The Barista - Chapter 7

Teyla, it seemed, had a taste for Japanese food.

And a tongue for the Japanese language. She ordered in fluent Japanese, which impressed the waiter. And John.

John felt a little put out by the unexpected fluency - and the fact that she chose the low-seating area rather than the standard tables. Sitting down to dinner cross-legged was not his favourite position. Still, he'd let her choose the seating, and he could feel her knees almost brushing against his beneath the low, broad table. There were always upsides. "Where'd you learn to speak Japanese?" He asked as the waiter walked away.

Through the steam rising from her cup of tea, Teyla's smile had impish overtones. "In Japan."

He eyed her for the levity, and she laughed. "My father was stationed there for some time with his work, and so I schooled there during my years in junior high."

John imagined a girl with dark honeyed hair sitting in the middle of a sea of little Asian kids. "Must have been a big change."

"Not as much as returning to America when I was fourteen," Teyla admitted, smiling as she reached for the bowl of soybeans that sat between them.

"So, your dad's in the military? Or education?" Those were the two main professions John could think of where a man would go overseas for work and possibly take his family along with him.

"Neither," she said gently. "He died several years ago."

"Oh."

"Have you lived overseas?" Teyla didn't let him stew for more than a second, and he grabbed for the topic with relief.

"Only for a short time. Vacations and a couple of working holidays." At her querying glance, John explained. "I did a stint with an aid group in Afghanistan while I was in college." He'd gone in rebellion against his parents' desire to put him in law, but he'd come out with a broader outlook on the world and his part in it.

"It was not dangerous?"

"Not at the time." He toyed with a soybean, absently bouncing it on the tabletop like a football. "Eastern Europe was worse in the late nineties. Other than that... Europe for vacations with my parents. I did a boat trip to Antarctica a couple of years ago..."

"So you are well-travelled?"

"I've been around."

Teyla laughed, and John belatedly realised the double-entendre of his words. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

"I am sure."

He sighed. "You know, I'm fine with a boardroom full of directors who are intent on shooting down my pet project; I just get stuck when talking to women."

"You are doing well so far," she pointed out, then hesitated. "This pet project is the Atlantis Hotel?"

"Yeah." John shrugged. "We'll put the offer on the table, Monday, and then it's just a question of waiting for them to accept or reject."

"What will you do if they accept?"

He eyed her. "I can go on about this for hours, you know. You might want to change the topic now, while you still can."

"No, I am curious. Please continue." She pointed at the soybean John had been battering against the table. "You do not eat these?"

"I'm not a fan." But he cracked it between his teeth anyway. "Mostly, it's refurbishment," he said, popping the soybean into his fingers. "The old Atlantis is a hotel with some of the best views across the water. It's got a reputation that runs back for decades - you can't buy that kind of property or that kind of history. Anyway, Rodney's engineering teams are pretty sure the structure's sound, and it's mostly repairing the insides and cleaning it up..."

"The present management have not taken care of it?"

There was a critical edge in her voice, and John glanced up into dark, questioning eyes and found himself defending them. "Well, they're a group of relatively small companies held by old families. And the hotelier arm of the Pegasus group has been fighting off takovers from Wraith Inc. for years now..." He shrugged. "They don't have the time or energy to invest in the Atlantis. Rodney wanted to buy it up, but Elizabeth suggested a partnership proposal."

"And you would prefer...?"

"I'd prefer an outright purchase," he admitted. "Partnerships get messy - the more people involved, the more difficult the decision-making process. But the Atlantis Grand was where the Pegasus companies started. We can't expect them to give it up lightly." John stopped himself with an effort. "I'm not going to talk about this, Teyla. I've been talking about it all week, now."

"It interests you."

"Yeah, but..." John shrugged. "I didn't ask you out to bore you with details about this."

Teyla smiled. "You are not boring me, John. But if you wish to talk about something else...?"

"Yeah," he said. "You."

Her lashes dipped down, hiding her eyes for a moment before she looked up. "I do not know what you wish to know about me."

"Anything. Everything." John smiled and asked a question he'd idly bounced around in his head since Tuesday. "Why Miss Piggy?"

Her lips twitched. "I believe it was because she knew what she wanted and did not hesitate to attempt to acquire it by any means possible."

John tried to imagine Teyla being as charming and cunningly ruthless as the blonde muppet. "You know, I really can't see you as Miss Piggy."

"Well," she admitted. "I was also in love with Kermit."

- tbc -