Promise To Love Me, Even When You Hate Me.
Chapter 4.
Kate walked down the main shopping strip of Cairns, she peered in multiple windows becoming more defeated by the minute, nothing appealed to her. Placing herself on the nearest bench she rubbed her hands over her face, it was giving her a headache. Maybe this was a dumb idea, how was a new out fit going to help? She needed to be a completely different person, not the control freak, workaholic that she was. She glanced up feeling like she was being watched, she laughed as she spotted the manikin in the window. Her brow creased, it's eyes were focused on her, like it was judging her. She shook her head at herself, she needed a different approach, she got up and chose the shop she liked the look of least.
Walking in she let out a groan, the sales girl at the counter couldn't have been more than 19. She looked up at Kate and smiled politely then looked back down at her phone. Kate took a lap of the store, it was hopeless, she had no idea where to start, she forced a smile and approached the counter.
"Hi, I'm in desperate need of a new wardrobe, can you please give me a hand?"
The girls eyes lit up and she shoved her phone into her pocket.
"Well, you've come to the right place, I'm Taylor, and I'd be happy to help..."
She stepped out from behind the counter and looked Kate up and down, she motioned for her to spin. Kate grit her teeth and obliged, Taylor's grin grew as she nodded.
"So, umm that uniform, you're in the Navy?"
Kate nodded feeling more and more uncomfortable, Taylor sinched in the sides of Kate's shirt.
"Hmm, okay, lets do this…"
Kate stood in the change room feeling way out of her depth, the hooks we're filled with brightly coloured dresses, something she usually wouldn't be caught dead in. She changed into the first one and stood in front of the mirror and tilted her head, she was surprised, it looked good, better than she thought. Taylor poked her head through the curtain.
"Everything okay in there?"
Kate turned concerned about what she was going to think.
"Ah, yeah…"
Taylor let out a shriek and flung back the curtain with excitement.
"Hey, I knew there was a figure underneath that, umm…"
She pointed to Kate's uniform on the floor, Kate picked it up and held it up.
"It's called a DPNU…"
Taylor grabbed the shirt from her and scrunched up her face holding it against herself.
"Yeah, you'd think they could put some darts in it or something, you know, make it look a bit nicer."
Kate tried not to let her disdain read all over her face, she faked a smile.
"Yeah, well, I think it's built for action not attraction …"
Taylor walked off and shuffled through the racks and called out.
"So, do you get much time to relax?"
Kate closed the curtain pretending she didn't hear her, she was about to undress when Taylor flung it back open.
"I bet you get it explore all sorts of cool places, like uninhabited islands and stuff?
"Ah, yeah, sometimes…"
Taylor looked her up and down again.
"I thought you'd be more tanned, do you need some bathers too?"
Taylor shoved a bunch of fluorescent bikinis in her face.
"Cos these would look totes cute on you!"
Kate shook her head and waved her hands dismissing the frilly monstrosities that she was calling swimwear.
"Ah, I'm more of a one piece person, or you know, a wetsuit…"
Taylor held the bikinis in Kate's face and pursed her lips together.
"No, look at your tiny waist, no way, you gotta show that off! How about you take one of these and I'll give you a discount off a one piece, okay?"
Kate rolled her eyes and took them from her hands, she had been right about all the other clothes and the Navy was paying, so why not?
A few hours later Kate walked into her house with multiple shopping bags, her phone beeped, it was a message from Shaun.
"$1000 on clothes? You'd better get results, don't forget the wire! Xx."
Kate stood in front of her mirror in bandeau dress and frowned.
"I can't wear the wire with this…"
She rummaged though the bags and took out a flowy mini dress and held it up, she sighed and rolled her eyes.
She strolled into the pub feeling good, she had put on some makeup and styled her hair t complete the "New Kate" look. Her eyes scanned the room looking for the crew, there was no sign of them. She was relieved, yet annoyed, she didn't really want to socialise, but she wanted to prove to Shaun that she could adapt. She looked again, double checking there was no one she knew, she shrugged and went to leave but ran in to someone. Looking up she was about to apologise and realised it was Dutchy, he hadn't registered it was her and was about to walk off. She put on her best friendly smile.
"Hey..."
He was stunned for a moment, looking her up and down, he had so many questions.
"Ah, X, what are you doing here?"
"Ah, umm, thought I'd come check the place out."
"Oh, cool, well, ah, I actually just came to get some takeaways, everyone is busy tonight, well, except me."
"Oh, that's okay, another night."
She pretended to sound disappointed.
"But, umm..."
He looked her up and down again, it looked like she had gone to a lot of effort, he felt a little awkward checking her out, she was his superior, but he couldn't help it, she looked hot.
"Look, why don't I buy a round, a peace offering?"
The offer confused Kate, he had stood his ground all day and now he was apologising?
"You wanna have a drink? With me?"
He nodded, she turned and headed towards the bar, Dutchy walked a few steps behind her. He found his gaze being drawn to her, he couldn't take his eyes off her, he couldn't believe how different she looked.
"We wouldn't wanna waste the outfit."
She stopped and spun round with her hands on her hips.
"Watch it, Petty Officer, else you'll be apologising for more than your attitude on the boarding."
She winced a little knowing that it would have come off bitchy, she took a deep breath in and tried to channel "Friendly Kate". Dutchy could see that she was trying to make an effort, but he wasn't going to let her off that easy.
"I'm not apologising, I'm being the bigger person."
"Oh, really..."
"Okay, no ship talk. Let's just try to have a normal conversation, huh?"
She groaned internally but nodded, she walked over to a free table as Dutchy headed to the bar. He watched as she pulled on the hem of her dress, he laughed seeing her uncomfortable, it was refreshing seeing her not so put together. She perched herself on a stool and Dutchy bought over a beer and a glass of white.
"Ah, took a stab in the dark, Sav Blanc?"
She smiled politely and took the glass from him, he took a sip of his beer and he sat down.
"So, what made you come out tonight?"
She took a sip of her drink while trying to think of a response. She knew that 'My boss told me too', was not going to go down well.
"I dunno, thought I should get out and about."
She wiggled on the seat, conscious that the dress barely covered her behind, Dutchy couldn't help but smirk at her awkwardness.
"And, the outfit? Is it new?"
Kate swallowed half of her glass and placed it back on the table. The usual her would have said something like, are you the fashion police now? Or what's it to you? But she had to make an effort, because, more than anything she hated failing a mission.
"Why, what do you mean?"
"Ah, nothing bad, I mean you look hot, but umm, not comfortable?"
Kate could feel her cheeks burn, she was going to ignore the fact that her Buffer just called her hot.
"Yeah, I went shopping this arvo, trusted the sales girl who's like 10 years younger than me!"
"Well, why don't I get those takeaways and we can go back to yours and you can get changed into something more comfortable?"
She glanced at him over the top of her glass holding in her smirk, he broke eye contact realising how that would have sounded.
"Ah, you know what I mean."
She swallowed the rest of her glass and nodded. Her desire to get out of the clothes out weighed the nervousness that she felt about letting him into her house.
They arrived at her house and Kate ran into her room and changed as fast as she could, she walked back out into the lounge wearing trackies and a t-shirt.
Dutchy had made himself comfortable on her couch, he handed her a glass of wine and smirked.
"So there's no in between? It's either formal or trackies? "
Kate responded without thinking.
"Is that a problem?"
She took the glass from him and sat on the other end of the couch, a silence came over the conversation. Kate sipped on her wine glanced over to him periodically, she suddenly felt awkward having him in her house. Dutchy sighed and placed his beer on the table, Kate glanced at the bottle covered in condensation and slid him a coaster, he let out a laugh and placed it under the beer.
"So umm, do you wanna finish your story?"
"Story?"
He broke eye contact unsure whether she remembered what she was going to tell him on the boat earlier.
"You were, umm, on the ship it felt like you were, ah, about to show me something?"
He sheepishly glanced in her direction trying to get a feel of her mood, she picked up her glass and took a large mouthful, open up, Kate, you need him to trust you, do your job. Placing the glass back on the table she flicked her hair behind her shoulder and pulled down the collar of her t-shirt. Dutchy leaned in close, he couldn't help but gasp as he saw the large scar under her collarbone. Kate closed her eyes trying to hold back the tears, forgetting their awkward relationship he reached out and gently ran his finger over the scar. She flinched and opened her eyes at his touch, Dutchy withdrew his hand and was immediately embarrassed.
"Kate, I'm sorry."
She played with her t-shirt making sure it was covered again.
"Who did that to you?"
Dutchy winced he didn't mean for the question to come out so eagerly.
Kate focused on the floor thinking of that day, a few stray tears escaped her eyes. She inhaled sharply as she wiped away the tears, she looked over to Dutchy who's eyes were locked on to her.
"My ex."
Dutchy froze, he needed to know the story but didn't want to make her feel more uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry Kate, if you don't want to talk about it..."
She shook her head picked up her glass, Dutchy held his breath in anticipation.
"It's okay, umm, he used me, he thought he could get some kind of information cos I was in the navy. We caught his friends one day, and I came home to confront him and we had an argument, turns out he had stashed drugs at my house, I don't remember much, but he attacked me, my boss found me in a pool of blood and..."
Dutchy exhaled, he couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he now understood why she wasn't an open or trusting person. He reached out and placed a hand on hers causing her to flinch.
"I'm sorry..."
Kate scoffed and took another drink.
"Why?"
"I mean, I'm sorry that happened to you, that's really messed up…"
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, Dutchy sat there not knowing what to say, he looked back towards her scar and frowned, he reached over and peeled a piece of tape off her t-shirt.
"What is with you and this tape?"
Kate suddenly felt exposed, way out of her comfort zone, she became agitated. She wasn't used to opening up to people, little own people she wasn't supposed to trust, it was too much, too fast.
"Umm, actually, Dutchy, I'm pretty tired, sorry, I'm gonna have to call it a night…"
She rose from the couch and walked towards the door, Dutchy didn't understand why suddenly she was touchy.
"Yeah, okay, umm, is something the matter? You seem…"
She couldn't help it, "Bitch Kate" took over, she spun round, her brow creased, waiting for his answer.
"Seem? What?"
Dylan's eyes darted around the room, he didn't know what he had done to piss her off.
"I dunno, annoyed at me?"
"Yeah, you brought up the one thing I don't like talking bout."
He stood up and shook his head.
"Hang on, you're the one that brought it up on the ship, I thought we were actually bonding."
She crossed her arms over her chest feeling cornered.
"Yeah, well, bonding over my dark past isn't exactly what I want my friendships to be based on."
Dutchy shook his head completely mystified about how the conversation had progressed.
"Yeah, okay…"
Kate clenched her jaw knowing she should probably apologise for her outburst but she couldn't.
"Look, it's been a huge week..."
Dutchy knew there was more to it, but he didn't have the strength to continue right now.
"Okay, well, I'll go then..."
He walked out of her house shaking his head.
Kate paced the lounge room, she didn't know why she was so irrational around him, she picked up her glass of wine and sculled it. She let out a grunt, wine wasn't going to cut it, she needed something stronger to get the bad taste out of her mouth.
She had purposely picked a pub that was out of Cairns, she needed a break from Kate McGregor, and she couldn't do that at the local.
She had put back on the new dress, it was the only thing she had to wear that didn't feel like work clothes. She sat at the outside bar and ordered a Whiskey on the rocks. She closed her eyes for a moment trying to get herself out of work mode she didn't hear her boss approach her from behind.
"Kate?"
She didn't register her name, he tapped her on the shoulder, she turned, annoyed that someone was disturbing her.
"Kate, it is you..."
She nearly dropped her glass realising it was Shaun standing in front of her.
"Shaun, you scared me."
He looked her up and down and nodded with approval.
"Money well spent…"
She scoffed and swallowed her glass.
"What are doing here?"
"Well, I wouldn't have to follow you if we thought that you were managing."
"Don't tell me you've bugged my place too?"
"Your mic was left on, anyway, that story about the stabbing where did it come from? He seemed to really respond to it?"
She shrugged crunching on a piece of ice, he sat down next to her a little concerned about her casual attitude.
"Just be careful, too many stories makes it difficult."
She let out a groan feeling like she couldn't win.
"Boss, my whole existence is a lie, I can juggle a few stories."
"But then you went and did your block again!"
She attempted to get the attention of a waiter, if she was going to be lectured she needed another drink. Shaun waved his hand in front of her face wanting her full attention.
"What's the problem, Kate? you've always been able to focus."
She sighed and dropped her head, she didn't know why she couldn't play the game like she always did.
"I dunno, like I said, these guys are different, I mean, normally there's a clear cut bad guy, a total jerk, but, he seems… different?"
Shaun grabbed her arm frustrated seeing her like this, she needed to get her head in the game.
"Kate, there's your first mistake, you know you can't see him as a person, he's a target. There must be something we can do to help?"
Kate frowned at the use of the term 'we'.
"Well, for starters, tell Warren no more surprise appearances on FFV's, I don't think anyone noticed, but you need to warn me if you're going to be out there."
"Yeah, fair enough, I think he's just worried about you."
She snatched her arm away from his grip.
"Yeah, well, you can tell him he doesn't need to worry about me…"
"Tell him yourself, Kate, I thought you two were over this?"
"I am, I don't think he is, this is why I offered to take this job out here, but he followed, can't you see he's the one that you should be talking to…"
Shaun held his hands up in surrender, he didn't need her to be more agitated than she already was.
"Yeah, okay, okay, look, you two are my best team, I need you to work it out…"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, and you did warn me, so, I guess you can say I told you so…"
"Kate, it's not about that, you just need to get this done, ignore Warren if you have to, but it would be easier if you all got along. Just talk to him, you're supposed to be a team."
Kate nodded and plonked her glass in front of him.
"I think it's your round…"
Shaun smirked, it wasn't a secret that Kate was his favourite and she was the only one who could get away with giving him attitude. He stood shaking his head and playfully shoved her on the shoulder.
"Pushy bitch…"
He picked up her glass, she smiled satisfied.
"Oh, and, Shaun…"
He stopped and turned back to face her, she smiled a sweet smile.
"The good stuff…"
He rolled her eyes and shook his head and headed for the bar.
The next morning Kate arranged to meet Warren for breakfast to discuss their working relationship.
"CupKate, how are you?"
She grit her teeth and smiled.
"Please don't call me that…"
"Aww, why not? It was always my favourite nickname for you…"
He sat in the seat next to her, it was too close and she shuffled her chair away from him.
"Look, I asked you here to talk about work."
"Okay, but we can eat while we talk right?"
Dutchy was on his morning run and spotted Kate at the cafe, he was about to call when he spotted the familiar looking guy next to her. He sat on the bench and pretended to tie his shoe, he was out of earshot but he could tell from her body language that Kate was uncomfortable.
"So, what's on your mind CupKate?"
"We've got a job to do, right?"
He nodded smiling at her.
"And work and personal can't mix…"
He rolled his eyes placing his hand on hers.
"You were always so good at following the rules, well, until you met me."
She smiled and picked his hand up and placed it back on the table.
"Yes, but I now realise why there are rules. Just let me do my job, you're here to help."
"Yeah, exactly."
He placed his hand back on hers, she shook her head and shifted to the other side of the table.
"But appearing on a FFV with no warning isn't help."
He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back on the chair.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you…"
She leaned forward and lowered her voice.
"You didn't scare me, Warren, you pissed me off! You could have blown my cover."
"Well, if you're any good at your job you wouldn't have flinched."
Kate scoffed and jumped to her feat, she wasn't going to be lectured by him.
"Just don't get in my way…"
He jumped up after her and forcefully pulled her back, Dutchy had witnessed everything, he didn't want to get involved but he wasn't going to stand by and let someone man handle her. He stormed up to them as Kate snatched her arm back.
"Kate?"
She jumped at Dutchy's presence.
"What are you doing here?"
"Ah, I was just walking by and saw him grab you…"
Warren scowled in his direction and gave him a bit of a shove.
"And who are you?"
Dutchy glanced over to Kate and then back to Warren.
"I'm work mates with Kate, who are you?'
Dutchy eyeballed him and titled his head.
"Have we met, you look familiar?"
Warren adjusted his sunglasses and placed a cap on his head and walked off, Kate walked in the opposite direction, Dutchy chased after her.
"Kate, what was that?"
She didn't stop, she didn't need him to defend her.
"Nothing, Dutchy, none of your business…"
"Kate, what is going on? Something is going on!"
She kept walking hoping he would get the hit and drop it.
"Nothing is going on, Dutchy!"
She quickened her steps and got into her car leaving Dutchy standing in the car park none the wiser.
Kate arrived home to find Warren on her doorstep, she let out a huff and slammed the car door.
"What are you doing here?"
She walked past him ignoring his presence, she opened her front door and tried to shut him out, he pushed past her shaking his head.
"He's trouble Kate…"
She closed the door and followed him into the lounge, he stepped towards her.
"Why is he all protective over you? He stormed up to me like a boyfriend today."
"Yeah, well, he's my Buffer, he's supposed to have my back, and you didn't have to grab me so hard."
She rubbed her arm, he placed his hand on top of hers.
"I'm sorry, I worry about you, CupKate…"
She stepped back out of his reach shaking her head, how could she make it any clearer?
"Warren, we're work partners, that's it!"
A dark expression came over his face.
"Do you have feelings for him or something?"
She wrinkled her face, he was being ridiculous.
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, from what I hear you're refusing to do your job."
"What? I'm not refusing, he's just, he different…"
"Different? Sure, different in the fact that he's good looking?"
Kate didn't have the strength to argue with him, she opened the door.
"Just get out and let me do my job."
He started at her for a moment and to her surprise he left without saying another word.
Stomping around her living room she muttered to herself, she hated that Warren got to her. She wondered if she indulged him because she felt guilty. She knew that he had always liked her but deep down she knew she was using him as a band-aid.
She needed to focus, she wasn't getting the information she needed. She flopped back on the couch and leaned her head on the side. A few minutes later she bolted up right having a light bulb moment, she nodded her head as a mischievous grin covered her face.
"Thank you, Warren…"
End of Chapter 4.
