A Pirate's Crush

8. Detox, Business, & Jealousy

I wasn't even planning on painting today, but now I'm eager to see what progress I can make.

I sat in the sand with my legs criss-crossed to give me some structure to paint on, leaning my back against the railing of the ship wreckage overlooking the sea. I got my phone out and pulled up my reference photo before also grabbing my palette.

Hm... looking at the photo, I'll need gray and white for sure. I should probably start with the smaller brush too...

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Damn... the sun's setting. I wanna keep going, but there ain't enough light now.

I sighed, staring at the gray-tipped fibers of my paintbrush. I wish I could do this more often, but sometimes it's hard to get out here. Work runs late, friends wanna hang out and I don't have a good excuse, that kinda thing. Not that I don't wanna spend time with them, but I can't tell them I was planning on painting. If they knew about my hobby... I don't know what they'd think of me.

Nobody will come poking their heads around here, though. Not even them.

Oh well. I've made good progress, adding a few raindrops. I'd call this satisfactory, and I've got the weekend too, assuming the commander doesn't need me.

Speaking of the commander, I have one last errand to run.

I put away all my painting supplies, stowing them behind the wreckage wall again before changing back into my usual attire. After a quick hand-wash wash in sea, I began my stroll back to port.

I hope the commander took me seriously when I said I'd come check on him.

First stop was the office. When I arrived, the door was locked, which was a good sign. Just to be thorough, I unlocked it and checked inside. The lights were off and he was nowhere to be found.

Perfect.

After relocking the office, I proceeded to my next stop: his personal quarters.

I arrived and saw a light shining through the bottom of the door. Yeah, he's probably in there.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Commander?" I called. "It's Jean Bart. You in there?"

"Um! One sec!"

Huh? Why does he sound so panicked?

I heard the frantic rustling of papers on the other side.

Is he working late again? Seriously?

I put my ear to the door.

Trying to hide the evidence, Commander? Alright... where at?

Listening intently, I heard more rustling papers, and finally the loud shutting of a drawer.

Gotcha.

"Come in!" he called out.

I turned the handle and opened the door. There he was, laying bed on his phone.

Whoa... the way the orange sunlight is shining on his hair...

Argh, damn it! Why doe she have to be so cute in his casual garb? Focus!

I looked around. Each nightstand had two drawers, so any papers he tried to hide are likely in one of them.

He's staring at me intently.

I'll give him an opportunity to come clean before I plunder his room.

" Bonsoir , Commander," I said. "Just checking in as promised."