Chapter 13

Not wanting to start their date off with a disagreement, Bud nodded and went along with her wishes. At the door to Ten Forward they talked with Vice President Chegwidden and Lieutenant Commander Mackenzie for a few minutes then Bud led them to a table for two. He held out Harriett's chair. She thanked him and as Bud took his seat the waiter arrived to take their order.

Wanting something that wouldn't have to be cut, or take a lot of attention to eat, Harriett ordered tuna casserole. Bud had been going to order whatever she was having so she would see how in tune they were, but he truly hated tuna. So instead, he went for spaghetti, figuring if he did spill any on him, the fact that he had a red uniform jacket would hide it.

Harriett had been thinking about how to open such a sensitive subject since they left the Bridge together. Small talk about their day at work was pretty pointless when they'd just spent the last eight hours sitting not four feet from each other. They had already covered the 'why did you join Star Fleet' in their first session. She knew that his father had been in Star Fleet and even now his younger brother Mikey was at the Academy. So she was at a loss as to how to break the ice.

The fact that she also liked the handsome young Commander might have had something to do with her nervousness and inability to think of a topic of conversation. She almost wished that he wasn't coming to her for help because she knew that it was wrong of her to date her patients. On the other hand, if he hadn't come to her they would probably still be just nodding acquaintances or fellow officers on the same ship. Who was she kidding? That's all they were now! This wasn't a date as much as she would have liked it to be! And the only reason she knew him better than she did last week was because of the things he'd told her as her patient. 'Get your head back to your job Harriett Beaumont Simms!' she told herself and shaking her head to clear it, looked across the table at Bud…'no, Commander Roberts!' she reminded herself.

Bud just couldn't believe his luck. After the waiter had left their table, he'd looked over at his dinner companion and found her staring at him. She had a faraway look in her eyes, almost dreamy, and a slight smile on her lips. He found himself wondering what she was thinking. Was she envisioning a future for them? No, it was probably too soon for that, even though he already was! Maybe she was just hoping that he would have the courage to kiss her goodnight at the end of the date. That was something he certainly wanted to do!

Meanwhile at a table not to far away, Mac had just finished telling AJ about the scintillating day she'd had doing performance reviews. He chuckled and told her, "I remember how much fun those were, just remind yourself that it will be a full year before you have to do them again. How close are you to being done with them?"

"I would have been finished tonight if the last one wasn't giving me so much trouble."

"Let me guess…the problem one is for Victor Galindez."

"How did you know?" she asked with a gasp.

"Because you were involved with him and aren't now, plus the way he's been acting since I came on board. That has to make doing a fair and impartial review very difficult."

"You're right of course, and I could ask some other department head to do the review, but that could reflect badly on me. Not that it would be wrong to do so, but my skills as a leader could come into question if it appeared I couldn't put aside personal feelings to do my job properly."

"I don't see that you would have a problem with his work standards. He's either doing the job you expect of him or he's not…"

Mac interrupted to assure him, "Oh his work is just fine! That's not it."

"Then it has to be the personality part of the review…"

To be continued…..