Sarek

"Amanda Grayson," I unknowingly murmured as I rubbed my temples with my fingertips with a bit of force as I pondered the solution to the problem- Amanda.

Expeditiously, my mind meditated on an image of the five-foot-six elegant woman in a flowing green dress twirling around the Federation's Embassy floor on Earth with a charming smile on her lips. Her lengthy dark hair framed her face projecting her pulchritudinous. Her date, Ben Walker, grasped onto her tiny small waist as he led her on the dance floor.

Heat enveloped my body as intense perturbation took over, and I hammered my fists angrily on my desk at the memory.

"No, this will not do," I stated in Vulcan, gritting my teeth as I raised my body from the chair.

When I recalled the officer leaning down and brushing his lips against hers, I felt my heart sink into my stomach, although that was illogically impossible. The felicitous grin seemed to advance across Amanda's face, and I felt "the madness" overcome me. I began to pace my office as I recited some lines from Surak to calm my emotions with my hands clasped behind my back.

"Cast out fear. There is no room for anything else until you cast out fear."

But what am I afraid of?" I wondered, wandering in circles until I realized it was Amanda.

My mind wandered to a fortnight ago when I joined her on the balcony at a Federation event as she adoringly viewed the starry skies, and I instantly felt disarmed by her allure.

"Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder where you are," Amanda harmoniously sang. I was fascinated as I watched her, but she was completely unaware of my presence. Confusion crossed my brain as I pondered the song, and I cleared my throat due to the dry air which interrupted her singing, generating her to spin around to face me.

"Oh, I beg your pardon, Ambassador Sarek, I thought I was alone," she chagrined, turning a shade of pink I had never seen previously.

"My apologies, Miss Grayson. It is I who have interrupted you," I hesitantly entered the enclosed balcony area with her.

"No, Ambassador, not at all."

"Query, Miss Grayson, what were you singing earlier," I asked, observing her brown eyes after we had a long moment of silence. I stood next to her, and I could feel an unknown energy radiate from her that I wanted to learn more.

"Oh, Uhm, nothing, Ambassador," she stammered in a flustered way that made her additionally attractive. Amanda lowered her head to view her hands, which she fidgeted.

My mental acquisitiveness was not sated, however, and I inquired again.

"I have a query for you, Ambassador. Do Vulcan children sing," Amanda slyly questioned, staring at me while I investigated?

"No, Vulcans do not sing," I reported, feeling extremely perplexed.

"'Twinkle, Twinkle little star' is a children's song, human children, that is," she mused, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder. Her brown eyes twinkled like the stars in the song, I noticed.

"Curious, would you sing it for me, Ms. Grayson," I earnestly requested.

"I would rather not," she started, holding her slender right hand up to halt my questions. Raising my left eyebrow, I withdrew my request, and we both stared up into the bluish-black sky.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder, where you are! Up above the world so high/Like a diamond in the sky," Amanda softly sang next to me.

Gazing at her, I felt dazed and full of wonder as she serenaded me. This human woman was the gorgeous creature my eyes had ever beheld through my almost fifty years of life.

Amanda stopped singing and inquired about her performance with a gleeful giggle.

"Quite satisfactory," I whispered, intently viewing her.

"Thank you, Ambassador. That's high praise from a Vulcan," Amanda answered, not bothering to hide her pleasure at my compliment.

Unexpectedly, she placed her hand on top of my own after, and I noted that her skin was soft and delicate. Amanda's touch caused a spark between us, provoking us to gape at each other in surprise. Regaining her composure, she removed her hand from mine, again appearing chagrined. Suddenly, I felt the unaccounted loss of warmth.

"Forgive me, Ambassador," Amanda mumbled.

"There is no offense when none is taken," I quoted Surak, and she nodded in response then turned her attention to the sky. Her breathing seemed a little ragged, but I didn't understand the reason.

"There are 200 trillion stars in the universe," I informed.

"Aren't they beautiful, Ambassador?" Amanda's voice had a profound sound of wonderment as it trailed off.

"Stars are huge celestial bodies made mostly of hydrogen and helium that produce light and heat from the churning nuclear forges inside their cores," I elucidated. Amanda gave me a shy grin that mesmerized me.

"Amanda?"

The deep voice behind us snapped her out of the pleasant moment we shared.

"Oh, Ambassador Sarek, hello," Ben Walker said, displaying the Vulcan salute- as he confidently approached us. The smell of liquor overpowered the area as the six-foot-three dark-haired man entered. He worked as the Earth's ambassador to the Vulcan planet office.

"Greetings," I flashed the Vulcan salute.

"Amanda, have you been disturbing the Ambassador," the man with salt and pepper-colored hair scolded like she was a child. Something was unsettling about the way Mr. Walker spoke to her.

"No-" Amanda looked startled, embarrassed, and displeased at the older man's admonishment of her. A frown stretched across my face as I elucidated,

"Miss Grayson shared with me a common children's song when I came outside to breathe the fresh air."

Mr. Walker sneered at her. The way he condescendingly viewed her made the hairs on my neck stand up, alerting me something was erroneous as he inquired of the tune.

"'Twinkle Twinkle little star,'" Amanda softly admitted, lowering her eyes to the ground afterward.

There was silence until the attaché burst into laughter, saying,

"That's rich, Amanda, considering the ambassador's previous career as an astrophysicist."

Amanda's face transformed to a shade of red again, and I felt a strong dislike of Mr. Walker for humiliating her.

"Come on, Amanda. There's a party that is about to start. Good Evening, Ambassador Sarek," the attaché firmly stated, protectively putting his hand on her arm.

That rattled me, and I found myself clenching my jaw while they turned to leave. Amanda flashed me a dazzling smile before they left, and my insides turned into a strange goo, figuratively, of course.

"Regrettably, that wasn't the worst of it," I thought.

Within twenty-four hours, I received a brief communique from Amanda thanking me for the rescue on the balcony. I played it a total of 7.2 times before I deleted it. As I viewed it, my heart rate increased at a rate of 2.4.

A knock came on my door to remind me of a meeting, and I realized I had spent 15.7 minutes contemplating Amanda.

" Kroykah! I must meditate tonight and eliminate Ms. Grayson from my mind," I grumbled.

As I joined my assistant outside, I recalled that I had been promising myself that for two weeks now.