A/N: so, this is just something I'm trying out. Of course, I've fallen madly in love with a minor character who dies. So, I just had to write something for my poor baby! Now, I know that the real William Murdoch had a wife, but this is fanfiction William Murdoch, therefore he does not have a wife.
I actually have a lot of chapters half written for this story, but I'm not too sure on how often updates will be. I guess it depends on the demand, seeing as I have two other stories I need to finish, haha!
Also, I'll try to keep the language differences simple to read. If Odette is speaking only to other French speakers, assume they are all speaking French to each other. This will be much simpler that having to google translate everything, and rather unneeded.
So, tell me what you think of this and whether or not I should continue. I adore the feedback! xoxoxo
Odette Baudelaire squinted her green eyes and scrunched her pale nose, her small chest tightening as she sucked in an uncomfortable breath. "I believe you've quite gotten it tight enough, Simone," Odette gasped lightly. "I hardly have a breath!" Odette flinched when her maid gave another tug on the ribbons laced along her spine, successfully squeezing the air out of Odette's aching lungs.
"My apologies, Madam Anouilh," the young maid replied quickly, "but we can't have these knots come undone again." Simone finished with another tug, then finally began tieing her knots. They had been in a rush that morning, causing Simone to scramble in tightening Odette's dress properly. She didn't think it would matter as her corset had already been set about her already small frame, however, the loose ribbon of her dress had caught on the door of her carriage and promptly came completely undone. It would have been utter embarrassment if she were to have the ribbons come undone in public and, seeing as they would arrive at the harbor at any moment, Simone had to work with swift, tight hands to make sure it wouldn't come undone again.
"Yes, I would much appreciate it if your knots would refrain from undressing my wife in front of all of France," Odette's husband, Clovis Anouilh, scowled at the poor young Simone, his handsome face becoming a harsh sneer. Clovis Anouilh had been born a rich man, his father in charge of a successful steel company that had brought the family fortune back when his great grandfather had first created it. Not only was he a rich man, but Clovis was also very handsome; so handsome, in fact, that his mother often bragged that he could have been a movie star, if he had chosen to. With his perfectly curled mustache on a sharply sculpted face, bright caramel eyes against wheat-brown hair that he loved to slick back, even Odette had to admit that once, she, too, thought him handsome.
Simone could only bow to the powerful man, avoiding his hateful stare as she bobbed her blonde head in agreement. "Yes, Monsieur, I apologize, Monsieur." With the dress finally fixed, Odette brushed away the nonexistent wrinkles from the fabric upon her chest and lap and tried to return to her normal seating, although it was much harder now that she could bend her spine even less.
Between her knees, Odette kept a suitcase full of her most beloved dresses. The suitcase was an ugly old thing, with its black leather peeling at its seams and the once golden latches now rusted and brown. The latch on the right side had some loose screws, the tiny things only just holding in place. It was this reason that Odette had chosen to carry the case herself rather than have it thrown in the back with the rest of her belongings. She knew she would someday soon find herself finally having to throw the ghastly thing away, but she could yet find the strength to go through with it. She flicked her fingers against the broken latch, watching as the sunlight glinted between the spaces bare of rust. She flicked it again, then again, trying her best to focus her mind on the little clicking sounds the metal made rather than her now shallow breath. Odette could only get away with that for a few spare moments, though, before her husband cleared his throat in annoyance and threw a pointed look in her direction.
Odette refrained from a sigh and she instead turned her attention to the sky outside her window. The day was bright and the sun was warm on her cheeks. It seemed as though God had created the perfect day for her start of a new life by boarding the famous unsinkable ship Titanic. It made her rather angry, to be frank.
"Madam, we are nearly at the harbor. Would you like your hat?" Simone questioned rather nervously. Simone was a sweet and soft spoken girl. Odette had never heard her raise her voice, nor had she ever made prolonged eye contact with the girl. Nervous and meek, Simone was the most perfect house maid Clovis could have chosen for his wife.
Odette waved a hand at her. "I don't think I shall be wearing my hat today."
Simone was confused at this statement. "But Madam, the sun is shining?"
"Yes, it is," Odette nodded. "It's lovely, is it not?" Odette very well could have been perfectly content in feeling the brilliant sun on her skin, for she really loved the warmth, yet she found herself very quickly annoyed when her husband rolled his eyes and huffed.
"Odette, my dove, you will put your hat on. You don't want your skin resembling that of the working class, do you?"
"No," she said, her voice steady and guarded. "No, I suppose I don't." She raised a hand and Simone placed the large Gainsborough hat's rim between Odette's fingers in which she took the overly fashionable thing and placed it into her lap uncaringly, silently wishing it would simply disappear from her sight. Not only did her beautiful hat of feathers, lace, and tulle keep her from enjoying the sun, but she also knew it would undoubtedly tousle her hair, certainly causing the need for Simone to drag more bobby pins through her poor raven black strands.
Still, there was nothing that could be done about the matter now. Afterall, it wouldn't have been very ladylike of her if she were to allow her skin to tan and grow dark, she supposed. Odette blandly flicked the latch on her case once more.
When the harbor came in sight, Odette placed the dreadful hat upon her head and Simone went straight to work making sure no lock of hair had come from its set place. When their carriage came to a stop and Odette had stepped out, Simone rushed straight to work in gathering as many bags as she could so as to quickly hand them off to whatever crew member would be loading them onto the Titanic. Odette held her rugged suitcase close to her chest, eyeing anyone who looked as though they might take it from her. When Clovis had rounded the carriage and saw what was in his wife's hands, he let out an obvious huff.
"Is that the case I told you to throw out?" It was said with a laugh, but Odette heard no joy in the words, and his handsome smile gleamed more as that of a sneer. "Dreadful thing, it is."
"You know I can not rid myself of it," she shot back, her voice a tad more defensive than what she meant. Clovis rolled his eyes impatiently and he wrapped an arm around her small waist.
"Yes, yes, I'm well aware. That doesn't necessarily mean you should have brought it, darling."
"Of course," she nodded. "My mistake."
Clovis eyed her for a moment, then smiled and kissed her cheek. "How I haven't yet gone mad, I'll never know," he joked and Odette forced a smile, wondering the same thing about herself. It was then that Clovis spotted some of his friends through the crowd. He gave Odette another kiss on her cheek then left her, telling her to stay by his side yet not waiting to see if she would. It mattered not to her, though. She was actually very relieved that he had gone. Despite how tightly her dress and corset both were, she felt as though that, now, she could finally breathe.
She rose her face to the sky and allowed herself a smile. She breathed in as deeply as she could manage, enjoying the warmth of the sun against her pale skin despite the creak of her corset. When she opened her eyes, her pale green orbs took in the high flying birds and the whisp of the clouds within the blue sky.
She then glanced around the harbor, taking in the mix of first class, second class, and third class citizens, and found herself rather overwhelmed very suddenly. It was the first time she had seen both poor and rich mingle so openly. Although no first class man would dirty himself with speaking to a third class man, in this moment, they all shared the same happy eagerness as they bustled about the streets in a flurry. Odette clutched her suit case tighter, awareness beginning to creep upon her. How easy it would be for some stranger to try and snatch away her belongings in such a crowded space! Perhaps she should have stayed by Clovis...
Odette stood on her toes, trying her best to see past the bustle of people and locate her husband, not wanting to accidentally wander in the wrong direction. She caught a glimpse of a familiar brown color, but then it was gone. She rose to her toes again, but could only see the top of his head. She took a few unsteady steps back, her balance beginning to waiver, when she suddenly gasped and yelped as she felt someone ram into her back with force. She lurched forward, her case tumbling from her grasp. Her hands scrambled to grip it, causing her to further lose her balance and she fell to the ground hard on her knees.
"Oh, je m'excuse," Odette quickly said, a light flush spreading across her cheeks at her own foolishness. It was unimaginable, a lady of her high status foolishly backing up into some stranger simply because she had chosen to be childish and wander from her husband's side. Now she sat in the dirt of a busy ferry terminal, dressed in her best dress with a case of her freshly cleaned clothes scattered about her. She must have looked quite foolish, indeed!
Odette kept her eyes to the floor, not wanting to make any direct eye contact with the man who she had so rudely barged into. She hoped desperately that, if she kept her head down and gathered her things in a quick manner, the man would not alert her husband to her incautious behavior. The young woman began to stuff her clothes back into the suitcase, not daring to take the time to re-fold the items beforehand. How could she have been so careless? Odette supposed the fault was with her mind wandering about the sun and sky, carrying on like some daydreaming schoolgirl. She shook her head at her own ridiculousness, embarrassed tears threatening to form at the corners of her green eyes.
The young woman sighed and reached over for a pink dress that was particularly far. Suddenly, another hand reached for it at the same time and their fingers briefly grazed. Odette retracted instinctively.
"My apologies, Miss," the voice came from the man who she assumed she had bumped into. "Here, allow me." The stranger squatted down across from her and lifted a dress - a soft blue gown she quite loved - and, to her surprise, began to fold it for her. Odette chewed her lip lightly in her nervousness, then remembered how unladylike that was of her and she stopped.
She wanted to tell him that there was no need to fold the dress. Although surprisingly kind of the stranger, she did not want to spend more time on the ground than what she must, and the man seemed to be having a bit of trouble. Odette tried to return to her duty of repacking her case, yet she couldn't help but steal glances at the struggling man across from her. The woman did her best to remain composed and not stare, however, she found it secretly humorous the way his hands fumbled with the large bundles of cloth and her previous fear began to melt away. The young woman dared herself to size up the stranger, surprised to know instantly that he must not have been someone's butler, yet the navy blue Reefer jacket he wore showed he was not exactly working class either.
By the time Odette had finished packing the clothing around her, the stranger had only finished folding her blue dress, however shabby a job he had done. He paused for a moment, as he looked over his work, then his feet shuffled and he cleared his throat. "Um," the man hummed, seeming not to know what to do with the dress, before finally settling on handing it to Odette. Odette paused, an eyebrow raising lightly as she eyed the bundled mess he had made of the blue material. The man seemed to know he had not done as fine a job as he would have liked and he gave her an awkwardly thinned smile, still offering her the dress with his outstretched hands.
"Vous pouvez le poser ici," she informed him while pointing towards her suitcase. The man's eyes flashed from hers then towards the case and he nodded, reaching over to place the dress gently on top of the rest of her clothes. Odette found herself resisting a chuckle at the sight; the blue dress looked surprisingly well folded when compared to what she had so uncaringly shoved into the black box. She reached over for another dress while the stranger began to do his very best at folding another, looking determined to get it right this time.
Odette kept her head low while she also began to fold a dress along with the stranger to perhaps make them both feel a bit less anxious. It wasn't folded as near as well as it should have been, but that all didn't really matter as they were all a wrinkled mess by now. She wished the stranger knew that as well so that he wouldn't waste his time in trying to perfect his folding.
Odette could see from the corner of her eye that the man was getting frustrated trying to get his folding done correctly. If she were to admit it, she would have thought the action quite nice, yet undeserving. This man hadn't a need of working so hard to fix a mess she had created. "Monsieur?" Odette said slowly, cautiously, hoping she wasn't speaking out of turn. "Tu n'as besoin de m'aider." The man stopped his fumbling hands and turned his gaze to her, and for the first time, their eyes met. Odette allowed her gaze to linger on his for a moment longer than what her governess would have considered acceptable, quickly taking in the handsome features of the stranger before her.
He blinked at her, his brow furrowing lightly. "Miss?"
"oh, u-um, vous pouvez y aller s'il le faut, Monsieur," she tried again rather awkwardly, not quite understanding why he suddenly looked so confused.
"Oh, uh, I'm sorry, Miss," he said, clearing his throat. "I don't seem to understand-"
"Oh!" It was then that Odette realized that he hadn't understood a word of what was spoken. Her eyes widened and a heat came upon her face with the sudden rush of embarrassment. "I-I apologize, Monsieur, I hadn't realized-!"
The stranger waved her off with a soft smile; one that looked far less awkward and more kind now. "No need for an apology, Miss. No harm done."
Odette offered him a polite smile in turn, taking the oddly folded dress from his hands. "I was informing you that you haven't a need to help me, Monsieur. After all, it was I who made such a mess." She placed the dress into the case, then reached for another. The stranger did the same.
"Don't mind that, Miss, it's no trouble. I had a hand in making the mess, afterall." Odette found herself regarding the man before her with a newly peaked curiosity. He certainly seemed to be a rather odd man; why else would he choose to dirty his hands with her? He had an odd accent as well. She couldn't very well place a region on it, though. It only came hinted with a few off words, yet her ears could still catch the foreign sound hidden within his graveled voice. It sounded British, but may have been from any number of countries as he seemed to try and hide the accent. She found herself wanting to ask, but she knew it would be improper of her to ask a stranger of his origins.
"Odette?" The woman nearly jumped at the sound of her name. She looked up at the man making his way through the crowd of people and towards her and the stranger. Clovis came to an exasperated stop, his hands brushing brown strands of brown hair in place as a very agitated look shadowed over his handsome face. "Odette, ma colombe, où étais-tu?"
Odette took the last dress from the stranger's hands and placed it into the suitcase, finally closing the box and flicking the latches. "Je venais juste te trouver, Clovis," she said softly.
The man did not seem impressed. In fact, he let out a rather antagonizing scoff and he waved his hands at her. "Que fais-tu dans la saleté?" Odette instantly felt her cheeks heat up once again as she was reminded of how foolish she was, lounging on the ground in the middle of a street. Clovis gave her a sturdy, pointed look, then sighed and offered his hand. Odette took it and allowed herself to be stood back up. Once on her own two feet, Clovis wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her against his side, his curled mustache twitching as he looked her over for any obvious signs of filth. Once he found none, he sighed once more. "Que dois-je faire de toi, colombe?"
There was the sound of someone clearing their throat and the couple turned their gazes to the stranger Odette had run into. Now that he was standing, too, Odette realized that she must have knocked off his cap. The man ran his hands through his own lightly frazzled dark brown hair, a black cap with a golden badge held tightly in the grip of his free hand.
Clovis eyed the man, his entire stance like that of a challenging lion guarding his food, yet he somehow managed to give the stranger a smile. "I apologize, Monsieur, did my wife cause you trouble?"
"Not at all, sir," the stranger shook his head. "Just needed some help with her bags, is all."
Clovis instantly relaxed, obviously glad that his wife had not angered a stranger while he was gone. "Well, I thank you for coming to the aid of my wife. You know how women wonder at times," Clovis chuckled. The stranger merely nodded, another awkward, thin lipped smile forming on his face. "Yes, well, I believe it's time we board now. Thank you again, Monsieur. Will you be on board the Titanic?"
The stranger nodded again. "Indeed, I will."
"Splendid! If I should ever happen to see you in the smoke room, I'll pour you a brandy!"
"That's very kind of you, sir. Thank you."
Clovis reached out his hand and the men shook once, then the stranger went to pick up Odette's suitcase. "Wait, Monsieur," Odette rushed. Both men stopped and turned their gaze to the woman, eyeing her for raising her voice so suddenly. Odette averted her gaze and swallowed. "I apologize, Monsieur. But the suitcase, it is broken," she gestured with a delicate finger. "The clip on the side, it will fall off."
"Is that the broken case I told you not to use?" Clovis questioned. Odette said nothing. The stranger looked from her to the case, then lifted it with his hands on either side rather than using the old, rusted handle. Odette reached out to take the case from him, but instead of giving it to her like she thought he would, he twisted the case around and eyed the broken latch.
"It's not too broken, just a bit old," he said matter of factly. "I think I might have something to fix it if you'd like?"
Clovis took a step forward, taking the suitcase from the stranger with a fake smile and chuckle. "Oh no, Monsieur, my wife has bothered you enough with this case. It is in need of trashing, anyways." The stranger looked to Odette as though he were silently asking her for her opinion on the matter. Odette merely nodded and took the case from Clovis, clutching the peeling thing to her chest.
"I am very grateful, Monsieur," said Odette. "Merci."
The stranger nodded once, then fitted his cap back on top of his head and straightened his blue Reefer jacket around his shoulders. Odette's brow scrunched slightly; the man looked far more professional now that his clothes were not askew and he was no longer squatting down upon the ground with her, but he didn't all together look as a rich man should. She wondered if perhaps he really was a working man rather than a rich man, but he looked different than a mere steward.
Suddenly, two more men appeared from the crowd. These new strangers were dressed in their best suits and rich smiles, greeting Clovis with bellowed laughter and hearty handshakes. Odette knew one faintly as old friends of Clovis, though he had a lot of friends. When they finally took notice of her, they greeted her, however less welcoming of a greeting it was.
"Bonjour, Madam Anouilh," Marcel Cordonnier smiled and gave her a nod along with the other man, Frédéric Godeaux. Frédéric was an old family friend of the Baudelaires. Odette had fancied him once. However, her mother had thought him too boyish with not enough money to justify it. She gave the two newcomers a nod in turn, but when she opened her mouth to respond, she was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. It was the stranger she had barged into. He was standing with an awkward stance, clearly trying to excuse himself without being rude.
"Bonjour, Monsieur," Frédéric said brightly, then raised a brow. "You're an officer of the Titanic, yes?"
"Indeed I am. First Officer, actually."
With that said, Frédéric eagerly shook the First Officer's hand. "Oh, what a pleasure to meet an officer of such a fine ship! A fine ship, indeed!" It was then that Odette realized that the shining badge on the stranger's cap was that of the White Starline itself, and his blue Reefer was a part of his uniform. She felt foolish for not making the connection sooner.
The First Officer smiled kindly as he shook Frédéric then Marcel's hands and exchanged pleasantries, then politely excused himself to finish his duties. He tipped his hat at the men and bowed his head lightly at Odette. "It was a pleasure. And welcome aboard the Titanic." With that, the handsome First Officer of the Titanic was gone, swallowed up by the crowd.
The men showed no signs that they noticed the Officer's departure as they continued their conversation of business Odette knew little of. She did her best to seem intrigued, and yet her mind began to wander once again.
Although Odette knew she would only ever see the First Officer of the Titanic in odd passing social events at best, she found her thoughts lingering on the moment he had helped her pick up her things. Specifically, the moment where their eyes had met. It had happened for perhaps a moment too long, but nothing too damnable in her opinion. Still, the thought replayed in her mind, the corner of her lips turning upward into a soft smile.
His eyes were blue.