Dying Fire

Chapter 3 ~ Where To Find Her

Wiping the oil from her hand onto her pants, Cat let out an angry breath as the last rotation with the wrench came to a creaking halt. The metal against metal always made her teeth hurt, but it was just part of the job. 

Upset as she was at the noise, Cat pushed herself to her feet and inspected the rest of the machine. She had been at this drill for a good solid two hours. The woman stripped it, cleaned it, and put the damn thing back together. The sun had gotten to her, roasted her shoulders, and made her sweat blend with the oil that was caked on her arms and face now. 

"Alright." She sighed moving towards the control panel. 

Caleb had been watching her, eyes peeking in her direction every chance that he got. Of course, all of the other guys would look too. She was a good looking woman, not forgetting that she was one that wasn't afraid to get down and dirty either. The difference between him and them though, is that they were looking at her like she was some piece of meat. 

Hesitantly, Caleb made his way across the deck and towards the control panel that she was heading towards. "You fix it?" He called making her stop and look back at him. 

Seeing a friendly face, the woman smiled and her blue eyes popped with her now dirty tan. "I believe so. But just to be on the safe side." She flipped the switch and the drill instantly groaned to life. Slowly, it picked up speed as it turned. The sound it made though, it was a lot cleaner than before. 

Clearly, it was running without a hitch. 

Up top, Mike and Mr. Jimmy leaned against the railing smiling down at their little grease monkey. Cat didn't notice though, she was too busy chuckling at Caleb's impressed face. "Wow." He rose his eyebrows. "Okay." 

"Okay?" She laughed. "What, didn't think I could do it?" Challenging him, Cat crossed her arms and smiled back. 

"No, no, no!" Caleb immediately retorted. "That's not it, I was just saying that-" 

"Hey Cat!" Mike's voice called out over both the drill and their conversation. In response, she shut off the drill and turned to face him, hand covering her face to block out the sun. 

"What?!" She answered shortly. 

"How about you stop flirting and get your ass below deck?" 

Looking down to her feet, Cat chuckled and licked her dry lips. "Jealous Mikey?" 

Rolling his eyes, Mike hit the railing and stood straight up. "Something like that!" 

As Mr. Jimmy and Mike backed away from the railing, Cat smiled and turned back to face him. "Duty calls." 

"You know, I'd call that flirting too." 

Backing away from him, Cat smiled and shook her head. "You boys sure have a funny way of flirting." 

Quickly, she was getting further and further away. "Is there a technique I'm supposed to use?"

As tauntingly as she could, Cat turned back to look at him with a twisted smile. Of course she was just supposed to tease him, but there was a hint of seriousness in her voice when shes poke her next words. 

"You can start by taking me out to dinner." 

At this, Caleb stopped where he was. The boy was frozen solid, a smile slowly working it's way across his face. Before he could answer though, Cat was being swept away by Mr. Jimmy and Mike into the engine room below. 

"Caleb- let's go!" One of his friends from the oil department called back to him. 

They had a lot to do today, especially if they wanted to make it to lunch break. 

Most of the time though, that didn't happen. The oil crew guys were always the ones working through their breaks. Then again, that's why they got paid the big bucks over a lot of guys here. 

Turning back to his job, he approached it a little differently than he had this morning. His mind went to work on every possible argument he could have had with her and the clever comebacks that he should have said moments ago. She was on his mind, and the guy barely even knew her. Little did he knew though, his mind would be on her a lot more within the next twelve hours. Not on how to ask her on a date, not on what conversation he could have with her next. Instead, he would be worried about whether or not she was alive; and if so- where to find her.