THR33 DIFFERENT WOMEN. Part 14.
A twenty year old man sleeping with two scantily clad, attractive, women. What could possibly go wrong? It was platonic sleeping together after all. They were using Sophie's room, her bed was bigger. Jamie normally slept naked, wearing some shorts wasn't much of a hardship. Until he found out Liz had no personal modesty whatsoever. She was going to bed in only her skin, she wouldn't be able to sleep otherwise. Then there was the half hour or so while Sophie got her baby bump comfortable. Followed by a lot of suppressed laughing in the dark. They all got off to sleep in the end. Barring the toilet breaks for the expectant mother. Sandwiched between the two of them Jamie found it hot, in the heating meaning of the word. The other meaning was unquestionably absent. He slept at attention, his arms close to his sides, dreading waking up with some part of a woman's body in his hand.
The first light of dawn was filtering through the curtains of Sophie's room. His had blinds which blocked the sun out. Well he'd kept himself to himself during the night. The same couldn't be said for his companions, they'd managed to drape themselves over and across him. Untangling the legs was the trickiest part, as he sought not to wake them. Having slid out of the bottom from under the covers, the two ladies rolled into one another. It was a touching sight. One he spent a few precious seconds admiring. Jamie tiptoed into the kitchen, where everything he touched was noisy. To him it sounded like a busy restaurant. Coffee, as always, was the first order of the day. He got the Keurig going, before laying a few rashers of bacon on the grill and tossing some hash browns in the frying pan. Two eggs used up the rest of his breakfast cooking skills.
"You weren't thinking of sneaking off were you?"
His heart rate rocketed as Liz came up behind him.
"I'll admit it crossed my mind. I recently discovered I'm not too fond of goodbye's. This is a first for me, I've always slipped away quietly. My flight isn't leaving until tomorrow. It was the earliest I could get. I'll be flying down to Caracas, then from there I'll head to Cayenne in Guiana. It counts as France, believe it or not. It's part of the EU and uses the Euro."
Liz helped herself to his cup of coffee. She did start the machine up again.
"We'd like to take you to the airport. That's if you don't mind Jay."
He nodded.
"I don't think we'll be tracked. Well more precisely I won't be being tracked. We should keep an eye out though. I don't want anymore nasty surprises."
Liz took a seat at the table, setting down her drink.
"You didn't... You know. The asshole who was here? He's still... Around."
A good question. He turned the bacon on the grill and the hash browns in their pan.
"Totalled his car. Took his phones and roughed him up a bit." He laughed softly. "Quite a lot actually. He may have a few minor bones broken along with his nose."
Liz shook her head, aghast at his revelation.
"You're not a violent person. What brought that on?"
"I make no apologies. That prick threatened Sophie and her unborn baby. I don't think we'll be seeing him for a while. Thank God."
He was right about that. Nothing was heard from or about him. For all Jamie knew he'd died out there. It wasn't anything he'd lose sleep over.
"Do you know what you're going to do when you get to France?" She asked.
Sophie shuffled in, making her way to the coffee machine and taking Jamie's coffee. They both gave her an admonitory look.
"Hey. It's only one cup. Hopefully it'll keep junior awake most of the day so he's not moving around all night again." She took the seat next to Liz. He had an audience. There was a time he'd have been delighted with the chance to show off. The day before yesterday in fact. "I've always wanted to visit France. Never been out of the country. So what do you plan to do when you get there Jay?"
They'd both begun to call him by that pet name. Sophie had started it. Jamie was a bit too long and formal. It was also a tad young he thought. Time to put away his childish things.
"I'm going to find the best place I can to hide. Don't worry I'm not going to become a hermit on an isolated island. According to the blurb I've read it's easier to hide in a crowded place. The food's ready, so you might as well eat it. I'll just cook some more for me. If I may."
Liz and Sophie laughed.
"Awww. Look at our little boy Sophie. I think he's sulking."
He flew out the following day. It was, without doubt, the saddest day of his life. His father's death and even that of Dale couldn't compete. There were tears all round. Jamie knew he'd be weepy. He didn't expect it from Liz. In the end Sophie and he had to comfort her. It didn't help there were dozens of arrivals greeting each other happily. He didn't dare look back. The pain would have destroyed him. It was already hard enough without that. He had a six hour flight to contemplate the fact he'd lied to them. Although he could have rationalized it as being for their benefit, he knew it was for him. Jamie knew exactly what he was going to do. It was something far too ridiculous for anyone in his situation to consider. Not only was it out of character, he had to be out of his mind as well. It wasn't the last thing any sane man would do. It was way past that. With the very real danger he'd fall flat on his stupid face.
Two hellishly frantic days later he was in Aubagne, outside Marseilles in Southern France. There he signed on to join the French Foreign Legion. Where he'd spend the next five years. Provided he passed the rigorous selection process. Eighty nine percent didn't make it. As it was he only got in by the skin of his teeth. Some of the stories about it were pure bullshit. Less believable ones were true. He could assume a new identity, even another nationality. It didn't matter what it stated on his passport, this was a new life. After three years he'd be offered French citizenship under any false name he took. They didn't recruit criminals anymore. Interpol did a full check. Minor offences were no bar to entry. A criminal record was a problem. Since he hadn't been charged with anything he knew he was safe.
He'd sleep walked his way through life until being shaken awake by circumstances. Sophie and Liz had gently roused him from his slumbering ways. The Legion was a bucket of ice water combined with being beaten by a stick. Thanks to his mother, and that stupid book she'd suggested he read, he was doing a lot of growing up in a very short space of time. The 17 weeks of basic training taught him a lesson he should have already learned alteady. Enough people had told him about it. For at least 90% of the time he was either bored or wishing he was dead. That ninety percent figure also applied to the training. For fifteen weeks he was constantly fighting to keep up. His whole world was a confused mess of being ordered to do things he really didn't want to do. Impossible things he felt. Then, all of a sudden, he'd pass through the invisible wall. Things would fall into place. Comprehension would dawn. To learn to do difficult things took a lot of time and even more application.
At the age of 21, he'd had a birthday he'd missed due to his parents having never considered giving him a birthday party, Jonathan Able had learned it took hard work to achieve anything of note. Unless you had good friends who'd help you out. He'd made two, who'd made him. That's how he came to look at it. Jay kept in touch with both of them. At least one email a week each. Not giving them a lot of detail. They had no idea what he was doing, until he went on leave for the first time.
No one ever joined the armed forces for money. As a new recruit he received less than $1500 a month. Which was less than half what he'd been paid as a forester. He'd enjoyed that job, while it lasted, to. Much more than the basic training. Of course he was fed and housed, so many of his expenses were taken care of. Money had been part of those lies he'd told them. Liz knew some of it. Not as much as she thought. When he was still Jamie, he'd made certain financial arrangements. Knowing Sophie wouldn't accept charity from him, he'd set up a household account they could both access. With a little bit of subterfuge and some help from Liz he could funnel money to his housemates. Take care of the medical insurance for the two of them. Hopefully with enough left over to put away for emergencies. The way the money was paid made it seem like it came from the French government. The payments were for his health insurance allegedly.
Not a lie that would bear investigation for very long before it collapsed. With a bit of luck Sophie would accept it at face value. He'd never lied to her before. Taking advantage of that trust burned like fire. It was what it was. In an ideal world Dale would still be alive. He'd witness the birth of his son and carry on his brilliant work. Life dealt you the cards you had to play with. His had been very good. Others weren't as fortunate. Life also relentlessly moved forward into the future. The only alternative was death.