They met for lunch on the promenade, as planned. The eyes were really watching at that point. Jamie Lee knew what it was. This looked to be turning into a habit, the two of them meeting together on the promenade.
"I trust you slept well?" he said in greeting.
"I did. And you?"
"I am well rested," he nodded as they began to walk together.
It was nice to just walk with him like this. When he went back to Romulus, she would definitely miss this walking and talking dynamic they had. She looked at him briefly and his eye caught hers. A blush stole into her features and she looked away. There were feelings in her chest that had been ignited and they were now branching out, spreading like wildfire.
"What are your thoughts at this time?" he asked since she had gone so quiet on him.
She smiled. "Don't you wish you knew?"
He hoped beyond hope at that moment that he could stay there on Deep Space 9 just a little bit longer to be at her side like this, over and over.
They went to lunch at an all-you-can-eat buffet and as soon as they both sat down with their plates, Rekar asked, "Isn't that your doctor and the Bajoran head of the station staring at us?"
They both looked over at the other table. Kira and Julian were indeed staring just as Ezri got to the table and sat down with them. "Let's mess with them a little bit," whispered Jamie Lee. "Wave."
The couple looked over and waved happily at the other table. The three nosy heads then turned away quickly, obviously caught in the act, but still pretending they had never been watching. There was now a heated discussion amongst the three of them.
The two looked at one another and broke into spontaneous laughter. It was the best either one of them had felt in months. "Wait wait wait!" Jamie Lee laughed as she pulled her chair closer to Rekar's.
"Any closer and you'll be in my lap!" he smiled.
"You don't seem like that would upset you," she flirted.
"That's because it wouldn't," he flirted back.
They had gone ultra serious and both seemed to be riding the same wavelength. Eyes locked together, this time neither one looked away. Rekar found himself reaching out under the table with one of his fingers, without thought, and gently sliding it against her index finger for just the briefest contact.
She audibly gasped. The touch of his hand was one shock, but the telepathic sensation that accompanied that touch was a wave of searing want that left more want in its wake. His light sliding touch lasted mere seconds and then he forced his hand away from hers. "What was that?" she whispered at him, still caught up in the sensation spreading through her system though he had already withdrawn his hand.
"That is the reason we don't clasp hands in greeting," he said, slightly breathless. "Touching hands is something left for-" he surveyed her face and went back to looking into her eyes, "-other things." He hadn't expected such a volatile internal reaction from simply testing that out. But that small bit of contact had truly put him in the arena of 'point of no return' where she was concerned. He knew for himself now, she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. The pretense was now over.
They were both wordless, simply looking at one another, sitting way too close in a public space. "What are we doing?" she whispered. "I mean really, what are we doing?"
They both looked to their food then and began to eat, though neither had much of an appetite at that point. Toward the end of their meal, he looked up at her and declared, "If it were up to me, we would not end this."
"What?"
"You asked, 'what are we doing?'" He shook his head. "We should not end whatever this is we're doing."
She looked around herself, suddenly conscious of where they were at. "You're going back to Romulus soon. And besides, this isn't the place to talk about this."
"You are correct," he conceded. "Later. We will speak on this later in private." He had a very determined look on his face.
##
LATER
Rekar paced his quarters. He felt as if he would go out of his mind. He had allowed Jamie Lee Sisko to walk away from him. Their talk earlier had not gone well. And he was also now summoned back to Romulus, post haste. He had yet to tell her that.
He thought of the conversation they had had hours ago after their noonday meal:
"Now what is this you're talking about?" she asked.
"I've already said what I mean," he declared. "You and I-" he said as his words trailed off. His eyes held a pleading expression.
But her fear won out. "What, are you afraid your superiors haven't had enough of you dating some human girl? I wasn't aware whatever this was was real!"
"It is real to me now."
"Sure it is," she tried to play it off.
"And your touch earlier, it cannot lie. I know it is real to you, as well! When we touch, we cannot lie to one another!"
She didn't answer. She was standing there wondering how she had gotten herself in so deep so quickly. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to do at that point.
He grew urgent in his impatience as the words, "Tell me you feel absolutely nothing for me and I will let you go!" spilled rapidly from his mouth.
She tried to say it, but the words wouldn't come. Why wouldn't the words come out? He was right. That feeling from earlier, from his touch alone he must have felt how she was feeling because she had had enough time by then to process it and she knew precisely how he was feeling about her. She couldn't lie about that any longer to him or to herself.
He felt smug and satisfied by her not being able to deny things. If there was anything about his Jaime, she was always honest. "You cannot deny that something within you wants to belong to me," he said with quiet passion.
She didn't understand why, but she felt tears in her eyes, then. Was that a look of victory on his face? She sniffled, a little bit hurt, as she abruptly turned around and walked out of his quarters, angry and confused.
##
She didn't want to go back to her quarters or anyplace else. She went for a long walk that lasted for hours. She walked the entire station three times. Afterward, she walked over to Quark's and ordered an early dinner. She sat in the bustling establishment and tried to eat while she read a book on a temp PADD. She gave it up after fifteen minutes. She had to admit to herself that all she had been doing was reading the same paragraph over and over again.
Why did Rekar's words and the expression on his face make her so angry? Who did he think he was! Was he so superior that he thought it would be some kind of privilege to belong to him? Was she simply a conquest to him? How many other women had he done this with? She could just punch that look on his face and…
Was it because the words were true? Did she have feelings, deep feelings, for him?
She sighed as she felt truly miserable. She put down her fork and gave up on trying to eat. This was not supposed to be happening. She was just supposed to be helping someone in a tight spot and that was it. She should be glad now that he might be leaving soon. She wasn't supposed to even like this guy, let alone think of forming some kind of permanent thing with him! And now here she was feeling like she was in the deepest trouble a woman could find herself in, involuntarily approaching an active state of love.
"Want some company?" asked Leeta as she stood at her table.
Jamie Lee was glad to see a familiar face. "Sure, why not?" she offered her a seat.
Leeta sat down with her and eagerly asked, "How are things?"
She shook her head. "Not too good right now."
"Does it have anything to do with that Romulan you're dating?"
Jamie shook her head. "You have no idea."
"I do!" said Leeta. "Sometimes we fall in love with something we don't expect to. I mean, look at me. I'm married to a Ferengi. Everyone thought I was nuts when I broke up with Julian and I started dating him. But when I decided to marry him, the shock and horror in some of their faces!"
Jaime Lee admitted to herself that she had always wondered how that guy had gotten with this beautiful woman, but she would never say that to her. After a time, though, being around them, she saw how good he was to Leeta. And she understood why, then. She found herself admitting aloud, "You know, I always prided myself on being so open-minded. But when it comes down to it, I'm pretty prejudiced after all."
Leeta looked at her with understanding fully in her eyes. "I really do understand," she sighed. "Don't let it keep you from being happy, though, okay?" She turned and looked at the door and her expression brightened considerably. "I have to go now."
Jaime Lee turned and saw Rom standing there waiting for his wife. The former dabo girl stood quickly and went to join him. The two hugged up with one another and went strolling down the promenade.
Nothing else mattered, she supposed. They were happy together. And she had to admit that she hadn't been happy for such a long time. Except for when she was in Rekar's company.
She went for another long walk and thought it through some more. Rekar was a pain in the neck. But when he was with her, he was honestly trying not to be that way. And then sometimes, he would get that look in his eyes, that look like she was the most wonderful thing to behold. Every time it happened, it caused her stomach to drop out from beneath her. No man had ever looked at her like that. There had been men that chased her, men that wanted to go out with her, even men who she knew just wanted her for her body but that feeling she got when Rekar stared at her? She could get used to that feeling.
Even though she really was confused, she had just walked out on him earlier. That wasn't fair of her she knew. She made herself go back to the quarters he was staying at. They needed to talk.
##
Rekar heard the chime and let in whoever it was. His heart sped up when Jaime Lee Sisko walked in.
She saw that his bag was open and he was packing. "You're leaving," she realized.
"I've just been called back to Romulus."
"Mission accomplished, right?" He was already leaving. They had never even had a chance.
He stood before her, looked down into her eyes. "You could always come with me," he said almost hesitantly. He was serious.
She saw it then, he was so beautiful to her and she did like him and not just a little bit. But he was already leaving. "You know that it's not a smart thing for me to go following you into your Empire like that all on my own."
He agreed. "You are correct. Under normal circumstances, that would not be an intelligent move. Even under these circumstances, right now, I would without a doubt keep you with me for all time and never give you back to your Federation."
"Why would you say something like that?"
"I want you," he admitted. "I want to see you again and again. It is in my very nature to take, to conquer, to keep what is mine."
She should have been scared to death to hear him say those things about her. All she felt was a wave of sadness washing over her and she couldn't identify why. And there was no time to figure it out. "But you're leaving."
"Nothing is permanent," he said. "I'm coming back for you, this I vow."
"That's what you say now," she said sadly. "You'll go home and you'll go back to work and you'll get busy and then you'll forget."
He saw then what her problem was. "I will have to prove you wrong," he smiled as he reached out and ran his hands down the curls he had been promised he could touch if he left for Romulus. "I will send you logs and messages. You will do the same for me?" he asked as his eyes held hers.
She nodded. "All right." Her heart was starting to break. When had she allowed it to start beating for him? She wasn't ready for this and already he was leaving. She found herself walking into his arms as he hugged her close, his hands stroking her back and hair, her arms clutching him as tight as possible. Emotions washed over the pair that neither ever expected would begin to grow the first time they set eyes on one another.
The whole thing just wasn't fair.
