Chapter 5

Sean knew that his first week was going to be busy and stressful, but nothing could have prepared him for the amount of information that was being thrown at him in briefing after briefing. He had already filled up two different notebooks, and was halfway through his third, and he still had one more full day of meetings to get through before he was free to start his normal duties and office hours. In all of the hustle and bustle of the week, he had forgotten all about the brown haired girl who had him so curious and transfixed on his first day. While he knew that much of what he as learning and being informed of was important information, he also felt that half of the material was a repeated version of information he had already been told about. His least favorite part of being an officer was the sheer number of meetings he always seemed to be forced to attend. He had literally went to a meeting about the information they should discuss in a later meeting. He was thankful for his executive assistant. The private they had assigned to him upon his arrival had been his one saving grace. He would often hand him a condensed version of his own noted that included only the information that would be vital to him, and their mission. The man seemed both very knowledgeable and intuitive, and also had a good relationship with a lot of the soldiers under his command. He knew that this would be helpful when it came time to start getting acquainted with all of his people. Having someone close to him that they all trusted and respected would make it easier for him to know how to approach them. By the time all of the meeting were through, and he sat at his desk looking at the stacks of files he still needed to go through before he started assigning tasks and missions in the morning, his brain was completely fried. Pvt. Williams walked in, his arms barely containing all the food he was carrying, and he gave Sean and assessing look. "When was the last time you slept?" He asked, trying not to sound too exasperated with his new commander. Sean looked up from his work, and gave Williams a sheepish thought for a moment before responding, "not since that breakfast meeting, honestly. I have so much to get done, i suppose i simply forgot to grab anything else." It was at that moment that his stomach decided to make a very loud protest at the smell of the food now before him. Williams placed the various food containers on the table in the corner of the office, and sat out two empty plates, giving his commander a sympathetic look. "How about you eat before you collapse, and you can tell me what all you still have left to do, and I can give you a quick rundown so we can both get to bed before sunrise." said Williams in a soft voice. Sean nodded and proceeded to start piling food onto his plate, as Williams took his plate to the overcrowded desk, and began to sort things into piles, and asking various questions. As they discussed the various personnel and what the best use of their skills would be, Sean suddenly remembered the brown haired girl, with the sad eyes. As they were currently talking about the soldiers in his command, he figured that now was as good a time to ask about her as any without raising any red flags. Sean did his best to hide his disappointment when Williams didn't know who she was. There weren't that many women here, but apparently he couldn't think of any with short brown hair.

Emma woke to the sound of a hard knock at her door. As irritated she was at being woken up with the loud banging, she was glad to be done with the dream she had been trapped in. She grabbed a t shirt, and was pulling it over her head as she answered the door. She was a little startled to see Williams standing in her doorway this early, his hand frozen mid air as he was about to knock again. He looked at her in confusion for a full minute before Emma spoke, bringing him out of his trance." Earth to Williams, is there any reason you are banging on my door at 5am?" She said, laughter clear in her voice. He shook his head, blinked a few times, and extended his arm towards here, a folded piece of paper in his hand. She took the proffered letter, and looked back up to him. The dumbfounded look from early no longer contorting his face, but there was something about how he was looking at her that made her uncomfortable. "Was there anything else?" she asked,trying to keep any irritation out of her voice. Williams simply shook his head, and walked away with urgency. Emma shut the door and padded back to her bed. Deciding that she needed 30 more minutes rest before starting her day, she lay back down, deciding that she would read the note when she got up to start her day.

Jay was just finishing up his last rep on the weight machine, when a pale Williams came walking towards him, worry and stress clear on his face and in his posture. Jay wiped at his face, and sat up, bracing for whatever news that Private was carrying. Williams sat on the bench next to Jay, and began to wring his hands, as he spoke."I dropped the squads new orders off with Emma at the dorms a little bit ago,"he started, obviously working through how to say the next 's heart jumped into his chest, the way the other man was acting had Jayon edge about what their next mission would be, to have him acting this nervous. Jay shook his head, doing his best to keep his rising anger and worry in check. "Is the assignment that bad, cause you are kinda freaking me out right now Williams, you look white as a sheet." Jay ground out through gritted shook his head, and opened his mouth to speak. "When did Emma change her hair?" He stared at him in amazement if that was what had the other man so shook up. Jay began to laugh, and gave his worried friend's shoulder a squeeze. "Its been that way for about a week now. You know how women are, they do the weirdest stuff sometimes. I personally liked the blonde a whole lot better, but apparently she really needed a change.I guess the years of dumb blonde jokes finally got to her." Jay said,while standing to grab his gear and head back to his shared room with the girl in question. As he was walking away, Williams spoke once more, his voice uncertain and shaky, " The new commander was asking after her, apparently he noticed her during the welcome brief, and she was asking strange.I told him I didn't know the woman in question, as he described her as a Brunette with short hair. I won't tell him I've figured it out, but just be aware, he is actively looking for her, and I am not sure how long she is going to be able to avoid his notice. Id look at those orders when you get back to the bunk, the two of you, and two more from bravo company are to accompany Major Cameron to the lz tomorrow to help him get the lay of the land." With that, Williams walked away, and Jay quickly made his way back to his rooms. Today was going to be a long day for him. He just hoped that whatever freak out was coming, he would be able to get her out of it before their mission tomorrow. They had a very important meeting to attend, and he was anxious to see how it would all play out.