Before I Go

Posted on Wed Dec 16th, 2009 @ 5:45pm by Lieutenant JG Drew O'Connell & Lieutenant JG Yvette LaFaal

851 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Balowlli System
Location: Diplomatic Office Suite
Timeline: Current

Drew had learned a lot about himself over the last few days. Most of what he had learned had taught him he didn't much like himself. At least, not the person he had been...there were always changes one could make to themselves, This single moment in his life was one of those which could drastically alter his entire existence. Pushing back the hair from his forehead, Drew tugged down the front of his jacket and depressed the door chime.

"Come in," a small voice called from the other side of the door.

Drew steooed into the Diplomat's office and he could tell by the look on her face when she realized it was him that she wasn't entirely thrilled. "I apologize for the intrusion," Drew started sincerely. "I actually think I owe you several apologies today. I'll follow up that first with an apology for my behavior the other night. Sometimes I get a bit overly defensive. I'm working on it."

"Defensive", she barked. "You mean down right rude and offensive don't you," the ire in her voice palpable in the atmosphere.
She stood across her office, her arms crossed across her chest and her frame taking a defensive posture. "What do you want Lieutenant, because I really don't have the time."

Drew smirked as he plopped himself down in her chair. She had thought him rude and offensive during their dinner meeting, she hadn't really seen anything yet. The smirk still in place, Drew raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. "What do I want?" he repeated. Losing the smirk, Drew shook his head with a tsk. "Not very diplomatic, Lieutenant. I expected better from you. You are, aferall, tasked solely with the diplomacy abord this ship...and the list of what I want is too long to go into with my hectic schedule."

Silently she boiled wanting nothing more that to walk across to him and beat him until he was nothing more than a walking bruise. Instead she settled for crossing her hands and tapping her right foot impatiently.

"As far as what I want here, with you, has already been started. I want to make amends," Drew said with a shrug, trying to tamp down the urge to humiliate her. "I intended our dinner meeting to be exactly that, a meeting. You misconstrued that and that caused a bit of embarrassment. I get it...I do. I tried to make things more comfortable, but I'm afraid that act just excaserbated the problem. Again, I'm sorry for that."

Compounding the upset with what she considered him blaming her just made her boil even further. It took more self control than she actually possessed to contain herself. Still wanting nothing more than to smack him.

"I think that if we are to have a productive working relationship on this ship, then the air needs to be cleared. So let's have it," Drew said, crossing his arms as he waited to be berated.

She stood for a moment, looking like a small volcano about to erupt, arms crossed in a manner that said if she was to unfurl them he wouldn't live much longer. "How dare you!," her voice was soft, barely controlled and dangerous. "How dare you!," she repeated. "Yes I made a mistake, fine I could have coped with that but you then confused matters even more by...." she trailed off before saying something she would regret. "I will work with you and I will be polite but other than that do not expect me to be any more than polite Lieutenant. Now get out!"

"Well, that wasn't wuite the response I expected." Drew looked down at the carpet a moment before making a decision. "A friend of mine told me that ice cream makes women happier when idiot men have annoyed or angered them. You wanna go get some? Mind you, it wouldn't be a date....just two people getting ice cream. Maybe we can work around my jerk issues and your seething anger..."

At first she wanted to continue her triad of the male pig, but something caught her. Was he actually trying to make amends? "Very well," she snapped. "But you still have a lot of leg work to do before you are forgiven!"

Drew nodded seriously. "Honestly, Lieutenant, not a day in my life has begun or ended without a lot of leg work needing to be done in the waking hours. You may have noticed, I'm kind of a jerk." Drew stood, tugging down the front of his duty jacket and motioning toward the door. "Ladies first. I'd get the door, but twenty-fourth century chivalry is complicated."

She couldn't help but smile at his joke and that frustrated her even more. When he tried he was a sweet and attentive attractive young man and once again she found herself melting at his outward visage. "Kinda a jerk?" she quipped to herself as she walked out ahead of the young man.

Drew smiled as he gave her a knowing look. "I'm working on it," he assured her with a laugh.

 

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