II
Work
Arriving onto Earth¡¦s surface, Deanna found that San Francisco was windier than she had remembered. She zipped up her jacket as she stepped down from the shuttlecraft that had taken her from the Enterprise. She would have to find an apartment first, and then report for the temporary job she was filling in for. Starfleet Psychiatry¡¦s Chief Counsel Cinderella Ather had left for maternity leave and the first name she had thought of to replace her was Deanna¡¦s.
It had been great timing, since David had proposed; Deanna notified more than asked her captain of her extended LOA. He agreed on the condition that she came back. Period. He didn¡¦t want to lose a valuable member of his senior crew ¡V again. Her work hadn¡¦t been first rate since their Chief of Security Tasha (as they had come to call her) Yar had passed, and then with the proposal, everything Deanna cherished in life began to fall to pieces. She needed this break and everyone around her knew it.
After looking for an hour, dragging her luggage every which way, Deanna finally settled on a quaint townhouse where the rent was cheap, the view was great and the size was perfectly suitable. The unit was two stories, and the wall facing the front lawn was actually all see-through glass.
Of course, there was a long curtain to draw when privacy was needed, but Deanna liked it. It was near Starfleet Command, which meant Starfleet Med wasn¡¦t too far off, so it was commute-friendly as well.
She unpacked and looked at her schedule for the next month. Ather had made sure Deanna had the same three patients for the next month, so that she would be able to start anew when she came back, and that the patients wouldn¡¦t have to adapt to each psychologist¡¦s different counseling tactics, adding further confusion to their already muddled life. Deanna had three appointments the next day, which consisted of a Klingon who had a tendency to cry, a man with holo-addiction and another who had problems with his son.
Each appointment was two hours, which meant Deanna would be up from eight in the morning to two or three in the afternoon. It would be a light workload compared to what she had on the Enterprise.
~
¡§Alright move the interview with Weekly to two and the meeting with Ron to one,¡¨ Will had finally finished removing the layers of dust in his father¡¦s study and converted it to his own. On the COMM channel with his assistant, he was planning the day. ¡¨Then put the Rolling Stone¡¦s interview to four and the dinner meeting with Ron and the director to five. Put Brandon Adam to six-thirty and the meeting with Andrew Lloyd to eight.¡¨ His new book had received rave reviews and everyone wanted a piece of him.
He had just arrived home an hour ago from a long brunch convention in San Diego. He had a meeting with his editor and coming up after that was an interview with Weekly, the United Federation of Planet¡¦s media division magazine, who wanted an interview in San Francisco for a segment they were doing for the next issue. Then he had to transport to LA for an interview with the historic and reputable magazine named after the ancient, long-gone band, the Rolling Stones. After that, it would be dinner back in Valdez with his editor and the director, Anna Osbourne, who wanted to make an independent movie out of Will¡¦s book of short stories. Then it was another meeting with the director who was to be making a Hollywood movie out of Will¡¦s first and second book, and then a phone meeting with Andrew Lloyd Webber VI about a theatre remake.
Everything was all still on the drawing board, so Will didn¡¦t know what was going to make it to the public¡¦s eye and what was not. The month ahead would be a busy one for him, since he was to finish his second book which would be released in time for another big hype, and would hopefully put Will on the map as one of Earth¡¦s most prominent writers of his time.
About Will¡¦s second book, he had had a year to write it. It was the second and final part to the last one, and it was crucial to Will¡¦s name as a writer that he released it a month after the movie had been released. The movie was released a week ago, and Will hadn¡¦t even started on the damn book yet. He wasn¡¦t even supposed to stop writing after the first one. But since he bought his home back and moved into it, plus all the publicity and promotion he had done in the past year, he hadn¡¦t given a thought to it. Now, a year later, Will had hit a block. Classic. It was classic writer¡¦s block.
The second book was to be the exact opposite of the first, one which would concentrate only on the goodness of human life, which, in Will¡¦s mind, was love. Love was the only thing that pulled people together during times of struggle, the unbreakable bond that would keep a person sane during times of destruction and all the other ¡§bad evil crap¡¨ he went on about in the novel. The main character in Will¡¦s story had gone through the vast array of destructive human emotions, and the next book would be the total contrast to the last book, totally contradictory and without a doubt emotional.
Glancing at the chrono sitting at the center of his desk, he gathered his things and neatly stuffed notebooks and his agenda PADD into a black backpack he had found amidst his childhood rubble stored in the attic. He always preferred writing on paper than on PADD¡¦s.
His mother always did.
~
Deanna¡¦s second to the last appointment ended as her stomach grumbled loud enough to reach Earth¡¦s core. She hadn¡¦t had lunch yet, and her next appointment had rescheduled for an hour later. The chrono at her desk showed that it was 1301, so she would have some time to grab a bite to eat and muster up enough creativity to send a subspace to David or Beverly.
Beverly and Deanna had gotten to know each other quite well after Tasha had died, and Deanna didn¡¦t want her one month LOA to stand in the way of that. She needed a friend, and Beverly was also a member of the senior crew, which made it easy for her to talk about David. So sending her a subspace was a must.
Leaving in search of the nearby sandwich/newsstand shop that Cinderella had told her about, Deanna left her office. With the new Takami book downloaded onto the PADD in her hand, she read and walked at the same time, something her mother would most likely scold her for.
Ah, she could just hear her. ¡§Deanna, dear, don¡¦t read and walk at the same time.¡¨ And then with that tone, she¡¦ll add, ¡§It¡¦s not proper!¡¨ Deanna smiled, coming to the realization that her mother was feared all over the world and yet, her own daughter would put up with none of it.
Looking up from the PADD, she found what she had been looking for.
The biggest craving for a turkey sandwich with white bread and some avocado and just the right amount of mayonnaise had hit her on the way to work. Of course, there was the usual lettuce, tomato, onions, and bell pepper. Deanna wanted the works. David had turned her on to sandwiches. One of the best things she had come to enjoy with him was a good turkey and avocado sandwich. Guinan and David had come together one morning and made it while Deanna was in her office, off the bridge and already knowing what David was planning. She had warned him that she knew what he was arranging, but he still went ahead and did it.
Something to add to the pro list.
~
Polishing off the rest of her lunch, Deanna strolled into her office with a distraught father seeking advice from a professional. He waited for Deanna at the corner couch, and watched as she gathered her things and read a quick update left by her temporary assistant. Deanna became Super-Counselor once again as she settled onto the couch next to the upset father.
She introduced herself. ¡§Hello Mr. Riker, my name is Deanna Troi.¡¨
