Getting to know you

Delbert Doppler was a curious creature, a kind and bumbling man who struggled immensely with spacing. Never had she seen a beginner sailor struggle as much as much as this man did. It was a rather amusing spectacle to watch. It almost reminded Amelia of a baby dear taking its first steps.

He was her current tease of the crew but for the first time there was no malice behind it. Amelia's teasing with the doctor was far from abusive and could be classed under the flirtatious type when the two were alone during meetings or doing a check of the ship.

She enjoyed the way he blushed and mumbled trying to form a sentence after a particularly obvious flirt. It felt good to capture a man's attention when she wanted him to. It made her come alive again when she noticed him glancing across the room at her and looking away and blushing when she caught him.

Currently the good doctor was trying to plan a new route due to a freak meteor shower blocking their planned route. This would result in docking a day later than expected and there was nothing Amelia hated more than being late.

The doctor looked rather peaceful admiring the stars. His eyes, that Amelia had secretly grown to love, were alive with wonderment for the stars. It was a look that she didn't see very often and was refreshing. Amelia quietly made her way over to him.

"Hello doctor, is everything okay with the new route?" Delbert jumped in fright at Amelia's outburst, not having heard her sneak up on him. A small smirk appeared on her face making Delbert's heart skip a beat.

"ah hello Captain, well erm, the meteors are moving in a rather strange way. The movements are rather erotic." He stopped talking and thought for a second on what he just said, blushed brightly "erratic, I meant erratic. I tend to have a slip ups around women, especially intimidating, attractive ones and you happen to be one of those and…"

"doctor Doppler stop talking before you give yourself a heart attack. Do you know you mumble when you get stressed out?" a grim emerged over her face chuckling lightly at the doctor's sexual comment.

"I apologise Captain, I can assure you it won't happen again, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable" his hands began to grab at his collar, obviously a nervous habit he's developed since a young age, Amelia thought.

"it's completely fine doctor. There isn't much entertainment on this ship. We all make mistakes even if they are Freudian. Never thought of space to be an erotic thing though." The pink on Delbert's cheeks grew to bright red and his mouth went dry. " then again strange things happen in the etherium. Wouldn't be the first-time erotic things have happened to me out here". Smirking to herself over the state she had put the doctor in, Amelia glanced over to look at him one more time to see him standing there in the exact same position she left him in. His mouth wide open in shock, staring at nothing. A soft chuckle escaped his lips.

"Doctor, I actually came out to also see if you would join me for a cup of tea. Would you like to accompany me or are you busy?" she hoped he would be busy but at the same time also hoped he had time for her. It would be nice to get to know the doctor, get a better judge of him, so she can decide if she would want to pursue something. It was blatantly obvious the doctor had a thing for her.

"I would love to captain. Is it alright If I meet you in 10 minutes I have some lose ends I would like to quickly tie up?" Amelia smiled and nodded at the Doctor. Suddenly Delbert froze and thought about what she said as she first started to walk away. Surely the captain was not insinuating an erotic encounter in her stateroom. Not that he would mind though.

The further she walked away from Delbert the lower her heart sank. All she could wonder was if she was doing the right thing. After all, she promised Christopher she would never love again and that included flirting with her financer. Amelia held the necklace in her palm.

"what should I do?" she whispered to herself looking out into the stars. The sound of approaching footsteps brought her out of her thoughts.

"is everything alright Amelia you seem distant?" Arrow said as he leaned against the edge of the ship looking at the girl he helped raise.

"with all respects Mr Arrow, my feelings are not to be discussed on this ship. Meet me in my stateroom for dinner and I will elaborate my concerns" with that Amelia turned and swiftly walked away.

"that girl never seems to catch a break" Arrow sighed to himself, pushing off the side he resumed his duties.

10 minutes later a soft knock disturbed her from her reverie about if this was a good idea. Come on Amelia old girl. It's just a cup of tea that you invited him to. Nothing to worry about.

Quickly smoothing her hair down in the mirror, she opened the door revealing a nervous looking doctor.

" nice of you to join me Doctor. Can I interest you in a cup of tea?" Amelia said as she walked over to the bar and produced a cup and saucer.

"is there any coffee. If not, tea is fine. I wouldn't want to be burden." Delbert said looking sheepish. Amelia wasn't a big coffee drinker but drank quite a few cups on stressful or long voyages such as this one so had to plenty to share.

"of course, it is doctor. Milk sugar?". The kettle whistled as the water heated up.

" no. Black is fine thank you." A comfortable silence filled the air as Amelia made their drinks. She walked over towards her desk and sat down in her chair, gesturing to the seat available in front of the desk.

"I've asked you here today to ask you about the new course. I understand if we continue on our new course this area of the etherium is known for its unstable stars, but we cannot go through the meteor shower." Amelia was thinking of all the possible routes they could do and all the downsides to them all. If they were to go through there was a chance of an exploding star. But it was slim and hopefully the ship could sail past fast enough. But it was risky. If they waited for the meteor shower to pass it could result in a heavy delay and the possibility of running out of petrol and having to dock at the nearest planet, which was bad as then they would attract publicity and that was the last thing they wanted.

"I agree. I think our best bet is going through this part of the galaxy. It's risky but we should make it back on time of course the decision is up to you captain." Delbert twiddled his thumbs in anticipation. They were in a catch 22. But with this route there was a chance nothing would go wrong.

"I must admit I was thinking of that exact same thing. I don't want news reporters discovering what we are doing and that would happen if we have to dock and get fuel due to sitting around and waiting for the meteors to pass. Your advice was very helpful thankyou doctor. You're one of the best astrophysicists I know, and I've worked with a lot. If you don't mind me asking what got you into the stars?" This was Amelia's opportunity to get to know the doctor a little bit better without half the crew listening into the conversation.

Delbert softly smiled. "My stepfather used to teach astrology at the local university. He bought me my first telescope when I was 5 and taught me all the constellations. We would sit up together half the night looking for a comet. When my sister was born, we didn't really have much time together after that, but he always made sure to bring me back things from work that were to do with whatever was interesting me at that moment. One day he took me to an observatory and told me about being an astrophysicist and I fell in love and knew what I wanted to do. See people come and people go but stars, they're always there. They hardly change. Sorry that got a bit deeper than I expected" Delbert chuckled. Amelia sighed softly, sharing the same sentiment about the stars. She had had a great deal of people come and go from her life, but the stars were a constant growing up, relaxing her when her father got particularly bad.

"It is very true though. There is something strangely calming about the stars and space. I guess that's why I like being in space so much. Ahem. Anyway, thank you for your advice doctor if you don't mind, I'm expecting Arrow shortly and must get things sorted for his arrival. Your company was greatly appreciated. Oh, and doctor sorry if you were expecting an erotic encounter" Amelia chuckled out, joking trying to lighten the mood that they had put themselves in. Delbert just opened his mouth, closed it and shook his head laughing at her antics.

At precisely 6pm a sharp knock disturbed her attention from the maps she was looking at. Mr Arrow was never late.

"whiskey?" Amelia asked her large friend as he made his way inside knowing that if she was to confide in Arrow with her feelings then she would need the help of the smooth burning liquid.

Seeing his curt nod Amelia made her way across her stateroom and poured two large glasses and made her way back sitting in her huge chair and took a sip, relishing in the taste of the alcohol.

"I don't know what to do Samuel, I really don't. Is it bad if I wanted to move on from Christopher and see if something could begin with the Doctor? I love Christopher and I always will, but I don't want to be alone. But then in this industry it is hard to find romance and stay in a relationship. Maybe I should just stay single. Besides I've only known the doctor for two months, it's not like I know him well. But it's not very often you find a man that's such a gentleman and appreciates the stars like I do. Christopher never loved the stars like I do, and the Doctor does. "

After saying all this Amelia went to take another sip of her drink noticing that during her outburst, she had drained the glass. As she made her way back from making herself another drink at the bar in her stateroom, she felt a strong hand on her shoulder.

" Have no regrets Amelia. As you and I both know life is too short to have regrets, especially in this industry. If Christopher was still alive, he would tell you to go for it and enjoy yourself. We only live once Mia. Don't stay miserable forever, you need to learn to enjoy life."

"You soppy old git" Amelia chuckled to herself. "Do you really think it's the right thing to do?"

"Mia, I can't tell you what the correct choice to make is, but I will tell you this. You are young and have a bright future ahead of you. How you choose to seize that is up to you. I had to make some tough decisions when it came to being with my wife and I regret nothing. Now come on, we should get back on deck before the crew wonder where we are."

As they went to leave the stateroom a deafening boom filled the silence of the etherium throwing them off their feet.

Sorry for the huge delay on getting this chapter out. Its been a pretty hectic summer for me with working loads in order to save money for uni. As my last year is about to start chapters might be slow to upload but bear with. I'm going to try and do a bunch before classes start and release them gradually. If you like my story, please review so I know if people are enjoying it or not. Thanks guys xxxx