Understandable Mistake

Month 8 Day 30

(Shore Leave Day 1)

2013 Hours

Smythe

Smythe drank the brown liquid from his glass and frowned at the remaining ice as he brooded about his plans for the next 2 weeks, and the wrinkle that had already been introduced. As much as half an hour late, they said. Some technical difficulties matching my specifications. If they couldn’t do it, why not say so? Maybe I should have gone with an oriental. No, that didn’t work before. Blonde? African? Maybe a different look each day. Or would I just be left still wanting-

“Would you like another drink, sir?”

“What?” He looked up at the waiter. “Yes. Thank you.”

“Right away. And did you say you were waiting for a redhead?”

“She’s running late.”

“There’s a redhead in the doorway from the inner dining room. She appears to be looking for someone. Might that be her?”

Smitty turned to look, and his mouth fell open. “Colleen,” he whispered and stood up, walked toward her.

His approach caught her attention. Her face paled and her eyes widened. They even got the green of her eyes right. “Marvelous,” he declared, and stopped at the 2 low steps that led to the interior. He offered his hand. “Good to see you. Our table is over here.”

She slowly took his hand. “Table?” she repeated breathlessly.

She finally reached the patio level. Or had she accomplished that some time ago, and he hadn’t noticed? Taller than I specified, but never mind. Good enough. “You look spectacular.” He led her to the table, helped her into her chair, then sat in his own. “My compliments to your technicians.”

“My… what?”

Did they thrust this job onto a newbie? She almost seems… shell-shocked. They aren’t supposed force them if they aren’t willing.

The waiter set another rum before him. “There you are, sir. Would the lady like a drink?”

“Yes!” she declared.

Did I ask that she drink? Never mind. “Do you want hard liquor, like mine?” Smitty asked. “Or would you prefer wine?”

“That.” She gave a slight point of one finger toward his drink.

“Right away,” the waiter promised.

Smitty looked her over, from the top of her intricately arranged fiery red hair, past her emerald eyes and rosy lips to the top of the red strapless gown. The gown, he remembered, hugged her body from bosom to thigh, but the skirt had several slits, some of which reached the top of her legs. Her entire package screams sexual readiness. No wonder I’ve had such trouble resisting her.

“Mr Smythe!”

The firm voice finally caught his attention, and he found the captain standing near his table with a male on one arm and a female on the other. “Captain,” he greeted automatically.

“Guess you’ve decided to enjoy shore leave,” she stated, and glanced at his companion. “Hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Captain, it’s not what it looks like!” His superior wouldn’t know this woman wasn’t… He hastily stood. “Captain Burke, may I introduce you to my date, uh…” He stopped in sudden embarrassment, leaned across the table. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

His date stared at him a long moment, then suddenly flushed. She gulped much of the rum in her glass and lurched to her feet. “Lt Colleen MacDowell,” she said firmly, though her hand trembled as she lowered the half-empty glass to the table. “Good evening, captain. My apologies, Smit. You have apparently mistakened me for… someone else.” She turned and headed inside; the slits of her dress and the long heels of her shoes got her there quickly.

Once she disappeared inside, Smitty sat down heavily. “I never gave the company her name,” he muttered in confusion.

Burke reached out and turned his head to look in his eyes. “That wasn’t a made-to-order date, Smitty. That was the real MacDowell. Couldn’t you tell the difference?”

It couldn’t have been. It was a perfect copy! “I… I thought it great piece of… mimicry.”

Jane frowned. “They’re good at what they do, but not that good.” She gave him a searching look. “I’m not going to tell you not to continue with this… experiment. Maybe Duck’s right. Maybe this is something you need to do. Just be aware that… this doesn’t always work.”

No, it won’t. I wanted that to be her. And it was. But the next one… won’t be. “I have to do something! I can’t just… give in!”

Jane’s lips pursed together. “Carry on, Mr Smythe. But… be careful. Try not to be any place the real woman might be. For instance, next to this hotel is the planet’s foremost botanical gardens, which is sure to be a draw for her best friend.”

Stay away from her. Something I’ve tried to do for… since she came aboard. Never seems to work. He looked up, realized the captain was moving off with her dates. “Her best friend?” he asked.

“Lt Bugalu,” she answered over her shoulder.

More than a friend. Smitty tossed down the rest of his drink, then the one Colleen had left. Stopping a waitress, he handed her both glasses. “Bring another.” She didn’t argue and left him to his thoughts again.

“Mr Smythe?”

He looked up, paled to see Colleen standing beside him. No, not Colleen. The hair is too dark, too many freckles. He glanced at her gown, a simple black sheath that didn’t precisely hug her waist. Probably couldn’t get the waist as small as I requested. No doubt, this really is my made-to-order.

He tried to shove away memory of the past… mistake, pasted a smile on his face and stood up. “Yes. Hello. You are obviously my date.”

“I am,” she agreed as he helped her sit. “I apologize for my tardiness.”

“Not at all,” he returned. “I gave your technicians difficult specifications, and not much time. They have, however, done a wonderful job.”

“Thank you.”

He returned to his own seat. “I just requested a rum on ice for myself. Would you like something to drink while we peruse the menu? And what do I call you? The company never gave me your name.”

“My name isn’t important; I’ll answer to whatever you decide to call me. But before we go any further, I have a few business items to settle.”

I thought this was a reputable company. “I gave my payment information to your office.”

Her smile wasn’t Colleen’s smile. “This isn’t about payment. It’s an effort to avoid…. confusion later on. When a person has such specific wishes for the appearance of their date, they are usually trying to re-create someone. Was that your objective?”

He felt his face redden. “Yes.”

She gave a slight nod as the waiter placed a fresh drink before Smitty. “Please, I’d like one of those also,” she told the waiter, who nodded and left. She turned her attention back to Smitty. “I don’t know how to ask this except bluntly. Is the original dead?”

“No!”

“Sorry,” she apologized, and gave him time to calm down. “A lot of replications are requested by widows. Widowers.”

“She’s very much alive,” Smitty stated, and pulled one of the menus toward him. “She’s just… not available to me.”

“One of you married?”

He shook his head. “No. I just… can’t have her.”

“I see. I mean, I don’t exactly understand, but I don’t have to.” She reached for the other menu. “Then it’s time for you to decide what to call me. I suggest it not actually be her name, so that I can tell if you’ve forgotten that… I’m not her.”

“Co-“ He had started to answer before she had finished her warning, but she had a point. “Caroline,” he decided, and bent his head to study his menu.

He had been nervous and hungry when he had arrived. But now that he had Colleen – a very close facsimile of Colleen – sitting across from him, all he could think about was taking her to his room and getting this 2-week vacation started.