A Kiss Yet To Be Had

Chapter Sixteen

"That was good," Grey said leaning back on the couch.

"Greedy guts. You managed to eat half of it, and that was my deep dish!" Meara complained chucking a cushion at him.

"Hey! I didn't know you could cook that well! It's not my fault that someone told me I could have as much as I wanted!" Rolling her eyes she poured herself a drink. She went to offer him one and then stopped.

"Better not, you might drink the whole bottle of it." Grey laughed. They both knew Meara could outdrink him any day. 

"But seriously, thank you for dinner. I would've been eating some replicated slop on my own otherwise." He said grimacing.

"Same here." She laughed. She curled up in the space beside him and closed her eyes. She hadn't quite realized how tired she was. Grey watched her as her breathing deepened with a small smile. He gently took the glass out of her hand and carried her to her bed. He found a blanket and tucked her in. Leaning over, he gave a gentle kiss on her head. If only she knew how beautiful she was when she lay asleep.

When Meara woke up, she had to think about how she got there. This was starting to become a bit of a habit, falling asleep and having to think about it when she awoke. She remembered curling up on the sofa... Meara blushed fiercely. Grey must've put her to bed. Double-checking what she was wearing, she breathed a sigh of relief. Still dressed. She pulled her sleepy body out of bed and dragged herself to the shower. She had another two hours before she was meant to be on the bridge. 

So what? Lieutenant Calista Meara was early. Get over it. She was going to make the most of this posting. However awful and dreary it may be. Looking in the mirror once again, she realized how much had changed. Her once resting bitch face was bright-eyed and smiley. She looked happy. Something she hadn't been for a while. She quickly scooped her hair into a neat bun before grabbing a coffee and heading out of the door. Want to know the funny thing about everything? She didn't seem so scared of the turbolift anymore. As she ordered it to go to the bridge, the doors reopened just in time. Three guesses who it was. He grinned at Meara before standing beside her. 

"Now there I was thinking that you hated turbolifts. And what's this I see? Lieutenant Meara on time? Well, I never." He joked. Meara rolled her eyes.

"Get over it, a girl can be on time if she wants." Grey snorted.

"Don't tell that to Ramirez, he'll think you're usually late on purpose."  He warned laughingly. 

"Who said I don't do it on purpose?" She giggled walking out of the lift towards the helm. Grey raised his eyebrows before knocking on the door of Ramirez's ready room. 

Meara smiled as she ran her hands along the top of the screens, feeling the smooth coolness of the altered kevlar plated metal. She sat back in her seat content. She wouldn't trade this feeling for the world. 

Pure happiness is hard to come by, and although it may appear strange how Meara acted the day after losing her fiance, but this was the life she was used to. It had been previously warped and had confused the hell out of her. But after her emotional breakdown yesterday, she had begun to realize that her experience is what could be rather than what was. Life was back to how things were, the only difference being, that now she had something to work towards. It made sense.