“Wow, we knocked those back pretty quickly!” remarked Angie. “I guess we're both in the mood for a party tonight! You want another one?”
“Sure. Let's do this. You wanna switch cocktails this time?”
She shook her head, smiling mischievously.
“I was thinking it's time we each had a Long Island Iced Tea. How do you feel about one of those?”
“Wow, you really are eager to get the party started huh?” I remarked.
“You bet! If you thought your Screwdriver was good, wait until you try their Long Island Iced tea. It's legendary!”
“Alright, why not? We're out here to have fun, so let's have fun.”
Angie ordered us each a Long Island Iced Tea, and we drank these at a table, chatting and catching up on what we had each been doing over the past couple of years. After I had finished my cocktail, I had to admit that I was feeling pretty tipsy.
“Another one?” asked Angie.
“I dunno, that was pretty strong!”
She laughed.
“You're right, it did pack a pretty hefty punch. Well, do you feel like dancing to work some of that alcohol off? They got a great little dance floor downstairs.”
“Wow, this place really does have everything!”
“I told you, it's an awesome little spot. So, what do you say, shall we head downstairs to dance some of these calories off? We've got figures to maintain, you know!”
“We sure do.”
For a moment, a sudden thought of Everett barged into my mind. I suddenly felt a stab of guilt. Had I misjudged him? Had I been too harsh on him? What if I'd been totally mistaken, and something terrible had happened? I mean, now that I thought about it, why would he just stand me up like that? Maybe I had been too quick to judge. I was about to turn on my phone, just to check if he had left a message or anything, when a deep voice interrupted me.
“Excuse me, ladies, but my friend and I couldn't help but notice you two.”
I looked up and saw a pair of jacked, handsome young guys who were dressed to the nines standing in front of Angie and me.
“Would you ladies like to accompany us to the dance floor?”
Angie looked at me with excitement and eagerness in her eyes. I slipped my phone back into my purse, leaving it off, and stood up with a smile.
“Hi guys,” I said. “I'm Vivienne, and this is my friend Angie, and yes, we'd love to dance with you.”
Chapter Ten
Everett
It was hot, sweltering hot, and beads of sweat were running down my back and the sides of my face. They made me itchy, and I had a maddening urge to scratch at them, but the thick bulletproof vest I was wearing and the combat armor all made that impossible, so I simply had to bear the torture in silence. A hot gust of desert wind whipped sand across our faces, and I turned from it and held up a hand to protect my eyes.
“There they are,” whispered a gruff voice to my left. “The insurgents. You ready to do this, Lieutenant?”
“I am, Mills.” I turned to Jimmy, who was at the back of the squad. “You ready, Jimmy? I can tell you, there are gonna be some wounds to fix after this encounter.”
He nodded.
“Hopefully, we'll be dealing out most of those and not receiving them,” he said.
“That's the aim. Alright, the truck is outside the compound gate, people,” I said to my squad. “As soon as those gates open, we charge. Everyone clear on their positions?”
“Yes, Lieutenant!” they all replied in unison.