Although the Opharus lacked an actual ready room, Lance did have small but functional quarters on the ship. He had just finished hanging up a picture of himself and his grandmother when the door chime sounded. He looked at the display and noted the rather late hour. 

“Come in.”

In came an officer shorter than himself, with short brown hair, blue eyes, and a very athletic build. He wore a very unpleasant expression on his face.

“Is there something that I can help you with ensign?” Lance asked.

“Ensign Alexander Wright reporting for duty sir.”

The word ‘sir’ seemed covered entirely in venom and the hostility in the man’s voice took Lance aback for a second. He arched an eyebrow at the other officer. He had to be his XO and chief operations officer, although according to the personnel office, Ensign Wright hadn’t been due to arrive until tomorrow. 

“I thought that you weren’t scheduled to arrive until tomorrow,” Lance said.

“I took an earlier shuttle,” Alexander replied. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to get right to work making sure that the operating systems are all up to date. I’ll coordinate with the chief engineer when he arrives.”

“Sure, that’s fine,” Lance said. “Do you want to sit down and have a drink? Maybe go for a tour of the ship.”

“No offense sir,” Alexander said, voice dripping with disdain. “But I’d really rather spend as little time with you as possible.”

Now, Lance was beyond concerned. “Are we going to have a problem ensign?”

“You tell me, sir,” Alexander snapped.

“Have I done something to offend you?”

Alexander snorted. “You don’t even remember, do you?”

Lance racked his brain trying to think of where he had seen the young officer before. He didn’t look familiar at all. Maybe they had served together? Unlikely given Lance’s relatively short time in Starfleet but not impossible.

“You stood me up three times,” Alexander said, clenching his hands at his sides. “Three times in high school, I thought I was going to get to go out with the most popular guy in school and do you know what happened? I ended up looking like a total fool, that’s what happened. Not just once, not twice, but three times!”

Lance tried to keep his face as impassive as possible. “Are you sure?”

Alexander threw his hands up in the air. “See, I knew that you hadn’t changed!”

“I’m sorry, I honestly don’t remember you.”

Alexander took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again he was slightly more calm. “I don’t need you to remember sir. I just need to do my job so that I can get promoted away from this assignment. Now, if there’s nothing further then I would really like to get to work.”

Lance didn’t really know what to say so he just said. “Dismissed.”

What the hell was he going to do about this? He thought as Alexander left. What the hell indeed.