Aaron laughed. “Right. That’s just a given.”
I smiled ruefully at my friend, happy to find that despite the months since we’d last been together, our long standing friendship and easy camaraderie clicked right back into place. “Things are good. Gearing up for deployment, obviously. You know. The new guys are asking a lot of questions, getting nervous, but overall, we’re solid. It should be pretty low key. I’m not worried.”
“Of course not, Boomer. You’re the rock for everyone else.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling my sun warmed skin exposed above the collar of my t-shirt. “Well, they might have to figure out a way to survive without me. Right before I left yesterday, Collins pulled me aside and told me about an opportunity overseas. A three-year stint in Germany.”
Aaron glanced over at me, his eyes wide. “Shit! That’d be sweet! You gonna take it?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought about it on the drive down, but not enough to make a decision.”
“Come on,” Aaron said, elbowing me. “I bet you could score some serious ass over there. A decorated Naval Officer, fresh off a plane from the states.”
I laughed and shook my head, marveling at his one track mind. “Some things never change, huh, Rosen?”
He held up his hands innocently, but the daredevil glint in his eye told the true story. Aaron had no problem owning up to his Player reputation, in fact, he relished in it. For whatever reason, knowing he was a womanizer, only seemed to draw more women to him.
I never quite figured out how his game worked.
“With my luck, I’d end up head over heels for some woman who just wanted a green card and the contents of my bank account,” I replied. I’d meant for it to come out sarcastically, but somewhere halfway through it, the humor had fallen away and left me sounding bitter.
Aaron shot me a look as he stopped to fish his keys out of the pocket of his jeans when we reached the side door to the museum space. “When did you turn all cynical? You have some lady problems since I last saw you?”
“Lady problems? Damn, Rosen. I’m single, not PMS’ing.”
Aaron roared with laughter and unlocked the door. He pushed inside and flicked on a light switch. Row by row, the large, industrial light fixtures popped to life, bathing the polished machines in a bright, fluorescent light.
I let out a low whistle and took a few steps inside, my eyes devouring the elegant machines.
“Yeah, we’ve expanded quite a bit since your last trip out here,” Aaron said. He took me down the line, pointing out each model, spouting an impressive amount of information about each plane. When we reached the end of the third row, he smiled even wider. “Now this, this one is my favorite. I worked my fuckin’ ass off to sweet talk this guy into selling it to me.”
“Holy shit,” I breathed, stepping to see the side to take in the full profile. It was a two seater, fighter jet, judging by the look, something from the Soviet era, complete with the designs its original owner had painted on the pilot’s side, just above the wing. “She’s a beaut.”
“Tell me about it. Everything’s original. Take a look inside.”
I glanced over at him and he nodded, silently assuring me it was okay. I took reverent steps to the small door and peeked inside, sure enough, it was all true to the original specs. “It’s like something out of a history book. Can she fly?”
Aaron nodded. “My old man woulda been proud,” Aaron said, his voice thick with a lump of emotion.
“He would have, man,” I echoed, considering my friend with a careful eye. Aaron had taken his father’s death pretty hard, as it had been unexpected, and in the middle of a grueling tour overseas. He’d gone to bed one night, suffered a massive stroke, and never woke up again. Aaron had received emergency leave to go home for the funeral, and a few days after his departure, we received word from our commander, that he’d resigned his commission and wouldn’t be returning. I’d never managed to get the full story out of him, but the rumor mill had circulated that Aaron had battled panic attacks and anxiety since receiving the news, and a Chaplain in the unit had advised he not return to finish the deployment.
Aaron nodded, and I looked away at the sight of the glazed over look in his eyes. I’d never been very good at comforting people when they were grieving. I’d never experienced the loss of a parent, sibling, or even a grandparent, which made me very lucky, but also completely ill-equipped to deal with other’s suffering.
“Hey, you wanna go grab a beer or something?” I asked. “You can show me the rest of the place later. We got two full weeks to put your fancy simulation software to the test?”