"Kate? Earth to Kate?" a familiar voice said trying to break Kate out of her daze
"Hmm?" Kate said looking at her old friend
"I was saying, how does it feel to be back working together?" her friend said staring at her closely
"Like you never left" Kate said focusing back on her friend
"So I see the Boss knows you?" she said pointing towards a tall dark man standing at the end of the gangway watching them descend onto Hammersley
"Well Nikki, let's just say it's a past I'd rather forget" Kate said taking a quick glance back at Mike as they walked towards their cabin
"This is going to be so fun having you on board" Nikki said smiling as they approached their cabin they would share together
"Can't wait" Kate said entering the cabin behind Nikki and shutting the door behind them.
Nikki Caetano her best friend, they had met on HMAS ANZAC together before she left to Cairns for a posting Kate not long followed 2 years later. When Nikki left HMAS ANZAC Kate was the only woman left on board all the Men gave her a hard time with constant teasing and name calling.
When a transfer to Cairns came up she took it straight away especially when she found out Nikki was still on board Hammersley in Cairns.
When she arrived in Cairns last week she surprised Nikki, who offered for her to stay until she could find a permanent place to live, her first meeting at NAVCOM was a few days after arriving and let's just say she never expected to see this certain person again who turned out to be her new CO.
Nikki and Kate had formed such a close bond when working on HMAS ANZAC together that Kate confided in her and told her things about her past she had never told anyone including a certain Man whom she had a relationship with then he left out of nowhere without a goodbye with nothing but a note.
She never revealed to Nikki the name of this man but she always knew it would come back to bite her in the butt and hard.
Mike Flynn, a name she never thought she'd hear ever again or a man she'd never thought she'd see again. The man she gave her heart to all those years ago only for him to break it and leave. And now she was faced with him being her new Commanding Officer on board Hammersley.
How was she supposed to work with him let alone be in such a small space for months on end?
Seeing him again after all these years shook her quite a lot, 6 years is a long time but seeing him again brought up all those old feelings she tried so hard to hide away and keep them buried.
Nikki had left their cabin to go and check in on the bridge leaving Kate alone unpacking her bags when she heard a knock at the door she turned around and opened it and much to her dismay there was Mike Flynn standing there smirking in all his handsomeness
"Kate McGregor well I never" he said smirking at her
"Mike Flynn, never thought I'd see your face again well actually part of me hoped I wouldn't" Kate said standing there crossing her arms
"Nice to see you too Kate" Mike said standing in the doorway, Kate couldn't help but cringe at him saying her name
"Don't call me that please Sir" she said with a tone
"Right sorry, when Maxine rang and told me I'd be getting a new XO I never imagined it would be the famous Kate McGregor" Mike said looking her up and down.
Kate had suddenly become very self-conscious "Yes well, when I got offered the position I never imagined you'd still be serving on a Patrol boat I thought you'd be given a promotion by now" Kate said taking a seat at her desk.
"Promotion includes a shore Posting"
"Which you'd never do" Kate interrupted him knowing full well he would have been given several promotion offers but he would have turned them down to be able to stay at Sea.
"Right well, I'll let you get settled in" Mike said turning to leave "Oh and Kate, it's nice to see you again" he said looking back as he left making his way towards the bridge.
Kate couldn't help but smile as he left, even after everything it was good to see him and he still looked as handsome as ever.
Kate made her way up to the bridge after unpacking her things as she entered all eyes were on her she smiled awkwardly as she made her way to stand next to Nikki,
"All right everyone listen up" Mike said clapping his hands in attention as everyone stopped what they were doing to look his way
"This is the new Executive Officer Kate McGregor, I'd like you to treat her with the same respect as any other superior officer" Mike said as people began making their way over to Kate RO was the first one to make his way over
"Names RO are you Kate McGregor, as in Princess Perfect?" he blurted out, the smile from Kates face dropped
"Just ignore him Ma'am, I'm Charge, and this is Buffer" he said shaking her hand as he pushed RO out of the way
"Nice to meet you" Kate said smiling.
"Right now we've gotten the introductions out of the way can we go on Patrol" Mike said standing next to Kate who moved slightly as she could feel the heat of his breath on her neck.
"Yes Sir" Nikki said pulling Kate towards the Navigation system
"Welcome to Hammersley Kit Kat" Nikki smirked as she slightly nudged Kate's arm.
Kate smiled at her already feeling uneasy about her first Patrol aboard Hammersley.
Hammersley pulled out of the docks and headed towards their first Patrol, to say being nervous was a understatement especially with having to work so closely with Mike but at least she had her best friend to be there to get her through and even be a barrier between her and Mike Flynn.
Just how was she going to tell Nikki that their Boss was the man from all those years ago?