Breakfast with Jardena: Epilogue

Good morning, sir.

Continued from here.


I was functioning on autopilot for most of the day. There was an "emergency" senate sub-committee meeting for the leaders of the Chommell sector that Senator Amidala had to attend, which meant I had to attend.

This was followed by a security briefing for me with the building manager of 500 Republica. Afterwards I took care of the paperwork involved in elevating the security clearances for Ellé and Moteé, whose promotions to chief handmaidens had been approved by Padmé. Later there was a briefing with other senatorial security chiefs concerning a military pride parade that the senators were expected to support and attend.

In between meetings I took another pass through the scary amount of messages I'd accumulated while I was off-planet. I came across one I'd missed. It was from Dormé, concerning her letter of resignation. Her abrupt departure had been troubling, to say the least and the message she had left me was cryptic. With some misgivings, I responded and asked her to clarify.

The last major assignment of the day was a senate debate to be followed by a vote in the afternoon session. Again, Senator Amidala was expected to attend. The afternoon session quickly stretched into an evening session. I discreetly sent a text message to Jardena when I saw how things were going.

~

I finally showed up on Jardena's doorstep a full two hours later than I'd promised. I flashed a weary but appreciative smile when she opened her door for me for the second time today.

"Sorry I'm late," I said.

She smiled and held a hand out to me. "Don't worry about it. And last I checked, there is nothing a being could do to stop the unending flow of hot air in the Senate."

I must've looked pretty beat, because she said, "I hope for your sake you don't get your people up at 4 a.m. on Saturdays." She gave me a hug. "You know, it's ok if you want to go back to your quarters and sleep," she said, gently rubbing my back.

"Not a chance!" I said. I lifted her off her feet into my arms and, with a wink, carried her into her bedroom.

I gently laid her down on her bed.

"Did you say Padmé helped you pick out this lingerie? I ought to thank her," I said. With a sigh I sank down next to her. The bed was soft and the fragrance of Jardena's hair was comforting and familiar.

Everything was perfect. I closed my eye for a second, relaxing in the moment.

~

"Good morning, sir. The current time is 0330," said a smooth metallic voice.

The words didn't sink in until the droid delivered its message a second time. I lifted my head and looked around. What the--? Then I registered that Jardena was curled up next to me.

I remembered coming over here late and...

Nothing.

I had to laugh. It figures.

Sensing she was half-awake, I whispered, "I have to go back to my apartment." It wasn't a day off for me. I had dug myself into a huge hole with those two extended leaves of absence and I was going to be paying for that for quite some time.

"I'll be back later," I promised her once again. I was disappointed that our first day together on Coruscant hadn't turned out anything like I'd planned. I'm sure she was disappointed too. But regardless of what had or hadn't happened, for me there is no downside to waking up next to Jardena.

I kissed her good morning.

We'll get this right -- eventually.


End.

Thanks to Lt. Cmdr. Oneida for her dialogue and her point of view.

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