Someone Like You

Posted on Wed Oct 26th, 2022 @ 5:14am by Crewman Recruit Zeria & Commander Dominic Aldrich

Mission: A Day In The Life
Location: Aldrich Quarters
1958 words - 3.9 OF Standard Post Measure

"Perfect," Dominic said to himself as he danced, quite badly, in the small kitchen in his quarters. The mushrooms were fried, the gumbo was done, and dessert was ready for the last touch when the time came. The song playing in the background was Layla by Eric Clapton. He did not hear the door open with the music playing.

"Ooooh," Zeria said coming up behind him. "What are you doing?" She had known he could cook but hadn't realized there was any kind of special occasion coming up.

"What am I doing? I am simply fulfilling the requirements for sustenance your body has." He then turned around and kissed her, "And maybe some requirements I have too." He winked, kissed her forehead, and turned back around to his work.

Zeria eyed him suspiciously. "Alright then, keep your secrets." She didn't mind being pampered in the least. She almost asked what was for dinner but decided to just wait and see as it seemed like another one of those useless questions that would be answered if she just waited a moment. Instead she just watched him, her mind wandering and wondering about his life, how moments in them had made him the man he was.

"And, done," Dominic said as he grabbed to bowls. Spooning the concoction from the pot and then placing a large spook of rice on top in the center, he smiled and murmured, "Perfect." He took the bowls and set one at each place. "Dinner is served, my Love. It's a file' gumbo made totally from scratch with what I had on board. I refuse to use the replicator for such things." He took a seat across from her and simply enjoyed the scent of the meal and the sight of his bride-to-be. "We also have some fried mushrooms and a dessert to come." His eyebrows then raised quickly, "Oh! I almost forgot," he said getting back up and returning with two glasses. "And a Sauvignon Blanc to go with it."

"It looks amazing but, It's not my birthday . . ." Zeria mused. "Did you break something? Are you having an affair?" She was entirely joking and winked at him to let him know so. "Did you know that courtship is entirely different where I come from?" Though he had spent five years living on the planet they hadn't actually officially been together until the ship returned to pick them up. "Traditionally the young couple does things together that they would be doing for the rest of their lives such as working. Young couples often build the house together before they are married so that they can be assured their temperaments are similar. And if they decide that things wouldn't work out they can either sell the house, one of them can keep it if they agree on it or donate it to a family in need." The more she thought about it the more she came to the conclusion that this is what she and Dom had done though they didn't know it at the time. "We worked together, you helped me on my farm and I helped you with your scientific experiments."

"Well, it sounds like we have done alright then," Dominic said with a smile. "You didn't just help me; you saved me. You made me a better man by getting my hands dirty and learning that all of my fancy tools and technology can't replace what it means to be alive and experience life without fancy data all the time."

"You did it yourself, you just needed a push and conveniently you were deposited on my doorstep for five years." Zeria couldn't help but think back to the moment she'd met him. The away team standing there on her doorstep like a bunch of newly weaned kittens that had no idea what they were supposed to do now.

She remembered the first night they were alone together where she'd offered him some tea after he'd helped her on the farm all day. He looked exhausted, almost defeated but there was still something in his eye that told her he wasn't done.


> > >

"So," Zeria said as the hot mug was handed over. "Thank you for all your help today." She backtracked, trying to figure out how to ask him something without it upsetting him. Zeria put her hands around her own warm mug and let the heat soak into her fingers. "Do you want to talk about it, I'm a pretty good listener."

Dominic didn't raise his gaze to meet hers, "I don't exactly know how to even describe it. I feel......different.....lost, but not lost." He held the mug and simply stared into it. "I have been defined by my intelligence and ability to think my way out of every situation. Yet, here I am in a place I can't think my way out of. I'm in an environment that I've never been in and doing work I've never even thought of doing. I'm uncoordinated and feel like a child. Yet," he said as he finally locked his eyes with her, "I somehow feel like I'm in the right place."

Zeria felt a zing of something she didn’t understand, almost as if he were looking at her soul. “Oh I have to object there. You may be somewhere you never thought possible but you are a scientist and even in science there are things that you can’t explain until you learn more about them. But you have this . . . . foundation,” she said for lack of a better term. “Of understanding. You may not have been a farmer but I see you have an innate ability. I think you are doing better than the others. They have all lost something too great to bear. And I know you have lost too but there is something there in you that I don’t see in the others. I don’t know how to explain it. Perhaps I’ve gone too far . . . “ Zeria watched him to see if she had somehow made him angry.

Dominic nodded as he took in what she said. “You are right. Just because I don’t have a solution yet doesn’t mean I won’t find one. But, that is actually part of the paradox I find myself in. I find myself looking to find a way back to my ship out of duty and out of a service to the others here, being the Officer in Charge. Yet, at the same time,” he looked at his washed, but still dirty fingernails, “I usually analyze soil with tools, not my hands. I don’t ever think about where my food comes from because it is sequenced from atoms into whatever I want. Here though,” he said as he got up from the table, “here I have to sweat for it. I have to get cut and dirty and bleed just to eat.

“Here, I am human. I am more than my intellect. I am more than the Chief Science Officer. I am me totally stripped down to my essentials. I have to solve problems completely with my own brain without a computer to run data for me. I have to look my people in the eyes and really see and hear them on a human level, not just as a person with a job.” He turned from the window and looked at her again, “Here, Zeria, here I am as free as I have ever been.” He walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders without even thinking, “You have helped to give me that. You wanted my help when we got here, and all the while you were helping to show me what life is.”

She made no move to avoid his touch, not even fully comprehending that he had indeed placed his hands on her. Her blue eyes widened. “That sounds like an awful lot of responsibility. Are you sure it was me? I can’t think of anything I’ve done except ask you to put your hands in the dirt.”

“That’s just it! You asked! It wasn’t a command. It wasn’t a directive. It wasn’t a task to complete out of duty. It was a request. You gave me a choice to do something that I never thought of. Sure, that wasn’t your intention, I know that, but you asked me nonetheless. Then, you taught me things. You reminded me of why I would work on an old car I had lying around. There is something wonderful about getting your hands dirty by choice to make or fix something yourself.” His thumb had begun to rub her shoulder and he realized that fact and slowly withdrew his hands, not knowing if he had, inadvertently, crossed a line. “You befriended me, some guy you barely know, just because I offered to help. I haven’t let anyone be my ‘friend’ in a very long time.”

“Well . . . I guess you’re welcome then,” She smiled and shook her head, perhaps a little bit embarrassed. “You’re the first person who has wanted to be my friend,” she gave a small shrug.

Dominic stood there in stunned silence before saying, "That can't be true!"

Zeria scoffed. “Have you not seen the way they look at me? They whisper as they walk through town. They call me a halfbreed when they think I cannot hear. My father was human,” Zeria explained. Normally it was something she would never reveal out loud but Dominic was human as well and she found him easy to talk to. “He came on a Starship and left on it. He may not even know I exist.”

Dominic could feel the frustration and anger rise up in him. It was something he didn't normally feel, but he kept it held down as best he could. "I'm sorry…I have heard some people say it, but I thought it was just a select few. I didn't know it was so widespread." He gritted his teeth without realizing it and said, "I want to go out there and tell them what I think about their hateful hearts."

“What good would that do?” Zeria smiled at him. “I have learned to be very independent. I don’t need anyone else. I get by just fine. And with your help and friendship, which I greatly appreciate, things are much better.”

"It probably won't help anything," he said in frustration,"but that doesn't mean I can be ok just accepting the rude things people say about someone I love!" Dominic froze. As the word came out of his mouth he turned red and wide-eyed and just stared at Zeria.

“I’m not asking you to be okay with it, I . . . .” She stopped when the full meaning of his words hit her. “What did you just say?” Surely he did not mean that. Yes, he was a very attractive man but he had always been a bit reserved with her. She had not taken it personally and had thought he was a private man and was working through a lot after being abandoned on this planet. He kept things close. He’d probably been hurt before. But Zeria’s nature was one of kindness and so she had extended a hand to him when he’d first arrived.

"I…I…" Dominic, not usually lost for words and careful with everything he said stammered as he answered her. "I….have realized that I….love…you…" He looked away, quite embarrassed to let something he had no intention of saying like this slip out. Then whispering, as he looked at the floor, "I am in love with you, Zeria."

To Be Continued . . .