Red Phoenix

CHAPTER 15 If at First…

Tony felt like an idiot. It was foolish to feel this way, of course. He had traveled all the way to Seoul to get a second chance at being rejected by Anne Larson. Why should he feel foolish?

He knew she worked at the logistics agency as a computer programmer. The logical thing to do was go up to the headquarters building and ask where the computing facility was. Strangely enough, it worked. The corporal had looked at his out-of-place Air Force uniform a little strangely, then given him directions to building A34.

He walked out of the headquarters with a mix of excitement and anxiety he hadn’t felt since his last blind date in high school. Of course he had acted like an idiot in high school.

The base’s buildings were old-style brick, obviously designed by a Westerner. They looked a little odd after all the Korean architecture he’d seen, but normal enough in this little island of America. The place was really jumping, with people and vehicles almost filling the sidewalks and the streets.

The Logistics Computing Facility, building A34, looked more modern than most. It was almost windowless, with a fortress-like air. He had to walk halfway around it to find an entrance. After a close inspection of his armed forces ID card, the front desk issued him a pass and gave him directions to “Miss Larson’s office.” They didn’t ask his business, which was just as well.

After leaving the reception area he went through a door marked AIR-CONDITIONING BOUNDARY — KEEP CLOSED. The temperature dropped by ten degrees and there was a whirr in the air. The corridors were full of people in Army uniforms and civilian clothes. He started looking for Anne immediately, rehearsing what he was going to say. “Okay, Tony, whatever you did on the subway, don’t do it now.”

The second floor was quieter, with carpeting instead of tile on the floor. He turned the corner into corridor C, wiping his palms.

The first thing he saw was a receptionist’s desk, with a nameplate, but it wasn’t Anne’s — GLORIA BURNS. Miss Burns looked up from a computer printout. “May I help you?”

“Uh, I’m looking for Anne Larson,” Tony answered. “She’s supposed to be in room two ten.”

The receptionist glanced at the phone board. “Miss Larson is on the phone right now. If you’d like to wait, I’ll tell her you’re here. What did you need to see her about?”

Suddenly Tony felt his face getting warmer. “Ah, it’s personal. Just tell her Captain Christopher is here please, ma’am.”

He saw Gloria’s eyes give him a once-over, and then she said, “Fine. Just take a seat.”

There was a couch in the reception area and Tony sat down. He watched Gloria’s departing form, which was not uninteresting, go toward a door. The plate next to it said A. LARSON — SUPERVISOR.

The Air Force didn’t pay fighter pilots to be slow-witted. Anne was the boss? He quickly reevaluated his opinion of her, based on what little knowledge he had. He was a little ashamed that he had to raise it. “That will teach you, Saint,” he said to himself. “Never take a woman for granted.”

Gloria was still standing in the door, talking in a low voice, about him no doubt. He couldn’t hear Anne’s reply, but her secretary (Tony forced himself to think of Gloria that way) came back and sat down. “It’ll just be a moment.” Then she went back to her printout.

Tony glanced at his watch: eleven forty-five. At least his timing was good. He hoped to ask her out for lunch. He didn’t know how he was going to get her to say yes, but what the hell.

He spent most of his time watching the phone board, and after about three or four minutes the light went out. Miss Burns looked up and said, “You can go in now.”

Okay, boy, this is it. Sydney or the bush. He wiped his palms again, uncomfortably aware that the receptionist was watching him from the corner of her eye. He walked up to the open door and stopped short, knocking twice on the doorframe. “Come in.” It was Anne’s voice.

She was sitting at an L-shaped wood desk covered with papers and printouts. She recognized him immediately. “I knew it.” She didn’t look pleased.

Tony smiled, looking a little like a child caught doing something he shouldn’t. “I came to Seoul to see if you really…”

The phone rang and Anne picked it up. “Larson. Yes, I know, I’ve my two best people trying to figure out what happened.” She looked up at Tony, who was doing his best to look pleasant. “Listen, I should have something this afternoon. Is that soon enough for you? I’m a little busy now.… I know. I’ll call you back later.”

She hung up and looked at Tony. “I’m sorry, excuse me. This is not a good time, especially for ‘personal visits.’ ”

“I’m sorry if I said something wrong. I just wanted to see if you would like to go — ”

A knock on the door stopped him. A man in shirtsleeves was holding a piece of paper. He said, “Oh, hi,” to Tony and looked at Anne. “Have you seen this memo?”

“Let me see it.” She stood up and walked over, took the sheet, and glanced at it. “Yes, Harry, I got one yesterday in my mail. It’s general routing.”

“Well, I just wanted to make sure. See you,” Harry said as he left.

She sat down heavily behind the desk, looking somewhat disgusted. “What were you saying?”

“Just that I wanted to talk with you some more, and I was hoping …”

“Oh, God!” Anne said softly, looking out the door. She smiled and waved at someone in the hall. Tony turned and looked. A middle-aged woman was pushing a coffee cart down the corridor, waving back.

“Anne, I know you said you didn’t like to go out, but I thought maybe you’d like to have lunch. I’d really — ”

“Sounds good. Let’s go.” She stood up and grabbed a largish purse off a corner of her desk. Tony stepped out of the way as she strode through the door, then followed.

“Gloria, I’m going out for some lunch, I should be back in an hour.” Her voice sounded normal, but Tony was puzzled. She didn’t sound like someone looking forward to a pleasant outing.

“Okay, Miss Larson. Have a good time.” Gloria had a funny smile. What was going on here?

They strode down the corridor and stairs with Anne setting a fast pace. It reminded Tony of how she had moved during the riot. She was a little ahead of him, and he felt like an idiot, almost trotting trying to keep up with her.

They went past the front desk and Tony dashed ahead to open the front door for her. This took a major effort, and as his hand pushed it open, he said, “I win.”

She looked puzzled for a moment, but he went for it. “Oh, it’s okay, I like to jog before lunch.”

They stepped outside and she seemed to relax. “I’m sorry, I guess I was moving a little fast. I just wanted to get away from all those eyes.”

Tony looked at her with a puzzled look. She took his arm. “Please, let’s just walk.” They went down the steps. “I know a nice lunch place about a ten-minute walk from here.”

“Anne, what do you mean about ‘eyes’? Was it something I said?”

“Yes, Tony, but it’s not your fault. Gloria is head grape on the grapevine. She told me you said your business was ‘personal.’ Two seconds after you went in my office half the floor knew I had a gentleman caller. That ‘important memo’ Harry had to show me was about the coffee fund.”

“Oh. Is that why you acted so odd later?”

She nodded. “And the lady with the cart.”

“What about the lady with the cart?” he asked. “Was she using the cart as a cover or something?”

“Oh, that’s her cart, but she works the main floor, not the second.”

“I’m sorry, I’ve embarrassed you. I just wanted to see if you — ”

“You keep saying that, but I said on the subway I wasn’t interested in going out. The only reason I’m here now is that you are the lesser of two evils.” She added, smiling, “Besides, you are kind of cute.”

Tony blinked in surprise, but continued, “Whatever the reason, I do not consider a riot the best place to meet people, but I liked your style. Why should it be such a big deal that I ask you to lunch?”

“Look, I just don’t go out a lot, and those bazoos will spend their lunch hour discussing us.” She stomped her foot as she walked.

Tony had a flash. “Why is it such a bad time at work?”

“The place is going crazy. My office maintains the software that tracks all logistical movements in and out of Korea. They’re doing things that the system was never designed for. Moving stuff in while they move the same stuff out …”

With only occasional nods and a yes now and then, Tony followed Anne to a small diner. It was a little crowded, but they found a table. Most of the clientele was Korean, which Tony took to be a good sign.

“… they’re using the most inefficient schedules. I know they are brighter than that. Wait a minute. I’ve been talking for five minutes.”

“Yes, do you feel better? You’re a lady who cares about her work.”

“You let me blather on for five minutes? I feel like an idiot.”

“Would you like to order? They’ve got kalbichim. It’s pretty good.”

“Why did you let me talk so much?”

“Look, Anne, you’re having a hard day — ”

“Hard month, more like it.”

“Fine. A hard month. I wanted to find out what was bothering you. And everybody likes to talk about their job. You already know what mine is. Now let’s order.”

“All right.” She relaxed a little more, studying the menu. It was standard Korean fare, heavy on beef and fish, but spicy. She looked resigned. “I’ll just have pulgogi.”

Tony frowned. “You don’t sound enthusiastic about the menu. Pulgogi’s just marinated beefsteak. You picked this place. Don’t you like Korean food?”

“I haven’t had much besides pulgogi and a few other things. I guess I’m not very adventurous. I really came here because nobody from my office ever comes here.”

“Next time I’ll wear a bag over my head.”

She giggled. “Stop that. I shouldn’t be so upset, but — ”

“It’s been a bad day. Yes, I remember.” Tony was pleased that Anne had actually laughed. “Can I make a few suggestions? I’ve tried most of the things on the menu at least once. I promise, nothing too exotic.”

“All right.” This time she sounded a little more pleased, even curious. “What are you having?”

“Pibim-bap. It’s got eggs, rice, meat, beans, lots of stuff. It’s good, but it’s a little spicy.”

“I’ll try it, too.” She studied the menu with more interest. Most of it was printed with Hangul characters, but alongside each dish was an English transliteration of the name. “What’s myolchi?

“Anchovies in a sweetish sauce.”

“Yuck.”

“No, it’s the old salt-and-sweet contrast. It’s not bad.”

“I’ll pass. What goes well with pibim-bap?”

“Yonppuri. It’s lotus root in a sweet sauce. It helps kill the fire.”

“Fine, let’s order.”

While they waited, Tony found out that Anne had been in Korea for three months, working as the systems programming supervisor. “I was promoted in the States and brought over to fill in this job. It’s the first time I’ve been in charge of other people.” She frowned.

“You don’t like it?” Tony prompted.

“I don’t know what to do. I’m much more comfortable working with the computer. I guess I don’t work well with groups — certainly not leading a group.”

“This is a bad time for learning management skills,” he agreed.

The food came, and they ate and talked and laughed a little. They were both equally handy with chopsticks. Tony fought his desire to talk about flying, and instead they talked about Korea, and what they’d seen, or not seen in Anne’s case.

“I’ve been completely wrapped up in my work,” Anne said. “Remember the riot? That was my second trip downtown. My first was to the Kyongbok Palace. Nothing since early October.”

“Anne, when the U.S. pulls out, you’ll go, too, and this is a beautiful country. I’ve been playing tourist ever since I got here, and I haven’t seen half of what I want to. The food, the art, the — ”

“That surprises me. I thought fighter pilots just liked to fly and party.”

Tony looked a little peeved. “I like both, but I don’t fly every day, and I don’t party every night. Uncle Sam paid my way over here, and there’s not a lot to do besides fly. I want to understand the country and the culture, at least a little.”

“You’re right,” she said. “I’m sorry. I guess I just don’t feel comfortable exploring the country.”

“I think you just need some practice. I’ve got a day off next weekend. I’m going to visit an old ruined fort south of here. Would you like to come along? It’s thousands of years old.”

“I’m so busy right now. I usually work on the weekends.”

“Well, what’s the deadline on this crunch project? We can just go after it’s over.”

“Oh, there’s no deadline, I just normally work.”

“Oh, well, please, take one day off and come out with me to visit the fortress. It’s not far, and there’s a good restaurant someone in the squadron told me about.”

“I really should see some of the country before I have to leave. I may even enjoy myself.”

Tony assured her. “You will.”