Edge of Tomorrow (57 page)

“Syd! What’s the matter with you?
You’ve never acted like this before! I don’t have a date with
another woman! I would
never
do that to you! I have a date with my
parents
! I wanted you to meet them!”

Syd stopped pacing and stared at Hatch in
amazement. She wanted to crawl into a hole and die! She had been
possessive and jealous! She had never felt this way before.

Wow!
she
thought.
I was jealous! I acted like a
complete ass! How do I dig myself out of this one?

“Hatch, I’m
so
sorry! I acted like an ass! I don’t know what
got into me! Can you ever forgive me?” she moaned as she went to
him and put her arms around his neck, being careful not to burn him
with her cigarette. He pulled her against him and ran his hand over
her hair.

“Did I detect a little jealousy there? I
think that’s a good sign,” he whispered, a smile on his lips.

“What could be good about the way I acted?”
she sniffled, crying softly on his shoulder. An ash fell off her
cigarette onto the carpet, but she didn’t notice. “I could just
die!”

“I agree you’re not acting like
yourself. My God! You’re not
pregnant
are you?”

“No!
I
couldn’t
be! You know I went on the
pill after that first night. It’s not even time for my period yet!”
she whimpered as she began to realize what the problem
was.

Hatch said, “Here, let’s go sit down and have
a slug of cognac.” Hatch’s eyes got moist as he thought of Syd—the
former Anna Klein, deadly assassin—crying. He had to control
himself to keep from joining her.

Syd put her cigarette in the ashtray next to
his and swallowed a big gulp of her drink. It burned all the way
down. Definitely not the way to drink cognac! He handed her his
handkerchief and she wiped her eyes and blew her nose. He also took
a swig of his drink as he wondered what to say to her to calm her
down.

Before he could say anything, she sniffled,
“You never mentioned your parents before. I didn’t even know
whether they were still alive or not. Are you sure you want me to
meet them after the way I acted?”

“That was my plan—still is. They’re on
an around-the-world cruise and the ship’s port-of-call this evening
is Athens —Piraeus, actually. I told them when they left that I
would meet them for dinner there if I possibly could. It’s their
50
^th
wedding anniversary. I
can cancel if you’re not up to it,” he replied softly.

“Sure! Make me feel even shittier than I
already do! I’d love to meet your parents! Tell me about them.”

“My father is a retired Air Force
four-star general. He retired in 1992 after forty years in the
service. General Lawrence Lincoln and my mother Carrie. My mother
is what you would expect: an Air Force wife all of her life.
The
General
is
still
the
General
.”

“That doesn’t sound like too flattering of a
description.”

“Fairly accurate, however. You’ll like my
mother. It takes some effort to get close to my father, though,”
mused Hatch as he slipped his arm around her and began fondling her
breast.

“Don’t you two get along?”

“Oh, yes, in our own way. He’s been pissed at
me ever since I left the Air Force for the CIA. I was supposed to
follow in his footsteps. What he doesn’t know is that I never had
that choice. The CIA ran my life even while I was in the Air Force.
So called ‘Joint Missions.’”

He paused, took a drag off his cigarette, and
played with her silk-covered breast some more. She leaned closer to
him.

“Do you have any siblings?” she asked,
covering his hand with hers and pushing it against her breast.

“One brother. He’s a black sheep to the
General, too. He rebelled and went into the Marines,” laughed
Hatch. “His name is Vernon Lincoln and he has a wife and two kids,
so at least he gave them grandchildren. That helped his cause
immensely, especially with my mother. My brother now runs a big
detective agency in L.A.—Investigations International.”

“You guys are really into
I
s, aren’t you?”

Syd realized how little she really knew
about Hatch and how much she wanted to know more. She wanted to
know
everything
about
him!

“Have you taken a woman with you before when
you have dinner with your parents?” Syd asked, the jealousy still
not quite gone. The feeling was ebbing, however.

“Sometimes. Not often. I hate to put anyone
through the undeserved grilling they get from my father,” he
laughed as he pulled her bra strap down so he could get his hand
inside her bra.

“But you’ll put
me
through it though?” she giggled.

“You’ll be able to handle it. Besides, this
is a special anniversary. Maybe he’ll behave.”

Syd turned and looked at him and said, “Can I
ask you something else personal?”

“Sure. Anything.”

“Tell me about Kat.”

This question was not what he had expected.
He had already told her everything there was to tell about Kat. The
question confused him.

“I’ve told you all about her already. What
else do you want to know?”

“I mean, tell me about how you knew you loved
her after only a couple of days, even though she was technically
your enemy. Tell me about love at first sight.”

He thought a moment, trying to collect his
thoughts, thinking back to Berlin and the first time he saw Kat and
what happened afterwards. He removed his hand from her breast and
lit another cigarette.

“That’s a hard one, Syd, because if I say it
out loud it won’t make any sense—it certainly won’t be logical. To
someone who is a good logician—like you, even me—the whole process
sounds ludicrous.”

“Try me. I’m not feeling very logical right
now. What are the symptoms?” she urged as she lit herself another
cigarette.

“Well, when I first saw her, I had this
‘feeling’ that she was different, special; but I convinced myself
that I just wanted to see if I could bed her. That was my usual MO.
After two or three days, everything changed. Don’t ask me how or
why. I got extremely jealous when she dated other men, even though
it was part of her spy job. I felt antsy and restless when I wasn’t
with her, even irritable at times. All I did was think about when I
could see her again. I couldn’t imagine how I could go on without
her.”

He paused and sipped his drink.

“And this was before you knew her family, her
value system …”

“Yes. I told you it can’t be explained. Love
seems to have its own rules. I know she made me want to be a better
person.”

“All this before you even … had sex with
her?”

“Yes. Sex was just icing on the cake,” he
whispered, smoking again.

Syd took a drag off her own cigarette and a
sip of cognac, then said, “I’m sorry I put you through that again,
but I had to know something. I’m afraid you are going to be very
angry with me for what I’m about to say, but I have to say it.”

“You never make me angry, Syd.”

“This will be tough on you, though. I’ve only
known you for a little over two weeks, so I’ve been fighting this,
but you told me to be honest with you, so I will. I have all those
symptoms you just described. I’m afraid I’m in love with you,
Hatch! God, I got it out!” Syd exclaimed.

Hatch could not believe his ears! He thought
he had misunderstood her. The look of disbelief on his face scared
Syd.

“Could you say that again, please?” he
whispered.

Syd drained her glass, looked into his
eyes and said, “I said I
love
you! I know it’s crazy, and I know it will fuck up the good
thing we have going, but …”

Hatch put his finger up to her lips and
murmured, “Shush! I wasn’t sure I heard you right! I still can’t
believe it! I was willing to wait for as long as it took to make
you love me! You silly, sweet woman! I’ve loved you since Istanbul!
Maybe before that, I don’t know! I’m so
happy
—I don’t know what to say!”

He drew her into his arms and kissed her, a
kiss which seemed different than all those that had come before
this. They broke for air and just held each other in silence,
sharing each other’s warmth.

Syd asked, “
You
love
me?
I don’t believe what’s happening!”

“With all my being. I can’t bear it when
you’re out of my sight, but I had to force myself to be apart from
you so you wouldn’t find me out. I didn’t want you to think I was
crazy!” he whispered in her ear, nibbling on it.

“I thought you would think I was just some
gold digger after your money,” she said. “Nobody falls in love in
such a short time!”

“It seems we both did. I guess we’re both
crazy!” he replied as he kissed her again. “Do you remember we
mentioned ‘fate’ when we first met? It seems fate has had its way
with us.”

Syd straightened up and arose, then put
another splash of brandy in their snifters. Her heart ached and she
was trembling with happiness. She had never felt this way before.
She never had thought that being in love—and being loved—could give
you a feeling that was so close to pain. She took several deep
breaths to calm herself.

She finally said, “This can screw up our
perfectly good relationship, dear. I can call you ‘dear’ now, can’t
I?”

“Yes, sweetheart, call me anything you
want, but you’re not making sense. We love each other. It’s
a
better
relationship. It
is
the
relationship. What
more could either of us possibly want?” queried Hatch.

Syd sat back down next to him and snuffed her
cigarette out and took another sip of her cognac.

“Well, I’m too happy right now to dwell on
how complicated our future will get. My brain is locked up. At this
moment, I want you to take me to bed and make love to me like never
before.”

“My thoughts exactly, dear Syd!”

• • •

Hatch and Syd both considered the next
two hours of sex the best they had ever had together. Not just
physically—they had always had outstanding sex—but also
psychologically. Syd had never made love before with anyone telling
her how much she was loved. She had heard, “You’re good, Syd!”,
“You are
superb
, Syd!”, and
things of that ilk, but never, “I
love
you, Syd!” She, also, had never told anyone
she loved them before. It was all Hatch could do to keep from
asking her to marry him, but he wanted to wait and ask her in a
romantic setting—not blurt it out in the heat of coupling. He would
try and plan something for Greece that evening.

At 10:30 A.M., Syd awoke and found herself on
her right side, her back against Hatch’s back. As the situation hit
her with a rush, she began to cry silently, tears running down her
face.

This wasn’t supposed to
happen! What am I going to do? I have to be in Miami no later than
September 10
^th
and teach for four months! But I can’t bear the
thought of not being with him, and he can’t hang around Miami for
that long! How can I be so happy and so miserable at the same
time?

She wiped the tears from her eyes and swung
her legs over the edge of the bed as she sat up.

“Good morning, precious,” said Hatch from
behind her.

She turned and looked at him and smiled.

“Good morning to you. Still feel the same?”
she asked.

“More so. You?”

“I’m hopeless! Of course I still love you!
But my mind is doing cartwheels! Is that normal?” she groaned.

“Yes, oh, yes! You lose touch with your
reasoning powers. Everything is replaced by pure bliss! Isn’t it
wonderful? Have you been crying?”

“Just ‘cry for happy.’ I think I will give in
to bliss right now. Want to shower with me, dear?” she smiled.

“I wouldn’t miss that! You’ve turned me into
a shower-sex addict. God, you’re gorgeous this morning!”

“Your brain is locked up, too! I’m sweaty
from sex, my hair is plastered to my head, no makeup! I’ll see you
in the shower!”

• • •

After drying her hair, Syd went to the
bathroom mirror to apply her makeup before dressing. Hatch did not
shave because he was letting his beard grow fuller again.

“I wonder how Sara enjoyed her night?”
chortled Syd.

“The poor guy is probably all used up,”
laughed Hatch.

“And you’re not?” giggled Syd as she reached
for her bra.

“I admit it! That trick of yours in the
shower finished me off!”

“We women have more staying power than men,”
smirked Syd. “When do we leave for Athens? Taking the GS-V?”

“Let’s get some breakfast, then we’ll leave.
We’ll take the chopper. It’s only a little over 400 miles, so we’ll
be there in about an hour and a half. The GS-V has some maintenance
underway—and going to Rome, then firing up the GS-V, is more
trouble than it’s worth. Besides, I need a chopper while we’re in
Athens,” he replied.

“Whatever for?” she asked as she buttoned her
light blue blouse.

“Surprise. You’ll find out later.”

“What are we going to tell your parents? I
mean, about us?” she asked. “Won’t they think it weird if you tell
them you’re in love with some floozy you just met?”

“Floozy
?
What’s this
floozy
crap?
You’re gorgeous! Smart! They’ll just think you’re after my money!”
he laughed. “They already think I’m weird, though. They actually
should be very happy to see me serious about someone. They don’t
know about Kat, by the way. They know nothing about that part of my
life, and I would like to keep it that way. OK?”