Beverly tugged on the sleeves of her lab coat, her fingers fluttering and nipping like agitated birds unravelling material for their nests. She had five minutes before the senior officers' staff meeting, but she needed five hours. Cursing the butterflies in her stomach, she recalculated. Better make that five years.
Whatever possessed her to kiss him like that? She shook her head. She'd crossed a line they'd been dancing along for ages. Beverly stuffed her hands in her pockets as she rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. And of course he'll want an explanation.
"Damn," she muttered as she noted the time on the chronometer.
What the hell was she going to say? "I'm sorry Jean-Luc, it seemed like a good idea at the time, and while I don't regret it, in retrospect I probably shouldn't have done it." She could feel his heart breaking in her palms.
Beverly stopped pacing. Had the kiss really been such a bad thing? Her pulse jumped at the memory. Maybe there was another explanation. "I'm sorry Jean-Luc, it felt right, and I don't regret it, but I have no idea what I meant by it." Brilliant. If I use that he'll think he's being led on by a bubble-headed moron.
"What am I going to do?"
Beverly stumbled to a halt in the doorway when she came within inches of bowling over her head nurse.
"Doctor?" Nurse Ogawa retreated into sickbay. "You asked me to remind you… the morning briefing… you didn't want to be late."
Beverly tried to smile, but if the look on Alyssa's face was any indication, she'd failed utterly. No, we wouldn't want to be late, now would we? She ran a hand through her hair as she strode into the corridor. Where's a good spatial anomaly when you need one?