Chapter 10

You're Not Sorry

Celina stepped inside her father's room and sat down on the sofa, "Yes father?" she asked.

Mr. Roberts closed the door behind him and sat down opposite her, "I want to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer me honestly, alright?"

She nodded slowly, "Yes sir."

"Are you in some sort of romantic relationship with Mr. Boxhall?"

Celina bit her lip and nodded, "Yes sir."

Mr. Roberts nodded and felt a small wave of sadness at the thought of his oldest daughter being in love with someone. "Very well," he inhaled, "Does he make you happy?"

She nodded again, "Yes sir."

"Do you think he will take care of you?"

Celina nodded once more, "Yes sir."

Mr. Roberts gave her a small smile, "Very well," he repeated before getting to his feet, "That is all dear."

Celina stood to her feet and walked to the door, "Papa?" she asked, stopping at the door and turning to look at him.

"Yes child?"

"Are you okay with this?"

He gave her a small smile, "I am okay so long as you are happy."

Celina hugged her father, "Okay."

Mr. Roberts kissed his oldest on the forehead, "Run along, child."

Celina was about to leave when she heard her father's voice again, "By the way Celina, did you take care of the situation with Greta?"

She shook her head, "Not yet, papa."

"Please attend to it, soon."

Celina nodded, "Yes sir."

On that note, Celina's next stop was Greta's stateroom. She knocked gently and a moment later Greta opened the door, "Yes?" she asked, a cool tone to her voice.

"We need to talk," Celina said, looking at her sister.

"Talk," Greta said, but she did not move away to let her sister into the room.

"The way you and I have been interacting with each other, in the last year or so, has not been healthy. I regret deeply my actions from the other day and I wish I could do it all over again," Celina said slowly.

Greta shrugged, "Is that all?"

Celina's brows furrowed, "Do you have anything to say?"

"I do not accept your apology, how is that?" Greta responded, shrugging.

Celina felt as if Greta had smacked her, "What do I have to do to make this right by you?"

"Stop acting like my mother and leave me alone," Greta said before stepping inside her room and closing the door.

Celina stared at the door before turning and slowly walking into her room. She felt as if she had been slapped and her sister's words stung. She sat down on the sofa and released a deep sigh, many thoughts and ideas running through her head, "Oh mama," she whispered, "I am trying so hard." She was silent, as if hoping for a response, but of course no response came. Her mother was no longer there to guide her through life and to teach her about being a woman.

For a few hours Celina just sat on the sofa and read a book, or she paced back and forth. When Ella finally awoke from her nap it was close to supper time and Celina began to clean the child up, brushing her hair out and straightening her dress out. Celina washed her face and brushed her own hair out before putting it back up into a bun on the back of her head. They walked outside of the room at about ten minutes till and Mr. Roberts was already outside in the hall and waiting. He watched Greta walking ahead and looked to Celina, "Did you speak with her?" he asked, as they began to walk.

Celina nodded wearily, "Yes papa, she would not accept my apology and asked me to leave her alone."

Mr. Roberts took in his daughter's words and nodded slowly, "Just give her some time and space."

"Yes papa," Celina said.

They arrived in the dining room a moment later and joined Greta at a table with a few of the friends Mr. Roberts had made in the short days of the voyage. If you asked Celina later, she would tell you that she didn't remember much from dinner. She had been too distracted and her thoughts were only on the clock striking ten so she could go and see Joseph. He would help keep her mind on other things and not focused on her sister.

After Greta was done eating, Celina noticed her sister leave. Mr. Roberts watched Celina, "Will you be staying here?" he asked, standing to his feet, "I need to put Ella to bed."

Celina nodded, "I am going to listen to the band play for a bit," she said as she watched them slowly start to arrive and set up.

Mr. Roberts bent down and kissed his daughter on the top of her head, "Alright, just do not stay up late!" He smiled.

"Good night, Lina," Ella said.

Celina smiled at the child and kissed her on the cheek, "Sweet dreams darling."

Celina watched the pair exit the room and turned her attention back to the band. There was still another hour before Joseph would get off work. She listened until the clock finally struck 9:45 and so she stood to her feet, nodded at Wallace Hartley, the band leader, and walked up to the deck. She couldn't find Joseph at the bridge so she headed off to the Officer's Mess Hall. He was standing outside of the room and his face lit up when he saw Celina, "Hi," he greeted.

At the sight of his tired but happy face, Celina was finally able to manage her first real smile since lunch time. "Hi," she responded.

He looked around the deck and upon not seeing anyone, Joseph bent down and kissed her sweetly, "I missed you."

Celina giggled, "I missed you too."

"Come on, I feel like I could eat a horse," he said before taking her hand and leading her into the mess hall. At a table in the corner were Lightoller, Pittman, and Wilde. They were all talking but Pittman yawned and got to his feet just as Joseph and Celina joined them, "I'm off for the night," he said before turning and smiling at the young couple.

"Hey Joe, Celina," he nodded and left the room.

Celina sat down, "Hi gentlemen," she greeted, giving them a kind smile.

Joseph sat down and took a bite of his food while Lightoller and Wilde greeted Celina.

"I think I am also going to try and get some sleep while I can," Charles said as he stood up, "Goodnight Celina," he said, smiling.

"Goodnight," she responded.

Eventually Wilde excused himself as well so that it was just Joseph and Celina in the mess hall, "What did you do this afternoon?" he asked her.

Celina sighed, "Well my father knows about us but he seemed to accept the news pretty well."

He looked at her but then nodded slowly, "Okay."

"Yes so no real concerns there," She sighed again, "Then I tried to apologize to Greta for yelling at her the other day and she refused to accept my apology and asked me to leave her alone," she paused, "Well more like told me to leave her alone," Celina stared down at her hands.

Joseph took a small drink of water and then looked at the young woman beside him, "You must not beat yourself up over all of this. She probably just needs some space and time, alright?"

She looked up at him and gave a small laugh, "Papa said something very similar."

"Well your father is a very wise man," he said, smiling back at her.

Celina reached over and kissed him and he kissed her back, smiling against her lips.

A moment later they broke apart and he finished up his meal before they walked outside. Celina regretted not returning to her room for her coat. It was bitter cold outside and the water was so incredibly calm. It gave off an almost eerie feeling. They began to walk and when she shivered, Joseph wrapped his woolen jacket around her shoulders.

"Thank you," she said, quietly.

"You're welcome."

The two walked together for a while in a comfortable silence until Joseph spoke up, "What are we going to do when the ship docks?" he asked.

Celina looked up at him and shrugged before opening her mouth to say something, but her words were lost in her throat. At that moment the ship began to shudder terribly and shake. Celina took hold of Joseph's hand out of shock. Then the shaking stopped and they watched as the ship sailed past a dark mass that Joseph and Celina knew instantly, had been an iceberg.

"That…." But Joseph couldn't say what that was, he was in a state of shock and he simply looked at Celina before saying, "I should…"

Celina took the coat off and handed it to him, "Go to the bridge…check on things. I'll wait just inside the second class entrance for you."

He nodded, gave her a quick kiss, and took off running….

XXX

A/N- We've struck…oh my. The updates should be easier for me from this point on because I more or less know what to do and where to go with this. I'm actually getting ready to head off to the Cinema because I'm finally caving and seeing Titanic in 3D. So please review and I'll try to work on it some more. Thursday and Monday I have exams so I just need to get through this weekend and I'll be in the clear! Thanks!