One More for Love The Story: Chapter 13 – Ride Along

The conversation did not go as planned. Stacy was unwavering in her faith and I quickly realized that I would have to plot out a more calculated argument than “What did Noah feed the animals while they were on his Ark?” However, discovering Stacy was a Christian helped me in a way. At that time I would always come to work, get into a conversation with Stacy, feel a connection, then, on my drive home after work, wonder why I didn’t have that same connections with Melissa. Stacy’s faith helped me for those drives home. I was able to convince myself that it would never work out between us because she smoked and was a Christian, both of which I didn’t agree with. Technically speaking, that meant that Melissa was better for me because she didn’t smoke (well actually she smoked and lied to me about it. I knew, but never brought it up) and had no religious affiliation. I would use this type of logic to rationalize going back home to Melissa and when on my way to work on shifts when I would be working with Stacy. It wasn’t as effective as I had hoped.


Stacy eventually became an expediter, which meant she was tasked with driving the big blue bread trucks around the flightline and dropping people off at certain planes to fix the broken jets they were assigned. On the nights she was driving I would ride around on the truck with her. I would tell myself that I was riding along to keep her company, but I knew in my heart it was because I wanted to be with her.


We would talk about everything; nothing was off limits. Some nights I’d ask her what she thought of a particular female on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swim Suit issue and other nights we talked about journaling, music, movies; anything. The more I got to know her, the more I looked forward to coming to work at 7:00 p.m for my twelve hour shift. I started to realize that work with her had a flow; it had a rhythm. Aircraft would take-off in the distance with a high pitched hum and people would exchange conversations as they entered and exited the truck. Having her there changed how I looked at everything. Even when I had a job to do, I would step off the truck and notice the brilliant blaze of the stars in the sky shining bright through the cool fall nights. From the time I entered the military I had not felt comfortable being myself until I found a friend in Stacy. It got to a point where it was hard to work without her. On the nights when I would come into work and she wasn’t there, I would find myself either remembering the last time we were together or anticipating when she would be back.


One night in November I was basking in the rhythm of the night shift and a conversation came up about the new construction townhouse Stacy was having built and would be closing on in January. I was also considering buying a home so I started out to get some info.


“So what type of property is it?” I asked.


“It’s an investment property.” Stacy began as we cruised down the flightline at a steady 20 MPH. “Just something for me to buy and live in until I separate from the military and move back home to Virginia.”


“Move back to Virginia? I thought you wanted to be a Delawarean for life!” I said, jokingly, knowing Stacy missed her Virginia roots. “So where is it? What does it look like?”


“It’s a beautiful three story townhome with kitchen and wood floor upgrades located in cozy Camden, Delaware.” She responded with a smile.


“Nice realtor impression, I don’t think you’ll have any problems selling the place. Is Chris moving in with you?”


“No way! I’m not moving in with anyone unless I’m married and Chris and I are not even close to being in that place.” As she responded with a cute smirk, her phone began to ring. It was Chris on cue. Stacy looked at me and rolled her eyes as she flipped open her cell.


“What do you think I’m doing? I’m working.” She answered, agitated.


I could barely hear a garbled Chris amongst the sound of the truck.


Stacy continued, “I don’t like coming over there on my lunch break, you’re tired and you usually just fall asleep. I don’t understand why you want me to come over at two in the morning when you wake up at 6:30. It doesn’t make any sense.”


His garble became more defensive. The phone went silent. Stacy paused and looked at me for a moment. It was only her and I on the truck. “Yes, I’m working with Wes and Steve. We’re on the same shift.” She rolled her eyes again. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, bye.” She said and hung up.


“Sorry about that.” She said, getting back to our conversation. “Chris has been a little on edge lately. He asked me the other day if I am attracted to you. I told him I found you ‘intellectually attractive’ and I don’t think he liked that.” Before I even had a chance to let my emotions go chaotic she continued. “Anyhow,” I mentally picked up my jaw from the floor, “it’s going to be a really nice short term property. They’re actually almost finished building it.” What exactly does intellectually attractive mean? “Hey, I’ve got an idea! If you want to see if new construction is something you would be interested in buying, why don’t you meet me at the townhome tomorrow night? We both have the night off and I can give you the grand tour!” What on earth is happening?


“Sure Stacy, sounds good.” I said, as controlled as I could, considering that I had to try to interpret how “intellectually attractive” and spending time with Stacy had both come up in the last thirty seconds.
“Ok, I’ll call you tomorrow. This is your jet.” She said as we came to a stop in front of one of the planes.


“Thanks” I grabbed my tool box and stepped off the truck thinking: what just happened? Is there anything I can take away from being intellectually attractive? Was I really going to be alone with Stacy Morey away from work? Seriously, was I going to be alone? Was Bollard going to be there? How would I tell Melissa? Would I tell Melissa?