Wesley wasn't worried when Cameron threatened to call the police. He pulled his cap lower and lit a cigarette. Leaning on the car, playing with his lighter, he began, "You're the assistant general manager of Width Group. You're 32 now. Three years ago you came to this city and rose to that position rather quickly. I wonder why? Bribery? Corruption? Money laundering?"
The soldier shocked Cameron with this line of questioning. Cameron stared at Wesley warily. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"
"It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is you touched my woman!" He grabbed Cameron's arm, which had been wrapped around Blair's waist, and forced it onto the hood of the car. Then, he put his cigarette out on the man's trapped limb. He held it there long enough that the smell of cooked meat reached their nostrils.
"Argh!" Cameron screamed. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, ran down his face. "Who-who are you?" he stammered.
"Listen up. I'm Blair's husband. You mess with her again and I'll make sure you'll not only lose your job, but they'll kick you out of the country. Try me," Wesley warned.
He threw the cigarette butt into the trash bin, put the lighter back into his pocket, hopped onto the motorcycle and drove off.
When he reached the assembly place, the soldiers were already waiting for him in orderly lines.
The site was below a footbridge. The other soldiers' involvement was minimal, so it wasn't a big deal if other people saw them. Wesley, on the other hand, was in command.
So he was in plain clothes. A uniform would have outed him.
"Ten-hut!" he ordered, his voice traveling to the footbridge.
By sheer coincidence, Blair was walking along the bridge, trying to feel better. When she heard his voice, she looked in the direction it came from. All she saw were soldiers, and a man in a cap. Was that her Wesley?
When he spoke again, she was sure it was him!
To be safe, he couldn't stay there long, so after giving his orders, he asked, "Anything else?"
"Me! I have a question!" a silvery voice suddenly said from the footbridge.
Some soldiers couldn't help but turn around to look. In the bright lamp light, a woman shouted, "You! Yeah you! Do you have a girlfriend? I'm free! Any takers?"
Wesley's mouth twitched with anger.
Two sips. That was all it took to get Blair drunk on Night Temptation. She'd had two glasses of liquor at dinner, and she was still a little tipsy. Then she said something she'd never say sober. "I want to get married. Anyone? You don't need to be rich."
Hearing this, half of the soldiers were looking her way now.
She continued in a soft, sweet voice, "I just need a man. Any man. Anyone want to be my boyfriend?"
Everyone was looking at her. Wesley, whose face had turned red with rage by now, was totally forgotten.
A soldier said quietly to her, "Don't be a tease. Go home." Then the soldiers began discussing it among themselves.
"She's so pretty."
"What if she likes more than one of us?"
"What if two or more men like her? How does she decide between us? Do we fight for her?"
"How could she handle that?"
"She looks familiar."
"Get over it. You think every pretty girl looks the same."
Just then, "Ten-hut!" Wesley thundered.
All of them shut up and faced front, arms at their sides, chests puffed out. "Yes, sir!" As if in a competition, they answered in much louder voices than at the beginning.
"Dismissed," Wesley declared.
Then the soldiers relaxed and looked up at the footbridge again, but the young girl was already gone. More than a few rushed up there but saw no sign of her.
They looked around and saw she was descending the stairs on the other side. They began to talk to each other again.
"She said she needed someone. We're all here. Why did she run off?"
"Tell me about it. I saw her face. She's so hot."
"I heard wedding bells. I was almost married. It felt like a dream."
While they were talking, Wesley tracked Blair down. She ran down a dimly-lit alley, but it dead-ended. She had nowhere else to go.
He took his cap off and held her chin.
He could smell the alcohol on her. She smelled like a brewery. "I can't believe you! What got into you? Flirting with my men around me?" She found it hard to focus on him.
Blair stood up straight and retorted coldly, "I was happy. I wanted to. Why do you care? And who do you think you are? Let go of me!"
"I think somebody misses me…" Wesley missed her too much. He lowered his head and kissed her lips.
What he didn't know was that two soldiers wandered that way to smoke a cigarette. When they turned the corner, they saw it all.
"Wait. Is that Chief?"
"Probably. It's too dark to tell. Let's keep walking. He's turning. He's looking this way. Ah! It's the Chief!"
They also saw the face of the woman he was kissing. It was the girl from the footbridge, the one who said she needed a boyfriend.
The two soldiers decided discretion was the better part of valor and started walking the other way. When Wesley spotted them, they started to run.
On the way back, they came across some other soldiers who were still looking for Blair. "Forget it. Chief beat us to it. He's even kissing her. It happened so fast. I think he's going to be wearing a ring soon," one of them said.
The others looked at the two in shock. "Chief is kissing her? Our Chief? You mean Wesley?"
The two soldiers nodded, pointing at the alley. "Yeah. They're over there, in an alley. See for yourselves."
They held up their hands like they were warding off evil. They weren't willing to chance ticking their commander off.
Although they didn't see Wesley kissing a woman, they saw something else.
Blair pushed Wesley away and started to run out of the alley toward the road.
Wesley ran after her.
He wanted to explain and apologize. But as soon as he grabbed her arm, she shook it off. The soldiers saw Blair yelling at their boss. "Let go of me! Follow me again and I'll call the cops!"
They were dumbstruck. Who was she? Why would she talk to Wesley that way? And he was letting her get away with it!
One of the soldiers was a newbie, and he worshiped Wesley. He couldn't stand the way Blair was treating his boss. Carrying his weapon, he rushed over towards her. Seeing this, everybody else followed.
The newbie caught up to Blair and scolded her with a strong accent, "Hey! Thith is our shief you're talking to. Who do you think you are? Show some respect!"
