An Evening Proposal

Posted on Fri 13th Oct, 2017 @ 4:52am by Lieutenant Commander Andrew Eberstark
Edited on on Sun 15th Oct, 2017 @ 3:19am

720 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Unity Week
Location: Orchids & Jazz, Deck 600
Timeline: MD 4, 1830

The evening crowd was good, Lantz noted, neither too large nor too small. Reon and Selena had long ago worked out a system for handling the door and seating, so she never worried about that. Before long, she would circulate among the guests, making sure everyone was enjoying their meal, but for now, Jade stood behind the wooden bar, rescued long ago from another place and time, and polished until it glistened. She ran her hand along the rare Earth wood absently, listening to the Dendrobians, a group of local musicians who played a couple of hours a night in between her regular combo and the torch singer.

Coming up beside her, Serena asked, "Daydreaming of someone handsome?"

Jade turned slightly to smile at her. "I leave that sort of thing to you. And I think the object of your recent dreams just walked in the door."

Serena sneaked a peak, while protesting and blushing. "Not dreams. We're just friends. He's probably not here to see me."

"Place a bet?" Jade asked, watching the good looking young man head their way. "I don't think it's me he wants to visit."

Seeing the place with a crowd for the first time put Andrew slightly on edge. The only other time he was here, it was more or less empty with fewer people to see his conversation with Serena. A conversation that, in Andrew's mind at least, admittedly ended in success but sat squarely in the 'needs room for improvement' category. Social conversations weren't exactly in his comfort zone and feeling like he was being watched by every table as he walked over to the woman again didn't help. Of course this was all in head as he saw most, if not all of the guests, busy with their various conversations and activities, barely noticing him. Naturally, that didn't seem to help his paranoia.

Turning his head back to his destination, Andrew saw Serena next to the owner of the establishment as the women's eyes fell on him. Coming up to the bar, he gave what he thought was a warm smile at Serena, but couldn't really be sure in his current state. Deciding it best to introduce himself first, Andrew's view turned to the woman next to Serena and he extended a hand across the bar, "Miss Lantz. Pleasure to meet you. I'm Andrew Eberstark."

Jade took his hand and said, "The pleasure is mine, Lieutenant. I've heard good things about you," she paused a second and smiled. "From the XO, of course. Why don't you have a seat while I get you something special from the kitchen." She walked away, giving her assistant a chance at a little privacy for a moment.

There was an awkward silence and then Serena said, "How was your day? I've realized I don't really know what strategic operations is, you know."

Giving a small shrug and smile as he took his seat, "Well, I won't bore you with the details then. Pretty much, it was not the best day in the office. But not the worst day either. It's been slightly chaotic organizing the department while co-coordinating Unity Week," he paused, "but everything should become fairly routine shortly." Deciding to cut right to the chase, Andrew leaned a little closer and softened his voice, "Speaking of, I was wondering about your plans for the closing ceremonies."

"No, not really. I'll miss the finals for the Tetraball tournament, unfortunately, but I have to work sometime," she laughed lightly. "What did you have in mind?"

Andrew smiled and shifted slightly in his chair, keeping the same low tone of voice, "Do you think your boss would be so kind to give you off for a few hours to attend the closing ceremonies?" Reaching down in front and realizing he hadn't actually gotten a drink, Andrew tried to play it off as him straightening his shirt as he leaned back, "Something tells me I'll be able to get us a pretty good view of the festivities if you're interested."

"Let me go check with her, find out what her schedule is. Thanks for asking. Even if I can't go, please know that I'm happy you asked." Serena headed for the kitchen, mentally rearranging her work load for the next day. If she came in two hours earlier ....

 

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