Chapter 7
A few hours later, Dylan rang Kate's doorbell and waited.
She opened the door and saw his radiant smile. "Hey? Are you there yet?", she said surprised, stepping aside to let him in.
He entered and kissed her on both cheeks, "Congratulations Kate on your promotion. You really deserved it".
"Oh, tha..thank you", she stammered, blushing slightly at his spontaneous action.
"I have a present for you to celebrate", he said, offering her a bottle of champagne.
"Oh my God, you didn't have to do that, you know", Kate said baffled, accepting the bottle.
"With pleasure. How are you feeling now?"
"Oh, much better. I took a rest this afternoon. I lazed outside in the sun and then I had a good shower. You're lucky, I just got dressed and my hair is still wet", she said.
He looked down at her barefoot appearance and a simple denim dress, "You look gorgeous", he said.
"Flatterer! It's everyday stuff, nothing dressy", Kate replied.
"Well, I like the style. Shall we have a drink?"
"Hmm…. Yeah, why not", she answered with a cheeky grin.
They had barely toasted and taken a sip when the doorbell rang again.
"Are you expecting someone else?", he asked her.
"Probably Nikki. For sure she wants to surprise me, just like you did", Kate said, walking to the door.
She wasn't entirely surprised to see Maxine on the doorstep. "Max?"
"Good evening Kate, may I come in?"
"Max? I didn't expect you", she said, stepping aside to let her in.
"I think so, but something bothered me this afternoon", she said, heading for the living room.
Kate followed her, noticing that she too was in civvies, a dark blue blouse, deep blue trousers and matching pumps.
In the living room she saw Dylan who felt ill-at-ease. "Hi Dylan", she said dryly.
"Ma'am", he replied in a neutral tone.
"Take a seat Max. Do you want a glass too? We were just celebrating my promotion", Kate said.
"Yeah, why not", Maxine replied.
Kate filled a glass and handed it to her.
"Thank you and cheers!" , Maxine said before taking a sip.
"Kate, what happened? I'm really worried. You have more colour now, but this afternoon, you were just a living corpse. Mike looked like he had a nasty encounter with a tiger and you looked like you got hit by a freight train", she said, looking at Dylan.
Kate sighed, "Mike. He left the boat leaving me with all the paperwork. I didn't even have time to have a sandwich. There wasn't even anything to eat at the bar for his farewell drink. It went wrong. I really tried to moderate myself, but I quickly got tipsy and then they started with shots….".
Kate rolled her eyes. "Catastrophe!" Dylan told me I sang at karaoke and ended up on a table doing a belly dance", Kate said sombrely.
"I really wonder how I can still keep my dignity as a commander after doing that", she said desperately looking at Maxine.
Maxine took a sip. "It's not that terrible, hearing that. At least, you didn't have to explain", she said, raising an eyebrow.
Kate glared at her, "Well, that makes me happy, oh yeah!"
"Well, that's the reason why I always turn down such invitations, because I don't know where I end up when I'm drunk. Years ago I was promoted to lieutenant commander and two other colleagues were promoted to lieutenant. Everything went awry. The next day I had to explain why I had done a striptease on the table in that bar and I couldn't remember anything! I couldn't believe it until the captain shows me dozens of photos. I can guarantee you that you instantly want the earth to open up under your feet ! But I survived and you can too", Maxine said.
She looked at the two confused faces. Kate was baffled and Dylan struggled to hide his grin.
"Keep this within these four walls and it's an order", she let it follow.
"Yes Max, we will be as silent as a grave", Kate said.
"Hmm, that explains your paleness, but it doesn't explain the bruises on your faces", she replied.
Kate looked down. "Dylan took me home and stayed here. He slept on the couch, you know", she added quickly.
"But this morning, Mike came to see if I was okay and Dylan answered the door. Mike thought we slept together. He got furious and punched Dylan twice. When I tried to pull Mike away, he pushed me and I hit the door", Kate said.
"And I threw him out of reach. Unfortunately he landed in the thorny bush", Dylan added.
Maxine sighed and rolled her eyes, "I was afraid it was such a story. I wonder whether it's really a good idea to put you two on the same ship".
"Max, it's Mike. He can't accept that I left him. If Dylan had been on another ship, the situation would have been the same", Kate answered.
Maxine nodded, "Yeah, you're right. It has nothing to do with."
She emptied her glass, "Okay, I know the whole story now. I'm leaving, but use your brains, okay?"
"Yes ma'am", Dylan replied.
"You can sleep soundly Max. I promise", Kate said, standing up as well.
After Maxine left, Dylan looked at her, "Are we toast now?"
She shook her head, "No, she knows we're friends. No worries".
"Okay, but there's still something I don't understand. When I was aboard as a buffer, you both could drink each other blood and now it looks like you are best friends", he said.
Kate shrugged. "Yes, a while ago, right after I broke up with Mike, Maxine stood at my doorstep. She asked if she could explain something to me. I reluctantly agreed and she told me that Mike also cheated on her. He left her with a child, Ryan, you know. From that point on, we became friends", she said.
"Hmm, now I can follow".
He smiled broadly, "It's hard to believe. Knocker doing a striptease on a table. I see it in front of my eyes".
Kate couldn't hide her smile. "It must have been hilarious!"
End of Flashback
Maddie had covered her face with both hands and shook her head, "Oh no, no ,no. This can't be true. Aunt Max doing a striptease on a table. I can't imagine it. Can you?"
Kate smiled broadly, "Not really. I often imagine seeing her, but I can't get a clear picture".
"Jeez! It's really funny", Maddie said, taking a sip of wine.
"So, you got your promotion. Finally, and then you were the boss and controlled everything", she said.
"Ah, uh, well, I wasn't really honest with you", Kate said.
Maddie frowned, "What do you mean?"
She made a face, "I was too confident. I thought I knew everything, that I could handle everything, but I didn't, and that's something you can't forget. Listen!".
To be continued