Hey guys. I know that it's been a while since I updated this story. But, I had like, no inspiration and I had a lot of stuff to do with school. But, here's the newest chapter, and I hope you all like it :)
Chapter 7
While Trudy was away, I saw how Rose got me ready. She was so elegant with how she applied her makeup, and how she did her hair. She did both so quickly, it was amazing.
Then, we heard a knock at the door. Rose started to get up, but, I told her to sit down and wait until Trudy helped her with her corset.
I walked over to the front door, very excited. Even though I didn't have my mother's necklace, or any shoes on yet, I was very excited for the person at the door to see me all dressed up like this.
I opened the door with a smile, but soon regretted answering the door, for the fact that it was the gentleman that was trying to put my brother in jail.
"Hello..."
"Where's Rose? Never mind, I'll just come in." He told me. But, I wouldn't let him through.
"May I ask who you are before I let you in?"
"Well, may I ask who the hell you are and why you're in my fiancé's room?"
"Alyson...Alyson Dawson. Now, Rose didn't tell me that she had a fiancé. Would you please tell me your name, sir, so I can ask her of she wants to see you?" I asked him polietly. Even though I was disgusted that Rose would soon be marrying this... horrid man!
"My god, you don't give up do you? Does Caldon Hockley ring a bell in your brain?" He asked me.
I pretended to think for a moment. Unfortunately, I had already heard of him. I had actually him once. His father, Nathan Hockley, was a very big investor at the bank my father worked.
It was at one of those stupid parties that my father had to go to. It was a Christmas party at the Hockley's mansion. It was their "small house", because they usually lived in Philadelphia. The mansion was huge!
I had already known who Nathan was, I met him on one of the numerous days that I had dropped off father's lunch for him on the days that he wasn't coming home to eat. Cal was a charming man at the time. He was cute, and Jack was worried about me thinking that. Caldon had seemed to be flirting with me, until he heard that father worked at the bank that his father went to, and that my mother was an artist.
Just hearing the mere fact that they both worked was obsered to him. He turned from a sweet, caring person to a very cold hearted man that only cared about class and money.
Jack had overheard everything. I was only 11 and Cal had been in his 20's, it was the first time that anyone had thought that I was cute, if it was only for a moment.
Later that night, after we had gotten home, I was lying in bed, and Jack came in to comfort me. I felt that it was my fault for him not liking me. That it was my fault that we were middle class. But, Jack told me that Caldon was a hateful bastard who only cared about his father's money and his status. I cried and after a while, fell asleep. And Jack stayed there for the whole night. When I had awoken the next morning, Jack was still there.
"Nope, doesn't ring a bell. Oh, Trudy! You've got my box! Come in." I let Trudy in. "Sorry, got to go!" I said as I shut the door in Cal's very shocked face.
Trudy stared at me in shock. "What? I don't fall for his crap." I said to her. She just laughed and we went to the dressing room.
"Aly, who was at the door?"
"Caldon Hockley." I shivered.
"Oh dear..."
"What?"
"You didn't let Cal in." Rose said worried.
"Eh, he'll be fine. I never liked that man. Always so rude."
"You know Cal?" Rose asked me.
"We met once, when I was 11. He seemed so interested in me. And then he found out my family was middle class..."
"Then he dumped you on your ass?" She asked me.
"Yes, but Jack caught me before I landed." I said as Trudy handed the box to me. "Thank you Miss Trudy.
I walked over to a chair, and sat down. Rose and Trudy brought chairs over to see what was contained in the box. I smiled as I ran my fingers over the carved wood. This was the one girly thing i owned, well, until I got my dress from Rose. Jack was the best brother ever. He didn't send me to an orphanage after our parents died, but he took me on his adventures with him. And I was grateful for it.
I finally opened the box and started sifting through it for my necklace. I started handing stuff to Rose and Trudy until I found my necklace. I carefully took it out of the box and put it around my neck.
"My goodness, Aly, that's gorgeous." Rose looked at my neck.
"Thank you. It was my mothers." I said with a sad smile on my face.
Rose and Trudy handed me back the drawings and other priceless items that I handed to them.
"Do you want to see the drawings?" I asked the both of them. Rose shook her head yes. I carefully opened the drawings individually, so nothing would happen to them.
I had used a version of this hairspray that I had seen hair places use to keep them from smudging, which was good because fingerprints couldn't ruin it with the oils. It made me happy because I didn't have to worry about what would happen if I ran my fingers over the charcoal lines on the paper.
The first picture I opened was of Jack and I. Our mother had drawn this while Jack and I were sleeping on the couch. It was about a week after that stupid Christmas party, Jack and I had been playing in the snow all day. When our parents had finally made us come in, we were exhausted. Both of us had changed into our pajamas and sat down on the couch, mother was making us some hot chocolate. But, we had fallen asleep before she was done. And when she came out, she drew us that way, before she had father take us to our rooms.
Rose couldn't put that one down. "Aly, this is amazing. Who drew it?" She asked me.
"My mother. She was quite the artist. She taught Jack and I everything she knew."
We were both quiet after that point. I kept opening the pictures for Rose to look at. Most of them were of me. But, the others were of random things. They were mostly ones that Jack didn't care about and left around wherever we were living at the time. The newest one I had was of little Cora and her father. Jack said that father and I used to do that on a bridge over Lake Wissota, which is why he gave it to me, so he claimed.
Rose kept looking at all of those in awe. So was Trudy. "Miss, your brother has talent. Tell him that for me." Miss Trudy said.
"Of course, Trudy."
Rose was quiet, and she kept looking at that first picture, the one my mother had drawn. I was assuming that she wasn't admiring the greatness of the work, but staring at my brother sleeping.
"Rose, you should have Jack draw you." I reached and touched her face. "Your bones have such great architecture." I told her. She smiled at me.
Then Rose looked at the clock and told Trudy that she needed help with her corset and getting her dress on. Then, we both got some shoes on and left Trudy in the room.
We walked slowly towards the great hall. We talked about both of our lives. But, mainly Roses life. How she grew up, where she's traveled, where she's lived, and if she loved Cal or not. When I mentioned him being at the door, I noticed that she seemed scared of him. Actually, she seemed sort of terrified of him.
"Rose, do you love Cal?" She got that scared look on her face.
"What do you mean, 'Do I love Cal'?" She asked very nervous.
"I mean, do you love him?"
"Of...of course I do. I mean, he is my fiancé." She told me, not convincingly.
"Are you sure about that?" I gave her a look.
"No..." Rose said very quietly.
"Rose, why are you so scared of him?"
"I'm not scared. What are you talking about?"
"Rose, I know what being scare looks like. What does he do to you to make you this frightened?" I asked her.
She looked at me and stopped. I turned to her and asked again. "What does he do to you? Why are you so afraid of him?"
"He...he...and...only Trudy knows about it."
"What does Trudy onlu know about?" I asked very confused.
"He...gets very...angry...and...and..." She started to shed a few tears.
"Rose, does he hit you?" I whispered. Rose just shook her head. I grabbed her in my arms and hugged her. "Rose...shhh...don't worry. While I'm around, he will never do it to you again. I promise you that. Do you understand that Rose? Never again."
I felt her shake her head. We pulled out of the hug and she grabbed a handkerchief out of her purse and started wiping under her eyes. Good thing nothing had ran down her face.
"Micheal asked me if you guys could come with Jack and I when the ship docked." I told her after we started walking again.
"He did?"
"Yeah. I said yes. Because I like you two, and I'm pretty sure that Jack will NOT mind."
"What do you mean by that?" She asked me.
"You don't see it? Well, I'm sure he doesn't see it yet either." I chuckled.
Rose led me to a set of double doors. Someone opened them for us and we walked in.
"Sweetpea, there you are." I heard a familiar voice in front of us. Of course, it was Cal. He was with Ruth. "Oh, and your little friend. Alice, was it?" He said forgetting my name.
I gave him a fake smile. "Alyson, actually." I turned to Rose. "I'm going to see if Jack is here." I mouthed to her and turned back around.
"Excuse me, I need the little girls room" I told them. I heard Rose chuckle as I went down the first part of the stairs. Then, I saw a beautiful clock. Two archangels of wood over the clock. I smiled and went down the next flight when I saw Jack.
He was turned around, probably trying to figure you what to say to her. I smiled as I walked down the stairs like a proper lady. Then, I sneaked up behind him and tapped his shoulder.
Jack spun around and was in shock. "Aly...wow...you don't look like a boy." He said with a grin on his face.
"Oh shut up!" I shoved him.
We stood there for a few seconds, silent.
"You look like Mom.. Especially with her necklace."
"Thanks Jack." I said as I hugged him. While we were hugging, I heard Cal's angry voice some down the stairs. "See you at dinner." I gave Jack a kiss on the cheek. Then, went to find Micheal.
"Jack! Come on, nothing's going to happen to your drawings!" I told Jack, again. But, he wasn't listening to me. "Jack? Earth to Jack." I waved my hand in front of his face.
"Sorry...what were you saying?"
"Stop worrying about your drawings. Molly will take care of them." I told him again.
"I know. I'm not worried about that. I'm just thinking."
"About?" We were just coming up to the double doors that led us to the grand staircase.
"Uh...n-nothing." Jack stuttered to me.
"Rose, eh?" I smiled.
"Ah, um, no. Why would you think I would be?"
"Are you kidding me? It's so obvious that you two like eachother." Jack stopped in place. Good thing we were down the stairs and out of the walkway. "What?"
"N-nothing. Wait, you think she-she likes me?"
"Aly says you two do."
Jack leaned against the beam behind us. "Really?" He asked me.
"Yeah, Aly's right." I told him. Jack got a smile on his face. "Jeeze, lover boy, you're gonna make me sick." I laughed at him.
Jack got a big smile on his face. "What? You got a problem against it?" He laughed at me.
I thought about it for a moment. "No, I don't. It seems like Rose really likes you. And if Rose likes you, I like you." I told him.
Jack had a smile on his face. "You think Rose really likes me?"
"Dude, did you not just hear what I said? Aly and I think so." I told Jack again. I looked around and spotted Mr. Guggenheim, we were in the middle of a conversation last we spoke. "Hey Jack? I'm going to speak to Mr. Guggenheim over there for a moment. Would you like to come, or do you want to wait here for the girls?" I asked him.
"I'll wait here."
"Alright, I'll see you at dinner."
"See ya." He said to me. I walked away from him.
I walked over to Mr. Guggenheim.
"Hello, Micheal!"
"Hello, Mr. Guggenheim. How are you this evening?"
"Pretty swell. How about you?"
"Spectacular, actually. So, about that conversation we left off in the middle of..." I said with a grin on my face.
We started on our conversation about machinery again. It was a lot of fun talking to another man about things. Not that I didn't love talking to Rose, it's just nice for a change. We were in the middle of talking about the few different engines that the new automobiles had when I heard my name being called.
I turned around and saw Aly coming towards me. But, wait...It didn't look like Aly, but it did sound like her.
She finally came to me and stopped. "Hello, Micheal."
"Aly? Is that you?"
"Yes, it's me! Who else would be calling your name, other than Rose?"
I gave her a smile. I brought her closer to me. "Mr. Guggenheim, this is Alyson Dawson, Jack's sister."
"He's the one who saved young Rose, right?" He asked me. I nodded my head. "I am pleasured to meet you, Miss Dawson." He said as he tipped his hat to her.
She smiled and curtsied. "No, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Guggenheim."
"So, how come I have not met you until tonight, Miss Dawson? I'm sure I would have seen you."
"Well, Mr. Guggenheim, that is because, Jack and I are steerage." I was surprised to hear her say.
It looked as if Mr. Guggenheim was shocked too. "I never would have known." He said, very interested.
All of a sudden, the dinner bell rang.
"Oh, Aly, let's go find Jack and Rose."
"Alright. It was nice to meet you Mr. Guggenheim." She said and we left.
"Why was he acting like such a creeper?" Aly asked when we were out of earshot from him.
"I don't know, I really don't know."
"Micheal asked me if you guys could come with Jack and I after the ship docked." Aly told me after my little mental breakdown. I blinked a few times and was surprised that Micheal would do something so...so brave.
"He did?" I asked her.
"Yeah. I said yes. Because I like you two, and I'm sure that Jack will NOT mind." She told me, almost giggling, as her voice told me.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked her.
"You don't see it? Wwll, I'm sure that he doesn't see it yet either." She chuckled.
I had a worried look on my face as I led her to a set of double doors. One of the men opened it for us and we walked in. I looked around the room in awe. It still amazed me that a ship could be like one of the hotels, like back in France or England.
"Sweetpea, there you are." I heard from in front of us. My smile started fading, but I quickly replaced it with a fake smile.
Cal had a huge grin on his face while my mother was holding his arm. "Oh, and your little friend." He said. "Alice, was it?" He 'forgot'.
I say Aly give him a fake smile. "Alyson, actually." She said to him. Then, she turned to me and mouthed 'I'm going to see if Jack is here.' I nodded and she turned back around.
"Excuse me, I need the little girls room." I chuckled as she quickly escaped.
"Rose, I don't want you to speak to either of them after tonight. Is that clear?" Mother asked after Aly had gone out of view.
"Yes, Rose. They are bad people. Just imagine all the filth they probably come from." Cal said in disgust.
"Mother, why does it matter if I see them again or not? And Cal, they were doing pretty well until their parents died a few years ago!" I didn't want to tell Cal or Mother that they had been murdered, because I knew that they would use it against them at dinner tonight.
Cal and Mother both gave me very disappointed looks as they heard me talk to them in the tone I used. Cal excused himself from my mother to take me to a different part of the ship.
"Rose, did you not hear me? I told you to stay away from them. You are MY fiance, not anyone else's. MINE." He said as a scary look came to his face.
"Cal, I am not your property, you cannot just push me around as you want. And you cannot tell me what I can and cannot do. You don't have the slightest clue about me or who I am." I told him.
I turned around on my heel and started to walk back from where he was, when he grabbed my arm. He had a vice grip on my arm as he spun me around to face him.
"How dare you walk away from me like that! And you will do as I saw or...you don't ever want to know." He said as he tightened his grip.
"Ow! Cal, stop it. You're hurting me." I almost started crying at him.
He just looked at me and walked back to my mother by the stairs.
I looked down at my arm and saw a bruise starting to form under my glove. I somehow kept myself from crying from the pain.
When I calmed down, I saw Cal and my mother waiting for me by the stairs.
I walked towards them and they quickly started walking down the stairs. I sighed and started walking towards the dining area.
I heard Cal say something about the ship and Hockley Steel being spectacular for some reason.
I was by the old clock when I saw Jack. He was practicing how to shake hands with someone. Then, he looked at me. He even had to do a double take.
I walked down the stairs and he met me at the bottom. Jack grabbed my hand and kissed it.
"I saw that on a Nickelodeon once and I always wanted to do it." He told me with a grin on his face and we laughed.
