Chapter 2 - The Student

Cate stalked into her office and tossed her range bag onto her desk. She shrugged off her jacket and slung it over the back of her chair, then picked up her travel mug and headed for the break room for a refill. She needed more caffeine before she faced up to Floyd and this new “project” he was assigning her.

Entering the small kitchenette, she picked up the carafe from the coffee maker, only to find it empty. As usual. Bastards. Cate sighed and set to making another pot of coffee. After pushing the “brew” button she opened the fridge and pulled out her bottle of chocolate-caramel creamer and a can of whipped cream. She was forever being teased by the guys for drinking her coffee “foofy,” but right now she didn’t give a rat’s ass what any of them thought. She just knew it was another shitty Monday and she needed more legal stimulant.

Cate had just closed the fridge door when she sensed a presence in the room. “What is it?” she sighed, turning toward the door. There stood Danny, along with Steve and Bobby, two of her other colleagues. All were grinning like Cheshire cats.

Cate felt a bit of anger stir; she was getting sick of being taunted by smug men before her second cup of coffee. But her rise quickly subsided as she stared at her brothers. She was certainly no novice when it came to practical jokes, and she had just assumed this was some sort of fresh tactic the guys had come up with to razz her.

But looking at their faces, it was obvious this was not a scheme of their hatching. They were dying to tell her something. Oh crap – it IS some bimbo I have to babysit. Probably Denise Fucking Richards or somebody equally brainless. That would just be the icing on the cake to an already crappy gray day.

“WHAT???” Cate demanded again, wishing one of them would say something. They just continued to peer at her. Cate snorted and turned back to fix her coffee.

When she turned back around, they were gone. What the hell? Cate took a sip of her coffee, cursed as she burned her tongue, then headed for Floyd’s office at the other end of the hall.

As she approached the office, Cate realized the guys had re-congregated in the doorway of George’s office, which was across the hall from Floyd’s. They were engaged in conversation about a new course of fire they would be teaching the Basic Agent Trainees, but Cate could tell they were all actually watching her approach Floyd’s office. Fuck ‘em, she thought. Children.

Not bothering to knock, she turned the knob and walked into Floyd’s spacious office. “Hey Floyd, Danny said you wanted to see….” Cate stopped dead in her tracks as she realized there was a visitor settled in the chair in front of Floyd’s desk. Her eyes went wide as the man swiveled the chair to face her, then stood and flashed her a million-watt smile. “I…uh….sorry, Boss….I….” Cate stammered.

The visitor extended his hand to Cate. “Hi.” he said simply. “I’m Jon.” His lips came together and the corners of his mouth turned up wryly into a crooked little smile at Cate’s obvious surprise. He was used to women reacting to him in any number of ways, and shocked babbling was one of the more common responses.

Cate stared at Jon for a moment, then quickly accepted his proffered hand, shaking it firmly. Wow. Strong grip. Jon noted to himself. He looked directly into Cate’s startlingly blue eyes and saw the instant when she composed herself, her eyes clouding over.

“Nice to meet you.” Cate replied curtly, releasing Jon’s hand. She turned to face Floyd. “Danny said you have an assignment for me? I was supposed to do ammo check with Steve today.” Cate could feel Jon’s eyes on her profile, and with her peripheral vision she could see an amused smile on his lips. Jesus... Focus… she thought.

Floyd was leaning back in his chair with his feet propped on his lower desk drawer, as usual. His Glock hung from its holster under his left arm, in the battered brown shoulder rig he had worn every day for 30-plus years. He looked the epitome of a Southern Sherriff, with a slight belly, salt-and-pepper hair, and a graying, bushy mustache that matched brushy eyebrows over kind brown eyes.

“Yeah, Cate. Sorry for the short notice on this, but you know how things happen around here.” Floyd drawled. “I just found out last night when the Director called me. I asked Danny to take this on, but he told me you would be the ‘best man’ for the job.” Floyd grinned at the slight emphasis he put on the word “man.” “Besides, you and I both know that Danny’s a great guy and a hell of a shot, but he’s got nothin’ on you when it comes to teaching. You’re the best FT instructor we’ve got.”

Cate arched an eyebrow at Floyd. “Danny say that, did he?” The hell he did….he might know it, but his ego would never let him say it out loud….

“Hell naw.” Floyd smiled. “I say that. And I’m right. And you can’t argue with the Boss.”

Cate heard Jon chuckle beside her, but kept her gaze trained on Floyd. “Of course not, Boss.” she responded. Damn, how did my mouth get so dry? She quickly took another gulp of her coffee. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Well, first of all, let me officially introduce our guest. Mr. Bongiovi will be working with us…with you… for the next two weeks. He is on the Center as a guest of the Director, and it will be your job to teach him basic tactical procedure and protocol, same as you do our students.”

Floyd gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk. Jon sat back down, looking quizzically at Cate, whom he noted was purposely avoiding eye contact with him. Cate ignored Floyd’s invitation to sit and crossed to lean against a low bookcase on the wall opposite Floyd’s desk. That way she could focus on Floyd without being tempted to watch Jon out of the corner of her eye.

“Jon is preparing for a movie role where he will be portraying a federal agent of an ‘unnamed agency’…” Floyd made quotation marks in the air with his fingers at the phrase. “And it is part of his preparation to learn how to handle weapons, perform defensive tactical moves, and conduct other investigative activities, just like a real-live Federal Poh-lice….”

“…So I don’t look like a complete Dumbass on the screen.” Jon finished, a hint of tease in his voice. He gave Cate another dazzling grin.

Cate shot a quick glance at Jon at his comment, staring directly into his eyes, then looked back at Floyd.

Shit… thought Jon. What was that? It hadn’t been an icy stare or a contemptuous glare, or even a shut-the-fuck-up scowl, but the look Cate gave him wasn’t what he was used to getting from women when he turned on the charm.

There was something detached about the way she regarded him. From the moment Cate had gathered her composure after being surprised by at their meeting, she had seemed to turn off all emotion and focus only on her Boss’ instructions. But in that moment, when he first gazed into her eyes, Jon had seen the flicker of lust that was so familiar. Then, like Cate had flipped a switch, it was gone.

Jon’s expression sobered as he listened to Floyd give Cate detailed instructions about what training she was to provide, and how she and the other instructors would attempt to closely guard Jon’s presence at the Center. However, since there were over 2,000 students plus another 1,000 or so faculty and staff working on any given day, it would be tough to keep his visit secret for long.

While Jon was certainly used to being followed around by media and paparazzi 24/7, he was here to do a job. More importantly, the other people here were doing their real jobs, preparing to perform potentially dangerous service to their country. That he certainly didn’t want to interfere with.

As he listened to the discussion, Jon regarded Cate. His first impression of her was that she was very attractive, with an athletic build. She was almost as tall as him; Jon guessed she was about 5’8”. Her thick, glossy hair was deep auburn with natural caramel-colored streaks. She had it pulled back into a sleek ponytail, from which several wisps had escaped and curled against her neck.

Jon had noticed Cate’s eyes right away – they were almost as blue as his own, but had seemed to turn a stormy gray when she shuttered her emotions from him. She wore minimal makeup, and her skin had a healthy, toned glow. Only slight dark circles under her eyes marred her wholesome beauty.

Her posture was good, obviously the result of military-style training and regular exercise, and she looked like a lioness coiled to leap even as she leaned casually against the bookcase. Her khaki range pants skimmed her trim hips and legs, and were topped by the obligatory navy polo shirt with the Center’s seal embroidered on the left chest. A gold badge gleamed at her waist, attached to her belt next to the case holding her Blackberry.

On her right hip rested a holstered 9mm Glock pistol, partnered with twin clips of ammo. A pair of handcuffs nestled at the small of her back in their black leather pouch. Jon found that particular accessory rather intriguing, and he felt a little surge of excitement at the thought of this attractive, capable woman slapping those cuffs on him.

As Cate discussed her new “project” with Floyd, she could feel Jon’s eyes sliding over her body, evaluating her. As a woman in a man’s world, she was used to the frequent once-over, and usually she didn’t even pay attention. Men couldn’t help it that their dicks guided their eyes. And their brains.

But this was different. This was Jon-Freakin’-Bon-Jovi and he was checking her out. She could feel her heart beat a little faster, but she also found herself oddly annoyed. It was almost like he was somehow demeaning her professionalism and competence by evaluating her looks before assessing her ability. Her eyes narrowed a bit and she focused more intently on what Floyd was saying. She would deal with Mr. Bongiovi later – in fact, for two weeks she would have to deal with him.

“So, Cate, aside from trying to keep this under our hats as much as possible, it’s pretty much up to you what your training regimen and schedule is.” Floyd finished. “You and Jon should probably sit down this morning and figure out what he needs to learn, and in what order, and then you can talk to the schedulers and see when the ranges and other facilities are available. Most of this will probably have to be one-on-one between the two of you…” Cate felt her pulse quicken again. “…But there will be a few things you’ll have to schedule with a student exercise so he can get the full effect.”

“Got it, Boss.” Cate answered. She drew in a breath and turned to look at Jon. Okay, time to talk TO him now. “Mr. Bongiovi, I’d like to take you on a quick tour of the ranges, then we can meet in my office and plan out our training schedule for the next couple weeks. I will need you to give me some details of the script you’re working with, so I’ll know what types of tactics you’ll need to learn.” Cate looked Jon straight in the eyes as she spoke to him.

Jon was somewhat taken aback by Cate’s directness, but he recovered quickly. “Absolutely. You are the expert here, and I am the willing student.” He smiled, more gently this time, not the mega-watt grin he usually flashed to get his way with a woman. He sensed that wasn’t going to work this time.

“I have the script, as well as some direction from our stunt managers and technical advisors as to what scenarios I’ll need to be prepared for. We’ll have on-set tech advisors to give us specific moves for certain scenes, but I have to be able to “walk the walk” so to speak, to look and act like a federal agent would, from the minute I hit the set.” He paused. “And please call me Jon. Can I call you Cate, or would you prefer something else?”

“Cate is fine.” Cate was still looking directly into Jon’s eyes, and he was fascinated to see a swirling of blue and gray there, like her thoughts were stirring the clouds. She paused and took an almost imperceptible deep breath. “Have you met the other instructors?”

“Just Danny.” Jon answered. “Seems like a nice guy. The others were busy preparing for their classes.”

“Well, if you come with me… Jon… I’ll show you around.” Cate stood and picked up her now-empty coffee mug. “Thanks Floyd, I’ll let you know what we come up with,” she said to her Boss. Jon stood, and as he turned toward the door, Floyd grinned and winked at Cate. For the first time since she walked into Floyd’s office, Cate felt her composure slip and she blushed slightly. She smiled weakly at Floyd and followed Jon out the door.

Entering the hallway, Cate found herself confronted by the four grinning fools who were still discussing the new course of fire in the doorway to George’s office. Of course, they were still in the doorway because it faced the window to Floyd’s office, and they had been able to surreptitiously observe Cate’s meeting with Jon.

Cate rolled her eyes, then introduced Jon to George, Bobby, and Steve, and again to Danny. They all shook hands with Jon and chatted briefly about his plans for his time at the Center, then invited Jon join their usual beer-n-wings Friday Happy Hour later that week. Jon was gracious and thanked them all for their service to their country, which earned him a few brownie points.

After about ten minutes, Cate guided Jon away from the group and together they headed down the hall toward Cate’s office. As she walked away, she heard Danny whistling a familiar tune…. And when the world gets in my fa-ya-yace, I say….Have a Nice Day!

Continuing down the hall beside Jon, Cate raised her right hand behind her, middle finger extended, to Danny and the boys.