“Tonx! I’ve got an invite for me and a guest to the station’s annual
personnel party. Everyone who's anyone is going to be at this thing
tonight. I want you as my guest because I need you as my wingman,” came a
voice moments before a short, balding man came around the corner into
the lounge area of the room Lieutenant Commander McKenna had gotten on
the station circling around Earth.
Looking to her long time friend, Greer smiled, “Oh come now, Fred. You
don’t need a wingman. . .never have, but I would be happy to be your
plus one and offer you encouragement. No guarantees I won’t bugger off
if I find someone who tickles my fancy, or more.” The woman flashed a
smirk, something she’d gotten a reputation for during her time in
Starfleet.
Fred grinned, “I knew I could count on you. You worried some of your old flames might be here?”
The smirk grew, “I wouldn’t say worried. I’ve already hooked up with a couple of my old classmates who stuck close to home.”
“Hooked up with as in met up or?”
Tonx arched a brow as her smirk grew, but said nothing.
“Ah. . .oh. You have never changed, have you?”
“Why should I? I’m always honest about who I am and what I want,” she replied.
Fred shook his head, “I don’t understand how you do it.”
“Don’t try and understand. You’ll just pop a blood vessel if you think too hard on it,” Tonx teased.
~~~ Some time later ~~~
Tonx gave the tunic of her dress uniform a tug as she walked alongside Fred, “I heard Leanne was going to be here tonight.”
The man blushed madly, “Oh yeah?”
Tonx laughed softly, “You know you don’t lie well, don’t you? You knew she was going to be here.”
“Oh, fine, yes I knew. I struggle getting conversation started with her,
but once you get us started, I can usually manage,” he admitted.
Snorting, Greer replied, “You need to overcome that, you know. I won’t be able to be there on your wedding night.”
“Wedding night?! What?”
She laughed again, “Take it easy, Fred. I’m teasing.”
At that moment, the pair arrived at the celebration, which was being
held in what amounted to a ballroom. There was a live band playing at
one end of the hall, standing on an elaborately decorated stage. There
were several tables set up with appetizers, and at other strategic
points, tables set up with bartenders ready to serve drinks.
Tonx wasted no time as she made her way to the nearest bar station,
grabbing a double gin and tonic while Fred got a Cosmopolitan. The
Lieutenant Commander took a sip and turned to scan the room, a slow
smirk coming to her lips, “Follow me, Fred.”
“Where are we going?”
Tonx paused long enough to grab a second cosmo, “Down the drink, m’boy.”
“Why?”
“Trust me.”
Fred didn’t ask a second time and downed his drink, scrunching up his
face as the alcohol hit him hard. She handed him the new cosmo and
headed off with him trotting behind her, “Where are we going?”
Tonx didn’t answer, instead, she tapped another woman on the shoulder,
“Leanne. . .I didn’t know you were going to be here. Hey Freddy. . .did
you know Leanne was going to be here?”
“What?” He looked dazed and confused.
Leanne’s eyes lit up when she saw him, “Freddy! I was hoping you’d be here.”
Tonx stepped back so she wasn’t between the two of them, “Why don’t you
two go get a bite to eat? There’s someone over there I want to see.”
“What?” Fred asked looking at Tonx, petrified until he saw her nod
towards one of the buffets near an empty table. “Oh! Food! Are you
interested, Leanne?”
Leanne nodded, “Absolutely.” As they walked off, she looked over her shoulder and mouthed to Tonx, ‘Thank you.’
Tonx smirked and held her gin and tonic up in a toast.
“I’m impressed. You make one hell of a wingman,” a sultry female voice called from behind her.
Looking over her shoulder, Tonx let that smirk shine through, “I’ve
learned a thing or two with Freddy. That woman’s crazy about him, but he
gets so tongue tied if he has to start the conversation. I just hope I
don’t have to kick start their conversations when they get married.”
Turning to face the woman who spoke to her, Tonx only just managed to
stop herself from gawking. Standing about as tall as she was, the woman
had long, auburn hair, stunning green eyes, and curves in all the right
places. Letting her smirk go a little crooked, Tonx asked, “And who
might you be?”
Taking a slow, deliberate sip of her own cosmopolitan, the woman didn’t
take her eyes off of Tonx’s. When she finished her sip, she finally
replied, “My name is Maudie. Tell me. . .are you meeting anyone else
here?”
Shaking her head slowly, Tonx answered, “Nope. No one is expecting me,
and no one would miss me.” She took a step closer to Maddie and licked
her lips, “Dare I ask if you are here with anyone?”
Maddie laughed softly as she closed the rest of the distance between the
two of them, “No one that would miss me. I have to say. . .these things
are always so stuffy. Care for a change of scenery? Perhaps one a bit
more private?”
“That more private scenery have gin?”
“It does.”
~~~ The next morning ~~~
“Maddie? Maddie, are you here?” A man’s voice called from another room.
Somewhere in Tonx’s hungover mind, that there was a man’s voice in the
next room registered. It took time for that thought to make it through
the cobweb of neurons and synapses. In fact, the woman (woman?! Oh
right. . .) next to her stirred, “Oh shit! Wake up, Tonx. You gotta
hide.”
“What? Hide? What are you talking about?” A groggy Tonx asked as she sat up, pulling the sheet around her. “Who is that?”
“My husband.”
Suddenly, Tonx was no longer hungover, and very much sober, “Your what? You didn’t say you were married.”
“You didn’t ask.”
Shit. Maddie had her there.
“Now come on...get in the bathroom!”
Shuffling over, trying not to drop the sheet, Tonx almost made it to the
bathroom when a man burst through the door, “What’s going on here? Who
are you?”
Stopping in her tracks, Tonx looked over to the man who was becoming red
in the face, and felt the blood drain from hers. The man was wearing a
uniform with the rank of admiral.
Oh shit.
Tonx looked at her feet, and saw her own uniform laying there, looked to
Maddie, about to ask her what the hell when the Admiral stepped fully
into the bedroom, “Name, rank and ship.”
Fuck. (Except that’s what got you into this predicament, woman!)
“Lieutenant Commander Greer McKenna, USS Lonestar,” she answered, holding eye contact, not letting him intimidate her.
“Get your clothes and get out. Your CO will be hearing from me,” the admiral barked.
Tonx didn’t have to be told twice. The cheeky part of her looked over
her shoulder to Maddie as she was starting to leave, “Call me.” She
smirked at her, and then the admiral before making a run for it, holding
the sheet and her uniform around her to hide her modesty, dashing the
rest of the way across the station to her own temporary quarters.