The Wrong Foot (Part II)

Posted on Wed Jun 30th, 2021 @ 6:13pm by Lieutenant Soren Dillinger 'Speedy' & Lieutenant Bobbie Sue "Bobcat" Hunter

1,193 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Operation Romulus Return
Location: Hunter's Quarters

[PREVIOUSLY]

"No." Soren replied softly, looking at her intently, as he straightened up. "If he was a family friend that you've known for so long your brain wouldn't jump between one name of the other. It would stick to one specific name, out of complete habit, so I am willing to be there is no Robert Maxwell. If there is, chances are, he never heard of seen you." He began to wave his finger at her intently as his mind was racing with thoughts and emotions before looking at her with an almost crazed and heartbroken look. "And you've ignored me, Bobby. So don't overlook how you could have easily come find me and at least opened up a dialogue." He looked away for a moment and let out a sigh before saying. "I may have a criminal record and my best friend may be an artificial intelligence, but it's not like I made myself unavailable or shut off my emotions to the world. You can blame me for not reaching out, but that doesn't excuse you from not doing the same. You ever consider, while you were sitting in your room thinking of Bob or Max or Howard the Duck waiting to see if I would come to see to know if I was interested, did you ever consider I was doing the same. Waiting to see any sign of interest, but because you're so used to hidings things like you are now, maybe that only made me feel like you could care less."

[CONTINUED]

"Ignore you?" She stared at him. "YOU asked me to dinner when we got to the starbase. I said yes and you didn’t bother showing up. What did you expect after that?"

"I went!" He shouted. "You were the one who didn't show."

She poked him again. "How could you when I waited for over an hour and you didn’t” poke “show” poke “up. I felt so bad for the wait staff who kept offering me drinks that I ordered takeout.” She poked him again for good measure. "You didn't even call to say you couldn't make it."

"I'm telling you I was there." Soren replied firmly. "Wait? Wait staff?" He said curiously as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Humor me. What were they wearing?"

"Black pants, white shirts, red bow ties and aprons. Why?" she asked, suspiciously. Was he testing her to be sure it was the same restaurant. "The sign was on the door. The hostess said your reservation was for upstairs."

"That doesn't sound right." Soren replied confused. "They originally wanted to put us upstairs, but I wanted a private area view of the car in the back garden. I thought you would get a kick out of it and, later, I convinced a waiter to let us go out back and get a closer look. Sit inside. Take a look under the hood."

"I saw that car from the balcony," she said. "I wanted to have a closer look, but the waiter said no." She shook her head. So much wasted time.

"That's why I wanted to get a closer spot. Downstairs. Under the balcony." He let out a deep sigh. "So I was there. And so were you. We were just on different floors with the view of the same thing. The car."

She put her face in her hands. She'd been so angry with him for standing her up. So hurt. He didn't even mention that night to her--or even talk to her--after that. She thought he was a callous jerk.

"It was swamped that night. Maybe they were going to switch the location but got stopped and forgot. Then, when you came in, they just directed you to the original place." Soren placed his hand over his mouth before putting his arms across his chest. "We spent the whole night about 5 or 6 feet from each other thinking the other never came. I thought you stood me up because of my criminal record and lost interest." He looked over to her and said softly. "I should have checked with you the next day."

"I didn't even think to call and ask. I just assumed," she whispered. It was swamped that night. She was on the balcony because she gave up her table to a young couple.

Soren walked over to the couch and sat down, leaning back against the cushion, looking away from her. "I'm sorry you thought I stood you up and ignored you afterwards. I wanted to make sure you had a good time that night. That's why I arranged to getting a closer look at the car. Even sit inside. I was going to try to sneak a kiss while we sat inside."

She looked over at him and chuckled. "I probably would have let you, too." No. She definitely would have let him. Another regret.

"I spent a good couple of minutes trying to convince the waiter to swipe the keys to the car. I would have handed them to you to start the engine. Give her a little rev of two." Soren laughing softly, looking down for a second, before looking back up. "It would have cost me... well... it would have cost me something valuable, but it would have been well worth it for you."

"That would have been fun, but not if it cost you something valuable," she said. The thought alone touched her.

"Like I said, it would have been worth it." Soren replied with a smirk. "If I was to let go of my old life I would need to get used to the idea of letting go of some things I took and replace it with things I got legitimately."

"I thought you had let go of your old life. Wasn't that part of the deal to come here?"

"I had to let go of taking jobs, stealing, and communicating with my old contacts." Soren countered, smiling a bit. "But since they neglected to mention giving away stuff I stole already then I never considered that part of the deal." He extended his arms out onto the couch and crossed his legs as he looked into her eyes and added with a sly smile. "It's all in the wording, Bobby Sue. The details are important."

"I will definitely remember that," she replied. Always good to have information in case it was important later.

Soren stood back up and walked back over to her. "So... let's call a mulligan?" He said softly as he approached her. "Let's have a second first date. This time, you pick the place and time, so there is no confusion. Any alterations to the plan contact immediately to avoid what happened last time won't repeat itself."

She raised an eyebrow. "How about right now?" With their luck, if they didn't it would be another six months or more before they had another chance.

____
OFF

Lieutenant Bobbie Sue Hunter 'Bobcat'
Squadron Leader
USS Tokyo

Lieutenant Soren Dillinger 'Speedy'
Squadron Leader
USS Tokyo

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