chapter = Chapter VIII
author = Cicero_Phelps and KnightsTemplar
Rating = AP15
Type = Romance
fanfic = Chapter VIII
Ben smiled at Max as they leaned against the bar, drinks in hand. “You seem to be enjoying yourself rather thoroughly tonight, bud,” Max chuckled.
“I’m in the presence of great friends, attending a great restaurant, with a gorgeous woman on my arm for the evening. What more could a fella want out of life,” he sighed contentedly.
“Um, I should think he may want a more interested date,” Max observed. “Kim doesn’t seem too happy tonight.”
“Oh, damn,” Ben said, a little peeved. “It happened earlier than usual tonight.”
“What’s that,” Max asked, worriedly.
“She’s lost that lovin’ feeling, Max.”
“Wha..? Oh, no, no-,”
“Yeah, she’s lost that lovin’ feeling, Max,” Ben said, a determined look in his eye, beckoning the DJ for a microphone.
Max rolled his eyes. “I hate when she does that,” he muttered, and grabbed another mic from the DJ, feeling obliged to save his wingman.
Ben strolled over to the section of the room where their dates were sitting, smirked at Kim, and began singing.
You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips;
And there's no tenderness like before in your fingertips
Rick grimaced; Ben was never a good singer, even while totally sober, and tonight, he couldn’t have carried a tune in a suitcase if they had handcuffed it to him. He shot Alan, Roy, and Rodney a resigned look, grinned infectiously, and went to ask for more microphones.
You're trying hard not to show it,
But baby, baby I know it…
Roy and Rick came in strong on the chorus, with Alan and Rodney on backup, singing harmony, and Max falling somewhere in between.
You've lost that lovin' feeling
Oh that lovin' feeling
You've lost that lovin' feeling
Now it's gone gone gone oh oh oh
The girls looked at each other and laughed, clearly flattered, and yet embarrassed by the show of male ego and chutzpah on display in front of them.
There's no welcome look in your eyes when I reach for you
And girl you're starting to criticize little things I do
Ooh, it makes me just feel like crying (baby)
'cause baby something beautiful is dying
Donald smirked. If he hadn’t been told so earlier in the evening, seeing Rick up there and serenading the girls confirmed that he was Mitchell’s son. "He's definitely Pop's son...it's just like one of those smooth moves Mitchell used to pull on the waitresses/working girls in Hong Kong," Donald thought. “In fact, I seem to remember bailing his sorry ass out of a song like this a long time ago.”
You've lost that lovin' feeling
Oh that lovin' feeling
You've lost that lovin' feeling
Not it's gone gone gone oh oh oh
Baby baby i get down on my knees for you
If you would only love me like you used to
The pilots flanked the table, with all but Ben looking directly into their date’s eyes as they sang and started clapping rhythmically.
We had a love, a love that you don't find everyday
So don't don't don't let it slip away (away)
Then they broke into alternating choruses, Rick, Alan, and Ben on one group, Roy leading the others in growing volume as they got the girls up out of their seats to dance with them.
I said baby
Baby
Baby
Baby
I need your love (I need your love)
I need your love
So bring it on back (bring it on back)
Now bring it on back
Now bring it on back
You've got to bring back that lovin' feeling
Oh that lovin' feeling
Bring back that lovin' feeling 'cause it's gone gone gone
Oh oh oh
Bring back that lovin' feeling
Oh that lovin' feeling
Bring back that lovin' feeling 'cause it's gone gone gone
“Woah-oh-oah!” Alan finished, exaggeratingly, winking at Vanessa, who batted her eyes at him and smiled, flustered and bright red from her chin to the tips of her ears.
The civilians near the bar offered the pilots a standing ovation, with the women whistling and shouting for an encore. Donald Hayes chuckled at his newfound young friends, smirked, and paid the bill, effectively ending dinner. Roy looked at Claudia, smirked, and offered her his arm, leading her towards a rented corvette in the parking lot. He held her door as she got in, then took his seat, started it up, and burned rubber out of the parking lot.
Rick looked at Donald Hayes, full of gratitude for the dinner they just had, and the great evening he spent with Lisa. “Thank you, sir, both for your company, and for this great dinner,” he said, thrusting his hand out to the older man.
Donald grasped Rick’s hand warmly. “You’re welcome, Rick,” he said, grasping every young man’s hand and thanking them in turn. “I consider it a great honor and privilege to have met the son of one of the finest pilots and comrades I’ve ever known in my life.”
They all waved goodbye as they filed into the limo and drove away from the restaurant, then smiled at each other and started chatting. Each one of them knew that the night was nowhere near ended.
*********
Alan sighed with contentment as he stared up at the stars, his left arm flexed behind his head, his right hand clasping Vanessa’s left as they laid atop a rocky outcropping that jutted out into the harbor. The rock was cool, moss-covered, and smoothed down over centuries (he was guessing) of massive waves and a couple decades of tourist travel. He glanced over at Vanessa as she lay beside him, her glasses left in her shoes at the base of the outcropping. They were both soaked head to toe from the massive waves from that part of the beach. The moonlight shone in her blue eyes as tropical winds blew in off the waterfront. Her ruby lips were drawn into a smile that filled her face from cheek to cheek, her brown hair soaked and plastered to her forehead, and both of them grinned like idiots. He thought to himself, This has got to be the best date I’ve ever had in my life.
She looked at him, coyly, and asked, “So, what made you join up, anyway? If you don’t mind my asking, that is. I mean, you seem to me to be more of a lover than a fighter.”
Alan sighed, closed his eyes, fought back a few tears, and answered slowly. “My father was a Marine,” he said softly, so that Vanessa wasn’t sure he was even speaking. “Every boy thinks his father is the greatest, but I know mine was one of the best. He was an ironworker, as well as a reservist, and was called up for duty in the Pacific. The Corps shipped him to Wake Island, where he coordinated the air traffic control tower for the Pacific Bomber Command. He was on Wake Island when the Chinese nuked it.”
Vanessa hugged him protectively. “I’m so sorry to hear about your father’s death, Alan.”
“It’s okay,” he said, slightly embarrassed about his tears. “I didn’t mean to depress this lovely evening. So, why did you join up?”
“I’ve known since I was four that I have certain abilities to, I don’t know, predict the immediate future on an imperfect basis. It’s as much atmospheric pressure as it is intuition, though.”
“So, why’d you join the Navy?”
“I wanted to try and put my limited skills to good use and serve my country,” she said, shyly. “My grandfather was a Navy radioman in World War Two, my father was in the Air Force, and I thought that the Navy was for me because I like to swim.”
Alan winked at her, “I don’t suppose you’d want to swim now?”
“Nah, we’re wet enough as it is, and I don’t skinny dip on the first date,” she winked back.
Alan stood up, smiled, and offered Vanessa his hand. “I often enjoy looking at the harbor at night. I come to this rock often,” he said.
“It is pretty,” she said, standing up with him. “But why are we standing now?”
He wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her close, and started half singing, half humming This Night by Billy Joel. “Because I’ve always wanted to dance with a beautiful woman on top of this rock,” he said.
They twirled around in the moonlight, lost in each other’s eyes.
********
Their formal evening had broken up around 8pm, Max reflected, but they were all enjoying themselves so much that they took their dates back to the base and decided to break into single groups to continue the fun. Rick and Lisa went back to the ladies’ barracks, so he could assist her with some sort of project, Claudia went back with Roy to his hotel room, and Alan, Ben, and Rodney decided that they’d take their dates off somewhere special. Vanessa tugged at Alan’s arm, saying something about a carnival, and they ran off to grab a moped and headed for the local fair. Rodney muttered something about taking Sammie to a movie, and Ben just went off randomly with Kim, to parts unknown. Max was used to being the odd man out, he hadn’t found anyone to go steady with, and in an odd way, he liked that.
It’s too quiet here, Max thought. Guess I’ll head over to the hangar; I doubt the tech crews got around to painting our kills yet.
********
Rodney smiled at Sammie all throughout the movie. He wasn’t paying attention to the plot, the characters, or the dialogue, only to her gorgeous eyes and how they contrasted against, and yet complimented, her red hair. He smiled to himself, feeling happier than he could remember in conscious memory.
The credits started rolling, and he looked deep into her eyes, smiled, and said, “It’s 2300, are you tired?”
“No, not one bit,” she said. “I haven’t felt this awake in a long time.”
“Hey, are you hungry,” he asked. “There’s this all-night Italian café nearby, if you’d like to grab a snack.”
“Sure, I think I know the place you mean,” she said. “Giorgio’s, right?”
“Yeah, I love their garlic bread,” he smiled.
“I could do with that, too,” she said. They linked arms and ran like school children two blocks over to the café.
Placing their order, Rodney smiled and looked once more into Sammie’s eyes. She grinned, then said, “Careful, you’ll get lost in there.”
“I’m lost in your eyes already,” he smirked. “You truly captivate me.”
“Wow,” she giggled.
“What, did I say something wrong?”
“No, it just usually takes more than one date to get that reaction,” she winked.
“Dare I ask what reaction you get on the first date,” he suggested.
She slapped his hand playfully. “I think you know, Rodney”
“No, I don’t; care to enlighten me?”
Sammie leaned in to kiss him, but their moment alone was interrupted by the waiter bringing the wine and garlic bread.
*******
Ben led Kim as they ran through the streets of Oahu’s downtown carnival, pausing every so often to soak in the sights and smells of the festivities. “Ben, slow down,” Kim shouted, laughing and panting. “I can hardly keep up with you.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, grinning like a fool. “I just get so giddy when I go to a street festival, it’s all so happy and overwhelming.”
“I know what you mean,” she smiled, “but I can’t do anything at the carnival if you yank my arms off!”
He bought her a white rose from a vendor that just happened by, and offered it to her by way of apology. “Thank you,” she said. “I think it’s beautiful.”
The street bands were playing a myriad of melodies, and when they struck up a 1950’s era sock hop tune, Ben bowed gallantly. “Your dancing pleasure awaits, milady,” he quipped, gently guiding her left hand into his and wrapping his left arm around her waist, assuming a proper position for the dance, and they started hopping to the beat like a greaser and his gal would have in decades past.
The music changed a few times, and they were able to keep up with the beats, dancing half the night away, and stealing kisses when the mood struck them…
********
Lisa stood outside the bathroom for the quad apartment; she was already in costume and waiting for Rick to slip into his matching outfit of dress shirt, bow tie, black topcoat with tails, and top hat, and a cane. Rick would wear pants, while Lisa would wear black nylons; they both would wear red cummerbunds around their waists, as well, with tap shoes completing the ensemble.
"Oh, Rick," Lisa called out, "Are you almost finished with that outfit?"
"I feel like an idiot," he complained half-heartedly.
"And that's different from how, exactly," she sniped jokingly.
“How did you talk me into this, again,” he asked.
“My feminine wiles convinced you,” she quipped. “And I needed a handsome assistant for this routine.”
He smiled, knowing he would lose that particular battle. "Okay, so what's the first move?"
"First, you tap your toe, then shift the weight of your foot to your heel, and swing your foot forward to tap your heel," she said, and observed him getting it, after five or so repetitions.
"Good job. Now, we'll practice tapping sideways, it's like you football players doing your sideways running drills. It's all just footwork and crossovers. Give it a go."
Rick got that part of it, too, and Lisa started the music; the song "Puttin' on the Ritz" by Taco came on. Lisa said, "Now, I'm going to be the more active one, here. I'll be doing a lot of spinning and turning, just remember to catch me if I spin towards you, and catch my leg if it comes near your head. Ok?"
He nodded, and shuffled his feet in time to the music, as Lisa twirled and spun around him in a complicated series of taps that were a lot faster than he could attempt. They looked at each other with hunger in their eyes, and passion unbridled in their hearts. The smiles on their lips merely gave a frame to the passion within each of them, and by the time Lisa came close enough to make her first high kick and rest her left leg on Rick's right shoulder, he lost all pretense at self control and kissed her ankle lightly.
Lisa squirmed with passion, shocked that Rick's kiss there would provoke such an intense reaction, and wanting only to give herself over to the sensations that she was experiencing at that moment. She lowered her leg and looked him full in the face, her eyes hungry for more, and his lips not willing to be denied the object of their hunger. She felt his handsomely cruel lips crushing down on hers with ferocity, and she willingly parted hers to slake his hunger. She lifted her right leg to wrap around his waist, and he gingerly picked her up and carried her back to her dorm bed, where they both gave in to their animal desires and wanton behavior.
AN: Hope this gets you all drooling...and, lest we forget ourselves, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" was a tribute to the scene in "Top Gun" and the song is by the Righteous Brothers...and the song from the last chapter, "I don't Wanna Miss A Thing," is by Aerosmith.
State = Continuará/To Be Continue
feedback = Sí/Yes
email = Lightsaber01ATHotmail.com