My Sweet Valentine

Summer od 1986.

Valentine Kener was tidying up her attic when she came across some old yellowed leather notebooks. From it, pictures of her husband, Ron, while he was in Top Gun training with his pilot, Tom Kazansky, also known as Iceman, fell on the floor. She ran her fingers gently over those photos. She found a pair of notebooks that were actually her diary. She opened the notebook and looked to see if she had written down the date. It said "Summer 1986". That's how it all started. That summer when she met a couple of cocky and smug pilots. She took the notebooks and went back down to the house. She sat down in the yard on the lawn chairs and opened a notebook with the number 1 written on the back cover in the upper right corner.

I moved into a house inside the base with my sister Charlotte Blackwood. I should have been her support even though I am her younger sister whom she took with her to see the world. She always took me with her, hoping that I would make something out of my life. I wanted to be a singer and I only fantasized about it. But since she had her own connections, she found me a job as an assistant to Commander Viper. I would bring him letters and transfer information from one department to another. I would invite to meetings. Charlotte went out to a bar last night and came in laughing as a young pilot hiting at her while singing a song with the other pilots, not knowing that she was his instructor.

"Lotti, you'll have to be careful. This one could win you over." I told her with a smile before she hit me with a pillow from the couch.

"And you, Tina? Tomorrow is your first day at work. Don't embarrass me." she threatened me and kissed me good night. We went to sleep because of course she had a right. The training of the Navy's best pilots starts tomorrow. Charlotte was waiting for me in the kitchen preparing our breakfast. She looked at me after I asked her if my outfit was okay. I was wearing a white shirt and a tight, high-waisted skirt that reached below my knees and ballet flats. We had the same hairstyle, only I was a brunette. We got into her car and headed to the base. I entered the building and tried not to panic after every pilot whistled after me. I found Commander Viper's office and knocked.

"Come in." said a stern voice.

"Good afternoon, sir. I'm Valentine Blackwood, your assistant." I introduced myself.

"Miss Blackwood, I'm Mike Metcalf call sign Viper. Your sister is Charlie?" he asked me holding out his hand.

"Yes, that's my sister. How can I help you?"

"You will take these papers and go with me. We have a lecture for pilots. You will give me the papers in the same order in which they were put together. And don't be afraid, just tell me if someone is bothering you," he said after opening the office door and taking me me to the lecture hall.

He led me down a long corridor to the classroom with the pilots. I felt uneasy with all those hungry hyena looks directed at me. I stood in the corner and straightened up. I raised my head and put on an expression that I didn't care. Viper led the lecture, and a pair of pilots named Maverick and Goose stood out in the first row. Viper asked him if he thought he was the best, to which Maverick firmly stated that he knew he was the best. I wanted to roll my eyes. It's true that pilots are smug. The look of the tall blond pilot sitting in the upper row of seats made me shiver. His blue eyes were like a glacier as he was followed by his companion next to him with the same stern manner. The lecture ended and they were sent to training. The jets took off one after the other, and I was sent to the control tower. There I had to pick up the papers and take Viper's written orders. Suddenly, a jet appeared out of nowhere and flew too close to the tower, and one of the controllers spilled coffee on himself, and I fell on my knees on the hard carpet. Papers flew around me as I thought I had lost my life. I got up, picked up the papers and headed towards Viper. In the corridor, I met Lotti, who was approaching me with a fast walk.