The sequel to Be Careful What You Wish For is finally here. I've really enjoyed writing this first chapter and hope you enjoy reading it. I love reviews and criticism is welcome too. Enjoy.
Disclaimer – I do not own Titanic or any of the characters from the movie. They belong to James Cameron's Titanic. The only character I own are Patricia, all of my modern day characters plus Celine.
Chapter 1
London 2016
Patricia Roberts felt tears in her eyes as she read the last few pages of her book. It was getting dark outside and the cold London weather did nothing to cheer her up. She got up off her bed and walked towards her window and stared across the street and sighed. Wiping a tear away from her face she took another look at the book she had put down.
This wasn't just any old book or one of the many bestsellers that could be found in every bookshop in London. This book was different. It was an old diary and had seen better days. It had a leather bound cover which was showing signs of wear. The pages had gone a yellow color and the once beautiful handwriting had started to fade. She remembered the day she found it quite clearly. It was when she was clearing out the attic to make room for new things. As she was going through some old boxes a worn looking book fell out of them. Not thinking anything of it, she picked the book up and put it in her hoody pocket.
Patricia was 18 years old, had long blonde hair and the most striking blue eyes ever. She lived alone with her father in a nice townhouse in London's Mayfair. It just so happened that the building they lived in was quite old, Georgian to be precise. Patricia loved the old feel about the place, and was pretty sure at one time the whole building was a grand home probably belonging to a very wealthy family.
When it came to family Patricia never had that sort of traditional relationship that many of her friends had. She was close to her father, but it never really was a traditional father/daughter relationship. Her father treated her more like a mentor and never once had she the privilege of calling him father but had always called him by his first name Christopher or Chris. When most fathers would hate it if their child called them by their first name, Patricia's never did mind and in fact he insisted upon it. She had lived a very fancy life in all of her 18 years and had been to many faraway countries and was educated at expensive boarding schools all her life. This was the sort of life you could lead if your father was a
professional money launderer for Britain's most notorious crime family. The job came with an immense amount of money, for her father was quite high up in the organization and was very close to the boss of the firm.
Unfortunately Patricia had never known her mother for she had died when she was very young. Family wasn't really a subject she liked to talk about. As the weeks went by Patricia was reading the diary everyday. It apparently belonged to a woman called Celine Moody or so it said in faded writing on the front. The diary was extremely tragic.
Celine was a young woman traveling first class on the first and only ever voyage of the Titanic. She was traveling with her father, a valet for his employer – Caledon Hockley. Extremely wealthy, he had a fiancee called Rose who ran away and left the ship when it got to Ireland. Celine's father had then arranged a marriage between her and his employer, much to Celine's horror. However, Celine had other plans and had fallen in love with one of the ship's officers - 6th Officer James Moody. As history stated the ship hit an iceberg and sunk. Celine was heartbroken, James had gone down with the ship.
The more she read the diary, a mixture of emotions came over her – anger, misery and sadness. If Caledon Hockley or his bodyguard were around today she would sure give them a piece of her mind and a good punch too. Patricia was no softy and knew perfectly well how to defend herself. From a young age her father had taught her to stand up for herself and if anyone messed with her, she was to be tough and show them her fists. You couldn't be soft, especially if you were in the company of gangsters, hit men and drug dealers all of your life.
Patricia's attitude had also got her in trouble at school many times. Very often teacher's would have to break up fights that Patricia had started in school. One day she had even broken another girl's nose. The moment her father had found out instead of getting angry with Patricia he had just shrugged her off and would often say 'That's my girl.'
The next day Patricia decided to head over to the coffee shop across the street. There was a downside of having a notorious money launderer as a father and that meant having your own personal bodyguard. Michael he was called and Patricia couldn't go anywhere without him. Christopher knew the man quite personally and trusted him with his daughter's life. It was for her own safety, members of Britain's second most notorious crime organization would easily harm Christopher or his family. Patricia included. Patricia was very good friend's with the boss of the organization's young wife Kelly. She couldn't even go to the gym without her bodyguard. Sure it was nice being very rich, but you just couldn't have a quiet life.
'Michael, must you come with me. It's only across the street.'
'Pat, you know the score. Your father would kill me if anything happened to you.'
Patricia rolled her eyes at her minder.
'Fine, but i'm sitting by myself.'
Taking her laptop with her she decided to take advantage of the free wi-fi and do some research. There must be something on the internet about this mysterious Celine.
Taking a seat in the corner where she wouldn't be disturbed, she put down her bag and loaded up her computer, before snuggling into the oversized armchair. Michael was sat a few seats from her, keeping a watchful eye on her. A friendly voice greeted her.
'Hey Patty, how's it going.'
It was the manager of the shop who knew her quite well.
'Hey Jason, not too bad and you.' Patricia smiled at him.
'I'm great thanks, will you be having the usual then?'
'Sure, one Americano please Jase.'
'Coming right up.' Jason then walked off leaving Patricia in peace. He was back in a few moments with her drink. He quietly put it in front of her before going back to where he was standing. He could see Patricia was busy staring at the screen and didn't want to disturb her.
After much searching there was nothing. The Titanic was very famous, yet Celine was not on any of the lists – those who died and the survivors. It was really strange, first class passengers were very high profile, yet it was as if this person never existed. In the front page of the diary was an old photograph of two young woman dressed in a very fancy outfits standing in front of the Titanic. One looked quite sad and was dressed in a white and purple pinstripe suit with a huge hat. Red curls could be seen underneath her hat. The woman next to her looked happier. Patricia turned the photo and gasped, written on the back in old fashioned writing was – Me and Rose, sailing day April 10 1912.
Patricia sighed, closed the laptop and sipped her coffee. Celine must be real, she thought. The picture proves it along with the diary. Not everything was on the internet.
After reading some more pages of the diary, Patricia felt determined. She wished she could find a way to go back and bring Celine and James together. Her mood saddened when she realized it just wasn't possible. 1912 was a very long time ago and time travel was impossible.
Patricia wiped the tear off her face. Her crying, it was unheard of. She jumped up.
'Come Michael, I'm done here.' She said before walking out of the coffee shop with Michael.
'There must be a way.' She whispered.
