Storm Pt2

Storm
Part 2

He was watching her, eyes focused on her every movement. She seemed to be floating towards him, her gorgeous hazel eyes glowing with a spirit that had so often enchanted him. He loved her.

His name was Jake Stallings and he was 16 years old but he was different from any other boys his age. He had seen many different regions of the globe and had faced fears only he could live through. He was strong, handsome, brave, and proud. But he had one weakness. His knees still went weak every time he saw Jennifer even though he had known her nearly two years. Every time he looked at her he longed to hold her, although her fierce anger often chased other guys away. He saw in her a softness that seemed invisible to everyone else in her life. He knew that, given the chance, he would spend his entire life by her side. But there was just one problem.

Her father, Christopher Sheldon (figured out the story yet?), was the captain of THE EYE OF THE WIND. He didn't like the idea of his daughter dating or even talking to a guy in a way other than arguing. He had raised his daughter to be a strong, tough, bossy person. She possessed very few feminine qualities and had her father's angry nature. The problem was that Jake worked for the captain as his first mate and therefore was forbidden to touch Jennifer or even look at her in a way as he would had longed to. Any romance between them was impossible. But she didn't seem to be the type of girl interested in guys anyway. Her life revolved around ships, traveling and lots of water, something she would have liked to eliminate.

As Jennifer approached him, desperate to start a conversation with her, Jake said flatly, "You're late."

She took it the wrong way and snapped back. "I know dipstick. Why do you think I have been running the whole way??"

He realized this was not going as he had intended and replied, "Sorry. I just wanted to tell you that the captain is probably gonna nail your ass."

"Yeah, so what else is new?" she walked away obviously annoyed and left him standing there watching her head towards the captain's quarters. He didn't think it was wise to remark about the fresh bruise on her arm.

* * * *

"Look, I'm sorry I'm late but i don't think we need to make a federal issue out of it. It's not like there was anything for me to do around here anyway." Other people's children would have gotten slapped by now, but in the Sheldon family, everyone talked to each other with equal respect, none.

Jennifer looked up at her father, the one person she hated more than anything in the world, only to find that he was staring at her with equal disgust. He was tall, strong (I think we have established that pretty much every one in the story is strong), tough, demanding, bossy, and most of all, proud. His daughter was pretty much the only person he knew who ever dared question his authority, and that made him even angrier. She knew the rules, but she seemed to take pleasure in breaking them. "Well," he thought to himself, "she paid for her tongue last night." He glanced with satisfaction and the red mark on her left arm. But his voice did not betray his content.

"You knew what time you were supposed to be here!" His loud voice made everyone in the small room cringe. "Yet you continually enjoy breaking the rules and regulations you have been familiar with since you were ten years old!! And now, six years later, you still haven't got it!! You break the rules, you get punished!"

Their fights were always like this. He would repeat some pre-composed lecture and she would pretend to listen. Over time, Jennifer's mother Robyn had learned not to interfere and was going over paperwork and listening at the same time. She knew what was coming. Her husband and daughter were exactly the same, although they thought the opposite. To each, the other was their worst enemy and restraint from happiness.

They usually fought for a long while, but today there was a lot of work to get done for the next day so it was Jennifer who brought the arguement to an end.

"Look, I probably have some work or something that you're going to remind me of so let me do you a favor." She stormed out the door slamming it as she left her parent's cabin. Capt. Sheldon turned around. He knew what was coming. His wife would lecture him as he did his daughter but he took no notice of the similarity. He only braced himself.

* * * *

Outside the door, Jake had been listening to the fighting going on inside. He could not hide himself before Jennifer came out of the door and saw him.

"What the hell were you doing there?" she asked him coldy, still fuming from talking to the captain, she had so much anger piling up she had to let it out. "You know in some areas of the world, that is considered morally offensive. You have no business listening to what goes on in my family. You are just the first mate who does his damndnest to suck up to my father. Got it?"

He got it. "Sorry. But it's not like I had to stand right next to the door to hear." As he talked, he followed her. They both sat down on the bow. His curiosity unfortunately got the best of him. "You and your dad fight a lot, huh?"

She turned abruptly towards him, her eyes blazing with hatred and anger. "What goes on between me and my father is none of your God damn business," she said calmly and coldly. She then stood up and walked away, furious at the whole world. What made this worth putting up with?

Dopeychick