The screen of the palmtop turned a shade of light green, when Elizabeth Weir exited the chess-game-program with a fast click.
"You won," she told Colonel Caldwell without any sign of jealousy. Actually, it was still she who led their score-list with winning four times from six.
"I guess you had a hard day, maybe that's why you were so distracted," he said with that sharp, stern look of his, which made it almost impossible to find out whether he wanted to tell her something comforting, or if he wanted to humiliate her. She wondered which one was the nearest to his true intention.
"A hard day?" She smiled wearily, "I suppose it was rather a hard week."
"I understand." His voice was calm and firm. She hoped that the first option, the comforting one, would prove to be right. He made a slight motion in the direction of the desk, "Shall we play again, or would you like to take a rest?"
"If it's okay with you, I would like to go now, take a shower, and try to sleep," she moaned, and closed her palmtop. "Good night, Colonel Caldwell."
They both got up from their respective chairs. She rounded the desk, and headed for the automatic door. She was really tired, and her thoughts were already in her bedroom when she suddenly stopped. She perceived that he would step in her way. She expected that he would start again, coming up with his brilliant ideas about her having a long vacation on the Earth and leaving the base in the hands of the military forces. She wasn't in the mood to argue about that. She thought if he began this boring, unending contest again, she would punch him and leave without saying a word. Well, it would not be the best diplomatic solution of the situation, but she felt that she was at the end of her strength today; she was unable to stand up against Caldwell's usual, ice cold, unshakeable arguments.
It took her a minute to notice that he was not about to start up a fight. Caldwell's eye wandered to her lips. She felt her cheeks blushing slightly.
"Oh my God," she whispered as she realized what he wanted. She stepped backwards.
"Good night, Doctor," he said slowly, his eyes still focusing on her lips.
"G... good night..." she mumbled, totally dumbfounded. She backed up until she reached her desk. Caldwell followed her with determined, rigorous steps.
"Are you afraid of me?" he asked scornfully.
She blushed even more, "You are really disagreeable, you know that?"
Caldwell touched her face with his fingers.
"Are you sure?" His voice remained calm, but an eager glimmering appeared in his eyes.
Elizabeth turned away. It was almost unbelievable how much she liked that touch. It nearly burnt her cheek with an impulsive, luscious impression that made her breathe heavily. Her imagination brought up pictures of him giving her more and more of this pleasure. First her cheeks, then her neck and then... The realistic part of her mind took over. Goddamn soldiers! The worst thing about the military: the high-ranking commanders always think that the whole world is built up for them, and if they just make a slight motion, everyone will kneel down for them. That is definitely not a healthy attitude. Maybe they get used to it during their service, but it is not something I can bear. I will not act like that.
"I'm going to sleep now," she said, harshly, and pushed away his hand. She left her office as fast as she could. When she arrived at her sleeping-chamber, she felt her heart still throbbing in her chest. She sat down on the side of her bed, and buried her face into her palms.
Over the next two weeks, while the Daedalus and its crew helped Atlantis to organize some preparation against the Wraiths, Elizabeth was more than striving to avoid Caldwell, and it seemed that it suited him alright, for he did not make any effort to change that fact. She was glad to see that he did not mention their "affair", and he let her do her job without trying to personalize their relationship again.
On the last day, when she escorted Colonel Caldwell to his spaceship, she saw on his face that he wanted to tell her something privately, but she quickly signed for Zelenka to join them to check if everything was ready for the Daedalus to begin its long journey to the Earth. Caldwell seemed resentful as Zelenka stepped next to them and started to brag about some developments he made in his newest research. As they reached the entrance, Caldwell stopped.
"I want to say something to Doctor Weir," he said with such emphasis that Zelenka had to understand that it was not something for his ears to hear. He apologized, and went to the engineering system.
Caldwell turned to Elizabeth.
"When I come back, I'd like to have a nice welcome from you," he said with an insidious shade in his voice that made her feel really uncomfortable.
"Well, okay, I'll do my best." Her answer was in official tone. "Good luck on your journey."
She felt relieved when he left.