The weather was terrible here. Adrienne watched as the snow fell from her hotel room window. It calmed her but worried her all at once. If it was snowing a lot here, how bad could it be out at sea? She got an uneasy feeling in her stomach at the thought of something happening to her family, or something happening to Jake.
"No, you're not doing this Adrienne. You two are broken up. He needs professional help." She said to herself to take her mind off of him. It had been like this since she went to see them. She pulled her robe closer to her as she gripped her coffee mug. She was supposed to be looking at small venues, but instead she was getting snowed in.
The phone rang and she hesitated on picking it up. Only a few people knew her hotel number and half of them were out catching crab. She walked over picking it up, "Hello?" She asked slowly.
"Adrienne?" The line was a bit cut off but she could tell whose voice it was, "Adrienne are you there?"
"Yeah dad I'm here are you okay? It's snowing like a bitch here." She answered trying to hear him better.
"Everything's fine, I figured your anxiety was acting up and I didn't want you freaking out all night. We have some big waves and some strong winds but nothing we haven't encountered before. We're all fine." He assured from the captains chair. He was the only one up there since the crew was all in their bunks, riding out the storm.
"Oh good, I'm glad to hear it." She smiled coming at peace with herself now. Yeah here dad was basically the best at this, but you can never not worry. The Bering Sea is one nasty bitch. She wished her dad safety and then got off the phone with him and getting back to her thoughts. The coffee hadn't kicked in, and she felt herself getting tired shortly after. So she called it a night.
The sun was shining, melting the ice that had been acquired during the storm the week before. Adrienne was making her way down a path to one of the places she was supposed to check out when something in the ocean caught her eye. The Cornelia was making its way to the dock, ready to unload its first catching.
She stopped and hesitated. She knew all too well they'd be here for hours, so she went to check the place out, hoping it wouldn't take too long, "Now this is our ballroom, nothing ridiculously big but fits about 150 people." The woman explained as Adrienne took notes on her phone.
"This would actually be perfect for my friend; they aren't having anything over the top." She smiled, "Now, do you have a bar here already or will one need to be brought in?"
"Oh we don't allow any alcoholic beverages at our events. Company policy.' She answered back as Adrienne mouthed 'okay' to herself and deleted everything she had typed out. There wasn't a need to continue, so she thanked the woman and headed out. Her cell phone vibrated against her pocket and she prayed it wasn't Josh.
"Yeah?" She answered as her friend's frantic voice came through the other end.
"Please tell me you found something!" She cried from the other end practically whining. Adrienne rolled her eyes as she headed to the docks to find the boat. She couldn't help it, it was so tempting.
"I did, but they don't allow alcohol at their venue so I crossed it off the list." She explained as her friend let out a groan and began to bitch, "Hey if you wanted one so fast you get your ass here and do it. There's only so many in this small little town Vi."
Josh noticed her walking up and ranting on the phone. He shook his head at her. She always talked with her hands and always had that sarcastic side to her when arguing. She walked over mimicking her friend with her hand. Josh helped her on deck as she hung up, "Dear God I hate being the maid of honor. Too much responsibility. There has to be this much room and an open bar and if it has everything but the bar it's a no go. Sickening. I'm never letting someone help me get married, I'm doing it myself. Anyway, how's the first load off?"
"Don't know yet, we aren't even halfway done." Josh commented looking back to see the men loading the crab into the bag like carrier.
"Poor crab, if they only knew what getting into those pots meant." Adrienne pouted. She was such an animal lover, no matter what kind.
"Your obsession with saving animals is the reason people go vegan." Josh teased as she narrowed her eyes at him, "I'll never forget when you made us stop for that fucking turtle."
"Hey he could've been really hurt! And besides, I had always wanted one!" She fought back in her defense, "Jake never objected to it."
"Jake was always trying to hit it so of course he wasn't gonna object to you pulling over every time you saw a woodland creature."
"See now this is where you two are complete opposites. You don't give a crap if an animal is at a potential death risk; Jake at least pretended to support me."
"Jake pretended to support what?" Jake asked coming up from behind her. Her entire body stiffened as he came into view. She felt as if her heart stopped. She hadn't seen him up close since the day they broke up. He looked the same, healthier actually.
"Adrienne's pet obsession." Josh laughed, "I'm gonna go check on Dad."
"What's wrong with your dad?" She asked as Josh walked away. She was having a difficult time making eye contact or even looking at him. He sensed it and made him feel bad.
"Hasn't been feeling too good. You know him and his health issues. Makes us worry." Jake explained as Adrienne nodded in response, "Your dad called him a few days ago."
"Saying?"
"I guess they were talking things out. It made my dad really happy to finally be on good times with yours. He missed him."
"Yeah, my dad missed Phil too. I could tell the whole thing was killing him inside." She commented looking out to the ocean. It was so calm right here, but the monster awaited you once you were miles away from shore.
Jake went to speak when Josh came hurdling out from the galley door frantically, "Jake, we need help! Call an ambulance!" He yelled as Jake hurried past his old flame and went to help his brother. Adrienne, taken over with fear, dialed 911 and explained to the operator everything that had happened. What took minutes felt like hours as the ambulance arrived and she directed them to where they needed to go.
She watched horrified as they took Phil out on a stretcher and began loading him into the ambulance. There were tears in her eyes as she witnessed the man who was like a second father to her, be in a serious situation, "What's going on?" She asked
"Stroke." One of the EMT's answered walking passed her. Her eyes widened. Jake climbed into the back of the ambulance as it took off, sirens blazing.
