Sitting at her desk Kate sighed staring at the screen in front of her. Dropping her pen to the desk she sighed rubbing her temples. She had just spent the last half an hour reading the same paragraph several times over. Leaning back in her seat she was finding it hard to concentrate and focus on anything over the last few days she kept having her confrontation with Jim playing over and over on a loop with wondering what he was planning especially with the threat he had made. Also, it didn't help that she could feel the start of a headache building behind her eyes.
Rummaging through the top draw managing to find one strip of pain killers with two tablets left in it. Popping them out she swallowed them down with the last of the coffee she had in a mug on her desk. Gagging slightly as it was cold and strong, she forced herself to swallow she rested her head down on the desk hoping a few minutes of not staring at a screen would help Hearing a knock on her door she looked up bleary eyed.
"Kate?" Commander Marshall smiled from the door, "Can I have a word?" he said stepping in.
"Sir" she said rubbing the back of her neck.
"I want you to take a look at these for me" he said handing her the folder he was carrying
"sure" she smiled taking it.
Scanning through she looked up "it's the operation plans I wrote up for Hammersley for Monday" she said
"I know. I just wanted you to double check something for me" Marshall said
"okay" she said taking a second closer look at what she had typed up. Scanning the page closer a look grew across her face. Turning she rummaged through a pile of folders she had on the end of her desk pulling out the charts she had to hand as well as the folder she had been given from Coast Watch on a fleet of Iceboats that had been spotted just north of the line. "shit" she swore looking up. "sir I am so sorry I have no idea how that could have happened" she said realising her mistake
"its fine. No harm done" Marshall smiled
"yeah but 2 degree out. That's 120 miles that a huge search area" she rubbed her brow
Sighing Marshall sat on the chair opposite her. "is everything okay Kate" he smiled
"fine" she forced a smile
"look if you don't mind me saying you seem a little distracted the last couple of days. Not your normal self"
"i am fine sir. It's just I" she paused rubbing her forehead,
"You're not. I know you. You don't usually make these sorts of mistakes."
"i know Sir. I have no explanation really. I umm" Kate paused
"look why don't you take a few personal days. Get your head on straight" he smiled
"Sir I am fine really plus I still have all this to do for Commander White" she indicated to a pile of files on the edge of the desk.
Looking at them he could see that they were not vastly important and were not time critical. "just leave Maxine to me." he smiled
"really?" she smiled
"yes." he smiled "and I have some other news. Personnel have been in touch they have finally got the keys to your house sorted and you can move in this weekend. They said to pick up the keys this afternoon"
"finally," Kate smiled she had been waiting 6 weeks.
"take the week, sort out moving into your new place and clear your head and get it back on straight"
"Thank you, Sir. And I am sorry about "she indicated to the folder
"it's fine. Enjoy some leave"
"Sir" Kate smiled picking up her bag and hat.
Sitting outside the little café Kate sighed she could feel the sun on her face, and she had hoped sitting in the fresh air with the breeze blowing up of the ocean would clear her mind as now she not only had the Jim situation going round her brain, she also had the fact she screwed up on something as basic as a chart plot, something she had done a thousand times before and almost sent a multi-million-dollar war ship and its crew to Davy Jones locker.
"Kate" a voice came from behind her
Turning around she saw Mike walking over carrying 2 glasses
"you looked like you could do with one of these" he smiled holding out a coffee for her.
"thanks" she smiled as he sat down next to her.
"so what are you doing out here?" he asked
"trying to clear my mind and failing" she sighed. "anyway, what about you? I thought you were on shore leave till Monday?" she said
"Max has called me in for a meeting about Monday. I am trying to put it off for as long as possible" he smiled
"if I didn't know better, I would say the mighty mike Flynn was scared" she grinned.
"No I am not Scared I just well I want to delay it as long as humanly possible" he smiled as his phone buzzed.
Looking at the caller ID he could see it was Maxine's office. Turning his phone over he ignored the call.
"you going to drink that coffee or just play with the foam on top." he asked watching her.
"i umm yeah" she said sipped the hot liquid.
"so what are you really doing down here?" Mike asked
"Marshall has given me some leave" she smiled weakly hoping he would accept the bare minimum answer. She didn't really want to have to tell him the full story.
"really is everything alright?" He asked now worried. If Kate was hoping to keep him from seeing the whole picture, then it had backfired
"its fine" she lied "basically personnel have finally sorted my accommodation and Marshall Said I could have some time to move in and sort everything out. Considering this is the second time I will have moved in as many weeks" she said. It wasn't a lie as such just half the truth."
"that's good" Mike smiled "bet you are glad to finally have your own space" he said
"yeah" she half laughed "staying with Nik has been great but I get the feeling she wants her house back. Let's face it 6-year-olds come with a lot of crap" she grinned
"so, when do you get the keys? "he asked
"got them just now" she said holding up 4 silver keys on a basic little keyring. "no I just need someone to help shift the furniture. Someone strong and capable" she said watching his reaction. "Nikki says your Buffer has a hell of a set of guns. Maybe you could spare him from the ship whilst she is in port?" she smiled
"well not really he has duty watch. But I can help" he said
"umm I am not sure you can manage it. Sir" she grinned
"hey I am just as strong as the buffer" he said pulling her chair towards him teasing her in to a kiss.
They were interrupted by his phone ringing again. Pulling away Kate smiled softly against his Lips. "you best go to your meeting" she whispered
"what about helping you" he said resting his head against hers.
"Well Knocker can't keep you all afternoon can she." Kate smiled
"i should be an hour tops" he said picking up his hat from the table
"just enough time for a coffee and some cake" she smiled "see you in a bit"
"1 hour" he said kissing her one last time before walking in the direction of NAVCOM
Watching as he rounded the corner Kate sighed, she knew she had to tell him she could see it in his eyes he could sense something was wrong, but she didn't know how. They had only been going out a matter of weeks and she wasn't 100% if her heart was right about things. She just hoped that she could keep things in for as long as possible
so sorry its been a while, i really wanted this chapter up sooner but I just couldn't get it to go right. not sure i am 100% with this version but its as good as its going to get. let me know what you think.