"Christine!" Mahru called to her friend as she entered.
"Hullo, Mahru. I brought a friend for dinner, is that alright?" Christine and Nyota took seats at the booth nearest the kitchen.
"Hello, we've missed you dear. How were your midterms?"
"Just fine." Christine smiled bashfully.
Uhura wasn't about to let her friend off the hook. "She aced them of course."
"Of course. Maleek!" she called to the kitchen door. "Christine is here and she brought a friend."
A tall muscular black man poked his head out the swinging door expecting to see a man in the booth. He looked eagerly at Uhura and his face fell for a moment, then he flashed her a charming smile full of pearly white teeth.
"Don't mind him." Mahru waved her hand at Uhura, "He keeps hoping Christine will settle down." Then she raised her voice and spoke pointedly to the kitchen, "I keep telling him that Christine is in love with the stars." She smiled at Uhura again and spoke quietly again, "but he never listens."
The ladies chuckled for a moment. Then Mahru spotted more diners at the door and hurried away without explanation.
Christine just smiled affectionately at Mahru's back and turned to Uhura.
"I can't believe you came all the way to Earth."
"I just had to come see you. How are you doing?"
"Fine." Christine looked down into her teacup wishing Mahru would come with some creamy chai.
"Fine?" Uhura picked up her napkin and placed it in her lap eyeing her friend. "What does that mean? It's been over a month since I was able to get a hold of you. I know school is busy, but-"
"I'm fine." Christine answered too quickly as she looked up from the spot in the teacup and felt anger rise to her cheeks. She clamped down on it tightly and her face went very still. She swallowed.
Mahru broke the tension with a small pot of tea, but she did not stay.
Christine poured the tea for her friend then filled her own cup. She did not look at Uhura for a long time. Her friend sat quietly, patiently watching the steam swirl over her tea.
"I'm still having the nightmare." She began quietly.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Uhura spoke evenly not wanting to cause Christine to close up again. She picked up her cup and inhaled the sweet spiced scent.
Christine too took a long appreciative whiff of her tea. "My counseling sessions are crap. I only go because it's the only way I can stay in school. But I tell you Ny, it's a waste of time."
Uhura looked up at her friend with a distinctly maternal smile, "No Chris, it's not a waste of time. If it's not helping you then maybe you should tell your counselor."
"I dunno, Don's a nice guy, but he seems to be more interested in my history than my problems."
"Your history?"
"Yeah, it's been almost 6 months and all we talk about is my mom, my dad, how I got to Starfleet and my god awful crush on Spock. It doesn't matter that it's all in the past, that's all he seems interested in."
"Well it must be important if he keeps asking about it." Uhura sipped her tea trying to hide her confusion. It was very odd that after all this time Christine had not been given a clean bill of health yet. Perhaps there was more bothering her friend than she let on.
"I dunno. He doesn't ask a lot of questions, he just sits there." Christine seemed a lot more annoyed than her friend.
They stared in silence into their cups. After a moment Mahru reappeared with two large plates of steaming food.
"Now-now, ladies. Enough brooding. No sad faces with good food on the table." She wagged a finger in mock warning. Over her shoulder Maleek grinned widely, two more plates in hand. He placed them in the center of the table. One was laden with steaming soft squares of Nan, the other had half a dozen small dishes of brightly colored sauces to complement their food. A pair of beautiful children stepped forward with tall glasses of mango juice for the ladies. The little girl smiled sweetly at Christine and whispered something to the woman as she placed the glass in front of her.
"Enjoy your meal, ladies." Mahru said turning to the kitchen and shooing her family away from the table.
Uhura looked at Christine whose eyes were following the little girl to the kitchen. "What did she say?" she asked curiously reaching for a square of the soft flat bread.
Christine reached for a piece of bread as well, "She said she finished Baba Yaga."
"Baba what?"
Christine smiled, "Baba Yaga. It's a fairy tale about a little girl who escapes from an ugly old witch with the help of a doll that her mother gave her before she died." She dipped the bread in some dahl. "It's a lot like Hansel and Gretel, only darker."
"Sounds positively morbid. Is it Russian?"
Christine laughed through half a mouthful of warm food and nodded her head. She managed to swallow quickly, "Yes. I found it in a bookstore downtown. They sell real paper books. I couldn't resist. Yasmeen really loves to read. I thought the pictures were nice."
"What does her mother think of the story?"
"Oh she thinks it's a great way for Yasmeen to learn the - what did she call it? 'deeper lessons of life'."
Uhura swallowed a spicy bit, "What lesson is that? Magic dolls are good for orphan girls?"
Christine chuckled, "Nah, I think it's a story about confidence or something." She answered absently, now fully focused on her food.
Uhura groaned appreciatively, "God this is good, Chris."
"Yeah I know. I eat here at least once a week."
From the next table came an amused voice, "Twice a week." Mahru picked up a pile of plates from the now empty table and winked at the ladies as she cruised by, "Is everything alright?"
"Delicious as usual, Mahru." Christine said quickly stuffing another large bite into her mouth.
The two old friends ate their fill of spicy food in abbreviated but friendly conversation.