1
"Its marvelous."
I stood before the Royal Mail Steamer Titanic, my hair whipping my face and the salty, sweaty air swirling around me. The orange sun hung low in the dark blue air, and the pale green sea made soft sloshing sounds against the glistening black and white ship. The Titanic was a triple-screw steam-powered ocean-liner. I had never seen anything so large and I felt as if I were one of the tiny brown ants that sometimes crawled into my room. People bustled around me. My father stood next to me, his blue shirt slightly rumpled and his mouth curled into a warm smile.
A herd of wealthy ladies walked past us. There blonde hair was toppled onto their head and they wore large, lacy hats adorned with heavy fake flowers. One carried a pale watermelon colored umbrella. A few of them glanced at us, looked my father and I up and down like vultures, laughing thinly at our cheap attire. I despised people like this and how cruel they were to people who had less then them. I swallowed, a bloated lump had began to form in my throat and tears would fall down the well-traveled path of my cheeks soon enough. I had to wait. I never cried in front of anyone.
I blinked a few times and then began to make my way towards the intimidating presence of the massive ship. I looked up at the sky, watching a single cloud float. I wonder what its trying to reach. Lost in my thoughts, I smacked into something hard. I looked up, and saw I had bumped into someone. I bowed my head, not daring to look up at the person, as I could see how expensive their shoes were and did not want to offend this powerful person any more then I already had.
"My deepest apologies, madam. I should have paid more attention."
I looked up at him and gasped. He had dark blonde hair and soft brown eyes with shards of amber in them. He had tan skin, broad shoulders and was obviously muscular. He looked about my age or maybe a bit older. He had placed one hand on my arm, sending tingles down my spine. My cheeks immeaditly turned the color of red grapes.
"It was my fault, sir. I was staring at a cloud."
"Why?"
"Well, I was wondering where its traveling to."
I looked down, I regretted speaking that out loud and it most likely sounded utterly childish and would only encourage him into thinking I was quite dull.
"I've always wondered that to. I've developed a theory that its searching for its true love."
"That would be quite romantic."
"Austin!" a woman screeched. I looked over. It was the cruel woman with the watermelon colored umbrella.
"I must be going, my mother is calling me." He removed his hand from my arm, and I felt cold where it had been, wanting him to put his hand on my arm again, missing the fiery shivers it had sent through my frame.
The woman shook her head in disgust while staring at me. She whispered in another ladies ear. It made sense that she was his mother, they had the same blonde hair.
When I was in my room that night, I told myself that it was a waste of time. That no one like Austin would ever even think of me. That he was just another wealthy person who thought of me the way the others did, but was better at concealing his thoughts. But somehow, despite my best efforts, his face haunted my dreams that night.
