Part 3
When Kate ended the call, Dutchy was scared, very scared. Pissed off Kate was one thing, but she had sounded furious. Clearly she wasn't as amused as he had been when sticking post-its to her belongings. The woman just talking on the phone, wasn't Kate his friend, but the XO. Dutchy was in serious trouble.
At night Dutchy lay tossing and turning in his bed. Constantly he was assaulted by images of Kate and what damage she could do to him and his career. How could he control that damage? How could he have been so stupid thinking she would find the notes amusing? She was going to get him kicked out off the navy, he was sure of that. When he still hadn't fallen asleep at 5AM he gave up. He swung his legs over the side of his bed, firmly planting his feet on the floor. While brushing one hand through his tousled hair, he rubbed the other in his tired eyes.
From the corner of his eye he saw his mobile light up. For a moment he felt the feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach as he thought it would be Kate telling him she'd go directly to navcom instead of meeting him first. But it was the CO – telling him that they had been crash sailed and he was expected to be at Hammersley at 7AM.
He was stalling getting to the ship in time, as he knew that as soon as he was there, he would run into Kate, who would skin him alive. Dutchy argued that if he would get to the ship just in time, he'd have to get to work directly and Kate would have no chance to kill him. Just before leaving his flat he took one last look in the mirror for an arrogant check to see if he looked alright, when he realised he looked as rough as he felt.
Exactly what he had predicted, as soon as he got to Hammersley, he had to get to work. Before getting to that though, he was told off by the CO, who wasn't amused by Dutchy's tardiness. Dutchy just let the CO's angry words float past him, as what he had to say, just couldn't be as bad as what Kate's anger.
Kate was having a hard time not to burst out laughing every time she got near to Dutchy. The last time she had cornered him, was when he was making a brew. She stood near the door and he stood there babbling like an idiot before finally handing over his brew and getting the hell out of there. He was scared of her, and she thought it was highly amusing.
By now she had realised he really thought she was going to report him to navcom and wreck his career. While she had planned on telling him she would report him, let him sweat for a while, and then take it back, she now had a far better idea. Dutchy had been playing games in her house, and two could play that game. Her revenge wasn't going to consist of kicking him out of the navy, she was going to play his game on him. See how you like someone touching your private belongings she thought. She sniggered for a moment, when she thought of his most private belonging. Guess it's going to be hard attaching a post-it to that.
While most people were on the bridge, Kate excused herself and went down to the cabins. Before opening the door to Dutchy and Swain's cabin she held her breath for a moment while listening carefully if no-one was on his or her way downstairs. When she heard nothing she stepped inside and leaned her back against the closed door to take everything in. Swain must have a good influence on Dutchy, Kate thought when she saw the spotless cabin. After seeing the mess in her own house, she believed Dutchy's own place would be a pig-sty. So far, she had been proven wrong.
Knowing someone would be able to come back any minute, she knew she didn't really have time to go snooping around the cabin. Her revenge would have to come in phases. One post it at the time, especially when and where he didn't expect them. Deciding the best item to start with would be his underwear she headed for the first wardrobe she saw and quickly grabbed some. When the item she held up turned out to be a tighty whity, she assumed they were Swain's. There is no way that someone with a body like Dutchy's will wear THOSE sort of undies.
Kate chucked back the undies in disgust and opened the other wardrobe. "Now that's more like it," Kate whispered with a smile. She grabbed a handful and inspected each and everyone of them. Most of them were tight, making Kate blush when realizing how well his assets would be shown in them. She dug her hand into the pile of undies again and grabbed the one that was stuffed way back at the bottom. This last one just seemed perfect.
In her hand she held a tight pair of boxer briefs. Not just a decent plain white or black, but something SO typically Dutchy. Just typical for him to even show off with his underwear, she thought while dangling the bright red boxers in front of her. "Now this is absolutely perfect." She laughed. From her pocket she quickly got a pen and some post-its. She bit the back of her pen for a moment to think of the best comment to write down. When she had finally decided the best remark, she blushed when writing it down. Now see how you will feel when you find your undies displayed like this. She thought while planting said undies on his pillow. As she closed the door she briefly thought what would happen if Swain happened to find Dutchy's underwear first. Kate just shrugged. Serves him right, she thought.
Quickly making her way back to the bridge, she was still giggling like a schoolgirl. Mike was giving her a questioning look which she just answered with a shrug. She felt she was being watched and she quickly turned around to see Dutchy's eyes focussed on her. As soon as he noticed she had caught him, he quickly cast down his eyes again, turning pale. When she saw this, she smiled even more.
The look Kate was giving him, wasn't good Dutchy thought. She was testing him, and was very open about it. He swallowed and quickly cast his look down again concentrating on the image shown on the EOD. He had the feeling Kate was up to something, and it made him feel uncomfortable. All day he had tried to avoid her, at the same time, she had cornered him every single time. As if she was doing it on purpose. Every time he stepped out to a location where he was semi alone, she had been there, making him behave like a fool.
Dutchy sighed when the night-watch finally arrived. Tiredly he rubbed his hands through his eyes. The hours he didn't sleep last night and being on duty all day had taken its toll. He was exhausted and longed to crawl into his rack and sleep. As soon as the door closed, he kicked off his shoes, stripped down to his underwear and made an attempt of climbing into his rack. With one leg on his rack, and one still dangling in the air he froze.
Spread out on his pillow, someone had displayed his most flashy pair of boxers. I am sure I didn't leave any underwear out, Dutchy thought at first. He lifted the rest of his body onto his rack and grabbed the offending item off his pillow. It was then that he saw the yellow post-it that made him blush a shade of red he had never been. 'Are you sure everything fits in this one?' Kate had written. Before he could think about it any further the door swung open to reveal Swain. Dutchy seemed to be sporting the deer caught in the headlights look and stuffed the red undies and the post-it underneath his pillow. "You alright mate?" Swain asked. "You look a bit flustered. You're not ill, are you?" Dutchy shook his head. "I am fine, just tired." When he slipped underneath the covers he knew that tonight would be another restless night.
Morning had come way too soon, but Kate was walking around with a smug and amused look on her face. Even Mike noticed it and had asked her what was going on. She had said something about an inside joke she couldn't really explain and Mike didn't press on any further. Dutchy however, had that same feeling of dread again when he saw her amused face. She was up to something again, but he couldn't predict where and when.