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Virginia sat in the leisure sphere considering the recent turn of events. She found out the previous afternoon that Craig was alive and she still hadn’t talked to Paul about it. The truth was that right now she wasn’t in love with either one of them. Paul was too immature and single minded and her feelings for Craig had faded. She didn’t know if they would be reignited if she saw him again.
As Ginny was lost in thought Nina Barry walked in unnoticed.
“Ginny, are you alright?”
Virginia was somewhat startled, “Oh…hi Nina.”
“My, aren’t we jumpy.”
“I’m sorry; I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“I can imagine that’s why I came to talk to you. This morning you looked like you could use a friend who doesn’t have an ulterior motive.”
Ginny smiled knowing who she was referring to. “Thanks Nina, you’re right. Paul as been wonderful to me, and he helped me get through a rough time. But now he wants more and quite frankly he doesn’t know how to deal with a woman who doesn’t melt at his feet. He’s like a moth to a candle. The more I say no, the more attractive I become to him.”
“Do you want my opinion?”
“I think I know what it is. I tried to break it off the other night, but he convinced me to a least give it until we get back to Earth. He’s taking me to the London Symphony in a few weeks.”
“Paul going to the symphony, that I have to see. Really Ginny, do you think few those weeks will make any difference?”
“No, not really.”
“And what are you going to do about Craig?”
“I don’t know the answer to that either. Craig and I never had a formal commitment, we didn’t need it. Eight weeks ago I was in love with him, now I don’t know how I feel. What does that say about me, am I that hollow?”
“Of course not, you’re human. You were sure that Craig was dead. You mourned and you moved on; that’s what people do. And if you have the courage to ask yourself that question then you’ve already proven you’re not that way.”
“Then why do I feel guilty?”
“Because you care about their feelings; but that doesn’t mean that you should feel guilty. And Ginny, whatever you do don’t tell either of them that. They’re men and they’ll use it against you.”
That brought Ginny to laughter.
“Ginny, follow your heart, you may find out that neither one of these men are the right one. Sometimes things happen for a reason.”
“Are we talking divine intervention here?”
“Call it God, call it fate, call it the universe, whatever you name it, the principle is the same. I’ve always believed that there are forces that we don’t understand working behind the scenes affecting our lives.”
“My mother is a believer, and I was raised that way, but I don’t know what I believe now.”
“The nice thing about this is you don’t have to understand it, just be ready when fate puts Mr. Right in front of you. He may be closer than you think.”
“I know you you’re talking about; I still think you’re off the deep end with that.”
“Remember our bet, within a year of being posted Earth side.”
“I’m already looking forward to collecting my dinner.”
“We’ll see.”
As the two women were talking Paul Foster and Steve Harris walked into the sphere.
“Oh, hi Steve, hi Paul,” Nina said then turned back to Ginny. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Nina and Harris walked over to the coffee dispenser while Paul sat across from Ginny.
“Craig’s ship has landed; he’ll be here in a few minutes. Ginny, I know this is going to be hard for you. I’m willing to step aside if you think you’re still in love with Craig. I’m sure I’ll regret this later but it’s only fair.”
Ginny was shocked, “You would do this for me?”
“Yeah, you said something to me the other day that stuck in my mind.”
“We’ll see you two later,” said Nina as she walked out with Steve. After they left Ginny continued.
“I think I might have underestimated you Paul, thank you.”
She gave him a warm smile and they gently kissed each other. They ended the kiss just before the door opened and Craig Collins walked in the room. Ginny quickly turned her head as Paul still had his hand on her shoulder. She knew Craig must have noticed.
She stood and walked quickly to great him, “Craig! I was so glad when I heard.”
“Well it takes more than a little barbeque to fry me you know,” he said as he took her in his arms squeezing her tight, too tight!
He let her go saying, “Gee I’m sorry. I do hope I haven’t cracked a rib. I just don’t know what came over me.”
Ginny gave him a concerned look, Craig was never that rough, she thought.
Collins turned to Foster, “Well Foster, nice to see you again. I’m glad you’ve been keeping an eye on things for me while I’ve been away.”
“I can’t say I know what you mean.”
“Oh now, of course you do.”
“Craig,” said Ginny with a tone of warning in her voice.
Collins turned to Ginny and said, “Now how about…How about getting this old jungle cat a cup of coffee, now that he has returned.”
“Alright,” she said as she goes to the coffee machine.
“If it’s alright with you, Foster.”
“Yeah…” Foster Turned to Ginny, “See you later.”
After Paul left Ginny handed him his coffee and they sat down at the table. He sipped the coffee and grimaced.
“Still making this moon dust I see.”
Craig looked at Ginny almost apologetically.
“I just wanted to say that there’s no reason to feel guilty about anything.”
Virginia did feel guilty, but remembering her conversation with Nina she chose not to admit it right now.
“I don’t feel guilty, Craig. I cried a little when I thought you were dead. After a while I stopped crying. People do.”
“Yes they do.”
“And we weren’t exactly Romeo and Juliet.”
Virginia got up from the table and walked to the couch while Craig continued.
“Virginia, Ginny you make it ah…You make it very hard for a man…Who only wants to say ah…no hard feelings.”
“I’m sorry, if that’s really what you’re trying to say.”
Collins looked dejected as he said, “What else in the world would I do?”
“How was the jungle?” she asked lightening the subject.
“Well I’ll tell you one thing. There was no one there who looked like you.”
That brought a smile to her as Collins continued, “You know, I used to lie there and look up at the old moon and I’d say to myself, you know somthin’ ol’ Ginny’s up there.”
“I did think about you.”
Ginny got up from the couch and Craig took her arm. She turned to face him.
“Did you? You mean there’s still a chance for this singed old astronaut?”
“I never said there wasn’t. It’s just that I resent you looking upon me as your property.”
“Now you know I’d never do that.”
Collins drew her into a kiss gently at first and she closed her eyes realizing there was still an attraction between them. The attraction quickly became horror as Collins held her tighter and grabbed her hair. She struggled to get away breaking loose for a second and finally breaking out of his grip. She looked at him horrified as to what he had become.
“You didn’t leave the jungle! You brought it back with you!”
She quickly stormed out of the room leaving a dumbfounded Collins standing there.
Later that day Ginny was talking with Nina in her quarters. She was still visibly shaken by the incident between her and Craig.
“Ginny you should tell somebody about this.”
“Nina, if I do that Craig can pretty much kiss his career goodbye. What he did today was borderline sexual assault.”
“I still can’t believe it, Craig was never like that. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“Something must have happened to him while he was stranded in the jungle. Maybe he just needs time to work it out. But I’ll never trust him again. I should have known something was wrong when he was acting so possessive.”
“I still think you should tell Straker. Craig is a friend of his, and maybe he can get him to get some help.”
“If Ed Straker were to catch wind of this, Craig would be in front of a court martial before the day was out. Friend or no friend, Straker doesn’t tolerate that kind of behavior.”
“You’re probably right, but what if he tries this again?”
“If he did that, I would report him, but I don’t think he’ll come near me now.”
“Let’s hope not. So you’ve got what three weeks left before you go home?”
“Yeah, I can hardly wait. It’s funny; I really looked forward to this assignment when Straker gave it to me last year. And it was an enjoyable posting. I met some great people. But I’ll be glad to be home and working out of HQ for a while.”
“I know, second in command. I can hardly believe it. Maybe you’ll be running the show one of these days.”
“Are you kidding me; Ed will never retire. And you know what, I’m okay with that. There is no one in the organization, man or woman, who could step in and replace him.”
“Yeah, you’re right. So did you get your new airplane?” Nina asked, changing the subject.
“It should be in next week. I was lucky to get a hanger berth at Heathrow. At least it will keep it out of the rain. I’m looking forward to doing some flying when I get back. Gay is supposed to have furlough that week so the two of us will take her up on her maiden flight.”
“That sounds like it could be fun. Tell Gay I said hello when you see her.”
“I will.”
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