Kinda a boring chapter. Just setting things up. Next chapter and beyond will be much more interesting, lol. Thanks for the review U guys have left. Highly appreciated. As always, forgive my editing mistakes.
Chapter Two
Zack slowly opened his eyes, instantly regretting it. He slapped the side of his head then pinched his arm trying to get out of the 'dream', but he opened his eyes again and still saw the wood paneled walls and outdated furniture. He groaned, looking at his wristwatch, which read 9 am. He moved himself into a sitting position to see that London was awaking as well.
"Where are we?" London asked, sitting up. "I was hoping I was drunk last night and just imagining things."
"Yet we're still here," Zack finished, looking to the floor, where he noticed the ticket. He picked it up and inspected it. He saw London's signature on the bottom in calligraphy, which surprised him. The top of the ticket read Titanic, and below that was a date: April 10, 1912.
"This can't be right," Zack said, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "According to this ticket, we're on a ship that set sail nearly a hundred years ago."
"Even I know that's not possible," London noted.
"Well, it's got your name at the bottom." London raised an eyebrow and moved to look over Zack's shoulder at the ticket, which indeed was signed by her.
"That is my signature, but I definitely do not remember signing anything crazy like this," she said, now totally lost.
"Me either," Zack said, looking at the second ticket that was signed by him. "Where have I heard the name Titanic before? Have you?"
London's face lit up in that way when she knew something. "Actually I have. It's pretty famous; or infamous, whichever you choose. Lots of years ago, it was a ship on its first trip to New York, but instead it ended up—" London's face fell, as if suddenly remembering something important. "Oh no. No no no no no…!"
"What's wrong?" asked Zack, worried by London's sudden panic.
London shook her head furiously. "For once, I hope to god that I'm wrong." She indicated the ticket; "If this thing is any clue to where we are at right now, then we're as good as…" she trailed off.
Zack was now extremely confused and worried. "What the hell are you talking about?"
London sighed before starting, "The Titanic, it's… a legend because it… sank. Hit an iceberg. Large loss of life. It never had a chance." She turned to Zack, who looked like he just got hit by an iceberg. He opened and closed his mouth several times looking for words. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, he spoke.
"H—how do you know all that?"
London let a tiny smile rise. "I'm ashamed to admit, but I've been fascinated with ships and shipwrecks since I was a little kid."
"Hmm, I knew you were smarter than you let on," Zack smirked, but it quickly disappeared. "Well, we're still not totally sure if we're really on the Titanic. For all we know, this could just be a sick joke of some kind. Or maybe we're dreaming and this is just a wild imagination of ours," he said, looking for any reason other than what London was indicating.
"It feels real," London quietly said. Zack frowned but nodded.
A knock cut through their thoughts. Not knowing who it could be, London opened the door.
"Oh! Did I wake you? I'm sorry!" the redhead, Rose said.
"No it's okay. Come on in," London said, opening the door further so Rose could enter. She sat down on the couch, looking a little bit nervous.
"Well, about last night… I would like to thank you guys for helping to save my life."
"Our pleasure. We're here to serve and protect," London said.
"What, all of a sudden we're LAPD?" Zack quipped, earning a playful slap on the side from London as they laughed.
Rose watched the exchange and instantly knew she could trust these two with what she was about to reveal. "I also came to tell you the real reason why I was hanging off the back of the ship."
Zack and London's laughter quickly died. They both looked at Rose, who looked even more uncomfortable.
"You can trust us. Whatever you have to say will not leave this room," Zack said, looking to London, who nodded in agreement.
Rose also nodded. "Thank you. Okay. Well… the truth is… I was not trying to see the…um…propellers, but was trying to… take my own life."
London gasped, and Zack's jaw dropped. "Why! To what end?" he managed to blurt out.
"Thankfully, Mr. Dawson was there from the beginning, and he talked me out of it. I actually slipped when I tried to climb back over. But what am I saying? You guys must think I am insane. But I'm tired of being told what to do, where to go, and what to say. I feel like a dog on a leash!. And on top of it all, I am forced into a marriage I never wanted!" Rose's face was now a light shade of red, and beginning to fill with anger.
"I know how you feel," said London truthfully.
"So wait. That penguin from last night is your old man?" questioned Zack.
"Almost," Rose showed them her engagement ring.
Zack's eyes widened. "Damn that thing's huge! Oh, and by the way, no offense, but that guy looks and sounds like a total dickhead."
Rose tried to suppress a laugh, but failed horribly as the room filled with laughter from the trio. "Yea, he's a dickhead," she managed through a fit of giggles. "Oh my, I have to get going. Cal is expecting me to join him for breakfast. Would you two like to join us?" asked Rose, looking at the click on the wall, seeing it was 9:30.
"Sure why not? It's not like we have anything better to do," Zack said, opening the door for Rose. "Just give us a couple seconds to change." Rose nodded her head and exited the suite.
"Should we tell them?" London asked once Rose had left.
"No way," Zack instantly responded.
"Why not? If this really is the Titanic, we could possibly prevent it from—"
"Have you ever seen 'Back to the Future'?" started Zack, cutting off London before she could finish. "When they first went back, they screwed up the timeline and almost wiped themselves off the face of the Earth." London just raised her eyebrows, and Zack sighed. "What I'm saying is that if we somehow stop the ship from sinking, we could mess up our own timeline. Everything and everybody we've ever known could cease to exist. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
London was quiet for a beat. "So what do we do now? Just sit around and wait, knowing half the people here are going to die! I won't do that!"
"Look!" Zack half shouted, his agitation rising. "I know how you feel, but we're still not even sure if we're actually on the Titanic. For now, we'll just play along, okay? And we'll keep our eyes out for anything information that can help us. It's all we can really do right now."
London sighed, not happy, but she understood. "I guess you're right. I'll go and change."
Zack nodded and watched her enter the bedroom. About a minute later, he heard her scream. He rushed to the bedroom and threw open the door. "What's wrong? Oh my—" Zack quickly covered his eyes with his hands, as he had burst in on a half naked London.
"There is no way in hell I am wearing a corset! These things are so out of style!" London said, sounding disgusted. "Although, they do make my boobs bigger…"
"Oh god… I'll be leaving now," Zack mumbled in embarrassment, but he quickly sneaked a peek before shutting the door. He just shook his head and headed to the bathroom to tame his wild hair. He took off his bowtie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. Just as he finished and left the bathroom, London appeared from the bedroom wearing a casual (at least for the time period) dark green dress with an outrageously large sun hat.
"Nice hat," Zack quipped.
"Thanks. Did you enjoy your free show?" London shot back, trying to break the tension from earlier. She grinned as Zack stumbled for words and cleared his throat several times. "Come on, let's go. I'm hungry."
The two exited their suite the same time as Rose and Hockley, as well as an older redhead woman. Rose spotted them and introductions were exchanged. Zack and London trailed behind Rose's party so they could admire the surroundings. The sun shined through the glass dome above the staircase and brightened the room. They took the staircase down to the next deck and into a restaurant labeled the 'Palm Court'. They joined a table where a broad-shouldered woman and two men sat, and more pleasantries were exchanged.
"The Titanic," Ismay, the owner of the ship began, "She's the largest moving object made by the hand of man in all of history. Our master shipbuilder, Thomas Andrews…" he indicated the handsome Irish man to his right, "…he designed her from the bottom up."
Andrews smiled, not much for attention, "Well, I may have built here, but it was Mr. Ismay who envisioned a liner that was far superior to anything else in existence. And here she is," he slapped his hand on the table, "Reality."
"So hey," London began, "Why are ships always being called 'she'? Is it cause men think that lots of women have big 'sterns' and should be weighed in tons?"
The table shared a laugh.
"Just another example of men settin' the rules their way," Molly, the broad-shouldered woman added.
A waiter arrived and began taking orders. Rose lit up a cigarette, much to the disgust of her mother. Zack couldn't help but snigger, knowing that she probably did it just to piss off her mother and Hockley. And then Hockley ordered for himself and Rose, not even letting her get a word in.
Molly noticed this as well. "So, you gonna cut her meat for her to there, Cal?" She then turned towards Ismay. "Anyway, who thought of the name Titanic anyhow? Was it you?"
"Yes, actually. I wanted to convey its size. And size means stability, speed, strength, and above all, luxury."
Rose turned towards Ismay. "Have you heard of Dr. Freud, Mr. Ismay? His ideas about men's preoccupation with size might be of interest to you." Rose then excused herself and walked out to the promenade deck.
Andrews almost choked on a breadstick trying to contain laughter, and Zack folded his arms on the table and buried his head to suppress his laughter. After a few seconds, he sat back up and tried to recover. Seeing London's confusion, he whispered into her ear.
"Freud, uh, around this time, he was really big into studying the size and stamina of men's, uhh…" he motioned down towards his crotch, "…junk." London's eyes went wide and her mouth formed an 'o', and Zack nearly fell off his chair laughing.
Rose's mother, Ruth, was obviously mortified. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what's come over her lately."
"She's a piston Cal. Hope you can handle her," Molly noted, laughing openly.
Hockley was obviously tense, but he tried to hide it. "Well, I might have to start minding what she reads from now on." He rose from the table to follow Rose, but Zack stopped him.
"Relax man. She's probably still shaken up about last night. Let her be."
Hockley paused for a second and then seemed to accept this. "I suppose you're right. I can retrieve her later. May I escort you back to your room Ruth?" Ruth agreed, obviously still embarrassed and wanting to get away. Once they were out of sight, Rose's head popped out from the outside deck, mouthing a 'Thank You'. London and Zack gave her a thumbs up, and Rose went on her way.
"So Freud… who is he? A passenger?" Ismay questioned, causing Zack to shake his head at the fool.
But his mood was quickly killed when he began to realize the possibility that himself and London were actually on the Titanic.
