My Man
by Carol Sandford
Disclaimers yadayadaya
PG13 for a rude word thats not actually written!
Set: When they were still tormenting the hell out of each other




I wanted to run and hide, but I couldn‘t. I wanted to scream at you with my
thoughts to go away, but I couldn‘t do that either.  I couldn‘t do anything
as you came towards my table with ‘her‘.

I sometimes wonder if you ever really cared about me at all. You seemed to
go out of your way to rub it in that we weren‘t a couple and that you were
going to go all out to prove it.

But this one seemed to be holding your attention. This one had been more
than a date. This one had been your constant companion for the past 3
weeks. A lifetime for you!

But what could I do?  He was my friend and he wanted me to be happy for
him. He wanted us ‘all‘ to be friends, and I had to just ‘grin and bare it‘.

And so I did. I found myself plastering on that infamous Troi smile and
welcoming the two of them to my table.

Will‘s deep voice spoke softly to me, almost like he was silently begging
me to allow the intrusion, "Hi, Deanna, mind if we join you for a while? 
You know Mel of course."

I smiled wider. Not sure how, but I did it. "Hi yourself, of course I know
Mel, Hello, Please...sit down."

He signalled to the barman for a round of drinks as they settled themselves
down. I tried to think of something, ‘Anything!‘ to say to the woman, "How
are you liking it on board, Mel?"

I soon kicked myself after when the two of them looked lovingly at each
other and grinned like lovesick teenagers, "Oh, its been wonderful!
Everyone has been so nice to me."

{I‘ll bet they have!}  The sour thought filled my mind but luckily never
left my lips.  "Thats good, we are renowned for making new people feel at
home." {Especially when they‘ve jumped straight into a senior officers bed!}

{{Commander Riker, please report to the bridge.}}

He groaned, but not as much as I, as I knew what as going to happen next.
"On my way, Captain. Sorry ladies, gotta run. Can you look after Mel for
me, Deanna, I shouldn‘t be long?"

WHY did I say, "Of course!"

We both watched his ass stroll out of the lounge, and I wondered amused if
she realised what was going through my mind. I tried real hard to hide the
smirk, but not too hard.

"Will tells me you two are close friends."

I humiliated myself by spluttering into my cocktail. Oh Lord, what had he
told her?!

"I...I, Yes, we are close friends, we‘ve known each other a long time."

I looked around nervously, everywhere and anywhere but at her.

"Before you came aboard the Enterprise?"

I nodded non-commitedly, "Uh huh."

Now she nodded thoughtfully, "I see...Did you go out with him?"

What could I say?  "We were very young, it was a long time ago."

I hoped that would throw her off. I hoped she would think we were too young
to have a relationship that defied all rhyme and reason. I hoped she never
knew about Betazoid‘s. I hope she never knew about Will‘s humongous
reputation.

And God help me, I hope she never knew how much we loved each other.

She went on, "I did ask him about you, but he didn‘t say much other than
that you were good friends and he thought a lot of you."

I almost fell through the floor when she continued,

"But he‘s my man now."

Aaaaah...so thats how it was?  What could I do, what could I say?

"Well, I know that, you have nothing to fear from me. it is true, he was my
man, and he was my man before he became your man. And to be honest, if you
left the scene, he would most certainly become my man again."

I leaned forward so that she could truly understand my point.  "You see,
Mel.  The man that you have now, is the man that I made. That man means
more to me than any other man in the universe, I‘m just letting other
people have fun with him once in a while, it does his ego good you see. He
is a man after all."

I pushed myself to a stand, but leaned onto the table and stared her down.
I give her credit, she held her ground, but at least I had reduced her to
silence.  "Yes, Will Riker is your man for now. You can play with him,
amuse him, make him feel like a million dollars. Hell, you can continue to
f*** him! But...BUT remember, he will never love you. There is only one man
that will ever love me, and that is your man."

I walked out of there in a darned sight better mood than I went in, thats
for sure!