Dinner Date or Hostage Negotiation (Part 2)

Posted on Wed Mar 17, 2021 @ 3:01am by Lieutenant JG Ace Cannon & Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca

2,370 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Si vis pacem, para bellum
Location: Giuliani's
Timeline: Day 03, 1800

BEFORE:

The waitress gave a small smile, her green eyes sparkling in the low lighting. "As to drinks, we have a lovely Perricone from the Sicilian region of Italy. It is a full body, earthy red wine. IF you prefer something lighter in red, we have a Torgiano Rosso Riserva, from the Tuscany region. For whites, if you are not having a meat dish, I might recommend a Friulano from Collio. As to appetizers, I might suggest some foccia bread, meatballs, or crostini." Once she stopped speaking, she waited patiently for Bri to make a choice.

NEW:


She considered her options. "I think the lighter red and meatballs." Bri looked at Ace. "How does that sound?"

"That sounds fine," Ace replied with a smile.

The waitress nodded and took her leave.

"Do you have any idea what you are going to want for dinner?" Ace asked Bri, a wide smile on his face.

"No," she said cautiously. "Why the smile?"

"Why not the smile?" Ace replied coyly. "I mean, here I am, having dinner with the most beautiful woman on the space station. Why would I not be pleased? It is an opportunity to get to know you better, and for that matter, you can get to know me better." He paused and said, "That's usually what two people do on a date."

Her laugh was bell-like. "Yes, that is what two people do on a date. So tell me something about yourself."

"Well," Ace replied with mock consideration, "I guess that depends upon what you want to know. But, let me start with this. I'm the middle child. I have an older brother and a baby sister. She's a bit spoiled and my brother is an overachiever. Then there's me. My family's pretty boring as families go, I think. Dad's an engineer. Mom's an administrative assistant. I bet you, however, had a much more interesting life," Ace finished, leaning interestedly towards Bri.

"Interesting is one way to put it. My father is a woodcarver and cobbler. He makes shoes and carves wooden statues and figurines. He's very good at faces. My mother makes medicinal items from local herbs. I have an older brother who works in wood and leather. As I said before, I was taught to sing and dance. I performed with my cousins. I was also learning herb lore like my mother." She shrugged. "I wanted more and left. Eventually, I joined Starfleet."

"So, you weren't interested in staying in the family businesses. What more do you want?" He grinned again, leaving the innuendo on the table for Bri to pick up or leave off. It could be passed off innocently enough, he figured.

"No. They wanted me to pander to men. I prefer plants," she said bluntly. It wasn't strictly true, she'd fallen for Erich, but she wasn't sure she was ready to admit that to Ace. If he was any good at reading people, he's notice, but she didn't think he paid that much attention.

"Plants?" Ace asked, letting the thought ruminate in his brain. Something seemed off about that. She did not say girls. Her family wanted her to pander to men. Damn it! A guy hurt her. She's a project. Damn it. I wasn't looking for a project. He sighed, considering his options. I could friend zone her. Nah. That won't work. I want her too much. I could get her trust and then bed her. No. That's not right and not my rep. I could also leave her but I've already put in effort and actually waited for her. Bother! What do I do? She seems like fun and has a body that rocks but none of the choices seem like good ones. Not knowing what to say, Ace finally dejectedly settled on, "So, who was the guy and what did he do to you?"

She spoke bluntly for once. "I'm just a conquest. My mother wanted me to play off that, to keep men around so they'd spend more money. And if they wanted to stay the night, I was to let them. I told her no. Plants don't demand more than food and water. Even here, Alanna jokes that when I'm around no one pays her any attention, but she found Jason. Erich promised forever and left. I haven't heard a word from him in eight months." She'd said too much to this man who was just like all the others. "Sorry. I should not have said that."

"Why not?" Ace asked seriously. "It certainly explains a lot and tells me how messed up your situation is." He sighed. "Your family pimped you out. That's just messed up." Ace sighed. Friend or project? It isn't like I have female friends. Is that something I should try? Or should we be patient? That also is against my nature. I mean, if I took that route, she'd likely want me off the market. Damn it! I should have moved on after she passed. Another side of his brain whined, But, she's so hot....

Finally, Ace clenched his right fist under the table, still unsure of what he was going to do but knowing that one of the other two uncomfortable routes had to be. He was not willing to just let her go. "Look, Bri. I'm not a counselor. I won't lie. I think you're as hot as any sun. But I can't do what I wanted with you, knowing this. And, I hate admitting this, but I'm at a loss of what to do with you now. But, perhaps food and continuing to talk will help sort it out."

"My family was focused on keeping tradition. I left because I wanted more. It doesn't generally bother me now." Except when men like Ace were more interested in her looks than her personality. But then, Ace kept surprising her. "I didn't mean to bring it up. Maybe it's everything that happened in the past few days." His comment about her being hot actually made her feel better. And that bothered her even more. She didn't like Ace, but she also couldn't explain why she wanted his help finding Alanna, and why she was here now. "Yes. Let's focus on dinner and forget about what I said."

"I'm not a computer, Bri. I can't wipe my memory," Ace complained. "Besides, it obviously still bothers you or you would not have brought it up."

Before Ace could say another word, the waitress had returned and poured the wine. She looked at the couple, in their awkward postures and said, "Do you need another few minutes before you order?"

Ace looked over at Bri, and gave her a helpless and confused shrug. She said that she wanted to concentrate on dinner and the waitress showed on cue. Inconvenient.

Bri could feel his confusion. Part of her was sorry she'd caused it, and part of her hoped she could keep him off-balance. She took a sip of her drink, enjoying the taste. "This is quite good." Then she ate a meatball. It was better. She closed her eyes in appreciation.

Ace looked at the waitress and said, "I think we need a bit more time. She seems to be enjoying the appetizer at the moment."

The waitress gave a small nod and left the table.

He confronted Bri, "You are not comfortable with a straight conversation, are you?" He paused before continuing, "Why not? What terrifies you so much? Does it bother you that I'm so forthright?" He shook his head.... "I admit, this is not how I envisioned our dinner date going."

She sighed. "No. It's not your forthrightness, or a straight conversation. It's that you most of the others just want to get me into bed. I don't expect forever, but I'd like a man to be interested in my personality first."

"Maybe you need to show more of your personality?" Ace offered. "I won't lie to you. I had that intention. Though, for reasons that I can't fully comprehend, I didn't just leave it at that once you blew me off. After all, there's plenty of women on and off of this station." He sighed and looked away for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. He then looked back at Bri and said, "So, here we are...."

"I don't hide my personality," she countered. "It's not my fault you failed to notice I have one." She ate another meatball and took another sip of her wine. "And yes, here we are."

"Bah!" Ace countered at Bri with regard to her showing a personality. Several moments of uncomfortable silence passed until Ace heard some music playing in the background. It sounded like a piano. When they arrived, it had not been playing but this must have been one of the things that the created ambiance at the restaurant.

He shed his cloth napkin from his lap and got up from the comfy table and walked in front of Bri. He held out his hand to her to take. "Come on. Let's take a small walk."

A walk? Well, she had promised him dinner, and they were still, technically, at dinner. "All right," she said, taking his hand so he could help her up.

Upon coaxing Bri, he held onto her hand, but not too firmly. He led himself by sound to the piano. A male pianist, dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and dark bowtie was playing. Ace told Bri, "Wait there one moment, please." But where there was, was hard to say other than it was a space between tables and the piano. Ace touched the back of the pianist's back and whispered something to him. The pianist nodded, completed whatever number he was playing and started a long introduction to a new song.

He took Bri's left hand in his and raised it to shoulder level, as he placed his right hand on the small of her back. "I know you like to dance. There may not be a dance floor, but I believe that we should make our own."

She was surprised, but kept that to herself. This was not at all what she expected from Ace. "I do like to dance," she admitted.

He started moving Bri around in a slow circle, perhaps surprisingly to Bri, in time with the music. Then he said, "My mother used to sing this to me at my bedtime when I was a child." He leaned forward and softly, but not perfectly sang, "Why do birds, suddenly appear? Every time, you are near. Just like me, they long to be, close to you...." As the music allowed for a small pause, he leaned his head back to see Bri's reaction before he picked the tune back up.

She was charmed, and she didn't like it. It had to be an aberration. Or she could just blame his mother.

Amused, Ace grinned at Bri and then continued singing to her. "Why do stars, fall down from the sky? Every time, you walk by? Just like me, they long to be, close to you...." With that, he raised his arm and twirled her out and then back into him, as he continued to sing, "On the day that you were born, the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true. So they sprinkled moondust in your hair of gold and starlight in your eyes of blue."

He stopped and seriously looked into Bri's eyes and said, "Technically speaking, your eyes are green but, hey, song wouldn't work otherwise...." Saying that caused him to lose his place and he laughed at himself. "Ah, well. Now I've blown the next lines by getting smart. Sorry about that."

She chuckled. This was definitely a different side of Ace. She wasn't sure if she could trust it, though. But for now, she told herself, she'd enjoy it.

This was the Bri that Ace wanted to see. Then again, he still knew she was a project. So he wondered what to do with her. Friend zone? Or patience? Or something else? Right now, he did not worry about those decisions. Then again, whenever did he? Ace lived in the moment and right now, the moment was pleasant. He twirled her one more time and then dipped her as the song ended. There was some light applause as Ace looked down into the dipped Bri's eyes, and then lifted her back up. He gave a small nod of thanks to the pianist and then said, "I think we should probably get back to the table, don't you? There's some food to be had and more yet for the rest of the evening."

The dance had been fun. He was a better dancer than she expected, and the song was definitely a sweet touch. "Yes, we should go back to the table." So she could get back to the more familiar side of Ace.

Ace escorted Bri by the hand back to the table. He said nothing as he led her back. Once there, he allowed Bri to sit first before he moved to the side next to her and did the same. He then poked a meatball with a fork, took a bite and said, "Ah! Still warm."

"Good." She was happy to get back to a more comfortable footing. "I like their meatballs." She took another one for herself. She would have to come back here later. Maybe when Alanna returned.

Ace sipped some wine and smiled at Bri. "I'm pleased that you're enjoying yourself."

Nothing more was said as the waitress came back. She smiled at the two of them and asked, "Are you ready to order now? I know you may not because I saw the two of you dancing a moment ago. It was really sweet. You make a cute couple. If I may ask, how long have you two been together?"

Bri didn't like the question. "This is our first date." And might be the last.

TO BE CONTINUED

Lieutenant JG Ace Cannon
Assistant Chief Operation Officer

and

Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca
Assistant Chief Science Officer

 

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