Posted by Fleet Captain Garrett Michael O’Connor (Commanding Officer) in Side Sim Eden Prime Resort First one doing the walk of shame from the Captain’s room wins
<<<SNIP>>>

She smiled at his reply and picked up her glass taking a sip. “This place is where someone goes to propose or at least where every woman imagines someone goes to propose.” Breaking from her daydream she let out a laugh. “Don’t read into that,” she looked at him slightly embarrassed scratching her forehead with a fingernail. “I…this place was not what I was expecting but more than I could have ever expected. Kinda like you,” she cocked her head to the side slightly scrutinizing him like she hadn’t done since he agreed to go sky diving with her.

Addie Halsey

“Well…” Garrett smiled warmly. “… I kinda like you too Addie. Can’t say I’m not incredibly grateful I jumped at the chance to… well, jump.” He looked at her in a rather warm manner. “Depending on how things go, I’m hoping to see how things… go” The pilot shrugged and blushed ever so slightly. “But let’s not worry about that right now. I’m very much focused on here and now. On some of the most beautiful company I’ve enjoyed in quite some time.”

Garrett O’Connor

“Agreed,” she picked up her glass to toast him. As if the clink signaled the waiter, he appeared like a wraith out of thin air.

“Are you ready to order,” he asked looking first at Addie and then Garrett.

“Yes, I believe we are…” Garrett began. “… Addie dear, see anything you like or are you feeling adventurous?” He winked. “I can order something I know you’ll love.”

“Since I would be randomly stabbing at something in the dark,” she handed the menu to the waiter, “I would love for you to order for me.”

Garrett had never even opened the menu. Handing it to the young waiter, he smiled at the young man and began. “La signora ed io avremo entrambi il numero quattro, medio bene… con i funghi portobello arrostiti ripieni e l’insalata grande da spaccare con il condimento tradizionale. Per cominciare, avremo entrambi la Pasta Fagioli. Si prega di portare una bottiglia di Veuve Clicquot freddo con gli antipasti e assicurarsi che, ad eccezione del servizio pasti, non siamo disturbati. Fatto?”

The young man smiled broadly, quickly taking notes and then added. “Signore eccezionale! ci metto subito! È così bello parlare con qualcuno da casa! Se hai bisogno di qualcosa nel frattempo, tocca il pulsante di chiamata sul vaso e arrivo subito.” And with that, the young man was gone.

Listening to Garrett, she felt like the man was singing rather than speaking. The words rolled off his tongue like a melody. As he finished up, Addie relaxed back in her seat. It had been a long time since she had felt this comfortable with someone. Then it hit her why. “You know tonight is going to be perfect,” she announced as if there had been a question posed to the contrary. “Wanna know why?”

Garrett grinned. “No… why? Wait… is this a trap?” He chuckled softly.

“Well, technically we are on our second date. First dates are usually painfully awkward and me hanging from your chest parachuting today like some helpless Kangaroo means we are on clear sailing from here on out. How much longer are you here? Me and my friends are here until next Saturday. Ten days of sun and fun and I am not going to waste it sitting on some beach staring at the water. You can do that in any holodeck. Tomorrow I am ziplining in the boreal rainforest. Any plans on your end,” she asked taking another sip of her wine.

Addie

Chuckling, Garrett sipped his wine and smiled. “I don’t know how much of the harness was necessary. You were holding on pretty damn tight with your legs.”

“I was under the impression I was falling to my death,” she joked back with a smile. “I usually like to take a friend with me. I am so glad you had a different plan.”

He winked and continued. “I actually have to report for duty next Friday morning, unfortunately. Joys of command… always killing your weekends.”

Addie wrinkled her nose up in confusion. “No one reports for duty on a Friday. Trust me I know,” she paused as the waiter dropped off the first course of appetizers Garrett had ordered in his fluent Italian. “Monday’s are a pain in the royal ah,” she cut off her own word with a bit of the food. For something so delicate and small, it tasted like nothing she had ever had eliciting a small groan before she continued after swallowing. “You do not need to leave on Friday. You are in the prime of your life. Sleep when you are dead. Trust me,” she repeated again. “I have every minute planned out to the microsecond. I am super-efficient at logistics. I know how long it takes to ship anything from one corner of this galaxy to the other including humans. There is no point you can’t reach from this planet that takes longer than twenty-four hours with Earl flying.” Dabbing her piece of bread into the oil and spices she took a second bite as she talked.

Garrett smirked, my god she was energetic! Dabbing bread of his own, he smiled. “It’s not like my new Command is a long way off. Pretty close actually… but you’re right, I’m in no particular hurry to get there.”

“You are going to be in your command seat, in your stuffy uniform, drinking bad coffee, and slightly better than canned food out of a replicator soon enough. So hand over your travel itinerary to Halsey’s Hauling and extend your stay by one more day. It’ll make you feel good,” she sang in a sing-song lithe as she finished her bite brushing a few crumbs from her fingertips to her plate.

“Well, Ms. Halsey…” Garrett chuckled. “… I have no clear itinerary. My whole concept was to come here to eat and drink and…” He blushed a bit. “… maybe work in a little play. Aside from that and getting some cockpit and seat time in air breathing vehicles for once, I’m actually super chill as far as scheduling goes.”

“Say yes to the thin wire of death that will propel you across,” she looked up as if trying to recall some words from her mind, “the beautiful and lush boreal forests of Eden prime adding a moment that flashes before your eyes to the ones you will recall when you die.” While the slogan had a poetic ring, when you really thought about it, it was not particularly encouraging.

“Zip-lining huh…” Garrett grinned widely. “… that mean I get to see you in shorts if I tag along like a little puppy?”

“And a tank top that has about as much support as a bikini top,” she winked at him knowing Garrett’s mind would go exactly to where she had painted the picture.

Addie would notice the slight bite of Garrett’s lip as he looked out the window and ran his fingers through his chestnut hair. “Things just get better and better…” He said in a under-the-breath whisper.

He paused before adding. “Cause, that sounds way more fun than hanging out on a beach… though… I’m sure you are stunning in a bikini!”

Garrett

“As long as I didn’t get mushroom salad for dinner then yes,” she let out a laugh. She had no idea what Garrett got her but she did suspiciously hear the word fungi. “No wait,” she held up her hands playfully. “I want to be surprised…or no,” she laughed and then countered “yes. Yes to being surprised no telling me what’s coming and don’t be all set on leaving next Friday. Who knows. We could fall off the zip lines, break both our legs and be stuck recuperating on the beach. The tan lines would be for crap but the company amazing.”

It was Garrett’s turn to laugh. “Broken legs! Not… exactly… the kinda injuries I’m now worried about over the next week, but duly noted.” He gave Addie flirty wink as he reached for his glass.

Picking up her glass she raised it up for him to toast.

Seeing Addie raise her glass, the pilot joined her gesture.

“I say no talk about Friday. If I don’t kill you in the next six days and seven nights we do it Casablanca style. We take separate cars here Thursday’s night, have another fabulous dinner, and you say good bye with the classic line here’s looking at you kid”.

There was a suspicious purse of Garrett’s lips before a soft snort escaped him. “I have a sneaky feeling the last thing you’re gonna be doing is sleeping alone my last night dirt side.” He smiled a charmingly bright smile.

“I have a suspicion I am not getting any sleep nights with you dirt side,” she took a sip and waggled her eyebrows in response.

“Or that you are leaving on Friday. I will get you to alter your plans to a departure on Saturday morning at,” she calculated the farthest point possible in her head gauging her response to that, “0400 hours. You can sleep on the shuttle en route, slap some deodorant while brushing your teeth in the shuttle bathroom, and down a pot of coffee before stepping foot at your new command. Trust me, you might think your new command crew wants to see you but we don’t. CO’s are like children. They should be seen but not heard. The second your Cappy wants a one on one, something has gone sideways. A few salutes on your way to the bridge is all you need to instill faith and trust in your new crew. Save the speeches for when the powers that be are around. The crew will thank you.”

“Sounds like they’ll thank you…” He grinned. “… for sending a broken, exhausted CO that won’t be able to recover for a week.” Then, he shook his head. “And there is likely nothing you could dream of doing to get my ass outta bed at 0400…” Garrett paused then blushed. “… well, nothing that would make me wanna actually /leave/ the bed.”

“Never say never. I will just make you regret those words,” she said her sentence slowly and teasingly letting the words roll off her tongue like a sultry promise.

Try as he might, Garrett couldn’t help but slightly bite his lower lip. This girl was young, beautiful, and by the looks of her… likely strong enough to make even him tap out on a good night. “Guess we’ll just have to wait and see… huh?” He smiled, thankful he recovered from a series of brief fantasies.

“Guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” Addie repeated back with a devilish smile. The man across from her was the whole package which meant he was probably well past the sprint down the hall or slide in at the end of a line pretending you had always been there stage of his life. Still, there was something raw and exciting lying under the surface. Addie was not going to just scratch the surface of one Garrett O’Connor in the next few days. She was going to excavate it with a backhoe and full construction team if necessary. He intrigued her and that had not happened in a very long time.

Setting her glass down Addie looked at the water as she talked. “So tell me about the first or last time you have been arrested?”

Addie Halsey. Private eye

“Arrested?” Garrett again laughed out loud. “They don’t give warships to felons Addie. So, the answer to your question is never…” He paused and glanced out the window. “… though, I’m not saying I’ve never been in cuffs. Just…” There was a slight blush to his cheeks. “… that when I was, I had access to the key.”

Garrett

“So you like to be given orders. Duly noted,” she let out a laugh that shook her body. “I don’t mind being in charge.” Addie felt a warm rush fill her body. Her mind began to run with scenarios of nocturnal exploits although none of them actually involved him using the title Ma’am. Life in Starfleet was filled with titles so Addie was pretty sure he could find something better to use after midnight. “I have only been arrested once. So is that going to make a difference with you and that warship? Knowing a felon I mean.”

Addie Halsey

“I bet you don’t…” He grinned. “… and a woman in charge from time to time is a nice change of pace considering I have a… thing about being in control.”

“You need to get over that thing because you are hanging with Avalanche Addie. Don’t worry. If it gets too hot for you to handle your Alpine rescue dog is named Bert and he always finds his survivors.”

Taking a sip of wine, Garrett noticed Addie’s flush and her form shiver. He chuckled, relieved that he wasn’t the only one already a bit hot under the collar. “Arrested once…” Garrett snickered. “… and still commissioned tells me it wasn’t /that/ bad. I doubt I have much to worry about in that regard.”

Then, without warning, Addie felt something move against the back of her right calf. Gently, her leg was raised until she felt a hand beneath the table softly caress the back of her calf. It was then she’d notice she could only see one of Garrett’s hands, the one nonchalantly holding his glass. As he flashed a smoldering glance across the table, he asked as his unseen hand gently teased the back of her leg. “So… tell me about this arrest.”

Garrett, The Flirt

Addie lost the ability to speak for a second. If this had been a private dinner in her or Garrett’s apartment, the main course would no longer be what he ordered but whatever junk food he had stored in his cabinets as they waited for the pizza to arrive dressed like they were going to a toga party in his now loose sheets. She avoided his face and looked off to the side with a dopey smile on his face. If she wasn’t careful, she would need Bert there Rescue St. Bernard to rescue her from Captian Cyclone about to ravage her shores. “I…I am,” she shook her hair out trying to act natural but clearly hyper-focusing on the approaching southern army to her Mason Dixon line. Picking up her drink, she cleared her throat and forced herself to look at Garret as she spoke. Her tone warbled slightly in rhythm with the soft caresses of his fingertips on the delicate area just below her knee but above her ankle. “It was the summer of 69…87,” she instantly turned red. “The summer of 87 and get your mind out of the gutter. I was born in 69. Simple mistake,” she took a sip of her glass trying to hide her laugh.

“Suure…” Garrett chuckled as he grazed fingertips along the back of her calf and knee. “… so, summer of ‘87. Go on…” God how he loved the feel of her skin on his fingertips. Addie was like a powerful sports car, raw energy under tension. Though, he was enjoying the chase… seeing just exactly how much tension she could take!

“I uh,” she started and felt the pressure increase losing her train of thought. The man could make her do that way too easily. Running her fingers through her hair she avoided eye contact just until she could find a second to breathe and gather her thoughts. “So senior year,” she let out a laugh knowing how silly she looked trying to act like nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

“My senior year of high school and there was this guy. Jackson Mahoney,” she let his name roll off her tongue like a dream or a nightmare. “He dated my best friend for a few months and then poof just like that he dumped her for Marylou Jenkins. Jenkins was not an A…student.... like us back in the day. She was more of a D type of girl but back then we could not catch up.” They were in a nice restaurant and Garrett could read between the lines. He was a seventeen-year-old guy at one also and understood the grading system.

“Any way we could not let that go unchallenged. So we bought like a hundred plastic forks, drove to the guy’s house one night after midnight, and chucked them in his front yard along with one that had an index card attached to it saying FORK YOU.”

“The plan would have been perfect except my friend Jen used an index card from her English Lit class. Jackson’s mom called the police and we were arrested on charges of vandalism. It didn’t stick and since we were underaged the charges got expunged. Your turn for a question but make it interesting,” Addie leaned back relaxing into his touch and propping her heel on his knee so Garrett could have better access to her calf. The tablecloth was long hiding their antics, they were both consenting adults, and they were on shore leave.

Addie Halsey

“Sounds… exciting.” Garrett said with a roguish smirk and smoldering gaze as he put just a little teasing pressure behind his fingertips as he drug them down the back of her calf. “Well…” Taking a sip of wine, Garrett continued to toy with Addie… his touch precise and controlled. “… where’s the riskiest place you ever made love?” Garrett was going for the kill now… deliberately wanting to push every button he could in a controlled environment. If all went well, she’d be ready to tear him apart before dessert hit the table.

Garrett O’Connor

“It was Commandant Grayson’s office…graduation week…,” she shot back without even blinking. “They were having a meeting next door and the guy I was seeing was the Cadet aide. The sex wasn’t stellar but the rush was. I say was because it soon will be the second most riskiest place. The first will be with a dashing Captain who will call out clear the bridge. All that power under the command seat,” she took a long slow sip of her wine. God it was fun to daydream with this man. Hell Addie didn’t even know if the man was really a Captain. He said he was but it was not like she asked for his transfer papers. The guy could be some maintenance crewmember selling her a line and yet it didn’t matter to her if he was or wasn’t who he said he was. He was sexy and charming and made her heart beat a little bit faster. Eden Prime was a place to let your fantasies run wild. “I just need to find a Captain. Know anyone that would fit the bill?”

Picking up a piece of the bread she slowly toyed with it, dragging it slowly in the oil and herbs before placing it in her mouth.

“Okay I’m up,” she let a devilish smile cross her face knowing there was probably no way Garrett would be able to leave his seat for the next few minutes. “Tell me one thing on your bucket list you want to do before you die.”

Addie Halsey