Sappho's Commando

ELEVEN (ISELEN POV)

"What are you doing here?" I ask surprised, standing in the middle of the corridor in the barracks, holding a duffle bag.

"No, what are you doing here?" Ruby stares at me in shock from her room door.

"Are the girls here too?" I take a quick look at other doors but they're all closed and this wing of the NATO headquarters in Brussels is very quiet.

"Of course not, it's Saturday morning. We don't have to go back to work till Monday," the doctor crosses her tattooed arms over her chest and leans her shoulder on the doorframe. "I guess they'll try to enjoy their last day off and will come back on Sunday evening. Why aren't you doing the same? You should be with your mum."

"My mum is okay, she's finished her chemo treatment and more tests will be done next week," I answer dropping my bag in my room before turning back, sighing wearily. "I love them, I really do, my stepfather is a nice man and my brothers are lovely and funny boys but five days pretending to be a perfect and happy family, as if we were the main characters in a Christmas commercial, is too much for me. I decided to come back today to relax a little before the bosses tell us all about the new mission. And what are you doing here?"

"My family hates me," Ruby blurts out abruptly but keeping a neutral facial expression while I look at her surprised.

"That's a very harsh statement," I admit not knowing how to react. "And why do they hate you, if I may ask?"

"Because my grandma hated me," the doctor smiles finally when she notices my perplexed face, although her smile is sad. "Grandma was a tough and demanding woman, nothing was good enough to please her, I wasn't good enough..."

"I understand... well, actually, I do not. Do you want to talk about it?" I ask worried and Ruby shrugs, thinking for a minute before nodding.

"I'll need a glass of wine if we're going to talk about my family."

"Why don't we go to the city? We've been living here for weeks and didn't have a chance to go sightseeing. I'll buy you lunch, we can go for a walk around Brussels later, eat some waffles with chocolate, take some pics, have dinner together... Rent a room in a good hotel, with spa and a fancy breakfast, we could treat ourselves before they send us to hell. As you said, the girls won't come back till tomorrow evening and I don't want to spend the entire Saturday in the gym or alone in my room."

Ruby remains silent, looking at me deadly serious because we both know that those aren't the only things we'll do in Brussels. The two of us understand that, if we spend the night together in the city, we'll share a bed and little of good lesbian sex and our relationship will never be the same. But we also know that it will happen inevitably so, why shouldn't we enjoy it while we can? The future is uncertain but we're here today, alone... Colonel Cecilia Larsen won't come back till tomorrow evening.

"Come on, baby," I whisper smirking mischievously, pointing at my body with my index. "You know you're dying to get a piece of this... Take it, it's yours."

"You're very hard to resist, lieutenant colonel," Ruby admits and my grin grows wider. "I hope we're not making a mistake..."

"Kissing you will never be a mistake, honey, I told you," I answer seriously and the doctor nods reluctantly. I remain still, looking at her quietly, waiting for the beautiful tattooed goddess to choose freely, without pressure. We're going to take an important step that could destroy our careers... I need her to be sure.

"Juliana Hotel is well situated in the city centre, the spa is big and the restaurant food is good." I keep a neutral facial expression while grabbing my phone from my jeans pocket, trying to hide the triumphant smile on my face.