Hey everyone!
Ugh, this on has been kicking my ass! I'm not completely happy with this but if i don't post it now it may never see the light of day and I know that people wouldn't be happy lol!
Can I just say, how good is it that there's more and more stories coming out right now? new and old writers! Well done guys, you're doing a great job from distracting me from real life! And thanks to everyone who's left reviews for this! It keeps me going!
Fine is a 4 Letter Word.
Chapter 10
Dutchy walked into the local hoping that he could catch some of the current Hammersley crew, he smiled as he saw 2Dads sitting in the corner. 2Dads spotted him from across the room and stood and waved him over.
"Dutchy!"
They gave each other a hug and Dutchy gave him a friendly slap on the back.
"Mini me! I've missed you following me around like a bad smell!"
Dutchy waved down a waiter and ordered them some beers.
"How are you, mate?"
"Good, good, what have you been up to?"
"Oh, you know how it is, out at sea…"
2Dads nodded with agreement and laughed.
"Yeah, a different woman in every port…"
Dutchy rolled his eyes, he loved that 2Dads hadn't changed.
"Sure, sure… so, how's the crew?"
2Dads nodded wondering if he meant Kate, he desperately wanted to talk to him about her but wondered how much he should divulge.
"Good…"
Dutchy titled his head slightly, he could tell something was up.
"Good?"
2Dads shrugged and took a sharp breath in.
"Well, it's not the same, don't get me wrong, the new guys are cool but, it's not the same…"
"Yeah, I know…"
Dutchy took the beers from the waiter and handed one to 2Dads and took a sip of his.
"Umm, so, I went and saw Kate…"
2Dads sighed it relief, he wasn't going to have to bring it up. He hoped that Dutchy noticed her strange behaviour, he took a large gulp of his beer and raised an eyebrow and swallowed his mouthful and played dumb.
"How was she?"
Dutchy wasn't sure if that was 2Dads admitting that he hadn't seen her lately or if he was questioning him on his opinion as he had also noticed that she was different. He picked up the coaster in front of him and started to rip it into pieces trying to think of a way to put it delicately.
"Umm, not herself."
2Dads glanced up at Dutchy, the mood of the conversation suddenly turned, 2Dads couldn't stop himself and let it all out.
"All I know is that she's been seeing a shrink and she's been cleared. She won't really talk to me but I'm worried, Dutchy. There's been a few warning signs, she came out one night and meet the crew and one of the newbie's, Indy, mentioned Jim not knowing they were together and she just ran out the pub."
Dutchy shook his head, he knew that this would be an issue for her, he saw the warning signs when she refused to answer his calls and messages in the past.
"What else?"
"Umm, we were out the other day and she seemed fine but today, I don't know what happened, she completely lost it. We were watching a vessel and then she screamed and ran off, I don't know if she's having flash backs or what but it was bad…"
Dutchy winced at 2Dads words, he didn't realise that it was that bad. She was such a smart woman, why couldn't she see that asking for help was not a sign of weakness. Dutchy watched as 2Dads shifted in his seat, he knew there was more and he suspected he knew what it was.
"There's something else isn't there?"
2Dads nodded not making eye contact.
"She's umm, now, I don't wanna accuse her of anything or…"
"Spit it out, 2Dads…"
"She's drinking… more than normal…"
Dutchy cringed, he had hoped that it wasn't going to be the issue.
"Yeah, I noticed it today, I think she was trying to pass it off as water…"
2Dads felt terrible, he felt like he was dobbing, she was so vulnerable right now but he was at a loss for what to do.
"I'm not saying she's an alcoholic or anything, but I think she's using it as a bandaid. She's getting help and she told me she was going to see Maxine today to ask to go back on shore. She was supposed to meet me here after but maybe it didn't go so well?"
"Ah, yeah probably not, they would have had to tell her we've all gotta be on call for the trial…"
2Dads eyes widened.
"What? For Madel…"
Dutchy nodded, he didn't want to hear her name.
"Yeah, umm, it starts in a week, I think they informed me first cos I was the furthest away…"
2Dads phone beeped, he glanced down and saw NAVCOM's number .
"Meeting at NACOM, 0900, attendance compulsory for Hammersley Crew."
"Speak of the devil, meeting tomorrow. Maybe we should go check on her?"
"Nah, I think I've pissed her off enough tonight, we'll see her tomorrow anyway…"
The next morning Dutchy headed to Kate's house to offer her a ride to NAVCOM, it was a cover, he wanted to talk to her about her mental state. He knocked on the door and called out her name.
"Kate, it's Dutchy…"
He waited for a minute then knocked again.
"C'mon, you're gonna be late for your meeting, I know how much you hate to be late…"
He walked over to the window and peered in, there were no lights on. He walked around to her side gate and peered over the fence and called out again.
"Kate!?"
He knew she was stubborn, he hurdled over the fence and walked around to the back door and knocked. He waited for a few more minutes before trying the door knob, it was locked. He thought about breaking down the door but then she really wouldn't talk to him. He heard a twig snap behind him, he spun round and was faced with 2 police officers aiming their guns at him.
"Police, don't move…"
Dutchy immediately raised his hands.
"Woah, hang on guys, it's not what it looks like…"
One of the officers lowered his weapon and approached Dutchy, he patted him down and restrained him.
"Sir, would you like to explain why you are at the back of a house trying to break in?"
"This is my friends house, she was supposed to attend a meeting with me today…"
"So what? That gives you licence to break into her house?"
"No, look, just call her, my phone is in my right pocket, her name is Kate McGregor."
The officer restraining him pulled his phone out of his pocket and searched for Kate's name. He held the phone up to his ear waiting for her to answer.
Kate sat in her car with the music blaring, her phone flashing caught her eye and she glanced over to the passenger's seat where it was sitting, she groaned as she saw Dutchy's name, she ignored the call.
"It's gone to voice mail, Sir. Until we can confirm your story we will have to remand you at the station."
"Oh, c'mon, is this really necessary? I've got an important meeting to attend, I'm in the Navy we're basically the same, look, I've got my tags on."
"Sorry Sir, that means nothing."
Dutchy rolled his eyes and exhaled loudly.
"Fine, can you call my Boss then? She'll confirm it, call NAVCOM and ask for Commander White."
The officer scrolled through the contacts and selected NAVCOM.
"Yes, hello this is Senior Constable Hammond, I need to speak to Commander White, yes, I understand, it's important. Can you please get her to call the Cairns police station? Thanks."
He hung up the phone.
"Sorry, mate, looks like you're coming with us."
He pulled on Dutchy's arm but he stood his ground.
"Wait, one more? Please, Mike Flynn…"
The officer was becoming impatient, Dutchy smiled.
"Hey, just trying to reduce your paperwork…"
The officer rolled his eyes and searched for Mike Flynn and pressed call.
Mike and Maxine stood in front of the Hammersley crew ready to address them, Mike frowned as his mobile rang.
"Sorry…"
He pulled it out his pocket to ignore the call but hesitated when he saw Dutchy's number, he answered it.
"Dutchy?"
"Hello, this is Senior Constable Hammond, is this Mike Flynn?"
"Ah, yes, speaking is everything okay? Is Dutchy okay?"
"Ah, we're currently out the back of a residence that he's claiming is a friend's, can you confirm that he knows a Kate McGregor?"
"Yes, they work together."
"Is there any reason that he should be snooping around her house?"
Dutchy struggled slightly.
"I told you I can explain…"
Senior Constable Hammond tightened his grip.
"Is he a threat to Ms McGregor?"
Mike almost burst out laughing at the thought.
"No! Never, well unless you call being a pain in the ass a threat…"
"Excuse me?"
"Ah no, he's not a threat, they're friends…"
"Okay, thank you…"
He hung up the phone and let Dutchy go.
"Thanks for your patience, Sir, but you may want to think twice next time before you jump a fence into someone's house."
"Yeah, I will…"
The officers left Kate's house and Dutchy headed to NAVCOM wondering where Kate had got to. Dutchy ran into NAVCOM and found the crew in one of the conference rooms. He knocked and entered, the crew smiled seeing him and chorus of "Dutchy!" rang out in the room.
"Sorry I'm late, I was looking for Kate…"
Dutchy sat down next to Charge who pat him on the back. Maxine cleared her throat to refocus the group.
"Ah, the new crew, you are now excused.
The new Hammersley crew exited the room, Dutchy, Charge, 2Dads, Bird and Mike were the only one's left. Maxine sat down trying to feel less official.
"Now, that brings me to Kate. As you all know, she's been on some leave and recently she returned to sea with the new Hammersley crew."
2Dads arms shot up in the air.
"And me!"
Maxine rolled her eyes and smirked.
"Yes, and 2Dads, no one could forget you 2Dads…"
Charge laughed and nudged him with his elbow.
"Yeah, I've tried!"
"Anyway, I think it would be good for you all to catch up, I assumed you would but we think she really needs some friends."
They crew looked at each other uneasily, Bird raised her hand.
'Yes, Bird…"
"Ma'am, we are her friends, we tried, she never replied to any of our messages. We didn't want her to feel like we were hounding her…"
Maxine looked at Mike with a "did you know about this?" look. Mike shrugged slightly and looked over to his former crew.
"Well, she won't be able to ignore us now we're all here…"
Mike took out his phone and stepped out of the room to call Kate.
Kate sat on the beach looking out over the water listening to the sound of the waves crash on the shore. She had a terrible nights sleep, one of her worst, it gave her heart palpitations just thinking about being around everyone again. Having to see their pity filled faces made her feel so weak, it wasn't their fault but she hated the way it made her feel . She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and pulled it out, she exhaled as she saw Mike's name. She thought about not answering it, but if she didn't he'd probably freak out more. She answered it sounding as normal as possible.
"Kate McGregor…"
"Kate, it's Mike, ah, we had a meeting this morning…"
"Yeah, sorry, I umm, I had an appointment with Dr Cowan…"
She winced, she really didn't want to lie, but it just came out.
"Oh, well, that's okay then… umm, so I'm here with the crew, we're going to go to the pub later, you in?"
She hesitated, she didn't want to go, but she knew that she'd have to make an appearance eventually to keep them off her back. At least everyone would be drinking and they couldn't judge her for over indulging.
"Yeah, I'll come for a bit…"
"Great, see you at 7…"
She hung up the phone and gripped it in her hand, she wanted so badly to chuck it into the water but she knew that wasn't a good idea.
She lay back on the sand dune and closed her eyes wishing she was anywhere else, she had a lightbulb moment and bolted upright with a grin on her face and unlocked her phone.
Later that night Kate was getting ready for the night's festivities, she rummaged through her wardrobe for something to wear, she smirked as she glanced at her "Brooke" attire. She shook her head knowing it wasn't appropriate for the night, she picked out a floral maxi dress and headed to the bathroom to do her make up. She turned on the radio to drown her thoughts, she stood at the basin and stared at reflection, she looked tired, drained. She needed to perk herself up, be ready for the barrage of happy faces. She made her way downstairs and poured herself a vodka and downed the glass in one mouthful. She poured herself another and stopped herself from swallowing the lot, she put it back down and headed to the fridge. She cut up some lime and opened a bottle of soda water, she needed to take it easy tonight, no straight spirits. She was nervous about how she would be received, 2Dads and Dutchy were right, she had completely cut everyone out of her life.
Kate sat in the back of the taxi day dreaming, the driver broke her concentration clearing his throat.
"Ah, Ma'am, we're here…"
Kate fumbled with her purse and took out a $20 note.
"Ah, thanks…"
She got out the cab and stood at the doors, it felt like it was her first night in Cairns and she was going to meet the crew for the first time.
She doors opened and she took a deep breath in and strutted in, the few drinks she had earlier certainly helped her nerves. She blocked out the multiple voices in her head, "You're fine Kate, you can do this, these people are your friends…"
She spotted some of the crew sitting in the corner of the pub on the couches, she didn't know why she felt dread anytime anyone mentioned them, maybe Dr. Cowan was right, she related them to the incident. Her heart suddenly felt like it was trying to escape her chest, she headed to the bar and immediately ordered a shot. Dutchy spotted her and made his way to the bar.
"There you are… you nearly got me arrested today."
Kate was mid shot as he positioned himself next to her, she quickly swallowed her mouthful trying not to react.
"Excuse me?"
"I went round to your house and you weren't there so I went round the back…"
"You broke in?"
"No, the cops stopped me!"
Kate rolled her eyes and ordered a round of shots.
"So, where were you?"
She frowned, what was he? Her keeper?
"I was out…"
Dutchy knew she was getting irritated, but he continued to push.
"You weren't at the meeting?"
"Ah, no, I was at an appointment."
"An appointment?"
Kate wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of admitting that she was seeing a shrink, even if it was a lie. There was an awkward silence, the bartender placed the tray of shots in front of her.
"Hope they're not all for you…"
Kate pretended to laugh off the comment not sure if it was supposed to be something underhanded seeming he was the one to cut her off multiple times in the past. She smiled sweetly and lifted the tray off the bar.
"Nah, sharing with my crew tonight…"
Kate carried the tray over to the crew, their eyes lit up as they saw her approach.
"Did anyone say shots?"
The crew were a little surprised at Kate's bright demeanour. 2Dads nudged Dutchy as he sat down.
"Maybe she's glad we're all back?"
He took a sip of his drink and glance over to her as she happily handed out the shots.
"Hope so…"
Bird got up and approached Kate not sure how to act around her.
"Ma'am…"
Kate laughed at Bird's formalities.
"Kate, is fine now Bird…"
Bird smiled and threw her arms around Kate surprising her.
"I've missed you! There's only one other girl on my ship and she's so mean!"
Kate laughed and handed her a shot.
"Oh Bird, compared to you everyone is mean!"
Kate scanned the faces in front of her, they weren't all there.
"Where is everyone?"
Dutchy sat down next to her and squeezed her arm for comfort.
"Ah, RO and Bomber are still out a sea, they'll be here in a few days."
He wanted to try to start again, ignore the other day's conversation.
"So, how has it been here?"
Kate nodded and tried to concentrate on her breathing, she really needed that shot. She ignored Dutchy's question and lifted her shot glass in the air with a giant grin on her face.
"So, I propose a toast, to old friends…"
A chorus of "to old friends" rang out amongst the crew, they all took their shots and slammed the glasses on the table. Charge stood up and cleared his throat.
"I think this reunion calls for…."
He nudged Kate with his elbow and raised his eyebrows, 2Dads got up and wrapped his arm around Charge's shoulders.
"Guava Mojos!"
Mike approached the group and smiled seeing his old friends.
"Look what the ocean dragged in!"
The crew all cheered to greet Mike, Kate smiled and approached him.
"You're just in time for Guava Mojos!"
Mike was glad to see that Kate had made an effort to come out, she walked over to the bar to give Charge a hand. Dutchy took the opportunity to talk to Mike about Kate.
"Boss…"
Mike shook his hand and laughed.
"Not your boss anymore, Dutchy…"
"Old habits… so umm, how you been?"
"Yeah, good."
Mike watched as Dutchy's eyes periodically glanced over to Kate, Mike turned to observe her behaviour. Dutchy could see by the way Mike looked at her that he was concerned too.
"So, she been okay?"
Mike focused back on Dutchy unsure about talking about her.
"Ah, she had her good days and bad days…"
Dutchy was relieved, it sounded like she had been talking to Mike.
"So, she talks to you?"
Mike dropped his focus and shook his head.
"Ah, no…"
Dutchy's hope faded.
"Oh…"
2Dads walked over and put his arms on their shoulders.
"What are we gossiping about over here?"
Mike and Dutchy looked over to Kate to check she wasn't in earshot, 2Dads knew instantly who they were talking about.
"Oh, I wasn't serious but…"
They all watched as Kate joked around with Charge, they sat down at a table, 2Dads leaned in.
"She seems okay tonight, she seems, happy…"
They stopped talking and took a sip of their beers as they saw her approach, 2Dads quickly changed the subject.
"Oh, Dutchy, now that we have some time off, some of the guys are going on a bit of a boy's night, you wanna come?"
"Ah, nah, I think I'll stay here and catch up with everyone."
Kate and Charge handed out the drinks to the group, Charge raised his glass in the air and admired his handy work.
"Alright kids, hold on to you knickers cos it's Guava Mojo time!"
A couple of hours later the crew were several drinks in and were having a good time reminiscing, Kate leaned over to Dutchy.
"Did you really get arrested?"
"Well, nearly…"
Dutchy knew that Kate had had a few, and he didn't want to take advantage of that but maybe she would answer some questions truthfully.
"So, you've been okay…"
She may have had a few drinks, but she knew what he was doing, she couldn't believe that he was questioning her in public, in front of the crew. She stood from the table annoyed, she stumbled a little and headed to the bar.
Mike sat next to Dutchy and pat him on the back.
"She'll come round…"
Dutchy looked up at Mike frustrated.
"You know this is half half the problem right? Everyone thinking that she's going to snap out of it!"
Mike nodded knowing that Dutchy was right, he had no idea what to to, how to help. He sighed and glanced over to her standing at the bar.
"She lied to me today too…"
"Huh?"
"She told me she didn't attend the meeting because she had a counselling session…"
"Yeah, 2Dads sad she was seeing someone."
"Well, I checked, she didn't have an appointment and normally I wouldn't care about a little white lie but…"
"Yeah, I know…"
They both looked over to the bar where Kate was swallowing yet another shot with Charge wondering how to get her to open up.
End of Chapter 10.