Sorry for the long wait for this! Things got a bit busy at work for a while and I didn't have as much free time or motivation to work on this (which is probably one of the reasons this chapter is a bit shorter than I'd have liked). But, I'm back and already making progress on Chapter 18! So hopefully it won't take too long before the next update.
Chapter 17
One of the smaller dining rooms had been set up just for her date. The light green paneled walls had gold filigree outlining each panel which was patterned with leaf designs. The table was situated in front of a mid-sized fireplace that had a Renaissance era painting over the mantel. Padme sat to the right of the fireplace, the computer situated just in front of her on a stand while a serving bowl of the pasta dish they had decided to make sat before her. As was typical of food from a royal kitchen, the dish was made with what was probably the freshest ingredients possible. Ripe cherry tomatoes were sliced in quarters and spread through out the dish with a leafy green garnish. Small balls of mozzarella were laid out on top of the noodles and coated in oil.
She glanced at her phone for what felt like the hundredth time in the past two minutes. No new messages. It had been ten minutes since the stewards had brought her dinner and yet she still hadn't gotten the call from Anakin yet. It wasn't a big deal. It shouldn't be. She'd heard from him earlier so he obviously knew to call… but… why hadn't he?
The chiming ring of her computer shook her from her thoughts and she surprised herself with out fast she reached out to answer it. The buffer ring took a minute before his face filled the screen. He was hunched over the screen, the top two buttons of his shirt undone with a navy tie hanging loose around his neck. His bright smile brought one of her own as he raised his hand in greeting, "Hey," He said, shifting back to sit in his chair before he tugged at the collar of his shirt and adjusted his tie. He blushed as he scratched the back of his neck, "Um… I hope you weren't waiting too long?" He said, giving his collar another tug.
Padme shook her head, "Not too long," she answered. Might have made her worry a bit. But, he was here now. Virtually. But it still counted.
He cleared his throat and lowered his head a bit. "Yeah… sorry. I got back from work, but then realized I hadn't ironed my shirt, and I don't normally iron my shirts." He laughed and shook his head, "So… I had to borrow my neighbor's iron, then call my mom to make sure I didn't ruin the shirt."
As he spoke, she felt herself relax as whatever reason she was worried before seemed to disappear. "You ironed a shirt just to call me? I take it I must be pretty important." She joked.
"Hey! Like you can talk. With all those servants around, have you ever had to iron your own shirt?" He asked. She hadn't, and he smirked all proud and smug as he continued. "Well, I can tell you this, it is much harder than you think."
"Oh, really?"
"Absolutely! You gotta use the right heat for the right material, and if you have it folded wrong, you can have creases where you don't want them. It is very tricky."
Padme hummed in response before forcing her eyes away from his beautiful face to see how his dinner turned out. From the angle of the screen, she could see that he had set his table with the silver pan in the middle of the table with the wine off to the side and a set of miss-matched plates before him. In the pan she could see the same basic elements but lacking the flair that her chefs used. Instead of cherry tomatoes, there were full sized tomatoes that had been diced up and spread through the pan. There was also shredded mozzarella instead of the balls that were in hers. Both dishes did have similar green leafy garnishes though.
"Wow…" Anakin remarked, "Yours looks better than mine." He chuckled as he began to scoop a serving out onto his plate. She followed suit and served herself as well. "Though, I shouldn't be surprised. I never went to some fancy cooking school."
"I did tell them to follow your recipe exactly," She said. "Though I suppose they can't help but to do whatever they can to make it beautiful." Anakin gave a small shrug, not having a lot of experience with professional chefs. "You never did tell me what it is though." She said as she poured herself a glass of wine.
"Arugula pesto pasta," He said as he began to serve the long pasta out of the pan and onto his plate. Padme followed suit, though using a the large serving fork and spoon that were set before her instead of the improvised way Anakin was pouring the pasta onto his plate. They both then poured themselves a glass of wine.
"Are we toasting to anything?" She asked as she held her glass up to the screen.
He smiled and did the same. "To our first sorta real date," He said.
Padme cocked her eyebrow, "Sorta real?" She questioned with a laugh. "What do you mean by that?"
He gave a shrug, and began to twirl the wine in his glass even though that isn't something that is typically done with white wine. "Well, I just figured next time I get the chance to see you, we could go on a real date. You know? Like dinner and a movie? Or mini golf?"
"Mini golf?" She giggled. That would certainly be different. Not exactly the kind of activity she was used to people suggesting, but she had no complaints.
"Yeah, but we can always do something else. Haven't exactly got a solid plan yet."
She smiled at him through the screen and then held her glass up, "Well, how about to the date we're going to have one day."
Anakin smiled and held his glass up in agreement as they toasted and took a drink before they settled down to enjoy their dinner. They talked almost non-stop as they ate, with the topics ranging from work, childhood memories, to even silly facts that he picked up from a soda bottle one time. She liked how despite talking to him almost every day, they never seem to run out of things to talk about and none of it is dull or feels like a conversation filler. And in the times where there were gaps of silence, it was always just so comfortable.
When they finished eating, they both moved to their respective bedrooms and laid down both of them facing the screens of their computers as they just relaxed together while being physically apart. Padme ran her fingers over the screen, tracing the shadows along his face. He had pulled his tie off the moment he entered his room and undone the first two buttons of his shirt, giving her a glimpse of the tightly wrapped muscles of his chest. Her lips curled into a smile as he leaned up to rest his head in his hand as he stared at her. "What are you thinking right now?" He asked.
"How much I miss you," She said with a sigh.
He smiled and brought his hand to touch the screen as well. "I miss you too," He replied. "But it shouldn't be too much longer," He said. "I should be able to travel in the next month or so."
"I wish it could be sooner."
"Hmm. So do I," He agreed. "But, until then, at least we can finally video chat. I've missed seeing you," He said with a smile.
She returned his smile as she closed her eyes and imagined he was really here with her. She missed the warmth of his embrace, the steady and strong beat of his heart… the heady smell of him. Video chat was nothing compared to having him close to her, but it was better than nothing. "I love you," She whispered as she looked deeply into the pixels of his eyes.
"I love you too," He said, leaning close and pressing a kiss to the screen while she kissed her palm then pressed to to where his lips were on the screen. She didn't want to say goodnight. But she knew from the light blinking of the clock in the corner of the screen, that they probably should. They'd been taking for the past six hours. And while he might not have work in the morning, she had things to do in the morning. And from the regretful look on his face, he knew it too. "I should probably let you get some sleep," He said reluctantly.
"Yeah…" She agreed with the same amount of regret.
He let out a sigh as he fiddled with the sleeves of his shirt, "I'll call you tomorrow then?"
She smiled. He hated saying goodbye as much as she did. And so to avoid having to say it, he made a promise to talk to her tomorrow. Oh, how she loved him. "I'll talk to you then."
"Goodnight." He said.
"Night." She returned, reluctantly pressing the 'End Call' button and watching as his image faded until the wallpaper of her computer appeared. With a sigh, she closed the computer and rolled out of bed to change into something more comfortable to sleep in.
