"Mom! I told you I was gonna do this!", the ruffian has been standing in our sitting room talking with her mother for about 45 minutes, and they're still on the same exact topic! Apparently her mother is quite unhappy about her getting on the Titanic. About 5 minutes into the conversation the delinquent put the phone on speaker so Jack and I could hear what was going on. Her mother doesn't sound very pleasant to me "Your obsession with Titanic has gone on far enough young lady! First you come home from Virginia Beach claiming you went back in time with that stupid shipbuilder and now you're on the damn Titanic 2!" she says.
Gabby rolls her eyes "Ma, I'm with Thomas Andrews right now! And for the last time he's not a stupid shipbuilder! He's a great guy! And you know what else? I'm with Jack Phillips too! Haven't you been watching the news?" she asks, her mother says she's been too busy having a life to watch the news. Jack yells from across the room "HELLO GABBY'S MOM!", her mother asks Gabby who that is and she huffs "Mom, it's Jack Phillips. My FIANCE!" she tells her. Her mother gasps "FIANCE! WHAT DO YOU MEAN FIANCE? YOU GOT ENGAGED AND DIDN'T TELL ME?". I can see the delinquent's patience running thin "Yes Mom, I got engaged, and no, I wasn't going to tell you!" she replies.
Her mother shrilly begins yelling at her for getting engaged and the ruffian snaps back at her "It's my life! I can do whatever I want! What does it matter to you! You don't even think he's real!". Her mother begins raising her voice over the phone and the delinquent makes faces and mimics her mother. She hands the phone to me "You talk to her I can't deal with her anymore!" she tells me, storming across the room. Why do I have to be the one to talk to her? I swallow akwardly "Hello?" I ask. Her mother stops mid-lecture "Who is this?" she asks. I smile timidly "Thomas Andrews, designer of the RMS Titanic" I tell her. She huffs "Whatever kind of joke this is I've had enough! Now put my daughter back on the phone!" she says.
What do I say? She won't take the phone back right this second! I sigh "She stepped out for the moment. Would you like to talk with Mr. Phillips instead?" I ask her. She says rather bitterly that she doesn't want to and I sit there with the phone pressed to my ear trying to decide what to do. Jack looks slightly upset "HEY! I DON'T BITE!" he calls. Her mother doesn't seem amused "Is this on speaker?" she finally asks, I can't believe it took her so long to figure it out. I tell her yes it is and she begins shouting into the phone, which nearly blows out my eardrum "GABRIELLE STEPHANIE RO..." the ruffian cuts her off from where she's pouting across the room "DON'T EVEN GO THERE MOM! YOU CAN'T USE MY FULL NAME LIKE THAT!". Her mother angrily replies that she can call her whatever she wants since she is her mother.
The ruffian grabs the phone from me and begins arguing with her mother again. Finally she simply says "Mom, look at the news! Thomas and Jack are real. And you are incredibly terrible for calling them stupid because they are not! When you finally want to believe me maybe I'll talk to you again!". Her mother begins to lecture again but Gabby will have none of it, she huffs, shouts "AND YOU BETTER HAVE COSMIC BROWNIES IF YOU EXPECT ME TO VISIT!" and then hangs up the phone. She throws it at the couch "Gosh I hate her sometimes!" she says angrily. Oh I can just feel the love emanating off of her!
Jack comes to her side to try and calm her "Sweetheart why don't we go for a walk..." she snaps at him "Shut up Jack! Just leave me alone!". The look on his face as she says those words to him, almost breaks my heart. I'm sure she doesn't mean to snap at him, she's just frustrated with her parents is all! It's not Jack's fault! She begins storming out, but she quickly spins around and marches back up to him "And by the way, BY THE WAY!" she reaches into the pocket of her stewardess apron and pulls out her cellular telephone, flipping it open and pushing the screen into his face "WHO IS THIS? AND WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING WITH HER?". The color drains from his face and for a moment I believe he might cry "I... I don't... She... I wasn't" he chokes but he can't get the words out, she looks ready to punch him in the face!
"You know what Jack, if you can't resist keeping your hands off all the pretty girls in the future, you shoulda said so!" she tells him harshly. She reaches to her ring finger and takes the engagement ring off, shoving it into his chest "Jack, I was a young heartsick idiot when I agreed to marry you! I see now I was incredibly foolish. I've been patient with you, I've shown you everything you needed to know about the future! I've let you be excited, and I've been excited right alongside you! I loved you Jack, I loved everything we did together on the Titanic! I loved you until you took your dying breath and until I almost took mine! And now after everything we've been through you repay me by KISSING SOME RANDOM GIRL!".
He kissed another woman? I have to turn away from the argument, kiss another woman? How could he cheat? I don't understand at all, I couldn't even imagine cheating on Nellie! Jack stammers "Gabby, I didn't" she cuts him off again "Don't you lie to me now! I have the picture here in my hand! I saw you do it with my very own eyes!" she tells him.
Her eyes are burning with anger and she finally turns away from him, walking out of our cabin and slamming the door shut behind her. There's a long moment of silence before Jack falls to his knees and begins sobbing "I didn't do it!" he cries. I swallow and kneel down next to him "Jack? Jack how could you do that?" I ask him, my throat feels rather dry. He trembles but won't turn his face to look at me "Thomas I didn't kiss that other girl! I didn't! SHE kissed me! One of those bloody fangirls! She said all she wanted was a picture! And then she ended up kissing me! I couldn't stop... couldn't stop her! It only lasted a second though, really it did!" he blubbers to me.
So he didn't cheat on her? This is all a big misunderstanding? I help him to his feet and then sit him on the couch "Jack, why don't you let me talk with her? While I do that, you should think of an apology of some kind. Why don't you try to court her properly?" I suggest to him. He continues to cry, but he wipes his face with the back of his sleeve and nods "But how do I do that?" he asks me. I try to think, we talked about this earlier on the deck but never really came up with answers. "Well, there are the usual things. Flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep..." Jack smiles up at me at my snide suggestion "I don't plan on making her anymore promises I can't keep, but thanks for the suggestion anyway. The flowers and chocolates might work though!" he tells me.
His face lights up slightly "Maybe I can tell her a romantic poem and charm her back to me! Girls from the future like that right?" he asks. I shrug, I honestly don't know! They seem to like music, and poetry is like music but without well, music. Suddenly there's a knock at the cabin door and I walk over to it, maybe it's the delinquent back to apologize for her outburst to Jack! I excitedly open the door in hopes this whole thing can be resolved quickly, but I'm disappointed. It's only James Cameron.
"Thomas! Are you ready to build the Titanic again?" he asks me. I nod and allow him in, I completely forgot about this! Jack smiles weakly at James and tries to wipe his tears away "Hello Mr. Cameron" he greets him. James frowns "What's the matter? Is being on the ship too emotionally stressing for you?" he asks, he actually sounds genuinely concerned. Jack shakes his head "Oh no sir, the ship isn't causing me emotional stress, but something else certainly is!" before James can ask he stands up and heads for the door "I have to go now, goodbye!" he tells us. And just like that, he's gone, off to try and win his fiance back.
James looks at me "What is he upset about?" he asks. It's not really my business to tell him, but I just can't help but gossip to him. I haven't had anyone to gossip with in over 100 years. I used to gossip with Nellie late at night, but she isn't here anymore. So James will do! "His fiance saw him kiss another girl and she broke up with him" I tell him. He winces "Ouch, sounds bad. Those fans aren't too bad on you are they?" he asks. I shake my head "Not so much after the big chase yesterday" I tell him, well they haven't been so bad to me anyway. Poor Jack!
We sit down at the desk in the sitting room, taking out the plastic pieces of this model ship. I am already planning the bulkheads and how to weight it so it floats properly. While we piece the ship together, James and I begin talking casually. He glues two pieces together and says "You know Thomas, I think you need to go to that ball tonight, and you need to find yourself a girlfriend there" he tells me. I nearly have a heart attack at his words "What? Me? But I'm a married man!" I tell him. He holds his hands up "Woah! Don't get defensive! I'm only giving you a suggestion!" he tells me.
I can't help but be curious "Why would you suggest such a thing? I'm perfectly happy!" I tell him. He looks at me funny "Are you sure you're happy? You don't seem very happy to me. There's nothing wrong with finding another girl you know. You know your wife..." I cut him off "Yes I know she moved on after my death. And I'm happy she did, I'm really glad!" I tell him. He smiles "Well then, isn't it your turn to move on? Don't you think she'd want you to be happy?" he asks. I stop and think about it, maybe he's right. She would want me to be happy, she loved me as much as I loved her. But, I just couldn't think of loving someone else right now! Not ever really, I loved Helen! He continues "Jack and Gabby, while they're straightening out the kinks in their relationship now, eventually they'll be happy together. You're the third wheel Thomas, you should find someone so you aren't lonely".
Find someone else, I don't think I could find someone else! I think about it deeply as we continue building the ship. Finally it's all pieced together, we just have to wait for the glue to dry. James stands up "I'm going to go back to my stateroom and work on a script. I'll see you in an few hours when we stop?" he asks. I nod "Yes, I'll be here with Jack" I tell him. He nods "Right, I'll come and get you, Goodbye" he turns and leaves, almost running smack into Jack who's coming into our stateroom. He looks absolutely flustered, but he appears to have gotten flowers and chocolates "Thomas! I need your help! Here, sit sit sit!" he tells me, pushing me onto the couch.
He stands in front of me, clearing his throat and holding up a small card with writing on it "You're the prettiest girl that I know. You're pretty mean you're pretty cold. You can make men feel so low. Sugar nor spice you're mean not nice. Your blood your heart is cold as ice. You're pretty mean or just plain mad. Your thoughts on men are pretty bad. You're pretty heartless you're pretty cruel. At times I feel that I'm the fool. You broke my spirit you broke my pride. Your hate within you cannot hide. Once I heard of what you said. All men not woman should be dead. Your cold cold heart is what you've shown. I've heard it all on your telephone. You're pretty damn mean. You're pretty damn cold. You're the prettiest damn girl. I've ever Known!" he reads.
"Well how does that sound?" he asks expectantly. I swallow akwardly "Well Jack, I'll be completely honest and tell you. That I believe you will have two black eyes and a bloody nose after reading that to her" I pause "You also might lose a few teeth". He rips the card up and throws it on the ground, pulling out another one "Ok how about this one?". Once again he clears his throat. I don't think that's very healthy! With dramatic flare he reads "How do I measure. The love I have for you? I thought, while idly watching. A sparrow sippin' dew. And as I pondered thoughtfully. I gave my head a rub. And then I thought "Oh sod it. I'm going to the pub!"".
Honestly, whoever gave him these poems was a total nutjob! These poems will get him killed! I sigh and stand up, going over to the desk and taking out a piece of paper and a pen. I scribble down the words to Elizabeth Browning's sonnet 43. He can't go wrong with that poem! He simply can't! If he goes wrong with it I will be utterly amazing, and I will have to inform him that there is no hope in saving his relationship! That would be a shame though! I hand him the poem "Study that Jack, and I'm going to do one more favor for you! I'm going to go find that ruffian and I'm going to make it so she doesn't punch you when she first sees you. Alright?". He nods "Ok, thanks" he says, studying the paper I wrote on.
The delinquent's shift ended a half hour ago, so she must be around here somewhere! I start on the promenade deck, and it doesn't take me very long to find her at all! She's standing on the bow still wearing her uniform, leaning over the railing with her head in her hand. I'm surprised they let passengers onto the bow, but I suppose after that movie of James' came out they had to! I approach her "Gabby?" I ask. She turns around and looks at me, before turning back "Hi Tommie" she says. I stand next to her "What are you doing?" I ask her. She sighs "Thinking about what a horrible person I am" she replies glumly.
I feel we've traded places on this voyage, I'm feeling better but now she's depressed! I lean on the railing "Why do you think you're a horrible person?" I ask her gently. She looks up at me "You can't honestly think the way I treated my mom on the phone was acceptable can you?" she asks. I swallow, no the way she talked to her mother was atrocious, but that's not what I'm here for. That's definitely another talk for another day though! "What about the way you treated Jack?" I ask her, she huffs and looks back down at the water. I can tell she's still quite angry with him "He deserved what I gave him! He's lucky I didn't slap him because he was really asking for it! I can't believe" her voice cracks "I can't believe he did that to me! After all we'd been through".
We stand quietly for a moment before I tell her "It was all a big misunderstanding you know. He didn't kiss her, that girl forced herself upon him. And if only you could have seen Jack after you left". She looks up at me again "What do you mean?" she asks, her eyes wide and confused. I sigh "Well, he was incredibly upset..." she cuts me off "He didn't, he didn't cry did he?" she asks. I nod "He cried, he cried a lot" I reply. She turns away and I notice her trembling "Oh, I didn't realize..." she starts, but she never finishes because she starts to cry. Oh my goodness so many tears today! I'm surprised I haven't cried yet!
Gently I pull her into my arms and hush her "Everyone gets angry and says things they don't mean, Jack will forgive you" I tell her. She shakes her head "No he won't!" she sobs. I can't help but smile, and I thank God her face is buried in my chest so she can't see the big goofy grin plastered on my face. I can't help but smile, Jack's going through all this trouble to get HER to forgive him, and yet she's worried that he will be the one who won't forgive. After a few minutes of trying to reassure her she finally stops crying, but she stays against me for another minute or so just to gather her composure. Finally she looks up at me, but I'm back to being serious with her "Are you alright?" I ask her. She sniffles and nods "I'll be alright for now. Of course, it will hurt for a while" she glances down at her bare ring finger "But I'm sure everything will turn out alright". I smile at her, she has no idea.
She turns back out to the ocean "You know, this is where Jack proposed to me. It was so romantic" she tells me. I sigh "I'm sure it was" I reply, I remember when I proposed to Nellie. Oh what a disaster that turned out to be! Finally she turns away from the railing and begins walking back towards the ship with me "I'm going to go clean up for the memorial ceremony. You should clean up too..." we're cut off when we reach the promenade deck by Jack. He is standing before us in his best suit, his bowtie crooked and his Marconi hat cannot hide his hair which is sticking out from under it in all different directions.
He has the chocolates tucked under one arm, while he holds the flowers and the paper with the poem on it in the other. He looks like he's incredibly nervous as he clears his throat and stumbles over the words "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height. My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight. For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day's. Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for right. I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose. With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death" he recites.
After he finishes he holds the flowers out to her nervously, I take notice that they're red roses, which are her favorites. The delinquent stares at him, absolutely dumbstruck. He swallows "Um, Gabby. I'm not very good at uh, courting in the future. But is this enough for you to forgive me? I mean, uh, I didn't mean to make you upset because I, I uh, I love you and, and I really didn't want to kiss that other girl. So will you please um, well uh" he tucks the flowers under his arm with the chocolates and reaches into his vest pocket, pulling out the ring she gave back to him earlier. He kneels down in front of her "Will you please marry me, please?". His heartfelt pleading makes my old heart melt, for her to say no would shock me! Who could say no to his youthful puppy dog eyes?
Finally she approaches him, kneeling down in front of him and taking his hand that's holding out the ring to her "Jack, I'd never dream of marrying anyone else besides you" she tells him. Before he can say anything else she continues "But we need to make a solemn promise to one another right now, that no matter what happens to us from this day forward, we won't break off our engagement or our marriage unless you really do love someone else". He smiles at her and slips the ring onto her finger "I give you my solemn promise" he says "I give you my solemn promise that I will never, ever, not in a million years, love anyone else other than you". She swallows "Don't make promises you can't keep Jack, are you sure?" she asks. He nods and kisses her "I've never been more sure in my whole life. Even if you fall in love with somebody else I won't stop loving you".
She laughs and throws herself into him "Jack I won't ever love anybody else but you either!" she tells him. Them kissing and making up on the deck is starting to draw an audience and I quickly usher the two lovebirds back towards our stateroom. They hold hands and talk with each other cheerfully, I've never seen them like this before!
When we make it back to the stateroom she kisses him one last time "I'm going to go get ready for the memorial, you two should also. I'll meet you back here alright?" she asks. He nods "One more thing, you'll go to the ball with me tonight won't you?" he asks, she laughs and rolls her eyes "Jack I'm your fiance! Who else could I go with?" she asks him. He shrugs "You could take Thomas?" he suggests, she glances over at me before laughing "Nah, let the fangirls have him" she replies. As she walks out she hugs me "No offense of course Tommie" she lowers her voice "Thanks for what you did, I'll never be able to repay you!" she tells me. I smile "Well I didn't want you to end up as depressed as I am" I admit to her. She smiles and whispers in my ear "Cymbalta can help" before leaving. Who's Cymbalta?
I'm in a mushy mood tonight can't you tell? Not quite sure why I am, but I am! So anyways, I've been kinda busy. My pony is a bit upset after we sold his companion, but my friend who is leaving for college says I can borrow her mini horse to keep him company while she's away. So I'm currently working on that, and also I have these 2 puppies. One in particular likes to poop on my floor, a lot! So that's a pain! Also of note, I'm going away next weekend to Cape Cod for some more 'vacation from vacation'. Yea, my mom keeps making me go on breaks from Fanfiction. It's really annoying! I don't want a break, I don't like to keep my adoring public waiting! I know it drives ME crazy having to wait for chapters!
So anyway, before I leave I will try to get at least 1 or 2 more chapters up! Next chapter might even be up in a day or so, depending. My mom is REALLY set on keeping me away from the computer! She wants me to go out into our barn with her to help her clean it out and look for some stuff. The only thing in it for me is she promised me her model horses when (If) we find them. Honestly, they're probably in really shoddy shape after sitting in that old barn for so long. But who knows!
I have restocked the review gift shop! Today if you review, you'll receive a limited edition My Little Pony that is dark blue, with a little Titanic painted on it's butt. Her mane and tail are colored in the white star livery, Red, Black, White, and Yellow. And her eyes are blue too, you know, cause her body sorta represents the ocean. Yea idk. Also, if you review now we'll throw in an action figure to ride the pony! We got the captain, all the officers, Tommie Andrews, the Marconi guys, Molly Brown, the first class people. Ok you know what, we basically have everybody as an action figure! All 2,200 something passengers! So yea, review NOW! And if you act within in the next 2 minutes we'll throw in a whole set of those action figures! You can pick 12 of your favorite people! And the best part! We'll throw in an EXTRA 2 ponies, one with the Olympic and one with the Britannic! Ya, I'm doing a big offer since I didn't have diddly squat for my last review. So, REVIEW NOW!
THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY THANKS FOR READING! Hope you enjoyed it!