"Den sønderrev er nuværende gjennom Januar. Jeg trenger noen til vård for leilighet inntil vi får tilbake. Vennligst, fru Tylden." The rent is current through January. I need someone to care for the apartment until we get back. Please, Mrs. Tylden. Maria Alvarez spoke in halting Norwegian to her elderly neighbor. An insistent honking outside her apartment building brought Maria's head out the open window. She grinned and returned her boyfriend's wave.
"I'm coming, Jake! I'll be down in a minute." Stepping away from the window, she turned back to Mrs. Tylden. A blush rose in her cheeks when she saw the knowing look in Mrs. Tylden's expression. The grandmotherly woman patted Maria's cheek and nodded her agreement.
" Ja, jeg vil vård for eders leilighet. Du omsorg for eders fiskere, og, Gud villige, komme tilbake trygt." Yes, I will care for your apartment. You care for your fishermen, and, God willing, come back safe. Maria grinned and wrapped her arms around Mrs. Tylden in an energetic hug. The old woman laughed and shooed Maria out the front door, accepting the hastily offered spare key with a grin. Waiting at the window, she waved her farewell to her neighbor and friend.
Maria returned the wave before climbing into the back of Nick Mavar's car. She buckled and began fidgeting with the ends of her long black hair. She met Jake's eager grin as he twisted around in his seat. Nick glanced at the rearview mirror and laughed.
"You're looking good. God, your hair's so long now." Jake's grin broadened as hers faltered, laughter in his voice as he continued, "I like it long. It's beautiful now." Maria shot him a scathing look and dropped her hands to her lap.
"Oh and like it was ugly before, Jacob Anderson. Thanks, I appreciate that." She couldn't keep the smile from her voice and Jake giggled as he turned back around. She saw Nick rolling his eyes with a smile.
"That's enough you two. You have all season to bicker." Maria's smile grew again and she turned to watch the scenery change on their way to the docks. After Nick parked and locked the car, Maria hesitated as Nick and Jake walked away. Jake started to say something, but turned when he realized Maria wasn't beside him. He waited for her to catch up while Nick went on ahead.
"You're not having second thoughts again, are you?"
"Mmm? No, it's just…never mind. We'd better hurry. The Captain won't be happy if we're late." Her laugh faltered when Jake didn't join in.
"Jake, what's wrong?" Her worried frown deepened when he winced at her question. Pausing at the Northwestern's gangplank, Jake faced her and tried to meet her insistent gaze.
"You remember Peter from last season?"
"The stupid cameraman that pissed off everyone, even Nick?"
"Yup, that's the guy."
"Don't tell me Stupid's back…" The look of disbelief on Maria's face broke the tension in Jake's stance and he laughed.
"No, he's not back. Thing is, our new camera guy's worse than Peter. I don't mean he's stupider than Peter was." Casting a glance over his right shoulder, Jake grimaced and flopped his hands at his side in a helpless gesture. "Sig wants to be the one to talk to you about this new guy. Apparently he's pretty wound up about the guy."
"Wait, what do you mean by 'wound up'? Are we talking bad weather and worse fishing wound up or getting threats from Mauricio wound up?"
"He wasn't wound up over Mauricio…he was furious. Okay, yeah, I know what you meant. It's worse than the bad fishing, but not quite Mauricio level yet. Either way, it's not very good." Maria pulled a face at Jake's explanation and followed him aboard, suppressing a shiver as she recalled her first moments aboard the boat.
While Jake entered through the ready room hatch, Maria ascended the outside ladders and knocked on the door behind Sig's chair. The balding skipper looked up from the paper charts spread before him and waved her in. Motioning to the chair in front of her, he took off his glasses and tucked them into his shirt pocket.
"Take a seat, Fish, this is gonna suck" He waited until Maria swiveled around to face him before continuing. "We have a new cameraman on this season, a guy named Quinn. I met him a couple days ago, and he doesn't seem too happy that you're one of the crew. He knows that if you or the crew thinks he crosses the line, he's gone. What I need from you is to be honest with me. Even if he so much as toes the line with you I want him gone. Understand?"
"What do you mean 'he doesn't seem happy'? Did he owe Mauricio money or something?"
Sig grimaced at the mention of Maria's dead brother and Maria mentally smacked herself. Sig shook his head and reached around her to grab the half empty pack of cigarettes and lighter. Lighting up, he glared out the starboard window.
"I mean he doesn't like Mexicans, and he really doesn't like the idea of female fishermen Now that he's stuck on a boat with both all rolled into one sarcastic bundle, he's kinda itching for a fight. Do not do anything to give him that fight…'cause you'd both be looking for a new job." Nodding her understanding, Maria turned her head to study the view off the bow; a small smile flitted around her lips as a thought occurred to her. A heartbeat's silence passed before Sig's voice broke through her thoughts.
"What is it?"
"Well, he'd have to swim home first before looking for that new job." Sig rolled his eyes and smiled. He studied Maria a moment, waiting expectantly for her to finish, which she did after another heartbeat of silence. "If I were a man, you'd be telling me and Quinn to get over it and get back to work. Huh, even halfway through last season, you were telling me and Peter to get over ourselves. Why the sudden protectiveness now?" Her head whipped around at Sig's scoff.
"Because I like you now, that's why. Besides, Peter was just a stupid pain in the ass. Quinn's a smart bastard. I'm not sure what he'll do to get under your skin. Just watch yourself, alright?" He smiled at Maria's nodded agreement before shooing her out of his wheelhouse; the moment she was gone, his smile fell and he heaved a heavy sigh. I shoulda just demanded a different camera guy.
Two weeks later, Maria found herself shooting another exasperated look at Jake as she helped to secure the pots on the stack Quinn had been assigned to mount the outside stationary cameras and was nitpicking Edgar's brain on exactly where the second camera could go.
"For the last time, it goes there, you fucking dumbass!" Edgar's sudden shout brought Jake's head around so quickly the young man lost his balance. Maria quickly grabbed the front of his hoodie and raised an eyebrow in an unspoken question. Silently, he shook his head and returned his focus to the pot Norman was swinging their way.
"Guess I'm not the only one Quinn's got on his 'must annoy' list…" Maria muttered to Jake, who simply shrugged and rolled his eyes as he guided the pot down.
"Pick up the pace guys! I want those pots on in the next three hours!" Sig's voice echoed over the loudhailer.
"Roger!" Maria and Jake hollered in unison, sharing a grin as they worked faster. Three hours and ten minutes later, the pair secured the final chain across the stack and made their way inside. Maria secured the hatch and slid in behind the galley table next to Matt, silently smiling her thanks as Jake passed her a mug of coffee. Sig and Quinn's raised voices carried down the staircase and Maria glanced at Mark.
"No offense Mark, but can't we trade him for a different guy?" Mark breathed a laugh, rolling his eyes at his camera gear spread over the table.
"I wish we could…believe me, Fish, I've tried. But right now there isn't enough time to get a new guy flown out here and trained before we head out. We're stuck with Quinn until the first offload." He shrugged, sympathetic to his friends' discomfort before turning back to his gear. They sat in silence, listening to the voices going back and forth.
"I swear, if he pisses me off one more time, I'm shoving him over the side in his underwear." Matt grumbled darkly and Maria snorted darkly into her coffee.
"That's if I don't get to him first," she and Edgar said at the same time. Everyone laughed, falling silent and finding Mark's work more fascinating than normal when Quinn appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Casting as suspicious look over the group, he disappeared down the ready room hallway. Six bodies flinched as the hatch slammed loudly against it's doorframe, Edgar gritting his teeth against vehement Norwegian curses aimed at the deck side cameraman.
Maria glanced up at the painting of the old man praying over a loaf of bread and closed her eyes, sending up a prayer of her own. Please help us live with Quinn…we're going to need all the help we can get!
A/N: So here's the long awaited for sequal (by some) to Honor's Truth. It took me some time to figure out the basic plot, sorry about that, but I at least have the main conflict and resolution plotted out. Yes, I do realize the Norweigain translation may not be exact, but I hope y'all get the gist of what I'm trying to accomplish.
Again, any and all real people, places and things are owned by themselves, establishers and their owners. The only things I claim are the fictional characters and creative lisence to use and abuse all characters/places/things for the sake of very good (hopefully) storytelling.
As with my other stories, constructive criticsm is always welcomed with open mind and arms. Remember: I'm writing this for YOUR enjoyment!
Copyright 2011 by Alissa Franko