Norrington
Chapter 21
James, ever devoted to duty, well ever devoted if you discounted a very few deviations to that over the years, such as last night, was at Fort Charles bright and early the next morning, even though that meant he had barely gone to bed before rising again with a headache and a queasy stomach. It seemed though, that his two lieutenants were not as devoted, as they had not shown up yet. James stepped into the hall and called down to the officer at the desk, grimacing as his voice sent reverberating shocks through his head. He stepped back into his office and tipping his head back a bit rubbed his temples in an attempt to ease the pain. He was suddenly hit in the back of the head by the officer opening his door as he answered James call for his presence.
"Sorry Commodore Sir." The man said aghast as he looked upon a very unhappy superior officer's countenance as James whirled around to face him, his hands now on the back of his head rather than his temples. He tried to back out of the door before James could set upon him with all manner of verbal arse chewing, but was stopped as James took a deep breath and said, "My fault Mr. Connor, I should not have stopped so close to the door."
"Aye sir." Mr. Connor said a bit unsurely, not believing he didn't have a Commodorely rant about to come crashing down on him.
James stood there rubbing the back of his head as he addressed the man, "Mr. Connor, Lieutenant Gillette and Lieutenant Groves have failed to show up as requested. Would you please send someone to inform them that I am in my office impatiently waiting their arrival."
"Yes Sir" the man saluted smartly and left hurriedly, expecting any moment to get the dressing down he deserved for smacking a commanding officer with his own door.
James busied himself, or at least attempted to busy himself with some of the mounds of paperwork on his desk as he waited for the two to show up. He didn't have to wait long, within twenty minutes or so Groves showed up looking in rather better shape than James had expected him to. He snapped off a salute and an apology, pulled a chair up to James' desk and set to work on his own mound of paperwork. A few minutes later Gillette showed up determined to look better than he actually felt, although his wig being a bit askew did not help him pull this off in the least. He too saluted, although not as sharp as he would have wished, offered his own apology and also pulled a chair up and began on the paperwork.
They worked most of the morning, pausing once for a short break for tea and by lunchtime had made their way through a good deal of it. James announced they would stop for lunch, and both men sighed with relief as neither one of them would have been surprised if James had made them work on without lunch, something he had done too many times to number. They pushed back their chairs and headed off to the Fort Charles Dining hall, a name that sounded much grander than it should. Although the food was decent, it was simple. The room was arranged with the serving area along one end of the room and the rest of the room being filled with long tables and rather uncomfortable chairs, this to discourage the taking of overly long lunch breaks spent in long winded conversations between the men.
They moved along the serving counter as different varieties of food were dished out to them with the rest of the men in line. James had made it a practice whenever he ate in the mess hall not to pull rank and moved through the serving line just like the rest of them. This practice had a couple of different outcomes to it. Some of the men pointed out this meant the fine Commodore had not lost touch with the men serving beneath him in his command and therefore was a very good thing. Others found it terribly unnerving to stand in line either fore or aft, or worse, sit next to or even at the same table as a Commodore who was known not to hesitate to perform a dressing down when needed, and not knowing if the Commodore included table manners in this, although none could state a time a dressing down had been given for such an offence still felt it better to err on the side of caution and use their best table manners whenever the Commodore decided to dine with them. Besides having a Commodore so near kind of put a stilt on any conversations that might have been.
After lunch they returned to James' office and during the afternoon put another large dent in the piles accumulated there. Finally James declared Andrew and Theo free to go. They thankfully saluted, bid James good night and wasted no time making their exit. As they started down the stairs they saw one Miss Rose Davenport coming up the stairs followed by two maids carrying trays. She gave them what could only be considered a faux smile and asked if the Commodore was in his office. They gave each other a look, wondering if they should return to the office with the woman for the sake and sanity of their commander. Both shrugged about the same time thinking after the day the Commodore had put them through he could fend for himself. Andrew answered, "Yes Miss Davenport, the Commodore is indeed in his office."
"Would you care for one of us to announce you Miss Davenport?" Theo asked with a smile.
"No." she said abruptly and headed past them up the stairs.
"We really should go help him out you know." Theo said feeling a little guilty as he watched Rose make her way up the stairs and towards James' office door.
"He'd probably just put us back on that bloody paperwork." Andrew answered as he grimaced back towards James' office.
"Right, off to the tavern then?" Theo said with a smile, his guilt forgotten in an instant.
"To the tavern." Andrew answered with his own smile. "We can always check in on him later."
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James sat leaned back in his chair trying to ease the strain in his back and shoulders from being hunched over his desk most of the day. His eyes were closed and he had a thumb and a couple of fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. He heard the door open and then close. He didn't open his eyes at first thinking it was his two lieutenants returning for some reason, but when they didn't address him he opened his eyes just as a pair of hands began to massage his shoulders. His head snapped back and he was looking up into the sultry smiling face of Rose Davenport. He was so stunned he was unable to think clearly or move for that matter. She leaned in very close, and said in a very alluring tone, "I brought you supper."
James sat there still unable to move, the thought running through his head over and over in that brief moment, she meant to kiss him. She meant to kiss him? She Meant To Kiss Him. He reared forward out of his chair then, his forehead connecting with her chin causing her to bite her tongue and let out a string of very unladylike curses as he did. He turned to face her as he rubbed his forehead and said the only thing that came to his still muddled mind, "Miss Davenport, what are you doing here?"
Getting herself under control she started swaying towards James as he started backpedaling away from her, "What would you like me to be here for Commodore?"
The look on his face as he came into contact with the wall was priceless; Rose was unable to repress the smile, only able to keep it from growing into a leering grin. She continued to advance until she was almost up against James' front. He looked down at her with those lovely green eyes wide as he stared back. She heard one of the maids clear her throat then and remembering their presence turned her head a bit trying not to loose eye contact with the Commodore as she did and said a bit snippily, "Set those trays down and then you may go."
"No." James managed to choke out, unfortunately it was not loud enough for any but Rose to hear, consequently the maids did as they were bid. James heard the door open and close and knew once again he was alone with a woman he both desired and was leery of. He closed his eyes, opened them as he took a deep breath, cleared his throat, tried to speak, cleared it again and in as much of a commanding voice as he could muster, which wasn't much said, "Miss Davenport, really this is very improper."
"Why Commodore, what ever do you mean? Just a little supper and perhaps a little… dessert afterwards." She said as she ran her hands up and down James' chest.
To Be Continued
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