Why Do Fools Fall in Love?

Posted on 21 Sep 2018 @ 8:31pm by Commander Marisa Wyatt

547 words; about a 3 minute read

Marisa walked into her quarters and dropped onto the sofa. What was wrong with her? She had more self-discipline than this. It was bad enough that she'd fallen for Commander Ban. At least she'd kept her feelings firmly in check. No one knew, or even suspected. She spent months working through it and looked forward to working with him on the fish tanks and possibly developing a friendship. She thought she had finally returned to homeostasis.

And then Luke came to science to talk about Sofie and take a tour of the department. And now, she couldn't stop thinking about him.

She got up and grabbed a PADD, only to toss it back onto the side table. She had no excuse. None whatsoever. She couldn't even blame this on Kreanus. No, that was Petra's excuse, and Marisa knew better. There had to be something to explain why she'd gone years without falling for a man, and now she'd done it twice in a year. And someone who'd been, until recently, with her friend, Miraj. Worse, she'd acted like a silly freshman in front of him.

"Computer, am I mad?"

"Please specify definition of mad."

"Mental aberration, demonstrative lack of common sense. A fool."

"The most recent psychological assessment for Marisa Sandoval was inconclusive."

"Thanks." That's all she needed, a computer with a sense of humor. Or was that another indication that she was losing her marbles?

Why was she even asking the computer? In spite of the look she'd caught in his eyes earlier that day, the hug was definitely fraternal--even if her reaction to it wasn't.

She was Vulcan and more than capable of maintaining a professional facade in public. There was plenty of work to occupy her mind. Time healed. Time would cure this, too, if necessary. Oh, but she hoped that, for once, it would not be necessary. Luke was one of the finest men she knew, and she was more comfortable around him than she'd been with anyone in a long time. But so far, luck had not been kind to her in this regard.

She pulled out her meditation mat and candle. Maybe she just needed to focus her mind to clear her thoughts. If nothing else, it would help her keep her new emotions firmly in check. No more giddy schoolgirl when Luke walked into the room.

But the more she tried, the more her thoughts went back to Luke and their conversation in the arboretum.

After several attempts at concentrating on the flame, she blew out the candle and put it away. Her mother would be displeased with her lack of focus, but her father would just smile and pat her on the shoulder and remind her that she was, after all, half-human and there was nothing wrong with letting her heart rule from time to time.

"Time," she told herself. Time was all she needed. Time to sort things out, and time to keep busy until she did so.

Tomorrow was launch day. She smiled as she thought about the next three years. She looked forward to exploring the unknown and the potential it held.

And she hoped that, for once, she was not being a fool to fall in love.

Lieutenant Marisa Sandoval
Chief Science Officer

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