Ok so I understand that a lot of you are surprised by what I did with Uhura. Well I guess surprised is putting it lightly in some cases lol. And so I said to some of you, I'll explain myself. Because all I can do is explain why I did what I did and continue on writing this story. Prostitution is definitely unbecoming and dehumanizing and the practice itself simply wrong, in my opinion. But I don't think anyone wakes up one day and decides: "Screw being a doctor; I want to be a hooker." I think that some people's lives are so broken, so dark, that they literally think that they have no other options. I don't think those people deserve to be judged. And perhaps, all they need is for someone to believe in them, someone to help them realize that they actually have other options and that they have the power to utilize those options.
And that's what this story is all about. It's not about making people disgusted or taking someone who's pure and making them dirty or ruining everyone's quintessential image of Nyota and it's certainly not about glorifying sex, it's about a message I want to convey. And the message is that we all have the ability to brighten someone's world and empower them, no matter how dark that world is. I just happen to be using Spock and Nyota to express that message. That being said, to those of you who are reading this story, I thank you very much and sincerely appreciate everyone who's added my story to their favorites or subscribed to it. And to those who have chosen not to read this story because of Nyota's particular profession; I respect your opinions and thank you for giving them to me. :)
That being said for the first and last time lol, here's the chapter. Enjoy!!!
Chapter One:
Fabrications
When I've shown you that I just don't care
When I'm throwing punches in the air
When I'm broken down and I can't stand
Would you be man enough to be my man?
Lie to me
I promise, I'll believe
Lie to me
But please don't leave...
Strong Enough --- Sheryl Crow
Uhura groaned and rolled over on her stomach. Her body was covered with sweat. She had dreamt about Spock again. It had been over a week since she had last met him… and she had dreamt of him almost every night since. She never remembered everything… but she could always recall his dark eyes, piercing and strong, looking into her very soul. She knew she wouldn't see him again… and she hadn't. But she wanted to.
Uhura wasn't even sure what time she had rolled into her apartment last night, but she remembered taking a rather drunken bath (it was a miracle she hadn't drowned herself, it was yet another art the girl was perfecting: the art of intoxicated bathing), briefly drying herself off, and literally falling into her bed naked, her hair still damp. It had probably been a bad life decision… but since she had become a teenager, she had done nothing but make bad decisions.
The dark-haired girl shook her head swiftly, chasing away those forbidden thoughts. What had happened when she was twelve didn't matter. And besides, it wasn't her fault anyways. Uhura reached under her bed and pulled out a large, white, oversized t-shirt. She squirmed into it, sighed deeply, and plopped back into her sheets. She was just about to fall back asleep when… her PADD began ringing. It had been a birthday present from Gaila. How she had gotten it, Uhura would never know. She didn't ask.
Uhura leaned over her bed so that she could reach the wooden dresser next to it. She pressed a button on her PADD and a familiar, stern face came up on the screen. "Hi, Aunt Bora." Uhura forced herself to smile as she stared into her aunt's cold eyes.
"I trust you've been doing well in California, just as you always have." Aunt Bora began immediately, her voice as icy and sharp as her eyes. "I've sent you your monthly check. If you are in need of any more funds, contact my assistant."
"Ok, thanks. How… how is she?" Uhura inhaled deeply. She never liked to ask that question, but every month she did… and every month she got the same answer.
"She's fine. Her grades are good and she's happy." That was the one thing Aunt Bora seemed to stress… the fact that she was happy.
"I see… that's good." Uhura didn't know what else to say. It was their routine, monthly conversation. Always the same greetings, the same questions, the same answers, and the same formal voice that never failed to drill a hole in her heart. Her aunt certainly lived up to her name, the Swahili word for "snow".
"She has to go to practice, so I must inform the limo driver. Good day… I will call you next month." Aunt Bora said decisively.
"Practice? Practice for what?" Uhura asked eagerly, wanting to know. She always wanted to know.
"It's probably better that you don't know. Goodbye." And with that, her aunt's face vanished from the PADD, leaving Uhura alone.
"Damn bitch…" Uhura let out a long sigh and dropped back onto her bed, still holding the device. She checked the time, realizing that it was almost 10:30 in the morning. "I guess wherever she's going… she has to be there at 1:30." When she first arrived in California, it took her a while to get the time difference, but now she knew that there was a three-hour difference between Cali and New York, just as easily as she knew she had five fingers on each hand. Those lonely, long, three hours.
It was better not to think of it. So, pushing her thoughts aside, Uhura sat up and began to mentally plan the rest of her day. She didn't have work until eight. That was good. Maybe she would go out and get some coffee.
Uhura walked through the crowded streets of San Francisco, clutching her caramel latte as if it was the only thing keeping her alive. This thing is a sin… I have an addiction. The teen told herself… but she didn't care. She loved the taste of it! Perhaps I'll go to the bookstore today… I could use another Klingon book. She turned the corner, lost in her thoughts and found herself knocking into something warm… very warm. She was so shocked she dropped her coffee on the ground. She looked up and became even more shocked, because Commander Spock was standing right in front of her calmly. Or at least he looked rather calm, as calm as anyone could look with coffee all over them.
"Oh crap! Sorry, I didn't mean to-" Uhura started babbling, waving her hands around nervously. I cannot believe this just happened!! "Merde!" She swore unintentionally and then covered her mouth in astonishment. "Er… sorry again."
"I assure you, you did no harm to me, if that is the cause of your alarm." Spock raised an eyebrow, somewhat amused by her reaction. "It is I who should be apologizing. I was distracted and as a result, you have lost your beverage."
"Yeah… I lost it all over your shirt." Uhura groaned, still slightly embarrassed. But then, she brightened up unexpectedly. "But then again, you probably did me a favor anyway. I drink too much coffee." Spock said nothing and she began to feel awkward, so she asked the first question that came to her head: "So what are you doing here?"
"I was simply taking a leisurely stroll." Spock responded. "Since you have no coffee, it is only logical for me to purchase another to replace the one you lost."
"How bout some khi-gad-yem instead?" Uhura smirked, her brown eyes lighting up. She was hungry. Spock's eyes widened at the lunch invitation and her near perfect intonation. He quickly recovered himself; he needed to answer her.
"Yes, that should be fine." The corners of Spock's mouth turned up slightly and Uhura's heart skipped a beat.
The restaurant was crowded and bustling with waiters and waitresses. It was one of Uhura's favorites and Spock could see why. The place had a rather friendly atmosphere, the service was pleasant, and their food had arrived in a timely fashion. The food was delicious, too. They were currently consuming their meals: she had a turkey sandwich with fries and a milkshake, while he had some tasty, but spicy soup and a lush, big salad.
"Hmm…" Uhura hummed out, taking a quick sip from her strawberry milkshake. "Why don't we speak in Vulcan for a bit? You're much better than an audio tape… I hope." Spock instantly replied in Vulcan and they began conversing readily.
They talked about almost everything, but never breaching overly personal subjects. The weather, music, human movies, politics, books, fame, stars, planets, Vulcan itself and eventually the United States of Africa, where she was born. Everything was general and polite and careful, opinions were given and they were either courteously accepted or rejected. They seemed to resonate off of each other, switching topics at whim and focusing on others for minutes at a time. To put it frankly, it was the best discussion both of them had had in a while… but things could only remain unperturbed for so long.
It was Spock who surprisingly switched back to English first. They had been talking for over an hour and neither of them even realized it. "Your Vulcan is nearly impeccable. I am impressed." Spock complemented her, noting the way her heart rate sped up. Indeed, it was quite odd for him to admit being impressed. Actually, it was even odder for someone to impress him at all… so she had accomplished quite a feat.
"Thanks… your English is almost as good." Uhura tried to hide her earlier embarrassment with a little banter. Spock raised an eyebrow in response. She chuckled lightly and then blurted out without thinking: "So has anyone else ever blown off the Vulcan Science Academy and joined Starfleet instead?" Merde, merde, merde!! I did NOT just say that!! She screamed in her head, but Spock's slight frown only confirmed it. "Don't answer that. I'm really sorry. Sometimes that whole tact filter gets-"
"I will answer your question, Ms. Uhura." Spock interrupted her firmly, causing her to gulp tensely. "No, I was the only Vulcan to do so."
"That's pretty cool. It's revolutionary." Uhura visibly relaxed and put her chin into her hand. "I didn't think you were a rebel… kinda reminds me of myself." Then her eyes widened and she froze immediately. Wow… I'm just saying all kinds of shit today aren't I? Usually her past wasn't on her mind, usually she kept it as far away as possible, never bringing it up, never thinking about it. Then again, she had talked to her Aunt Bora that morning. So it made sense that her behavior was somewhat abnormal.
"I wouldn't call my behavior rebellious… I simply did not agree with some of the opinions of the Vulcan council. I chose to attend Starfleet Academy instead." Spock seemed to have noticed her emotional change, but decided wisely not to comment on it. It surprised him, nonetheless, how easy it was to bring up his tumultuous past. He had never opened up to someone so easily.
"Oh…" Uhura blinked slowly, more questions forming in her mind. "What opinions? What did they think?"
"I am half-Vulcan, my mother is human. They believed this to be a disadvantage and informed me of this hindrance upon accepting me to the academy." Spock cocked his head slightly to the side. He had spilled enough for one day. He was going to be the one asking the questions now. He was not that comfortable with revealing so much personal information in one sitting. It didn't make any sense.
"Hmm… well you could've fooled me. I had no idea you were-" But that was when Uhura really looked into his eyes. Their gazes locked and she found herself lost in pits of black. His gaze was like an abyss that sucked her in, consumed her… it was unnerving and thrilling at the same time. His eyes… his eyes were definitely human. How could she not have noticed it before?
Their voluntary staring contest was interrupted by their waitress placing a white piece of paper in between them. "Here's the check." The blonde woman smirked down at the both of them, quite amused by what she had seen. They both appeared flustered upon her arrival. "Have a nice day." She tossed the words over her shoulder as she left.
Things went from awesome to awkward to unbearable… in a matter of minutes. Great… Uhura inwardly sighed. What was she doing? Inviting a Vulcan out for a meal? Talking to him as if they were friends? As if she had any real friends besides Gaila. She had made her life so structured, so full of routine, but this was different, this was new… and it scared the hell out of her.
"If I may ask… what rebellious actions have you taken in the past?" He asked the question, the question she didn't want him to ask, the question that brought up bad memories and pain and loneliness and disaster. But then again, if he was going to ask on any day, the day of her monthly conversation with Aunt Bora probably would have been his best bet. On any other day, she would have ignored it and changed the subject or lied. But today was different. It was always different after she called.
"Well… when I told my Aunt I got accepted to Starfleet, she wasn't too happy about it. She kicked me out of her condo." Uhura smirked, remembering the furious look on her Aunt's face on that fatal day. "I made it here on my own… but like I said before, Starfleet isn't for me. And I was too stubborn to go back and admit defeat, so I stayed here for a while. Then I ran out of money and I was underage so I couldn't get a real job and I was homeless… so I did what I had to do to get by. It took years to get accustomed to my new lifestyle… but I survived… and here I am."
Spock was silent for a while. He literally didn't know what to say. He was expecting something different, something less distressing. And she kept saying that Starfleet wasn't for her, but if she made it in, then perhaps it was for her. He could sense the disdain she had for her Aunt… and with good reason. But where were her parents? How did they fit into this equation?
"You could have been anything. Why a dancer?" Spock questioned quietly, hoping his voice wasn't voicing the concern he felt. He wasn't concerned, no… just curious. It didn't make any sense… actually nothing he did today made any sense.
"Because those managers don't ask how old you are." Uhura responded, one of those cryptic grins on her face again. It's been a long time since I've talked about that. I'm surprised I haven't burst into tears. The dark-haired teen thought sarcastically. Then again… she had omitted parts, watered her situation down. The whole truth was too much to handle… and too problematic to bring up with someone she barely knew.
"Does your Aunt know you haven't joined Starfleet?" The real question was… why Spock was asking so many questions.
"Yeah she knows… she sends me a monthly check. It's basically enough to pay my rent." Uhura shrugged, pausing to slurp up the last remnants of her milkshake. "As long as I'm not heading for the stars, she doesn't care what I do and she doesn't ask."
"That is despicable behavior. As an adult, she should be more responsible and reasonable." Spock frowned, his eyes looking somewhat contemplative. To think that someone would throw their own blood out onto the street was appalling. He didn't even want to know how old she was when it happened.
"Yeah…" Uhura let out a tiny sigh. "It sucks… but I only have to think about her once a month. And the money's good. My apartment is pretty damn nice." She couldn't help but let out a tiny grin. "Her kicking me out gave me the freedom I craved. Till this day, she still thinks she won, in reality… she lost."
"That's a rather positive way of looking at it." Spock couldn't help it. She impressed him again. Her resilience and strength was astounding. While his Father certainly hadn't been pleased with his decision to attend Starfleet, they had parted on relatively civil terms. And he was certainly old enough to fend for himself. He had adjusted to life with humans, immersed himself into their culture, and made many accommodations. Most of his endeavors had turned out successfully. In human's terms… he had been lucky. It wasn't the same for her. And yet, and yet she seemed fine.
"Yeah… well this has just about been the longest lunch of my life." Uhura stood up abruptly, reaching for her purse. "I have a couple errands to run before work that I wanted to get done." I probably won't get them done but whatever…
"I see. Ms. Uhura, there is no need to take out your wallet. I will be paying." The Vulcan said simply.
"Umm… ok. Well thanks, Commander Spock." Uhura felt her face growing warm. It was practically a date. A date and a therapy session somewhere in between… well it was the only way she could explain how she was feeling. Despite talking about things that she had pushed aside for years, she felt good. But it felt wrong to call him Commander; she felt as if they had crossed some line. No… it wasn't a date… was it?
"There is no need to refer to me as: 'Commander', as our relationship is not based on professional or educational matters." Clearly, Spock thought the same thing. "Spock will do."
This brought a smile to Uhura's face. "Two can play that game. Call me Nyota." She braced herself, mentally rehearsing the words in her head. "Thanks again for lunch. I had a great time."
"As did I." Spock remained seated. He would order some tea; it usually had a calming effect on him. And he definitely needed to soothe his mind. Uhura turned around and walked away. This time… it was he who watched her until he could not anymore.
"You did WHAT?!?" Gaila screeched out, her jaw dropping to the floor. She and Uhura were currently lying on the latter's bed, painting their toenails. But the redhead was so shocked by Uhura's confession that she almost dropped the nail polish on the floor.
"Yeah, I know, I know. It surprised me, too." Uhura winced at her friend's response and inwardly sighed.
"Did you tell him about your parents?" Gaila demanded. She wanted to know more. To think that they had lunch together… and actually talked for over an hour! It was unthinkable! Uhura wasn't the type to do such a thing… and neither was Commander Spock.
"No." Uhura snapped out, somewhat annoyed that she would even bring that topic up.
"About Ka-" I probably shouldn't have said that… Gaila thought. Too late.
"No." Uhura's voice became menacing and Gaila instantly moved on.
"What about-" The Orion girl started, putting a finger on her chin.
"Gaila! I only told him about my stupid Aunt! That's it!" Uhura shouted out, losing her patience. Honestly, she had to bring up just about every shitty aspect of my life.
"Yeah, well that's a lot to tell someone you only met once. It took you, what an entire year freaking year to tell me what you told him in less than a month. Less than a month! Is nothing sacred anymore?" Gaila snorted, finishing off her big toe.
"I know, I know… I don't know why I did it. We were just talking and the conversation was flowing and before I knew it we were talking about personal things and I slipped, I slipped dammit!" Uhura slammed her nail polish down onto her dresser and plopped onto her back, groaning loudly. "Gaila… this is bad. This is really bad. I don't know why he's so different. I've talked to… hundreds of men, seen hundreds of men… and none of them, not ONE has ever gotten through to me like he has. It doesn't make any sense."
"Sure it does… it's called love at first sight." Gaila smirked.
"What?" It was Uhura's turn to look completely shocked.
"Well, think about it. If you had joined Starfleet, you probably would have met him, had a couple of his classes, and gotten to know him over time. Since you didn't, fate had to intervene and basically force the two of you to meet under extraordinary circumstances. And now… you're fucked. Because instead of gradually falling for him and having feelings blossom over time… you've fallen head over heels in love with him upon meeting him once." Gaila finished, looking quite pleased with her narrative.
"That made no sense at all." Uhura grimaced. "This isn't some trashy romance novel; this is my life we're talking about!"
"Let's see you coming up with a logical explanation. Go ahead, Nyota." The redhead even cupped her ear for emphasis, leaning towards her companion. "Got any bright ideas?" Uhura smacked her arm in response. "Yeah, I thought so."
"Ok, ok, fine. Let's say for hypothetical purposes that you're right." Uhura rolled her eyes. "What do I do now, Oh-Great-One?"
"Hmm… well I'd say you should go out on more dates. Try to have fun with him, loosen him up. Let him get to know you and get comfortable with you." The Orion girl suggested thoughtfully.
"More dates? It wasn't a date!" Uhura scowled, pouting a bit.
"You shared a meal in a public place, you talked for over an hour, you shared intimate details about your life with him (as he did with you), and he PAID for your meal. It was a date. Get over it." Gaila narrowed her eyes.
"You are the most-" Uhura grit her teeth impatiently.
"I'm just as stubborn as you are and that's probably why we're best friends." Gaila interrupted, flashing one of those infectious grins of hers. "Luckily, I don't need my friends to tell me when I've been on dates. I just know." This brought a grin to Uhura's face… and soon the both of them were chuckling loudly. Then, the two of them laid on the bed, caught up in their own thoughts.
"Finals start this week." Gaila let out a long sigh. "I'm not looking forward to them… in case you couldn't guess."
"Yeah… final exams equal disgruntled cadets which equals rough sex." The teen rolled over onto her stomach, combing her fingers through her dark hair.
"Oh please… don't act like you don't like it rough." The redhead rolled her eyes lightheartedly. Uhura threw a pillow at her, which she instantly dodged. "And besides, you're a Princess now. You get to pick who you sleep with."
"Yeah but I still have a damn quota to fulfill every night." Uhura laughed out loud. "Ho… the hierarchy of Hyacinth." Club Hyacinth was where she worked, it was where Gaila worked… and it was where men and women came every night when they wanted a show… and sometimes more.
"You and your damn alliteration… think you're so cool." Gaila shook her head.
"That's because I am." Uhura smirked, kicking her feet in the air.
"Yeah, yeah… so how's the fabulous Aunt Bora doing? Still got that stick up her ass?" The green-skinned female checked the time. They would have to eat soon if they were going to get to work on time.
"Mmmhmm. I think someone purposely twists it around right before she has to call me." Uhura retorted sarcastically. The two of them looked at each other… and nearly burst into tears laughing. Finally, when they recovered their senses, Uhura declared: "Let's order some expensive food with the money she sent me!" When Gaila's eyebrows rose in response, the girl could only shrug and say: "I'm feeling a little... rebellious today."
All done! Thanks so much for reading!!! Please review and let me know your thoughts! :) And of course, if I made any mistakes, tell me. Chapter 2 should be up soon!
Khi-gad-yem = lunch (Vulcan)
Merde = shit (French)
