Home With Baggage

Posted on Mon Oct 1st, 2012 @ 2:36pm by Suresh & Commander Oralia Zeferino

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Seyla's Quarters

* * * The Cherry Pit * * *

Suresh moved along the corridor, glad to be home. He’d left Jade under guard with two of his men as he had somewhere to go. He’d kept the one named Jade on a whim, and now he wasn’t exactly sure what he intended to do with her. That would work itself out and he’d think of something. Otherwise, he’d pass her on to Seyla or get rid of her on the next shipment. Right now, however, he needed to see the green-skinned one and so he found his way to her quarters, hoping that she wasn’t slumming with that ass of a security officer that had made Suresh’s shit list. He rang the chime and waited.

When the door slid open, it was an angry Seyla who answered, “I told you no, you freak...! Oh, Suresh.” Despite wearing only a sheer black robe, she put a foot out of her quarters and looked left and right down the corridor. Then she pulled back and gestured for Suresh to come. “Obviously, thought you were someone else.”

“And who would that be?” His tone was a little less than pleased, though why he was annoyed, he wasn’t sure. The door closed behind him and he pressed the panel to lock it.

“Just a pervert,” she eyed him and smirked, “Sort of like you, but... worse.” She went to her bar and poured herself a drink. Without asking, she also poured one for Suresh: his usual. Carrying both glasses and handing one to him, she asked, “What brings you by? Needing a new fix?”

“That you can’t give me, no one can.” He took the drink and raised it to her in a silent toast. “But I did want to see you.” He tossed the drink back, then set the glass aside. Now he took her face in his hands. “Have you seen him while I was gone?”

“Him? Do you mean my favorite Security officer?” She laughed as she saw a spark of... something in Suresh’s eyes. “He’s not been here for a few days. I’m not privy to what he’s doing or where he is.” Backing away from him, she knocked his hands away from her face and sipped her drink. “You almost sound jealous, Suresh.”

“I cannot abide his existence, Seyla. He joked about....you know...then thought he’d have me committed for a night.” His eyes met hers, dark and stormy. “Did he see you after you left me?”

“Yes, he did,” she confirmed. Darwin was a special case for her - he was not a client and, accordingly, her confidentiality rules didn’t apply to him... mostly. Asked about his sexual prowess or proclivities, she’d simply smile and redirect the conversation; answering whether he’d been there wasn’t a problem, however. “And since he has and if he had been here while you were away, what will you do about?” Her tone rode the very thin line between mocking humor and bored concern.

“Does he know why you were in such a state?” Suresh turned away from her, pacing across the room. Anger rose higher in him, surprising him. He already despised the man but the idea that he’d been here in Suresh’s absence cranked it up a notch. “Do I have him to look out for even more now?”

Seyla did something she was good at: she lied. “Suresh, you know I keep secrets about my clients. Why would you think I would tell him anything about you?” Setting her glass down, she gracefully followed him and touched his shoulders as she circled him. Her pheromones swirled thickly around him. “You don’t need to be on the lookout for him.”

“I do but for my own reasons that don’t concern you. You’ll understand if I don’t share my plans there.” He paused and closed his eyes, breathing her in deep. “I came tonight because I may need your assistance.” Without hesitation, he reached out, pulling her robe open and pushing it down from her shoulders.

Standing naked before him, her long red hair her only adornment, she smiled knowingly. “I see what sort of assistance you seem to want right now. Would this be all tonight, Suresh?”

“Tempting...very tempting.” Her question gave him pause, however. The scene in his quarters before he left sprang to mind, the harsh words, then the change in tone when he’d realized he needed her. “And if I said no? Asked you not to see him again?”

The question flat-out shocked Seyla. Covering her surprise with a wary smirk, she asked, “How would I keep a finger on the pulse of this station, then? It’s not like I can seduce the Chief... I’m rather sure she isn’t interested in my type. And the Assistant? Most likely the same situation. So that leaves the part-Klingon. And he’s in bed with the Admiral’s yeoman.”

Suresh frowned. “He’s sleeping with ..what’s her name? Beckman? I met her when I saw the Admiral.”

“No, no, the other Admiral’s yeoman, Sarkozi.”

“Huh. Interesting.” He shrugged, then a thought occurred to him. “Is that all he is to you?”

“Do you really think I’m so foolish as to let someone like him matter to me?” Again, she lied. “Please, Suresh, if I had feelings for every client I pretend to like, I’d never be able to do the business I do.” Her words were incongruous with her actions, as she spoke like a business woman but leaned into him so her body was against his and ran her hands through his hair. Purring seductively, she smiled and whispered, “You really are sounding a touch jealous, my dear Romulan. Possessive, even. What’s bringing this on?”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” She was right, though, he had to admit. That thought didn’t please him either but then, their last meeting had utterly mystified him too. Just what the hell was happening? Her particular scent wasn’t helping his thoughts stay clear either. “I brought a girl back, Seyla.” He had to get that out before his mind was wasted altogether.

All this angst over her seeing Darwin? And then he says he has a girl? Stepping away from him, Seyla stared at the Romulan then hotly demanded, “A girl? I trust you mean a woman, not a child. And this woman, what is she to you? A replacement for me? A replacement for your beloved but dead Isha?”

“No, neither. I...I have no idea why I brought her back to be honest.” And he didn’t. It had been spur of the moment, a flexing of muscle, a demonstration of control more than anything. “She may be useful but I don’t intend to touch her.”

“You don’t...? What?” Incredulous, she wasn’t sure what to say. She did, however, take a good look at Suresh and found that she both pitied him and was worried about him. “Come here,” she led him to her couch and bade him to sit. Getting him another drink and retrieving her robe from the floor to put it on, she sat next to him. “You have me worried, Suri. First the concern over whether I see Darwin as something more than a source of information and now this... girl whom you don’t intend to touch...? Perhaps taking some time away from here would do you good; I could handle your affairs, with Lazan’s help.”

“No. Any sign of weakness is dangerous in my position, Seyla. As for this woman, Jade, she’s under guard at the moment, but you can meet her. If I find no use for her, you may have her.”

“Jade? Is she Orion?” Seyla asked.

“No. According to the manifest, she’s human.” Suresh shrugged. “A bit mouthy but I cured that problem already.”

“My customers tend to like their women with tongues attached,” Seyla looked a little worried.

“Then let’s hope she took my instructions to heart, Seyla. It’s all in her hands now. Never let it be said I didn’t give her a choice in anything.” He shrugged and finished his drink, leaning back into the sofa.

“So is that the assistance you might need from me? To take this woman on as an employee?” Seyla took his glass and refilled it before coming back to straddle his lap. As she sat there, she drew her fingertips along his neck and chest.

“If it comes to that, yes. I hear business is booming...” The earlier annoyance was gone from his voice and he gave a happy sigh at her touch. Somehow, in his rapidly muddling brain, he caught on to the fact that he allowed Seyla to get close when no one else could. She’d helped him stay sane when his longing for Isha became too much, and again when the loss of Isha had almost driven him mad. There was some important point in there somewhere but right now, he couldn’t take hold of it and it drifted away.

“Perhaps I should see this woman, then,” Seyla said to him, talking about business still, even though her fingers and her attention had turned to seducing and undressing the man. “But, for now, how about a good welcome home?”, she purred and kissed him.

“No charge?” he murmured.

“You’re looking for charity?”

“Looking for something personal, not professional, Seyla.” He wasn’t too sure where the words came from but it was too late to take them back now. “You’ll never be far from me you know.”

If she weren’t in the process of undressing him, Seyla might have shuddered or shivered or just frozen altogether in light of his words. Never be far from him? Stalker’s words, but Seyla could see how his attachment could be turned to her own profit and gain. “In that case, Suri, yes,” she kissed him again then led him to her bedroom.

***************

Suresh
Momentarily Muddled

Seyla
Forever Plotting