At 10:50 a.m., two days later, Amanda and Jake used Jack's fleet of on-call limousines to take them to the NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Amanda had teased her hair the way she watched the stylist do it, and hoped that she was adequately dressed for an on-camera interview. How did one dress for it? Was there a particular style?
They were waved through security and gave their names and a few minutes later, a harried assistant who introduced herself as Cassandra introduced herself and gave them both visitor badges. She led them to an elevator and took them to the third floor. And when the elevator doors opened, Amanda felt like she was in a madhouse.
It was huge. There were rows and rows of desks of reporters, probably all contributors to the nightly newscasts, either writing, fact checking, answering phones, or on the phones. She was reminded of the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange, everything was so busy. Cassandra led them to a large, private office and there he was, the host of NBC Nightly News himself, Brian Williams. He smiled and shook both their hands and thanked them for coming.
Jake joked, "Well we've had calls from the big three, but being in New York, it was hard to say we couldn't come. Besides, we're aware that this is something of a big deal and knew we had to meet it head-on."
Williams chuckled. "I hate to agree, but yes, you are both definitely news. Especially because, I'm sure you're well aware, you are the son of a rather influential executive. Now I'm not sure how familiar you are with doing something like this, but I'll explain the format so we can make you completely at ease."
"After we chat here, we have a nice studio room set-up with three chairs, and multiple cameras. There's one that will capture all three of us from the side, and each one of us will have a camera on us for close-ups. The room will be dark and the lights will be bright, so you really won't be able to see them. And then...All we're going to do is have a conversation, the three of us. I'll ask you each questions, and all you have to do is answer them. Everything is being recorded, naturally, and if you stumble, don't worry about it. Collect your thoughts and just start from the beginning. Sometimes even I stumble and I just start again. Everything will be cleaned up and edited and no one will be embarrassed."
He smiled, "And I'm not going to go for any sort of trap questions. We're just going to talk about your experiences. Before we begin, I just want to talk a little bit and get to know you, and this will just be taped. It's basically some backstory of the two of you to start the broadcast and introduce you. Sound fair?"
They both nodded. So Jake told them about his childhood and the lie about meeting Amanda when she was in college and how he'd dropped out but they'd reconnected recently and found a spark and married, and Amanda's was complete fabrication, the same story she'd told Jake's parents, syncing with his own, and about her deceased parents.
With that settled, Williams, who they noticed was in make-up, let them out of his office. They settled into the seats and some of the make-up technicians hovered over them with brushes to make sure the lights didn't make their skin glare. And then, when they were ready and Williams confirmed, they were off. He was right, they really couldn't see the cameras.
"Speaking now with Jake and Amanda Park, the two passengers of the Ocean Princess who were assumed tragically lost before being found again. Jake, Amanda, a pleasure to meet you." They thanked him. Williams asked, "So take me back, how did you first end up joining the passenger list of the Ocean Princess?"
"Well it was a spur-of-the-moment thing," Jake told him. "I just had this urge. Amanda, she'd never been on a cruise before, and you know it's cold in New York right now, and a sunny cruise to South America seemed like a great trip. I hadn't sailed with Starlight Cruise Lines before, but I was fascinated by the ship, with its mix of modern and classic design in its ships, and it was a bit of a rush, but I booked it and we were off to the races."
Williams smiled. "So, first time cruise, what did you think of things at the start, Amanda?"
She smiled. "It was beautiful. I mean it really was. It's truly a shame that the ship sank, because it really was like a floating palace, and I felt like a princess in that Owner's Suite. And the hospitality staff was lovely. In fact, I was bold and when I coaxed Jake into finding our room ourselves, naturally, I managed to get us lost," Amanda giggled. "And that was when we first met Mr. Shaw. He said that all the crew was strategically placed to help out adventurous passengers like myself that may think they know where they're going, but didn't. So he was actually the one who showed us to that cabin that first day."
Williams smiled. "We've spoken a bit to Mr. Michael Rogo, and I assume your answer will be the same, there really weren't any warning signs of what was to come, correct?"
They both shook their heads. "None at all," Jake said.
"So when did you become aware of the problem at hand?"
"Well, I noticed it first. There was a sound like water was running and I actually woke Jake up and asked him if he'd left the shower on," Amanda said. "It was somewhat early in the morning, maybe around six?"
Jake nodded, "So I got out of bed and even before I got to our bathroom my feet were wet, and I turned on the light and saw the water and amanda asked if it was some sort of a back-up but I immediately recognized that it was seawater...And it shouldn't be leaking out of our drains."
"And so after that, you went onto the deck? What was that like?"
Jake replied, "Well there were a handful of other passengers on-deck, including Mr. Rogo. He was actually a shipboard dinner companion of us at the Cosmopolitan, so we'd become friends. And he described being on another cruise liner and said they had a boiler explosion and he said...That he felt the same feeling he had when that had happened, but that he felt that this situation was going to have a worse outcome, or something to that effect."
"And at this point, there were no warnings, no alarms, not anything to indicate the ship was in any distress, correct?"
Amanda shook her head. "One of the passengers even commented on that. He said if the ship was in trouble, there should be some sort of alarm, and we agreed and I know at that time I was thinking that maybe things weren't as bad as we initially thought. And then Mr. Shaw and his assistant, Julie McCoy, they both came on deck and Mr. Shaw said that he was going to see what the situation was on the bridge."
"And I'll admit, once I had sight of a member of the crew, I kind of latched onto him and didn't want to let him out of my sight, because I think I was still more anxious in that moment than Amanda was. And so we first visited the cabins for the deck crew, and the officers, and the captain, but we found them all deserted, and then we went to the bridge."
Williams' tone got serious. "And I can't imagine what that must have been like. Can you describe what you were feeling when you all walked into that empty bridge?"
"Definitely shock." Amanda let out a nervous chuckle.
Jake said, "I wasn't sure exactly what I was expecting but I remember thinking that empty bridge wasn't it. And I'm sure it's been said a lot already but Mr. Shaw was kind of a rock. I mean I'm sure he was just as flabbergasted as we were but he kept his cool completely. And that was honestly the moment that we became part of his crew."
Williams said, "How do you mean?"
Jake told him, "He said that based on the situation, we'd all need to work together, and I think that because we kept our cool, he respected that. He said that he wanted to have some people with cool heads to help him, so he said while it was highly irregular, he wanted to, I guess you could say, draft us. he said it might be temporary, depending on what crew was still on-hand, but it might be for the interim, and as the video show, it was definitely not temporary."
Williams said, "So you got the emergency alarm going to alert the passengers, and then what?"
Amanda laughed. "I got a crash course in operating the distress system. He said there were two things that needed to be done. He'd already determined the ship was in major distress with no power and no engines, and so we needed to start loading lifeboats and trying to radio for help. Since I am not as strong, and the lifeboats took a lot of heavy lifting to load and launch, I volunteered to try and make contact with someone so he could get underway with the evacuations."
"And so...You did reach someone," said Williams.
Amanda nodded. "It took some time, and my only experience with a ship in distress was seeing the movie 'Titanic,' so I was using the radiophone and sending out an SOS and eventually, I made contact with Mr. Vandenberg on the Norwegian Star. And he was very helpful. He was the one who volunteered to radio Soto Cano for the helicopter support, and then he also guided me through the process to make the radio distress system automated so I didn't have to stay there."
Williams said, "So that was the first bit of good news, but as I understand it, things started taking a turn for the worse, correct?"
Jake nodded. "We tried a port side lifeboat but Mr. Shaw correctly determined that we couldn't fill them and lower them due to the ship's list, so that basically took half the lifeboats out of play. And the starboard lifeboats started off being able to be lowered just fine, and Julie McCoy and the ship's doctor, Bricker, were organizing the evacuees and decided on women and children first, and about the time Amanda made her way to us, the list started making the lifeboats catch in the davits, so Amanda had to borrow Mike's knife and cut them loose after we got them as close to the water as we could. They were doing that on all the lifeboats being lowered at that point. But then, the list got too great and they just couldn't be lowered anymore."
"So at this point, you were relying solely on the single lifeboat from the Norwegian Star?" Jake nodded. "And what was the atmosphere like when you heard the first helicopters and then got involved in the air evacuations?"
"For me, quite a relief," Amanda said as Jake nodded. "Mr. Shaw, bless him, kept politely urging me to prepare to evacuate, and said that because of what Jake had done, if I waited to be the last woman passenger to evacuate that he'd see to it Jake left with me, but...Being there and doing something...It just felt right." Jake nodded again. "It didn't feel right to leave the ship. I even kind of swore a pact that we'd stay until the end. And Jake agreed and then Mike Rogo agreed as well."
"And what was Mr. Shaw's reaction to that?"
Amanda giggled. "He said he thought we were nuts, but that we were good at respecting his commands and said that he wouldn't order us to leave, but that he still thought we all were crazy."
"So at that point was he basically declared as the ship's new captain to compensate for the desertion of Captain Catalano?"
Jake shook his head, "Before that, even. We got an update from the maintenance supervisor, Harrison? I believe? He told us about the sewage tank issue and the water being fed all over the ship and I think Mike was the one who suggested he take charge. So he said he had some experience as a ship's officer in years past and volunteered unless someone thought they were more qualified, but no one else spoke up."
"And then you started the air evacuations. and Amanda, we saw in the video footage you traveling towards the bow, where did you go?"
"Well Mr. Shaw wanted an update. He was very focused on whether or not the bow was underwater and said that when it did get flooded we'd be running out of time. And as I was passing the door that led inside the ship I remembered that we'd left things behind, so I quickly went to my cabin to collect them, like Jake's wallet and cell phone, Then I checked the bow for Mr. Shaw and gave him an update."
"So evacuations were running pretty smoothly, but the ship was starting to sink more rapidly, and then you went back inside again, correct?"
Amanda nodded. "After that passenger arrived who had slept through the alarms, We all started to worry that maybe someone else was overlooked. With the ship at the list it was at and the need for strong arms to help hold the evacuees, even though Mr. Shaw was planning to do a sweep himself, I just...Beat him to the punch I guess you could say. I felt like the other three were more necessary to the evacuations than I was."
Williams looked in her direction. "So...I can't imagine after going into the ship the first time that venturing inside for a second time was much better."
"There were good and bad things, yes. The bow had levelled off, so the deck was still leaning, but not leaning at an angle, which was helpful, but of course I didn't realize at the time that it was because the seawater had entirely flooded the bow, and that actually it was terrible news. And even with the emergency lighting, it was very dark in there. Most of the doors were shut and the sunlight was very sparse."
"Can you tell me what happened? How far into the interior did you get?"
"Well, first I went to deck eight and checked, and then to deck seven, and then when I got back to deck six and started looking around there, I noticed that the further I got to the bow, the more the staterooms were underwater, and then...The emergency lighting failed and I was completely in darkness, it seemed."
"Oh my," Williams seemed genuinely horrified. What went through your mind in that moment?"
Amanda let out a bitter laugh. "Fear, terror, hysteria. I mean, in retrospect if I'd been thinking clearly I just could have made my way backwards towards the Sunset Bar, but in that moment it was like my mind shorted out." Jake reached over to her chair and took her hand in his. "I cried, I had horrible images in my head of being trapped in there in the dark, drowned, and Jake not being able to get to me until it was too late. I feared he'd become trapped in there with me and that was even more horrifying. The water was touching my feet, and I'd move a few steps towards the stern, and then it seemed like it was following me. After a moment, I'd feel it touch my feet again."
She shuddered and let out a hoarse sigh. "Then I got control of myself. I still didn't think to go to the bar, as I should have, but I did realize the sun was out, so I managed to break open a few of the cabin doors, and that let sunlight into the hallway which gave me some light, and then I was able to find an emergency box that had a large flashlight in it. And thank you to the Starlight Cruise Line for providing that equipment because it helped save my life, it truly did. And I was not going to venture any further into the ship with just a flashlight and get trapped so I finally went back towards the Sunset Bar and got out of there."
Williams looked at Jake. "Did you have any idea this was going on?"
Jake shook his head. "If I had, of course I would have gone to get her immediately. Mr. Shaw was aware of the risks, and we were both watching and he said that the moment things looked like they were deteriorating too quickly, he was going to give me the order to go after her. And by God, he did, but as I turned to go in there, she came out the door and...I can't put the relief into words. I know I cried. It was such a relief to see her."
Williams said, "But that relief was short-lived?"
Jake nodded. "By then it was just the four of us left. Shaw ordered me to go, and I hate to say it, but I defied him. I said that she was right there and I wanted to leave the ship with her and I begged him to let me stay, and told him that she was right there, she was on the rope, and it was going to be fine, and it really bothered him to leave before I did, but he respected me enough to do so."
"And at this point you were unaware that the ship was breaking apart, I'm guessing."
"Oh we had NO idea," Amanda said.
"So, if you can, describe that moment."
Amanda shuddered again. "Everything seemed to freeze. I only had one hand on the rope and then it seemed like the ship fell out from under me, and then I lost hold and was sliding. I ended up stopping in a pile of debris."
Jake said, "And once she went in there...I was not leaving her behind. It never crossed my mind once. I released myself and went after her."
Williams said, "And of course, the big question...Can you describe those final moments?"
Jake paused. "I slid my way over to her in the bar. She still had the rope harness she had made around her waist and so I basically tied her to me. The bar was starting to fill with water from the cabin entrance and we managed to make our way to the starboard windows and thankfully there was a table leg that I used to break out one of the windows and we climbed over. The fog was eerie, and a complete surprise, but we were on the deck and that was all that mattered in that moment."
"By that time it was basically just a step right into the water and so we did it. But we were still right close to the sinking hull and we fought to stay above the water but it was a losing battle, so I told her to get as much air into her lungs as she could and we did and it seemed like only a moment later we couldn't stay on the surface anymore."
"So what did you do then?"
Jake smiled. "First miracle. The ship had inflatable rafts and the jostling apparently activated a few. One of them went by us upside down and there was enough light for me to see it was trailing ropes, and by instinct I reached out and managed to wrap my hand up in one and the air it in managed to pull it, and by default, us, past the suction and to the surface."
"But even then you weren't out of the woods, correct?"
Jake shook his head. "The raft apparently cleared the water before settling, and that trapped some air underneath it. We swam and I pulled us until we got underneath it. And then we could breath. There was a rope threaded through it that I could feel, I'm assuming some sort of an impromptu safety belt for passengers to climb behind and have across their waists when they sat down, so we both pulled ourselves up by it and then hooked it under our armpits. Then we both passed out from exhaustion. Of course we should have waved to the helicopters but we were just too tired. When we woke back up, by then we were alone, but that was our own fault."
"So the next step for you was?"
"There were a handful of the full lifeboats that had also broken free and risen to the surface. We managed to swim to one. Since it had food and water for 20 people, it was more than enough for just us two. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the motor running to begin with, but it had a compass and I know a little about navigation so we kind of started paddling. We didn't make much progress, sadly, but we kept ourselves from drifting the wrong way, and I kept trying to get the engine going but for quite awhile I was unsuccessful. Every night I'd drop the anchor to make sure we didn't go the wrong way."
He smiled, "And then finally, I'm not sure what I did, but finally the engine started and we managed to make our way to Puerto Cortes. I've never been more grateful to be alive, let me tell you."
"An incredible story of survival. You could say it was miraculous, and it most certainly was, but part of the reason for the miracles happening was because you both kept your heads and put yourselves into places for the miracles to happen."
The side camera caught the look of love Amanda and Jake shared between them as they turned their heads to meet each other's eyes and they smiled. Amanda said, "He did all the heavy lifting at the end. I certainly wouldn't be here if it wasn't for his quick thinking in those final moments. And even when we were drifting in the lifeboat, he never gave into fear and was confident that we'd make landfall, and it was a big help, because there were a few moments when I feared we were out of the frying pan and into the fire."
Williams smiled. "Last question...Would either of you go on another cruise or, pun intended, has that ship sailed?"
They all chuckled. Amanda said, "If you'd asked me in those first few days in the lifeboat I'd have definitely said no, but after having some time to relax and calm myself, just the two of us...I'd consider it."
Jake smiled, "And if she wanted to, I'd go. But I don't think that's going to happen again for awhile. I like having my feet on solid ground."
Williams smiled, "Jake, Amanda, thank you so much for sitting down with us and sharing your incredible story of survival." They both nodded and smiled. Williams looked into his own camera and said, "Proof that true love can truly conquer all, and an apparent tragedy can have a happy ending after all. This is Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News."
And then the cameras were off. "Great job, both of you. I don't want to trim any of it. Because of the sheer amount of content, if you don't mind, we'll break the story up into several parts and air them each night." Amanda and Jake both nodded. Williams said, "Can I get my camera on again, for a few moments? I'm not sure how many segments this will be, but I'll record several outros you all can edit in, if that works?"
A voice told him it was. Williams looked for the red light and said, "Part two of our sit-down interview will take place tomorrow night."
He paused. "And we'll continue this fascinating story of survival with part three of our exclusive interview tomorrow night."
He paused again. "A story of heroism and survival, stay tuned for part four, which will air during our next newscast."
Then finally, "And the final part of this exclusive interview with Jake and Amanda Park will air during our next episode of NBC Nightly News. Please, join us."
And then Williams was done. He praised them as they stood up. "Absolutely fascinating, thank you both for sharing, and I know it wasn't easy. I and everyone here at NBC Nightly News are very grateful you were able to share your story with us. Do you have any other questions for me?" They both shook their heads. Williams shook both of their hands again. "We'll get the first part of the interview edited and it will air during the newscast tonight. The introduction I recorded will blend in with John Seigenthaler's newscasts, and then we can resume it with the next segment during my first newscast of the week. So you can see the first part tonight, if you and your family and friends want to tune in."
Williams led them from the room and spoke with Cassandra. "Would you please have the editors cut together a 30-second promo to drop every hour announcing the first part of the Parks' interview will air tonight?" Cassandra eagerly nodded. With final goodbyes, they left Williams to his work and Cassandra offered to snag a tour guide. "Would you like a tour of the building or are you ready to call it a day?"
Amanda thanked her but they both politely declined. That interview had tired them out, and Amanda knew there would probably be more. They returned their badges and re-entered the waiting limo.
They stopped by the cell phone store that Jake frequented and replaced Amanda's phone with the current top-of-the-line model. She felt a twinge, like she was settling, even though the fantastic iPhone that Ash had described was still about two months away from being announced.
They stopped for lunch, and were unrecognized, though Amanda felt like that would change a bit after the interview aired on the news. She knew they wouldn't be as bombarded as Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, but there would be more recognition and she crossed her fingers that Strahm was right about her lack of being recognized.
Jake couldn't stop looking into her icy blue eyes, and inwardly, she was pleased with her selections of the lenses. She loved doing whatever she could to make herself as intensely exciting as possible for her man.
They still didn't feel like doing much after all the traveling. It was boring, but they liked it boring, at the moment. They returned to Jake's parents home and Jake took her up to the third floor to where his father had an expensive snooker table. The format was a lot different than straight pool, but Amanda got the hang of it enough that after a while, she could regularly spank Jake in the games.
After enjoying another delicious dinner with Jake's parents, they all retired to the living room and turned on the news. Williams closed out his newscast with the first part of the interview, which had ended right after Amanda and Jake had described their reactions to finding the bridge empty. The segment closed with one of Williams' pre-recorded tag lines and cut to a quick commercial break and Jake and Amanda shared a smile on the elder Parks' elegant sofa.
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Amanda's fears went unrealized virtually completely. Many law enforcement agents watched the newscast on NBC, and none of them made the connection that the black-haired, blue-eyed woman describing her experiences on the sinking Ocean Princess was the same woman that had been associated with the infamous Jigsaw murder case.
Strahm caught it with his wife, and felt that the subtle changes to her hair and eye color more than adequately changed her appearance, even though she had made no changes to her face at all. If he hadn't known it was her, be believed that he wouldn't have recognized her at first glance.
In fact, only one person recognized her, and certainly not as a former Jigsaw apprentice.
No, this person was in the small town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. A tourist trap with a total population of about 4,200. It swelled during the tourist season, but things were quiet now. One of the locals in Hogg's Upstairs Taverne asked for a T.V. in the bar to be switched off of ESPN Classic to the network news so he could see what the goddamn Democrats were up to now to derail the efforts of the best President the U.S. had ever had, George W. Bush.
Pete, the burly bartender switched it over and landed on NBC. A rough-looking guy drinking a mug of Budweiser watched with half an eye and got a refill. Despite his appearance, he had a Hell of a memory. He BSed with another of the locals and then the main broadcast cut away to an interview with some rich kid and his wife who survived a shipwreck. Like it was some big deal or something.
He had good taste in women though. His wife was definitely hot. Her black hair was probably a dye job, but it was not from a box, that was for sure. Her eyes were way too intensely blue to be real, but they drew you in. He kept staring at her whenever the camera was focused on her, barely listening to what she said. Son of a bitch, why did he feel like he knew her? Her husband talked a bunch and then Williams called her by her first name to ask her about the warning alarms. Amanda. That name was familiar too.
He thought and thought until finally a memory from his younger days flashed back to him. A young girl that had given up her virginity to him in the back seat of the car he still owned. Amanda. He compared the memory of the young girl's face to the one that was more than 10 years older in front of him. Yes, it was her. She was wearing what he assumed were contacts that changed her eye color, and the hair was now as black as the night, but he was pretty good at remembering faces and even with the subtle differences and the age difference, he knew it was her.
"I fucked her a bit when she was young," He said to the guy sitting next to him. "Usually 18-20 are when girls are their most sexy, but she's definitely a fine wine, and she's gotten better with age. Her eyes were green though, when I knew her. And her hair was brunette, but not black."
The guy looked him up and down. "You're full of shit Kyle, no way that snooty bitch let you bag her. Shit, she probably hasn't laid any guy that's worth less than seven figures since she was old enough to."
"She wasn't a snooty bitch at the time, she was fresh out of her trailer and finally off on her own in my apartment building. I think she'd just graduated from High school, and I was 23 or 24 at the time. I was moving to another apartment at the end of the month when she showed up, but she was fine back in her teens too, and oh so naïve, so I chatted her up. I could tell I was the first guy who'd treated her nicely, and I could also tell that she wasn't used to guys being nice to her and eventually she gave up her cherry to me in the back seat of my car. I laid her a few more times, but I didn't tell her I was leaving, then I just moved out. Small world, huh? I've wondered occasionally over the years what happened to her."
His companion laughed. "Now you know. The clothes she's wearing probably cost more money than the car you drive. I bet she doesn't spend any time regretting that she married the guy she's with instead of you. I'd definitely say she made out a lot better than you did, buddy. "
She certainly had. And who knew how much her rich hubby had spent on her to clean her up of the trappings of her childhood? Williams ended the interview and it went to commercial. When it came back for the weekend anchor's sign off, he gave one more reminder that the interview with Jake and Amanda Park would continue tomorrow evening.
He paid for his beer, and Kyle, who's last name was Donner, a name that he'd never actually told Amanda during their couple of weeks hanging out, had left and walked down the sidewalk to the '84 Cutlass parked down the street from the bar, lost in thought.