Author's note: Wow, this took a long time! There just seemed so much I could do with this chapter that I didn't know where to begin! But once I got the ball rolling (and my pesky little muse came back) it took a great deal of self-control to stop writing so I could edit it down! But, here it is. Rimmer and Nicole's first date. Awww! Enjoy!

Rimmer fidgeted with his collar and ordered yet another glass of water. He couldn't remember the last time he was this nervous. Nicole was now twenty-five minutes late and he was beginning to worry; this was pretty much his first date ever, and he had wanted it to go smoothly. He downed the remainder of his water and raised his hand.
"Excuse me," he called over a waiter, "Could I have another glass of water, please?"
"Of course, sir," the waiter replied smoothly. Barely two minutes later he had returned with the requested drink. Rimmer took it gratefully and sipped at it.
"Would you like anything else, sir?"
"Er, not for now, thank you."
The waiter nodded curtly and walked away. Rimmer was on his own again. After another half an hour it became clear to him that Nicole wasn't going to turn up. He finished off his drink and stood to leave, but a figure in a sparkling plum dress stopped him.
"Nicole!" Rimmer said delighted, "You…you're here!"
"Yes," Nicole said, "I'm so sorry I'm late. That's the thing with having children, you never know how reliable the babysitter's going to be," she laughed nervously. Rimmer smiled and pulled out a chair for her to sit down.
"How are you?" he asked politely.
"Oh, I'm just fine. And you?"
Miles better for seeing you, he thought.
"Can't complain," he said.

That was about as exciting their time in the restaurant got. They ordered their meals and talked about this and that, but never really hit off with anything special. They discussed work until the waiter came up to them with two plates of food which he put down sloppily in front of them.
"Excuse me," Nicole said politely, "This, er, this isn't what we ordered."
"Well, I'm sorry," the waiter said, not sounding like he meant it, "but that's the order I've got down for this table."
"Well, I'm sorry," Rimmer mimicked, "but that's not what we ordered at all. I wanted the salmon en cruet, and the lady wanted the mushroom omelette."
Nicole was slightly surprised that he had remembered her order, but then again he had always come across to her as a bit of a surprising character.
The waiter huffed sulkily and took the plates away. Rimmer and Nicole looked at each other in disbelief.
"Can you believe that?" Nicole asked.
"I don't understand it," Rimmer said, "I've always had such good service here in the past." Actually, that was a lie. He never really ate out, because he had no one to eat out with.
"Yes, me too," Nicole replied, which was also a lie. She never really ate out because she never had the time; there was always one more paper to fill out, one more report to finish. And, of course, the children had to be looked after.
The waiter returned with their correct meals and some news: "Your bill has been increased because of the mix-up of the meals. You will now have to pay for both."
They stared at him in shock.
"Is this a wind up?" Nicole asked.
The waiter shook his head.
"Well, I'm sorry, we're not paying for your mistake," she said firmly.
"Restaurant policy, I'm afraid," the waiter said with a smile.
"This is ridiculous!" Rimmer exclaimed, "We've done nothing wrong!"
The waiter shrugged.
"You know what?" Nicole asked, turning to face the waiter, "I don't care for your attitude. You have been rude and challenging ever since I stepped foot in here."
"Well, if that's your opinion, ma'am."
"OK, could I speak to your supervisor, please?"
That wiped the smirk off his face, "Er, um, do you have to?"
"You'll do as she says," Rimmer warned him.
After a slight hesitation, the waiter turned and walked stiffly to the back of the restaurant, returning a few moments later with an angry looking man.
"I am the assistant manager here. Is there a problem?" he asked Rimmer and Nicole.
"There most certainly is," Rimmer replied, "this young man has been nothing but unpleasant throughout the entire evening, and he has just informed us that we have to pay for a meal we never ordered."
"Well, that's not right at all. I'm very sorry, sir, I will sort out this problem once and for all," he said apologetically, putting his hand on the obnoxious waiter's shoulder (and gripping it quite hard from the look on his face). Rimmer felt amazing – he had never challenged anyone about anything before, and he'd just done it twice in one day!
"Do you want to get out of here?" Nicole suggested.
"More than I want oxygen," Rimmer replied, making Nicole laugh. They slipped out whilst the assistant manager shouted at the waiter.

They made their way towards Rimmer's sleeping quarters. Or rather Rimmer made his way towards his sleeping quarters and Nicole followed him. He panicked all the way there – what would she think he was implying by taking her to his bedroom on the first date? Not that he was intending on trying anything. He just couldn't think of anywhere else to take her, apart from her sleeping quarters which would give an entirely different implication. When he got to the door he raised his hand to the light-sensitive panel and was about to press down when he heard voices inside the room: one was Lister's; one was a girl's. Probably not a good idea to subject himself and Nicole to that. Then he heard a second female voice. Definitely not a good idea. He turned to Nicole apologetically, "Looks like Lister beat me to it."
He replayed the sentence on his head.
"I mean," he stammered, "not that I was thinking of doing anything like what he's doing, I, I just meant he beat me to the room. I don't want to…do…anything to you, WITH you, not to you, although I don't want to do anything to you either because that would be bad. It would…er…"
Rimmer ground to a halt. Anything he said was just going to make things worse, so stopping was probably the best thing he could possibly have done. But he had still messed up the date. Or so he thought.
To his surprise, Nicole started laughing. It was beyond Rimmer's belief: he had made this woman laugh at least three times during the course of the date.
"I'm sorry," she said, still giggling, "It's just been a while since anyone really took my feelings into consideration like this. I'm just…not used to it I guess."
"Really?" Rimmer asked bemused, "But why wouldn't people want to look out for you?"
"I don't know," she wasn't laughing so much now, "selfishness I suppose. It's the burden of being a working single mother. Everyone always thinks that just because I can provide my own income I don't need any help. And I'm not saying I'm totally dependent on other people – far from it, it's taken me half my life to shake off my parents' over-protectiveness – I just think I deserve some time off every now and again. To just unwind and be…me."
And it was at that moment that Rimmer fell totally and utterly in love with her. Before that moment she had been just another pretty face that could sustain conversation. But he had restrained from developing strong feelings about her because you could find that anywhere. But now she had a story, a history. Now she was a unique person. She had had to struggle through so much throughout her life. Rimmer felt it was his duty, no, his purpose that he should take her in his arms and be her protector.

They ended up taking a walk in the botanical gardens and chatting again, although this time they didn't talk about the boredom and monotony of ship life, they told each other about their pasts. Nicole learned about Rimmer's brothers and parents, how they had stretched him to the limit (both mentally and physically – learning about the rack had sickened her to the stomach) and how school had been a tough time for him. She related to this. She had been bullied severely at school for a reason she couldn't fathom back then and still couldn't fathom now. She guessed it was because she focused heavily on studying rather than hanging around with a large group of friends. And it wasn't that she couldn't make friends; she just didn't. She knew it was a bit harsh, but she let Rimmer do most of the reminiscing because it brought back terrible memories for her to do so.
Rimmer could see how painful this was for her. It was draining her energy, so he decided to bring the evening to a close, "Maybe we should be heading back now?"

When he took her back to her room she kissed him lightly on the lips which took him by surprise.
"Thank you for a wonderful evening," she whispered, "I'd really love to do it again some time."
Rimmer nodded, desperately holding back the urge to kiss her again. Maybe Nicole saw this urge; maybe she had enjoyed it the last time; maybe she really, really liked him. Whatever the reason, she gently put her arms on his shoulders and pulled him into another kiss, a proper kiss this time. For Rimmer, time stood still. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before, and he certainly didn't want it to end. Unfortunately, after a while, it did and he was forced to say goodnight to her and make his way back, the slightest spring in his step.