Back In The Saddle, Yet Again

Posted on Tue 25th May, 2021 @ 8:57pm by Commander Mikaela Locke & Commander Paul Graves PsyD

1,222 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Waging Peace
Location: Orchids & Jazz, Deck 600
Timeline: MD-01: 1930 hours

Mikaela Locke sat in her regular booth, towards the back of her favorite club on the station, Orchids and Jazz. She glanced around at the various patrons, enjoying the music, the food and drink and their company, and she couldn't help but wonder, given just how busy the club was, how she had managed to get a table at all, let alone her first choice.

Despite being off-duty and out of uniform - she was wearing an over-sized black sweater and black cargo pants - she couldn't help sizing up various members of the clientele: Across from her sat an older human gentleman with an Orion girl, who looked like she was still in her teens. 'Not sure I want to know what's going on there,' she thought to herself, before quickly turning her attention back to the table and focusing on her menu. Not that she needed to. She knew exactly what she was going to order.

Her choice of venue, food and drink, however, were about the only things that felt familiar. She was meeting Paul and, even though they had been in touch frequently during her leave, she hadn't seen him face-to-face for just over a month. Despite her best efforts during the course of the day, there hadn't been an opportunity to see each other while they were on duty. Although he had suggested that she come down to his house for dinner, she had countered that she would rather eat out. They had been together for a while now, but this was the first time they had been away from each other for such an extended period of time. They seemed good when she had left - both quite tired and stressed from the recent increased workload - but good enough, but she couldn't help but wonder whether things might have changed in the last month.

The aroma of food in Orchids & Jazz this evening was mouthwatering, Paul Graves thought as he entered the restaurant. More than the food, though, he wanted to feast his eyes on--yes, there she was! Sitting at her (their?) usual table in the corner. He restrained himself from waving enthusiastically at her and instead waited calmly for Serena to escort him to Mikaela's table. He'd dressed in a blue polo shirt and khakis for the evening and thanked the Four Deities that Orchids & Jazz was the sort of place where both formal wear and casual could be worn with no one feeling overdressed or underdressed by anyone else.

As she led Dr. Graves to the table where his dining companion waited, Serena speculated on their friendship. They did seem to come in often together, or to meet here, though she hadn't seen them together lately. She'd heard the XO had been away from the station for a few weeks, and that would explain that, however. She was glad they could meet again, because she genuinely liked people to be happy, and they seemed happier together.

Suddenly aware of two people approaching, Mikaela looked up from her menu. Serena Alia, Orchids and Jazz's assistant / business manager, walked just ahead of Paul. She thought he looked relaxed and, somehow, that immediately helped to calm some of her nerves. She stood to greet him, smiling politely at Serena, before turning her attention to her tall Betazoid beau and meeting his gaze. For what must have been only a couple of seconds, but somehow managed to feel like an eternity, she found herself lost in his eyes. She had forgotten how beautiful they were. A monitor did them no justice at all. Deep, black and almost infinite - in that split second she wondered whether an entire universe could fit inside them. Suddenly aware that she had been staring, if only for a moment, she blinked a couple of times, and refocused. "Hey," she managed to say, slightly less convincingly than she'd intended.

Yep, Serena thought, someone has it bad. Aloud, she said, "Shall I give you a few minutes and then come back for your drink order? Or would you prefer I bring drinks immediately?"

"Hello, yourself!" Paul said with a smile to Mikaela. He clasped her hands and brushed his lips against hers. Even after vacation and being well rested, she still looked beautiful, yet mysterious. It was one of the things that attracted him to her, that she wasn't a completely open book to him. He turned to Serena. "Do you carry sangria here? I'd like a glass."

"Of course," Serena smiled, glancing at Mikaela. "Two? Or perhaps a split?"

"No thanks," Mikaela replied lightly, also turning her attention back to Serena, "I'll just have my usual, please."

Paul waited for Mikaela to sit down and then slid onto the seat across from her. "I was beginning to think your vacation would never end. I missed you!"

"Well," Mikaela replied with a slightly mischievous smile, "They do say absence makes the heart grow fonder..." She paused, and studied him - as if mentally processing every tiny reaction-movement on his face. "And," she added suddenly, as if snapping back to the conversation from her own thoughts, "A month is a long time."

"It is--especially when I would start thinking, You know, she suggested you come with her for a week or two of it, you idiot. I should have."

"Yes, you should," Mikaela replied with in mock-chiding tone, a broad smile on her face. After a second, her expression changed, and she became serious once again. "No," she continued, "You were right... And..." she hesitated, unsure whether to proceed or not - whether this was the time to express her concern. They had, after all, literally been back in each other's company for about five minutes. "Never mind," she eventually said, "It's not important."

"And what?" Paul asked, smiling. "Come on, you know I'm not going to let you tell me it's not important when it was important enough for you to almost say it. I don't bite--much."

Mikaela sighed, lightly, realizing that trying to hide anything from Paul was complicated enough, without full-on giving him a clue that something was up. "It's just..." she began, still a little reluctantly, "This trip made me think, y'know? How serious are we?" She paused for a second, gathering her thoughts. Despite giving a lot of consideration to the situation over the last couple of weeks, she hadn't given much thought to how she would actually articulate her anxiety, when the time came.

"I mean, if we think this is a long-term thing, then that changes all our decision-making: Our postings, our career paths, even when we take leave. If this is serious, I don't want to have to take all my leave without you, because you need to be on the station, because we can't both be off work at the same time." She paused, staring at the table as she got her thoughts together again. "I guess I'm feeling like I need to know where we're going - and what that means."

She looked up at him, unsure what she would see. Was she pressuring him into something he wasn't ready for? Had he given any thought to the implications of their relationship at all?

Continuing ...

 

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