Entry #2
Thursday XYYY.YY 9:59 pm
I don’t know what I’ve got myself wrapped into, and I don’t think there’s any way out of it.
Ajay and I were hanging out during our downtime and after a short moment of silence, she told me something that nearly popped my head off my shoulders. According to her, I was going on a blind date. I remember I laughed for a few seconds before asking her to elaborate further.
“Well, the girl who was supposed to go is still recovering from the last land mission, and you’re all I’ve got.”
“Oh, really? Am I all you’ve got or is it because everyone else you know said no?”
Her eyes widened ever so slightly, like I had caught her red handed. She sheepishly laughed and before she could defend or explain her reasoning, I cut her off, “Alright, I’ll do it.”
“Wait, really?” She retorted in a surprised tone. She then began to interrogate me, “You want to? Like, you really, really want to? Why?”
“Why not? It's not like I have anything better to do. Plus, it could be interesting.”
Ajay looked at me for a moment, like she was analyzing me or searching for a deeper reasoning, but when she came up with nothing she just smiled. Before we went back to our shifts, she said one last thing to me that stuck with me, “You’re a mystery.. I can never tell these things with you.”
Next Night
Friday XYYY.YY 10:00 pm
When I arrived at the restaurant, there were already a few people outside. Specifically, one other couple and a lone man. I knew it was him. I’ve seen him around before as he worked for security, but heard he didn’t have the most favorable of personalities. Rude, quick to anger, and a bit of a sleaze towards the opposite gender. His appearance did not make up for it either, as his suit was untailored and his dress shirt was stained in sweat where even the most vigorous of handwashing couldn’t get that out. The only thing that was somewhat groomed about him was his greasy, shaggy hair.
As I was about to greet myself with a hello and a handshake, he looked at me like a predator would prey. Analyzing me, looking for weakness or insecurity, that sort of thing. But once that second was past and over, he’d put on a friendly, “nice guy” persona.
“Hey, you’re the Ensign Ajay told me about.”
“Oh? Good things, I hope.”
“Oh, very good things,” he said as his eyes lingered over me then back up to my face. He then smiled as he gestured towards the entrance doors, “Wanna head inside?”
Despite the red flags that had already begun to pop up, I still decided to go with the date. It started to spiral down from there. From the moment we sat down, ordered our food, and waited for our drinks, the negging had already started. He, and at this point I had already erased his name out of my head, would make comments on how I looked or how I expressed myself.
“Why do you say it like that?”
“You should really tone it down.”
“Look at me when we’re talking!”
That was the final straw. He knew it, I knew it, and so did the waiter who had just placed down our food. I remember I stared at him in disbelief as thoughts rushed through my head. Did he just yell at me? Here in this public space? I couldn’t even fathom to imagine what he was like behind closed doors. So without another word, I had started to gather my things.
Realizing he had messed up big time, he stood up and blocked my way of exit. He put on one last fake smile before looking down at me, “Come on, don’t be like that..”
My face soured and as I stood up from the chair, I felt a tight grip on my forearm. He tried to lower his tone but it had begun to waver with embarrassment and anger, “I said don’t be like that-”
As an instant reflex, I slapped him. He let go in an instant. The tables near us fell silent and before anything escalated, I quickly left without saying another word. I felt completely humiliated. Did that really just happen? Did I really just do that? Those questions repeated in my mind over and over as the guilt began to wash over me..
After the whole ordeal, I found myself a few feet outside of the restaurant, just trying my best not to cry. As I stepped closer to the railing, I heard footsteps follow after me which caused me to stop. I peaked over my shoulder and instead of seeing my blind date, I found an older man standing in his place. He looked familiar in the moment, but I couldn’t pinpoint as to why. I noticed he had a to-go box in his hands, and he then noticed that I had noticed.
He spoke first, “I boxed your food for you..I figured you would still want it later after.. all of that.”
My expression softened with surprise and gratitude. I fully turned to him and as he stepped closer, I took the box as he handed it to me. The food was still warm. I responded with a thank you.
“Don’t worry about it.. your date, I’m assuming, was an ass.”
I stifled a laugh and nodded my head before rubbing my temple, “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
“I mean, seriously, what kind of man talks and treats a woman like that? If I were the Captain I would..” His voice softened to a halt once he had noticed my grown solemn expression. He frowned with guilt and fully turned his attention towards me, his hand ghosted over my shoulder, “Hey, I’m sorry..”
“No, no, its not your fault. Its just.. you boxed my food for me. Why?”
The man stood there for a moment. It was obvious he thought over my question, or maybe it was because he was trying to think as to why I would ask that in the first place. Then, a faint smile appeared on his face, “Because its the kind thing to do, the right thing to do.”
I couldn’t help but mirror his smile. He was right, it was the right thing to do. Hell, if I saw that fiasco happen to someone else I would do the same thing. I glanced down at the to-go box once more before I looked up at him, my eyes would linger on his face.
Once I realized I was staring, I started to stammer on my words, “It’s late I should probably head back to my quarters, I uhm..”
“Oh, right, of course, I didn’t mean to hold you up-”
“No, no, you’re not! Believe me, you’re not. Just, uh, could I get a name to that face of yours?”
He chuckled, a rumble so deep that I could almost feel in my own chest.
“McCoy.”
˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
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