Chapter Four
The next day, Jack was fine and completely recovered from his seasickness. He was up far before Victoria, so he made coffee for himself and Victoria.
Victoria came to the room, however, she heard Ann saying, "I'm sure you've heard this before, Mr. Driscoll, if you don't mind me saying, but you don't look at all like your photograph."
What? Jack and his photograph are identical. Who is she talking about?
Awkward silence.
"Excuse me," Mike said quietly. Mike?! He doesn't look like Jack at all!
"Wait a minute, Ann," Carl said, trying to correct her.
Victoria hurried into the room just in time to hear Ann whisper, "So much younger in person and much better looking." Poor Jack.
"Ann, stop. Stop right there," Carl whispered. Victoria winced. Jack was walking over to her.
"See, I-I was just afraid that you might be one of those self-obsessed li-ter-ar-y types," Ann continued, embarrassing herself further. You just can't stop, can you?
"I'm sorry. I'm not," Mike tried to correct her.
Ann interrupted by saying, "You know the tweedy twerp with his nose in his book and his head up his-" Jack snapped his book shut. Victoria hid her eyes with her hand.
Ann turned to look at Jack. Her eyes went wide in horror as she realized her mistake.
"It's nice to meet you, too, Miss Darrow," Jack said, trying to remain civil after the insults she had just hurled.
Victoria decided to take matters into her own hands to distract the pair from this awkward event. She slipped through the door and stole Jack's coffee from his hand, downing what was left of it. Jack looked at her in annoyance and asked, "You couldn't have just taken your own?"
"Of course not," Victoria said with a grin. She turned to take her own coffee and made for the door. "Besides, you never drink the bottom, anyway," she threw over her shoulder.
"I think I could use a little extra right now," Jack muttered, following her out.
oooooooooooooooo
"Mr. Hayes, do you know Miss Magnus?" the captain asked, leaning against the helm.
"Yes, sir. We've talked a few times. She's very generous and dedicated," Mr. Hayes answered, turning from his view of the port side to look at the captain.
Englehorn nodded speculatively, staring down at the wood of the wheel before him.
A bit later, Hayes asked, "Why do you want to know about her, Captain?"
The captain was silent for a few seconds as he figured out how to answer that rather delicate question. Finally, he said, "She seems different from other women."
"She is, Captain. You'll never find a better friend than her," he said.
A friend…Like her and Driscoll? Or are they more?
ooooooooooooooooooo
Hours later, Victoria sat up on deck; her feet dangled over the edge of the ship, swinging back and forth in the wind. She held an ornate, golden pocketwatch in her hand, running her fingers over it gently.
"Who gave that to you?" a voice asked from behind her. German accent. Captain Englehorn.
She quickly twisted her upper body to look at the captain. "My father," she said simply, pulling her feet out from the hole in the railing. She stood while holding the pocketwatch in one hand.
"How many generations old is it?" he asked, continuing the conversation.
"Four," she said, adjusting her grip on the watch
Englehorn's eyebrows rose in surprise. "That is quite impressive."
She nodded.
Quite abruptly, Jack called from above, "Tori, we need you for filming!"
"I'm coming!" she called loudly. She looked down to Englehorn and said, "Es tut mir leid, Kapitän. Ich muss gehen." (I'm sorry, Captain. I need to go.)
"Tschuss," (Bye) he said softly, watching as she walked away and stuffed the pocketwatch into her pocket.
oooooooooooooooo
Victoria ran up to the filming. Jack motioned her to the side and whispered, "Carl wants a scene with a violinist as a part of the crew."
"And I'm the only one on the ship. I get it," she whispered back ruefully.
"I tried to tell him that you wouldn't want to be on screen, but he wouldn't listen," Jack whispered, assuring her of his regret.
"It's fine. I'll just need a long bandage and a different hat," she whispered, quickly thinking of how she would look like a man.
"Why the bandage?" Jack asked cluelessly.
She looked at him like he was an idiot and said, "I have breasts, Jack. How else do you expect me to hide them?"
Jack just blushed and said, "Oh."
"Okay, let's go watch the scene," she said, taking his hand and pulling him to a spot where they could watch.
As the two of them watched the scene, two completely different things were going on in each other's heads. Jack merely stared at Ann and admired her from afar. Victoria's thoughts were more detailed and observant.
He's overdoing the accent. She's so enthused it's cheesy. He needs a tad more emotion. They changed the dialogue! Carl isn't looking at them…Jimmy? Mr. Hayes isn't watching the scene, but he's looking up here. What is he looking at? They made eye contact. One of her eyebrows rose. His head jerked back. That translated to 'come here'. Jack won't notice. He likes seeing his work in play.
Victoria slipped away from Jack. She walked quickly through one of the hallways of the ship and down a staircase. She came out onto the lower deck where Mr. Hayes was waiting for her.
"Yes, Mr. Hayes?" she asked pointedly.
"Do you know where Mr. Denham means to shoot his picture?" he asked.
"Singapore, supposedly," she said with an openly honest face.
"Yeah, well, Jimmy just heard otherwise. Mr. Denham said they'd film on a 'Skull Island'," Mr. Hayes said.
"That sounds quite ominous. Why are you telling me this?" Victoria asked.
"You deserve to know," he answered simply.
He began to leave, but she stopped him by saying simply, "Thank you, Mr. Hayes."
He turned back to look at her and said in return, "You're welcome, Miss Magnus."
"Victoria," she corrected, reminding him to call her by her first name.
"Victoria," he said in his accent.
She nodded and smiled before turning