Tyler changes his cassette in his tape recorder, not wanting to miss a single word of this story.
"So we're up to the dusk on the night of the sinking. Six hours to go," he notes once he's recording again.
"Don't you love it? There's Captain Michelle, he's standing there with the iceberg warning in his fucking hand..." Chase paused, remembering the presence of Mia and not wanting to offend, "...excuse me...in his hand, and he's ordering more speed."
"26 years of experience working against him. He figures anything big enough to sink the ship they're going to see in time to turn. But the ship's too big, with too small a rudder...it can't corner worth shit. Everything he knows is wrong," Tyler says.
Mia is ignoring the conversation. She has the art-nouveau comb with the jade butterfly on the handle in her hands, turning it slowly. She is watching a monitor, which shows the ruins of Suite B-52-56.
April 14th, 1912
Mia and Kevin snuck into her stateroom, which was like a dream in the beautiful woodwork and satin upholstery, emerging from the rusted ruin. Mia felt like she was living that dream. The rest of her crowd was at dinner, or in the smoking room. She didn't care. She still felt like she was flying from her kiss with Leo. Her heart was right...she had made the right decision. She hoped she would make more decisions like that because now she was free. She knew fully well that she would lose the luxurious life she had lived, but it was worthless compared to Kevin. He had a heart of gold, more than anyone she ever knew. He was more precious than all of the money she would be losing. Kevin was overwhelmed by the opulence of the room. He set his sketchbook and drawing materials on the marble table.
"Will this light do? Don't artists need good light?" Mia asked.
"Zat is true, I am not used to working in such 'orreeble conditions," he said in a bad French accent and she laughed. He grinned at his accomplishment, marveling at the paintings that adorned her room. "Hey...Monet!" He crouched down next to the paintings stacked against the wall. "Isn't he great...the use of color? I saw him once...through a hole in this garden fence in Giverny."
Mia went into the adjoining walk-in wardrobe closet. He saw her go to the safe and started working the combination. He was fascinated.
"Jayden insists on lugging this thing everywhere," she muttered.
"Should I be expecting him anytime soon?"
"Not as long as the cigars and brandy hold out."
She unlocked the safe. Glancing up, she met his eyes in the mirror behind the safe. She opened it and removed the necklace, then held it out to Kevin who took it nervously.
"What is it? A sapphire?"
"A diamond. A very rare diamond, called the Heart of the Ocean."
Kevin gazed at wealth beyond his comprehension.
"I want you to draw me like your Asian girl. Wearing this," she smiled at him, "Wearing only this."
He looked down at her, startled at her request. She nodded to confirm that it was what she wanted. The portrait was going to be a symbol that she was free. She was a little nervous, but she was sure of herself as she pushed the sketchpad into his hands.
Mia drew the butterfly comb out of her hair. She shook her head and her hair fell free around her waist.
Kevin was laying out his pencils like surgical tools. His sketchbook was open and ready. He looked up as she came into the room, wearing a black silk kimono. "The last thing I need is another picture of me looking like a china doll. As a paying customer, I expect to get what I want."
She handed him a dime and stepped back, parting the kimono. The blue stone lied on her light chocolatey breast. Her heart was pounding as she slowly lowered the robe. Leo looked so stricken, it was almost comical. The kimono dropped to the floor.
"Onto the bed, uh, couch!" Kevin murmured.
She went over, trying to ignore her thumping heart. She laid on the couch.
"Tell me when it looks right to you."
"Uh...just bend your left leg a little and...and lower your head. Eyes to me. That's it," he encouraged, his hands shaking. He started to sketch, dropping his pencil. She stifled a laugh.
The charcoal glided across the paper His face was flushed as he studied every part of her body intently. "I believe you are blushing, Mr. Big Artiste. I can't imagine Monsieur Monet blushing," she teased.
"He does landscapes," he sweated. His eyes came up to look at her over the top edge of his sketchpad. This was an image she will carry for the rest of her life. He continued capturing her beauty on paper, time seeming to halt as Kevin drew her, like the rest of the world had come to a standstill. Despite his nervousness, he drew with sure strokes, and what emerged was the best thing he had ever done. Her pose was languid, her hands beautiful, and her eyes radiated her beauty.
Present
Even as a 101 year old, Mia's eyes are still the same as that painting. "My heart was pounding the whole time. It was the most erotic moment of my life...up till then at least."
A semicircle of listeners staring in rapt, frozen silence. The story of Kevin and Mia has finally and completely grabbed them.
"What, uh...happened next?" Chase asks.
Mia smiles. "You mean, did we 'do it?' "
1912
Finally the drawing was done, and Mia emerged from her statue position on the couch. Kevin signed it and handed it to Mia, who was in her kimono as she watched him.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Randall."
Mia gazed at the drawing. He had X-rayed her soul. "Date it, Kevin. I want to always remember this night."
He did: April 14th, 1912. Mia meanwhile scribbled a note on a piece of Titanic stationary, though it was unknown what it said. She accepted the drawing from him, crossing the safe to the wardrobe. She put the diamond back in the safe, placing the drawing and note on top of it. She closed the door with a clunk.
Mentor Ji entered from the Palm Court through the revolving door in the First Class Smoking Room, crossing the room to Jayden. A fire was blazing in the marble fireplace, and the usual fatcats were playing cards, drinking and talking. Jayden saw Mentor Ji and detached from his group, going to him.
"None of the stewards has seen her," he reported.
Jayden's voice was low and forceful, "This is ridiculous, Mentor Ji. Find her."
Titanic glided across an unnatural sea, black and calm as a pool of oil. The ship lights were mirrored almost perfectly in the black water. The sky was brilliant with stars. A meteor traced a bright line across the heavens.
On the bridge, Captain Mitchell peered out at the blackness ahead of the ship. Damon Henderson brought him a cup of hot tea with lemon. It steamed in the bitter cold of the open bridge. Second Joel Rawlings was next to him, staring out at the sheet of black glass the Atlantic had become.
"I don't think I've ever seen such a flat calm, in 24 years at sea."
"Yes, like a mill pond. Not a breath of wind," Captain Mitchell replied.
"It's make the bergs harder to see, with no breaking water at the base," Joel noted.
"Mmmm. Well, I am off. Maintain speed and heading, Mr. Joel."
"Yes sir."
"And wake me, of course, if anything becomes in the slightest degree doubtful."
Mia, fully dressed now in a pale dress that didn't require a corset, returned to the sitting room. They heard a key in the lock. Mia took Kevin's hand and led him slightly through the bedrooms. "My drawings!" he whispered, looking back. Mentor Ji entered by the sitting room door.
"Miss Mia? Hello?"
He heard a door opening and went through Jayden's room toward hers. Mia and Kevin came out of her stateroom, closing the door. She led him quickly along the corridor toward the B deck foyer. They were halfway across the open space when the sitting room door opened in the corridor, Mentor Ji coming out. The valet saw Kevin with Mia and hustled after them.
"Come on!" Mia told him and they broke into a run, surprising the few ladies and gentlemen about. Amy led him past the stairs to the bank of elevators. They ran into one, shocking the shell out of the operator. "Take us down. Quickly, quickly!"
The operator scrambled to comply. Kevin even helped him close the steel gate. Mentor Ji ran up as the lift started to descend. He slammed one hand on the bars of the gate. Mia made a very rude and unladylike gesture with one of her fingers, the couple laughing as Mentor Ji disappeared above. The operator gaped at her. "Bye," Mia waved. Sorry not sorry!
Mentor Ji emerged from another lift and ran to the one Kevin and Mia were in. The operator was just closing the gate to go back up. Mentor Ji ran around the bank of elevators and scanned the foyer...no Kevin and Mia. He tried the stairs going down to F deck.
The F deck corridors were a functional space, with access to a number of machine spaces (fan rooms, boiler uptakes). Kevin and Mia were leaning against a wall, laughing.
"Pretty tough for a valet, this fella," Kevin commented. "He seems more like a cop."
"He's an ex-Pinkerton. Jayden's father hired him to Jayden out of trouble...to make sure he always got back to the hotel with his wallet and watch, after some crawl through the less reputable parts of town..."
"Kinda like we're doin' right now—uh oh!"
Mentor Ji had spotted them from a cross-corridor nearby. He charged towards them. Kevin and Mia ran around a corner into a blind alley. There was one door, marked Crew Only, and Kevin flung it open. They entered a roaring ran room, with no way out but a ladder going down. Kevin latched the deadbolt on the door, and Mentor slammed it against it a moment later. Kevin grinned at Mia, pointing to the ladder.
"After you, m'lady."
Kevin and Mia came down the escape ladder and looked around in amazement. It was like a vision of hell itself, with the roaring furnaces and black figures moving in the smoky glow. They ran the length of the boiler room, dodging amazed stokers, and trimmers with their wheelbarrows of coal.
Kevin shouted over the noise, "Carry on! Don't mind us!"
They ran through the open watertight door into Boiler Room 6, laughing. Kevin pulled her through the fiercely hot alley between two boilers and they wind up in the dark, out of sight of the working crew. Watching from the shadows, they saw the stokers working in the hellish glow, shoveling coal into the insatiable maws of the furnaces. The whole place thundered with the roars of the fire.
In the First Class Smoking Room, amid unperilled luxury, Jayden sat at a card game, sipping brandy. "We're going like hell I tell you. I have fifty dollars that says we make it into New York Tuesday night!" Biggles betted.
Jayden looked at his gold pocket watch and scowled, not listening.
The furnaces roared in the boiler room, silhouetting the glistening stokers. Mia signaled to stop as both of them caught their breath. Her forehead glistened with sweat, but was lit by the amber glow of the hell furnaces. Kevin kissed her face, tasting the sweat trickling down from her forehead. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her passionately. When he pulled away, he kept his nose on hers and grinned. She kissed his nose quickly and then pulled him towards another door, both of them laughing. They ran between the stacked cargo, relieved that it was a lot cooler than in the boiler room. The cargo hold was full of odds and ends, like an antique store. There was grand furniture and paintings, statues and luggage piled high.
Mia hugged herself against the cold, after the dripping heat in the boiler room. Amidst it all was William Carter's brand new Renault touring car, lashing down to a pallet. It looked like a royal coach from a fairy tale, its brass trim and headlamps nicely set off by its deep burgundy color.
Mia climbed into the plushy upholstered back seat, acting very royal. There were cut crystals bud vases on the walls back there, each containing a rose. Kevin jumped into the driver's seat, enjoying the feel of the leather and wood.
"Where to, miss?" Kevin put on a Cockney accent.
"To the stars," she said, smiling. She playfully grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into the back with her. He landed next to her, his breath seeming loud in the quiet darkness. They laid intertwined on the back seat, their hearts matching speed with anticipation. He looked at her and she was smiling. It was the moment of truth. All was silent, but only for a moment as Mia guided Kevin's hand to her body. He recoiled, not because he didn't want to, but because he wanted it to be right.
"Are you sure?" He asked, running a thumb across the top of her hands. She exhaled slowly and nodded. He stroked her face, cherishing her. She kissed his three artist's fingers.
"Put your hands on me, Kevin."
He kissed her passionately and she slid down in the seat under his welcome weight.