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Chapter 6: In-Fighting
"So where were you last night?" asked Alex as Sarah climbed down into the galley early the next morning.
"I was at the Elbow Room," she said giving Alex a quick glance.
"Mmm hmm," murmured Andrew as he gave a knowing glance at Alex.
Sarah felt a twinge of uneasiness as she poured her coffee beside the sink. Just then, Jon and Amy strolled into the galley.
"And where were you two last night?" demanded Alex, looking even more irritated than usual.
Amy and Jon exchanged nervous glances.
"We just went into town," muttered Jon as he walked past the galley table and began to pour himself a cup of coffee.
Amy stood near the doorway, looking very uncomfortable.
Andrew and Alex, who were sitting behind the table, gave each other frustrated and curious glances.
Finally, Alex could not hold back his anger any longer. He slammed his coffee mug on the table eyes flashing with fury.
"That's it!" he exclaimed as he stood up, "No more secrets! We're supposed to be a team and keeping secrets from one another is the best way to cause conflict. We're going back out to sea in a month and the last thing we need is unnecessary drama on the boat. So why don't the three of you stop being stupid and tell us the truth!"
Everyone froze in shock. Deckhands usually did not challenge their captains so openly like that.
Sarah swallowed nervously and felt a flash of embarrassment. She was still a greenhorn-skipper and she could not control her own crew. She should have been aware of the fact that Jon and Amy had left the boat last night. It was her job to keep track of her crew, but instead of doing her job, she had been out with Rick Painter all night.
"Okay, fine," she snapped, growing angry at herself and at Alex, "I was at the Elbow Room for awhile yesterday talking with Rick Painter. He asked me to go to dinner with him and I did. That's what I was doing last night, not like it's really any of your business."
The rest of the crew gaped in surprise.
"Rick Painter?" exclaimed Andrew, "What were you doing with him?"
"We were just talking, nothing happened," said Sarah, defensively.
Alex sneered in open disgust.
"So instead of staying here with her crew and doing what she's supposed to, our great captain was out with the Northwestern's rival?" said Alex, angrily, "You could jeopardize everything by befriending them!"
"That's not true!" shouted Sarah, despite herself, "Rick is nothing like his father and I did nothing wrong!"
"Says you!" argued Alex, "How do you know he won't stab you in the back like his dad did to your mother? What if you tell him more than you should about the Northwestern and he turns it around on you? Then, because of your poor decision, an entire season could be blown!"
"You're overreacting, Alex," snapped Sarah, "And last time I checked, I'm the skipper of this boat! Not some deckhand you can order around. You want to be deckboss like Jake? Then you go out there and do your job instead of sitting on your rear and criticizing your captain!"
Alex's jaw tightened in anger. He sneered again in disgust just as Jake walked into the galley.
"I finished tying off those…" Jake paused when he saw the looks on everyone's faces, "Whoa…what'd I miss?"
"Just our captain turning traitor," sneered Alex.
Sarah shot him a furious look before she turned to answer Jake.
"I'll tell you later, Jake," she promised, "Now I'd like to know where you two went last night."
Jon and Amy instantly began to fidget awkwardly.
"We just went into town for some fun," said Jon, blushing with embarrassment.
"Great," said Andrew, "More drama to put on the boat."
Alex gave Andrew a look of approval and nodded his agreement.
"From now on you need to tell me or Jake when you leave the boat, okay?" said Sarah.
Amy and Jon nodded before they fled back out of the galley and out onto the deck.
"And what about you?" challenged Alex, "You going to tell us when you decide to abandon the boat and hang out with those Maverick backstabbers?"
Jake's eyes widened in surprise and he gave Sarah a shocked and curious look.
Sarah took a deep breath, eyes glowing with anger.
"I'll tell Jake, is that good enough for you?" she said, staring Alex down.
Alex just sneered, shook his head, and left the galley. Andrew stood to follow him and gave Sarah an upset and disappointed look.
Once they were gone, Jake went over to her and gave her a concerned look.
"What in the world happened?" he demanded.
Sarah told him everything that had happened last night and that morning before he walked into the galley.
Jake frowned and looked away when she had finished.
"So do you not trust me either?" asked Sarah, bitterly.
"No, it's not that," said Jake, "I don't want to see you get hurt like your mom did when Blake turned his back on her. She was lucky though, she had Edgar there and he helped her through it."
Sarah nodded, but gave him a defiant look.
"But I won't judge him based on his father's actions," she said, determinedly, "It wouldn't be right. He's different, I can tell. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt."
Jake smiled and shook his head.
"You're exactly like them," he murmured.
"Like who?"
"Your parents…stubborn and hard-headed."
Sarah smiled and laughed slightly. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed.
"I don't know what to do, Jake," she murmured, "It's like no matter what I chose to do, someone's going to get hurt."
"Well you can't please everybody," said Jake, "You have to follow your heart, but don't forget to use your mind too. Just tread carefully, okay?"
"I will," said Sarah as she gave Jake a hug, "Thanks."
Jake smiled, "No, problem. Now let's forget about this for now and get to work, okay?"
Sarah nodded and followed Jake back out onto the deck of the Northwestern.
NOTE: Jake and Sarah won't get together…I know it kind of sounded like that in this chapter, but remember that Jake is only a few years younger than her father, so that'd be kind of weird…She views him as more of an older brother…just FYI…
STORIES NOTE: If you haven't read it yet, on the "Deadliest Catch Oneshots Series" I posted a new short chapter about Sarah growing up with her parents. Just a little insight into the kind of person Sarah is.
Also, I started a new story about vampires and I'm using Blake Painter's character as the main character in the story…its on and it's under the same username that I have for .
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