An Evening Out

Posted on Thu Oct 1st, 2020 @ 6:23am by Commander Jamie O'Connell
Edited on on Thu Oct 1st, 2020 @ 6:24am

Mission: By Odin!
Location: Independence
Timeline: Current

::ON::

A few days had passed since the Ceremony and Reception for the Ambassador and Jamie was wanting to ask Ensign Ferron out for a few drinks. But what if their conversation was just convenient for that moment; would she really want to go out with him. Of course she did smile at him at the briefing. All of these thoughts were going through Jamie's mind until...

“Oh bloody hell; there is only one way to know for sure” he told himself as he tapped his Comm “Lieutenant O'Connell to Ensign Ferron.”

“Lieutenant this is Ensign Ferron, go ahead” she said happily surprised.

“Do you have a moment Ensign” Jamie asked.

“Yes, what's on your mind?” She replied.

“Well...since our conversation ended kind of abruptly at the Reception, I was wondering if you would like to meet me some evening for a few drinks at the Crew Lounge; at your convenience of course” he replied as nervous as a school boy.

“Yes I'd like that; I'm free tomorrow night if that's good for you Lieutenant.” the Ensign replied.

“That works for me...lets say about twenty-hundred hours then.” Jamie said not believing what had just happened.

“Twenty-hundred hours, I'll see you then.” Ensign Ferron replied with a smile.

[Quarters]

Having just stepped out of the shower Jamie looked in his closet trying to figure on what civilian clothes to wear on his....well....date. A dark grey pair of pants with a medium blue shirt; that should work very nicely. After dressing he popped a mint in his mouth and looked in the mirror for one last hair check ” You got this” he said to himself as he grabbed his Comm Badge and placed it on his shirt. Looking at his time piece it was nineteen-forty-five hundred hours, he wanted to arrive a little early, so he left for the Lounge.

[Crew Lounge]

This was the first time that Jamie had been at the Crew Lounge since being on the Independence and it was not what he had expected. Unlike the previous ships that he had served on there was no bar or bartender, no Chef with freshly cooked meals, and no holo-game-tables. Just tables with chairs, some in fours and some in twos with replicators about the perimeter of the room. Some replicators were for drinks; aka the bar; and some were for food; aka the Chef. Being that the Independence was a “warship”, Jamie really wasn't all that surprised to find such sparse surroundings. This would do however.

Jamie checked the time and it was almost twenty-hundred-hours; as he looked up he could only see what could be described as a “vision of beauty”. Ensign Ferron was walking towards him dressed in a coral wrap dress with a gorgeous v-neck that hung ever-so-nicely on her body and with just the right amount of cleavage showing to be very sexy.

As O'Connell stood to move her chair, “Evening Lieutenant, nice to see you again” the Ensign said with a big smile on her face.

“Please, call me Jamie..we're not on duty” he said with a smile also.

“Ok, then call me Valentina....since we're not on duty” she replied with that coy smile.

As Jamie was seating his date, he asked ”What you you like to drink”.

“I'll have a Jupiter Sunrise” she said, crossing her long, toned legs. Jamie turned and went to the drink replicator.

“One Jupiter Sunrise and one Irish Whiskey on the rocks” was Jamie's request and a few moments latter he had both drinks which he took back to their table.

After a few minutes of chatting he noticed that she was sitting straight up in her chair with her head down a little. “Are you ok” Jamie asked.

“Wow, I think that this drink is going straight to my head; I've not eaten much today” Valentina replied being a little embarrassed.

“Sounds like you need some nourishment. What would you like to eat” Jamie asked concerned.

“Not sure, why don't you surprise me” she responded, a little more at ease.

Jamie stood up and went over to the food replicator “Granny O'Connell's Irish Stew, 2 orders with soda bread on the side and Irish Butter.” He grabbed the food, along with soup spoons and napkins, and went back to the table.

“Here, try this; it's my Granny's recipe for Irish Stew with Soda Bread. I think that you'll like it. I had Ensign T'Sol program it into the food replicators for me.”

Valentina tasted the stew ”This is really good; I think this will help. Ensign T'Sol, he's Vulcan isn't he?"

“Yes he's very much Vulcan, but he's an accomplished Engineer and is very knowledgeable about Computers which is a good thing since our Specialist was transferred to another ship and Star Fleet hasn't given us a replacement yet. I'm lucky to have him in my department.” he explained.

"So how did your meeting go with the Ambassador's Advisor, I forgot to ask" Valentina inquired.

After a big sigh "Well...the women being a little difficult was an understatement. Let's just say that she put my resolve to the test." was Jamie's explanation "But thank you for the heads-up, or I probably would have lost it in the meeting."

"Oh your welcome; like I said I didn't want you to get blind-sided by this women" Valentina responded.

The time just flew by, with a few more drinks, as Jamie and Valentina were discussing all sorts of different things. Then came the awkward silence and after a few moments Jamie asked the obvious question.

“So what exactly does being a Strategic Operational Officer entail” Jamie asked not knowing what kind of an answer he'd get.

“Well....It involves the analysis of the enemy and environmental information to develop statistical models to simulate probable events and determine courses of action that will result in the best outcome,” Valentina said not sure if he understood what she was explaining "But the last mission was a disaster from that standpoint."

"I wouldn't beat yourself up about it; no one could have seen what happened coming" Jamie responded "I didn't plan on getting taken hostage and if it wasn't for Lieutenant Commander Relor's quick thinking, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation right now."

"Yes, your right of course, and logically speaking it doesn't make sense for me to worry about past events; only concentrate on what's upcoming." Valentina reasoned.

“Wow... both intelligent and beautiful! Not something that you see everyday” Jamie replied hoping that he hadn't said too much.

“So you think I'm both...intelligent and beautiful?” Valentina inquired, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

“Yes, of course I do or I wouldn't have said it.” Jamie replied.

After a few more moments of awkward silence ”Jamie, let be up-front with you. My career comes first, I can't afford a serious relationship right now. I'm sorry if I misled you. I have a lot of acquaintances, but very few good friends. I was hoping that maybe you would like to be one of them; a good friend” Valentina said figuring on hearing the worst. But before that thought could take root...

“Yes, I would like that very much. Good friends are hard to come by.” Jamie replied figuring maybe even friends with benefits at some point.

Valentina sighed to herself feeling much better about this evening ”Wow...look at the time, it's 0200. I should probably be going, I have a new project to start for the Commander tomorrow.”

“Yes, it is getting late. May I walk you back to your quarters?” Jamie inquired.

“Yes, I'd like that” Valentina replied.

[Valentina's Quarters]

“Well, these are my Quarters. I had a really nice time tonight, thank you” Valentina said with that coy smile.

“I did also; maybe we could do this again sometime” Jamie replied.

“Yes, I'd like that” she replied as she reached up and gave Jamie a tender passionate kiss ” Good night. ”

After Valentina entered her Quarters, Jamie just stood there for a second and thought “Wow!" Then he turned and made his way back to his own Quarters.

::OFF::

Lieutenant Jamie O'Connell
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Independence
NCC-70401