Difference in Taste, Part 4
Janeway checked over her shoulder before entering her quarters. She deliberately kept the lights off- she knew it didn't matter, but it helped her feel safer indulging her secret if it was confined to darkness. She closed the blinds for extra secrecy. Then she whispered, "Computer, lock the door. Security code Janeway Pi Alpha."
The computer beeped in acknowledgment.
Janeway tiptoed through the dark room to the replicator. Then she hesitated. She felt a soliloquy coming.
"Can it be?" she whispered. "Can it be I've found a substance more sublime and addictive than the elixir that is black coffee?" She paused dramatically for a very long moment.
"…No. No, black coffee will always have a special place in my heart. Black coffee is the beverage of captains, of leaders, the beverage of greatness. My preferred beverage will always be Coffee. Black.
"…And yet…" Her shoulders slumped. "This new beverage, which I initially found so abhorrent in concept, has reminded me that I am not just a captain, a leader, a decision-maker… There is a part of me that still longs for closeness, for companionship, that hopes to someday have children of my own… a part of me that still longs for… love…"
She straightened. "I am a captain. I am not weak. That is why I drink coffee black and boiling, unflinching in the face of bitter scalding caffeine."
Her shoulders slumped again. "…But I am also… soft…" Her voice dropped even lower. "I cannot fight it any longer. Computer. One white chocolate mocha."
The replicator beeped in acknowledgement.
Then the lights came on.
Seven glared with every bit of cold Borg intimidation she could muster. "My cortical node alerted me to hypocrisy on this ship. I can see now that it was not a malfunction."
Janeway scowled. "Hypocrisy? This is all your fault!"