Chapter 15
At lunch time, she reappeared at the bridge.
"How is it going?", she asked Dylan who was sitting in the captain's chair.
"Ah boss! How are you feeling?", he asked, turning around.
"Much better. The ceremony under the burning sun almost killed me. Dylan, get some rest. I take over from you", she said
"Okay, could you eat something?", he asked.
"Pfft no. Not right now. Maybe later, a biscuit or something else", she said.
"Uhm, what do you remember about last night? "
Kate rolled her eyes, "The pub, that bloody Pernod. Incidentally, I'm never drinking that stuff again. Singing sea shanties and I woke up fully dressed on my bunk".
"Nothing about meeting certain people last night?"
"Huh? Who? Did I do something?", she asked suspiciously.
""Pete told me you encountered the French commander and the governor and their wives", he said prudently and waited to see if that rang a bell.
Kate closed her eyes, "Oh my God! Shit! Yes, I remember."
Her eyes widened in panic, " Oh my God! No! I remember I asked him to sing with us and his bloody bitch of a wife insulted us. And….and I bellowed at her".
She pinched the bridge of her nose, "Fuck! Let's hope it doesn't reach the Brass."
She looked at him desperately, "Dylan….", she began but didn't dare to finish her question.
He shrugged, "Nah, every sailor has gotten drunk once in his career, so. No one will make inappropriate remarks about it", he said, hoping it would comfort her.
She sighed, "Yeah. Anyway, thank you for taking over and now give yourself a well-deserved rest", she said, sitting down in the captain's chair.
Damn! What did I do? I was so stern about my men and now I'm the one who screwed up an official visit to the French. Luckily it's not a flag but just words. Maybe they didn't take them into consideration because we were drunk. Anyway, next time, I'll stick to water or orange juice or maybe some wine. But that's it! There's not doubt about it!
They were sailing towards Cairns and Kate calmed down as the days passed.
When they arrived, she went to Navcom to accomplish her task.
She wanted to see Maxine, but her office was empty.
Strange. Is she still sick? A flue is no fun, but it doesn't last so long. Perhaps…
She turned around to walk away, but the heels of her white sandals made too much noise and caught someone else's attention.
"McGregor!", Mike barked from his office.
She looked inside, "Sir?"
"What the hell do you think you are?", he spat out.
"I beg your pardon?", she reacted, frowning, stepping inside.
"Did you hear me correctly? What was your plan? Cover with ridicule the Australian Navy or even better the whole nation? Really, I wonder what I can make you do? You are screwing up even the easiest task ever", he ranted.
Kate's anger rose three levels, "I'm sorry…what?", she snapped louder.
"Don't play dumb!", he snapped, flipping his laptop over to show her the YouTube screen and he clicked 'play'. The footage was recorded by a smartphone and showed Kate falling down into the mud and climbing up the ladder. She was shown totally covered with mud and the video showed her walking away leaving mud steps on the wooden jetty.
"One hundred thousand views! And I'm not talking about the comments. The story was plastered all over the newspapers. Nice job, lieutenant commander!", he sneered.
"Sir! I couldn't help it! That rascal threw me over the jetty in the mud", she almost shouted.
"Oh yes, you couldn't help it either to call the French naval commander's wife of Madame Dior shit. Is that your famous diplomacy in front of the governor of another nation? The French complained in Canberra and Canberra complained here", he continued furiously.
Kate opened her mouth to reply, but he waved a piece of paper in front of her.
"This! This comes from coastguards. They wonder why we didn't intercept a FFV. As far as I remember, you were the closest asset to inspect that vessel. Why didn't you do that?".
Kate looked at her feet, swallowed and looked at Mike, "I was sick, sir. I was in my bunk for a few days. And it was following your orders, sir : to focus on Noumea".
"What the hell! Don't you have an ounce of imagination? A good patrol boat commander must have the guts to do something outside the books to achieve the goals", he snapped knowing full well that he was hitting Kate and very hard.
"I didn't know. I was sick!", she croaked.
"You're not worth being a commander!", Mike said icily. I can't allow any more mistakes. I'm thinking of transferring you. There's a department that deals with decommissioned ships and equipment. Obsolete stuff. The previous commander has retired and you can take over from him. So, if you screw something up over there, it doesn't matter anymore", he said and looked down at her feet in the sandals.
"Even a simple dress code is too much to ask you. You're dismissed lieutenant commander", Mike said, looking back at his papers.
Kate said nothing more and left Navcom dejected.
She parked her car in the driveway of her house, turned off the engine and leaned back against the driver's seat. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.
Damn, I have a headache.
And I'm glad to be home.
What a bloody patrol it was!
And for what will happen next, I can't believe it? Am I dreaming and I will wake up in a minute?
She opened her eyes and got out of the car. Irritated, she slammed the door and winced.
Ow, my head! Take it easy Kate, take it easy!
A shower will do me a great deal of good.
She opened the boot and grabbed her briefcase and sea bag.
In the entrance hall, she took off her white sandals without unbuckling, dropped them on the floor and headed for the bedroom. She took off her white uniform, stuffed it into the laundry bin and headed for the bathroom. Then she put on a sweatpants and an old stretched sweater.
Still in a bad mood, she headed for the kitchen to prepare some food.
My headache is not getting better. Some food will help, I hope.
She opened the fridge, noticed that it was empty.
Damn! Of course. I can't keep food fresh when I'm two weeks at sea. I'll had to go to Coles .
It was then that she saw a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.
Hmm, that's an idea! It's actually the only thing I can do without failing.
Kate opened the bottle, filled a glass and took a swig.
It feels good!
She poured herself another one and it seemed to calm her down a bit.
She opened the freezer and pulled out a prepared portion of mac and cheese.
Luckily I always foresee something in case of emergency.
She opened the lid and put the box in the microwave.
A few minutes later she started eating, but it didn't taste to her. She played with pasta and ended up putting down her cutlery. She stood up, went to the window and stared gloomily outside.
She walked back to the table, picked up her plate and tossed the barely touched food into the bin.
Kate went to the living room, plopped down on the couch and switched on the TV. She stared blankly at the screen, the events of the last patrols still spinning in her head.
I need something. And I know what!
She stood up, took a glass, added ice cubes and filled it with vodka. Mike had once brought the bottle to try a cocktail but it wasn't a success. The bottle was still half full.
She sat back down again and took a few sips.
She sighed as she felt the fleeting warmth of the alcohol invading her body.
She zapped through the channels, sipping her drink until it was empty.
Huh? Empty?
Kate stood up to refill it. She had barely eaten and the vodka was already taking effect. She felt light-headed.
Sipping her drink, she thought about the last patrol.
Nothing went well.
Food poisoning with vomiting and diarrhoea.
I made a fool of myself in front of that French naval officer after that mud bath.
I got drunk with the crew during my promotion drink and again made a fool of myself in front of the French commander and the governor.
I missed a FFV. It wasn't my fault, I followed orders, but Mike made me feel like I had missed it.
And icing on the cake, Mike blamed me. The French apparently sent comments to the Brass. Will he really transfer me? It was quite humiliating. Did he do it on purpose? Without a doubt. Because it's me. Because I broke up our relationship. He still thinks I have one with Dylan. But it's wrong. I like him, but we never started a relationship.
She wanted to take another sip, but noticed that her glass was empty.
"Damn!", she muttered.
She stood up and staggered to the liquor cabinet. She carried the bottle away to the couch and refilled the glass. The ice cubes had melted, but she hadn't even notice it. She spiled vodka on the coffee table.
"Damn!", she mumbled.
She took a large gulp.
"I'm tipsy, I think. Yes, I am. I want to get drunk, just like the guys. To forget everything. To experience something else. And no one will complain!", she announced with difficulty before taking another gulp.
Nikki.
Because of me, she got shot, as well as Harpie and Sharky. Why was I so stubborn?
Dylan was right. He did the right thing.
Mike was right. I'm not ready for the job.
Everybody was right except me!
She emptied her glass.
"Now I want to taste something else!", she slurred.
Kate stood up, staggered to the kitchen to add some orange juice to her glass. Then she went to sit back on the couch and filled her glass with gin.
"Cheeeeeers! To the perfect loser! Head of the Navy Second Hand Shop of the Navy!", she slurred and drank.
Two drinks later, she passed out on the couch.
End of Flashback
Maddie looked at her flabbergasted. Oh, mum! I didn't know you like that! You got drunk, silly! And it was you who kept telling me to moderate myself with drinking".
Kate looked sad. "I know love and I know damn well why I said that, it's because I've experienced it many times and it never helped. But, that night, I was coming to discover that my future was scattered. What was I going to do? Growing old between obsolete equipment or leaving the Navy but to do what?", she said with a shrug.
"Hmm. And Dad wasn't there to save your skin again", Maddie said.
"Nope".
"Now I understand why you drink very little alcohol".
"Indeed. Afterwards, you never feel good".
"But, what happened next? You're now CO of Cairns. So something had to happen to get you back on the right track, didn't it?"
Kate smiled, "Yeah, your father again. He made me see that life was worth living again".
Kate stopped and Maddie did to. She looked at some palm trees.
"I'll sit down. It's afternoon and it's getting hot".
They sat down.
To be continued