Love Potion No. 9: Here You Come Again
…
Jeiliscia laid on top of the covers, in her wardroom bed, naked and on her stomach. When she was alone in her wardroom, she was usually naked by preference.
It had been a few weeks since Operation Heartbreaker, and the reconciliation with her family on Orion. It was a true catharsis. She was now in revered status within the high house, something she never had in the past, and it would seem Sherrishia, the new Tabadi was true to her promise of turning away from the old, bad ways, and trying to make the even older, more art focused ways flourish.
She still hadn’t called David, her ex-fiance, something her sisters were adamant she should do. It was a very difficult task. Jeiliscia was conflicted, she knew her sisters were right, she should call him, but she didn’t want to call and create unnecessary drama if he had a new flame. Humans, afterall, were known to be a fickle sort.
She was handling last minute reports for the end of the month when her telecommunicator buzzed to life. She looked at the caller’s name to see that it was Lieutenant David Yalowitz, her former fiance’.
She grabbed a pillow just in case to cover her front and answered the call.
“David?” she said “Hi.”
The man on the other end smiled. “Hey, Jelly,” he said as he looked around to see if the limited view range would offer him a glimpse into her wardroom. “I’m not interrupting anything am I?”
“No, just laying here doing paperwork.”
“Naked?” he asked.
She laughed. “I’m in my room, by myself. You know me, I think better this way. What are you thinking, I’m with someone else?” she smiled.
“I wouldn’t blame you or them if you were.”
“Well I’m not. I’m far too busy for that nonsense.” She changed pace. “so, what’s up?”
“Oh, well, let’s see, where do I start, “David replied, “your sister Melainia called me.”
Jeiliscia eyebrows raised. *”Here we go,”” she thought to herself as her stomach churned with anxiety. “Oh? And what did she want?”
“Well, for starters she apologized quite profusely, and said something about the ‘ritual of forgiveness’ and ’mother goddess’ and throwing herself at my feet or something and then said I should call you because she apparently told you to call but thought you’d chicken out.”
Jeiliscia tried to remain stoic. “Really?” she replied. She sighed and then looked away.
“Jeiliscia, listen to me,” David implored. “I’m… I’m sorry. I wish I could… I mean… I never meant to hurt you. I… I … I didn’t…”
She looked up at him and shook her head. The face she put on melted into anguish as her eyes welled up with tears while David groped for the right words.
“No, no David, “ she finally said. “You do not owe me an apology. It is I that owe you an apology. I never should have blamed you. You had no control over yourself. You cannot resist an Orion woman such as my sisters without a blocker. David, I never should have taken my anger at my family out on you. I am so very sorry.”
She wiped the tears from her face and continued. “You… the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. You… a blessing from the Mother Goddess, or if you want, the God you worship, which it does not matter to me. I just know that it was a blessing and I… I just threw that blessing away in anger. I do not deserve you anymore. I don’t think I ever did. You, my sweet, kind, loving, and patient David.” she closed her eyes. “I am truly, truly sorry.” she looked up at the screen.
He remained quiet for a long moment, processing, and wondering what else to say.
The words finally came.
“I still love you, Jelly.”
“and,” she began slowly, the words sticking in her throat as she tried to push them forward, “I still love you, David. There has been no one else.”
“Same here,” he replied. “No one. Not a single woman in this galaxy could ever replace you. So… where do we go from here?”
“I do not know, David,” she replied. “Why would you want someone like me? Damaged? Imperfect? Someone who runs away. Someone who is… chicken?”
“Because you are willing to admit it,” David replied. “Jel, I’m not perfect either. No one is. We found a commonality in each other, and I miss that. I want that back. I want you back. Tell me what I have to do to get you back. Please?”
“Oh David,” she said as she wiped the tears from her face. “I… I… Well… I guess we should… have dinner sometime, maybe.” she managed a tear-stained smile.
“Anything, whatever, I just want to try again,” David said. Jeiliscia nodded.
“I want to try again too,” she said.
David looked down during a long, silent pause. “You know I was gonna ask you about something, though I wasn’t sure if I should.”
“What is it, David?” she said, drying her eyes on the pillow case in front of her.
“Uhm… Pop’s 60th birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. Plus it’s the same week as Passover this year and I know how much you liked being there for our traditions and stuff…”
“I do miss your mother’s cooking,” she said, perking up. “Potato latkes and applesauce, blintzes, chicken and matzo soup, Oooo and that amazing brisket. Is she still making the brisket?”
“Oh yeah, and I know she will if she knows it’ll get you here,” David said, half-jokingly. “It’ll all be there probably,” he continued. “So I was thinking maybe if you could get some time off, you could, uhm… hop the express from DS13 to Earth Spacedock, then take the 2105 shuttle to JFK, we could pick you up. My brother and his husband are coming in, and my sister, her husband, and their kids will all be here. I know my nieces and nephews would love to see you again.”
“Well, I don’t know, David.”
“I don’t mean to hard sell this but it would make Pop’s birthday. He and mom are always asking about you. Mom’s always giving me what for, for not calling you to see how you are doing. She still calls you ’my lil Jelly’. No pressure though, Jel, I know you took on a huge responsibility there, just, ya know, if you can.”
“Where am I going to stay, David? The capsule dormer on 47th?”
“Are you kidding,” David replied. “Mom would not have that. She thinks that place is infested with Andorian bed mites or something. Nope, every holiday she mentions that I should invite you to come, and that we’ll put you up in the guest room.”
“Guest room?” Jeiliscia asked. “What guest room? Your parents live in an old, historic , building code restricted brownstone. Did they move?”
“No, no, it’s Pop’s study. You know, it’s got that couch that folds out into a bed that he always takes a nooner on?”
“And your dad is fine with this? Where will he take his midday nap?”
“You think he’s going to argue with Mom?”
Jeiliscia smiled. “Oh, I guess not. Is your mom part Orion?”
David laughed. “ You’d think.” he paused. “Look, I don’t want to take up too much of your time. Just think about it, okay? Let me know?”
“Okay,” she said softly.”I can’t promise I can, but I will see what I can do. Maybe at least we can plan a visit soon sometime in the future.”
“Yeah,” David said. “Sooner than later I hope. I would really like that, Jel.”
“Me too, David. Now, I really need to finish my quarterlies." She managed a smile. “Goodbye, David. I will try to call you. I promise.”
“Please do. I’ll call you if you don’t.” he laughed. “If that’s okay.”
“I would like that, David.”
“Be safe out there, Jel.” he said. He hung up.
She stared at the empty screen for a good while, her mind racing, not able to fixate on any single part of that conversation.
(( Dearest reader, before continuing, please start the song on the following link and then continue reading. “Here You Come Again” by Dolly Parton. You’ll be glad you did. Thank you. ))
Then she remembered something Sherrishia said a few weeks ago. ”… it seems like you’ve done the greatest things, greater than anything we’ve accomplished, because you didn’t just run away. Stop running away from this, Jeiliscia.”
A smile crept across her face.
“Comms, Captain Vel, please?”
“Hey Doctor, what do you need?” a voice on the other side asked.
“Captain, would it be alright if I took a week off in a couple of weeks?”
“I don’t see why not, Doctor.”
—- two weeks later—
Jeiliscia walked down the concourse from the shuttle dock. It had been a year since she had last been in John F. Kennedy International Spaceport, much less New York City. She was beyond excited and yet terrified, and then she saw them. It wasn’t just David, or David and his parents. It was everyone. David’s brother and sister, the spouses, and the kids… eighteen people in all.
She smiled and her legs automatically sped up their pace. Her heart leapt for joy. She had missed them all so much. She had missed all of this so much. This whole thing, wrapped around a family so close and yet so willing to take in a stranger like herself and practically adopt her as their own.
“There’s my lil’ Jelly.” David’s mother yelled out in a thick Jewish New York accent. “Oh, come here and let me hug ya neck, bubula.”
As the group crowded around her and welcomed her home she thought to herself, she was truly blessed. She had two families. She has had two chances to heal. And now, somehow, by the grace of her sisters and whatever power is above, she felt whole again.
As the kids, who had argued over said task, carried “Aunt Jelly’s” luggage, she and David walked side by side down the long corridor to the transportation loop, without words as though they were two shy teenagers on a first date. They would look at each other occasionally and smile. At some point, between the GNN newsstand and the “I 
New York” souvenir replicators, their hands found each other. They stayed hand in hand all the way to the historic Jamaica Station, on the Long Island Hover Rail, and all the way home.