Undercover - Chapter 3

from chapter 2

Jamie - So you accept?

Harm - I must be crazy!

Jamie sighs in relief.

Jamie - For one second I thought you were going to say no. Welcome on board, Commander!

************************

Chapter 3

0845 local

Royal Crown Hotel

Barbados

Thursday

Jamie opens Harm's door with a master key and finds him still asleep, spread across his bed.

((The writer will not tell if she thought about undressing herself and joining our hero in his bed...))

Well, after hesitating a second ((quite understandably..)) in front of this show of male sex-appeal, she throws the file on the table, pulls the curtains and open the window wide.

Jamie - Come on partner wake up. We have a hard day waiting for us!

Harm put his head under his pillow moaning and mumbling.

Jamie - Be a sweetheart, Harm, get up!

Harm - I'm on leave! Get the hell out of here! I have a deal with you! What else do you want from me?

Jamie - You have to learn your part, know what you have to say... (sigh) be a little more friendly with me.

Harm - I'm sorry. I haven't been able to sleep last night.

Jamie - It's not a reason to be so grumpy!

Harm eventually gets up, only dressed with his underwear.

Harm - Can I at least get dressed?

Jamie - Sure! I even asked for a breakfast which must be on its way up!

Harm turns to Jamie, looking interested. He is about to say something but Jamie speaks before him.

Jamie - With black coffee, orange juice, scrambled eggs and toast.

Harm - It makes up for the early wake-up call!

Jamie, smiling - That's the point.

Harm goes into the bathroom, and the shower can be heard. During this time, the room service arrives and brings the breakfast. Jamie opens the file she had when she came in and flips through the pages. Harm comes out of the bathroom, a towel secured around his hips, drying his hair with another. Going by the table, he takes a sip out of the cup of coffee Jamie served him. He takes his clothes and goes back in the bathroom with his cup.

Harm, from inside the bathroom - So, what do I need to know?

Jamie - My name is Jamie Bond, I was born November 26th 1968 in Norfolk, Virginia, my father was a welder working at the shipyard, and my mother was a secretary at the same place.

Harm, his face covered with shaving cream, pokes his head round the door.

Harm - Is this true? Jamie Bond, no kidding ?

Jamie - It's part true. Better you don't know my real name. You could mix everything and blow my cover.

Harm, going back to shaving - Too bad!

Jamie - I'm Susan.

Harm, shaving - Susan... Suits you pretty well.

Jamie smiling - Thanks. I have two brothers. Sean and Moore. My mother didn't know a thing about my illustrious namesake until she met my father who was a fan.

Harm gets out of the bathroom dressed with a pair of jeans, drying his face.

Harm - *That* can't be true!

Jamie - If my two partners come to see me, they have to have a reason, don't you think?

Harm - Right. I just need to know who is who.

Jamie pulls two pictures out of the file and hands them to Harm.

Jamie - Sean is the blond one, Moore is the tall one.

Harm - They look nice.

Jamie - They are adorable. Like real big brothers! They also make the cover, in case they need to use it. When I was 18, I went to Naval Academy at Annapolis to be a fighter pilot. In fact, it's my father's best friend, a pilot he met during Vietnam, who began to teach me to fly when I was about ten. Between boats and planes, I chose both.

Harm - It must be true, or the Admiral would have signed nothing, at least not for the Navy.

Jamie - It's partly true, like everything else. But I won't tell you what is what. After that, I went to several bases, the last one was Adak, Alaska.

Harm - I imagine your military record has been well made up.

Jamie - I can even find men who could swear I spent six months with them. Don't worry, my boss did everything all right. He his my father's best friend, the one who taught me to fly.

Harm gets off the bathroom fully dressed with a close shaving.

Harm - All your story is made of half-truthes. Do you expect people to believe them?

Jamie - Even better than you think. Why shouldn't they believe me?

Harm - Do you have anything planned for today?

Jamie - Apart from making you repeat my story? No, I can do everything I want. The watching team is gone, we can make what we want of our time.

Harm - There is a little private airport on the way out of the city. Would you like to fly ?

Jamie - I know you want to test me. Lucky for you I love flying!

Harm - One or two planes? And who pays for all the expenses?

Jamie - Uncle Sam pays for all the expenses induced by the mission, within reasonable limits. So, he offers a walk in the sky with one,but not a duel with two.

Harm - All right. One plane, and we take the stick in turn.

Jamie - Suits me!

Harm - Here we go!

Jamie - I'll stick to your six!

*******************

Barbados

Airport

Thursday

1000 local

Our two heroes get out of a taxi down at the airport. In front of the hangar, they meet a mechanic.

Harm - Good morning! We would like to rent a plane for the day.

The mechanic - You have to ask the chief, in the tower. On his coveralls, its written `Josh'.

Jamie – Thanks!

Harm and Jamie step out of the tower fifteen minutes later. They head to the Piper Cherokee waiting for them in the hangar's shadow.

Jamie - I begin. After all, ladies first!

Harm - Okay. Nice of you to let me the landing.

Jamie - If you can't make a daily landing on a ground runway, you shouldn't take the stick at all!

Harm - Hey! I can land a F-14 on a spot on any ocean. Have you ever flown on that kind of plane?

Jamie - Not this one.

Jamie sits begins the check-up and put the head phones on her ears.

Jamie - Suarez, this is Bravo Delta. Requesting permission for take-off.

The tower - Bravo Delta, permission granted. Have a nice flight!

Jamie - Thank you Suarez. Over.

With a light of passion in her eyes, Jamie throws her plane on the air strip and takes off with a cry of excitement. Harm watches her with a surprised and admiring look. Several seconds later, Jamie looks at Harm smiling.

Jamie - I'm home here!

They fly in silence for a few minutes.

Jamie – Get ready for the roller coaster !

Jamie dives and begin to perform acrobatics. From the tower, the mechanic and Josh look at the little plane that rolls, reels and flips with admiration.

The mechanic - That's a man with balls!

Josh - It's the girl who has the stick.

The mechanic is speechless.

In the plane, Jamie has left the stick to Harm. She breathes slowly, eyes closed, her face shows the passion she feels for flying.

Harm - Do I show you what I can do now?

Jamie - Okay. Just don't forget it's not a tomcat or your Stearman!

Harm - I think I can handle it!

And like Jamie moment before, he throws the Piper in a series of acrobatics. Jamie cries out of joy and excitement then laughs out loud. She is in heaven. Harm smiles to her and laughs too.

*******************

After a couple hours of flying, they land the little plane on the airport's runway and exit on the tarmac, excited but tired. The mecanic awaits them in front of the hangar.

Jamie - You didn't believe I could do that, did you?

Harm - You bluffed me on that one!

The mecanic - Well, missy, looks you're a woman who have balls!

Jamie - Thank you!

Harm - I didn't believe her when she told me she was born holding a stick.

Jamie - People pretends women can't do men's jobs and stay feminine at the same time. But there's only men to say that!

Jamie turns and start to walk to the car head up and hips swaggering. Harm follows her shaking his head looking like he just has been had in full length.

*******************

1615 local

Royal Crown Hotel

Barbados

Thursday

They enter Jamie's room. She throw the keys on the bed and opens the french doors. She steps on the balcony and breathes in the fresh air. Harm lean against the doorframe and looks at her, almost tenderely. Then she turns back and smiles back at him.

Jamie - So, you'll get used to me?

Harm - In privacy, I don't know, but I won't have a problem with the rest. Do you fly other kinds of planes?

Jamie - I've learnt on a 1946 Cessna. Then I bought a 1971 Bonanza,as easy to fly as a toy. I love my Hummingbird! Those last months, I've been trained on Hornets, Tomcats and Skyhawks.

Harm - You seems to know planes pretty well.

Jamie - They wanted me to be able to fly anything.

Harm - And which one do you prefer?

Jamie - Fighters? The Skyhawk is smaller, lighter, easier to handle, but the Tomcat is faster. The first time I pass the sound wall, it was in a Phantom II. When I returned, the guy in the tower told me his ears were still ringing from the cry I shouted!

Harm - I can believe it.

Jamie hands him the file they were studying that morning.

Jamie - Those are all the papers they made for me. Military record, friends, stories, things to know.

Harm - I have to learn all that? It seems a little odd that I should know that much about you in only a week.

Jamie - What you'll be able to say about me will show we have spent some time out of a bed.

Harm - Excuse me?

Jamie - Harm, I'm going to move at your place., we have to pretend to be a man and a woman who fell in love with each other. Usually, in that kind of situation, the man and the woman spend most of their time in a bed. You need a drawing?

Harm - No, thanks.

Jamie - I'm sorry, Harm. It's too late to go back, now.

Jamie walks to Harm and takes him in her arms.

Jamie - Hold me, Harm, just to get used to me.

Harm does as she says and put his cheek on the top of her head.

Jamie - See, it's not that hard.

They stay in an embrace for a few minutes. Slowly, Jamie lifts up her head, slides her hands along his back to his neck and put a gentle kiss on his lips. Then she steps back from him.

Jamie - We have a few days to practice. So we can get used to each other. If you jump every time I touch you, it will look rather strange, don't you think?

Harm - I jump? Well, you're gonna jump now!

Harm grabs Jamie's face in his hands and kiss her sharply. Jamie hangs on to his neck and they share a breathtaking kiss. Harm drags her to the bed and they fall down without letting go. Jamie moans softly and Harm smiles. They part, breathing deeply.

Harm - So, you're convinced?

Jamie - Yes I am, Commander!

They smile and Harm rolls on to his back to take his breath.