Chapter 3

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Mike woke up when he felt an arm land on his firm stomach. He kept his eyes closed, for him it suddenly felt like any other morning back home in Norfolk in his own king size bed. He slipped his fingers along the arm, caressing the skin in a light manner. Feeling a smile on his face as he thought about what the next move would be. He waited in expectation as he was hoping for his better half to wake up and place some hot kisses on his chest and neck. But when this didn't happen he whispered her name..

"Christine.."

The slight "Mhm" sound coming from beside him told him two things: It didn't sound like Christine and the words "Yes, Mike?" certainly wasn't from Christine.

He opened his eyes bluntly and gazed around in the room. He was in his cabin back on the James. His gaze wandered from the clothes lying on the floor towards the woman laying in bed with him. He rubbed his face with his free hand and noticed the red haired woman sleeping over his other arm. What had he done? Was the only thing going through his mind when he realized what had happened.

"Andrea.." He tried to whisper and the ship's trusty Chief Engineer lifted her head and slightly opened her eyes as she met his gaze. She then briefly stared down on his body and hers. The shock was clear on their faces as they pondered over the fact that they had indeed had sex together. And if he remembered correctly, it hadn't been only once. His eyes got momentarily fixated on her small and round boobs which he recalled to have had in his mouth..

"Eyes up here, sailor!" He was startled by Andrea's sharp voice telling him to point his eyes somewhere safer.

Andrea placed herself on her knees as she covered herself with the blanket and Mike got up, noting that he was missing something important. His boxers were somewhere on the floor. His eyes didn't find them fast enough so he would just have to be freeballing it until he was left alone. So he got up in his full height and somehow felt like he was being watched as he put on his pants.

He turned around as he found his t-shirt and got dressed, noting that Andrea seemed to be in a world of her own.

"Hey, eyes up here!" Mike snapped his fingers and raised his eyebrows at her. Noting that she had been caught doing the exact same thing as he had been doing a few minutes before.

Andrea cleared her throat a little before trying to get dressed. Mike picked up her clothes and threw them on the bed. He turned his back at her and stood there, feeling rather uncomfortable in the moment.

"So.." He started.

"This was nothing more than a mistake. Ok?" He heard Andrea's voice state and he felt like this was a conversation they needed to have face to face, but right now he couldn't turn around even though he had seen her naked.

"It might have been a mistake, but it was nice." He let out with a heavy sigh and turned around as he heard her be ready in getting her clothes back on. Seeing from her face that she knew what he meant, it hadn't just been about the sex, the act. It had been about two people needing desperately to reach out to someone in the middle of chaos.

"I know. I..." Andrea began to stay and he felt like hugging her but as he closed the gap between them, she thought he was going in for a kiss and so his lips met with hers for one last time..

"When did it happen?"

Mike sat in the living room at his and Christine's house. He stared at the emptiness in front of him and wondered how long had he been sitting there in his thoughts. Thinking through the night and morning he and Andrea had shared almost four months ago.

Then he met eyes with Christine as she had asked him a question. When did it happen.

"It was after I had talked with you.." Mike's voice was barely hearable as he had to admit to his wife that he had betrayed her after their phone call. A phone call that from Christine's part had been filled with disappointment and anger. He hadn't been there to support her when Lucas had died, he hadn't been there to grieve with her. He hadn't been there at all.

He was surprised that Christine kept calm after his reply. Perhaps it had something to do with her friend Alice that had kept company to the girls and was watching them now as well. He had seen the two of them talk earlier the day and it had seemed rather tension loaded talk.

"Did you give up hope for us?" He heard her ask but didn't quite understand what she was referring to.

"No, of course not! I mean our marriage was what it was when I left for the Arctic, but.. I hoped, tried to keep the hope alive that you and the girls were safe." Mike explained.

"But it was difficult at times.." Mike's expression got more sad as he thought about the images from the hospital in Gitmo. How it looked like to be killed by the virus. Still getting chills as he thought about the things he has seen the last few months.

"Why her?"

"You like her?"

He began to feel like he was in a interrogation room, but this time around instead of asking questions he was on the other side of the table.

"She's a close friend and we.. We were talking about our families. Drinking.." Mike said and felt embarrassed like he was admitting to a crime. But wasn't it a crime?

"I.. We held each other for a brief moment and for a second I thought it was you.. And I kissed her cheek.. Then one thing led to other and we.." Mike squirmed as he implied what happened after that.

"Thought it was me?" Christine stared down at the coffee cup she was holding. Still remaining cool about what she was learning.

"I wanted it to be you. I wanted you to be alive still when I got back."

"I'm sorry, Christine. I'm sorry." Mike pleaded and met her eyes and saw the sadness shine through them.