence. But when we got here nobody even speaks English and when I asked them if they showed any English films they said Nein” Chad finished exasperated.

“Oh great,” Jamie said frustration showing on his face, Leslie smiled as she stepped away from the group and into the building as the boys tried to sort out who’s fault this whole mess was. They were still arguing when she returned 5 minutes later tickets in hand.

She stepped up to Jamie who turned to her trying to apologize for the mess when she hands him the tickets. “If you guys still want to watch the show you can, I got us the tickets and I talked to the Manager and he said that they could turn on the English subtitles, but they don’t have the English version” They all turned and starred at her.

“Ok let’s go!” Jamie said and they all headed inside. During the movie, Leslie would occasionally giggle and lean over to Jamie and explain the way the words were coming out in translation.

As they left the theater Justin turned to both of them and asked “What was all that whispering about?”

Jamie smiled “That is for me to know and for you not to find out!” he replied as he helped Leslie into the truck.

Leslie smiled and waved to the guys standing in the parking lot as they drove away. In no time they were back on base and after they parked the car close to Jamie’s check point station, he kissed her good-bye and then he stood and watched as she walked down the street. They had decided it was best for her to walk to work so that no one would see him drop her off and tell Sandy, it seemed lately that they made a lot of their decisions based on what Sandy might find out. It bothered Leslie a little bit, but not enough to stop seeing Jamie “Besides” she told herself “if she wasn’t such a stick in the mud about boys I wouldn’t have to sneak around”
In spite of having spent most of the day together Jamie was having a hard time waiting to the middle of his shift to make a coffee run, to Burger King of course. He knew no matter what they called it, he was in love, he was pretty sure Leslie felt the same way, he wanted to tell her the truth, he wanted to tell the world that he was in love and this was his girl …his and his alone! These were his thoughts as he walked into the restaurant, his face lit up when he saw the lobby was empty and Leslie was working the front counter. She had her back to him filling a milk shake and called over her shoulder “Be right with you!”

Jamie smiled mischievously and said, in his gruffest voice “I need two large coffee’s on the double!”

At the sound of his voice Leslie spun around nearly spilling the milk shake, she rolled her eyes at him and said “Maybe you should work on your manners, sir” as she walked over and handed the milk shake to the customer at the drive thru window.
When she returned to the front counter she took his order, she turned to the coffee pot and said “This stuff is a little old would you like me to make some fresh coffee?”

Jamie smiled “Sure, I can wait.” He said and then dropped his voice to a whisper “especially if it means I get to spend more time with you.” He winked at Leslie, enjoying the blush that colored her cheeks.

“Shsh” she scolded “Michelle might hear you.” In spite of her protests she walked around the counter and snuggled against his chest.


“I missed you” he murmured against her hair “I wish I could go with you when you go home this weekend, I don’t know how I’m going to manage 3 whole days before I see you again.”

Leslie grinned at him “Well, you have my cell phone number, you could always call me.”

Jamie smiled back “Or you could call me, since I would have no way of knowing if you’re free to talk.”

“hmm… that would work” Leslie said as she moved to pour the coffee in to the cups. “Are you working tomorrow night? she asked “I don’t want to call when you might be busy.”

Jamie thought for a moment “yeah I’m on duty tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon the guys and I are going to get together for a Bible study thing we do, but if your free and need to talk you can call anytime”

“Ok” Leslie said “I’ll try and not call at those times.”

“Alright, see ya later!” Jamie said and picked up the coffees. As he was walking to the door he saw Leslie’s boss walking toward the front of the store so he smiled and waved to Leslie as he walked out the door.

“So who was that?” Michelle asked as Leslie headed past her.

“Who?” Leslie asked innocently, a smile creeping onto her face in spite of her best effort to hide it.

“That guy you were talking to, he seemed nice.”

“Oh, him, that's just the guard at the check point I come in at. He recognized me from my picture in my Passport.”

“Ah, is that all huh?” Michelle teased, she really liked Leslie and enjoyed giving her a hard time.

“Yep,” Leslie answered “that's it. Besides you know the rules: No Boyfriends!”

Chapter 4 - A Date?

Leslie was in the middle of lunch rush when Jamie walked in the door, since Burger King was the only fast food restaurant on the base, unless you were pretty fluent in German it was hard to eat out any were else. It was also, the most popular hangout of the high school students, so it could get really busy at times, so busy that Leslie often went without a break for the first several hours of her shift. Jamie took his place at the end of the line and waited for Leslie to finish with the customers in front of him.

Leslie hadn't even noticed that Jamie was there, she was that focused on her job and getting each of the customer’s orders right. “What can I get for you today? She said as she finished with the customer directly in front of Jamie, the words died on her lips as she looked up and noticed who was standing there.
“Oh, hi. How are you?” she said, he looked twice as handsome in the daylight as he had in the dark last night. She hadn't really noticed how deep blue his eyes were.
“I told myself to wait for super but I just couldn't help myself and had to stop by before I went in to work!” Jamie broke into her thoughts, Leslie blinked back to reality.

“You like Whoppers that much?” she joked, not completely caught off guard, but slightly flushed at the implied complement, then it dawned on her “You didn't get in any trouble for letting me use the phone, did you?” she asked he eyes wide and fearful.

“Oh, no” Jamie was quick to reassure her, “I'm not in trouble, just a little hungry” he teased.

“Oh, I'm so sorry, what would you like?”

Jamie wanted to say a kiss but knew that would be wrong, besides he didn't want to scare her away, so he ordered a basic Whopper Meal Deal.

“Would you like to make that a King size?” Leslie asked, she was in her element now and determined to remember her job, “It's just another customer” she tried to tell herself, but that didn't stop her heart from racing or keep her hands from shaking as she typed in his order.

“Sure, why not?” Jamie said with a grin.

“Will that be for here or to go?” she asked.

“For here”

Leslie reached under the counter and pulled out a king size cup and placed it on his tray with his receipt and then turned around and grabbed his sandwich and fries and placed them on his tray as well.“There you go” she said with a smile “Have a good day”

“Thanks. You too.” James responded trying desperately to think of something to say. “Do you go to church anywhere?” he finally asked.

“Actually, I go home for the weekends and attend my dad's church.” Leslie answered, as she turned her attention to the next customer in line. She was actually quite pleased that he had asked her that question because it proved two things; one, he was a churchgoer and two, he was interested in her, at least she hoped that's what it meant. She only wished she wasn't so busy and could give a better answer.

Jamie took his food and headed to a booth “See ya later” he said and winked at Leslie “I might come back in when it slows down and get me some desert”

Jamie settled into a booth that faced the register and watched Leslie as she swiftly took orders from the customers, there were a couple of times he noticed that she was getting flustered but she managed well. She was a little blond tornado and she had stolen his heart. He watched her until he had to go to work, as he left he caught her eye “See you tomorrow.” he called and waved over his shoulder.
Leslie wasn't able to take her break for a couple more hours in fact it was almost 10 before she clocked out and ordered herself a sandwich for supper and headed back to the break room.

“Leslie, can I see you for a minute?” Michelle, Leslie's boss called as she passed the office.

“Sure,” Leslie said “Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, everything is fine, I just wanted to ask you a few questions?” Michelle said
“I was wondering if you would be interested in some more hours? Stacy's dad is getting transferred back to the States and I'm having a time getting someone to cover her shifts”

“Well, what hours are they?” Leslie asked

“I have everything filled except for, Saturday 6-close and Monday 6am to noon, I know this is out of your regular schedule, but if you can work something out I would appreciate it. I don't need you to start for a couple of weeks yet, but I do need to know soon.”

“I will talk to my folks when I go home this weekend and see what we can come up with.” Leslie said as she stood and headed to the break room to eat before they needed her up front. Leslie was relieved when she saw that no one else was in the break room and that the conversation with Michelle had only taken 5 minutes. That meant she had 25 minutes to eat her sandwich and read in peace. She picked up her book and lost herself in the story of “The Princess” written by one of her favorite authors Lori Wick.

The rest of her shift was a breeze and Sandy was on time when she got off, Leslie was actually a little disappointed when she saw her pull up cause it meant that there was no excuse to stop by and chat with Jamie. She was pleasantly surprised when Stacy turned toward the South Lexington check point instead of the usual route home.

“I ordered pizza tonight cause I don't feel like cooking so we're got to run over to Domino's to pick it up” Sandy said by way of explanation.

When they arrived at the check point, Jamie was his usual, cheerful self, though he too had wished that Leslie's ride would be late as well.

“Looks like everything is in order here. You ladies have a nice weekend.” He winked and handed the paperwork back to Sandy.

“Did you see that? Oh, my gosh! He is sooo cute!” Victoria drooled from the backseat “Did you see him wink at me? I just know he likes me. He was looking right at me.”

Leslie took a deep breath, “Yeah, right!” she thought “he saw you through the tinted glass and winked right at you.” Being around Victoria could be so draining sometimes. Out loud she said “Hey, sorry, tuts. I saw him first, plus he's closer to my age.”

“How do you know?” Victoria pouted; Sandy looked sternly at Leslie who grinned
“Aw, you can have him, but I get Mr. Darcy! He's all the man I need!”
The girls had been staying up the last several nights trying to finish a new video series, Jane Austin's Pride & Prejudiced, staring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, they both were enthralled with the romance of the period and Mr. Darcy's English accent and melancholy demeanor.

“Oh, we just have to finish that movie tonight!” Victoria gushed “I can't wait to find out what happens.”

“We'll see!” Sandy interjected “I need Leslie to help with the cleaning tonight.”

“Aw Mom, I want to watch the movie.” Victoria whined “cleaning will take all night!”

“That's ok Victoria.” Leslie answered as she turned and smiled at Victoria “If you help me clean, we could make some cookies to munch on while we watch the movie tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Victoria grimaced.

“Sorry, girls, but I'm going to need your help grading papers tomorrow, Leslie. And you'll have your own school work to do, Victoria. Maybe tomorrow night you can watch the movie” Sandy told the girls apologetically.

“Not fair! Why should I have to wait to watch my movie because Leslie has to clean?”Victoria complained.

“Victoria, that is not nice!” Sandy scolded “You don't have to help clean, but you won't watch the movie until Leslie can watch it with you”

Victoria grimaced cleaning was not something she liked doing. “Something she apparently got from her mother.” Leslie though, when she entered the house; dishes covered the sink, counter, and kitchen table, and in the living room piles upon piles of laundry waiting to be folded.

Sighing, Leslie removed her coat and shoes at the door, picked up her shoes and carried them to her room. She laid her purse and uniform cap on her bed and hurried back downstairs to get started on the cleaning. As she passed the upstairs entertainment room she heard the video playing and knew that Victoria was watching the movie, in spite of her mom's command not to. Leslie knew there would be no help from Victoria tonight and since Sandy probably wouldn't make it upstairs tonight, she would again get away with her disobedience.

Leslie was frustrated as she started on the dishes, would she ever know a place where she was wanted for more than her ability to clean dirty dishes and wipe snotty noses. It was no different here than it was at home, except she was able to escape to her job every afternoon. And now there was Jamie, Leslie smiled to herself, she wondered what he meant by his comments this afternoon. To be able to clean his dishes and fold his laundry and take care of him, that would be fun. Her imagination took over and she imagined what it would be like to be married to Jamie and how he would hold her and tease her as they did their chores together. Four hours later, the dishes were washed and the clothes folded and stacked neatly in their respective baskets, Leslie quietly climbed the stairs to her room, the rest of the family had gone to bed hours ago. As she entered her room she realized that was another thing that was different here than at home; she did have her own room, well it was actually more like a small closet, but it was especially nice just to have a space to call her own. She reached for her purse and realized she hadn't put her passport back in but left it on the bed with her hat, as she picked it up she noticed a piece of paper slipping from the pages, she opened it up and there was a phone-number and next to it was written “Call me if you need anything, Jamie”. She slipped it into her wallet and sighed, Jamie was a really nice guy, definitely the knight in shining armor type of guy, and she was the princess stuck in the castle complete with the evil “step-mother” and “step-sisters”. If only there was a way around Sandy's silly “no boyfriends” rule. “Well, true love always finds a way” she thought to herself as she grabbed her book and snuggled under the blanket, to try and finish her book before she fell asleep. Tomorrow was Saturday she would be headed home and she knew it wouldn't be a relaxing trip, since she had to bring up the subject of working Saturdays.

It was 7 o'clock Sunday Evening when Leslie arrived back at the Holland's, her trip home had been exhausting, as usual, she had fought all weekend with her dad. This time, trying to convince him to let her look for her own apartment, he still wasn't convinced. Leslie was sure he just couldn't handle the fact that she would be on her own and not needing him anymore. At 19 she didn't really need his permission to do it, but she would really like to have it anyway, it seemed like she had spent most of her life trying to gain his approval and no matter what she did she could never succeed in gaining it. She had managed to tell him that she had to work at least some Saturdays over the next few weeks, she had decided that it was easier to just tell him she had to and that would save her from having to argue her side. She didn't want to answer a lot of questions from Victoria, so when she saw the young girl lounging in front of the TV she waved briefly and headed for the stairs. Victoria waved back and then jumped up.

“Leslie,” she called, Leslie sighed and turned she'd never get any peace and quiet now, “someone from your work called said it was important that you call her back, I think her name was Michelle.”

“Thanks” Leslie said “I'll call her.” and picked up the phone to discourage any further conversation, she smiled when Victoria headed back into the living room without a word. Leslie dialed the number for Burger King after talking to Michelle and telling her that she could work Saturdays and that Mondays were still uncertain but she would get back to her on that and getting her schedule for the week. She hung up and was going to head for the stairs when she thought of Jamie, after only a moment’s hesitation she picked up the receiver and dialed his number, he answered at the first ring. Leslie nearly dropped the phone at the sound of his voice, hesitant as to what to say, now that she had him on the line “ah...hi, this is Leslie”

“Hey, girl what's up?” Jamie asked, excitement tingeing his voice “How'd your trip home go?”

“Not so good...” Leslie said “I don't know what I expected though.” she paused “To be honest I don't even know why I called you.”

Jamie laughed “That's fine! I wasn't doing anything anyway.” he said “would you like for me to come and pick you up, we could grab a bite to eat and talk.”

“I guess I could” Leslie said, wondering all the while, what on earth she was getting herself into.

“See you in about 30 minutes?” Jamie asked

“Yeah, I'll meet you at the Schwetzingen Bahnhof” she replied

“Ok, see ya in a bit” Jamie said as he hung up.

Leslie took her suitcase to her room and when she came back down she announced casually “Michelle said there is meeting tonight that I have to attend. She's coming to pick me up here in a few minutes. I don't know how late I'll be, but she'll give me a ride home as well, so I'll see you all later tonight” Leslie grabbed her purse and jacket and walked out the door. The short 5 minute walk to the train station helped to relieve some stress from her body, and by the time Jamie arrived she was quite relaxed.

“So where would you like to go?” he asked as he walked up to her and gave her a quick hug.

“Umm, the Gaststaete here at the Bahnhof is supposed to be pretty good,” she said with a smile “want to try it?”

“Sure” Jamie said “I haven't really got a chance to try the local cuisine.” he leaned in and whispered “I'm always afraid that I'll order something weird like squid”

Leslie laughed “That's not really likely since very few places in Germany sell squid”

They walked to the Gaststaete and went inside Leslie spoke to the waitress in German and asked for a table for two. They were shown to a table and given menus which Leslie poured over and tried to translate for Jamie. They both got to giggling at the funny way the some of the words came out in direct translation. In the end they ordered Bratwurst and SauerKraut. James prayed for the food when it arrived then he asked “So, what went wrong this weekend?”

Leslie rolled her eyes “A better question would be what went right, that would take less time to tell.”

“I've got all the time in the world” Jamie replied, looking deep into her eyes as he reached across the table and took her hand in his. Leslie never could figure out what did it whether it was the look, his touch, or the tone of his voice, but something caused Leslie to break down and between sobs the whole story came out. How her dad wouldn't let her look for her own place and how she had hoped living with the Hollands would provide her with a little breathing room but instead they were treating her with less respect than her own family “I know they mean well but I want a chance to prove that I can survive on my own and I don't need someone looking over my shoulder all the time!” she concluded in frustration.

Jamie smiled, she was definitely the most beautiful girl he had ever met. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her, but he didn't, he remained calm and said “Well, since you're over 18 you don't have to have to have anyone's permission to get your own place. So what if you were to get your own place and just don't tell anyone till you've been on your own for a while, then they couldn't say anything cause you would have proved that you can do it both to them and to yourself.”

“I have thought of that ...” Leslie said “I've got a few more hours at Burger King, and I'm saving most of my money... I could try that, I guess I could look around and see what an apartment would cost me. But, I still don’t know… anyway, enough about me, what did you do this weekend?”

“Well, I did what I always do, work, eat, sleep, and play basketball with the guys.” Jamie said and then without really thinking he asked “So, do you have a boyfriend?”

The question caught Leslie completely off guard and she nearly choked on her drink of water “Ah, no, I don't have a boyfriend,” Leslie answered as she grabbed her napkin and wiped her mouth. “The Holland's don't want me to have a boyfriend while I'm living with them. I don't think they trust me. Just another reason I need to move out.” she said with a grin, “Why do you want to know?”

“Well, I was going to ask if you would consider going out with me, but I don't want to get you in trouble.”

Leslie smiled “Oh,” not really knowing what to say to that.

“We could just be friends for awhile and get to know each other.”

“Right, they didn't say I couldn't be friends with boys, just I couldn't have a boyfriend.”

James winked at her, “And if we decide we want to get serious and be “boyfriend and girlfriend” you could move in with me.” he finished with a grin.

Leslie's shocked face said it all. “Just Kidding” Jamie quickly reassured her. “So, would you like to go see a movie on Friday? As friends, of course. The guys and I were going to go see 'The Pirates of the Caribbean'”

“Sorry, I can't, I have to work Friday”

Jamie laughed, “So do I. We're going to the afternoon showing, could you maybe come with us before you go in to work?”

“I guess, I could see if Sandy would drop me off early.”

“That would work, or I could meet you here and drop you off at work when we're done.”

“Ok, that would actually be better, I could tell Sandy that Michelle is sending someone to get me cause she needs me to come in earlier. Actually, do you think you could do me a favor, Michelle wants’ me to work the morning shift on Mondays, if I paid you for gas would you mind coming to get me and take me into work I have to be there at 6 am.”

“That would work for me, I don't work Sunday nights so I would be able to get over here in time.” Jamie said and then he looked at his watch “Oh, my gosh, it's almost 11 o'clock, I better get you home, before you get in trouble!”

They laughed together, Jamie paid the tab and they walked hand in hand to his truck. When Jamie dropped her off, he brushed a kiss on her cheek. “What time do you work tomorrow?” he whispered

“1 to close” Leslie answered with a giggle

“I'll come in around 6:30 and have supper with you, ok?” Jamie said “Now, you get in there and get some sleep. Sweet Dreams!” He opened the door for her and waited till she had let herself in, then he waved to her and drove off.

Leslie was surprised that the house was completely quiet and everyone seemed to be asleep, so she tiptoed up the stairs and slipped into her room as she got ready for bed she remembered the feel of his lips on her cheek and her hand in his, she wondered what it would feel like to have his arms around her and feel his lips on hers. And with a smile on her face she drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 3 - Leslie Ann and Jamie

Five years and five months earlier, Heidelberg, Germany

Leslie sighed and brushed her dark, blond curls out her face as she looked at her watch and then scanned the road. It was empty; she stepped out from under the awning into the drizzling rain. Her ride was late, again, and unfortunately she couldn't go back inside to wait because her manager, Michelle, had already locked up and left for the night. “Well, I guess I shouldn't have told her to go ahead and go, but I hated for her to have to wait, and I figured Sandy would be here by now...” she muttered under her breath as she trudged down the road, pulling the hood of her jacket up over her head, trying to keep the rain off her face. She wasn't really sure where she was headed, she knew she couldn't walk all the way home. Schwetzingen was over 30 minutes away, over the Autobahn and it was dark and raining, so that was out of the question. “I don't have a cell phone and no money for a pay phone.” she thought to herself “Why can't Sandy ever show up on time? I don't even know if she left yet? This is so frustrating!” Leslie brushed a wet strand of blond hair back out of her eyes, she was sopping wet, tired, and getting angrier by the minute. She had only been working at the Burger King in the Patrick Henry Village for 2 weeks and already her ride had forgotten her three times, but at least before it had been daytime and she had been able to go back into the store to wait or call. Leslie had no idea where the nearest pay phone was and wasn't about to go searching for one in the rain, and dark, beside the fact that she didn't have any money for one even if she found it.

Suddenly, she had an idea, there was a guard post just around the corner, surely they would have a phone there. It was just around the corner so she shouldn't miss Sandy, should she already be on her way, she would call Sandy's cell phone.

Sergeant James Jamison was bored, he hated the night shift on guard duty, nothing ever happened. In fact he had seen two other people all night. Suddenly, he noticed something, someone was coming. It looked like, a girl, walking.
“Whatever is a girl doing out on the road at this hour and in this weather?” James thought. The girl approached the window.

“Hi” she said, as she fished in her purse for her passport and workers permit and slid them under the window.

“What are you doing out on a night like this?” James asked looking over her paperwork.

Leslie sighed, “Trying to get home.” she answered with a weak smile “you haven't by chance seen a green, Ford mini-van come through here, have you?” she asked hesitantly.

“Nope.” he answered “Everything looks like it's in order with your papers. Here you go.” Leslie sighed again and leaned her head on her hands.

“Are you ok?” James asked.

“Not really” Leslie responded “My ride was supposed to pick me up over 30 min ago, and they never showed. Is there any way I could use your phone?”

“Sure. Come on in!” He said as he opened the door. “It's not much, but it's dry.”

“I hope you won't get in trouble 'cause I'm in here” Leslie said, she was still learning what was and wasn't allowed on a military base and was nervous about making a mistake.

James moved to the other side of the room so Leslie could reach the phone. “No, I won't get in trouble.” he said easily “It's my job to assist anyone who needs help, especially a damsel in distress.”

Leslie smiled at his attempted joke then turned and dialed the number quickly and tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for someone to answer. Finally, “Hello? Victoria? Is your mom there? Well, could you please give her the phone? I need to talk to her. Yes, it's important.” Leslie rolled her eyes and shook her head in disgust at James, who just grinned. “Hi, Sandy? This is Leslie, you were supposed to pick me up 30 minutes ago. No, I'm not at Burger King anymore, I walked up to the guard station. Yeah, the one on South Lexington. Well, I guess I'll have to, won't I, since I'm not walking all the way home in the dark and rain. Sure. See ya in a bit.” Leslie hung up the phone “Thanks, Sergeant...ah...”

“Just call me Jamie, my friends do. And you can stay in here, where it's dry, until your ride gets here.”

“Thanks, I think I will. I really can't afford to get sick and miss work right now.”

“So, you work at Burger King, and I gathered from your conversation, you're not living with your family right now and you’re not military, so, how did you get over here?” James asked curiously.

“Oh, that's a long story. But the short version is that my parents are missionaries in Koblenz and I couldn't get a job there, due to being a foreigner. I was bored stiff living at home and when the Hollands offered to give me a place to stay and help me get a part time job on base, in exchange for helping home school their two youngest kids, I jumped at the chance. Now I'm wondering if it was such a good idea. Sandy, that's Mrs. Holland, is my transportation, but she's not very reliable, I've been late to work once already because she wasn't ready to go and this is the third time that she's forgotten to pick me up. But that is nothing compared to the fact that they refuse to treat me as an adult, capable of making my own decisions, I mean, they are even worse than my own parents. I think it might be more beneficial to me if I tried to get a place of my own and go full time at my job.” Leslie shrugged as she finished “but I don't know if I can get my dad to go for that.”

“How old are you, anyway?” Jamie asked, somewhat surprised that she would have to get her father's permission to move.

“Nine-teen, I'll be twenty in Sepyember.” Leslie smiled “And, yes, I know that I don't legally have to have my dad's permission to move, but that's the way I was raised. Besides if I do it without his permission he'd probably never speak to me again. Not that that would necessarily be a bad thing, sometimes.” Leslie smiled again and shrugged “You know how it is.”

“Yeah, I can relate to that. I joined the Army so I wouldn't have anyone telling me what to do.” Jamie laughed at his own joke. “But seriously, now that I'm an ocean away I kinda miss mom telling me what to do, and doing my laundry.”

Leslie laughed “You boys are so helpless; my brothers would probably die if they had to do their own laundry.”

“How many brothers do you have?” Jamie asked trying to change the subject.

With a smile Leslie answered “Four, and one Sister, all younger than me. So you know who did all the chores.” Leslie really didn't want to think about her home life, she realized that it probably could be a lot worse, but she hated the way her dad treated her mom and every time she went home it just seemed to get worse and worse. Her brothers had no respect for her mom and expected to be waited on hand and foot. And her little sister, Lilly, wasn't any help either, especially since she was only 4 and spoiled rotten.

Leslie was brought back to the present with a jolt as Jamie said “Looks like your ride's here.”

“Well, I guess I better go. Thanks for letting me use the phone.” Leslie said as she stepped out the door, and with a quick wave of her hand she was gone.

Jamie sighed as the van pulled away, why did all the strange stuff happen on his shift. Well at least it alleviated the boredom a bit. Two hours later he was relieved from duty by Chad Peterson. Chad was his best friend from home, they had grown up together, went to the same church, same school and after graduation they had decided to join up together. They were really excited when they had learned that they were both to be stationed in Heidelberg, Germany. They kept tabs on each other, it helped to have a Christian brother to remind him of the principals that he had grown up with.

“Anything interesting happen tonight?” Chad asked as he checked the log and set everything up for his shift.

Jamie stretched “Nothing much, some girl that works at Burger King came and used the phone, apparently her ride forgot that she was supposed to pick her up when they closed at midnight.” If there was anything in this world that Jamie couldn’t stand it was inconsiderate people. Though why he should feel this upset over the treatment of a complete stranger was beyond him. He was probably just tired and needed to go home and get some sleep.

As he walked into the apartment he and Chad shared, about 20 minutes later, he wondered what it would be like to be married, to have a wife waiting for him when he came home off of these late shifts or when he came back off of a weekend of drills. The apartment wasn't bad for a bachelor's pad, it was clean, but bare, Jamie could see where it could use a woman's touch. As a handsome Sergeant it wasn’t like he didn’t have his pick of girls and he had gone out with a few of them but he just hadn’t found the right one yet, for some reason Jamie thought of the girl that had stopped by his post last night, what did she say her name was… Leslie.

He wondered if she had a boyfriend, probably not, if her dad was really as controlling as she had indicated it wasn’t likely that he would allow her to have a boyfriend. But what did that matter to him anyway it wasn’t any of his business. Jamie tossed his keys into the dish by the door and headed over to his desk. He opened up his laptop and hit the check mail icon, as tired as he was he wanted to see if there was any news from home. After responding to e-mails from both his mother and little brother he got up from the desk and headed to his room unbuttoning his shirt as he went, once there he stripped down to his boxers and collapsed across the bed. His last thought as he went to sleep was of Leslie.

Eight hours later and insistent beeping noise roused Jamie slowly from sleep. He stretched his arm out, hit the snooze button and glared at his alarm clock that read 13:00. Jamie rolled out of bed pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, already the sleepy fog that surrounded his brain was starting to lift. He stopped in the kitchen long enough to grab a glass of water and tie on his running shoes, and then he was off. Jamie always enjoyed his “morning” run but on a day like today it was fantastic. You could hardly tell it had rained last night, the sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing sweetly. Dogs barked in the distance and you could hear the chatter of children playing on the playground Jamie smiled and waved to the children at the playground and most of them waved back. One thing about living on the American Base was it was just like home, you really couldn't tell that you were in another country unless you ventured off base, which very few did. Jamie wondered what it would be like to be raised in a foreign country to have to learn a new language and culture...like Leslie had.

Back at home, he tossed the mail on the table and hurried through his shower. He was suddenly hungry for a burger and he wanted to have plenty of time to stop by Burger King on his way to work.