STF

When Paparazzi Hide in the Bushes

Posted May 30, 2023, 9:47 p.m. by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) (Lucas Foxley)

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in When Paparazzi Hide in the Bushes

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in When Paparazzi Hide in the Bushes

(snip)

Roman smiled and nodded. “Whatever is easier for you. I just don’t want them to worry you.” He checked the time and unwillingly released her from their long hug. “I have to get back to work. I’ll see you after shift?”

~ Roman

Rand let go reluctantly. “Yes. I should actually be done on time today.” After he left Rand returned to her work, she deleted the letter, but the words haunted her.

Rand

The next morning when letters and personal data came in off comms, the Comms officer duty delivered a data disk to Rand. “Addressed to you and the Commander. From… Mr. and Mrs. Caliano?” He shrugged and handed her the disk. “Figured you could take it to him with the reports.”

~ Roman

Rand took the disk with her usual smile. “Thank you. I’ll make sure he gets it.” Caliano? That was Jay’s parents wasn’t it? Addressed to both of them? After yesterday’s mail, Rand was afraid to know what it said. That was nerves though, right? Roman had only ever had good things to say about them. They still wrote to him regularly no matter what. They cared about him.

It wasn’t exactly regular. In the time Rand had known him, he’d gotten a letter on his birthdays, both last year and this year, holidays like Christmas, and after the news that had reached Earth that he’d been attacked and was hurt. That letter had shown up while he was still unconscious in sickbay. Each time they showed up he was fairly private about it, like he liked them, but they bothered him, too. Like anything concerning Jay he refused to speak much about it.

By the time she got to the lab Rand had convinced herself they loved Roman very deeply and if the Caliano’s were concerned about her maybe they were right. She carried the reports in and took a seat on her stool. “We have a letter from Mr. and Mrs. Caliano,” she said quietly setting the disk on top.

Rand

When she sat on her stool and told him about it, he turned to look at her. “We?” Roman asked, grabbing the data disk curiously. Then he realized, “They must have seen the news.” He put the data disk into his personal PaDD and opened the letter, setting the PaDD up so they could both see it.

Dear Roman and Ms Farquharson,

Roman! Why didn’t you tell us you were engaged? When did you get engaged? When are we meeting her? The lovely Ms Farquharson is beautiful. What’s she like? Where did you meet? We hope the media isn’t giving you trouble like that last time. How are you doing? Have you recovered from that incident last June? We heard they caught the responsible party and were greatly relieved.

Ms Farquharson, we do hope Roman isn’t too stubborn to show you this letter. When we heard about the engagement, we went ahead and watched some of your old shows. You seem absolutely adorable and positively lovely and we apologize we haven’t been able to meet yet. Are you marrying on Earth? Or somewhere else? If you do come home, talk that stubborn fiance of yours into a visit, will you? We haven’t seen him since his last vacation… six years ago now, I believe. It would be simply fantastic if we had the chance to see you both. We hope the press isn’t giving you too much trouble either. They’re such pests!

Wishing both of you the best,

Henry and Maryann Caliano

Reading through the letter Roman looked increasingly embarrassed. He hadn’t told Rand he’d never responded to their previous letters. Nor that they’d not seen him in that long. At least they seemed to like her. He gave Rand a sheepish look.

~ Roman


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