A/N: Thanks so much to Moment For Life, spikesweetgirl75, ScreamingInside, NoScrubs4Me, Olivia, and penelope lemon for your nice reviews! It means a lot :))
I'm SUPER sorry that I took so long to post this chapter..and then took it down for editing, lol. It was supposed to be a MEGAchapter but I changed my mind and decided to just split up the original contents (with edits) between chapters 8-10. Although I guess it's still a pretty long chapter...lol.
Any recognizeable dialogue isn't mine.
**Also, not a huge plot twist but still a plot twist... I randomly decided that Rose should have a little sister, Roxanne for anyone who's read Break Loose, after finally finding the perfect Roxanne faceclaim. It's Jennifer Stone who played Harper in the Disney show Wizards of Waverly Place (more specifically her when she was like 14 in season 1). Yeah, this isn't relevant to the main storyline, but since there's some Jack/Rose stuff in this chapter I just thought it would be cool to throw that in XD
Dinner, Dancing, and Spying Part I
They talked on the deck for awhile, and then as it started to get late, they all decided that it would probably be a good idea to head back inside. Fabrizio and Helga were the first to stand up.
"Come, dolce Helga, I take you to your mama and papa," Fabrizio said, extending his arm. He figured he'd better get Helga back to her father before Olaf hated him even more for keeping his daughter too long.
"Ja, greit." Helga smiled softly and linked her arm in his.
"I see you later!" Fabrizio yelled, waving as he left to escort Helga back to her cabin.
"See ya!" Tommy waved back, grinning.
"It was nice talking to you," Shannon added with a smile.
Once their friends had disappeared back inside the ship, Tommy glanced at his girlfriend. "Do you want to go back to the cabin?" he asked. "Maybe Mrs. Hannigan left so we'll have it to ourselves again for a bit before supper," he added with a sly wink.
Shannon bit her lip and smiled at him. "All right," she agreed. She knew what he was hinting at, and could already feel the sensation of a thousand butterflies flittering about in the pit of her stomach.
Meanwhile, Jack had just left the suite room of a nice first class lady named Molly Brown, who had loaned him a tuxedo to wear during dinner. He navigated his way through the first class corridors until he came to a door leading to the top floor of the Grand Staircase area.
One of the first class stewards in a black tuxedo opened it for him. "Good evening, Sir," he greeted.
Jack nodded at him, smiling faintly. He didn't really know what to say, as he wasn't used to being called sir. He looked around at the room's stunning architecture; the large glass dome above the staircase, the intricate carvings around the clock, the statues at the bottom of the stairs, and the beautiful red oak panelling and iron and gilt-bronze banisters of the staircase itself, and thought that it would be an interesting scene to sketch.
All around him, passengers dressed in their finest evening attire strutted towards the dining room, their arms linked with those of their significant others. He stepped onto the main floor and stood beside a pillar at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for someone in Rose's party to show him where to go. Suddenly, he heard somewhat familiar voices, and looked up to see Rose's mother Ruth DeWitt Bukater and fiancé Caledon Hockley coming down the steps, arm-in-arm.
A young girl with dark red hair absent-mindedly trailed behind them. Her hair was up in an elegant bun and she wore a dark purple colored dress with black lace. Jack noted that she looked familiar from when he'd met Ruth, Molly, and the Countess on deck earlier, but he hadn't been introduced to her because Ruth wouldn't let her say anything.
"Hello," he greeted coolly, extending his hand for Cal to shake.
"Dawson!" Cal exclaimed, shaking his hand. "Why...you could almost pass for a gentleman," he commented in an arrogant tone, a shocked expression across his face at how well the third class rat fit in. Ruth let out a snobbish giggle.
"Almost," Jack replied dryly, slightly offended at the other man's arrogance. "Isn't Rose coming?" he asked. He'd expected to see her with them.
"She'll be along," Cal replied casually, before he and Ruth sauntered off to say hello to the Countess of Rothes, leaving the other girl standing there awkwardly with Jack.
"Hi, I'm Roxanne," the girl told him, shifting nervously on her feet and managing a faint smile. "Thanks for saving my sister," she added.
"I'm Jack Dawson, nice to meet you. Rose didn't tell me she had a sister, but I can definitely see it." Jack returned the smile. "And there's no need to thank me, it was my pleasure. She's the most extraordinary girl I've ever met," he said dreamily.
"Yeah, she's a good sister. She had a lot of nice things to say about you too, I think she likes you better than that obnoxious prick Hock-"
"ROXANNE!" Ruth shrieked, beckoning her younger daughter to follow.
"Sorry, Mr. Dawson, I better follow them..." Roxanne muttered, waving as she went and joined Ruth and Cal.
Jack let out a low snicker and waved back. He glanced back up the stairs again, and noticed Rose had just emerged on the top floor. She caught his eye and smiled at him as she made her way down the stairs. She wore a dark reddish-maroon colored evening gown and her vibrant ginger locks were up in an elegant wavy bun.
She stopped on the last step, directly in front of him. "You look dashing, Mr. Dawson," she teased him.
"And you look stunning this evening, Miss DeWitt Bukater," Jack retorted with a silly smirk.
"Why thank you," Rose said, extending her hand. Jack brought it to his lips and kissed it softly.
"I saw that in a Nickelodeon once and I always wanted to do it," he explained with a faint snicker. Rose giggled.
"I see you've met my little sister Roxanne," she said. "She's fourteen and has quite a sharp tongue already."
"Yeah, she's funny." Jack grinned.
"You'd never know it because Mother never lets her speak. She knows if she does, she'll say something sarcastic and embarass her," Rose giggled.
"I can see that," Jack laughed.
"Well come on, we've got some spying to do, yes?" Rose flashed him a mischevious grin. It was rare, or rather never, that she got to do something like this. Despite the presumed seriousness of the matter, she was sort of excited to get the dirt on the two mysterious Irishmen she'd seen walking around first class.
"Definitely," Jack agreed. He offered her his arm, which she graciously accepted, and let her lead him down another set of stairs behind her sister, mother, and fiancé.
They entered a large room with white walls, large windows with ornate designs etched in the glass, and potted palm trees. The passengers were scattered about the room, either chatting within their respective circles or fluttering around to talk to different people.
Rose pointed out several important people; the Countess of Rothes, who was currently talking to Captain Smith, John Jacob Astor-the richest man on the ship and his pregnant teenage wife Madeleine, which was apparently quite the scandal, Benjamin Guggenheim and his mistress Madame Aubert, and Sir Cosmo and Lucille Lady Duff Gordon.
Jack nodded along as he scanned the room for two men that fit Shannon's descriptions. Suddenly, he spotted them, and gently nudged Rose. "Look," he whispered, nodding towards the far side of the room, where a dark-haired man was discussing something in hushed tones with his red-haired partner.
"I think that's them. I remember the other day the dark-haired one walked past me on the way to breakfast and he was muttering to himself, it sounded like he had some sort of accent," Rose said.
"Let's watch them for a minute," Jack suggested.
"All right," Rose agreed.
Joseph and Carrick stood near the entrance to the first class dining room, watching all the other passengers go by as they sorted out their next diabolical plot. "Eye, there's Astor..." Joseph mused, taking a sip of his brandy.
Carrick merely nodded. "An' there goes Hockley, the sonofabitch..." he slurred, sloshing his brandy around in the glass.
"Remember," Joseph said, "We can't go giving away any personal information about ourselves, 'ts too risky."
"Right, that would be a right foolish thing to do indeed," Carrick agreed, nervously fidgeting with his bowtie.
"So there's Astor, we're gonna go up and make conversation with him. Without telling him too much, we'll get to know him a bit, and then we'll challenge him to a poker game after dinner in the smoking room," Joseph explained, going through their plans in his head.
"Right you are, Joey. Then Hockley is over there; we can invite him to play too, and we'll get 'im drunk enough to spill some details about that necklace he's carrying around," Carrick added with a satisfied nod.
Down in third class, Tommy and Shannon had gone back to their cabin, and had been pleased to find that they were once again alone. "Eye, Shanny...I could shift with ye all day and never get tired of it," Tommy whispered as he started to take his shirt off. He'd already thrown his vest to the other side of the room.
Shannon smiled faintly and kissed his bare chest. "Tommy, we can't do this right now," she said in a whispery giggle.
"Come on, we have a few minutes before supper starts," Tommy pleaded. His eyes held a wily twinkle as he climbed on top of her.
"No...it's not that...I-I'm just not..." Shannon stammered as she tried to find the right words. "Please, put my skirt back down..."
"What is it, sweet?" Tommy prodded, kissing her softly as he fixed her skirt. He looked a bit dejected.
"I'm sorry, I know ye want this so bad...and I want to give it to you, I really do, but I'm still afraid of what it'll feel like," Shannon admitted, the distress and self-agitation evident in her voice.
"I know that, I'm sorry fer pressuring you. We'll do it when you're ready," Tommy said, hopping off the bed and retrieving his vest. He put it back on and re-buttoned his shirt, going back over to sit beside his girlfriend on the bed.
"It's all right, I shouldn't have led you on like that." Shannon smiled softly at him.
Tommy shook his head. "No more apologies. I suppose I was just tryin' to get some stress relief, all this shite with Joseph really has me on edge," he told her.
Shannon merely nodded. "I completely get it. Joseph's acting very strange, and even though you aren't getting along right now, it's only natural that you'd worry about him," she said quietly.
"It's like we aren't even brothers anymore. He's always been an arse to me, but it was never this bad when we were children," Tommy mused, a hint of sadness in his voice.
"Shh, it's all right, love. Whatever they're up to, we'll figure it out," Shannon promised as she tenderly stroked his unruly light brown curls. "Here's your stress relief," she said, planting a soft kiss on his lips.
Back in first class, Jack and Rose were still watching Joseph and Carrick as they whispered amongst themselves. From their distance, they followed the two mysterious Irishmen into the elegant first class dining room, watching as they walked over to talk to John Jacob Astor, who was standing beside his wife near a table.
Rose glanced at Jack. "I wonder what they're saying," she mused quietly.
Jack shrugged. "I dunno. Let's get a bit closer so we can listen in," he suggested.
"That's a good idea," Rose said, following him.
"Shh, over here," Jack whispered, motioning for her to stand beside him near one of the tables. They drowned out all the other sounds in the room so they could hear the conversation that Tommy's brother and his partner were having with the Astors.
"Excuse me, are you the one they call JJ Astor?" Joseph asked, striding up to the mustached gentleman.
"Why yes," Astor replied. "And who might you gentlemen be?" he asked curiously.
"Joseph Ryan," Joseph replied, cordially shaking Astor's hand.
"Carrick Mooney," Carrick piped up, also shaking his hand.
"Pleased to meet you, gentlemen, and this is my wife Madeleine," Astor said, gesturing at the young lady on his arm.
"It's a pleasure," Madeleine said as both Joseph and Carrick kissed her hand.
"So what is it that you gentlemen do?" Astor wanted to know.
"We're businessmen," Joseph replied coolly.
"I've never heard of either of you before," Astor commented. "Are your families well known?" he wanted to know.
Carrick was about to answer his question, when Joseph sharply nudged his arm. "Hush ya eejit! I specifically told you not to give away any personal information, our names being the sole exception!" he hissed under his breath. Carrick nodded and muttered an apology. They suddenly realized that JJ and Madeleine were giving them a weird look.
"Did he just whisper what I thought he whispered?" Jack looked over at Rose.
"What?" Rose was confused.
"It sounded like he was telling him not to give away any personal information other than their names," Jack explained. "That's sort of strange..." he mused, keeping in mind what Tommy and Shannon had said about them being up to no good.
"Oh, I didn't hear that," Rose said. "How could you hear that? It doesn't look like either of the Astors heard him and they're standing right there."
Jack shrugged and flashed her a silly grin. "I'm a good listener."
Rose giggled. "Apparently so."
Jack gently nudged her. "Come on, we need to go over there," he said.
Rose nodded. "Yes, follow me," she agreed. "JJ! Madeleine! I'd like you to meet Jack Dawson," she interjected, walking over to them. Joseph shot a sideways glance at Carrick and shrugged.
"Hello, Jack." Astor smiled.
"Hello." Jack shook his hand.
"How do you do?" Madeleine smiled politely.
"Very well, thanks," Jack replied, kissing her hand as he'd done to Rose.
"Are you of the Boston Dawsons?" Astor asked him curiously.
"No, uh, the Chippewa Falls Dawsons, actually," Jack said, looking a bit uneasy.
"Oh yes." Astor simply nodded. "Have you two met Misters Joseph Ryan and Carrick Mooney yet?" he asked, changing the subject. He nodded towards the two Irishmen, who had gone back to conversing quietly amongst themselves.
Rose smiled brightly at them. "No, we haven't," she answered. "How do you do, gentlemen?" she asked politely, causing both men to look up again.
Joseph nodded stiffly. "We're very well, thank you," he answered. His Irish accent was clear as day.
"So who might you be, Miss?" Carrick asked, curiosity dancing in his bright green pools. He also had an obvious Irish accent, they noted.
"Rose DeWitt Bukater, pleased to meet you," Rose answered, allowing him to kiss her hand.
"Yeah, it's a pleasure," Jack chimed in, shaking Carrick's hand.
Astor smiled at them. "Well, we're going to sit down; it was wonderful meeting you, gentlemen, and you as well Mr. Dawson. Lovely as always to see you, Miss DeWitt Bukater," he said, starting to lead his wife towards their table nearby to sit down.
Joseph glanced at Carrick and nodded. "Wait, Sir!" Carrick called, causing Astor to turn on his heel again.
"Yes, Mr. Mooney?"
"We were hoping you'd join us in a game of poker after dinner this evening."
"Ah, yes, I'd be delighted to!" Astor called back, pulling out a chair for Madeleine on the far side of their table before sitting down beside her.
Carrick shot a wily smirk at his partner. "Jackpot," he snickered.
Joseph just shook his head. "Bloody fool," he chuckled quietly to himself. Their plan was unfolding nicely so far.
Jack and Rose shared a look. "What in the world could they be up to?" Rose whispered.
"No idea, we'll have to invite them to sit with us to find out more information," Jack decided. "Speaking of, do you think your folks are getting worried that we haven't sat down yet?" he asked sheepishly.
"Don't worry about them, I can deal with Mother and Cal," Rose replied with a dismissive wave.
Carrick was looking around the crowded dining room. He noticed that the seats were filling up quickly. "Come on Joey, let's go find a table," he said to his partner-in-crime. "It was nice meeting you," he said to Jack and Rose, before starting across the room with Joseph on his heels.
Jack quickly reached out and grabbed Joseph's arm. The latter looked a bit bewildered and a hint of fury shone in his alert amber eyes. "Sorry, I was just going to say there's room at our table," he explained with a sheepish smile. Rose giggled nervously.
"Oh, er, thanks," Joseph said, poking Carrick's shoulder. "We got invited to a table," he told him.
"Ah." Carrick nodded as he followed his partner across the spacious dining room.
Upon reaching the table, they could see several people were already seated; Cal, Ruth, Roxanne, Molly Brown, The Countess of Rothes, The Duff Gordons, Benjamin Guggenheim and Madame Aubert, Colonel Gracie, Mr. Andrews, and Mr. Ismay. Cal was glaring daggers at Rose for taking so long, as was her mother. "I was starting to worry you'd wandered off..." Cal commented coolly.
Rose shifted awkwardly on her heels. "No, of course not, darling. I was just introducing Mr. Dawson to more people," she told him. "Speaking of, this is Mr. Ryan and Mr. Mooney, they'll be sitting with us as well," she added.
Cal merely nodded. "Ah, yes, of course," he said, smiling politely as he took a sip of his champagne.
Joseph and Carrick managed faint, awkward smiles. They were still getting used to blending in with the wealthy crowd, and it was sort of awkward to be sitting directly across from the man whom they planned to run his family's business into the ground and steal his fiancé's expensive necklace.
Some waiters came to take everyone's dinner orders. They brought over caviar and crackers on little plates for appetizers and re-filled some people's champagne glasses as well.
Everyone had their eyes on Jack, as he was the only person none of them had seen around first class until now. Cal noticed the way that Sir Cosmo and Guggenheim were looking at the young blonde man, as if they were trying to figure out who he was and why he was sitting with them.
"Ah yes, I nearly forgot to introduce our guest of honor, Mr. Dawson," he announced with a nod.
"I'm honored to be here," Jack said with a sincere smile, looking directly into Rose's eyes. She blushed.
"Tell us of the accommodations in steerage, Mr. Dawson. I hear they're quite good on this ship," Ruth interjected, spreading caviar on a cracker and popping it into her mouth.
"The best I've seen, Ma'am. There's barely any rats," Jack replied, almost completely unphrased by her snobbery. Rose and Roxanne snickered into their wine glasses.
"Mr. Dawson is joining us from third class. He was of some assistance to my fiancé last night," Cal explained quickly.
"He's quite a fine artist, he was nice enough to show me some of his work this afternoon," Rose interjected, smiling warmly at Jack across the table.
"Rose and I differ somewhat in our definition of fine art," Cal commented. "No disrespect to your work, Sir," he added.
Jack waved dismissively to say that no offense was taken. He placed his napkin in his lap and looked at all of his dinnerware. There were several utensils, some that he'd never even seen before. "Are these all for me?" he asked, looking over at Molly. In the background, he could hear Mr. Ismay talking more about the Titanic with Guggenheim and Gracie.
Molly leaned over. "Just start from the outside and work your way in," she whispered.
"He knows every rivot in that... don't you, Thomas?" Mr. Ismay was saying, referring to Mr. Andrews' obsession with every little detail of the ship. This earned a chuckle from most of the men at the table, Joseph and Carrick included.
"Indeed." Mr. Andrews blushed.
"Your ship is a wonder, Mr. Andrews. Truly," Rose told the ship's architect with a smile.
"Thank you, Rose," Mr. Andrews.
One of the waiters walked up behind Jack. "How do you take your caviar, Sir?" he asked.
Jack shook his head with a dismissive wave. "No caviar for me, thanks. Never did like it much," he said, flashing Rose a silly smirk across the table. She let out a small whispery giggle and smiled at him.
"Where exactly do you live, Mr. Dawson?" Ruth asked haughtily, biting into another caviar cracker.
"Currently my address is the RMS Titanic, and after that I'm on God's good humor," Jack replied casually.
"How is it you have means to travel?" Ruth prodded curiously.
Rose rolled her eyes. Stop it with the twenty questions, Mother... she thought, annoyed. She shot Jack an apologetic glance across the table.
Joseph and Carrick had completely tuned out from the conversation at this point, and were now having a hushed side conversation about how to ask Cal about the necklace. "Should we just ask him here?" Joseph whispered.
Carrick scratched his chin. "I still say get 'im drunk during the poker game and keep dropping hints," he said. "It's less suspicious."
"Yes. All right." Joseph nodded in agreement as he sipped more of his champagne. "Now, during the poker game, what sort of questions should we pose?"
"We'll start by telling him how lovely Miss DeWitt Bukater is, and then we can ask if he's bought her anything special in honor of their engagement," Carrick replied simply.
"Yes, that should work." Joseph nodded again. He couldn't deny that his partner was a genius in the art of crime, and that his insanity was intoxicating. Every time he doubted himself for choosing a life of crime and lies, his partner was right there to reassure him.
"I work my way from place to place, tramp steamers and such. But I won my ticket on Titanic here in a lucky hand at poker. A very lucky hand," Jack explained. He looked at Rose again, who smiled into her champagne glass.
"All life is a game of luck," Colonel Gracie commented.
"A real man makes his own luck, Archie," Cal interjected. "Right, Dawson?" he asked, looking pointedly at Jack.
"Mhmm." Jack nodded.
"And you find that sort of rootless existence appealing do you?" Ruth asked haughtily. At this, Molly shot Ruth a disapproving glare.
"Oh yes, Ma'am, I do." Jack brushed it off. "I've got everything I need right here; the air in my lungs and a few blank sheets of paper. I mean, I love waking up in the morning not knowing what's gonna happen, or who I'm gonna meet. Where I'm gonna wind up. Just the other night I was sleeping under a bridge, and now here I am on the grandest ship in the world, having champagne with you fine people," he told them. He finished chewing his bread roll and raised his glass for more champagne.
"I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You never know what hand you'll get dealt next," he continued. "You learn to take life as it comes at you...oh, here you go, Cal!" Jack tossed a pack of matches across the table to a startled Cal, who'd just barely caught them. "To make each day count."
"Well said, Jack," Molly said with a warm smile.
"Here! Here!" Colonel Gracie proposed a toast.
"To making it count." Rose smiled at Jack as she raised her champagne glass.
"To make it count!" Everyone echoed, raising their glasses. Jack nodded, smiling. He raised his own glass before taking a sip with everyone else.
Down in third class, dinner was also going on. Tommy and Shannon were sitting at a table in the back of the room with Fabrizio, Helga and her parents, and the Gunderson cousins.
Björn and Olaus were having a conversation in Swedish, Fabrizio and Helga were making goo goo eyes at each other, and Mr. and Mrs. Dahl were watching to make sure the foreign boy [Fabrizio] kept his hands off their daughter.
Shannon blew on a spoonful of hot soup. "Do you think Jack's been able to get any information on Joseph or his mysterious partner yet?" she whispered in her boyfriend's ear.
Tommy shrugged and took a bite of his bread roll. "I dunno, I'll be really pissed if he doesn't find out anything, though," he whispered back, a sharp edge in his voice.
"Yes, but don't blame Jack if he comes back with nothing, remember it could just be that Joseph and this partner of his didn't want to talk about themselves," Shannon reminded him, softly patting his hand.
"Yeah, I know. I just need to find out what the hell is wrong with my brother, it's so strange..." Tommy explained in a low whisper, taking a huge gulp of his beer.
"I'm sure Jack will at least be able to confirm that they're definitely acting suspicious, I don't think he'll come back with nothing," Shannon told him with a soft smile.
Tommy nodded and took another bite of his roast beef. "It's been five years since I've seen him and now all of this mysterious shite is goin' on... I just don't get it," he mumbled, shaking his head.
Shannon glanced at him as she ate another spoonful of her soup. "I don't either, so let's just not think about it for now. Being worried about it won't ease yer nerves, we'll ask Jack as soon as he gets back from first class," she said.
"All right," Tommy agreed, putting his arm around his girlfriend. Shannon smiled and rested her head against his shoulder.
Fabrizio looked over at them. "So a' what time is 'dis party again?" he wanted to know.
Tommy shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. I think as soon as everyone starts heading up to the general room after they eat, then they'll start the music," he replied.
"I am excited to a' meet more people," Fabrizio told him happily, grabbing some bread.
"Yeah, us as well," Shannon agreed, smiling at him.
Just then, little Cora Cartmell came running up to their table and tapped Fabrizio's shoulder. "Where's Uncle Jack?" she asked, her beady bright brown eyes twinkling in the dim lighting of the room.
Fabrizio turned around in his chair and smiled at the small girl in front of him. "He up eating his dinner with 'da first class people I think," he told her.
"Why?" Cora asked curiously.
"He a' got invited," Fabrizio replied simply.
"Why?" Cora prodded, somewhat confused. She didn't understand why a third class passenger would be invited to eat in first class; for, she hadn't heard of his heroic tale of saving the ginger-haired first class girl's life. She also just really enjoyed asking questions.
"Hey, Cora, where's your dad?" Shannon interjected, in an attempt to put an end to the sequence of questions. No matter how adorable she was, it was getting rather annoying while they were trying to eat.
"Why?" Cora asked, glancing from Fabrizio to Shannon.
"Nevermind..." Shannon sighed with a small eye roll, waving dismissively as she went back to eating her soup. Tommy shook his head, chuckling quietly into his beer glass. Cora didn't seem to notice.
"Oh, okay," she said. "Well, I gotta go find my daddy now, bye!" she added, skipping off again.
"Dat' a' little girl is a ball of energy," Fabrizio laughed, taking a swig of his beer.
He grinned at Helga, who was slowly sipping soup off of her spoon, and she smiled softly back at him. Even though they spoke two entirely different languages and were ethnically opposite; Fabrizio being from the southern country of Italy and Helga being from the icy north in the country of Norway, they had managed to somehow fall completely in love with each other.
Shannon noticed the way they were looking at each other and smiled. It's a shame Mr. Dahl can't see how much his daughter loves Fabrizio, she thought.
Back in first class, the waiters were starting to bring out the main courses. Everyone seemed to have ordered the lobster dish. Several conversation topics were floating around the table at this point and the waiters poured more champagne into their glasses.
Jack decided it would be a good time to start asking Joseph and Carrick more questions. "So, Mr. Ryan, Mr. Mooney... I overheard you saying that you were businessmen. What sort of business do you do?" he asked curiously.
Joseph coughed into his sleeve. "Trading, nothing special," he replied casually, sipping his champagne.
"I see, so do you fellas work for a company?" Jack prodded, biting into another bread roll.
"Er...yes," Joseph stuttered, twiddling nervously with his fork. Every time someone asked about their business, he got all jittery inside. Unlike his colleague, his inner guilt was starting to come up to the surface. If Carrick even had any inner guilt.
"But it's just a small one, you wouldn't know of it," Carrick interjected quickly, nearly choking on his lobster. He glared at his partner for stuttering, and the look on his face made Joseph even more nervous: Stop stuttering you blundering fool, people will wonder what you're so nervous about.
"If you're looking to expand it, Hockley Steel is on the lookout for more companies to partner with," Cal offered with a prideful grin. He was always looking for opportunities to look more business-savvy.
Joseph simply nodded and took a bite of his lobster. "We'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Mr. Hockley," he said.
Jack glanced across the table at Rose, noticing that she was secretly writing down some of the things that Joseph and Carrick were saying. "So, uh, where are you fellas from anyways?" he asked them.
"Ireland, can't you tell by the accents?" Carrick replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh, yeah, makes sense." Jack nodded.
"Wait, I thought you gentleman boarded in Southampton though?" Rose interjected suddenly. She remembered seeing them on the first day of the voyage.
"We did, er... business," Joseph explained, starting to sound a bit jittery and uncomfortable. He coughed into his sleeve again.
"I see," Rose said with an awkward smile. "Do you go on a lot of business trips?" she asked.
"Er, no, not really..." Carrick responded, shooting a nervous glance at his colleague. He didn't understand why they were suddenly being bombarded with questions by the third class guest and Hockley's fiancé.
Ruth glanced at her daughter and cocked a skeptical eyebrow. "First you flirt with Mr. Dawson, now you seem to be so interested in Mr. Ryan and Mr. Mooney...how many times do I have to tell you, Rose? You will marry Mr. Hockley and that is final!" she whispered harshly. She didn't like the fact that her daughter was talking to so many other men when she was engaged to Cal.
Rose's eyes widened. "Now I can't even have a friendly conversation without you nagging me?" she hissed back, annoyed. She knew she couldn't tell her mother what was really going on, so she just sat back in her chair with a huff. Roxanne flashed her a sympathetic smile.
Cal glared at her. "Well, you certainly seem to have a lot of questions, sweetpea," he muttered under his breath. Rose rolled her eyes at him.
Sensing all the tension, Molly decided to take over the conversation. She took a huge bite of her lobster and said, "Hey I've got an idea, who's got a funny story to share?"
Colonel Gracie smacked his hand against the table. "I do," he offered. "Just the other day when I was boarding the ship, I stumbled and bumped into one of the officers, knocking off his hat!" he exclaimed with a slight chuckle. "And I apologized of course, I said.. "So sorry, Chief Officer Wilde!"... and he smiled politely at me and said... "Thank you, but I'm actually First Officer Murdoch!" I can't remember a time when my face was a brighter shade of red!"
Everyone at the table roared with laughter. "That's a good one, Arch!" Molly exclaimed, taking a swig of champagne.
"I have a story," The Countess announced, causing all eyes to shift towards her. "This afternoon I asked one of the stewards to bring me a cup of tea. I waited for about thirty minutes and when he finally returned; he brought me scones. He said, "Oh, I thought you were the lady who ordered all those scones, I'm sorry Miss, I fear I've given your tea to someone else!" He was so embarassed so I tipped him anyways," she told them, accidentally letting out a rather unladylike snicker.
That in itself caused everyone to crack up again. "You know what they say, good help is hard to come by!" Sir Cosmo joked.
"How about you guys?" Jack asked, nodding towards Joseph and Carrick, who were whispering to each other again. He was looking for subtle ways to get more information out of them.
Joseph cleared his throat loudly. He was annoyed at the interruption, as he had more serious matters to discuss with his partner, but knew he had to play along so they wouldn't look as if they were up to something.
"Well, I suppose I could tell you about my little brother Tommy," he started. Hearing this, Jack and Rose shared a glance. If there had still been any doubts before, now they were one hundred percent positive that they were secretly interrograting the right men. "I've got a story that happened about six years ago where he made an utter fool of himself trying to impress his wee girlfriend, it's pretty funny actually," he reminisced. He figured that if he had to tell a funny story, what better story to tell than one where he could poke fun at his younger brother.
"Go on, Ryan! We wanna hear it!" Molly urged him. Jack and Rose both nodded eagerly, hoping they could find out more about him.
"All right," Joseph agreed. "So he was like fifteen years old and his little girlfriend was like twelve. She's out in the street with the other village girls playing some skipping game and singing My Aunt Jane, an old Northern Irish street song. Anyways, Tommy runs out there, right in the middle of their game. He trips over the rope and lands right on top of his wee girlfriend, getting her dress all muddy. I was watching from the other side of the street... his face turned bright red and he just sprinted right out of there," he told them with a slight chuckle.
More laughter erupted around the table. "Your brother sounds like quite the charmer," Colonel Gracie joked.
Guggenheim nodded. "You must have hundreds of stories about him, eh?" he asked curiously.
Joseph shrugged and sipped more of his champagne. "Eh, not really..." he began, but stopped himself when another idea popped into his head about how he could further poke fun at the likes of his brother. "Well...there was this one other story, same girl too," he said. Everyone nodded eagerly and he continued.
"He was like sixteen and use to get into our father's whiskey stash. One evening, he drank so much and had to relieve himself really bad, and our mam had locked us out of the house because they were having tea with our father's old sailor buddies. So instead of going in our yard, he runs down the street to his little girlfriend's house. The first thing he sees laying in their yard is her mam's favorite cooking pot, and just whizzes right in it. Sure enough, little Shannon O'Neal comes outside and catches him, and no matter what good friends they were; she screams like hell for her daddy. I had to work extra hard to help my parents pay for a new cooking pot for Mrs. O'Neal to replace the one Tommy ruined," he told them.
"Oh dear, that ain't good!" Molly laughed. Needless to say, Ruth, Lady Lucille, the Countess, and Madame Aubert didn't find it as funny as she did. The men, however, continued roaring with laughter; except for Cal.
Carrick, though he'd enjoyed both stories, nudged his partner's arm. "I admit I too was a fan of the embarassing Tommy stories, but perhaps you shouldn't tell any more. You were the one who didn't think we should reveal too much about where we came from, after all," he whispered.
Joseph nodded, realizing that his colleague was right. "True, that was the last story I'll tell," he agreed quietly.
"And wasn't it you who pissed in the cooking pot?" Carrick asked with a low snicker.
"Indeed it was, but I couldn't very well admit to that here, now could I?" Joseph smirked and bit into his lobster. "But Tommy boy really did embarass himself in that skipping game," he added. Carrick chuckled quietly.
Meanwhile down in steerage, the after-dinner party was off to a good start. Mick and a few other Irish passengers had taken their instruments out and were warming up to play Swallowtail Jig. Tommy, Shannon, Fabrizio, Helga, and the Gunderson cousins were all at a table in the middle of the room drinking beers.
"We toast eh? To America!" Fabrizio held his beer glass high in the air, a wide grin across his face.
"To America!" Everyone echoed him, clinking their glasses together.
Fabrizio grinned and continued to stare dreamily at Helga. He knew his destino was to go to America, and he really hoped that she'd be a part of his new life there. He glanced across the room at the steerage band and sighed; would Olaf even let him dance with her?
Shannon, being the hopeless romantic she was, decided to help him out. "When the music starts, just ask her," she told him with a smile.
"But her papa no like me, he stop us, eh?" Fabrizio frowned.
"Ah, do it anyways, boyo. Once her father sees how much ye love her, maybe he'll lighten up a bit," Tommy chimed in.
"Sì, okay I will. Grazie," Fabrizio agreed happily.
Just then, Mick yelled out to the crowd, "Lads grab yer ladies! Swallowtail Jig!" He sat back down and played a low note on his pipes. The other steerage band members proceeded to pick up their fiddles, a bodhran, some clackers, and even a mandolin as they got ready to start playing.
"I love this song!" Shannon exclaimed, a gleam of delight shimmering in her bright blue eyes.
"Let's get out there then!" Tommy shouted with a silly smirk, offering her his hand. Shannon let out an airy giggle as she took his hand, allowing him to lead her out into the middle of the room. "Come 'ere, sweet," Tommy whispered, flashing her another silly smirk as he gently pulled her against him. His hands wandered down her back, resting comfortably around her waist.
Back at the table, Fabrizio got out of his chair and stood up in front of Helga. "You dance with me, eh?" he asked.
Helga stared at him, confused. "Hva?" she asked. She hadn't understood him.
"You-" Fabrizio pointed to her. "-dance-" He did a little jig. "-with me." He pointed to himself.
"Oh! Ja!" Helga exclaimed happily, allowing him to pull her to her feet.
He led her out onto the makeshift dance floor, ignoring the pointed glare of her father, who was standing close by. Helga picked up her long red bunad skirt so it wouldn't drag and wrapped her arms around Fabrizio's neck. "Is a' your papa okay with this?" he asked her. Helga shrugged, smiling, as they music started to go faster. She didn't really care.
Tommy held his girlfriend close to him as they skipped around the room. Shannon rested her head against his chest and rubbed her face against his soft white shirt. She inhaled slowly, noticing that it smelled like a mixture of fresh baked bread and the ocean, two smells that so reminded her of being back home in their small village in County Donegal. Feeling protected in his strong arms, she smiled, completely content.
Suddenly, a drunk man with red hair stumbled over and tried to cut in. "Get the hell outta here ya pisspot, get your own lass!" Tommy growled possessively, pushing the man away. "You all right, sweet?" he asked, softly kissing his girlfriend on the lips.
"Eye, never better, love," Shannon replied with a tipsy giggle. "So long as you hold me like this all night," she whispered slyly, ruffling his scruffy light brown curls.
"I love ya, Shan." Tommy grinned.
"I love you, Tom." Shannon kissed his sweaty forehead. It was getting a bit warm from all the people dancing around in the crowded general room.
Again, sorry for the ridiculous wait time. Please tell me what you think, your feedback means the world to me! :)
