Part 5

Both sailors just stood there, staring at the other person. While Kate was formulating words in her head that just didn't seem to come out, Dutchy couldn't think at all. Both of them sported a deep shade of red on their faces. While Dutchy's eyes were fixed on Kate's face, Kate just couldn't keep hers on eyelevel. She kept on staring at his manhood making Dutchy feel uncomfortable. He couldn't help it, but having her stare at his naked body like that, made other parts of his body react. Before he knew it, his manhood stood to attention.

"I…..You…." Kate started but she couldn't think. She shifted uncomfortably but aroused. Finally it was Dutchy who made a move to the towel rack and expertly wrapped the towel around his lower body, hiding the offending bodypart from Kate's prying eyes. "My face is up here X," he joked with great difficulty. Her eyes now focussed on his face, but any coherent thought was gone. "I think you better leave," Dutchy said calmly. She nodded slowly, knowing he was right. There was no dignified way out of this situation. One of them had to leave, and since this wasn't her cabin, it had to be Kate.

There didn't seem to be an easy way out of the bathroom. The space to move around was tiny, and for Kate to leave, she had to move closely past Dutchy. She took a few steps but as she came close to Dutchy, the ship suddenly lurched, pushing her into his broad chest. Her arms were flailing and to regain her balance, she grabbed the item closest to her hands; his towel.

Dutchy shook his head in disbelief. What the hell happened here? He wondered. Who was this woman and what had she done with the X? With the towel still clutched firmly in her hands, Dutchy put his hands on her shoulders, turned her around, and gently pushed her away from the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Against two sides of the door, a sailor leant trying to regain some sort of composure. On one side Dutchy was now laughing quietly trying to remember the exact look on Kate's face, while on the other side Kate was trying to calm herself down. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her face still a bright red and the towel was clutched in her hands so tightly, her knuckles were becoming white.

When Kate finally made a move to go back to her cabin, RO's voice sounded on the ship's intercom. "XO to the bridge, at the rush". Damn it she thought I don't have time to go to my cabin to get a change of undies. She looked at the towel in her hands, and although she felt compelled taking it with her as a souvenir, she chucked it in the corner of the cabin and made her way to the bridge.

Arriving on the bridge, Kate still hadn't lost the blush colouring her face simply because she couldn't forget the image she had just seen. In her memory she tried to picture what Mike had looked like, and he certainly wasn't anything like Dutchy. Thinking about this, made the blush come back full force.

Mike looked up from his seat at the helm and looked at her questioningly. "You look flushed X" he asked feeling slightly worried. "You don't have a temperature do you?" She shook her head in denial. "It's hot out there." She faltered. "The sun. It's a scorcher of a day.." Mike nodded for a moment while looking outside at the sun. "But X?" He asked. "Didn't you just come from downstairs?" She tried to keep her face as neutral as possible before answering. "Yes.. Well. It's extremely hot in some of the cabins as well."

Meanwhile Dutchy had recovered enough to take his shower. Unfortunately he had to make it a cold one to calm down. He decided to wear the boxer shorts Kate seemed to have liked so much and crawled into bed. For over an hour he tossed and turned in his bed, but sleep wouldn't come. He kept seeing the 'deer caught in the headlights' look Kate had sported when he caught her in his bathroom. But apart from shock, he had seen something else in her eyes. Something he hadn't dared hoping to see. He had seen lust.

Giving up on sleep he jumped down from the top bunk and landed gracefully on the floor. He quickly grabbed his navy issue shirt and made his way to the corridor. Lucky for him, it was quiet. People were either asleep, or on the bridge. On bare feet he padded towards Kate's cabin, looked around him once more, opened the door and stepped inside.

Kate's cabin looked similar to her home, too tidy. There were a few photo's stuck on the wall, a boring book next to her bed and a small teddy bear perched on her bed. He grinned. Next time the teddybear is going to get it but right now, I have something else in mind. He opened Kate's drawers after having forgotten to bring his own post-its and sure enough, Kate had loads of it. Not only yellow ones, but also pink and bright orange ones.

Quickly choosing one of the pink notes he scribbled down his message to her. 'Did you forget to bring Tarzan that you came looking for something else?' Dutchy peeled the note off and stuck it to her pillow where he was sure she would find it. Already in a better mood after the last few days, he made his way back to his cabin. Tonight he was sure he'd sleep like a baby.