Project Whores

Chapter 14

Incoming. It's been almost three weeks since the big fight between me and Joice and things have really heated up between us, Kyle thought, as he waited for her to show up. She came to his room at least three or four times a week and she was staying longer and longer. Kyle tried not to think about the fact that none of this bothered him. Except for Raquel, he never allowed his female friends to spend the night and he could count on one hand the times she stayed all night. He'd let Joice come and go as she pleased, until yesterday... His mind drifted back to the events of the night before.

He was peeing in an empty water bottle when she said, "I better go. It will be just our luck they'll have one of those raids tonight if I stay any longer."

"You worry about nothing," he said, trying to think of how he could convince her to stay with him. He just wanted to see what it would feel like to have her next to him the entire night. He liked being around her for some reason.

"They still have them sometimes, you know. I remember last year they had one at like 2:00 in the morning," she said, animatedly. "Do you remember? They almost broke my door down because I was taking so long to open it."

"Why were you taking so long?" Kyle asked, curiously, putting the cap on the water bottle. "I was trying to put on some clothes and I couldn't find my glasses," she answered, shaking her head.

Kyle laughed and said, "You and those damn glasses."

"Those military guys are ruthless during those room raids," she continued, "I really don't like dealing with them." He sat next to her on the bed. She rose to leave, and Kyle put his hand out for her to lie back down.

"What are you doing? I need to go," she said, smiling.

He gently pushed her back down on the bed. "Just relax and lay back down. There aren't gonna be any raids tonight," he said, evenly. Kyle, what are you doing? Let her go!

"Kyle, seriously, I should probably get back to my room. You know I get nervous," she whispered.

Kyle sighed. "Stay with me," he replied, softly. Joice sat back up. "Please," he almost whispered, looking down. The desperation in his voice did not escape her. She looked at him questioningly and, after a moment, lay back down and turned her back to him. He set his clock for 0400 and turned out the light. Kyle lay so that he faced her, put his arm around her waist, and fell asleep.

Tonight, he locked the door behind her because she always forgot. Joice had a bag, which meant she brought clothes. He ignored the relief he was feeling because his new lover came to spend the night with him. She stood by the bed and he walked over and began to kiss her as though he would never see her again. He was still kissing her and slipping her shirt over her head, when his doorknob turned. He looked at the door and as he did, there was a loud knock. Joice gasped. He put one finger to his lips. They stood still, and then, another loud knock. "It's Security," Joice said, terrified. Kyle shook his head and whispered, "They would announce themselves." Kyle had friends in Security, he wished it was them. He knew it was some female, he just didn't know which one. Since he started sleeping with Joice, he put his harem on ice, and everybody was mad at him. Every morning he would tell himself he was not going to see her anymore, but the best he could do was two days. Really, more like a day and a half. Beyond that, he found himself looking for her in the DFAC, or walking by her office, or worst of all, breaking radio silence. While Kyle was lost in thought, Raquel said, very loudly, "I know you're in there, Kyle!" Raquel... I should have known. "You might as well open the door, or I'm going to call Security."

Now he did have a problem. If she called Security that would be an automatic termination for him and Joice. His friends in Security always gave him a heads-up when they were going to do room checks, but if they caught Joice in his room, they would have no choice but to follow protocol. With all the noise Raquel was making, there were sure to be witnesses who would see Joice leave his room, and that's all it would take to have them both out-processed and on the charter headed home in the next forty-eight hours. He threw on his pants and slipped on a tee shirt and his shoes. "I'm gonna go talk to her," he said, to Joice, "I'll take her to the left; wait about thirty seconds, then leave and go down the staircase to the right. That way if she does call Security, you'll be safe. I'm sorry about this." "Open the damn door!" Raquel screamed. Kyle went outside and Joice stood behind the door. She turned to get her things and bumped into the shelf and knocked the key on the floor. Joice put the key in her pocket so she could lock-up and not lock him out. She could hear their voices, but they were getting further away. After a few minutes, she opened the door and the coast was clear, so she locked up and did as he told her and went down the staircase to the right. Joice got downstairs and could hear them arguing on the other side of the building. Kyle was asking her to calm down, but Raquel was cursing and it sounded like she was trying to fight. They were starting to draw a crowd. She went around the building and could see several people standing back watching the show. She prayed for Kyle, because things like this could turn out badly for him if he didn't handle it just right. At that moment, the alarm sounded, announcing some sort of attack, and the big voice told everyone to take cover. The big voice was the intra-theater public announcement system. Depending on the type of emergency, the big voice instructed soldiers and civilians on the appropriate action to take. The crowd scattered and people headed for their rooms and the bunkers. Joice looked up and whispered, "Thank you, Lord." She saw Kyle go back up the stairs so she headed to her room. When she got to her door she remembered she had his key, so she went back up the other staircase to meet him. When she rounded the corner, Raquel was already at his door turning the knob and realizing it was locked. Joice backed away out of their line of sight. The alarm was still sounding and the big voice was still telling everyone to take cover. Joice wished she had just left the key in the room at this point. You were not supposed to be out walking around during an attack, but she had to make sure he could get back into his room. Kyle asked Raquel to move and she tried to knee him in the groin. He blocked her knee with his hand, and pushed her back. Raquel lost her balance and would have hit the ground had he not caught her. She screamed for him to let her go, but her tactic was not working because the alarm, the big voice, and now, the C-RAM were drowning her out. Kyle eventually released her and said, "Why are you doing this Raquel? You're acting crazy!" Raquel stopped and began to deflate like a balloon with a slow leak. She was breathing hard when she looked at Kyle and said, "I love you... How? How can you be so cold? Do you care about anything besides yourself?" She took a step toward him and screamed, "Do you?" Then she started weeping. Kyle said something, but the big voice and the alarm made it so that his mouth moved, but there was no sound. Joice studied him as he took a step toward Raquel. She was looking for any sign of affection, but could honestly say she saw nothing of the sort. Raquel backed away and started walking. Oh god! She's headed right toward me! Joice thought, panicked.

Something Kyle said, caused her to stop. It was quiet for a moment. Joice figured she could make her getaway, but as she turned to head to the staircase, she heard her name. She returned to her hiding spot so she could see and hear the action. "What about her?" Kyle said. The C-RAM went off again and Joice did not hear Raquel's response. "Think what you want, Raquel, but what's it to you anyway?" he answered, to whatever she said. They were talking, but Joice could no longer make out the words and then in a moment of quiet, she heard Kyle say, "It's in my room, if you want it come get it." Was he smiling? No matter, I have to get out of here before I am spotted! Joice went down the right staircase and texted Kyle and told him she had his key. A few moments later he met her downstairs, retrieved his key, and told her he would call her. Then, just like that, he was gone.