Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
“This better be good”she said to Lucas as she followed him to whatever was important.
“Oh it is, the Captain wants to meet you”Lucas said
“Oh….wait why would he-“she asked but then there he was.She put on her best smile,”Hello”she said to him politely
“Well here is our superstar”Captain Larson said as he took her hand and kissed it.”I am Captain William Larson and I have to say that I am a big fan of yours”he said to her
“Why thank you Captain. Since you’re a big fan already then I don’t need to introduce myself then”Dorothy said and he laughed.
“Yes, I know all about Dorothy Gibson. I have even seen you in ‘The Tempest’ and ‘Hamlet’ back in London and I have seen plenty of your films”he said to her
“Well thank you for all your support. Fans like you, that’s why Im in the business”she said in a sick and sweet like voice.
“Now I have one question to ask you”he said to her,”I understand that you had an accident last night”he said
Dorothy groaned a little and looked at Lucas. He just smiled at her stupidly,”Yes but-“
“So you do believe that you can fly?”he asked her.”Because Lucas said that you were so curious that you leaned over too far”
Dorothy sighed inwardly with relief. She was about to kill Lucas. He had no business telling anyone about her almost self inflicted homicide last night. “I only believe that I can fly when I have too much wine in my system. You had some magic wine at that feast last night”she said with a huge smile, covering up her anger.
Captain Larson laughed,”Oh well I can only serve the best for my best passengers and speaking of my feast last night. I am having a debutante ball tonight in the ballroom for all the first class passengers. Theres going to be a live band, lots of dancing, lots of food and lots of that magic wine. I will see both you and Lucas there?”
“Yes you will”Lucas said as he put his arm around her. Dorothy sighed, he was answering for her again.
“Well I will see you there. We can chat later”he said as he kissed her hand.
“Alright, nice to meet you”she said. Once he was out of sight, she pushed Lucas’ arm off of her.
“Hey”he said
“Don’t tell anyone else about what happened last night!”she hissed,”Its none of their damned business”she said to him
“I didn’t tell him. He came up to me and asked, one of his workers must have let him know about it, they are supposed to do that you know”
“Well I don’t want anyone else to approach me about it, you hear me? If they do, I will kill you”she said and walked off
“That’s romantic”he called after her.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“Your grandmother sounds so nice”Salomi said as she and Gabriel walked another lap around the deck. They have been walking and talking for hours now, just learning about each other.
“She is. I cant wait to go back home to her”Gabriel said,”Do you have any grandparents?”
“Yes and no”Salomi said,”My father’s father died when he was young and his mother died about a year before he married my mom. My mom….well when she married my dad…her parents didn’t like it. They disowned her and we haven’t heard from them since so…technically I don’t have any grandparents”
“Wow…Im sorry”
“Its alright. Im better off anyway”
“Do they know about you?”
“They have to….maybe….I mean Im the reason why….”and then she stopped
“You’re the reason why what?”Gabriel asked her. Then he remembered what she said about her mother,”You don’t think that its your fault do you?”
“Well no…but sometimes I think….if my mother never got pregnant….she would still be alive…”
“Salomi…don’t think like that please. Because then you are going to spend the rest of your life thinking what if….I mean..you are technically a miracle. Your mother went through a rough pregnancy but you survived. Shes still alive…in you”he said to her
Salomi smiled,”My dad says that”
“Hes a smart man”Gabriel said as they looked out at the water. The sun was getting lower, it would set in about an hour.”Whats your favorite color?”he asked her
“Blue….light blue..navy blue…any kind of blue”she said
“Really? I love robin’s egg blue”he said
“Really? Like the color of your eyes?”she asked as she turned to him. He had the most beautiful eyes.
“I guess”he said with a shy laugh,”Favorite food?”
“I love potatoes”she said with a laugh
“Potatoes are good. I love my grandmothers cornbread”he said
“Whats your favorite hobby?”she asked him
“Stealing”he said. Salomi gasped,”No I just like to hang out with my friends, making pranks, cracking jokes…you?”
“Playing solitaire, shopping”she said,”If you could do anything right now, what would you do?”she asked him
“Perform somewhere. On any stage”he said,”How about you?”
“Relax on some tropical beach somewhere, I love the beach”she said and then her stomach growled.
“Someone’s hungry”he said to her,”Im not going to lie…I am too”
“Well then lets eat”she said to him as they walked toward the café.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“I hope they sell those croissants back home because that will be the one thing I miss when we dock in New York”Gabriel said as he and Salomi walked out of the café. She bought them lunch.
“Your welcome-“
“SALOMI!”she heard and she saw her father, she walked over to him
“Yes Dad?”she asked him
“Here’s some money for dinner”Abraham said to her,”Vernon and I are going to this debutante ball thing tonight for first class passengers-“
“Oh should I get ready?”she asked him excitedly
“No, its not for kids”
“Dad, Im not a kid”she pouted
“I know you arent”he said to her,”But be careful walking around here by yourself alright? Don’t wander too close to the railings and all that-“
“Dad I’ll be fine”she said to him
“Ok, well we need to get ready. You will probably be sleep by the time we get back, so I will kiss you now’he said as he kissed her cheek.”I love you”
“Love you too Dad”she said to him
“Don’t get into too much trouble Lomi”Vernon said as he ruffled her hair and they walked off.
She turned around and saw Gabriel standing nearby,”That’s your father?”
“Yes and my Uncle Vernon”she said
“So what do they do? I mean you arent rich for nothing right?”he asked her
“Oh, well we got lucky. A lot of the other first class passengers call us ‘new money’ because we just got our fortune”she said
“New money huh? So you found an old inheritance? A rich aunt came out of a coma?”
She laughed,”No we’re farmers and we found gold on our land”
“Sweet”Gabriel said,”And you came to London? Why?”
“My Uncle has always wanted to go so we all decided to take a trip. I love New York City”she said, but she felt kind of bad lying to him.
“Oh yes me too. Im not much of a city person but I sure don’t mind New York. A lot of opportunity is all right there”he said,”So what did they say to you?”he asked her and stopped,”Wow sorry”
“No its ok. They are going to some ball tonight for the first class passengers. I cant go because Im too young”she said,”They gave me money for food because I will be on my own tonight”she sighed
“Wow, sorry you cant party with the rich folks”
“Oh I really don’t mind, they are stuck up anyways. I just don’t want to be alone”
“Well hey how about we crash the party tonight then?”he asked her
“No!”she said with a laugh
“Ok, we can just eat. I mean why bother buying food when there will be plenty of food there? For free?”he asked her
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“Im sick of this tux already. Give me my nice new pants any day”Vernon said as he and Abraham stood by the punch bowl. The ball was a huge success, lots of people showed up and were having a good time and the band was good. But they both didn’t have dates. Nor wanted to try looking for one.
“I agree”Abraham said as he fixed his bowtie. He looked up and saw a familiar dragonfly clip shining, he saw Dorothy dancing with Lucas. She didn’t look too happy. He watched as they danced and then someone came up to Lucas and started talking to him. She stepped back as they talked, she then slipped away and disappeared in the crowd and Lucas didn’t even notice her. Abraham tried to follow her with his eyes but he soon lost her.
“Oh shit”Vernon said
“What?”
“She’s here”Vernon said.
Abraham looked and saw a woman in a pink dress, she was blonde and she was very blessed in the breast department…hips too. She has been following Vernon around all day. “Oh your crush? Whats her name again?”
“She’s not my crush”he said,”Her name is Molly McIntire, shes an heiress to some huge estate in North Carolina or something. Don’t let her see me”
“Why hide? Have fun with her”Abraham said with a shrug
“Abe? Are you of all people telling me that I should cheat on my wife?”Vernon asked him in shock
“No Im just telling you to have fun, dance. I mean you are only on the Titanic once. Make a friend”
“I don’t want her as my friend. She doesn’t want me as a friend. She wants to get me alone and when she does, she will swallow me whole”Vernon said as he hid behind him, peeking out every now and then.
“Now how mean does that sound?”Abraham said with a laugh
“Oh shit, she sees me!”Vernon said,”Don’t tell her where I am or I will kill you!”he said as he disappears into the crowd.
Abraham shook his head and laughed as a waiter poured him more punch,”Thank you”he said
“Oh there you are Arnold!”Molly said as she came up to him.Her mouth was full of cake, she licked it off her lips and looked around,”Wheres your handsome friend?”
“Its Abraham”he said and then he turned around and gasped,”Oh I thought he was right next to me”he lied,”He must have run to the bathroom”
“Oh thanks”she said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and disappeared into the crowd.
“Hmm…everyone loves Abraham”he heard someone say. He turned and saw Dorothy looking at him with an inquiring smile.
He laughed,”No she doesn’t love me, she loves my friend”
“Oh that’s too bad”she said as she sipped on her punch,”Having a good time?”she asked him
“Its alright. Just being a wallflower for now. I see you are having fun?”he asked her, but he knew that she wasn’t really.
“Its ok”she said
“Ok? You have your boyfriend here with you-“
“Lucas is not my boyfriend”she said quickly
“Oh….ok”
“Sorry….a lot of people have made that assumption and hes starting to believe it. Its my job to set the record straight”she said
“Well its straight then”he said to her. Then an upbeat song came on, he stood there and nodded his head to the music and tapped his foot
“You like this song too?”Dorothy asked him as she put her drink down.
“I like the beat”he said to her and she held out her hand to him,”Would you like to dance?”
“I thought you wouldn’t ask”she said as they went out on the floor and danced.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“I cant believe you talked me into this”Salomi said as she and Gabriel walked past the main doors of the ballroom. He led her to the back door of the kitchen and they hid behind a few boxes.
“I can. I know that you have a very curious and adventurous side of you”he said to her,”Ok, you be the lookout while I grab the goods”
“They probably wont be good”she said.”Last nights food was anything but”
“Well this is a ball. They probably have a lot of goodies”he said. Then a whole line of waiters left with trays of food,”See? Looks good. Ok lets go. Just whistle for me”he said to her. He ran into the kitchen and she looked around. She waited there for a few minutes. Then she heard someone coming and it was the Captain and some other high class people no less!
“Lets show you the kitchen and how our wonderful chefs have made such wonderful finger foods”they said to him as they approached.
Salomi tried to whistle but then she forgot that she didn’t know how! She panicked and then ran in and crawled toward him,”Psst!”
“What?I told you to whistle!”he said to her as he put some food in napkins
“I cant! I don’t know how and they are coming!”she said. Then they walked in and they crawled under the table and waited.”Oh shit”she whispered
“Ok…lets make a run for it now”Gabriel said as he quickly got up and ran. Salomi did as well but they saw them
“Hey get back here!”they heard someone yell. They both gasped as they ran for their lives. Salomi held her breath as she ran and they escaped through a door and down the steps toward the third class quarters.
*____________________*