Chapter Three

I awoke the next morning, stretched and smiled inwardly. The night before had been better than the one before, though I had not been sure such a thing were possible. Suddenly, I was aware that the bed was empty but for me.

I looked around, trying to orient myself. I remembered what he had said about having to leave in the morning as we laid in bed before sleeping.

"I have to leave in the morning," he had said, brushing the stray hairs away from my face. "I'll be back soon, though."

Of course, who knows what "soon" meant, though.

I grabbed my things and went back to my own quarters, picked up the stray PADDs and put things away. I flopped down on my bed and stared at the gray ceiling. After tiring of that view, I got up and sat in the chair facing the stars outside.

I lost myself in the scattered pinpoints of light flickering endlessly. My thoughts kept gravitating back to Dukat and when he was coming back to the station.

I downloaded a new novel by an old friend. He had sent it to me a few days before, but with all the excitement I had not checked my messages. I settled down on the couch and began reading.

Soon I was swept up in his words. I had always grudgingly admired him and his so apparent gift. I had light years to go before I could even touch his level of work as it was.

A few hours had passed, but there was still much of the day left. I started brainstorming new ideas for stories.

Suddenly, the door chimed, breaking my concentration. I leaned back, stretching my back and told the door to let them in. A whirlwind of color and sound, obviously angry, burst in. My heart sank as I recognized the small-built woman with raven-black hair in the center of the whirlwind. It was Kenara.

Her eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head and probably hit me on the head in the process.

"You!" Her normally soft voice echoed.

"What?!" I raised my voice just as loud as hers. If she wanted to yell at me, she was going to get the same right back. I hadn't done anything wrong, and I wasn't about to pretend that I had.

"Don't you start being petulant, sister" she spat out the last word like it tasted bad. "I got a message from Nerys yesterday. She told me everything. What in the name of the Prophets were you thinking? Are you insane or do you just not care about our history and what he did to us?!" She stood there, hands on her hips, waiting for a response.

"Of course I care about that. How could I not, having you as a sister. You haven't left the Resistance, it's just changed its colors! All you care about is revenge, you don't see that things are different now."

"Your kind of "growing up" means bedding the worst of our enemies? If that is the case, I don't want to be part of your new Bajor!"
My fists clenched as anger welled up inside of me.

"I did not come here planning on bedding anyone! In case you haven't noticed, I actually have been working!"

"Just taking time out for sleeping with the enemy, is that it? Adah, please, can't you see who it is that you share your bed with? Promise me it was just a one time thing, a singular lapse in judgment." Her eyes pleaded with me.

I stared at her, silently. When I saw she understood the use of silence, I spoke again.

"I'll tell you what I see when we shared his bed the twice we have done so. He's powerful, he's attractive and for the first time, someone was chasing me. I haven't had anyone even close to a lover since Edra left me. I am terribly sorry that you don't approve of how I live my life. As I recall, you didn't speak to me for years because I refused to join the Resistance." I winced, knowing immediately what her response was going to be.

"Yes, and now I see why! By the Prophets, Adah," her voice softened as she sat heavily on the couch. She held her head in her hands, running them though the black sheets framing her face.

I sat across from her, waiting. Now that she had stopped yelling, and the purposeful barbs had been used to full effect, she was going to try a heart-to-heart sisterly chat.

"Kenara, please believe me, I didn't do any of this to hurt you. I didn't plan this." She raised her face to look at me, her greenish-blue eyes disbelieving. I sighed and broke the eye contact.

How do you explain to someone how attractive their arch-nemesis can be? No matter how many words, no matter how perfectly constructed the phrasing, they would never see it. For all intents and purposes, they would be blind to it. If they let themselves see that, they can't well say their nemesis is across the board awful.

"Adah, look, I know you are old enough to live your own life. I just feel an obligation to make sure it's the right one for you," she said with complete sincerity. I had to work very hard to not roll my eyes at her comment of "the right one". What in the world was her problem?

"I think you should come back to Bajor. The station is obviously not working out for you. Please come home with me, sister. You could find good work, stop struggling with these stories."

I stood up and opened the door. Apparently, my look transcended any words, as Kenara left in somewhat of a huff. As the door hissed closed, I resisted the urge to throw something, preferably breakable.

A few months passed, stars whirling outside, doing a carefully orchestrated dance, occasionally punctuated by the awe-inspiring appearance of the Eye of the Prophets.

I finished my story and had gotten it published, in a small run by a relatively unknown publisher, but so far it had received good reviews.

Occasionally, I would run into Garak, but keeping my promise to Dukat, I avoided him. From Dukat himself, I had received a few voice-only messages, typically saying he was thinking of me and he would be back on the station as soon as he could. Each time I heard his voice, it stirred me, something about it was at the same time fearsome and seductive. Often I had wanted to approach someone about doing a small study about why it was that way. I had always been fascinated as to what made someone attractive to one person, yet completely uncouth to another. Perhaps, I had finally decided, it was a universal mystery.

I awoke one morning at around 9:30 and after cleaning and dressing, headed down to the Promenade to meet with a new friend, a Starfleet Human named Janice Evans. She had read my story after it was published and soon discovered I resided on the station. She seeked me out and we became fast friends. I had been meeting her before she went on duty at 10:00 for the last week or so. She was very kind and in an omnipresent good mood.

I soon saw her at the replimat, chatting with a few other Humans. I approached and she grinned at me and waved me over.

"Adah, meet my friends. This," she indicated the dark haired male on her right, "is Alex Menderson. Alex, this is Tema Adah. This is Mariah Senti." Janice gestured to the brightly blond female with dark blue eyes. Mariah reached out and shook my hand. Her smile was shy but sincere.

"Hi, Adah. Nice to meet you," she said as I sat down. She had a slight accent, but it was pleasant to the ears.

"How long have you known Janice?" The nearly-swallowed baritone came from Alex Menderson. He rested both elbows on the table, hands cupped around his glass, which itself contained a bright red liquid. He must have seen me regarding the glass suspiciously, as he raised it to his lips and took a long drink and smiled.

"Cranberry juice. Wakes you up."

Mariah stood and stretched.

"Sorry, Janice, but Alex and I have got to get some sleep," she said, just as much to Alex as to Janice. Alex rolled his eyes at her. "Nice meeting you, Adah," she said as they waved before walking down the Promenade.

"So, Adah," Janice turned her dark eyes to me. "Have you done much reading by Human authors?"

"Can't say I have, but I haven't really done much reading from different cultures."

"Too bad. If you ever do want to try expanding your horizons some time, let me know," she said, winking at me.

I shook my head as I went to get a raktajino. Humans are an interesting people. Their writing would probably be just as interesting, I mused as the drink materialized. I turned, cup in my hand and nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Careful now, Tema Adah, or you might spill."

I started to work my way around the ever-smiling Garak, but he stood right in the middle of the aisle. I sighed inwardly.

"Hello, Garak."

"There, now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" His customary smile widened into a grin that made his clear blue eyes sparkle. In spite of everything, I felt myself smile.

"Are you here with your mystery date?" He asked, peering around at all the tables.

"No, sorry. Like you said, you might have to live the rest of your life wondering," I smiled at him, for the moment brushing aside the admonition that Dukat had given me about how inherently dangerous Garak was. He seems nice enough, I thought, gazing into his blue eyes. I couldn't get a sense of what lay beyond his exterior, but that was mostly true of Dukat as well.

"Are you sure you don't want to just tell me?"

"Yes, I'm sure, Garak," I rolled my eyes and laughed a bit.

"Can't hardly blame me for trying, Tema Adah. It is always a good idea to know who your competition is, after all." With that, and a very evident glint in his eyes, he kissed my empty hand, turned and walked away.

I made my way back to Janice and sat down.

"So, Adah," she began, looking at me oddly. "What was that about? Are you and-"

"No, Janice, we're not. And, by the Prophets, if you start spreading anything around, I'll be quite upset." This was, of course, an understatement. As Janice spoke, I was struck through with an intense feeling of fear and dread. If Dukat found out about what Garak just did, the tailor's days would be numbered, and likely not very high.

"Hey, I was just wondering," Janice said, putting her hands up, palms out. "So, do tell, why the reaction? Something is definitely going on, and you're not telling anyone, are you? Come on," she leaned forward, short hair falling forward on her face. "You can tell me. I swear, it goes no further than this table." Janice looked sincere, and I certainly did want to talk about it.

"Oh, all right. But I'm holding you to that," she grinned and nodded, so I continued. I told her about almost all of it, though I did leave out the details about the nights that Dukat and I had spent together.

By the time I was done, my raktajino was cold and Janice looked dumbstruck. She finally found her voice, and to her credit, kept it down.

"Dukat? THE Dukat? You're kidding! You're not kidding?"

I took a sip of my now chilled drink and couldn't help a half smile from her reaction. This was definitely more fun than the battle of wits I had with Kenara.

"God, Adah. I've never even seen him in person. Though," she said, looking thoughtful. "I can see the attraction. I've seen him in some of the courses I took back at the Academy." She shook her head and whistled softly. "So, he doesn't want you around Garak, huh? Interesting. Seems he likes you, too. Did he know about you and Dukat? Think that's why he's interested?"

"He knows now, probably. The day after our first night together, Garak sat with me over there to see how his dress went over. Dukat came by to see me and got a little upset. He would have probably beaten Garak to a pulp if Constable Odo hadn't come and broken it up!"

"Some people have all the fun," Janice shook her head.

"Doesn't seem like all that much fun. It's been close to three months since I've seen him. I mean, he said it'd be a while till he'd be back, and he's sent a few messages, but I just wish I could see him. Plus I think that next to you, Garak would be the only other person here who's given me a chance. Everyone else, I think, sees me as just another Bajoran girl, probably going to run back down to the planet after the next big crisis anyway, so why bother with conversation." I gazed into my cup, suddenly embarrassed by my outburst.
Janice reached over and put a hand on mine. I looked up, surprised.

"Don't worry about it, Adah. Since we're all pretty new here, it just takes a while to settle in is all. Even for us Humans, and we all know everyone likes Humans."

I laughed at that. She leaned back and stretched. She was a night person, even though she worked during the day. She complained about it, but rarely did anything to change the situation.

"I guess I have to get going, those replicators aren't going to fix themselves." Draining the last of her drink, she winked at me and left the replimat. I sat at the table alone for a few moments, wondering what to do with the rest of my day.

Garak slipped into the chair that Janice had just vacated. He looked about furtively, as though concerned with being watched. He locked his eyes on mine and grinned. He leaned forward and spoke quietly.

"Meet me at the Klingon restaurant at 1700." He winked, looked about again, and swept away again. I looked after him, confused and wanting to laugh loudly. The Cardassian was bizarre, but it was a good bizarre.

I spent most of the rest of the day wondering just what Garak was up to. I wasn't sure if I should even keep the "date" with Garak. Even though I had not seen or even had a real conversation with Dukat for nearly three months, I still felt a sense of loyalty to him.

Eventually, I decided to throw caution to the wind and meet with Garak. It wasn't as though Dukat was with me at the moment, anyway.

I decided to wear the green dress, I thought that Garak might appreciate the irony of it. I left my hair down, brushed to a soft gleam. I glanced at myself in the mirror before I left, and grinned at my reflection. Whatever happened, I was sure it would be interesting.
At the entrance of the restaurant, I hesitated. With a sudden surge of resolve, I walked in, glancing around. I quickly found Garak, and sat across from him. His eyes traveled first over my face, then down the dress.

"That dress is familiar. Tell me, who made it?" He smiled as he spoke, eyes glittering in the half light of the restaurant.

I laughed.

"Someone with a great talent, I can tell you that. Takes quite a bit of talent to make me look good." The bit of self-deprecation worked well, and his laugh echoed.

"Oh, now, I'm sure you know it's not that hard."

Conversation continued into the night, light and full of laughter. I felt quite at ease with him, enjoyed the easy humor and glitter in his light eyes when he laughed at something I said.

Soon, we were the only table left occupied. The armor-clad Klingon cook behind the counter started giving us dirty looks. I related that to Garak, he turned and the cook fairly snarled. Turning back to me, Garak grinned and suggested we leave.

"Of course, it would have been fun to stay, just to bother him," he said, under his voice, smiling slightly.

I wondered, not for the first time, if he ever wasn't smiling. Of course, I reminded myself, that was part of his charm. I looked at him and realized I was having a great time. I hadn't even thought about Dukat the whole evening.

It was like a slap in the face, both realizing that I wasn't thinking about Dukat, and at the same time thinking about him. I tried to shake it off, but was only partly successful, until Garak spoke again.

"Shall I accompany you to your quarters? You never know what is going to happen around here, you know." As he asked, he placed my arm in his and began walking, apparently refusing to take "No" for an answer. The contact rushed the confusion out of my mind. I allowed myself to keep pace with Garak and listened to him telling me about his adventures since coming on the station.

"Ah! Here we are," he said, stopping at my quarters. I looked at him quizzically, wondering momentarily just how he knew where my quarters were. The devilish smile told me all I needed to know.

"Just a tailor, huh?" I said, half-laughing. The grin widened and I suddenly realized how close to me he was. In what seemed like a heartbeat of the galaxy, he leaned in and kissed me. He lingered on my lips as his hands ran through my hair lightly. He pulled away, eyes deep and clear as they looked into mine.

"Plain and simple," he whispered before turning on his heel and walking out of sight. I stood there, gazing after him long after he passed from view.

I walked into my quarters, feeling better than I'd felt in days. I took the dress off and carefully hung it up. As I showered, I found myself humming a few bars from a popular Bajoran song. I slipped into a simple dress, settled into a new chapter from my friend back on Bajor.

A flashing panel caught my attention, and I saw I had a message waiting for me. It was from Janice, asking if I wanted to join her for lunch. I tapped out a reply, yawning, telling her I'd meet her at the replimat at noon.

I laughed through another yawn, imagining what her reaction was going to be, and went to bed.