Chapter 6: Getting Better Acquainted

If I'm not mistaken, Titanic & HSM still belong to their respective owners.


Once the early Friday morning hit Taylor's room, she sluggishly woke up feeling very tired. She felt an absence from the other side of her king size bed; her fiancée Shelton was gone. She started to get worried.

"Shelton, where are you?" Taylor said. But then, she remembered him saying he was going to the pool in the morning. "Oh, wait. He went to the pool." A loud knock on her door began to scare her.

"AAH! Who is it?"

"It's me, Miss Taylor Rose. Your maid Gabriella Montez." Gabriella answered on the other side of the door.

"Oh, come in." Taylor said relieved to find out who it was. When she came into the room, Gabriella ran to Taylor and gave her a big hug.

"Oh, Dios Mio. Miss Taylor Rose, I heard that you almost died last night. I'm glad you're alright."

"Where did you hear that?"

"From three crewmen walking past the guests' servants' quarters on F deck. I also heard a White boy saved your life. Is that true?"

"Yes."

"What does he look like?"

"All I know of him is that his name was Troy and he had the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen. After breakfast, I'm going down to steerage to find him and thank him myself."

"Well, as long as you're okay, then I'm happy. I wouldn't know what to do if I lost my best friend." Just then, Toni comes into the room unannounced and interrupts the young girls.

"You would be doing the same thing you're doing right now, Montez. Taylor or no Taylor, you'd still be our maid. Taylor, take a bath right now. Gabriella, while she's doing that, pick out her clothes and get her ready. We have a ladies only breakfast special to attend to this morning. I don't want to be late. Is that understood?"

Both girls nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

"It's Ms. Antonia Lilly to you, Montez." Toni said eyeing Gabriella.

"Yes, Ms. Antonia Lilly."

"Good. I'll see you in 30 minutes SHARP." Toni said as she turned around and left the room.

"She is so mean." Gabriella sighed. "At least you're not like her."

"Gabi, she's not that bad. Hey, after breakfast, would you like to come down to steerage with me to find this Troy?" Taylor asked her.

"NO, SHE CANNOT GO!!" Toni yelled from the suite living room.

"OK. Well, let's get ready before she comes in and rips off both our heads." Taylor said as she entered the deluxe bathroom to take her shower.


After the breakfast, Taylor made her way down to the Steerage cafeteria on G deck to try and find Troy. She was having a hard time finding him until she heard his voice in the back of the room. She knew she found him when she saw him talk to the same four people she saw him with from yesterday.

"So, they thought you were trying to rape that girl?" Kelsi asked as she was eating her cereal.

"Yeah, but that wasn't true." Troy answered. "I knew she was lying to them, but those cops were not going to take a poor White boy's word over a rich Black girl's word."

"That's how they do it in America, Kelsi. No matter what you do or say, they always take Black woman's word even if it is a lie." Chad added in.

"But I thought you were Jamaican." Ryan pointed out.

"Yeah, but I've been to America with my dad enough times to know that that is true. They almost pulled that same mess on my dad in Miami a few years back. They accused him of robbing a Black American woman's purse."

While Chad was talking, Taylor comes by their table and introduces herself to the group.

"Good morning, Mr. Bolton. Do you remember me from last night?" The group looked up and saw the African American girl with a smile on her face. Chad sighed and stood up in front of her with an angry look on his face.

"I'm sorry, your royal bitch. This section is for third class passengers ONLY! Your kind lives six decks above here." Chad rudely said to Taylor. Taylor was offended at the remark an proceded to leave the area.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to talk to Mr. Bolton." Taylor apologized as she left the area with tears running down her face.

"CHAD!" The whole group yelled at him. Troy was more pissed off than the other three and smacked him on the back of his head.

"Why did you do that? The girl was trying to be nice. You definitely need to get your attitude fixed." Troy said before he got up and left the dining room to find Taylor. When he saw her trying to get on the elevator, he ran to her until she got on and stopped her.

"Look, I'm really sorry about my friend. He has major problems." Troy apologetically said to the crying girl. Taylor turned to him with her brown eyes now bloodshot red from the tears.

"If he's calling somebody he doesn't even know a royal bitch, then of course he has some major problems. It's not like I've done anything to him."

"I know, I know." Troy whispered into Taylor's ear as he was hugging her. "Hey, you said wanted to talk to me. What about?"

"I just wanted to talk to you. Not only about last night, but I want to get to know you a lot better."

"OK. We can do that."

"You want to go for a walk around the ship? My sister and fiancée are going to be very busy today, so they won't mind. What about your friends?"

"They'll be fine." Troy said as both of them got on the elevator to the top deck.


When Troy and Taylor made it to the top deck, they started walking around the deck. "So tell me, princess, what's your life story?"

Taylor replied, "Well, Mr. Bolton, where do I begin? You already know my name Taylor Rose blah, blah, blah. I was born November 13, 1990 in Atlanta, GA. I have one older sister named Antonia, but we call her Toni. My father Richard IV owned the McKessie Hair Care Company that was founded in the early 20th century by his great-great grandparents Richard Sr. & Adrienne McKessie. My mother Ariel Jones was the daughter of US Senator Marvin Edgar Jones who founded Jones & Jones Mutual Bank. Both families are major key players in how Black America has been building up since slavery."

"So that explains the McKessie-Jones in your last name?" Troy asked.

"Mm-Hmm." Taylor nodded her head. "Both my parents died in a ski accident in 2002."

"I'm sorry about that." Troy said.

"That's OK. Toni has been taking care of me since their death. We live off the $500 million dollar inheritance." Taylor said. Then she continued on with her story.

"Anyway, I graduated from high school in 2007 (one year early) Valedictorian of my class. I went to Imhotep University in Washington D.C. where I double majored in Art and Theater. I was heavily involved in the activities there. I was a Varsity cheerleader, President of the Imhotep University Theater Troupe, Model United Nations Club VP, Treasurer of the most popular & elite sorority on campus, and even became the first junior elected Miss Imhotep University two years ago. Did I mention I kept a 4.0 GPA the entire 3 1/2 years I was there?"

"Wow." was all Troy could say after hearing all of that. "Now that you're out, what do you want to do?"

"My passion is photography. That's why I majored in Art. I've always loved pictures and art in general. I want to become one of those photographers who takes amazing shots at beautiful things and areas from all around the world. Now what about you, pretty White boy? What's your story?"

Troy answers, "Well, it's not as glamorous, but it's better than nothing. Well, my name is Troy Jack Bolton. I was born October 18, 1989 in Albuquerque, MN. I'm the only child of Jack and Lucille Bolton. My dad was a construction worker in downtown Albuquerque; my mother was a homemaker. I attended East High School where I was captain of the varsity basketball team. Scouts came to my school and said I was a very talented player. I was offered full scholarships to school across the country since my family can't afford to send me to school."

"But..." Taylor pondered.

"My life changed forever in my senior year. My parents were killed in a car crash. I tore the cartilage in my right knee; that ended my basketball career. My grades were never amazing, so there goes college for me.''

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bolton."

"It's Troy. After high school, I left Albuquerque to go see the world and see what's out there. I had no other family in the area or any close friends, so nobody would miss me. For the past five years, I've been backpacking throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia seeing all the beautiful historic sites. I've learned a lot more these past five years being out on my own than I did in the thirteen years I've been in school. I've meet some very cool people as well. Well, I guess you can call me somebody whose just sailing away." Troy looks at his watch and sees that they've been talking for a good two hours. He turned to Taylor and asked her, "Well, is this the reason you came to my area and speak to me or was it something else?"

"Actually no, Troy." Taylor answered. "I came to you because I wanted to thank you for what you did. I don't mean just saving my life, but for not saying what really happened."

"You're welcome." Troy said before Taylor sighed and turned away from him. "What's wrong?"

"I know what you're thinking. 'Poor little rich Black girl.' The world was given to her on a silver platter. She'll never have to work a day in her life. What she know about hardship and pain? She may have lost her parents as a kid, but that's as hard as it's going to get for her."

"No, I'm not thinking that. When I saw you last night, I was thinking 'what made this little rich girl think her life was so bad that she wanted to end it?' That's what I was thinking."

"Well, it's just...my whole world and everything about it. My family, my friends, my debutante & sorority sisters, and everybody in that circle. We're like a tight-knit family and we are taught at a very young age how to act, how to dress, how to speak, etc. We're even taught who we have to marry." Taylor pulls out her 10 carat engagement ring she's worn since her 21st birthday last November. "Not only does it HAVE to be a Black man, but it must be a rich one who grew up in the same circle as you did. I hate every single thing about it, and there is nothing I can do to stop it."

"DAMN! Look at that thing. That rock alone would've sent you straight to the other Titanic." Troy joked.

"HAHA, very funny." Taylor said sarcastically. "By the time I'm back in Atlanta, I'm going to be Taylor Rose McKessie-Jones Johnson or Mrs. Shelton A. Johnson for short. 750 invitations were sent out; ALL of them responded yes. The whole congregation will be packed with not just Atlanta society. It will have big names from D.C., NYC, L.A., Miami, Chicago, and even African nobility. The time during the ceremony, I'm standing there screaming for help and nobody is lifting a finger to do it."

"Do you love this Shelton guy?" Troy asked quickly offending Taylor.

"Excuse me? You're being very rude right now. That is none of your business whether or not I love somebody." Taylor said before she started to walk away from him.

"I'm just asking you a simple question. Do you love him or not?" Troy said catching up to her and grabbing her arm.

"This is so crazy. We may have just told our whole life stories, but we still don't know each other. You are rude and inconsiderate and I'm officially leaving now." Taylor said before she grabs Troy's hand and shakes it.

"Troy, Mr. Bolton, whatever your name is, it's been a pleasure getting to know you. I tried to find you and thank you. Now that I have thanked you, I'm am going to leave." Taylor was unaware she was still shaking his hand.

"You also insulted me." Troy pointed out.

"You brought that on yourself." Taylor shot back at him. She was still shaking his hand.

After a few more seconds, Troy breaks their silence. "When are you going to leave, Miss Taylor Rose?"

"Right now, Mr. Bolton." Taylor said as she finally lets go of his hand. She turns the other was and begins to walk before she realizes that this is her area of the ship.

"WAIT! I don't have to leave. This section is for first class passengers ONLY! Your kind lives six decks below." Taylor said as she points Troy to the direction back to the steerage section.

"Well, well, well. Look whose being rude?" Troy joked at her. Taylor sees that he had a small camera and a portfolio in his hand. She takes it out of his hand.

"What the hell is this thing you have?" She opens the portfolio and sees a whole bunch of pictures in it. "So, are you a photographer or something? If you are, these are pretty damn good." Taylor started to get into his work.

"Yeah, my one big passion in life after basketball is photography. Just like you, I have a thing for photography."

"Troy, you should be making thousands of dollars off this stuff."

"Thank you. It's too bad none of the big cities in Europe liked them."

"Really?"

"Since I take pictures of half naked girls, they thought it was too overdone. It's like they've seen it all before. They wanted something different."

"They look like prostitutes. Did you sleep with any of them?"

"I'm not a virgin, but I'm not a man whore. I don't just screw anything that walks."

"Even prostitutes have standards. They only slept with you because you're cute." Taylor said to herself without realizing Troy heard the comment. She turned to him embarassed when she learned that. "I'm sorry about that, Troy."

"That's OK. You can say that. I've been called worse."

After she closes the portfolio, she hands it back to him.

"Well, I will say this. You have a gift, Troy. You're very talented in this area. You can see people and the beauty inside of them, no matter how low they look to others."

"I can see you." Troy pointed out.

"And what can you see in me?" Taylor asked him.

"You weren't going to jump and you knew it."


I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 6. Some Tayella interaction, some Toni/Taylor interaction, and of course the fan favorite Traylor. Again, I'm sorry for it being so long again.

The "Jones & Jones Mutual Bank" and "McKessie Hair Care Company" are fake companies I made up. If they don't exist for real, then I own those ideas.

The school Imhotep University is also fake (unless proven otherwise). I was going to use a real school, but I don't want to get slammed.

The scene where Taylor goes into the third class to meet Troy is based off another deleted scene in Titanic where Rose meets Jack in third class.

Shout out to the people who reviewed Ch. 5: lilmissmonique, Favor1234, mzwendy85, chaylorxtraylorlover101, AyaneC, & look at the stars.

Your opinions and reviews mean a lot to me. It's because of you guys that I keep on writing. If you want to see chapter 7, I need at least five reviews from this chapter.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!