'Le Club Marocain' Part One

Posted on Fri Sep 1st, 2023 @ 9:20am by Lieutenant Alisha Reno & Lieutenant JG Jane Sinclair
Edited on on Fri Sep 1st, 2023 @ 9:21am

2,390 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: The Fast & The Fleet
Location: Le Club Marocain, Earth Spacedock

Race Day for both Jane Sinclair and Alisha Reno was over, and the two had successfully earned a pair of points for Team NightKids.

It called for a celebration.

Ordinarily it would be difficult to get a last-minute reservation at Le Club Marocain. Spacedock’s most exclusive night spot, it was a two-Michelin star restaurant curated by Chef Marie-Claude Marais with her French-Moroccan fusion menu. There was no selection, only what Chef Marais made that night, and it was known to inspire a six-month-long waiting list.

But exception were made for the famous, and while Jane had no intention of trading on Alisha’s fame, she herself just won a live-broadcast grudge match race that already spread across the sports pages of the Federation News Service. A fair trade: the Sports Service journalist whose work gave him a household name would make the reservation for her, in exchange for two exclusive interviews.

And so at 2130, Jane Sinclair, clean of sweat and dry of holographic rain, wearing the green sheathe dress with black dots, with pristine (almost professional) makeup including dark lipstick and jade eyeshadow, her height elevated six centimetres by a pair of black stilettos, was brought to her table.

It was a couple minutes later that Alisha showed up at the hostess desk, but wasn't the blonde haired and blue-eyed woman that she typically was Instead she'd made a point to come out to this event in a far more high profiled manner, evident by a few people watching and one even pointing at her. Green eyes sparkled at the hostess in a face perfectly made up and framed with soft rolling red curls that also tumbled down the back of her dress.

The dress itself was a deep blue that nearly shimmered due to the fabric's sheen, but otherwise was unadorned. Shoulderless, it was gathered only at the waist with a silver sash tied in a bow and then flared out again into a skirt that stopped above the knees. A pair of three-inch heels made it look like she was on tip-toes and all of her accessories were sapphires, the ankle bracelet on her left foot, the tennis bracelet on her right wrist, even the two-stone droplet earrings that dangled from her ears were of a deep blue. A twelve-inch round hat was propped at an angle towards the front and left "Hello, Ah'm sorry to be a bother, but Ah'm supposed t' meet Jane Sinclair heah and Ah'm afraid that Ah've run a few minutes late." The honeyed southern voice was soft, but her look was just so earnest.

The hostess seemed only to be able to look at her ruby-red lips that were curved in that smile, "I um... Of course, I can take you Miss...?"

"Silverstar, ma'am." Murmurs came from behind her and she couldn't help but turn her head slightly so that one green eye glanced out from under the brim of the hat at where the murmurs had come from. The look was so just... Coquettish and in perfect form for her, a smile for the people who may or may not be fans and a flutter of eyelashes for them before she turned back to the hostess.

"Yes, of course... If you'll follow me?" The hostess had taken that moment to locate the subject on her seating chart and gestured for her to follow.

That Alexis Silverstar did demurely, following the hostess even though she'd spotted Jane at a table already, then nearly pranced around her as she 'officially' spotted her, "Jane! Darling!"

“Alexis!” Jane stood and met her date just before Alexis reached the table. She pulled her in for a tight hug and they exchanged a pair of cheek kisses. “I’m so glad you were in system and could join me in celebrating!” She held Alexis’s hands and smiled widely, rows of sparkling white teeth behind dark red lips. “You look radiant, as always.”

“And you are an absolute ravishin’ sight yourself, my dear!” Alexis’s smile rivaled Jane’s, but her eyes told the real tale of just what she thought of her companion’s outfit, none of it bad, “After seein’ that race of yours on the broadcast, how could Ah not accept your delightful invitation? We haven’t seen each other for a while and it would truly have been dreadful to have missed the opportunity!”

Jane pulled out Alexis’s chair for her, ever the gallant soldier. “I’ve taken the liberty of ordering champagne. The real stuff. I hope that’s alright.”

Very daintily, the redhead slipped into the chair, her hand catching on the raven-headed beauty’s arm and lingering as it slid down to the wrist and she caught the fingers for just a bare moment before releasing them, “Isn’t that really the only kind for a celebration of this sort? Tell me, how evah did you manage to pull that last move off? Ah saw it and almost couldn’t bear to watch the replay!”

“It all comes down to stakes,” Jane said as she took her seat. “If I did nothing, I’d lose. If I didn’t try something risky, I’d lose. If I did do something risky, then I had a chance.” A waiter came with an ice bucket, a bottle of champagne, and two glass flutes. He opened the bottle, caught the cork and a bit of spillage in a cloth, and poured them each a glass. The bottle was placed in the ice bucket for them and he left them to their relative privacy. “My opponent thought she was forcing me to slow and get behind her. But I know a few tricks. Kept my speed up just a second longer as she slowed for the turn. Got in front. The rest is history.”

She raised her glass toward Alexis. “To having a good reason to celebrate. And to having excellent company to celebrate with.”

Alexis raised her own glass and clinked it against Jane’s as ladylike as she could do, taking a sip of what turned out to be a rather lovely champagne, “Excellent indeed! Ah will admit that my heart was all a-flutter when you did that, was sure you were gonna crash, but when you made it out in front, Ah couldn’t help but cheer! Ah’m afraid Ah gave my assistant a bit of a fright with that.” She took another sip of the champagne, then smiled up at the waiter, “Would you be a dear and obtain us something to nibble on? Ah’m right famished and Ah am sure that Jane here is finally runnin’ out of adrenaline!”

“The first course will be out momentarily, Madame Silverstar,” the waiter said before leaving the table to fetch them.

Once they were left alone, Jane leaned in to speak sotto voce. “Alisha your race was EPIC. How did you do that thing at the end, when you jumped the bike onto his car?” While Alisha’s race wasn’t widely broadcast, the Haruna and Myogi crews could watch, duties permitting, and there wasn’t much to keep a helm officer occupied in Spacedock.

A different waiter came back with two plates of pan seared sea scallops with a Moroccan chutney smeared across the plate, as well as a bowl of crusty baguette pieces and Zaalouk for dipping.

“Thank you,” Jane said to the waiter, giving him a smile and a wink.

"Why thank you." Alexis said with a saucy smile, "We do really appreciate it."

Once he was gone, Jane leaned forward again and took a piece of bread. “Before you answer, how many different servers do you think we’ll get?” Her guess was that wait staff took turns with celebrities so they could all get close and have minor interactions. She broke off a piece of baguette and dipped it into the Zaalouk before bringing it to her mouth for a bite.

"We'll get at least seven." The redhead said definitively, having seen seven of them on the way in. They were already up to two in the short time they'd been there, "Maybe up to ten, because Ah think we're going to have a 'surprise' visit by the chef making sure her quality is good."

She took a fork and sliced one of the scallops with the side of it, which parted easily, then dragged it through the chutney before sliding it in her mouth and chewing delicately, her voice changing after a quick glance for anyone to overhear, keeping it hushed, "I didn't expect it to work! I was just trying to overtake on the hill, but I had no clue how I was going to get back upright until I saw literally a three-inch rock in the hill. Used it to get some rotation, somehow stuck the landing though I was aiming for the road, not his hood. Couldn't have nailed it better if I'd planned for it!" Her eyes, though the wrong color due to the contacts, still glittered with excitement from the race that she had expected to lose.

A scallop practically melted in Jane’s mouth, bringing her to heaven.

“Landing on that hood…it was like out of an action film,” she said, mesmerized by the racing skills her girlfriend apparently had. “When we’re done with ‘Shoot to Kill’, we should find a program with a motorcycle chase sequence,” she said with a grin.

"I could take you through 'Death on the Riviera', that scene, if you'd like." Alisha chuckled, but then her voice changed again, "There ain't nothin' like usin' a motorcycle to blow up a hydrogen tanker shuttle!" It had been one just like the bike she'd ridden a couple hours before that she'd sent sliding as she walked off after a high-speed dismount, which just happened to impact the tanker shuttle at a gas station. The 'coooool' walk away that stars got to make during pretty explosions. Another waiter was approaching, tiny little bits of meat on the end of bones dressed with little paper 'hats', apparently another appetizer for them to enjoy. The scent of lamb with spices followed it.

“Chef Marais is too good to us,” Jane said to the waiter as the plates were set down before them.

Before the waiter left, she continued talking, now at regular volume to Alexis. “I swear I haven’t felt this invigorated in years, luv. It’s…winning that race was magic. I haven’t felt like this my Freecloud Grand Prix win. Or, actually, since coming out of the other side of the Gatecrasher landing.” She lifted her champagne to her lips, but stopped and stared into Alisha/Alexis’s sparkling, excited eyes. “And I can’t think of anyone I’d rather feel this alive with than you.”

The mention of the time when Jane had been in combat, really it had been a suicide run that she'd managed to survive, was something that Alisha knew was difficult to match. 'There's nothing so exhilarating as being shot at... And missed.' Her eyes softened, "Oh, Sugarcube..." Her pet name for Jane as herself, but also decided now as Alexis as well and she reached out with one hand to capture Jane's other one, "Ah don't think Ah'd be happier in life without you with me either. Ah just wish we could see each other more often, Ah miss you whenever Ah can't be near you." She leaned over the table slightly so she could kiss the captured hand ever so softly and fondly.

There was a visible flash out of the corner of Jane’s eye. Some paparazzo timed a shot just right. But Jane didn’t care one tiny bit. She lapped up the attention her girlfriend was giving her, blushing at her words and the gentle lips upon her hand. She sipped from the glass in her other hand and just enjoyed the moment.

“I regret needing to be away as often as I am,” she replied. “But wherever I am, and wherever you are, I keep a piece of you here.” She shifted her seat around the table just enough to close the gap so she could pull Alisha and her joined hands to just above her left breast, and held them there so Alisha could feel her heartbeat.

There was another flash. In her periphery Jane saw a hostess looking for the cause but struggling to find it.

'In for a penny, in for a pound.' Alisha thought to herself. She could tell where the camera was, roughly, based on the flash and a very wan smile crossed her face as she leaned in, making sure her face was in a position to be recognized by whoever was behind that camera as Alexis Silverstar pressed her lips to Jane Sinclair's. There was a double-flash this time as whoever it was started taking the pictures in rapid order. "As do I, Sugarcube, as do I. And whenever Ah get to see you, it's never enough."

One more flash of a camera and a hushed hiss of the hostess who'd finally found the source of her annoyance, followed by a loud objection from the camera-holder.

Jane was practically melting into the kiss and kept her eyes closed after it ended, letting the perfection of the moment linger just a bit. She couldn’t help but giggle though at the argument between the hostess and the photographer. “I think,” she whispered, “that we just made that guy’s publisher very happy.”

Biting her upper lip in active amusement, Alisha couldn't help but grin, "Ah think so myself. Of course, Ah've got absolutely zero problems with it myself. Imagine the look on his editor's face, real pictures of racing star Jane Sinclair, fresh off yet another high profile win, a rematch even with another famed racer, kissing that old has-been Alexis Silverstar." She winked at Jane to let her know that she was kidding about the 'has-been' part, but certainly this day, Jane was the talk of the Federation once more.

To be continued...

Lieutenant Alisha Reno (Alexis Silverstar)
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Myogi

Lieutenant(jg) Jane Sinclair
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Myogi

RSS Feed