"What?!?" cried Kim in shock and hurt disbelief. "Oh Lee! How could you? I thought we were friends!"
"It's not like I did it on purpose, Kimmie! It was just a dumb accident - it didn't mean a thing!" said Carter. She was plainly nearing her exasperation saturation point.
"That's not what Kassia said...," accused Kim.
Carter sighed. She'd realized too late that recounting the events at Commander Mallory's welcome dinner to her friends had been a mistake. Or at least, that one particular detail would best have been left out. Considering how Kimmie felt about Garek, she probably shouldn't have mentioned the stain that had formed on the tablecloth when she'd accidentally tipped over her wine glass. It had been heart-shaped and had pointed directly at Garek. Kasia had called it a sign. Most of the guests had found the whole thing quite amusing; she and Garek had found it somewhat uncomfortable. But she certainly had never planned it to happen.
"Never mind about what Kassia says," retorted Carter a little angrily, then switched tacks. In a more conciliatory tone: "You don't believe in all that esper mumbo-jumbo anyway, do you?"
From off to the side, Max harrumphed noisily and said in her most corrosive voice, "Thanks for the vote of confidence, boss."
"You stay out of this," snapped Carter irritably. She knew that Max had very high esper ratings, but didn't need the distraction of her acerbic humor right now.
"I need to get out of here," Kim was saying, and turned toward the exit. Carter could see tears brimming in her eyes.
"Wait, Kimmie...," but it was no use. Kim was through the doorway, and the door slid shut behind her with finality.
Carter frowned darkly, though not in anger at Kim's over-reaction. She was concerned for the well-being of her team. This was not the best time for divisions to creep in, what with nearby space crawling with Mullura and Jem'Hadar and who knows what else, and a new Diplomatic Officer on the station.
She looked around the room at her other team mates, but as her regard neared each one, they quickly looked away and desperately pretended to be busy with something else. It had been an uncomfortable incident for all of them.
Breaking the awkward silence, Carter announced, "I'm going to go see Garek and get this mess straightened out. I'm sure he can talk some sense into Kimmie."
On the way, Carter mentally reviewed recent events. When she'd spilled the glass during dinner, she hadn't really placed any significance on it. Although, even at the time, she had wondered why she should feel so suddenly self-conscious and uncomfortable. And in that instant when her eyes had met Garek's across the table, she'd seen the exact same feelings and thoughts there.
Could Kassia have been right? Was the heart an omen? Was there something between her and Garek? Is that why she'd felt so abashed - because somewhere deep down, her subconscious knew it? And is that why Kimmie had reacted so strongly to what was supposed to have been nothing more than an amusing anecdote - because she too had sensed something between her friend Lee and her boyfriend Garek?
Too many questions. And worse, Carter had no answers. But one thing she did know, was that this mess had to get straightened out.
Carter found Garek exactly where she thought she would - in Engineering, up to his waist in partially dismantled Mulluran weaponry. His hands and forearms were smeared with grime, and he'd even managed to get some on his forehead. Not for the first time, Carter wondered how, in an age of ODN conduits and isolinear circuitry, he always managed to get so dirty, but decided that that was part of his charm.
A split second after that thought went unbidden through her brain, Carter mentally recoiled in horror. What am I thinking?!? She angrily shook her head to banish all such fantasies. She swore to herself that that was the first and last time she'd ever think a thought like that about Garek. He's not even my type! she chided herself.
Erecting her best business expression on her face, she called to get Garek's attention over the general engineering noise: "Commander!"
Garek looked up to see who was hollering. Carter thought she saw a strange expression make a fleeting appearance on his countenance, but it was gone so quickly she couldn't be sure. He put down the self-sealing stembolt he'd been inspecting and walked over to where she stood.
"Hi there, Commander Carter," he said affably. "Kind of you to grace our humble engineering section with your beauteous presence. To what do I own the pleasure of this visit?"
Carter winced. "Don't joke around like that, Garek."
On seeing that Carter's serious expression hadn't lightened any after his jovial greeting, he decided to cool it. "Okay. Sure. Uh, what's up?"
Before Carter could elaborate, she was interrupted by a voice from behind.
"I knew it! The two of you together! Garek, you son-of-a...." Kim had approached Carter and Garek from the other side of the dismantled weaponry, out of their line of sight. Most likely, she'd come here seeking the truth from Garek, but now found herself face to face with incontrovertible proof that her fears had been well-founded after all.
She took two angry strides forward and smacked Garek hard across the face, then stormed out of engineering.
Speechless, Garek rubbed his cheek, completely mystified by what had just happened.
Carter said almost apologetically, "We have a little problem...."