16:45 Ritz Carlton Hotel

John didn’t respond to Alice’s messages, so she tracked him down to the Arcade where he and the rest of the boys were. She found her idiot of a boyfriend totally engrossed in a game of cornhole. John saw Alice and the look on her face indicated he was now in the doghouse. They technically weren’t late yet, but it was time to go. Alice was just shaking her head; he had been talking about getting a team together all fall semester.

“So, this is what you were doing when you missed my messages and calls?” Her arms were crossed.

Alice really wasn’t that angry; she was putting on a show for John and anyone else around.

“Yeah, that about covers it.” John responded.

Alice grabbed his cheeks and pulled his head down and kissed him. “Well, we have places to be. Like the hotel. We need to check in and get cleaned up. So, follow me.”

“Aye aye ma’am!” John saluted her then grabbed her hand as they walked out of the arcade. John waived to his friends as they walked out. He heard Andern make a whip like sound as he walked away.

“The girls and I thank you for the spa treatment you setup, we are all feeling refreshed and fantastic after that.” Alice was smiling once more.

“You’re welcome. Y’all needed that after that bullshit from this afternoon.” John smiled.

“Yes, we did. So, were any of the others staying off base tonight?”

“I think Terry said he and his boyfriend were. No one else was, they were going to grab a bite to eat and then probably to the theatre before heading back to the barracks. Probably do the same thing the next couple days too.”

“Well, I suppose we’re fortunate to have the means to experience other things.” Alice said.

Money wasn’t a large concern for the couple. Alice’s family affluence was ridiculous. John was a day trading revenge kleptomaniac.

“Very true. Oh hey. Tomorrow at 12:00 we’re going to have lunch at Chongo’s again. Did y’all see that message at the Spa?” John asked.

“Yup, we are all in.”

“Cool, meals on me too. Don’t need the rest of the group blow all their money there.”

“Ahh you’re so sweet. And oh my god, this watch is amazing by the way.”

“Right? It’s fucking sweet.”

Alice laughed. She wasn’t all that happy that John spent two hundred thirty thousand on a watch for her. From her perspective though it did show how much he trusted her. Maybe this was just one more sign that he wanted the relationship to go to the next step. But she made mental notes to talk to him about reinforce the message about spending this much money on her in the future.

“And I didn’t mean to sound bitchy about receiving but you know it’s really expensive.”

“Yeah, your good. That was kind of a dick move on my part to give you a gift that expensive. And I probably should’ve cleared that with you first. I was kinda riding the high with the purchase of this one.” John lifted his wrist and pointed at that one.

“So how much did you drop on that one? That is assuming your cool with telling me.”

John mumbled. “About four mil.”

Alice stopped. “Did I hear that right?”

“Ahh, depends, what did you hear?” John was trying to deflect a bit.

Alice elbowed him in the side lightly. “So, I’m not mad. I’m really not. But when we get married that kind of purchase needs to be discussed before you go do something rash.”

“In my defense, that was just a drop in the bucket.”

“That is not a good justification, in fact, it’s not a justification at all. We do need to communicate about that stuff in the future. Not now mind you, but soon.” Alice rolled her eyes at John.

John had to concede that point, she was right. “Your right. The days of acting like a lone wolf and doing whatever I want are kinda over. Though I warn you, I likely will do things every now and then that piss you off.”

Alice started laugh. “I wouldn’t expect you to be perfect. That applies to me equally as well.”

The couple took about twenty minutes to get to the hotel. They were able to get check in and got their room keys. John confirmed that the restaurant’s dress code was casual. He didn’t really feel like going back out to the shopping district to get a suit or something fancy to wear. They left the front desk and headed up to their room.

Alice opened the door and walked into their room for the next couple of nights. John followed her and closed the door behind him. He was going to take a look around the room. But then Alice had other ideas though. She grabbed John and kissed him.

“It’s been two and a half weeks. I need this.”

John had no problem with her initiating. It was a welcome surprise. Alice jumped onto John. He grabbed her ass and lifted her over to the bed. She took her shirt off and was pulling John’s pants off. It wasn’t long until they were both naked and their bodies intertwined.

19:00 Ritz Carlton Restaurant

The restaurant was made up of several large rooms with relatively few booths and tables. At first glance it did not make good use of its space. But for whatever reason the hotel continued with the inefficient design. It did make for a somewhat intimate experience though.

“So, are you going to explain what you did this afternoon?” Alice was still beaming from their tryst in the bedroom.

“Well, I took control of one guy and eliminated all three of them.” John just shrugged.

“Ugh. I’m aware of that part, but how did you do that. I didn’t think people could be forced to do what they didn’t want to do.”

John shook his head. “I can’t make a gay person straight. Or make a liberal a conservative. One’s base nature can only be changed if they choose to do so, if that’s even possible in the first place. There’s a healthy debate on if that’s truly possible.”

“But you made him shoot them.”

“It’s convoluted but essentially they are still in their head but being a witness to everything. I drove his consciousness out of his conscious mind and imposed my will on it temporarily. That lets me tap into their unconscious functions which lets me make them say what I want too, drink, move, or shoot.”

“I don’t understand that all.” Alice had no idea what John was talking about.

“Rarely does a non-telepath understand, there’s no easy way to explain it. He was fully aware that he wasn’t able to control himself. There was a lot going on. And that’s part of the problem with what I did.”

“He was fighting you?”

“Not really, it was more like he was lashing out or flailing his arms at random. He didn’t know how to attack the controller properly. It is somewhat taxing to control someone. But to off someone like that takes a lot out of you.”

“So that’s why you looked so damned haggard.”

“Mhmm. Third time I’ve done that, and hopefully the last. It is not a pleasant experience to go through.”

Alice was confused and didn’t understand the how John did what he did. So, she changed the subject. “Hey, have you heard about sharing a room next year?”

“Did some research, but the news wasn’t what you or I wanted to hear. We’re basically shit out of luck for next year. Junior year is another story though. So, there’s that.”

“Damn, I was hoping that could be a thing.”

“You and me both. I actually can’t do my normal thing here. Too many eyes to review and sign off requests.”

“The complete and total disregard for orders and protocol?”

John just shrugged. “Yup. I’ve got one more thing to check but it’s basically a hail mary. So, I’m hoping but not holding my breath. Probably won’t know till the end of the summer semester.”

“So, what are we going to do the rest of the evening?” Alice was smirking.

“Sex and sleep.” John tossed the napkin on the plate and got up. Blunt and to the point.

“Sounds like a good plan.” Alice smirked; despite the crass answer it was basically what she wanted too.

The couple smiled at one another and headed back to their room. John was the aggressor this time around. Alice didn’t mind. About an hour into their tryst the phone rang, there had been two noise complaints made on them. The worker at the front desk asked them to politely cool it or else they’d be kicked out of the hotel. Both of them started laughing about getting caught like that. After giggling like idiots, they went at it for one more round before calling it a night.

08:00 Interstellar Pancakes

The couple woke up and took a shower together. It lasted three times longer than it needed to be because they were horny yet again and wanted to burn that energy off. Eventually they separated from one another and got cleaned up. After they dressed, they headed out to the commercial district again and had breakfast at another staple of the station.

“I’m just saying, pancakes are delicious, but waffles are better.” John said as he was munching on some bacon.

“You can think that, but you’d be wrong. Pancakes are better.” Alice smiled as she poured some blueberry syrup on her pancakes.

“Not even that smile of yours is enough to convince me otherwise.” John took a bite of his pancakes. “These are quite delicious; I’ll give them that.”

“So, what’s the plan of attack today?”

“Honestly not sure. Lunch at Chongo’s at 12:00, nothing else planned. I do want to play some cornhole again, but I think we can do that after lunch.”

“I’ll ask Theresa and see if she wants to do a couples match.”

“Hell yeah.” John put up his hand for a high five.

“I’m in love with a man-child.” Alice lightly tapped his hand to get him to lower it.

John paid for the meal and left a healthy tip behind. As they walked out Jess Matzke was smirking at the couple.

“Small world. Nice to meet you Ms. Robertson. I’m Jess. Your boyfriend’s ex-lover.”

“Charmed. John, would you care to explain this?” Alice wasn’t mad at John, but this wasn’t a surprise that she wanted today. She took an immediate disliking to Jess.

“She’s a former coworker. Was together with her before I met you. As to this precise conversation I’m in the dark as much as you.”

“Oh, big guy, don’t worry. I’m just going to have a girls chat with Alice. You go do your stuff.” Jess smirked as she said that.

“Call me if you need anything. I’ll be around.” John said to Alice.

08:45 Starbucks

“I’ll be blunt. I don’t know or care to know you. You split me up from my boyfriend on our pitifully short leave time. Let’s keep this brief so I can get back to things with my boyfriend. What is it that you so desperately needed to talk to me about?” Alice was pissed.

“I was wondering how you really felt about him.” Jess smiled.

“Your pissed that he shot you down.”

“Close. But not quiet. And you didn’t answer my question.”

“Very serious. You fell for him didn’t you. So that’s it, but he didn’t reciprocate. That’s how it happened didn’t it?” Alice spat out that question after she finished sizing up the woman across the table from her.

Jess flinched first; she gave up her hand. “Smart girl. I lied about my feelings during a vacation we took together. He laughed about and said he wasn’t interested in me either.”

“And then when John shows up to work over the Christmas break you get excited again and then find out he’s off the market?”

“Well after we slept together a couple times, he still rejected me so he could go back to you.” Jess smirked as she attempted a bluff.

“Nice try, but that’s a lie. So, is this why you are acting like a bitter bitch?” Alice was about ready to jump over the table and kick this lying bitch’s ass.

Jess started laughing. “Wow that got under your skin.” She sighed. “Fine, that didn’t happen, he shut me down immediately. Full stop shut down.”

“Obviously, he wouldn’t cheat on me.” Alice was leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed.

“Then he just up and vanished, worked a case one day, then he was gone. Skipped a platonic dinner that we were going to have and never even said goodbye.”

“Why wouldn’t he want to quit? He was being used by intelligence.” Alice calmed down a bit. But she was still on edge, she was pushing her buttons.

“I suppose I wasn’t anything to him other than a plaything.”

“You got exactly out of him what you wanted from him. He can’t read minds.”

“Girl, you know he can. But he either remained oblivious to my true intentions or he never bothered to verify the unsaid words.”

“You know he’d never go into someone’s mind that he was close too without approval.”

Jess started to laugh. “You don’t know him as well as I do. Though maybe he’s grown up and changed. My naval career got torpedoed because of John.”

“Are you sure you’re not just projecting your own failures onto him?”

Jess slammed her hands down on the table. “I was an ensign on leave at Orion station. My roommates were into the drug trade and convinced me to pick up a dead drop for them. He had me dead to rights but let me go. Then used me to get my roommates.”

“So, you were guilty as sin, and he let you go because he was looking for the bigger fish to fry. How is that his fault?”

“He ended up using me to get my department chief on my ship. After that I got reassigned to fleet logistics back on Earth. My career was on life support technically but was officially dead.” Jess was bitter.

“So, you fucked up, John used you to put away some bad officers, and you got to avoid criminal charges. Every intelligence agent would do that, I bet even you have done that.”

“Because that asshole knew he was destroying my career and didn’t give a damn what he was doing. I was collateral damage. When it was time for review to third lieutenant I got rejected. No one gets rejected for that promotion. Intelligence stepped in though and offered me a civilian job.”

“Sounds like he did you a favor. You weren’t officer material.” Alice was done with this conversation. “If there’s anything you actually need from me, say so, otherwise I’m going to track him down and get back to my leave.”

“He’s going to use you to get ahead. He’ll use your family’s influence to advance his career. The moment that you are of no use to him anymore he’s going to spit you out. He did it to me. He will do it to you.”

Alice got up. “You fell for a man you hated and blamed all your life’s ills on. Then when you couldn’t be honest to him during the moment it actually mattered. You found out that he didn’t feel the same way for you, so you felt betrayed once more because he didn’t reciprocate. Then he leaves and finds someone that he does fall in love with. You’re just a disgusting jealous bitch. Unlike you I know where I stand in his life, and he won’t betray me because he knows I’ll be at his side through thick and thin.”

Alice slid her chair back and walked away from the table, when she got to the front door she looked back at Jess. “You had an opportunity to be in my shoes, but you lacked the courage and honesty to be here. But thanks to you, I did find him, so I should at least thank you for that. Good day.”

As Alice walked out the doors Jess just stared at her coffee. The cadet was right. She was never cut out to be an officer, she was too easily convinced to be involved in a criminal conspiracy. She wasn’t smart enough then to realize that she was being used. The worst part about it though was her not being honest to herself about John. She loved him more than she hated him. That she hated him made it all too easy to lie to herself about her feelings for him. When Jess had a chance to be honest with him, she got afraid and ran away from fight like she always does. Tears streamed down her face as she came to the unkind realization that her chapter with him was truly and forever closed.

10:30 Zen Garden

John was looking at one of Japanese Zen Gardens that here. He had absolutely no clue why the sand was raked the way it was or what the rocks stood for. But it looked pretty cool. Alice showed up out of nowhere and sat down.

“Well, you look pissed. This Zen Garden might help with your disposition. So, what’d she say?” John motioned at the stuff in front of him.

“Did you know she loved you?”

“Not until after she rejected me. She kept her mind locked up pretty tight. Her emotional barrier began leaking her emotions and it was clear that she lied in the car ride home that day.”

“You had no idea prior to that though?”

“None until the vacation we shared, prior to that she acted more like a horny marine than anything else. She never said anything about a relationship. All she wanted to do was eat, drink and screw.”

“Did you really destroy her career?”

“She did that to herself. She was lucky that the real targets were her roommates and CO. Intelligence knew she acted with them once, but they didn’t feel like taking her with them.”

“Why did Intelligence hire her then?”

“Well, they knew she wasn’t doing or dealing drugs and certainly wasn’t profiting from the trade. From her time in logistics, she seemed capable of researching and tracking down things, so they offered her a job.”

“I’m going to punch that bitch if I ever see her again.”

“No, you won’t, it’s not worth the reprimand. She’s made a mess out of her life and reality it seems is finally attack back.”

“So, you don’t miss her?”

“During boot I did. But by the end of boot when you and I started to get along, I never looked back.” John smiled as he looked at Alice. “Ok I’m totally zen’ed out. Let’s go play cornhole before Chongo’s.”

Alice was annoyed. Jess totally ruined her mood for the day. She followed John to a sports bar where they finally played cornhole. She didn’t want to like it. She really didn’t, but John’s obsession over watching it on TV during the fall semester must have rubbed off on her. It turned out to be stupid fun.

Eventually they made their way to Chongo’s to meet their friends. The food was every bit as good as it was the day before. After the meal everyone went to the sports bar to play pool, darts, axe throw and cornhole. John, to the amazement of no one, excelled at every game he played. They stayed at the bar for so long they ended up having dinner there as well.

Later in the evening the group split up. Alice and John spent another intimate evening together. This time they managed to avoid any noise complaints, though it wasn’t for lack of effort again that night. Sunday was a quieter affair. By noon everyone was back at the barracks relaxing. John had bought some bags on the way back to the barracks and improvised some boards using the smooth top of some crates that were in the warehouse. Cornhole was the thing to do when the platoon was in their barracks. To the amazement of Alice there were literal lines forming to play games of cornhole all afternoon and evening.

And with that their much-needed leave ended. On Monday they’d have twelve hours of classes. Followed by PE. Their fourth wargame would happen by Wednesday. But they were almost done with their introduction to zero gravity. Eventually they’d be back on Earth, but their workload wouldn’t change much though.