Culinairy surprises

Posted on Mon Aug 13th, 2018 @ 7:36pm by Commodore Jane Saulitis

Mission: A Majestic Affair
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: MD4, 1300 hours
1118 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Kitchen fresh installed, Patrick felt he was finally coming back to life. Though his main purpose was to make sure the commanding officer and her first officer, as well as the dignitaries they would entertain, were provided with fresh meals, he wouldn't say no to anyone asking for a fresh meal.

Still, he felt his primary responsibility was to the captain, and so he'd slaved for the past hours in the hope of preparing her a satisfactory lunch. Balancing the tray on one hand as a waiter might, he made his way to the bridge, hoping to surprise her. He wasn't even sure she knew she had a personal chef...

As he arrived, he walked slowly and carefully towards the readyroom, watching the door slide aside as he approached the sensor. He thought it briefly odd that he didn't have to announce his presence, momentarily putting it on a glitch in the system.

"I've brought lunch ma'am," he stated as he approached the desk, again not certain he should've just walked in when the door parted for him.

"Lunch?" Jane looked up confused. Of course she knew the word, she just didn't know this person and wondered why they were bringing her lunch in her ready room. She set the PADD down she'd been looking at and rubbed her forehead a little bit. She was starving but this still needed an explanation.

"I don't think we've been introduced?" She offered her hand to the stranger before realizing he was still holding a tray. "Oh you can set that down on the desk."

Setting down the tray as directed, Patrick cast her an almost shy smile. "M'name's Patrick ma'am," he introduced himself, "I'm your new chef. And someone's given me a few whispers on what food you like so..."

"I'm Jane, no need to call me ma'am when you bring me food." She looked down at what he'd brought and frowned slightly. "Whispers?" It dawned on her what might have happened. "Did you get a transmission from a male human who identified himself only as Hak?"

"I think so," the young man replied, though he did hesitate. "Don't know how he knew I'd be here...but he seemed to know." He gestured towards the tray. "It's all fresh."

"Don't worry about it." Jane told him and gladly lifted the lid off the meal. "It smells delicious, thank you so much. I haven't eaten all day. My stomach was just yelling at me." She put the napkin on her lap and picked up a fork. "Join me?"

"Sure " Patrick smiled as he pulled up a chair. "You haven't eaten?" He pretended to be horrified. "If I had known that I'd have come sooner. I'll remember to make you breakfast tomorrow, what would you like to have?"

"Just been busy setting things up," she replied, a small coloring coming to her cheeks. "Oh you don't have to do that. There's a replicator in my quarters just like everyone else. I usually just have a simple breakfast, some toast with nut butter or a couple of eggs."

"It's my job. I'm assigned as your chef and I'm to cater for official functions." Patrick smiled as he reached for some food. "Mister Murphy has installed a galley in the mess and a small kitchen in my quarters."

"He did, did he? He's been busy it sounds like." Now if it were possible she felt even guiltier about her faux pas, bringing up the husband who had passed away. "I'll have to make it up to him somehow."

"Well I did promise dinner as payment, to he had at his convenience. I'm happy, when my food makes people happy. And it seemed to make him happy." Patrick smiled sheepishly. "I'm all for finding happiness again."

Jane smiled, resting her chin on her hand for a moment. "That sounds lovely. Let me know if you need anything for this dinner. I feel I owe him some cookies or something for a faux pas the day we met." She went back to eating and stored the information in the back of her mind that perhaps there could be a bit more going on than a simple dinner. If so it pleased her that it would make a member of her crew happy.

"I'm happy for you to use the galley," Patrick offered, "it's your ship after all and all I'll need is fresh ingredients from the arboretum."

"That's a thought." She pondered it for a moment between bites. "I will think on it. This is delicious by the way. Thank you so much for bringing me a meal." Jane eyed him for a moment. "Tell me about yourself."

This was always the difficult part, when people ask him to talk about himself. "I grew up in Ireland," he started, "and I've always wanted to cook but never wanted to join Starfleet. While I was going through uni I met someone in my final year, while catering at the academy. We dated for four months, then got married. We would have been married three years, this year."

"I'm sorry," Jane replied, assuming that his partner had passed away. She hated to assume anything though but one did not ask politely about such things when first meeting. "I love Ireland, had the pleasure of visiting once and would have loved to spend more time there. I've never made it back even though these days it's just a few second ride in a transporter buffer."

"I've lived there all my life," Patrick answered, "don't be sorry. Andrew died helping others. I wasn't there when he died, I wasn't summoned when they found him, when he was still alive... but I know he died while doing his duty." He shook his head and sighed. "His death isn't something I like to talk about, though I know I should see the counselor about it. I'm slowly picking up my life again. After I lost Andrew I felt like I was lost. I shut everyone else out." He looked up. "This is a new start."

Emme got up and replicated him a cup of tea. She set it down in front of him and then raised her own glass. "To a new start, for all of us." The cups clinked and she smiled while she sipped her own tea. First thing she needed to do when she got back to her quarters was call Hak and thank him. Despite her doubts about herself, it seemed like things were working out after all.

Patrick raised his cup in return. "New starts and lots of happy people having good food."

---

Lieutenant Commander Jane Saulitis
Commanding Officer
USS Majestic

Patrick O'Malley
Chef
Pnpc Lhaes

 

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