Fires of the Pacific: Chapter 4

Mick and Gladys' dinner wraps up, and Mick meets the last person he expects.

2015- Friday, March 20, 1942

Wilmington, NC

 

            Dinner had seemed to fly by and before they knew it Gladys and Fraser were enjoying small cups of coffee and their desert of a chocolate brownie. They had talked about much and the mood had changed from the melancholia that it had been, to laughter and warm stories about things that had happened and was happening with each of their units. It had been a delightful night, and one that both of them needed to help keep their minds off those that they missed.

            Around them, the crowd of officers had thinned slightly and many had moved from room to room in search of chairs, or to refill their beverages. As Fraser looked over he happened to see the young nurse that Gladys delighted in teasing him about the crush she had on him. On either side of her were a couple of the older nurses, whom Fraser assumed were her superior officers.

            "She really is nervous of any attention, isn't she?" Fraser commented, smirking as he kept his eyes out on the crowd.

            "Poor thing. She is. She's young though, from a small town by the Great Lakes, and probably didn't have many eligible bachelors there." Gladys replied finishing her coffee.

            "So you think she's nervous because she doesn't have any experience, or because she's just put off by flirting?" Fraser asked, trying to figure out exactly what Eva Stark's story was, not out of any romantic interest in her, but rather because he valued her innocence. It was something that he felt should be cherished and protected in a world that seemed devoted to ripping its self-apart.

            "Probably a little of both, if the truth were known." Gladys replied, leaning back in her chair slightly, and crossing one leg over the other and straightening her blue skirt, "I think if it were the right guy she'd be better about it." That comment got her a slant-eyed look from her brother, "No! Not you, I mean the right guy for her. We both know that's not you."

            "Maybe." Fraser said, "It's pretty amazing what the right person will do to you."

            Gladys nodded, "It is. Speaking of, when was the last time you spoke to your affianced?"

            "Couple of nights ago." Fraser said checking his watch, "I'll call her before too long tonight." He smiled, "Or tomorrow. A bunch of us guys got a room at the Statler for the weekend." He pulled out the black case that he kept his cigarettes in and pulled one out, "How long are you guys on Liberty for?"

            Gladys rolled her eyes, "Sunday morning." She replied giving him a stern look, "You know how much I hate those things, right?"

            Fraser nodded, "I know." His voice sounded slightly defeated but he pulled a drag off of it and let the smoke roll out from between his lips, "I've actually slowed down quite a bit from when I first got in the Corps."

            Gladys rolled her eyes, "You won't quit. Not with the war coming. If anything it will make you pick it back up worse." She sighed before an Army officer walking up to Eva across the room grabbed her attention.

            The man was tall, nearly six feet, with light brown hair parted in the center. There was a slight wave to it and he had a crooked smile that was full of confidence. His build was slender, and the way his uniform looked completely polished made it obvious that he had recently graduated from officer training. He held two drinks in his hand, one that looked like it was partially drunk, and the other looked like the same thing that Eva had been sipping all night. That worried Gladys even more because it meant that this man had been watching Eva for some time. Had this been any other Nurse who had more experience with men, she wouldn't have been concerned, but Gladys was always protective of Eva.

            The advance had not been missed by Fraser either, who let the smoke from the last drag he'd taken on his cigarette be blown out of his nose as his blue eyes watched what was going on, "This isn't good." He said calmly, "Should I jump in?"

            "No. It'll only make her crush for you that much stronger." Gladys said, "It's not fair to do that to her."

            Fraser merely nodded in response.

            "I'll deal with it." Gladys said standing up and starting to slowly work her way through the crowd to her friend.

            Eva had been standing with two of the senior nurses most of the evening, laughing and having a good time, but they had both excused themselves to the ladies room, leaving Eva alone. She hadn't thought much of it as she had stood there listening to the piano and making idle small talk with a few of the other officers who went by. None of them seemed rude or trying to get anything from her but a conversation. However as she saw this young Army 2nd Lieutenant approaching her with a sly, confident smirk on his face, she couldn't help but feel something was wrong. She looked around for any of her friends, but couldn't find anyone, so she tried her best to just be polite and friendly, but also appear disinterested in the man.

            "Awful shame for such a beautiful dame to be sitting here by herself, ya know." The Lieutenant said, "I took the liberty of getting you a refill on your drink."

            "That's kind of you, but you don't even know what I'm drinking." Eva replied.

            "Sure I do." the Lieutenant said, "You've been drinking chardonnay all night."

            "And just how do you know it's chardonnay? It could be a pinot, or a Riesling." Eva replied, trying to be clever and off-putting but it wasn't having the effect she desired.

            "I made it my business to know." the Lieutenant replied, "I'm James Coolidge, but most people call me Jimmy." He said with a smile, holding out his hand.

            "Lieutenant Junior Grade Eva Stark." Eva replied nervously as she accepted his hand. It was more out of habit than it was out of interest for the smooth talking Army officer. Her brown eyes searching the horizon desperately for someone to come rescue her, but she couldn't see anyone. There were too many people in the way for her to be able to see Gladys trying to work her way towards her.

            "Charmed." Coolidge said bringing Eva's hand up and lightly kissing the top of it.

            Eva pulled her hand from his, suddenly feeling disgusting, "Thank you." She replied nervously, keeping her hand close to her, "So are you stationed around here?"

            "Sadly no. I'm just passing through on my way up to Boston." Coolidge replied.

            "Boston? Isn't the war overseas? I didn't know the Army had training camps in Boston."

            "Well Fort Devens isn't far from Boston, but no I'm going to be running a recruiting station up there." Coolidge said with a smile, "At least for now."

            "Well, isn't that swell?" Eva said hoping that their conversation would end; "You have a gal waiting for you up there?"

            "Hopefully, but she hasn't said yes to the proposal yet." Coolidge said, "So for now I'm a free bird. Just like you."

            "Who... who said I was a free bird?" Eva asked.

            "I can just tell." Coolidge said, "You wouldn't be so nervous if you had a real man."

            Before Eva could reply Gladys showed up beside them, "I'm sorry to interrupt, Eva you have to come see this." Gladys looked at Coolidge, "May I borrow her?"

            "I'm sorry, who are you?" Coolidge asked.

            "Lieutenant Junior Grade Gladys Fraser, U.S. Navy Nurse Corps," Gladys replied sternly, "And you are, sir?"

            "Second Lieutenant James Coolidge, Army." Coolidge replied, "I'm sorry Lieutenant Fraser, but the lovely Eva and I were talking. It's very rude to interrupt."

            Gladys' face tightened as Eva slipped off the stool she had been sitting on and stood behind Gladys, "I don't think you were talking at all." Gladys said, "I think you were offering your attentions and I think the young officer had no interest in them."

            "Well you weren't here for the conversation." Coolidge replied, before his eyes shifted to Eva, "Perhaps a dance?"

            "No... thank you." Eva stammered.

            Coolidge took a step forward, but couldn't get past Gladys, "Lieutenant, please don't make this difficult. I'm merely asking if the young lady would care to dance."

            By this point several of the nearby officers had taken note of the situation. Most of them were Army Air Corps pilots, who didn't see anything wrong with what their fellow soldier was doing. A couple of the Navy officers began to wonder what was going on, but weren't prepared to get involved yet. For all they knew it could have been one of the nurses playing hard to get.

            "I believe the Lieutenant said she wouldn't care to dance with you, sir." A strong male voice came from behind Coolidge, "So perhaps you could find another young lady in the establishment who would."

            Coolidge turned around and saw the Marine Sergeant standing behind him. His eyes went up and down the shorter, slender man in the green uniform. He was floored that an enlisted man would speak to an officer in such a fashion. "Look, I don't even know how you got in here, Sergeant, but you need to leave. This establishment is for officers only. You have no business here."

            "Actually, sir, that's my sister you've been smart-mouthing. So yes I do have business here." Fraser replied, "And I'm going to ask you again, please leave the young women alone, sir."

            The exchange between the two men had drawn the attention of more of the officers in the room. Coolidge felt challenged, insulted, and as though his authority as an officer had been undermined, "What's your name Sergeant?"

            "Michael Fraser, Marine Corps." Fraser replied, "May I ask yours, sir?"

            "James Coolidge. Not that it's any business of yours." Coolidge replied, "But I'm going to call your CO and have you put on a restriction for this. We'll see if that doesn't teach you where an enlisted man's boundaries are."

            Two Marine officers had worked their way to the front of the crowd and were watching the exchange carefully. They said nothing, as it appeared the Sergeant had the situation in hand. But since it was one of their own involved in the altercation, the Captain and First Lieutenant wanted to know what was going on and whether the Sergeant was in the wrong or not.

            "You are welcome to do so, sir." Fraser replied, "But I have to ask you to leave the young Lieutenants alone. They aren't interested in your attentions, sir, but I'm sure there are plenty of other young ladies who would be." Something troubled Fraser about the whole ordeal beyond the obvious facts. Coolidge seemed so hauntingly familiar, and he couldn't figure out exactly why and he didn't have time to really dwell on it at that moment.

            "Look, you little s**t. I've asked you nicely several times to take a hike, but you just don't take a hint, do you?" Coolidge asked, "So I guess I'll call the MP's and have your a*s thrown in the brig. We'll see what that does to your attitude."

            Before Fraser could respond, the Marine Captain stepped forward, "Alright, Lieutenant. There's no need for that sort of language. Why don't you go have a smoke and cool off?"

            Coolidge was about to back-talk the new stranger who had stepped in when he realized that the Captain was a higher rank than he was. He straightened up, "Yes, sir." He turned to Gladys and Eva, "I apologize for the language ladies." He turned back to the Captain, "I apologize to you, sir." With that he turned and walked away and the tension in the room just melted away and the other officers went back to their conversations.

            As the Captain turned back towards Fraser, Fraser realized that it was Captain Roger Ward, the commander of How Company, First Marines. Fraser straightened to attention as he realized that it was his own company commander. "I beg your pardon, sir."

            Ward held his hand up, "Nothing to forgive, Sergeant. You did right by standing up for these two officers." Ward slapped him on the shoulder, "But I would advise saying your farewells to your sister for the evening, and perhaps making yourself scarce. You've made quite a stir this evening. We wouldn't want it getting any worse for you."

            "Aye, sir." Fraser replied obediently, "Thank you, sir."

            Ward turned back to the women standing behind him, "I do apologize for the altercation, ladies. I hope you have a wonderful night." He smiled at them and turned and walked back into the crowd.

            Fraser looked at Gladys and Eva, who had now been joined by some of the other nurses from their ward. He walked up to them, "I should get going."

            "Thank you!" Eva said throwing herself into his arms and hugging him, "I really appreciate you coming and helping us. I was getting worried about what he would do."

            The nurses behind her snickered but didn't say anything as Fraser gently hugged her but then pulled himself out of her embrace. "Honestly, it was nothing, Ma'am." He offered her a kind smile, "Guys like that are easy to deal with, just be firm with them."

            Gladys smiled at her brother, "Thank you, Mick. That guy just wasn't understanding that she wasn't interested." She wrapped her arms around her brother and the two hugged tightly, "She's going to be buzzing about this for weeks." Gladys whispered into his ear.

            Fraser let out a quiet laugh, "Well, at least she got some excitement."

            The two released each other and Gladys smiled up at him, "Alright, well I think we're going to retire for the evening, and I'm sure you've got other places to be."

            "Yeah I'll catch up with the guys at the Copper Penny down the way a bit." Fraser replied, "I'm glad you ladies are safe."

            "Well ya know, Sergeant." Frances said stepping in, "You could always ensure that Jane and I are safe since we're goin' to the same joint you are."

            Fraser raised his eyebrow, "Well if we're all going to the same place, I'd be remiss if I didn't offer to escort you." He tried not to laugh at the death glare that Eva was giving both of her fellow nurses at that moment. He looked back to Gladys, "I'll ring you later."

            "Love you. Be safe." She replied before taking Eva by the arm and heading towards the elevator to go to their room.

            "You ready, Marine?" Frances said after lighting a cigarette, "I'm stick of these officers, I'm ready for some real fun."

            "I'm ready when you are." Fraser replied. The three of them headed towards the door. His mind went back to the Army Lieutenant's name. There was something so oddly familiar about it, other than the fact that it was the same last name as one of the Presidents. James Coolidge was definitely a name that he'd heard before, but couldn't remember where. The Coolidges were one of the richest families in New England, and that's when it hit him. James Coolidge was the man that Avery's family was trying to force her to marry. His face tensed as he realized that he had just meat the one person who could truly ruin his happiness. As he walked down the street, Frances and Jane's banter couldn't have been further from his mind as he was sure that this would not be the last time that he met the young officer and he was sure their next meeting would not go as peacefully.

Author's Note

Making an effort to link pieces of the story together to have it make a bit more sense. All of these characters will be important as the story goes on.
Constructive criticism, critiques and reviews are always welcome. I hope you are enjoying it so far.