Prologue

Eight years has come and gone and until just recently things have been much better than I could ever deserve. They say God works in mysterious ways. I can't speak for everyone but you sure are a mystery to me. For example, why is it that gorgeous women always seem to be attracted to a bad boy and not want anything, romantically speaking, with good honest men? Why does a drunken person survive an auto accident unscathed while the victim often ends up in the hospital or in the morgue? How does an average schmuck like me end up marrying a mortal goddess? I know that I can't explain it.

For the last 7 years I have been married to this goddess, Lisa. We met when I was home on leave from the Navy stationed overseas. My name is Joe Fallow. I am not Don Juan or Rico Suave' by any stretch of the imagination. I am 5'11" and 190 pounds with the few extra pounds going to the mid-section ensuring that the six-pack abs I once had is long gone. I'm not chubby, just not in the best shape I was once in. I have short brown hair, blue eyes with a mustache and goatee.

Everything about me screams "Don't give me a second look" which is precisely what Lisa did 8 years ago. When Lisa and I met I was in the middle of my obligation to the Navy. I was an F/A-18 Hornet pilot and for the Aviation Officers Candidate School and flight schools I had to obligate six years. I wanted to fly as often as possible so I chose to be in a forward-deployed area for the opportunity.

On leave I met Lisa while at a nightclub one town over from my hometown in Northwest Florida. I was there with a buddy from Florida State, named Mark. He was meeting his new girlfriend Pam there and she was bringing some of her girlfriends along. Lisa was one of them but Pam had ideas to set me up with their friend Sherry. They were all attending UWF and were a really tight-knit group. They were all nice looking women but there was something about Lisa. Stunning would be an understatement. Her long blonde hair showed a faded perm and flowed beautifully past her shoulders. Her bronze tanned skin enveloped her petite curvy frame. She was a couple of inches shorter than I am. Her eyes, also blue, lit up a room as she walked in. She wore just enough make-up to accent her features although she hardly ever wore any. She had such a natural beauty and aura about her. But what I noticed most of all that night was that she noticed me! There were definitely sparks that night but, mutually, it wasn't between me and Sherry. It was with Lisa.

Lisa and I hit it off very well that night and spent the rest of my leave together whenever she wasn't in class or sleeping. Mark, Pam, Lisa and I spent a lot of time together just hanging out at Mark's house. As my leave was coming to an end I had a long talk with Lisa and agreed to write and call each other to see where things go. I really liked Lisa a lot and wished she could go with me back to Japan but she was finishing up her degree in Business Administration.

Our last night together was a sad one as Lisa cried most of the night. Up to this point we hadn't had sex. I never pushed the issue. I wanted us to get to know each other; to respect each other and not have sex cloud our true feeling like it often does. Truth be told, her intelligence and her beauty stimulated me. Don't get me wrong, she gave me an incredible hard-on by just a smile and her warm, inviting arms as we held each other. And being single overseas gave me a lot of experience and confidence that I knew I could pleasure her beyond her wildest dreams. I just felt that if she wanted it she would let me know in her own way.

She sobbed into my neck as we held each other in her apartment, on her couch.

"SShhhh! It's OK sweetheart! I promise I will be back..."

"I'm going to miss you so much Joe. I don't want you to go. Can't you stay a little longer?"

"I wish like hell I could Lisa, I really do," I said, gently rubbing her back.

She looked up and into my eyes. "Promise me you will come back to me, Joe. Give me something to look forward to, please!"

"I can promise you that, Lisa. But 10 months is a long time and I don't expect you to try to keep yourself for me. You have a life to live too and you deserve to be happy, even if it's not with..."

She placed her fingers over my lips. "I don't have a choice anymore, don't you see that? I love you Joe! I'm happy with you; I don't want anyone else. I have to wait 10 months now." Her voice cracked as the tears streamed down her face. "Can you wait that long for me?"

"Lisa, I have never met anyone like you. No one has ever captured my heart like you did. I don't have a choice now either. I want you, Lisa. I love you. I promise you I will come back to you. I would love for us to pick up where we leave off."

She wiped her eyes and stood up. Taking my hand she pulled me off the couch and led me to her bedroom and closed the door. She looked deep in my eyes with a serious, sensual look and started removing my shirt. I just stared back. Lisa ran her hands over my chest and rubbed my nipples. I reached over and removed her sweater while she stared into my eyes.

"Take me and make love to me Joe. I need you inside me."

I took her face in my hands and pulled her lips to mine. We embraced each other and then removed the rest of our clothes and lay on her bed. We needed each other. I climbed on top of her and we held each other tightly and made love.

After our final climax we were lying on our side facing each other. "I love you, do you know that?"

I stroked her hair. "Yes, I know, honey, I love you too. I swear I will be back for you."

"I know you will. I could feel you tonight. I know you love me and I'm going to miss you terribly."

"Lisa, these last 2 weeks have been wonderful. I'm so glad you walked into my life and turned it upside down. Now I know my purpose."

"And what's your purpose?"

"Being the best husband to you that I can be and best Dad I can be when its time."

"Is that your way of asking me to marry you?" She asked teasingly.

"No, just giving you a warning of the consequences of loving me and waiting for me," I smirked

She kissed me passionately. "Then hurry home and punish me for loving you," Lisa said with a smile.

As I was leaving, she walked me outside to my car and kissed me. I removed my cruise jacket full of cruise and squadron patches and put it over her shoulders. "Hang on to this for me."

Tears came to her eyes again and she hugged him. "Call me when you get there. OK?"

"Absolutely!" I closed my eyes to fight back the tears. "I love you Lisa!"

She kissed me again. "I love you too, sailor. Hurry back to me."

With that I left and started getting ready to fly back to Japan the next morning. As I was packing I remembered feeling happy and smiling. Not because I was leaving her or because I just got laid, but because of the way she made me feel. I never felt this way before, kind of uncharted territory for me. I was starting to believe she was the one. I guess only time would tell.

The following morning Mark picked me up and drove me to the small regional airport in our area. We exchanged good-byes and he assured me that he would keep Lisa out of trouble, which shouldn't be too hard seeing how Pam is Lisa's roommate in the apartment. I thanked him and he left for work.

I had a good hour before we started boarding. I went to my gate and sat down, thinking about Lisa. A huge smile crossed my face. I was really hoping to return to find her waiting faithfully for me, but if she happened to move on I would understand. She's graduating soon and will begin her career. Plus she is still very young and has a right to be happy, whatever that meant for her. I would like to think that I would still be grateful to her for what she exposed my heart to, even if it is painful. At least I would know what love could feel like. I was starting to not believe in it. I just wished I could see her one more time but she had a class this morning.

"Joe!" She shouted running down the concourse. I was in shock. I stood and started toward her.

"Lisa! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in class?" We then rushed into each other's arms.

"I skipped! There is no way I was not going to see you today," she said, her face on my neck.

"Lisa, I'm so glad you came."

"Listen, Joe. I have something I need to say to you so please hear me out, OK?" She backed up just enough to look me in the eye, getting my attention.

"Ok."

"After you left last night I cried my eyes out for a little while. I thought about what we said to each other and I wanted to be clear... to be sure that what I said to you was what I really feel. I mean, everything happened so fast that I wanted to make sure, in my own mind, that I expressed to you my true feelings, not just an emotional outburst. You know? That wouldn't be fair to either of us. So, I had to figure this out. I took out some paper and a pencil and broke down everything just like I would in class. Future plans, feelings, your qualities, all of that stuff. I know that it sounds corny, but it works for me. Remind me to show you how I put it together some day. You might get a kick out of it."

I just smiled; picturing her doing this like it was financial planning. It was cute.

"Anyway, I won't go into all of the details right now but I will give you the summary. Bottom line is that I, unquestionably, love you! All of the soul searching gave me a glimpse of how deep I feel for you. Yes, 10 months is a long time but I know that we are worth the wait. I truly believe that. So, what it boils down to is this," she took my hands and held them to her chest, "I'm here to tell you that I am giving you my love and devotion, completely, and that I will be here when you return."

"Lisa. Baby. Since I have met you, you have shown me feelings I never knew before and I finally know what love feels like. I love it! I love you! I am normally a guy that works on instinct and it has worked well for me. My instincts are telling me that you are the one. I have been called crazy many times but never stupid. Unless you say differently, I'm not gonna give you up! I love the way you love me. I love the way you feel. And I love that I have you in my life and once we get past this absence you are going to love the man that you bring out of me."

I kissed her, sort of a consummation of my love.

"Baby, I came here really hoping that you would feel that way. Thank you!"

"Lisa, I want you to know that I will call and write whenever I can, maybe even send a few tapes for when it is so much easier to talk than to write."

"Oh, that would be wonderful! I need to get a tape recorder myself, then. Plus I will write every day. We will get through this time, no sweat." She smiled.

"One thing I have to warn you of. On the ship and overseas the mail doesn't come everyday like it does here. I could write everyday and send them immediately but it's not unheard of that you may not get a letter from me for up to ten days then all of a sudden you will get 8 letters on the same day. So please don't get disheartened if you don't hear from me for a week."

"It will be tough, but I understand. Oh! I almost forgot. I got you something. It isn't much, but..."

She reached into the inside pocket of my flight jacket she was wearing and pulled out a red rose with a 5" stem and handed it to me.

"Oh Lisa, thank you, you didn't have to do that honey. I have you right here." I placed my hand on my heart.

"I know. I just wanted to give you something. By the way, some pictures would be nice." She playfully slapped my arm.

"Yes they would, wouldn't they? I don't have any of you either. We need to work on that. When I get back over there I will see what I have. But I want some of you too!"

"They will be in my first letter, I promise. I love you, Joe!"

"I love you!"

I boarded the plane and made my way back to Japan. I was on cloud nine and kept thinking of ways I could keep her happy, what I could send her, little things I could do to help her get through this. I couldn't wait to tell my roommates "Chipper", "Stone" and "Moon" about Lisa. They all had girlfriends, or shall I say fiancé's back in the States and had been saying that I didn't know what I was missing; having that one special person, a soul mate! I know they will be happy for me. Maybe we can all figure out ways to surprise our ladies occasionally.

Chapter 1 »