Annoyance ~ To Irritate or make someone a little Angry

He was late. Again.

Amelia sighed as the minute hand ticked past eight o'clock. Her gloved hands were neatly folded and rested on her desk, she sat up straight and alert. Her ears twitched at every passing minute and with it, her irritation grew. By now, they could have gotten the formalities over with and gone straight to business. She needed the detailed course for the next few days and if she could do it by herself, she would. However, Amelia was not a navigator. She had a rough estimate on where she was going and how long it would take but not the complete details.

They rested with the noted astrophysicist, Doctor Delbert Doppler who had a habit of being behind schedule.

Nothing irritated Amelia more than being behind schedule. Being the head authority of the voyage, she was expected to be punctual. To not be would ruin her reputation of being a trusted person with time. Time was her best friend but it, apparently, had not met the good Doctor yet.

Seven minutes ticked by. Amelia pursed her lips tightly. By now, they would have started plotting the course. They would be working out the quickest and safest routes. Then they'd calculate bearings and degrees and measurements before converting them into time and then comparing them with the energy levels of her ship and their food and water supplies. If possible, they'd work out another route if the previous one was not to Amelia's satisfaction and finally, a safety route in case anything happened on their prime path.

The minute hand of Amelia's clock ticked to thirteen minutes past when there was a gentle knock at her door.

Finally.

"Enter." Amelia called sternly. She pulled the most displeased face she could pull as the door cracked open and the good Doctor gingerly poked his head through. He visibly gulped at Amelia's face before slipping through the door fully.

"G-g-good morning, Captain." He stumbled, shifting from foot to foot.

"Is it?" Amelia questioned acidly. "I hadn't noticed."

Doppler bit his tongue. "I-uh- I apologise for being late-"

"By thirteen whole minutes, Doctor." She interrupted. Doppler bit his tongue harder to stop him from saying anything he'd regret; he was apologising nicely and she was cutting him off. "This is not...appropriate."

"I understand-"

"Please make an effort not to be late again." She said coldly.

"I do but-"

"No excuses Doctor." Once again, she interrupted him. He sighed silently, frustrated. They were conflicting again. The only thing they did since the voyage began was argue. While Doppler had attempting to get into the routine of getting up early, she would scold him for not being on time. It wasn't his fault. The alarm clock didn't go off on time and he couldn't find his shoes then he buttoned up his shirt wrong and-

"Please sit down Doctor."

Doppler did as he was told. A seat next to her was already ready, waiting for him. He sat down and placed the scrolled maps he owned onto the desk. As he did so, Amelia got up and headed towards a refreshment counter in the corner of the room.

"Coffee?" She asked. He nodded. "A more solid answer please, Doctor."

"Yes please," He replied meekly. This woman annoyed him so much. She was so...bossy. Of course, he understood that she was the Captain of the ship and wanted complete respect and he gave that respect to her. Apparently, it wasn't enough. So was so cold and stern, it made him nervous. He'd seen her smile and be playful to Mr Arrow but he had a much stronger relationship with her than him. Maybe it took someone close for her to be kind to.

The kettle boilt and Amelia struggled not to be so harsh on the poor Doctor. She couldn't remember the last time she had bit someone's head off so hard just for being late for a meeting but then again, she couldn't remember the last time someone annoyed her this much. He lacked an understanding of reality and common sense. Everyone knew that if you had found a possible map to one of the largest and most famous loot of gold ever, you wouldn't go skipping around the deck practically blaring about it to a crew Amelia didn't trust. That was another thing too. It took once glance at the crew to realise they were lying idiots. The documents said they were an 'upstanding crew'. Nonsense! How could an academically intelligent man like the good Doctor fall for that rubbish?

Amelia angrily placed the metal spoon back onto counter before picking up the mug of fresh coffee and taking it over to Doppler. She placed it on a coaster in front of him.

"Thank you." He said as he took it gratefully in his hands.

Pursing her lips, Amelia sat back down in her seat. "Seeing as we're already behind schedule, we'll have to crack on."

Doppler unrolled one of the scrolls to reveal a large sheet of paper with various images of stars, planets and nebulas scattered around it. "When we pass Magellanic Cloud-"

"Which will be tomorrow evening." Amelia added.

For a second, Doppler was distracted. He had lost his train of thought. He gritted his teeth irritantly. "Yes, I've worked out the fastest course would be to head North East, at a degree of 0097, and head towards the Coral Galaxy before turning back to 0000 and head North. However, during the summer season, the Galactic Athozonian Whales are migrating towards Delta Minor so it looks like the fastest path is cut off."

Amelia sighed, her bad mood increasing. "So we're going to have to take the long way and add a few more days to the voyage or be rammed to death by gigantic whales?"

"Basically yes."

Today was not going so well. Amelia massaged the bridge of her nose and took a sip of tea. "So, what's the next best option?"

"To increase the Legacy's power and have her increase altitude to over pass the Whales' migration path. They fly above the asteroid field. If it weren't for the Whales we could fly over the asteroid field no problem but because they fly above, they're in our way. We'll just have follow their example and fly higher."

"Does the Legacy have enough power to do so?"

"I checked; more than enough." Doppler replied confidently.

Amelia sighed thankfully. "Good. So, the original path is fine. Do you have the calculations?"

"Yes," Doppler said as he tapped a tiny notebook upon a small pile of other books.

"So, when do we start to gain altitude?"

"I've done the calculations; we should start to gain altitude around the same time we turn North East at out two watts per hour. By the time we get to the migration path, we should be well above the Whales and high enough to be out of the way of any strays too."

He had already done the calculations. Amelia frowned. "You've already done the calculations?"

Doppler blushed slightly and advert his gaze. "Yes, well, I thought I'd be late again so I-I took the liberty and did most of the calculations for the first path just in case. To save time." He muttered. "I thought you'd be mad if I turned up late again so I did them t-to save time."

"I'm not mad." Amelia replied softly. "More like irritated. Frustrated. Annoyed. I'd expect you to be on time, Doctor."

"I am sorry," He apologised whole heartedly. "I don't purposely mean to be late."

"I understand but you can't make the same mistake next time." Amelia warned. "I expect you to be on time Doctor otherwise my schedule will fall behind as well and then that will affect my reputation. The Navy do not like my rank as Captain and they will pick on anything they find negative about me to try and bring my career down. To lack punctuality would only give them the satisfaction. I do not want to give them that satisfaction and therefore, you will be on time on our next meeting. Understand?"

Doppler sighed, clearly annoyed with her. It wasn't his fault the Navy wanted her gone and he was sure a little lateness wouldn't bring her whole career crashing down on her. Why did she blame him for the Navy's displeasure in her job? He Hadn't done anything wrong! "Yes ma'am." Doppler replied grudgingly.

Amelia's face was as still as stone, her eyes ice cold. "Good," She retorted sternly. Her eyes flickered to the clock on the wall before back to the good Doctor. "Now, if you'd excuse me but I have an inspection to run."

"B-but the safety route-"

"Will be done by myself in my free time." Amelia's nostrils flared as she got up, walked past Doppler and turned back to him. "If you hadn't been so late we probably would have already done it by now."

Doppler's cheeks burned as Amelia's sharp stare pierced him. If looks could kill, he surely would be dead. However, Doppler didn't allow himself to feel guilty. He was only a litte late; it wasn't worth biting his head off for.

Placing her hat on her head, Amelia stormed to the door, unlocked it and swung it open. "Good day to you, Doctor." She said bitterly before leaving, slamming the door and leaving a cold cup of tea and a severely annoyed Doctor Doppler behind.