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“Just stay out of it,” Amada barked.
Her black eyes narrowed into distrusting slits aimed at Carmela.
“I can hardly stay out of an issue that’s taking place onmyship,” I reminded her. “I’mthe captain.”
“Then act like it, and get rid of the extracargo,” Amada said snidely, still staring daggers at Carmela — who stared right back with an aggressive leer of her own.
Carmela stiffened. Her jaw tightened and she pursed her lips together while glaring at Amada. Her eyes were red rimmed, but she didn’t cry. She was holding her own. I marveled at her adorable, feisty beauty. She was sweet and good natured, unlike the fiery ball of wrath that made up Amada’s body and soul.
“You can’t talk to her like that, Amada,” I said, my voice booming in a warning through the room.
Amada blinked up at me. The emotional wounds shone deep in her eyes. She looked at me like I was the scorned lover who had betrayed her to a point where it warped her entire mindset.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice dripping with animosity. “I didn’t realize my emotions fell under the umbrella of your authority.”
“Your emotions don’t,” I said flatly. “But your actions on this ship absolutely do.”
Amada inhaled sharply. Her green cheeks were getting red again. In fact, she looked like she was ready to cry too, but no tears spilled over. She was too hardened inside to let them out in front of anyone else. What she did behind closed doors was a different story.
I should know. I was her ex-lover.
It came at a price, and I was monumentally paying for it now. Amada was deep in my pockets so to speak, cleaning me out as far as that was concerned.
I was trying to stay calm inside, especially for Carmela’s sake and the sake of my crew. I had to lead by example, but I was bottling it up inside and ready to explode. My blood was boiling. It was taking every ounce of sanity and control I had not to lose my temper with Amada.
Amada shot me a curt glance. “I know how to do my job properly.”
“Your behavior is distracting,” I told her. “It demonstrates otherwise.”
“Take it up with the chief of the intergalactic police, then,” Amada remarked sarcastically.
My jaw tightened. “Maybe you should just go and get back to your post before things get out of hand.”
“You have been saying that to me a lot lately,” Amada droned in a voice that sounded almost like a whine. She could act like such a spoiled brat sometimes.
“Well, maybe you should take the advice to heart, then,” I said. “We’d have far less problems.”
Amada glanced around the room as it was just now dawning on her that she had an audience. Amada was usually the type to do whatever she could to draw attention to herself, but now her cheeks were stained red, and she acted like the attention was uninvited.
Amada gave me a self-conscious glance before looking away, her eyes and head skirting downcast.
I took my opportunity while before her shred of vulnerability faded out completely.
“Go, Amada. Back to your post. We have work to do, and I need you steering my ship and not wasting time on arguing with people you have no business arguing with in the first place.”
Amada turned a healthy shade of crimson before her bottom lip jutted out into an enormous pout of defiance. She glanced between me and Carmela as if she somehow thought Carmela would agree with me and she was waiting to contest us both, but Carmela looked incredibly uncomfortable and just steered her gaze to the floor instead.
“You know… I’m not some piece of garbage you can just toss in the trash,” Amada said, the hurt in her voice undeniably exposed.
“I don’t view you as trash to throw away,” I groaned impatiently. “I’m acknowledging the fact that I need my perfectly capable chief engineer to return to her post and do her job efficiently."
“Fine, I’ll go,” Amada hissed through a clenched jaw, giving Carmela a break to focus her glare of death upon me instead.
She began to stomp off, while a few snickers and quiet chortles came from the crew members in the room with us. Amada didn’t turn around or pay them any consideration otherwise. I knew she was too mortified to do so.
Once Amada had made her thunderous departure, I quickly turned toward Carmela to repair some of the damage left in Amada’s wake.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I will make sure she doesn’t bother you anymore.”
