The next morning Damon gets out of bed and quickly puts on his uniform. After he shaves, brushes his teeth and combs his hair, he takes a leisurely stroll along the top deck to check on the guests as he makes his way to the dining room. He pauses to chat with a few of the first class passengers and their children, even tossing the ball a couple of times to one of them. He waves goodbye to the little fellow before he continues on.

Stepping inside the grand dining room, he has to pause to look around. He is always stunned by opulence of the architecture and the design of not only this room but the whole ship. Even the steerage compartments are not uncomfortable.

The ship's passenger accommodations are spread across six decks, each one identified with a corresponding letter in descending order from the top deck down to the waterline, they being the Boat Deck or A Deck, Deck B, the Promenade Deck, the Shelter Deck is labeled as C, D is the upper Deck, E is the Main Deck and F is the Lower Deck. As with all passenger liners of the era, first, second and third class passengers are strictly segregated from one another. According to her original configuration, she is designed to carry 2,198 passengers and 827 crew members. Their shipping line prides itself with a record for passenger satisfaction.

Her first class accommodations are in the center section of the ship on the five uppermost decks, mostly concentrated between the first and fourth funnels. When fully booked, she can cater to 552 first class passengers. In common with all major liners of the period, her first class interiors are decorated with a mélange of historical styles. The first class dining saloon is the grandest of the ship's public rooms; arranged over two decks with an open circular well at its center and crowned by an elaborate dome measuring 29 feet. It's decorated with frescos in the style of François Boucher and elegantly realized throughout in the neoclassical Louis XVI style. The walls are finished with white and gilt carved mahogany panels while Corinthian decorated columns are used to support the floor above. The one concession to seaborne life is that furniture is bolted to the floor, the drawback being that the passengers can not rearrange their seating to their personal convenience.

All other first class public rooms were situated on the boat deck and comprised a lounge, reading and writing rooms, a smoking room and veranda café. The last is an innovation so that in warm weather, one side of the café can be opened up to give the impression of sitting outdoors. Damon knows because of the often inclement weather of the North Atlantic, that feature is rarely used. The first class lounge is decorated in Georgian style with inlaid mahogany panels surrounding a jade green carpet with a yellow floral pattern. It has a barrel vaulted skylight rising to 20 feet with stained glass windows each representing one month of the year. Each end of the lounge has a 14-foot high green marble fireplace incorporating designer made enameled panels. The pattern is linked overall with decorative plasterwork.

As Damon peruses the guests, he sees Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood by the breakfast buffet. He turns away for a minute to look for the Mikaelson's, only looking back when he hears his friend, Enzo's voice. She never looks up at him, not anyone really he decides after watching her for a few moments. Hearing his friend's voice, he turns his head just in time to see Enzo serving their table. Damon sees her mouth moving as she points to something on his tray. She's speaking too quietly for him to understand but he does see the dour look on her face. He also doesn't miss her husband's rather inept attempt to roll his eyes discreetly.

Damon shakes his head at the arrogance. Although she was anything but pleasant to him last night, for Mr. Lockwood to act like that is low class. Enzo brushes past him on the way back to the kitchen whispering, "She's an arrogant bitch but a hot one."

Out of his peripheral vision, he notices First Officer Mikaelson speaking with his father. Since he doesn't see any of the other members of the family, he slips out of the great hall to get himself some breakfast and a cup of coffee.


Stopping only to look in the mirror to see that his uniform is spotless, Damon quickly adjusts his hat and hurries to the bridge where he's been summoned by Captain Turner. As soon as he steps into the wheelhouse, he salutes the captain.

"I would like an update on the Mikaelson's. Did they need anything today? Is there something, some special food or anything they feel we are lacking?"

"Um, I haven't seen them yet today sir."

"Did I or did I not tell you to make yourself available at all hours of the day or night? How are you to serve them if you haven't even seen them yet? It's already 10:00 hours, what excuse do you have for your deliberate insubordination?"

"Sir, if you'll allow me to explain?"

The older man says nothing. Instead he just stares at Damon with disdain. Minutes pass like hours before he finally speaks. "Go on, I'm waiting."

"Sir, as soon as I got up, I got dressed and did my rounds on Decks A and B. Then I went for breakfast. I was on my way to check on them when I was told that you wanted to see me."

"That's your excuse?"

"Sir, I'm not making excuses, I'm telling you what my morning has been like."

"I don't want to hear anymore. Go right now and make yourself available to them. I intend to ask Mr. Mikaelson about your attentiveness so if I were you, I'd put in a little extra effort. You're dismissed."

He's glaring daggers at him so Damon salutes and then hurries off without bothering to look back. Once he's out of sight of the captain's line of sight, Damon grabs a hold of the railing, squeezing so tightly that his knuckles whiten. He realizes that he's going to see if he can find work on another ship or another line. The tension between himself and the captain is getting worse and worse. It takes all the self control that he possesses to keep himself from rearing back and landing a right hook to his jaw. He can't let that happen, he'd find himself in the hoosegow or worse in the time it takes to blink an eye. Blowing out a frustrated breath of air, Damon rubs his clammy hands on his pant legs, closing his eyes in relief when it doesn't leave a mark and then goes in search of the Mikaelson clan.


Damon does not find the group on A deck so he heads to the first class lodging area. He knocks on their state room but the only one that answers is their servant Rose who tells him that they went to the promenade deck to get some sunlight. After thanking her, he smiles and walks down the corridor to go upstairs. Suddenly a door opens and a man calls to him. Turning around, Damon stiffens when he sees that it's George Lockwood, one of many who could put a bad word about him, which would only aggravate the captain's ire towards him even more.

"Can I help you, Mr. Lockwood?"

The man looks around suspiciously before he steps into the hall just a little past his threshold. Very discreetly and with his voice lowered, he hands Damon an envelope. "I want you to deliver that to Miss Pierce in her cabin."

She and Mr. Lockwood? Although he doesn't like it one bit, there's really not much he can do but agree. Damon nods and turns around. He doesn't get more than a few feet away from the man when he's called back. "Was there something else, sir?"

"Yes.. As you can see," he starts to say, extending his arm in sweeping motion allowing Damon to look into the parlor of their room. There's broken glass all over. It gives Damon a funny feeling but he doesn't know why. "As you can see, it's a mess. Mrs. Lockwood is quite clumsy and broke a vase. You need to send for someone to clean it up?" Damon also notices that a chair is tipped over. He doesn't make any comments but when he happens to notice her, she gives him a rather nasty look.

"I'll send a maid right away, sir." Damon meets her eyes one more time but when she turns away, he has no choice but to leave.


He sticks the letter in his pocket and then finds out from one of the stewards which room Miss Pierce is in. He walks slowly towards her room but he can't get the look on her face out of mind. For the life of him, Damon can't understand why Lockwood would need a mistress when he has someone as gorgeous as his wife to come home to every night. The guy is rather slimy despite his friendly behavior. Feeling the envelope in his pocket, he feels dirty just delivering it. But perhaps Mrs. Lockwood just has a volatile temperament? He's been on the receiving end of it after all. Maybe the two of them had an argument which got of hand... she picked up the vase and threw it at her husband's head, which he'd certainly deserve.

He stands in front of Miss Pierce's door and then raises his hand, rapping softly. When she opens it, Damon steps back slightly. She's wearing a lacy silk robe, her curly hair drapes over her shoulders and covers her breasts but her cleavage is front and center. Her eyes travel from his face down his body and then back. "Do you like what you see?" she asks, her voice husky and her smile seductive.

Since Damon doesn't want to get himself into a lot of trouble, he can only smile. "This is for you," he croaks, handing her the envelope.

She winks and thanks him before pushing her door closed. Hearing footsteps, he happens to notice the Captain coming down the hall talking to Mr. Vanderbilt so he ducks into the stair well and hurries up to the promenade deck to see if he can find and attend to the Mikaelson's. He's barely steps onto the deck when he's waylaid by someone latching onto his arm. He's speechless when he sees that it's Sage, Finn's wife.

"Where are you going in such a hurry? I thought maybe you could give me a private tour of this magnificent ship?"

"Um, uh," he stutters, not knowing what to say. Fortunately for Damon, Finn happens to come around the corner. She rolls her eyes at him and then plasters a big smile on her face before hurrying over to link arms with her husband. Blowing out relieved puff of air, he straightens his jacket and then continues towards the group.

"What did I tell you about her?" Kol laughs, winking at Damon.

"You saw that?"

"I did indeed."

Damon feels his face heat up with the way the younger Mikaelson is laughing at him. "What am I supposed to do?"

"If Sage sets her sights on someone, it's nearly impossible to avoid her, especially on a big boat such as this.." He laughs some more. "I'll try to keep watch for you, friend." With that, he walks away, puts his flirt on and approaches a pretty blonde who is standing at the railing. He watches the man for a few minutes and then hurries over to Mikael.

"Mr. Salvatore, I've been expecting you. I need to have some correspondence wired to London."

"Yes, sir."

Without saying anything, the man lifts up a folder that's sitting beside him and gives a couple of sheets to Damon. "I'll be waiting for your return."

Taking them, Damon nods and hurries off to go to the wireless room but not before seeing the Captain glare at him yet again.


When he finally finds five minutes to take a break, he finds Enzo and the two of them go to get a cup of coffee. He mentions the letter that George Lockwood asked him to deliver to Miss Pierce. He laughs at Damon's naivety when he confirms that the two are having a hot and heavy affair. "High society has their own set of rules. Hell, Mrs. Lockwood probably has a lover on the side too, that's just the way it works in that world."

"I disagree. They can't all be like that."

Enzo smiles and takes a sip of his coffee.

Shaking his head, Damon retorts, "You know Enzo, I'm no novice. I've been around a long time, I've learned a few things."

"You've been around awhile?" Enzo laughs. "How many crossings have you made, a half a dozen? You have a lot to learn, Damon."

Rather than say anything, Damon just takes a long pull from his coffee cup. Maybe his friend is right and he is just naïve. He thinks about her. What is it about Mrs. Lockwood that he keeps trying to find excuses for her?


After the evening meal, Damon notices that both Mr. Lockwood and Miss Pierce have disappeared. Mrs. Lockwood is still at the table visiting with one of the older ladies. When she stands up, he jumps up too and meets her at the doorway.

"Would you like an escort back to you cabin, Mrs. Lockwood?"

She peruses him slowly. "I am perfectly capable to taking care of myself. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone."

He has no idea what he did that she is always snapping at him and why it bothers him? He tries to shake it off though. Just as he's about to retire for the evening, the Captain once again asks him about the Mikaelson family. He seems to take a perverse pleasure in badgering Damon about them. This time though he's prepared, he rattles off a report about their VIP's and what he did for them today.

Having nothing to metaphorically dagger Damon with, Captain Turner dismisses him. Rather than go straight to his room, he follows his usual habit of walking onto the promenade deck to get some fresh air before he turns in for the night. He's not really surprised when he sees her there too. He approaches gingerly, stepping beside her next to the rail. He looks out over the water, it's sleek and black as coal except where the moon reflects off of it. It shimmers like crystal.

The sky is once again blanketed with millions of twinkling stars. In an ideal world he would be here as her escort, she would be smiling and admiring the night sky while he would tell her about all those shining points that lead the wanderers across the sea. He doesn't know where this idea came from.

He's not even sure she noticed his presence and turns to face her. Feeling his gaze Elena steps back, her face unreadable. "Are you following me? Why do you keep bothering me?" When Damon doesn't reply immediately, a sneer crosses her face and then she goes to leave. However, a sudden down swing of the ship makes her stumble and her fall is only prevented when Damon rushes to catch her. She hisses in pain where his hands are holding onto her arms. It catches him off guard and as soon as he's sure she has her balance, he lets her go. Without looking back at him, Elena runs away with as much dignity as possible. Damon finds himself unable to look away as his suspicions paint an even worse scenario than what he saw in her cabin earlier today.


Thank you much, Eva. Love you lots.

Thank you all so much. You are all truly the best of the Delena world. This story has turned out to be longer than anticipated. I hope you'll continue to enjoy it.

I am going on a short vacation through the weekend so it'll be next week when I update again.

Please have a look at my other stories: 'Edge of Thorns' and 'Tomorrow'.

Have a safe and wonderful day. We'll see you next time.