Devil’s in the Details (9 page)

The young man nodded, walking to a filing cabinet across from his desk, "I can help you out some, ma'am, but Captain Pegg would be the one to speak to. He knows far more than I do about the academic requirements and the programs available for a new student."

He pulled out a thin folder with the USNA logo on the front. "I can give you this and set up an appointment for you and your nephew if you would like? By the way, I’m Ensign Peters."

I took the thin folder, "Nice to meet you, Ensign. My name is Alex." I flipped open the folder pretending to look over the cover sheet in hopes of distracting the young man from asking for a last name, "I will call back later for an appointment. Can you tell me if there is a decent military history program here? My nephew is a savant when it comes to military history and tactics, always reading biography and history books like they were comic books." I smiled at the young man, doing my best to put on the charm to help my fake backstory stick.

He grinned, "We do. Actually we have one of the best instructors in the country." He walked back to his desk, tearing off a sheet from his note pad and scribbling on it before handing it over to me, "Commander Victoria Bancroft. She is in today if you’d like to speak with her." The Ensign looked up at the clock, "And her open office hours just started. Feel free to head over to her office, I know she would be more than willing to discuss her class and the program with you, ma'am."

I took the paper from him with Victoria's office location and phone number, "How do I get to her office?" I looked up at him, shifting my weight on the cane, wincing as my legs were starting to tell me it was time to sit down and not walk another step.

His eyes grew wider and he reached for me, "I should have offered you a seat, ma'am." He motioned to a chair, "I can get a midshipman to take you over or I can find a wheelchair, ma'am."

I waved him off, "I am fine to walk, thank you Ensign Peters." I looked over my shoulder at the open door, "Can you give me directions?"

The Ensign nodded, holding his hand out for the piece of paper he had given me, "I can write them down for you, ma'am. Commander Bancroft’s' office is in this building." I handed the paper over and let the kid draw out a quick map before handing it back. "She is up on the second floor, ma'am, straight down from the elevators."

Looking at the little perfectly drawn map, I smiled, "Thank you Ensign Peters. I should get moving if I want to catch her before her next class."

"Yes ma'am." He smiled back at me, walking with me to the door, "If you need anything, ma'am, I also wrote my desk phone number on the bottom. I can come up and help you if you need it, ma'am."

I whispered a thank you and headed back out to the bank of elevators, suddenly feeling like I wanted to cry. Everyone on this campus had been so kind and concerned, that it overwhelmed me.

I was not used to strangers caring, let alone making eye contact with me and offering to help me, and yet, I just had at least five people in the last few hours genuinely care about my well-being. All starting with the blonde two floors above me.

I had to swallow down the rising nerves as the elevator doors closed on me waiting for me to choose a floor. I stared at the old steel elevator door, wondering if this was a good idea to find my savior and thank her in person. I could easily back out, go back outside and find Stacy. Have her take me home and resort to sending a nice little thank you card to the blonde named Victoria and let her fade out of my thoughts.

I took a deep breath, my hand moving on its own to mash the two button.

There was no way she could fade from my thoughts no matter how hard I tried to make her.

I flinched when the elevator dinged and the doors whispered open. My nerves had me on edge as I sucked in a slow breath and stepped out. I was beyond nervous, my stomach was twirling in knots like a carousel gone ballistic.

I never got nervous. Even in my first days as a nurse, I never got nervous. I was always one who was completely confident about life and lived based on the idea that spontaneity was necessary to live a full life. It was one of the things that spurred me to follow through on this crazy idea of coming to the Naval Academy and searching out a total stranger.

I shuffled slowly out of the elevator, looking around the hallway lined with office doors. I tucked the small piece of paper from the Ensign in my pocket, when I felt my phone vibrate. Stacy was sending a text to check on me. I replied quickly and shoved the phone back into my pocket, noticing that my hands were trembling. I shook my head, "Get it together Alex."

I ran a hand over my hair, then gripped the top of my can tighter and started walking down the hall, looking at the glass office doors I passed. Reading the names one by one. 

Captain F. Georges.

Lieutenant P. Smithers.

Lieutenant Commander W. Alvin
.

All the titles looked the same with the tiny differences of a USN or a USMC under the name, or a Ret. next to the service branch abbreviation.

All names that when painted in gold, made me feel even more nervous. I was completely out of my element.

I paused and for a second, debated turning around and hobbling back to the elevator and leaving. Then my eyes settled on the door two steps ahead of me.

Commander V. Bancroft. USN – Ret.

I blew out a slow breath. There was no turning back now.

I raised my hand, still shaking, and knocked lightly on the pebbled glass under her name.

Propping my chin up with my hand, I checked over the pop quiz I had just given my last class. I was satisfied that most of the class had passed with flying colors. Only one or two had a below ninety percent score, but it was nothing to get upset over. The entire class was on track to passing the class with honors and a full understanding of what I was teaching them.

The quiz was written last night right before bed to try and distract my thoughts when all I could think about was Alex and her journal entry. The only time she wasn't in my thoughts was when I was teaching and reading essays, or sitting down with midshipmen to discuss their progress and future.

It also didn't help that I had no side work from Dani. Which gave me more time to sit in my house, watching old movies and comparing every brunette that walked on screen to the one in my head.

After searching her loft, I left and tried my best not to look back. Only calling Dani to tell her that Alex was clean and no one to worry about. Dani seemed satisfied with that and told me her minor cleanup had ensured that my cock up of looking at the hospital camera would never go any further than her and I. Meaning Alex was safe from the prying eyes of my employer.

Scrawling a 100% on the quiz in my hand, I set it off to the side and reached for another. My eyes scrolling over the answers, I debated calling Dani and asking for a quick side job that would take me out of town. I was starting to get anxious and I didn't like it. When I became anxious, I would think too much and begin analyzing the things I couldn't understand, mainly my feelings towards the brunette and why I was drawn to her and why she was drawn to me.

I leaned harder on my hand, checking off wrong answers in red ink. In reality, if I was a little more normal, I could probably just call the woman and talk to her, or run into her at the coffee shop down the street from the hospital that her bank records showed she frequented.

I rolled my eyes at myself, as if creeping up on someone with the knowledge I had about Alex could ever be played off as normal.

Shifting in my desk chair, I tugged at the khaki uniform I was in, hating the way the material felt on my skin and the way the white t-shirt I had to wear felt too thick. I avoided wearing my Navy uniform any chance I could, but I had a full faculty meeting today with the Commandant and I had to be in full uniform. Not only did I hate the material, I hated that the uniform told my military history in bold colors of the rainbow, highlighted by the silver oak leaves on my collar.

It was a part of my history I wanted to leave to the history books and not on my body where everyone could see and ask far too many questions.

Flipping to another quiz, I looked at the clock. I had another hour and a half of open office hours until I could go to lunch. Then I could bury my mind in afternoon classes followed by droning out all coherent thoughts during the meeting. Hoping all of it would keep Alex free from my mind until I could get home and find more distractions.

A soft knock on the glass of my office door pulled my chin away from my hand. Forcing me to straighten up and set down my pen, I called out, "Come in."

The door creaked open as I turned to picked up the grading book from my briefcase. There were still five midshipmen I was expecting to speak with. I kept my eyes on the spiraled black notebook, standing up to go through the formalities of saluting and ma'am's. "You can sign in on the way out." I looked up from the gradebook to see which of my students it was.

But when my eyes locked on my visitor, I had to clench my jaw to prevent from showing any outward emotion.

She looked better than when I had dropped her off in the ER. Her bruises were fading and the lack of blood staining her skin, gave me a clear view of her and reflected the same beauty I saw in the photographs at her loft. I still found myself gripping on to the edge of my desk to funnel out the emotions I felt as Alex slowly walked into my office with a sheepish, shy smile on her face. She stopped to stand in the middle of the room in fitted blue jeans, a thin dark blue jacket covering a soft grey shirt. Her hair was up and away from her face, begging me to look at her when it was the last thing I wanted to do.

Alex looked around the office, her cheeks pinking up in embarrassment, "I know this is, um, a bit unusual, but I just really had to find you." Her head turned, her dark blue eyes locking on mine in a moment of silence. It was just her and I staring at each other, and yet, my heart began to accelerate like a finely tuned sports car with every second this woman stared back at me. Her perfume, one I knew well and liked, filled the air around me, making me grip harder on the wood edge of the desk.

Alex finally looked down at the cane she was propped against, "Are you Victoria Bancroft?" She winced as she took another step forward. Her body still healing from the beating she took at the hands of the men I killed for her.

I knew she knew the answer. She knew it the second she made eye contact with me, but I could also see how nervous she was and how completely out of character it was for her to be standing in my office like this.

I cleared my throat, "I am, yes." Letting go of the desk, I moved towards her. Moving to the side she wasn't leaning on, and gently grabbed her elbow, "Let's get you seated."

Alex didn't flinch when I touched her, but I did. I felt how warm she was under the thin, washed out dark blue jacket she wore. It was a warmth I had not felt in a long time and I had to fight not to let go of her arm like I wanted to. I could see her look at me in the corner of my eye, her eyes running over my face and her memory putting pieces together. There was also something else in her eyes that had my skin warming up to the point I could feel the sweat build at my temples.

It was a look I had not seen in very long time, one of admiration wrapped in lust and something more. The something more I dared not explore further, ignoring it by looking at the pale grey blue carpet as I guided Alex towards my desk.

I smiled, looking up at her, walking her to the chair in front of my desk for students, doing my best to avoid looking in her eyes. "Can I get you a glass of water before we discuss why you had to find me?" I kept my professional tone, knowing if I showed any emotion, Alex would run with it. I honestly wanted her to run away, away from me, and I would do it by putting my best efforts to be cold and professional to her.

It was going to be mild torture to sit across from her and not look at her like the stunning woman Alex was. Stunning, strong, and ballsy enough to come to my job and talk face to face with me. This was unexpected and it made the foreign things I felt for her grow with every minute she sat across the desk. This was not good and I knew it was going to get me in trouble the longer I was around this woman. My will starting to crumble with the cold mask I put on when I recognized it was her knocking on my office door.

"I'm fine, thank you." Alex set her cane against the front edge of the desk.

I returned to my seat, shuffling up the graded papers and setting them to the side, "If you change your mind, please don't hesitate to ask." When my desk was clear, I looked up at Alex, still staring at me with blue eyes that started to glass over.