CHAPTER 1

I huffed and crossed my arms as a chill shot down my spine. I watched as my mother danced with the Captain. She told me to stay put as she would only dance once before joining me once again. My mother looked glamorous in her royal blue, strapless dress. It hugged her hips before flowing out around her legs. She always looked beautiful. Even when she had just woken from sleep, she looked beautiful. She had decided on a change and so had put her hair up to show off the pearl earrings that father had given her before he set off to work abroad. That's where we were going now. We were setting off to Italy to meet him as he had proposed a holiday before he had to return to England. Father travelled to many places as part of his job and this made it difficult for us to see him. Mother said she doesn't mind but I've heard her crying at night when she realises how often she doesn't see the man that she loves. I turned my head away from the happy couples and looked over the rail. The deep, blue sea crashed against the boat like it was trying to join us. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear as a sharp gust of wind messed with my hair. Mother had insisted that I should wear my hair down as it looked particularly soft tonight. My dark, brown hair was a complete contrast to the pale, yellow dress I was wearing. The dress had two straps that tied behind my neck and a white strip of silk around my waist that seemed to enhance my slim figure. The dress came down to my knees so I wore some skin coloured tights to try and prevent myself from becoming too cold. My matching shoes glistened under the lights that were hung up around the dance floor and I smiled as the small glitter particles shined. A hand touched my shoulder and I recognised my mother's lace, white glove. "Did you have fun?"

"Yes, I just can't wait to see your father. It seems like years since we were last together as a family." My mother sighed and fiddled with one of her earrings.

"Stop." I took her hand away from the pearl and held it firmly. "We will be fine and one day we shall not have to worry about the next time he will be home as father will be right there with us. This won't last forever."

"I know. Joe means everything to me, apart from you, of course."

"Perhaps we should eat now?"

"No. I'm not hungry yet and I'm not letting you go off on your own."

"I'm 16, not 12."

"Yes, but these people are strangers and I don't trust them."

"Yes, you don't trust them so you were just abandoning your daughter to dance with a stranger. That makes perfect sense."

"Enough cheek." She smiled and linked her arm around my left. "Let's go say hello to the man that they rescued. I hear he's quite charming."

"I've already met him."

"What?" She stopped in her steps and looked at me confused.

"I felt sick last night and so came up here to get some fresh air. He, his name is Jack by the way, appeared a few moments later and we introduced ourselves before I came back into the cabin."

"Well, thank you for telling me." She started walking with me once more.

"He is very charming." I sighed before letting her pull me over to him. Jack smiled a little as he saw us come closer.

"Hello, Miss. McArthy."

"Hello, Mr. Ferriman."

"I insist that you call me Jack."

"Then you must call me Anna-Louise." I smiled before feeling mother's tug on my arm. "This is my mother, Melinda."

"Hello, Melinda." He took her hand in his and kissed it gently. A blush rose in her cheeks and she nodded her head.

"Hello, Mr. Ferriman."

"Please, just Jack." Mother nodded and put her hand back by her side. "Are you enjoying your night?"

"Indeed. In fact, Anna has been dying to get on the dance floor all night. Unfortunately, no gentleman has asked her yet." She hinted to him

"Mum." I hissed at her as I saw Jack smirk. "It's fine. I was just going to speak to Katie actually." Jack stepped in front of me and stopped me from leaving.

"Dance with me?" Although it was a question, I felt like he was telling me rather than asking for my permission.

"Okay." I relented and allowed him to move me towards the other couples. Jack put his left hand on my hip and grasped my left hand with his right. His skin wasn't soft but I wouldn't have called it rough either.

"So, are you really enjoying your evening?"

"It's been… interesting."

"How so?"

"Well, my mother and I are going to join my father in Italy and for once she actually looks happy and comfortable instead of upset over the fact that my father isn't around."

"So, she loves him very much?"

"Yes, she does."

"Is there anyone waiting for you once you get off the ship? Anyone apart from your father, I mean?"

"No. I only socialise with those that my father thinks are worthy and believe me when I say that there aren't many that my father approves of." Jack twirled me around and smiled.

"Are you not engaged? Your father sounds like someone that would be planning that already."

"He has talked about it but I think he is more bothered about his work at the moment. Between you and me, I don't mind if I'm not engaged for another few years yet. What about you?"

"No. No girlfriend or fiancée. I've never found the right person that I want to be bound to."

"Bound? You make it sound like something bad. Do you not want someone to love you until the end of time?"

"I see you want a fairytale life. Let me tell you something." He leaned in close and whispered in my ear. "I don't believe in love. It has never shown itself to me, so I don't believe it exists. You may think that your dream of never-ending love will come true but everything is temporary, even the strongest of feelings don't last forever." Jack looked at me as though he wanted a reply.

"How can you not believe in love? You were created because two people loved each other. Did your mother and father not show you love?" I felt his grip on my hip tighten for a few seconds before loosening.

"As I said, love has never presented itself to me."

"How old are you, Jack?"

"How old are you, Anna?"

"You should never ask a woman how old she is." I recited what my mother said to many gentlemen that dared ask her age.

"Well, if I guess, will you tell me?" I nodded slowly.

"I think that you are older than 15 but younger than 18. 17, perhaps?"

"Close enough. I'm 16 and getting older by the minute. Now, how old are you?"

"I forget sometimes but I look 25 so I will say that I am 25."

"How can you forget? That was cheating." I pouted at him.

"Well, I don't wish to remember. I just live each day as it comes and I plan to enjoy the rest of tonight so less talking and more dancing."

"Fine." He laughed a little before twirling me again. I saw Katie sat on her own and suddenly felt guilty. I had promised her that I would be with her for a while tonight and I hadn't even looked in her direction yet. Katie was the only other child on board the ship and we had connected straight away. She told me that tonight she would wear a dress that her mother made and that I should come see it as the design was beautiful.

"Anna?" I turned my head back to Jack.

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I glanced back at Katie and saw one of the crewmen fiddling with something in his hands

"You drifted off a little."

"I was just thinking." He nodded and I swear he was moving me away from Katie as soon I couldn't see her as more couples surrounded us. "I think I should go." I suddenly felt uncomfortable as I couldn't see anyone that I knew.

"Why? I thought we were having a good time?"

"We are but I need to see my mother. We haven't eaten yet and I'm sure she will be hungry by now."

"If I were you I wouldn't taste the food tonight. There is a new cook as the other one… had an unfortunate accident and from what I've heard, he isn't that good of a chef."

"Well, we shall wait and see." We stopped dancing as Francesca's voice drifted away.

"One more song?" Francesca soon started back up singing. Her voice seemed to have a lot more life in it tonight. She never sounded that happy from what I had heard.

"No, not tonight, Jack."

"Very well. Have a good night, Anna, and remember what I said about the food." He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed it lightly before leaving me amongst the sea of people. After a small struggle I stumbled out of the group of couples and straightened out my dress. Katie was still sat there on her own. She was watching the other people dancing with a frown on her face. I made my way over to her and smiled.

"I thought you'd forgotten about me."

"How can I do that? Move over." She moved across her seat with a small smile and let me sit next to her. "I like your dress."

"Thank you. I think it's the best dress my mother has ever made."

"Speaking of mothers, have you seen mine?"

"She left a few moments ago with one of the ship's crewmen. Something about joining him for dinner."

"Great. I suppose I won't be eating tonight then."

"I haven't either. Maybe we can go down later.

"Yes, sneak into the kitchen and raid the cupboards." Katie giggled and nodded.

"It sounds like a plan." Suddenly a rush pain shot through my skull and I held my face in my hands to try and stop myself from crying out. "Are you well?"

"I don't know." I flinched as a whistling sound filled my ears. "I think I need to go."

"Let me come with you." Katie stood up with me and looked at me worried.

"No, you enjoy your night."

"I shall be fine."

"Allow me to escort you." I looked up and saw one of the crewmen that was with Katie earlier. He held out his arm and I grabbed it as a sudden rush of dizziness filled me.

"What's happening to me?" I muttered.

"I shall see you in the morning." Katie whispered before giving me a hug. I patted her back gently before allowing the man pull me away. He helped me down the steps and smiled reassuringly.

"My name is Michael."

"I'm Anna." I whimpered a little as the pain seemed to move down the rest of my body.

"That's a beautiful dress." He said while helping me past the dining room.

"Thank you." I hissed as pain shot through my skull once more. It seemed to take ages before we reached the cabin. I fumbled with the lock on the door and was surprised to see that it was already open. The door opened slowly and I saw my mother lying on her bed with a flannel against her forehead. I walked over to her and felt Michael follow me.

"What's wrong?" I knelt down beside her so that I didn't collapse on the floor.

"I think the food was off or something." Yeah, or something. Jack had warned me about the food and now my mother was ill. There's definitely something off but I don't think it was the soup. "Why are you back?"

"I felt unwell." I turned around and looked at Michael. "Thank you for bringing me back"

"I will check on you later." He nodded before leaving the cabin.

"So, did you enjoy your dance?"

/

AN: It's an old-ish film so I will only continue this if I get enough reviews (3 or more) as I don't wanna update someone that no one is reading, apart from me.

This is the longest chapter I've ever written so I'm sorry if there are any errors as I should really be revising instead of writing =)

Sorry about the summary - didn't really know what to put to be honest.

Have a good Christmas! x