Facing Himself

Posted on Wed Jun 10th, 2015 @ 9:12pm by Lieutenant Commander William Harding M.D.

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Archadia III
Timeline: Following "Facing The Music"

Archadia III

Will looked out over the empty courtyard in front of the house at the rising sun. Seyla's transport had left only moments ago and already he missed her. He also felt alone and that was a new thing for him. He'd always been content to live his own life, doing whatever he wanted with no one else to answer to but now it seemed a hollow pursuit.

Back inside he wandered through the house, not liking the heavy silence that blanketed the rooms. In the bedroom, a hint of her perfume remained and he smiled. This room, where he'd finally admitted his feelings for her, a woman who seemed just beyond his grasp, was suddenly precious to him. Here he had held her as she sobbed, broken-hearted over a lost 'friend' (lover he suspected), and over what Will was sure she had seen as a betrayal in Will himself. For the first time he was sure he'd seen through all the layers of Seyla, through the persona she portrayed for her clients, and caught a glimpse of the real woman. He'd wanted nothing more than to sweep her away, disappear from everyone's radar for a few days.

It was an impossible dream right now. She had her business to attend to and Solaana was due home in three hours, which presented a big issue for Will. What was he supposed to do? Seyla had said that for now, they should maintain the status quo. He agreed that neither of them should make any impulsive leaps but it was easy to agree logically. It was another thing entirely to force such an argument on one's heart.

When Seyla arrived, she'd referred to him as the Prime Minister's whore...well she'd cut herself off and changed it to the proper title but it amounted to the same thing, didn't it? If he were in love with Solaana, it would be one thing, but the past several days had left him restless. They'd also left him with the urge to take charge, as his initial reaction to Seyla had so obviously proven. If there was one thing Will knew about himself with certainty, it was that he was not a submissive man.

All during his years in the Fleet he had been in charge of medical teams both known and undercover. He'd directed the experimental team that had actually developped the means to stop aging, as Jackson Banning proved. The sabotage by Natalia had been a blessing in disguise as Will had not wanted such a discovery to become known. What it amounted to was that he was not one who gave in well to playing housewife, despite how much he enjoyed Solaana. Seyla was right. He was a whore, pure and simple. Well, many considered her to be one too, but at least she was honest about it and didn't pretend it was something else.

He sat on the edge of the bed and ran his fingers over the pillow, seeing her long red hair spread over it as it has been only minutes ago. Then he lifted it, breathing in her scent and was stirred immediately. The urge to call her back was almost overwhelming but he resisted. He had another redhead on her way home to him and he had some cleaning up to do. That meant a shower here, then another back at 'home' so that one of those redheads didn't sense the presence of the other. Two women...neither of them were his alone and yet both laid claim to him. With a sigh he rose and crossed to the bathroom.

The status quo had become a gilded cage.

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Lt. Commander William Harding, M.D.
At The Crossroads