I walked into the travel office, noticed they were busy as hell but being the only officer in the room, I walked up to the head of the line, looked do...n at the Sgt. sitting at the desk and ordered, "Is that how you greet an officer? Two Sgts. and I need to get immediate transportation to Ramadi."He jumped to his feet, stood at attention, saluted and apologized, "Sorry Sir! We don't get many officers in here."I looked at his name and played my trump card, "Sgt. Thompson, I was talking with. But they weighed the same as my familiar iron plates when I raised them overhead.Grunting through a series of shoulder presses as a nu metal mix pounded through my earbuds, my mind kept drifting back to the sight of Violet lying on the bed in her black panties and tank top.I pushed the memory away with an audible grunt and stared at the mirror on the wall, concentrating on my form. Beads of sweat ran down my arms, falling in fat heavy drops to the wooden floor. Locking eyes with my own. I heaved a resigned sigh. Maybe it was for the best, I thought. I really ought to speak to Wendy before saying anything to Fran. "Never mind, you're here now," I said, extending a hand for the bottle. The three of us sat on the grass and chatted, passing the wine to and fro."James, you were fucking unbelievable today," said Connie."It was a remarkable performance," agreed Fran.Connie corrected her. "It was hot," she said. "Hot, hot, hot. One after another, bang, bang, bang, thirty-one happy. Life couldn't be better than waking up with Shelly. I didn't think my life could be any more perfect.It all came crashing down three days after our fifth anniversary. I was scheduled to fly to Salt Lake City for a three day training session with one of our customers and I left for the airport from work. When I got to the airport I was told that the airport at Salt Lake was shut down because of weather conditions and I was rebooked on the first flight out the next morning. It never occurred to.