Interlude part 4

Posted on Tue Dec 22nd, 2020 @ 10:54am by Ensign Evelyn Moro & Lieutenant Aemilia "Millie" Stepanova

James paced the floor, glancing at the chronometer every other pass. They should have been back hours before. He stopped walking long enough to pour another drink and down it as fast as he'd poured it.

With one hand on the doorknob, Millie reached down to pry the pair of strappy high heels from her feet. "My feet are going to hurt by morning. I should have taken my shoes off at the bottom of the hill."

Marcy took her shoes off as well, almost toppling over with a giggling laugh, before shushing Millie. "He'll hear us."

Millie giggled, rolling her eyes. "Trust me, anything he can do pales in comparison to the last two months." Tossing her shoes in one of the shipping bags, she turned the doorknob.

He heard the door open and stormed out of the room he was in towards the main door. "You're late!" he said moving past Millie and marching directly to Marcy but when he neared her he slowed his advance. "Are you..drunk?"

"No?" The question mark at the end of her reply hung in the air for a moment before she smiled with a chuckle.

Her reply and laugh made him unsure for a moment. It was then he noticed how she was dressed, most definitely not what he'd seen in her before. Her hair was different too. He forced himself to turn to Millie. "This is unacceptable. You are hours late, sent no communications, for all I knew you could have been kidnapped by the Orion Syndicate."

"I could have been kidnapped too." Marcy interjected.

James gave her a quick glance, then back to Millie. "What did you do to her?"

Millie took a beat, raising an eyebrow at James. "We had a lovely evening, thank you for asking. Marcy and I had a wonderful time at the theatre, and dinner was just delightful."

"You were supposed to go shopping...for you, not her. And I never authorized dinner or any shows."

"You are not my mother, and I am a grown woman. This is my shore leave, and unless I am a prisoner here, I will come and go as I please." Millie folded her arms across her chest. "And if showing appreciation to your assistant is a problem, then you can take Marcy's gifts out of my salary."

He stewed for a few moments. "Marcy, go to bed." The girl stood there for a moment before she turned and went down the hallway. James glanced, watching her go.

Millie waited until Marcy had disappeared out of view. "You were rather childish."

"And you damaged my property. She's going to be hung over and she's supposed to be up in four hours to do her job."

One of Millie's eyebrows raised. "Did I just hear you call her property?"

"All employees of our corporation are considered property....for their protection. They are cared for as much as a piece of equipment which costs billions. They're all a piece of the system. And her piece of the puzzle is to wake up at 0400, get my morning routine ready for me, and to be dutiful. Not to get drunk and dress like a...." he quieted, not sure what to call the vision he'd seen moments before. He pointed down the hall where she'd gone. "That's not my Marcy."

"You mean, dress like a regular woman?" Millie's lips pursed.

"That was not a....regular woman. She's never looked like that in five years. I don't even think that I've seen her dressed in anything other than what she wears everyday."

"Because you haven't given the woman a day off in five years. And you're going to give her the morning off, too, and be a grown man and get yourself out of bed in the morning." Millie picked up her shopping bags. "And with the way you treat that brilliant woman, I have half a mind to poach her to come work for me."

He nearly snarled and threw the glass in his hand against the wall before his hand shot out, grabbing her by the arm. A moment later he let go. "I'm sending you back tonight. I can't have these....disruptions."

He was close enough that she could smell the bourbon on his breath. "You'll do no such thing. Stop being petty. You're going to go to bed, sober up, and in the morning you're going to apologize to Marcy for your behavior. Then you're going to make sure that the last five years of employee performance bonuses are transferred into her account before giving her the day off." Millie's jaw set in determination. "Then, on the company's dime, I am going to take your phenomenal assistant out for brunch on one of the gondola dining cars down in the city. Then, how we spend the rest of the day is our business."

He looked down at her. "Half day off." He walked away from her down the hall.

Lieutenant JG Aemilia "Millie" Stepanova
Chief Counselor, USS Mercutio