Dormé walked into Senator Amidala's offices the next afternoon, collapsing into the red-cushioned seat across from her desk.
"I've got good news and bad news." She announced.
"What are you talking about?" Padmé impatiently lifted her head from the stack of datapads on her desk requiring her immediate attention.
"Your mystery man!" Dormé answered back incredulously.
"Oh, that." The young senator waved her hand dismissively and turned her attention back to the electronic signature she was verifying.
"First, the bad news." The bodyguard began, pulling the gift card that had come with Third Gift from the bosom of her gown.
"The droids were unable to make a precise match of the handwriting. But, " the young woman paused as she retrieved the third jewel from deep inside her dress, the sight of which caused Padmé to shake her head in mock disapproval. "This pendant is Altarian. It is a rare chameleon crystal from the Alta mines. Quite difficult to come by actually, and rather expensive."
Padmé was slightly interested. So, the man not only had good taste, but contacts in the Outer Rim as well. However, she kept her eyes focused on her work.
"So, I did a little research on my own." Her friend continued, leaning toward the desk with a smile. "And I found out that a certain pair of Jedi have recently returned from Alta."
And still, to Dormé's aggravation, Padmé continued working, at least until she spoke the names of the Jedi team, and the young woman grinned in satisfaction as the senator's eyes rose abruptly from her desk.
"Knight Kenobi and his padawan, Anakin Skywalker."
Padmé met the young woman's gaze and determinedly chose not to react. At least outwardly. Inwardly though, her insides had just relocated about an inch higher.
"That could just be a coincidence." The senator argued as Dormé snorted and arched her brow. "And besides, Obi-Wan and I decided to just be friends."
"Whose decision was that again?" Dormé asked as she leaned back in her chair and propped her booted feet on Padmé's desk, only to have them shoved off by her employer's hand.
"It was mutual." The senator answered back, immediately swept away by memories of two years ago when she had bravely agreed to part ways with the handsome knight.
But the truth was, she had been anything but brave, spending the following days in a slump. Still to this day, the sight of him in the hallways of the senate building sends her heart racing.
Leave it to Dormé though to irritate her already churning stomach with a thought she had never considered.
"Well then, what if your secret admirer isn't the Master, but the padawan? What if it's Anakin Skywalker?"
Dormé's inquisitive expression quickly turned to confusion as Padmé's face matched the resulting souring of her stomach at that possibility.