“With that resolved, the next problem is what to do about alterations. What about bringing a tailor or two onboard? To alter the dresses on the fly?”
“You want me to have strangers brought on board as we prepare to go to war?” I ask incredulously. “There is absolutely no way we are bringing on any unauthorized personnel at this time. I can tell you now that command will turn down your request, no matter how much you stamp your foot and complain.”
“Fine, fine. I get why they’d say no. Untwist your panties. I guess I’ll just scout around and see if any of the bride volunteers have any sewing skills,” Trinh concedes. “It will have to be someone who can get some quick and dirty work finished swiftly. I imagine we’re going to need to buy liquid stitch by the gallon!”
“I assume this is one of your strange human sayings, but I can assure you, my panties arenotin a twist,” I inform Trinh, but she starts laughing so hard that I know I said something incorrectly. I narrow my eyes at the cackling woman. “What did I say wrong?”
“Panties are what women wear. Men’s underwear are called manties. You know, like man panties – manties. I can’t believe you didn’t know that,” Trinh says, wiping tears from under her eyes, so pleased she got me to say that I was wearing women’s undergarments. I shake my head in exasperation.
“So childish.” I try to keep a stern face, since I don’t want to encourage her, but I find a smile pulling at my lips to see her merriment. I admire how carefree she is with her humor and affections for her human friends. Cerasteans are not so… demonstrative with one another, even before we lost all our females to the Ostium genocide.
I quickly pull up the human idioms report and make a note about the proper name for men’s undergarments so the rest of my people won’t make the same mistake.
The rest of the meeting flows more efficiently as we discuss decorations and venues for the Presenting Ceremony and reception. The only hiccup is when I have to inform her the bride volunteers will not be allowed to invite guests from Earth.
“But –” Trinh starts to argue but quiets down when I raise a hand to halt her speech.
“I appreciate how it might be difficult for the brides, but you must understand there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. The decision is out of my hands,” I explain.
I watch as Trinh chews on her lip in consternation. I hear her whisper something about shoving my regulations manual where “the sun doesn’t shine”. I decide it is probably a good thing that I don’t know what that means. Blowing out a soft breath, Trinh gives me a long look. “Alright, I get it. Is there anything else we need to discuss?”
I check my notes on my tablet, but it looks like we reviewed all the essential topics.
“I believe we covered it all. I will message you if I think of anything else,” I say. Checking the time on my device, I hide a wince. “I need to head to my meeting with the Chancellor.”
“Sounds good. I’m going to head over to the Requisitions Office to talk to D’Merx. I want to see if we can get started right away,” Trinh says.
“I would be happy to escort you. It is on my way,” I offer.
Tucking her tablet under her arm, Trinh turns on her heel and heads out of my office. The flash of bright red under her heels has me pause in my tracks for a moment, but I shake off my stupor and rush to catch up.
Chapter 4
Trinh
That meeting went a lot easier than I had imagined. I can’t decide if I’m just wearing L’Corte down or if he’s so excited by the prospect of more of his fellow Cerasteans getting mated that he let me push the budget as high as I did. I’d like to believe he is finally learning to chill out. If that’s the case, everyone on board the ship should send me flowers and candy. It’s been an arduous endeavor, but I’ve really tried to help L’Corte learn to relax.
I could tell by the gleam in his eyes when I walked into his office this morning that he was all geared up to go toe-to-toe with me. I’m beginning to suspect that he enjoys the arguing. Goodness knows I love trading barbs with him. L’Corte needs someone to challenge him; thankfully, I’m up for the job.
Walking next to L’Corte, I snort to myself at the ludicrousness of my thoughts. I do want to get L’Corte to learn to relax, but mostly, I just enjoy the banter. He’s so cute when he growls at me in frustration and gives me a narrow-eyed glare that I know he doesn’t mean.
He drops me off at the entrance to the Requisitions Office with an absentminded wave when I thank him for escorting me. Turning into the office, I spot D’Merx sitting at his desk, looking like a rabbit startled by the sudden appearance of a wolf.
“Miss Trinh, how can I help you? I haven’t missed any shipments, have I?” D’Merx asks when I sit in front of his desk.
He bites his lip, a strange mix of consternation and hope on his face, when I explain why I am in his office.
“Do you truly believe the bride volunteers will want to get mated just before this conflict?” D’Merx says with hope shining in his slit-pupiled eyes.
“Yes, I think you’ll be surprised by how many. At least I hope so,” I tell him. Boy, do I hope I’m not wrong.
“Okay, I will get in touch with our vendors and see how many dress designs we can have ready to ship here on short notice.”
“We’ll need shoes too. I want to have a ton of options for the brides. As many as possible. When can you let me know?”
“I will start making the calls immediately. What about the flowers and decorations?”
I worked with D’Merx for Maya, Laney, and Chelsea’s Presenting Ceremony, so he’s familiar with what went into that event.
