Dinner on the River (part 1)

Posted on Fri 27th Sep, 2019 @ 3:20am by Lieutenant Commander Kiara Lena & Lieutenant Commander Dallas Briggs

951 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: A Diplomatic Affair
Location: Promenade - Riverboat
Timeline: MD 10 2300 hours

When the riverboat ride ended, Kiara was reluctant to leave. It had been a magical ride, at least for her. But a steward reminded them they would have to debark for fifteen minutes while they prepared the riverboat for its next trip.

She said nothing as she and Dallas walked off the boat, still enjoying the mood of the trip.

Dallas squeezed Kiara's hand playfully and asked, "What would you like to do next?"

"That, I'm afraid, is a loaded question," she teased. "Why not continue walking and look for a place to eat?"

Dallas stopped and looked her in the eyes, "Well, you never know what will happen until you pull the trigger." He gave her an impish grin before walking again. There were various small shops along the river and an occasional cafe. "How about that one?" Dallas pointed out, "It looks like its Italian, if you like Italian?" Dallas turned to see her reaction.

"I love Italian." She wondered if his comment about pulling the trigger meant what she hoped it did. She would have to see.

"Then it's settled," Dallas said as he led her over to the small Italian cafe.

"Please be seated." The older man said with a strange accent. He walked over to the couple with the menus and handed them out to them. "What can I get you to drink?" He asked.

"White wine, please." When he nodded, she picked up the menu and looked through it. "Have you been here before?" she asked Dallas.

"I'll have a glass of the same." Dallas said and watched the waiter march off. "I have never been down here on the river. You and I have done my exploring together. I may have gone to a few more shops on the promenade one time when I went shopping by myself and up to the Observation deck where I was attacked, but not much more than that." Dallas picked up the menu and started studying it. "So what looks good to you?"

She couldn't help herself. She looked over her menu and said. "You." She hastily looked back at the menu, afraid to see his reaction.

Dallas grinned at her reply, "Well, you clean up pretty nice yourself." Truth was, he found her incredibly beautiful and since he had met her, he found it hard to take his eyes off of her. For now, he found this to be the best-measured response.

She looked at him and laughed. "I am more dressed-down than cleaned up." She looked back at the menu. "I think I like the look of the Penne Rosa with mozzarella and meatballs."

Dallas smiled, if she hadn't got the jest of it, at least he made her laugh. "You underestimate yourself, you can't just turn off captivating." He paused for a moment then said, "That sounds like a very nice meal, I think I will have the same."

The waiter came up and took their order, and their menus, and walked away. A minute later, their drinks arrived.

"Captivating, huh?" she said when the waiter was gone. "I've been called many things, but that is not one of them." It was true. She was generally considered to be too formal for most men. Or not fun enough. She leaned forward. "From you, I will take it as a compliment. And may I add that I find your company delightful?"

Dallas nearly fell backward out of his chair as he laughed out loud. "And I have been called many things, a lot of them bad, but never delightful." Dallas took her hands in his and smiled, "I really do like you, you make me laugh."

She looked at him for a long moment. "I like you, too. You warm my heart. And you make me laugh." And the more time she spent with him, the more she liked him.

He continued to hold her hands, gently caressing her's as he looked at them. "I'm having a lot of fun, we should do this more often."

"I would like that very much," she replied softly. Except for work, her calendar was basically open, and she would like nothing better than to spend time with Dallas.

“Good.” Dallas said and then smiled. “I’m sure that we could do something new every day on this station. Perhaps we should come up with a ‘To Do’ list of things we would like to do. Or we could just play it by ear. I’m good either way.”

"Either. Both." She squeezed his hands. "We can come up with a list, and then decide if we want to go off it or just explore."

Dallas nodded happily and then the waiter came with their food. He placed the plates down in front of them. “Bon Appetit..” He said before quickly departing to let the couple dine in peace.

Kiara picked up her fork and looked at Dallas, raising an eyebrow. "Shall we?"

"We shall." Dallas said as he picked up his fork and beg to eat.

The pasta was good. There was just enough pepper to give it a kick, but not too much, and the meatballs were also well-seasoned. "Oh, that's good," she said when she'd finished the first mouthful. She had a sip of her wine and continued eating.

Dallas moaned with pleasure, "This is so good and you picked a wonderful selection, thank you." He continued to eat and occasionally would take a sip of wine to wash down the very flavorful food.

Kiara smiled. "I'm glad you like it." The two grew silent, enjoying the atmosphere and the food. Neither felt a need to talk, both comfortable with the pseudo-night and the company.

 

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