Risky Situations

Chapter 1: Wait for Me

This was the moment he had been waiting for almost a year. He hadn't seen her in so long and now he was going to do the craziest thing he had ever done. Though his buddies would say jumping from a plane over enemy lines was the craziest thing. But this involved something much bigger. This involved his heart. What would happen if she had moved on? It had been so long since their last conversation. We didn't really end on the best terms. There was love there. He knew it. But... when you're on a mission that takes longer than expected and you don't know if you're ever coming back you say stupid things. He knew that it was a long shot, but he needed to try. He needed to know if she waited for him...

6 MONTHS EARLIER

I hated seeing that gray screen where Albert's picture usually sat. We had such a whirlwind romance. Who falls hard for a guy you meet on a dating app after about a month. Like, I've heard of love at first sight but this was love at first swipe. I had been using the LoveLink app for about a month and had been on a litany of horrible dates. Like this one time, a guy gave me this impression he was a Centaur... like uh I'm not that dumb. But he had a nice chat and I was like, YOLO! I got to the beach where we were supposed to have a date and the guy was a cosplayer. Like, kudos to you bud, but he legit thought he was a Centaur! It's like those people called furries. Yeah... not my cup of tea. I wanted someone normal. Someone down to earth. I wanted someone like my dad. He was my hero and best friend. So when Albert Bishop's profile popped up I swiped right.

Did I think this gorgeous hunk of a man would be interested in me? Nope. I mean I'm not bad looking, but I'm not your typical beauty. I had long black hair and hazel eyes. I had a rack people would kill for! However... Being a little bigger than most girls had plagued me most of my life. Like, I love who I am. I am a big girl and proud. I had relationships before but I was always the "secret" girlfriend. Yeah... aka booty call girl. But I did have a few real relationships. But like most relationships, they fizzled out. So when Albert matched me I was in total shock. I really liked how he thought. He looked at things from a different set of blue grey eyes. He was down to earth and completely sweet. Not to mention... he was hot as hell! Like, the man's pics he sent me... WOW!

The thing that really solidified things for me was when I sent him my pictures. He didn't say anything about my weight... at all! When we finally met for dinner he looked nervous and and then happy. The people around us were staring and he eased my anxiety. He knew what it was like to have all eyes on you. A young man in his military uniform with a plus-size young woman without a wedding ring... yeah I could imagine the ideas they had in their head. "How does that happen?" "Must be a pity date." "Maybe that's his sister?" "Ew that's disgusting!" But, luckily, I am a lot more confident than I was when I was younger. If this was me in my teens or early twenties I would have been mortified but now that I'm older I have a thick skin. Kind of. Okay so their eyes watching us, mainly me, did make me feel self conscious a bit.

But I could have spent the night with him, I really could have, but I knew that I didn't want our relationship to start out hot and heavy and then fizzle out. I say relationship because I didn't want to think it was a fling. He and I would chat all day long and not just about his job but also about my job and his future after his service. He wanted to go back to college to study architecture. I could only imagine him wearing Ted Mosby's outfits when he was an architect. God he was dreamy! I could only imagine a high school music teacher/ concert viola player and him!? But I didn't want to get my hopes up. I didn't want to get my heartbroken. It's just that damn man would not leave me alone.

But my heart was broken because he had to leave. He had a mission and I didn't know how long it was going to be. In the beginning, I would check his messages for an update almost every day. Then it was every other day. Then it was once a week. At this time I'm now checking once a month if at all. Did I love reviewing our old conversations? Yes, I did. Did I want to get in touch with my dad's old Navy buddies to see if they had intel on him? Yes. Did I? No. I just didn't want to find out that he had been home this whole time and he just forgot all about me. Or that our time together wasn't as special as I thought it was or worse! What if he pulled a stunt where he posed as guy from the military but was so crazy creep! That was very possible. But something about him just screamed honesty. So I didn't want to be that one notch in his belt and it made me stronger knowing I didn't give in to temptation. But damn I wish I had! I hadn't been laid in... well never mind about that!