At this point, Leslie suddenly realized that her commanding officer meant business. Thus, she released Crystal, stood to attention, saluted him, and said, "Should I join the men, Sir?"
Arnold: "We will get to that. For now, though, there is your discipline to attend to. You have two choices. Would you like to do one hundred leapfrogs, or would you like to write a Confession Report?"
Leslie: "A confession report, Sir. Sir, would you like it written in Italian, French, German, or Arabic?"
Arnold smirked and said, "Since you think you're so smart, you can do one of each!"
Leslie: "Sir! Yes, Sir!"
Arnold turned to Crystal and said, "I am so sorry about that. Why don't we have dinner and try to put all that nastiness behind us, shall we?"
"That would be nice," Crystal replied. "And thank you for coming to my rescue."
Arnold smiled and said, "It's not a problem."
Nathan gently cupped the breast that Lesley had touched and said, "In the future, stay away from that girl. As you may have noticed, she's a bit unstable."
After walking a few steps, Arnold turned back to Leslie and said, "You may join us for supper. You can make your confessions later this evening."
Leslie: "Sir. Yes, Sir. Thank you, sir."
Crystal's thoughts raced as they walked towards the house. She had been hit on by men many times, but she had never had a woman treat her with the same deference. Even as they sat down to eat, she found it difficult to find anything to say, especially with this strange woman making eyes at her from across the table.
I don't know how I feel about a girl being attracted to me - thought Crystal.
***
Leslie pulled out a chair, sat down across from Crystal, and smiled wickedly. "Are you interested in women?" she asked. "Surely, if you aren't bi-sexual, you must be bi-curious. And I doubt Nathan would mind if you experimented a bit with me, especially if we let him watch. What do you think? Are you in for this game?"
Crystal's cheeks turned red, and she said, "No, thank you."
Leslie frowned and said, "You are so bori -"
"Stop making jokes!" Arnold interrupted. He looked at Leslie and said, "You should go on a blind date. I could set you up with a decent man. How about that?"
"Are you trying to marry me off?" Leslie asked.
"I just want you to stop fucking around," Arnold replied. "Is that too much to ask?"
"Of course not." Leslie smirked and said, "But what you actually want is for me to be a 'normal woman' - a heterosexual woman. That is what you mean when you say that you want me to stop 'fucking' around, but I am not willing to pretend to be something I'm not!" After saying this, she stood up, walked into the kitchen, and took a few wine glasses out of the cupboard. "Since we are finally all in one place, let's have a drink and celebrate our little reunion." As she said this, she popped the cork on an expensive Merlot and began to pour the wine into the goblets.
Leslie returned with the wine glasses. They were all filled with wine, except for one, which was filled with orange juice. She handed the orange juice to Arnold, smiled, and said, "I know that you still have training in the afternoon. We will not laugh at you if you drink orange juice instead of wine."
Arnold glared at Leslie. "Are you trying to provoke me?" Without waiting for a reply, he switched goblets with Nathan and said, "This is more appropriate for you. After all, you still need to drive home."
Nathan looked at the orange juice. It annoyed him that he was being treated like a child, but he decided not to make an issue out of it. Smiling, he picked up his glass and said, "A toast to Leslie's safe return."
They all raised their glasses and drank deeply from their goblets. Leslie thanked them for their kindness, and then she asked why Eric and Alex weren't there.
Nathan: "They are busy looking for their amulets. Also, they were worried that they couldn't hold you."
Leslie: "But you weren't afraid. Why is that?"
"I have an amulet," Nathan replied. Then he looked at Crystal and coughed. Crystal knew that Nathan was talking about her, but she was not an amulet, and everyone could see that Leslie was a troublesome person.
Leslie: "Nathan, you finally lost your virginity. Good for you! Originally, you had no interest in women. You must give us all the details. Otherwise, my brother will never lose his virginity!" Leslie turned to Arnold with an expectant look on her face.
"Mind your own business!" Arnold snapped.
Leslie chuckled and said, "You see, it is not nice having someone meddling in your sex life!" She finished her wine and sighed. Her cheeks and chest had turned pink. Already, she was feeling the effects of the alcohol in her system.
Although Nathan was drinking orange juice, he also felt a little drunk. His head was spinning slightly, and he felt very warm suddenly. Crystal touched his hand, and she, too, felt the heat radiating off of him.
"Are you okay? She asked. "Is your cold worsening?"
Nathan shook his head, and then he turned to look at Leslie. "What did you put in the orange juice?" he asked.
Leslie shrugged and said, "I've drugged you. Take it easy. If you relax, I will help you, and all will be well."
Suddenly, Arnold threw his glass on the ground, and it shattered into a million pieces. He turned to Crystal and said, "Miss Smith, please take Nathan upstairs so that he can get some rest." Then he grabbed Leslie by the arm and shouted, "You, come with me!"
As Leslie was dragged out of the room, she called out, "Sorry, Nathan. That glass wasn't intended for you!"
Crystal helped Nathan up the stairs and into the bathroom. Once there, he sat on the toilet seat, and she gave him a glass of water to drink. After a few minutes, his head cleared a bit, and he asked her what had happened.
"Leslie tried to drug Arnold," she explained.
"He switched glasses with you, though, so you were drugged instead.
"Why did Leslie want to put drugs into Arnold's glass?" Nathan asked. And why do I feel so amorous all of a sudden? - he wondered.
Crystal shrugged and said nothing. She suspected that the drug that Leslie had put into the orange juice was Rohypnol, which was also known as the Rape-Drug. But why would Leslie want to rape Arnold? - Crystal wondered - ....unless she is secretly in love with him!