Chapter 4 – Visitor

Disclaimer:

You know them…

A/N:

Alright, everyone who is reading this, please send me a review. I know many of you are already doing this, but I'd like to know the "exact number of readers"… ;-)


Joshua had long ago went to his friend's, carrying a small bag with him. Cal smiled as he remembered how his son had refused to have his luggage brought to his friend by one of the maids. It was nice to see that the boy didn't mind to do certain things without help.

Cal only wished that his father had allowed him to behave that way when he was young. Long years ago, when Cal had been about five or six years old, his father had gotten totally furious because he had seen his son tidying up his room. Later that day, there had been a quite… unpleasant talk. His father had made his opinion very clear, in the end, Cal had known that he shouldn't dare to do maid's work again. From that day on, Cal had done exactly what his father had told him, everything other people did on their own had been done by his servants. Over the years, Cal's behaviour towards maids had also changed. Until the Titanic's sinking, he had always treated them… well, terribly bad.

Cal sighed deeply. He was glad that he was know able to do many things without his maids' help. Now, his father was no longer in the position to change anything about that. To be honest, Cal hadn't met with any of his relatives for years.

Suddenly, he remembered the promise he gave himself after having read Rose's letter. Deciding that he would forget it if he didn't do it immediately – after all, no one could foresee what would happen – he sat down at his desk.

He opened a drawer and took out a folder and a pen. He opened the folder and browsed through the different kinds of notepaper in it. Finally, he found one he liked. It was, like the rest in the folder, a very expensive notepaper. The background was slightly red, something which reminded him of the Rose he remembered. After all, fire was red…

Thinking for an instant, Cal smiled. Then he took the pen and began to write. While searching through his desk for new ink, he suddenly got an idea.

'What if I… No, she wouldn't appreciate that,' he mused. 'But… at least I can ask her, I'll just tell her I won't be offended if she refuses. It's all her choice.'

Motivated by this idea, he quickly finished the letter, checking once if his writing was readable.

Content with himself, he put the notepaper into an envelope, closed it and rose to his feet. Deciding nothing was stopping him from taking the letter downstairs to have it sent to Rose immediately, he exited his office.

His 'assistant', as Cal liked to call the man, gave him a puzzled look when he saw the letter which obviously wasn't something about business, but the tall, blonde man didn't say anything.

"Take care that this is delivered soon, Mr. Fields. It's urgent," Cal ordered while laying the letter down on the table next to them.

"Sure, Sir. A telegram arrived for you, the boy who delivered it is waiting in the hall. He asked if you want to answer, then he will take that answer with him. I was just on my way to tell you about it when you appeared here, Sir. Here's the telegram."

Cal read the tiny piece of paper briefly before he turned his attention back to Richard Fields.

"Do you have a piece of paper? I don't want to go upstairs if I don't have to."

"Of course, Sir," Fields answered and took out a notepad, giving a piece of paper to Cal.

"Thank you."

Quickly, Cal scribbled down a few words, folded the paper and handed it to Fields who hurried down the hall to have the boy deliver it.

On his way back to his office, he told one of the maids to set the dinner table for two although Joshua wasn't at home. Fortunately, the telegram had been sent by one of his friend who wanted to join Cal for dinner. Clark Chester lived not so far away from Cal's mansion, so they often met for dinner or lunch.

Cal was indeed glad that he wouldn't be alone. Although he would never admit it, he already missed his son's constant interruptions whenever he was doing something else. He was also bothered about the fact that this was Joshua's first time alone away from home.

Smiling gently, Cal went back to his desk and sat down there. Unfortunately, there were business letters to be written and a lot of other stuff waiting for him.

About two or three hours later, the doorbell rang. Before Cal got the chance to do anything more than jump up and exit his office, Martha, the maid, had already rushed to the door and opened it.

"Good evening, Mr. Chester," she greeted the man outside. "Mr. Hockley should be here soon. Please come in."

"Evening, Martha," the admittedly small and somehow unattractive man replied. When he stepped into the light of the hall and took off his hat, Martha could see his brown hair which already showed some grey parts. Despite his not so nice appearance, his eyes caught the maid's attention. Their colour was something between a deep blue and a light black. Around that dark colour, there were several green spots which made his eyes so beautiful.

Martha was so lost in looking at Chester that she didn't notice how he held out his coat and hat for her to take.

"Miss?" he asked friendly. "Could you please take my coat and hat?"

"Oh… of course, I'm sorry, Sir," Martha said with a barely audible voice.

"Good evening, Clark," Cal called from a few feet away.

"Good evening, Cal. How are you doing now that your son's away?"

"You already heard of it?" Cal asked confused while he led the visitor down the hall and into the dining-room.

"Yes, I did. I talked to Samuel's father today. Originally, it was something considering business, but then he told me about your Joshua sleeping at his house today."

"That explains everything… Are you hungry?"

"Sure, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast."

"Dinner will be ready within the next few minutes. You arrived sooner than I expected."

"Probably because I was hungry," Clark joked.

Just as he finished that sentence, a maid appeared, carrying a plate for both of them – the appetizer…


To be continued

Sorry that this was so short.