Distant Shores - Marco Palmieri [43]
“Neelix,” Kes said, blessing him with a genuine smile of welcome. “How are you? It seems like ages since I’ve seen you.”
Six days, twenty-two hours and… hmmm, fifteen minutes, give or take. “I’ve been busy,” Neelix said. “My duties in the dining hall, studying the security protocols…”
“And the talent show,” Kes said breathlessly. “It’s all anyone talks about. The Doctor is thrilled that you’re letting him perform the aria from Otello. He’s been practicing every free moment. He even asked me if I would be Desdemona so he could practice his throttling.”
“Oh,” Neelix said. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Kes laughed. “It’s quite fun. You should see his expression!”
“Does that mean you’re going to be in the show?” Neelix asked, “because if you weren’t, I was wondering…”
“Since the Doctor is performing,” Kes answered before he could continue, “I might have to stay in sickbay. If nothing is going on, no patients or tests running, I’ll try to come down to see. Otherwise, I’ll be watching on the monitor and I know Tom plans to record the whole thing so everyone who’s on duty can replay it later.”
“Oh,” Neelix said, and found it impossible to keep the disappointment out of his voice. “I see. Well, yes, that makes perfectly good sense.”
Kes cocked an eyebrow and regarded him skeptically. “Neelix,” she said. “What? You had something on your mind.”
“It was nothing,” Neelix said with a wave of his hand. “Just an idea I had. A little something in case there was a pause in the proceedings. Sometimes the holodeck sets don’t change as quickly as we’d like and Tom thought it would be a good idea to have a few more ‘live’ acts ready just in case.”
Neelix felt Kes trying to look him in the eye, but studiously avoided her gaze. Finally, a handful of sweat-inducing seconds later, he felt her touch his arm lightly, ever so lightly, and say, “Neelix, you wanted to sing the Starlight Song.”
The Talaxian shrugged ever-so-slightly, but when he felt the grip on his arm tighten, he found the courage to look his former love in the eye. “I just thought…”
“You just thought it would be fun,” she said and, leaning closer, grinned appreciatively. There were, Neelix noticed, tiny wrinkles around Kes’s eyes where there had been none the last time he had been this near her.
“We did harmonize so well together.”
“We did,” she said. “Though I think half the reason it sounded so nice was because your ship was so tiny.”
“Cozy,” he said. “The word was ‘cozy.’ “
“Right.” She sighed and her smile faded. “I’d like to, Neelix, but…”
“I understand. Duty calls.” He tried to sound cheerful. “Mine, too. I have to get back to the holodeck before Tom loses his temper with some unsuspecting crewman.”
“He’s feeling some strain?”
Neelix was surprised by the question. “You haven’t talked to him?”
“Not in days. More than since the last time I talked to you.”
“I assumed you were… seeing each other occasionally.”
“Tom?” Kes asked, surprised, perhaps even amused. “No, I think he has other interests right now.”
“Really?”
“You two don’t talk?”
“Only about the show.”
“You should,” Kes said and patted him on the arm. “I think you could become good friends.”
“Well, if you think so…”
“And Neelix,” she added as she removed her hand from his arm. “We’re still good friends.”
“We are?”
“We are.” She grinned again and this time Neelix could see her back teeth which meant she was truly happy. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek so that he could smell the slight citrus-and-vanilla scent of her skin. The tips of Neelix’s ears tingled and he closed his eyes, relishing the moment. When he opened them again, Kes was gone, having moved away so quietly it was almost like she hadn’t been there at all.
Later that night-much later-Tom stood waiting for a turbolift in a dim, otherwise deserted