Mess Hall, For your nourishments.

[Heath]

Of course, what military guy would be complete without a totally pimped out ride. His blue Land Rover LR4 with twenty inch rims roared to life when he pressed the remote start button. He wasn't truly materialistic but he enjoyed the finer, boyish things in life like cars and sports.

"Where's your car at so I can help you?" he asked, stopping right next to her.

[Jillian]

"Nice," she murmured, dragging out the word in her appreciation. She'd grown up pretty rough and tumble and then spent the age of 18 and onward surrounded by men. She could drool over a good car. "Over there," she pointed almost absently to her sleek black Mustang GT a few cars over.

[Heath]

"Oh, that's sleek," he said running his hand over the body and smiling. "My dad has one of the old ones in his garage. He's been trying to rebuild it for years but he has bad arthritis so he can't do much. I wish I knew a little something about cars because I'd hook that baby up. She's a beauty."

[Jillian]

"Those are good too. I could find someone to fix it up." Better yet, she could fix it up but she wouldn't extend that offer just yet. Jillian had enjoyed working on cars when she was younger. Granted, they'd often been stolen cars. "Mustangs have always been good. Rides like a dream." She grinned to herself as she walked over to her car and popped open the trunk. She lugged out one bag and handed it off to him before dragging out another bag and shouldering it. They weren't light by far but Jillian was used to the weight.

[Heath]

"It's good we're going to the gym. They just opened it up and I want to check it out and see if it's any better than ours on the base," he said, easily carrying the heavy bag over to his car. Using the same control as before, he clicked a button and it opened the truck where he tossed the bag.

'I'm glad we're doing this today. You got me out of going to a Mooreson Hotel party."

[Jillian]

"I figure it's about the same only ours is a bit more focused on certain areas."

Jillian laughed as she laid her bag inside beside his. "A hotel party huh? What's so bad about that? I'm sure there's good food, rich wine, the like." And snotty people to go right along with it all.

[Heath]

"Not my crowed. I'm the 'sit at the bar with a bottle of beer in my hand.' Not the 'please give me some wine while i flirt with this plastic bimbo.' After shutting the truck, Heath unlocked the door of his car and climbed into the drivers seat.

"It's a Nathan Hasker party; Mr. Socialite himself."

[Jillian]

She couldn't control her laughter over the way he summed it up. Plastic bimbo indeed! When her laughter had died down she looked over at him with a curious smile. "Is your brother going to get me for giving you an excuse to not attend his party?"

[Heath]

"Oh yeah, he's going to slice you open with his burberry tie." He laughed placing his key in the ignition to start his beautiful car. "He doesn't even know I'm going to do this today. He thinks I'm already crazy. So what he doesn't know won't hurt him. But he knows me better ... he'll know I'm with someone today."

[Jillian]

She laughed as she settled into the comfortable seats. She had been doing a great deal of that since she met Heath but she didn't want to look too deep into that. "As long as I can plead innocent I can get with the plan."

[Heath]

"My brother is cool. He just wants to see me happy and all. I just don't appreciate him trying to set me up with the girls he's around all the time. I know what he likes ... gorgeous lean blondes with nice bodies, hardworking and determined, ability to make him laugh. He actually has a list of qualities he wants. He's ridiculous."

Heath began to pull out of the parking lot.

[Jillian]

Jillian arched a brow. "Well besides the fact that he actually has a list, it doesn't seem all that ridiculous. You named some decent qualities." She couldn't quite understand what he found wrong with that description. "Unless you don't like blondes," she laughed as they headed for the gym.

[Jillian]

"Rough morning?" one of the guys asked as Jillian dropped down in her seat with a plate sprinkled with food. Dark circles were present beneath her eyes, her hair still hung around her shoulders, and her eyes were hooded. This was not the Jillian they knew at all. She barely stifled a yawn as she reached for her orange juice.

"Jay?" someone prompted.

"Jeez, can't a woman eat breakfast in peace?" she demanded biting into her biscuit.

"It's called sleep kiddo. Get some."

"I'm fine," she assured them all. In all reality the past few days had been trying for her. She hadn't exactly been avoiding Heath but she hadn't gone out of her way to spend time with him since they returned from their Superbowl trip. She was retreating as she told herself she would but it felt strange and if she was honest, she missed him.

[Heath]

The last few days had been trying for Heath especially those annoying conference calls with his lawyer, wife and her lawyer. One minute she was demanding more ... especially alimony and the next minute she was begging Heath to reconsider. She pleaded for him to come home, work things out with her, try counseling and when he refused, she began to rant again, saying the alimony payments were insignificant. If he would have known about prenups, he would have drawn that up. But he just thought, he felt like Lacey was the one. Boy was he wrong.

Starving, especially since he was out of snack at his apartment, Heath headed over to the mess hall for some grub. He was tired but more mental than anything. Divorce was a nightmare and he wished he would wake up from it.

But the worst part of the last few days was the fact that Jillian wasn't around. He called her, she didn't answer. He went to her place, she wasn't home. He even asked a few guys about her whereabouts but no one pretended to not know anything.

As he was about to enter, one of his comrades passed him and said, "Your girl is in there. She looks horrible," he commented and Heath just eyed his cautiously. "What's up with you two? One minute you're inseparable and the next, this."

"How about you go about your business, Private?"

The man shrugged and walked away, getting the hint to mind his own business.

Heath walked into the hall and scanned the crowd of men and women eating. Of course, he spotted Jill way in the corner by herself.

[Jillian]

Jillian shoved hair back from her face as she leaned against the wall, scanning the papers attached to the clipboard she held propped against her stomach. The looks of concern from her comrades had slowly driven her insane until she'd been forced to get away from them and review the documents in peace.

She absently sipped at her coffee as her eyes flickered over the page, oblivious to Heath's entrance and his gaze on her. If she could just get through this day, she'd allow herself to seek refuge at Bryce's place for a while.