Igniting A Wildfire

Posted on Thu Jun 11th, 2015 @ 2:26pm by Lieutenant Commander William Harding M.D. & Seyla & Marla

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Seyla's Quarters

Seyla’s Quarters

Back from her brief, but oh-so-damned-confusing, visit to Archadia, Seyla sat at her console, trying to pay attention to the accounting side of her business. Instead, she found herself thinking of Will, of his admission of love. He couldn't possibly mean it, though Seyla was certain he believed, right now, that he meant it. Had she dosed him with her pheromones too often? Too much?

She didn't think she had, and Will was a doctor, he had easy access to counter agents if he needed them. Besides, she knew she had dosed Darwin a few times more than she ever had William; Darwin wasn't professing his love for her.

Sighing, she gave up on trying to sort out the accounting at the moment. Just as she stood to go make herself a drink, Marla entered. The last person Seyla really wanted to see right now. They were in similar positions with their clients-turned-paramours and Seyla didn't appreciate the reminder.

“Good morning, you’re up late,” Marla greeted her. “Long night?” She looked over Seyla and frowned slightly. Something was in the wind. Seyla looked...scattered was the word that came to mind, so different from her usual, unruffled calm. “Everything okay?”

"Hmm? Everything is fine, Marla." Seyla smiled blankly and poured herself a drink; she added a second glass for Marla. "How was your night?"

“Oh, not bad.” Marla reached for the glass. “Thank you.” She wasn't all that convinced but there was no prying anything out of Seyla when she didn’t want it known. “I know how you love a good secret though and I may have something for you.”

Recalling the last secret Marla had brought her, the one about Doctor Harding playing consort to the planet's Prime Minister, Seyla wondered whether she really wanted to hear this bit of gossip. Of course she did. "Really? What sort of secret?"

“One of my clients tonight was a transport pilot who just got in yesterday. He said that on the transport, there was a blonde woman, really annoying. When they reached the station, this blonde was crowing about how she was so excited to be reaching 900 and her husband, something about them being separated for a while.” Marla smiled. “And you won’t believe what he said next.”

Wondering why she would even care that a wife was coming to be with her husband, Seyla shrugged and shook her head. Perhaps, though, it did matter: if the husband were a big spender with her girls.... "Who is the husband?"

“According to the young woman, Dr. Solis is her husband,” Marla announced. “You know, the rock star doc who’s wife is that iceberg in Ray’s office?”

Relieved that the husband wasn't a spender - hadn't ever been a client, in fact, Seyla relaxed. "Bajun? I wouldn't have ever guessed she had any interest in men, let alone sex. So he has two wives? That isn't that unusual. For a Vulcan, it is, but he's not a normal Vulcan, is he?"

Marla shook her head. “There is nothing normal about that man whatsoever, from what I’ve seen. But I’d take his sort of abnormal anyday.” She smiled a moment. “As for the two wives, who knows? Sverker, who I saw early this evening, said there was a bit of an uproar in sickbay when this woman showed up.”

Seyla's brow rose slightly. "Perhaps Bajun is unaware of the other wife? I could see her raising hell about that."

“If that’s the case, I wouldn’t to be him when she finds out. I’ll bet she --” Marla was interrupted by the sound of the door chime. There was barely a pause before it rang again, then repeated. She looked over to the door, where the chime continued to ring. “Someone’s in a hurry. Want me to get it?”

"Yes, please." Seyla nodded. "And then I'll shoot whoever it is."

Marla hurried over to the door, to see who it was and to shut up that chime. “I’m coming, I’m com--” The doors parted and she stopped, her mouth hanging open. Standing at the door was Dr. Harding. “Uhhhh….”

“Marla.” He gave her a nod. “Could you excuse us please?”

It took a moment for his request to filter through her surprise and shock. People like him just didn’t show up at Seyla’s door. She looked back at Seyla to see what she wanted her to do.

"Get out," Seyla spoke sharply at Marla and moved towards her and the door. "Go on, out," she shooed her out and then looked at her visitor. "Will, come in," her voice and demeanor had changed completely.

He watched as Marla hurried out, then stepped in. He waited until the doors closed, then reached for Seyla, pulling her close. “I have a little more time,” he murmured. “As soon as you left, I wanted to call the shuttle back.”

"Computer, no interruptions," Seyla said before kissing him. "You could have all the time you want."

He drew out the kiss, not wanting to let her go but finally he spoke. “How?”

"Leave the Prime Minister," she said. "You don't have to return to her." She began removing his shirt. "You could stay here, take up your position again."

“And you?” He let her go so she could finish unbuttoning his shirt. Once she was done, he took hold of her hands, stopping her. “What you said down there Sey...really hit home. You’re right, about all of it.”

"I was?" She wasn't sure what she had said. "Which part?"

“Starting with what I really am for Solaana to being tired of taking orders to being restless….do I need to go on?” He smiled down at her and shook his head. “But that isn’t all we have to address here.”

"No, I suppose it isn't. William...., what would you have me do?" She didn't recall that she'd asked Suresh the same question many months ago, right before he'd gone off the deep end and caused a rift in dimensions. "That's what you mean, isn't it?"

He nodded. “Yes.” He knew exactly what he wanted but suddenly was afraid to ask. His life was about to see some big changes but how to accomplish them was the real question. “I have to know one thing, Seyla. About you. That will determine where we go from here, won’t it?”

"Will it? What do you want to know that you don't already?"

“What it is that you want...from me...from us. Am I being foolish? I know you have complications, but we can work those out. You could….” He paused, searching for the right words. “You could give yourself to me and let the girls handle the business.”

She could easily give up seeing clients, or she could send out the message that she took on only the most exclusive clients. She wasn't getting younger..... But: "For how long? How long till you grow tired of me or ashamed of my business? And what then? Then I try to rebuild my clientele?" She didn't need to: her stable of women and men would provide more than enough income for her. "Could you really introduce me to Admiral Wegener as your... companion? Girlfriend?"

“I have the utmost respect for the Admiral but I don’t expect him to chose who I spend my time and my life with, nor do I need his approval.” Will smiled and hugged her close again. “How long have you known me Sey? How long have we been close?”

"A... a year?," she wasn't entirely sure. He'd been just a client at first - granted, a prestigious client, one whose privacy she went to great lengths to protect - but still, a client.

“That’s when things began to change, wasn’t it?” Will asked. “You know me probably better than anyone on this station besides Jackson. You know that I am not one to fly from one flower to another. I’ve seen no one but you and you never knew it did you?”

"Actually, I did," she admitted. She didn't track her clients, normally, but William Harding was a challenge. "I didn't have anyone watching you, but ...part of my business is information. And information about you was one of the things that comes to me. Particularly because all my girls think you're a feather: they all want you as a token in their client list. And they think you're an uncrackable nut, that you've even refused me." She smiled at him, amused by his reputation. "If you had shown interest in anyone, the girls would have been chattering about it."

She chuckled and asked, "Are you asking me to set aside my clients, then? To be yours alone?"

“Yes, I am.” He was completely serious now. “Though if I was so inclined, Marabeth was quite tempting. You can tell her that if it makes her feel better.”

Frowning slightly and quickly, the only outward sign of a jealous twinge, Seyla debated with herself. Her feelings leaned one way; her business self and ambitions leaned another. What of her plans to take over Suresh's organization? She had started that process already; could she keep it going? What about her plans to exact revenge on Li Hawke and Oralia Zeferino?

“It’s a big step for is both.” He reached up, resting his palm against her cheek. “I have to to tell a Prime Minister I am now unavailable.” He paused a moment as he looked into her eyes. “Am I?”

She wasn't sure. It was a big step. Could she put everything aside for him? Was she really putting everything aside for him? She could still have her plans, still have her business, still be the center of her own world. It was just that she'd be in his bed each night. The idea more than appealed to her; the idea warmed her in a way that Suresh's request hadn't touched her. She played with the buttons on his shirt then looked up at him. "I... I think you are, Will."

His smile grew and he swept her up in his arms, spinning her around before he lowered her back to the ground. He kissed her forehead, then whispered, “I still have three hours. Then I have to go get my life back.”

"Then let's not waste our three hours, Will," she pulled him toward her bedroom. Halfway there, she stopped and turned to him, "Wrapping up my ...business... may take me longer. Is that okay?" She couldn't believe she was asking permission from someone; she hadn't had to do that since... since Suresh had been taken to prison.

“Whatever you need. What will you tell Marla about my presence here?”

"That you read something in my medical chart and wanted to talk with me about it?" She knew Marla wouldn't buy that, but she didn't care. "She's smart; she'll see through that. But do you care if anyone knows now?"

“No, I don’t. And she always seems to be your right hand woman, she needs to know.” The idea that it didn’t matter if anyone knew about him and Sey was suddenly thrilling. He didn’t have to hide anything from the public...and soon he wouldn’t be hiding things from Solaana either. “Soon everyone will know. This is the sort of news that will travel.”

"Like wildfire," she agreed then kissed him deeply and long before taking him into the bedroom.

***************
Lt. Commander William Harding, M.D.
Finally Getting What He Really Wants

Seyla
Starting Down a Rose-Lined Path

Marla
On The Verge Of Change Herself