It was around mid-day when I sat down to lunch with The Dewitt Bukators, Mr. Ismay, Mr. Andrews and Molly Brown. I was across the table from Rose, who looked like she was in a completely different world. I sighed; Rose had been like this ever since her mother had started planning the wedding. I knew Rose didn't love Cal and that she didn't want this marriage at all but... still. I looked down at my lap, smoothing out wrinkles in my dress. I fingered one of the pink flower patterns, out of the many that covered the white fabric. Uncomfortably, I adjusted the belt around my small waist, while trying to pay attention to the conversation that was going on.

Mr. Ismay had been going on about Titanic for what seemed like forever. "She is the largest moving object made by the hand of man in all history." He then motioned to Mr. Andrews who was on my left. "And our master shipbuilder, Mr. Andrews here, designed her from the keel plates up."

I turned to Mr. Andrews, who now had a kind smile on his face. "I may have knocked her together, but the idea was Mr. Ismay's. He envisioned a steamer so grand in scale and so luxurious in its appointments that its supremacy would never be challenged. And here she is," He affectionately thumped our table. "willed into solid reality." I grinned at Mr. Andrews. A sweet and charming man, he was.

As Cal let out a, "Here, here," I looked over at Rose who was, strangely, lighting a cigarette. She put it in her mouth, inhaled, and then let out a puff of smoke. I was surprised, I mean, she smoked, of course. So do I, we lived in Europe for god's sake but Rose wasn't one to smoke in public. Smoking was more of a thing she and I did alone, when no one was watching.

Ruth leaned over to Rose and whispered. "You know I don't like that, Rose."

She turned her head towards her mother, but instead of doing as she was told and putting the cigarette out, she blew a cloud of smoke into her mother's face. Cal sighed, reached over and snubbed out the cigarette.

"She knows." the waiter suddenly came up and Cal placed the order. " Mm, we'll both have the lamb, with very little mint sauce." He turned to Rose. "You like lamb, don't you, sweet pea?"

Rose looked at him and put on a tight smile that was supposed to fool everyone... not me.

There was a pause when suddenly Molly spoke up. "You gonna cut her meat for her, there, too Cal?" She laughed, then asked. "Hey, who came up with the name Titanic... was it you, Bruce?"

Mr. Ismay beamed. " Yes, actually. I wanted to convey sheer size. And size means stability, luxury and above all, strength." I picked up my glass, taking a few sips.

For the first time in the past hour, Rose spoke up. "Do you know of Dr. Freud, Mr. Ismay? His ideas about the male occupation with size might be of particular interest to you." When I heard this, water went down the wrong way and I began to silently attempt to stop myself from laughing, choking myself in the process. Mr. Andrews was chuckling quietly as he began to pat my back, trying to stop my coughing.

This was not funny, however, to Ruth. "What's gotten into you?"

Rose didn't answer and stood. "Excuse me." and she began to walk away.

Ruth smiled at everyone. "I do apologize."

Molly got one look at Cal's face and warned. "She's a pistol, Cal. Hope you can handle her."

Cal put on a disgustingly fake smile. "Well, I might have to start minding what she reads from now on, won't I, Mrs. Brown."

"Freud. Who is he? A passenger?" Mr. Ismay asked.

I had finally stopped coughing and I stood. "If you'll excuse me, I think I should go after her. We wouldn't want her getting lost. Mr. Ismay, Molly, Mr. Andrews, Mrs. Dewitt Bukator, Cal thank you for lunch." Picking up my white hat, I began in the direction Rose headed. After a few minutes of wandering about on deck I found her, leaning against the railing, looking out to sea.

Silently, I walked up behind her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Without even the slightest hesitation she put her hand over mine and sighed, "I'm sorry, Annie."

"You don't have to be sorry, Rose." I moved closer to the railing, putting my elbows on the polished wood. "I actually thought it was funny."

There was no response. She looked down at the lower decks, looked back to the ocean, then for just a moment she looked back to the deck. I turned her towards me, whispering. "You know you can talk to me, right? If anything's bothering you, I'll be here." We looked into each other's eyes. Her's searching mine with the desperation of a person who was truly trapped. She was about to respond when Cal came up behind her, grabbing her arm roughly.

"What is the matter with you, Rose?" Cal asked, his eyes blazing.

"Do you mind?" Rose asked, the kind understanding gone from her. She pulled away her arm but he grabbed her again.

"You embarrassed both your Mother and me with that little stunt of yours. I won't have it, Rose." He hissed. Rose pulled away again and began to walk away. Cal ran a hand through his hair, then his eyes of ice turned to me. "I hope you're proud." And he walked away.

I let out a stress-filled breath and put my head in my hands as they sat on the railing. God, I just want to escape from this life so badly. I don't fit in, never have. All my life I've felt like I was contained in a claustrophobic box. That I couldn't ever truly show myself. I ripped my hat off, pulling out the pins that held my elbow length hair up, letting the ocean wind whip it around. Looking out to the Atlantic, I couldn't help but smile at the beauty of it all; the deep blues and greens and then the brilliant gold of the sun reflecting off the water.

My eyes then moved down to the deck below mine and the first thing that caught my eye was a man. He had brownish-red hair, a handsome face, and from what I could tell, kind, green eyes.

He was with two other men, one dark skinned and the other a golden blonde. He took off his tattered bowler hat and squinted up at me. I could just barely make out something that the blond man was saying, "Not very good...own advice...gawking at her." I was about to turn and head back inside but before I could even look away from his eyes, a strong gust of wind blew my hat off the railing and down towards the group.

"Shit!" I gasped, running towards the gate leading down to the lower deck... to the other world…the world of the unknown.

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Tommy's POV

"Do you make any money with your drawings?" I asked my new companion. He didn't answer, just kept staring past my shoulder. Confused I turned around to see what he was looking at and then I saw... her.

Well, there were two girls, and I'm pretty sure Jack was looking at the red head. She was pretty enough, sure, but the one of the two that caught my eye was the blonde. She truly was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. Her pale skin was glowing in the golden light of the sun, her blue eyes filled with understanding (toward her friend, I was guessing. There was no way they were sisters.), and an overall loveliness about her. But what hopes would I have for ever getting even few feet from her ever again... she was clearly first class and I was third class steerage.

I turned to Jack. "Ohh, forget it, boyo. You'd as like have angels fly out of your arse as get next to the likes of her." Assuring myself more than Jack.

After a few more seconds of staring up at the railing, Jack sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." But no matter how hard I tried, I had to turn around again; to look up at her. She was alone this time, her head in her hands, taking deep breaths, as if she were distressed. When she finally did look up, she smiled out at the Atlantic, took her hat off her head, taking out 8 or so pins and letting her golden hair cascade down her back and shoulders, ending around her elbows.

Then unexpectedly she turned her gaze down to our group. Well, me in particular. Instead of her smile disappearing, though, it broadened. I had to take off my hat and put it in front of my eyes, shielding them from the sun, just to make sure it wasn't an illusion. She was smiling at me? Me? I was third class... I was scum under her boot. I was nothing compared to her. But the smile remained there on her lovely face.

"You aren't very good at taking your own advice, Tommy. Look at you, you're gawking at her." Jack said. But I ignored him. But the smile faltered as a big gust of wind sent both her hair and her hat flying. I distinctly heard her say the word, "Shit!" - which caused my eyes to widen. A first class woman with a sailor's mouth was out of the ordinary - and began running down the steps leading to our deck.

Looking up I saw the hat doing a number of twists and circles in the air before the wind died down, leaving the white thing at my feet. Leaning over, I picked it up and was greeted by the vision of the girl. Once she reached me she was slightly winded – corset, I'm guessing – but she gave me a slight smile as she said. "Thank you, you just saved me quite a bit of grief."

"Not a problem, lass." I replied, smirking at her.

For a moment we were silent until she gave me a strange look and asked. "Can I have it back, then?"

I started to feel my neck get hot with embarrassment but quickly covered it by saying. "I think I'll have yer name first." She raised an elegant eyebrow. "I'd like to know who I'm returnin' this hat to."

Rolling her blue eyes she said. "Annie- I-I mean, Annalisa. Annalisa Callaghan."

My smile broadened. "I think I'll just stick with Annie."

"Fine – Annie." She held out her hand. "Can I have my hat back now, please?"

"Well, don't ya wanna know who yer gettin' your hat back from? Knight in shinin' armor and all that." Tommy heard Jack and Fabrizio snicker from the side, but ignored them.

"No, I just want it—,"

"Tommy Ryan is the name," he grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles, leaving a look of surprise on her face. "Pleasure to meet ya."

A light blush painted her cheeks that made Tommy smile. She cleared her throat and started, "Can I-?"

"Have yer hat back? Yes." He handed her the hat and she took it.

She stood there, looking rather confused for a moment and then slowly turned and started to walk away.

"G'bye, Annie!" He called out over the wind.

She stopped abruptly at the stairs and then turned, saying, "Goodbye, Tommy."

Kay, heh, you guys probably wanna kill me or something. I know that it took forever to even get a second chapter up, but I swear I had good reasons. I so incredibly busy with school and homework and things that I just couldn't stick to my writing. I'll try my very best to be more reliable. It is winter break here after all. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the meeting of Mr. Ryan and Ms. Callaghan