Present:
Arriving home just after lunch Kate made her way into the lounge expecting to see her Mum sitting in the same spot she has for the past 2weeks
"Mum?" she called out making her way down the hall bypassing the bedroom to put her bags away as she did so
"Mum?" she called out one last time as she spotted her sitting out the back near the garden placing the food she had brought down on the bench with her keys
"Mum?" She asked softly as she approached her
"Kate, I didn't hear you come home" she answered turning to look at her
"Have you been out here all day?" she asked sadly
"I was weeding and then I… I don't remember" she answered shrugging her shoulders
"Come on, I brought some lunch home" she said reaching her hand out to help her up
"I'm not hungry" she answered following her inside
"I don't care you've got to eat something" she answered placing 2 plates on the table as she pulled the chair out for her Mum.
"What did you get?" she asked sitting down
"Fish and Chips" she answered opening the paper wrapping as she placed the food in the middle of the table
"So when do you leave?" she asked sadly as Kate sat down
"Tomorrow, I've got to get myself settled before I meet my new CO" she answered softly
"Any idea who it is?" she asked reaching for a piece of fish
"Sadly no but I'm sure whoever it is will probably be someone I went to ADFA with" she said pouring her Mum a glass of lemonade
"It's been nice having you around here for the past couple of weeks" her Mum said smiling at her
"It's been good, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about…" she answered filling her own glass up
"Oh sounds ominous" she answered confused
"I want you to move to Cairns with me…" she answered as he Mum dropped her piece of fish on her plate
"Nope… Sorry but I won't do it" she answered in return
"Why? Mum you need support right now and I want you to come with me, you don't have to sell this place I've only got a 6 month posting so you can stay with me for the 6 months and if you hate it you can move back here" she answered hopeful
"Katie, you're Dad lives in Cairns I won't move to the same town as him no matter if your there or not" she answered softly
"Ok… But the offer is still there, just think about it?" she answered hopeful
"Thank you but I'm not going to change my mind" she answered reaching for a handful of chips
"Ok…" she answered softly as she reached for her own piece of fish.
Past A Month from where we left off:
"I hate this…" she answered sadly as they pulled into a carpark
"Why?" he asked confused turning off the engine
"Because, you moved all the way to another town just to support me and I'm going to be living at Campus" she said pointing around
"Ok first of all I've got a job here and being close to my sister is just a bonus, besides you can visit me when you don't have class" he answered smiling at her as he exited the car
"Mum asked you to come with me though which makes it seem like I need my brother to fight my battles for me" she said following him and moving towards the boot
"I'm not, now I've finished Uni I can explore my options besides Canberra is big enough for the both of us" he said grinning at her as he pulled her bags out of the boot
"Fair point…" she answered softly
"Do you want me to help you carry these to your room?" he asked lifting the last bag out of the boot
"Would you mind?" she asked hopeful
"Anything for you Katie" he said closing the boot
"Thank you" she said smiling widely at him
"So when's your first class?" he asked as they walked down the hallway each pulling a suitcase
"Tomorrow at 9am" she answered stopping in front of a room as she unlocked it
"They don't really give you much room" he answered following her in to see a single bed on one side and the other with a small kitchen area and wardrobe
"It's not meant to be permanent besides the racks on boats are way smaller than this" she said shaking her head at him
"I honestly never understood why you wanted to join the Navy" he said confused
"For the thrill of it, every day is going to be different and you never know what's going to happen" she said placing her bag on the bed
"It's also dangerous so be careful Kate" he said smiling softly at her
"Jake…" she said softly
"I know, I'll back off" he said holding his hands up
"Good…" she said smiling at him
"Want to get some dinner?" he asked hopeful moving towards the door
"Yeah I'll meet you at the car I just want to get changed into something more comfortable" she said as he nodded before exiting closing the door behind him.
Moments later Kate made her way down the hall back towards the car turning the corner she bumped into someone dropping her handbag the contents spilling out onto the floor
"I'm so sorry…" he said helping her pick up her things
"My fault I wasn't paying attention" she answered arising from the floor as she put the stuff back in her handbag
"Here" he said handing her phone back to her
"Thanks" she said looking up at him as she placed her phone in her pocket part of her taken back at how handsome he looked
"Where are my manners, I'm Kate; Kate McGregor" she said extending her hand
"Mike Flynn, it's a pleasure to meet you Kate" he said softly shaking her hand
"Um do you go here too?" she asked softly as he let her hand go
"Something like that" he answered grinning at her
"I'm sorry to cut this short but I'm actually meeting someone so I have to get going" she answered moving past him
"A boyfriend?" he blurted out as she stopped looking at him surprised
"Sorry not my business" he said correcting himself
"Ah no such luck, my brother is waiting for me" she answered stopping next to him
"It was nice to meet you Kate, I hope to see you around" he said hopeful
"Likewise" she said smiling at him as she made her way down the stairs turning to take one last look at the handsome man she had ran into by accident.
"Is everything okay with you?" he asked looking at her confused before focusing back on the road
"Yeah why wouldn't it be?" she asked confused
"I don't know you tell me you've been smiling like a school girl since you got back in the car" he said softly
"I'm fine" she said remembering how blue his eyes were
"You met someone didn't you?" he asked as she looked at him from the corner of her eye
"Kate! Your barley there for 5 minutes and you already meet someone?" he said shaking his head
"First of all he bumped into me, second of all I'm entitled to have a little bit of fun" she said grinning at him
"Ah! Too much information I didn't need to hear" he said shaking his head
"You asked" she said laughing
"Let's just get some food and then I'll drop you back off" he said trying to get the images out of his head
"Right sorry" she said grinning at him.
It was early the next morning as Kate made her way down the hall to class she hated being late so she made sure she gave herself enough time to find exactly where it was she had to go, arriving at the class 5 minutes before hand she made her way in as she spotted him sitting in the front row
"This seat taken?" she asked hopeful
"No please" he said pointing to the empty seat next to him
"You taking this class as well?" she asked sitting down as she placed her books in front of her
"Something like that" he said smiling at her
"Your very strange Mike Flynn…" she said looking at him softly
"I could say the same of you Kate…" he said smiling at her
"So do you know the Commander who's teaching the class?" she asked hopeful
"He's a close friend of mine we go way back" he said as everyone began making their way in and finding their seats
"You know him?" she answered confused
"You could say that" he said grinning at her
"Right…" she answered even more confused
"Would you excuse me" he said arising from his chair as she nodded before looking down at her books as she fiddled with her pen.
"Ok everyone settle down" he said moving towards the chalkboard
"My Name is Commander Mike Flynn and I will be your Teacher for this Navigators course" he said turning to face the class as he finished writing his name on the board, Kate looking up from her books with a hurt and confused expression on her face.
An hour later when class finished Kate had packed up her things to try and make a quick exit
"Lieutenant McGregor I'd like a word please" he said as she stopped near the door before making her way back towards him
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked confused as she held her books tight to her chest
"Would you have talked to me if you'd known" he asked sadly as they were the only ones left in the class
"Yes maybe just not in the manner I have been" she answered moving towards the door
"Kate…" he said beating her to the door as he stood in front of her
"Excuse me Sir…" she answered softly
"Let me make it up to you?" he asked hopeful
"What did you have in mind?" she said confused
"Dinner?"
"Dinner?" she asked
"Yeah as friends?" he asked crossing his fingers
"You want to be my friend?" she asked sadly
"Well yeah… Unless you don't want to?" he asked sadly
"Sure I'd like that" she answered softly
"Good say about 6? I'll meet you in the carpark?" he asked smiling at her
"See you then…" she answered softly moving past him as she exited the room knowing nothing could ever happen between them because of Navy Regulations but part of her was trying to push down these feelings that she hadn't felt before not even when she was with Max.
Present:
A week had passed since Kate had gone back to Canberra to pack her things up for the temporary move to Cairns, making her way up the steps towards NAVCOM she had to calm herself at the thought of meeting her new CO.
Stopping out the front of an office she knocked softly before entering
"Ah Lieutenant McGregor good to see you found the place all right" the man behind the desk said as he arose to shake her hand
"Yes Sir…" she answered shaking his hand
"No Sir here it's Commander Marshall, Commanding Officer Flynn should be along shortly" he said pointing to the chairs for her to have a seat
"I'm sorry did you say Commander Flynn?" she asked anxiously
"Yes you know him?" he asked confused sitting down
"Ah… Only by reputation Sir" she answered quickly
"Oh here he is now" He answered as Mike entered the room
"Sorry I'm late Sir Hammersley was running a bit behind" he answered looking at the back of the blonde lady sitting at his desk
"Not a problem you're here now Mike Flynn this is your new Executive Officer Kate McGregor" he said as she arose from her seat and turned to face him
"Kate McGregor nice to meet you" he answered quickly extending his hand towards her
"Likewise Sir" she answered shaking his hand and pulling it away just as quickly
"Now the formalities are out of the way Mike why don't you take Kate to meet the rest of the crew and see Hammersley" Commander Marshal said as he sat back down at his desk
"Yes Sir…" Mike answered opening the door for Kate to exit first.
Walking down the hall Kate tried to control her breathing as she stopped near the exit to the stairs Mike came up behind her
"Kate…" he answered softly
"Sir…" she asked turning to face him
"How have you been? It's been…",
"3 years" she answered angrily
"It's good to see you" he said hopeful
"Can't say I feel the same" she answered softly
"Ok that's fair, but if we're going to work together we need to move past this residual tension" he said looking at her sadly
"No tension here Mike like I said it's been 3 years I don't even know who you are and I'd like to keep it that way" she answered crossing her arms
"Kate…" he said softly
"Don't call me that Sir" she answered saluting him before making her way down the stairs in a quick walk as she could feel the tears forming in her eyes.