(From part 1) ?Sara, I love you.? he whispered taking her left hand.?I should have done this a long time ago,? he said slipping something on her lift her hand and seen a diamond ring, ?Gil,? she said.?I have loved you from the first time I seen you, I can?t image my life without you in it. Please be my wife.??Yes,? she said raising herself and kissing shift started Monday no one had to ask Gil how his dinner went, it was obvious by the smile on his face and the ring on her finger.
David and Wendy?s date was not until Tuesday night. Wendy stood at his door, pulled in a deep breath ?You made a commitment,? she said to herself, ?Let?s get this over with.?
She rang his doorbell. To her surprise it sounded like the theme to STAR TREK.
He opened the door, ?I did not know you were a ?Trekie?,? she said smiling at him.
David shuffled his feet, ?Yeah, ever since the series first aired Sept. 8, 1966.?
Wendy giggled, ?So have I. I loved Gene Roddenberry?s books so when I found out he was involved in the television program I just had to watch.?
That broke the ice and set the topic of discussion for the rest of the evening.
After dinner David said, ?Let me show you something.?
He took her hand, ?This to is a place where ?No man has gone before.?
He laughed, ?I have a room for just my Star Trek Memorabilia.?
He opened the door and turned on the light. On the walls were posters of Captain Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, Scotty and Nurse Chapel.
He had several models of the USS Enterprise and several of the action figures.
?You are missing Spock,? Wendy said looking at his action figure collection.
?Yeah, I had one but it somehow got ruined. Hey look at this.?
He picked up a Television Guild for the week of June 3, 1969 - when the last eppy was aired.
Wendy laughed, ?I have one of those too.?
They were standing at his door, ?Wendy. There is a Star Trek Convention next weekend, would you go with me??
?I would love to,? she said as she gave him a quick good night kiss on the cheek.
Wednesday at work Wendy found a bag on top of her locker.
When she opened it she found a Captain Kirk teddy bear with a note that said: THANKS FOR DINNER. LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT WEEKEND, HODGES.
She smiled because she knew he had a surprise waiting for him, last year a friend of hers gave her a Spock action figure - she already had one.
When Hodges went into the trace lab he found the figure in a bag along with a note: TILL NEXT WEEK END ?LIVE LONG AND PROSPER?, WENDY.
?How did things go with Hodges?? Judy asked. ?Great,? Wendy said, she had decided to keep their secret passion just that - a secret.
?When do you and Conrad have dinner?? Wendy asked.
?Tonight,? Judy said, ?Wish me luck.? Wendy laughed as they parted ways.
?Oh boy,? Judy said standing at Conrad?s front door.
He opened the door obviously as nervous as she was.
?Hi,? she said, ?I was not sure what you liked so I just brought the stuff for spaghetti. I make my own sauce and meatballs.?
Conrad half smiled, ?Sounds great.? He showed her to the kitchen, she was surprised at how well it was organized and stocked.
?Wow, I guess I did not know I would not have to bring my own spices,? she said.
Conrad blushed, ?I am somewhat of a chief, I love to cook and bake.?
?Who would have thought,? Judy said to herself.
?As a matter of fact I have a Baked Alaska in the freezer, all I need to do is but on the meringue and bake it, if you would like it for desert??
?I would love it,? she said.
Judy fixed her spaghetti and meatballs and some garlic bread while Conrad finished his desert. While Judy served, Conrad poured a wine.
They talked most of the evening about cooking and different recipes, Judy too was a self taught chief.
As she got ready to leave Conrad walked her to her car, ?You don?t have to,? she had told him.
?It is dark,? he said, ?I can?t let a lady walk unescorted.?
He opened her door for her, ?Thank you I had a good time.? ?You are welcome, so did I.?
The next day as Conrad came to work Judy was at the reception desk, ?Good morning Mr. Ecklie,? she said handing him his messages.
He nodded and went to his office, on the top of the pile was a small box.
Inside the box was a bottle of Oriental Spice he wanted but did not have along with a note: YOUR SECRET IS SAFE WITH ME, JUDY.
He smiled, wrote something on a piece of paper and walked to the reception area.
?Judy, can you take care of this for me?? he said handing her the paper.
?Yes sir,? she said. She looked at the paper it said: THANKS. HERE IS THE ADDRESS OF THE SPECIALTY SHOP WHERE I GET MY SPICES AND A GOOD WEBSITE FOE RECIPES. BY THE WAY, YOUR DINNER LAST NIGHT WAS FANTASTIC, CONRAD.
Wendy passed Judy on her way to the ladies room, ?So was it as bad as you thought it would be??
?No,? Judy said, ?It was not bad.?
Greg had decided that he got the best of them all. Lilly, Catherine?s mother, had tossed her name in too, there are more men then women at the lab and she knows the officer.
?I am in the process of moving,? she had told Greg, ?so I don?t have anywhere to cook. But I do have a great idea.?
Greg was all ears, his place was no were acceptable either.
Lilly took him to a little known dinner who?s specialty was ?Old Vegas?.
All night long they talked about Old Vegas and how things were ?In the day?.
Lilly gave his several photographs of old Vegas and a ton and a half of information.
?Man,? Greg said, ?I have enough material to finish my book.?
As they were leaving Lilly said, ?If you need more just call me.?
A week later a Lilly received a letter in the mail from Greg: MISS LILLY, I WANTED YOU TO SEE THE DEDICATION PAGE I AM SUBMITTING WITH MY BOOK. IT READ TO LILLY, WITHOUT WHO?S HELP THIS WOULD HAVE NOT BEEN POSSIBLE. A MILLION THANKS. Lilly smiled, ?What a sweet boy.?
Warrick and Catherine?s relationship continued to bloom, they spent every spare moment together. They announced their engagement 8 months after the fish bowl drawing.
Sophia accompanied Nick to Texas for his family reunion, she came back with a diamond ring on her finger.
A month after the fish bowl drawing Gil and Sara were married.
They spent their first anniversary in the hospital, Sara had given birth to their daughter.
Sara was nursing the baby and Gil was sitting by her side, suddenly he started to laugh. ?What is it?? Sara asked.
?I was thinking,? he said, ?All this started with an lucky pull from a fishbowl.?
Sara smiled at him, ?I guess it was my lucky day.?
Sara laughed on the inside, ?Lucky indeed.? Catherine and Sophia were not the only ones trading that day, Lilly had begged Sara to trade with her because she wanted to help Greg with his book.
THE END
