Sunday. 10:20 Hilton Towers

John was waking up. They finally went to sleep at 03:00 but he felt exhausted. Alice was still sound asleep and clinging to him. Then someone started knocking on the door.

“Alice, honey. Need to get up and put some clothes on.”

Alice groggily said. “Too early, don’t want to wake up.”

“We don’t have an option. Alexa is here, time to get ready.”

“Ugggh.”

John pulled himself free from his wife and stood up. He walked, bare ass naked, to the door and looked through the peep hole to confirm it was her. After doing that John pressed the talk button.

“Morning, we’re getting dressed, I’ll open up in a minute.”

John could hear Alexa giggling. He walked over to his bag and but on some clean underwear, a shirt and gym shorts. Alice put a tank top on and was putting on underwear while looking for some shorts. John chuckled that he wasn’t the only one that was exhausted. Alice took her sweet time making her somewhat presentable, which only involved underwear, shorts and a tank top.

“Morning Alexa.” John looked out in the hallway to see if anyone else was there.

“Just me, Kristin and Jessica are getting you two cappuccinos and bagels.” Alexa said as she walked in. “Good morning Mrs. Robertson-Lief.”

Alice went over to her cousin and hugged her. “Thank you so much for everything.”

“I need to shower, I smell of sweat, cigars and sex.” John said as he walked into the bathroom.”

Alexa laughed and elbowed Alice. “Your husband is a blunt one isn’t he.”

“You have no idea.” Alice smirked.

The girls laughed. They got up and began getting the reception dress stored properly. Kristin and Jessica came up to the room with a snack before John got out of the shower. He smiled and thanked them for the help yesterday as he helped himself to the bagel.

Alice took the time to get cleaned up. The girls took everything down to the car as John waited for his wife to get out of the shower. John smiled when he thought that. He couldn’t stop smiling. When Alice got out of the shower, he picked her up and gave her a big kiss. Alice warned him about that. He let her down and then the couple left the room. It was time for brunch with the wedding party.

2 Days Later. 07:00 Mobile International Airport, Delta Skylounge

“So, this whole ship thing. It’s going to be more challenging than when we were at Yeager station right?” Alice sipped on a sparkling wine.

“In some ways yes and others no. in terms of workload, it might be lower. But it’s going to be more stressful. It will be substantially more cramped which is going to cause problems.”

“It can’t be any worse than our room was, can it?”

John shook his head. “On the newer ships it would be similar, maybe a bit more spacious. On those old jalopies? When you see the mess and heads in there, you’ll understand why I say nerves will be frayed. Plus, it’s going to suck something awful not sharing a room with you.”

“Ugh, I totally forgot about that part. So why do you want to be on one of them?”

“My preference is to command a frigate. First Lieutenants typically get those commissions. But it’s not uncommon for a Second Lieutenant to be in command or be a second officer on a Destroyer.”

“But wouldn’t it be smarter to be on a battleship?”

“Safer maybe, but those big ships are damn near impossible to stand out unless you fuck up. That’s not exactly good for your career prospects.”

“You know why I am bringing that up.”

John took a drink from his beer. “Aye, I do. But the only way I can achieve my career aspirations is to be a commander of a ship as quickly as I can. But the caveat I put in place because of you is to avoid command or commission on a corvette or scout.”

“I’m still worried.”

John smiled and squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll be safe. I will always find a way to come back to you.”

One of the lounge attendants stopped in front of the couple. “Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Lief. Your flight is boarding in five minutes.”

“Thank you very much.” John smiled and pushed himself out of the seat, he offered a hand to Alice. “My dear, our honeymoon is a shortish flight away.”

“Oh congratulations! I hope you two have a great trip.” She smiled.

“Thank you, we are very much looking forward to it.”

John and Alice held hands as they walked down the terminal. John, being the plane geek he was, pointed out all the different planes there. Alice chuckled and laughed at her husband. She thought John was a curious being, he held within him a rage that would burn out some suns, yet he had a childlike fascination of simple or commonplace things. Alice knew that he’d move heaven and earth to be at her side, but then she’d do the same for her. She caught herself smiling again.

They missed the traditional boarding announcement call for families with infants and anyone that needed assistance getting to their seat. First class and Platinum Medallion status had been called, and they kept on walking right up to the gate. John’s tablet had both of their tickets loaded. The ticketing agent cleared them down the sky bridge to the plane.

“Honey, we’re going to be flying in a new Boeing 898. They are freaking awesome.”

Alice started laughing. “I would ask why your obsessed with planes and ships but clearly I don’t have too.”

John smiled as he led them to their seats. Or in this case suite. Delta had the plane setup in five classes. There were nine suites at the front, each could seat two adults. After the suites was the typical seating arrangements one would expect on a long-haul flight. There was nothing wrong with first class, but John wanted to go all out on the trip.

Due to the size of size of the plane it took about forty minutes to get everyone boarded. The plane was pushed back then the engines began spooling up. John was enjoying a beer as they taxied to the runway. The plane had several cameras that let you watch the takeoff from several angles. Immediately after that John switched the large screen TV to the Ocho and had a cornhole tournament on it. Alice laughed, then thought she had lost her mind as she leaned in and watched the whole damn tournament with her weird husband.

Wednesday. 22:30 Nice Cote d’Azur International Airport

“These tickets were twenty-eight thousand credits a piece. And my bag was dropped off last on the baggage carousel. Again.” John was out for blood and this poor customer service agent had to deal with him.

“I’m sorry. But what are you expecting from me?”

John smiled. “There is a guarantee with the Apartment tickets isn’t there. Delta violated said agreement.”

The agent shook her head. “Give me five minutes and I’ll get back to you.”

“You’re being a bit of a dick.” Alice smirked.

“I also spent fifty-six grand on our flight. The level of service for the flight is higher than the norm.”

“I’ll grant you that. What about the car?”

“Already confirmed, we can pick whatever we want in the platinum lot.” John smiled.

The customer service agent came back. “Apologies for the wait. We apologize for the inconvenience. We’ve never had a first-class apartment customer ever have a delay in getting their bags. We do sincerely apologize. We’re going to issue a credit of fifteen thousand credits to your account. You’ll have two years to use that.”

“Thanks, that will be acceptable. Can I receive confirmation of that credit?”

“Yes, certainly.” She spent a moment working at her terminal. “There, you should have it now.”

John checked his tablet. “Thank you very much.”

Alice smirked. “Looks like spring break travel is going to be free.”

“Too bad I spent all that money, and it still didn’t cure my ills.” John pointed Alice in the direction of the car rental lot. “Still makes no damned sense.”

“Well, enough with being annoyed with that.”

“Done and done. We have a forty-five-minute drive and then we’ll be at the château or is it villa?”

“Home away from home?” Alice laughed as she smiled. “I am totally going to be asleep in the car.”

“Why does flying take so much out of you? All we’re doing is sitting down.” John asked.

“Time zones really fuck with our internal clocks.”

“So true. Alright honey, what do you want us to drive around in?”

“Hmm, something sporty. We packed pretty light.”

John smiled. “Well one of us packed a little lighter than the other.”

“Smartass.” Alice slapped John’s shoulder lightly. “How about the yellow one?”

“How about the red Ferrari?”

“Oh my god, yes.”

“Portofino Redux. It’s an ‘entry level’ Ferrari but I think it’d be a kickass ride.” John smirked.

“Keep the top up tonight.”

“Your wish is my command.” John opened the driver’s door and grabbed the key fob.

Alice got in the passenger side and got comfortable. John put their bags in the trunk, then sat in the car. It was borderline too small for him, but the seat was wickedly comfortable. He fired the car up and sped out of the rental lot. The Airport was along the ocean on the southwestern side of Nice. Alice missed the drive through NICE as she was sound asleep.

Twenty minutes later the car was speeding down the highway and was only twenty miles from Monaco. John was still smiling. How couldn’t he. He had married his true love, was surrounded by great friends, he would be commanding his first ship and he was driving a fucking Ferrari. John pressed the accelerator down and let the car fly down the highway. Ten minutes later he began slowing down, and he was glad he did when he rounded the turn into Monaco, several highway patrol vehicles were racing down the highway in the opposite direction.

John chuckled at that site. They were probably on the lookout for his dumbass self. John justified the speed because, who wouldn’t go fast in a Ferrari and besides, rental cars are the fastest vehicles known to mankind. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how one would look at this, their rental château, La Vigie, was on the eastern side of the city along the waterfront. One could say John was happy to spend more time in a car, but if the house was on the western side of the principality, they’d be crawling into bed already.

The traffic was surprisingly awful that evening and the last five miles took thirty-five minutes to get there. He parked the car at the gate and punched in his access code. The gate then opened and registered their vehicle so they wouldn’t have to do this again.

“The little things in life make it worth living.” John paused and saw the cityscape behind him. “Hell of a view.”

John got back in the car and drove it down the driveway. He parked it right in front of the main doors. John roused Alice from her deep sleep. The couple grabbed their gear from the trunk and headed into their home away from home. They found the master bedroom and crawled into bed.

Thursday. 08:15 Master Bedrooms Patio

The sun shone into the bedroom and was focused on John’s face. He woke up and crawled out of bed. He walked to the patio door and opened it. It was seventy-one degrees out with a light, humid breeze coming off the gulf. John closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Giving the boats and yachts a show dear?” Alice said from the bedroom.

“I’m wearing boxer briefs, I’m not naked.”

Alice walked up to him and kissed him. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” John hugged Alice, but then released the hug and pointed out to the water. “Bloody beautiful view out there.”

“That it is. You up for an audible?” Alice asked.

“Stay here for the two weeks?”

“Yup.”

“I’ll confirm that, I kinda figured you’d say that.”

“Oh, you sly dog. Well, I’m getting the first shower.” Alice slapped his ass and walked back in the bedroom.

John placed his hands on the railing and smiled. “These peaceful moments are few and far between. We ought to enjoy them to the fullest when we can.”

John enjoyed the morning breeze for a few minutes later. He got a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom down the hallway from the master bathroom. John finished his shower first and was ready for the day before Alice was. John was walking around the second floor of this amazing house.

The ceilings were elevated, and everything was ornate, well maintained and had an antique family. There was an old feeling about the house, but it was just gorgeous. It was also highly comfortable. All the chairs, loveseats, couches and beds he sat down on felt so good to be sitting or rest on. John found himself in another room on the second floor when he heard Alice asking for him.

“Oh, there you are. Exploring?”

“This house is cool. It’s so damned old but comfortable.” John smiled. “But anyways, are you ready for breakfast?”

“Yes, what are you making?”

“Nothing, there’s a nice café down the road though.”

Alice smiled. “Are you cheating on me with the car?”

“Noooooo.” John said slowly.

Alice walked over and kissed him. “Lead the way Mr. Lief.”

The coupled walked down to the main level and out the main doors. John opened the passenger door for Alice. Then walked to the drivers’ side and got in. He started the car and pressed a button to retract the roof.

“Honey, I want one of these.” John was smiling.

“Of course, you’d want one. Wouldn’t make much sense to buy one though.”

“You aren’t wrong. Setting money on fire would be smarter.” John laughed as he accelerated down the road.

“So where are we headed?” Alice inquired.

“La Tavernetta. Been told they have fantastic breakfast sandwiches.”

“Do you fancy a walk around the port afterwards?”

“Absolutely.” John slowed down for a stop light. “There’s a couple museums around there that we may want to meander in. Make it a morning. Grab a bite to eat and then take a drive out into the countryside this afternoon?”

Alice started to laugh. “You are cheating on your wife, with the rental car, and doing so in broad daylight.”

“Just imagine your hair flowing in the wind while we enjoy the foreign countryside.”

“John, it does sound lovely. But the car is getting returned.”

“Yeah, I’ll be really sad when we drop the car off.” John said as he parked the car.

The couple walked to the small restaurant and were seated outside on the sidewalk. A waitress came out and took their order. The couple enjoyed the comfortable weather and were people watching the busy area.

After they were done eating the walked up and down the port area. They watched the boats and yachts come in and leave the bay. There was more people-watching to be done. The couple were clearly not from the area and dressed different than everyone else. Alice loved some of the different fashion styles that weren’t present in America. John snickered at that though, but that was to be expected as he had zero fashion sense.

They walked into a pair of museums after they were done walking and watching people. The first museum was a maritime one. Thought it was more focused on historical yachts and fishing boats that were berthed in Monaco. There were some absolutely beautiful models of old yachts that were made. Alice pointed at one that was made in the early twenty second century that could pass as a modern boat these days.

They mused about living in one. John said it’d be fun for a week or two, but then it’d get old really quick. Now if they had a smaller fishing boat that was docked at a lake place of theirs? Now that was an idea he could sign up for. But then Alice threw out a cabin near the ocean where they could scuba dive to spearfish. The couple had a fun debate while they walked through the museum whether or not that would ever happen in their future.

The other museum they visited had paintings, sculptures and furniture that was made from local artisans. Alice marveled at John’s knowledge of the different paintings and how he could recite summaries of the pieces and what the reviewers felt when looking at a piece of work. But John didn’t feel those things for any paintings except one.

They found a restaurant on the way back to the car and had lunch. After lunch the drove north out of Monaco into the French countryside. They were shocked at how different it was compared to what they were used too. But the views were gorgeous. They drove up a hill and watched the sunset as they held one another. They drove back to the villa and enjoyed a later dinner and a dip in the pool.

This routing would go on for two weeks. There wasn’t anything that they needed to do. They made it a point to watch the sunset at different places. During the day they’d go to a café and watch people or talk to the locals. They got many amazing recommendations on where to eat and what to do around town.

Eventually they flew back to Mobile. July flew by for the couple. They decided to get into a routine which involved a significant amount of PE. They were still riding the high of their eventful summer. John missed the car. Alice missed the food. The couple went to a couple of concerts and generally tried to enjoy their time off. If they blinked it’d be August and it would be time to go back to the Academy and to get crammed into a Destroyer for their first proper taste of the military life that was ahead of them.