This is the final chapter, but this is not the end of the story. For those who want more check out "Magic". Melanie will appear in this story in the later chapters.
The next morning she woke up when someone shook her shoulder.
"Wake up, Melli, it's 7:30!" She crawled back under the covers and tried to ignore her friend, but Katharina didn't give up.
"Kathi, it's way too early." Katharina pulled the covers off the bed and turned on the light.
"I'll make you some breakfast." Melanie slowly crawled out of the bed and tried to stand up right. After a few moments she felt confident to walk. When she came into the living room Katharina was busy reading something on what seemed like a tablet.
"Your breakfast is on the table. Dr. Crusher told me you need to eat more." Melanie raised her brows.
"I need to eat more? I thought I was eating way too much, but thank you." On the table was a plate with fried egg and toast and some fruit. The food was so delicious that she didn't even think about not eating everything.
"When are we going to the ten forward? And by the way what is it anyway?" Katharina put away her tablet and sat on the chair across from Melanie.
"Well, at first, ten forward is a bar. It's called ten forward, because it's on deck ten and right on the front of the ship. We're going as soon as you have finished." She brushed the last pieces of food together and ate them.
"Are you nervous?" Katharina asked and pulled a single hair out of Melanie's shirt. She just shook her head and got up. Again they walked down the corridor and entered the turbo lift. The corridor they arrived in was again strangely similar to the other two she'd already seen. However, this time there was a wooden door at the end. At least it looked like wood. When they walked through the doors Melanie's jaw dropped and she stopped walking.
The room was actually a little small for a bar, but what really caught the attention was the huge window at one side of the room. It covered the entire length of the wall and was almost its height. What was behind the window looked like a clear star sky at night, but the stars were moving towards her. It looked truly amazing.
"Melanie!" She turned around and moved to the centre of the room. "Melli, this is Andrew; he tends the bar and he'll be supervising you." She smiled as well as she could and offered her hand. Andrew was a young man, around 25, with curly brown hair and a friendly face.
"Hello, you must be Melanie. I've heard that you'll be working with me now."
"Yes," she answered quietly. She was too overwhelmed by the view to get out any other answer. Katharina hugged her and stroked her arm.
"You'll do fine. I'll come and fetch you in a couple of hours." She went through the door and vanished.
"Please tell me, are you really from the 21st century? I only heard rumours." She finally turned her attention away from the window and gave him a puzzled look.
"Ehm, yes, but I don't understand anything, so I'm not a great help." He wasn't happy with her answer; that was clear.
"Well then, let's start with the simple things. Do you know how to operate a replicator?" She shook her head. He did a great job in hiding his astonishment, but she noticed it.
"It's very easy. You just say what you want. Let me show you." He stepped up to one of the slots in the wall and raised his voice.
"Hot chocolate!" A blue shower appeared in the slot and suddenly a cup with hot chocolate was standing in the slot.
"Wow, can this thing make everything?" Andrew laughed and nodded.
"Yeah, almost. There are some very exotic drinks and dishes which are not programmed, but there is everything from earth."
"Coca Cola!" A glass with the familiar brown fizzy liquid appeared. "I can't believe it!" Andrew smiled and he guided her back to the bar.
"Your job is it to take the orders of the guests here at the tables and bring it to them." Her first thought was that it was pretty lazy to employ someone to bring drinks across the room, but she didn't say anything.
"Is there anything I have to think of?" He was close to shaking his head, but he remembered that she didn't know anything about other species.
"There are not only humans on board, so I suggest you keep straight and polite. You'll figure out soon how everyone ticks." He smiled and pointed to a table where two women had just been sitting down.
"Try these two. I know them and they're very friendly." She courageously walked across the room to the women and smiled as well as she could. However, it wasn't very good.
"Hi, what do you want to drink?" Both of them turned their heads simultaneously.
"Hi, you must be Melanie," the older woman said and turned in her seat to face Melanie properly.
"Yes, I am. How do you know?"
"There was a lot of talking, because you will believe this doesn't happen every day," the other one said and smiled, too, "Are you working in ten forward now?" She nodded and her smile grew a bit wider.
"Well, could you bring us two Candorian milkshakes, please?" Melanie nodded again and headed for the replicator.
"Two Candorian milkshakes." Only moments later two glasses with a caramel coloured thick liquid appeared. She grabbed them and walked over to the women.
"Oh thank you," the first woman said when she placed the drinks on the table. Shortly after two women three boys entered the bar and sat down at another table. The three of them seemed to be not older than her, but there was something about the guy in the grey shirt with the short brown hair that amazed her.
"Hi, what do you want to drink?" The two boys who came with the boy in the grey shirt weren't as fascinating as he was. The way he smiled at her had something mesmerising and it was obvious that he was affected by her as well.
"I'll have a strawberry smoothie," one of the other boys said.
"Yeah, and for me the same please." The guy in the grey shirt was still looking at her and didn't say anything.
"Wes, what do you want?" He quickly shook his head and focused his eyes on the table in front of him.
"Could you get me something you like?" She looked at him a bit confused but she just shrugged her shoulders.
"Sure I can." A few minutes later she came back with the two smoothies and a glass of coke.
"What is this?" the boy asked and inspected the brown liquid.
"This is coca cola. It's a soft drink I really like." The boy took a sip and his face showed much dislike.
"This is tasty." She had to chuckle.
"Yeah, I see that." The two other boys were both shaking their heads. She went back to the bar, because she thought staying any longer in the boy's presence would distract her from her tasks. The boy spent the next hour watching her as she tried to act like a decent waitress, but she tried to avoid making any eye contact. In the end she was kind of glad that he left, but it felt really weird.
A few hours later Melanie felt someone touching her shoulder and she turned around.
"Hey, I was thinking about you all day, so I thought I meet you here again." She almost jumped in surprise.
"Hi, gosh you surprised me. What's your name?" The boy smiled and sat down on a stool at the bar.
"I'm Wesley Crusher and who are you?"
"Crusher? Are you related to the doctor? Oh, I'm Melanie Kampen. Nice to meet you." The two of them shook hands. The touch of his skin triggered something deep inside her which she wasn't aware of until now.
"What do you think about having a drink together?" She couldn't resist a giant smile.
"That would be awesome. How about tomorrow? I have to get settled a bit first and I have to spend at least more time in a real bed than in the brig." Wesley didn't quite understand what she was talking about, but he also didn't ask her.
"Well, it's settled then, tomorrow after duty. I'll fetch you here," he said and stroked the back of her hand. She smiled, but turned away quickly.
"I have to go home. Cmdr. Meunier will fetch me soon." He felt that she wasn't comfortable and he got his hands off the table.
"See you tomorrow, Melanie."
"See you!" She stretched out her hand but he had already turned away. He went through the doors and left. Suddenly she wished the time until she could see him again just skipped.
This was it, but don't forget to check out "Magic" and don't forget to leave a review!
