Jovani woke up and felt warm. There was a body against his. As his eyes opened, he saw Cynda beside him, still asleep. He moved to the side and checked the chronometer. At this, Cynda stirred. Her eyes opened and looked at him. She smiled softly.
Jovani looked back and noticed her awake. "Good morning," he said.
"I would say so," she replied, not moving her head from the pillow, but still gazing at him.
He opened his mouth to speak, but then hesitated. Finally he asked his question. "I didn't catch you name," he said.
Her smile grew a bit as her cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink."Yeah . . . I guess we were a bit too preoccupied for that . . . My name's Cynda . . . Cynda Amory."
"It's nice to meet you," he replied. "I'm Jovani."
"I know," she replied. "If you recall I think I cried out your name a few times earlier . . ." her cheeks were still pink as she spoke, but her eyes sparkled.
"This is actually the first time I've ever done this. Well, technically the 22nd time."
"Well, I think you're a natural then!" she smiled moving closer to him. "I certainly would have never known." She looked at him and realized that he seemed a bit younger that the usual men she had been with. "So how old are you?"
He chuckled. "Uh, nineteen."
Her eyebrows went up, but her smile grew. "Really? I would have to say you are the youngest man I've been with . . . Certainly one with the most staying power!" she laughed softly.
"Well, I am half Cuban," he smiled.
"Mmmm, and that explains it?" she said. "You know, I don't understand what happened, but I have to say that this probably was the best, if not the strangest, welcome aboard I have ever had!"
"Well, if it makes you feel any better I've never welcomed anyone aboard so enthusiastically before," he replied.
She sat up and let the covers fall from her as she moved over to him. "It certain makes me feel special," she replied, reaching out and tenderly caressing his face. Just as she was leaning forward to kiss him, her commbadge chirped. With an exasperated sigh she rolled over the bed and grabbed the commbadge that was still on her clothes. She tapped it.
"Dr. Amory here," she said.
[This is Dr. Cherrin, in Sickbay. I would like to move up our meeting, so that we can get you started right away. Be to sickbay in an hour.]
"Yes, sir."
"Cherrin out"
"Doctor?" Jovani said with a bit of surprise.
She nodded. "Yep, that's me . . . Dr. Cynda Amory. I just transferred in from Starfleet Medical."
"Wow . . . so I was thinking. I have a physical that I've been putting off for awhile and so I figured you should let me know when you're on duty so I can come by and get that physical out of the way."
She smiled and laughed softly. "I'll definitely tell you my schedule . . . I'm sure giving you a physical would be the highlight of the day . . ." She then sighed. "Well, I suppose I'd better get ready for that meeting. Could you direct me to the shower?" she asked, her turquoise eyes gazing at him, not really wanting to move.
He walked to the door. "It's right here," he said. He opened the door and saw Mike and Laz together in the shower kissing. Immediately he shut the door. He looked at Cynda with a shocked look. "It's in use!" he said.
She raised her eyebrow. "Ah . . . Well, is there another around possibly?"
"Sure, we'll just see if my other roommate's home. "
They walk out of the room, through the livingroom and into Stephen's room. Jovani flipped on the light and found that Stephen wasn't there. He then went to the bathroom door.
"You can use this one. It's better anyway . . ."
"Thank you," she replied, as she walked into the large bathroom. She started the shower wanting real water to flow over her. "Care to join me? I do have a little time before that meeting . . ." she smiled.
"No, that's all right, I'm just going to go get dressed," he said.
She smiled. "No problem," she replied. "See you in a few minutes." She then disappeared under the jets of water, quickly washing herself off.
Jovani returned to his room and got dressed. It didn't take long for Cynda to return. Her hair was still damp around her shoulders. She quickly dropped the towel and dressed in her clothes. She then took a seat on the bed.
"So, after what happened I image you must have some conflicting feelings," she said. "I can tell you that I had a wonderful time . . . though I'm not entirely sure what happened to bring us to this point so fast .. . But I'll answer any questions you have . . . if I can . . ."
"I don't think you have any of the answers I'm looking for, but thank you," he replied.
"I just sense that you feel a bit unsettled . . ." she added.
"Uh, you're a telepath," Jovani said almost with a groan. "I just think we'd be better off as friends."
"Well, I'm all up for being friends," she replied brightly. "Believe me, I didn't come to the station to jump right into a relationship . . . I came to get away from Earth . . ." Her smile dimmed a bit.
"What's bad about Earth?" he asked curiously.
"Well, it's not Earth itself . . . Just that . . . My father died . . ." she said. "I tried everything I could to save him and I failed . . ." She pushed away the memory of him dying in her arms. She didn't want to cry.
"What did he died of?" he asked.
"An illness that attacked his pulmonary system . . . He eventually died of congestive heart failure," she said softly.
"That sucks. I'm sorry," he said.
She turned her eyes to him and smiled gently. "Yeah . . . I had to leave Earth because the memories were too strong there . . . I wanted to be stationed far away from it so they sent me here."
"I totally get that. I originally from another reality all together," he said.
She looked at him as her eyebrows raised. "Really?" she replied with interest.
"Uh, yeah, I come from an Earth where all of this is just a story on TV," he replied.
For a moment she didn't know what to say. "This must be different living it in person instead of just watching it," she replied. "And all of this was a fictional story?" she asked still trying to get her head around it.
"Yeah, I use to write part of it. In fact, my two room mates use to be my characters before they became my friends," he said.
"Your characters?" she echoed. "You had created them in this other reality?"
"Pretty much."
She was very quiet. "That's very interesting . . . So I take it other people like you created other characters. How many do you know of from your universe to this one?"
"I know quite a few actually," he said. "All the way up to the Fleet Admiral of Starfleet."
Her eyes widened. "But you didn't know me?"
"No, not you," he replied.
She smiled. "That's really interesting though . . . So how do you like here?"
"So far it's been pretty interesting. I've had a few adventures. I've gone up against the kullinari, I've gotten stabbed in the gamma quadrant and almost got hanged on Cardassia."
"You are definitely full of surprised!" she smiled.
"What say we get you to Cherrin before he has a cow," he said.
"All right," she replied. "That sounds like a good idea. I do want to make a good impression, after all . . . I hope I made a good one with you, though . . Despite our initial enthusiasm," she smiled.
"You definitely have," he said with a smile.
She got up from the bed and straightened her clothes. "I guess I'm ready . . " she said, almost hesitantly.
"So am I!" He walked out the door of his room to the steps. He lead her down the steps to the livingroom. They walked across the living to the door.
He bowed like a gentleman. "Ladies first," he said.
She smiled. "Thank you," and she walked through the door. He swiftly followed her.