On the second day, Badour's had family breakfast on their private promenade. Elaine enjoyed it for a change because it was only them.
"I arranged a tour today afternoon with Mr. Andrews." Elizabeth declared.
"That's wonderful, dear." Kenneth smiled at her.
"Caison's are going to join us as well." Elizabeth looked piercingly at Elaine.
"Looking forward to it." her daughter smiled wide only with her lips, but the smile not quite reaching her eyes.
"Good, good," Kenneth said, tapping his mouth with a napkin in between. "If you'll excuse me, I must leave now. I am meeting Brandon—something about our companies." he wanted to explain, but there were mainly women and what did they know or needed to know, right? "Philip. Will you accompany me, please?"
"Yes, sir." he immediately stood up. Kenneth kissed Elizabeth on the head and they left.
Everyone felt pressure in this family. Starting from Kenneth, he had to save the company. Business was going a little rough, but nothing a good investor can't solve. Also, when the time comes, Philip will take over and he wants to leave him with a stable firm. And that's the pressure on Philip's part. Father has no doubt he'll leave the firm in the good hands and he's even letting Philip design a car of his own.
As much as the wedding is stressful, Estella had other things to worry about. Once she's married, she'll feel pressure from everyone to have kids. One problem pulls another. And although she always obeys the rules and find nothing hard, just this once she would like to have some rest and do things her way in her own pace.
And there are Elaine and her mother. From Elizabeth is expected to lead each child on to the right path, but with Elaine she feels like she's failing miserably. And from Elaine is expected a lot of things. Not just to marry, but to start acting like a proper lady at once. There was a time when they tried to scare her saying that no one will ever want her if she kept behaving this way. Of course, that didn't shake her one bit. In fact, that even encouraged her.
Going back to her room, Elaine barged in.
"Amelia! Amelia! Where is that girl when I need her?"
"Yes, ma'am?" she ran in from the other room.
"What were you doing out there?"
"Clea—"
"Never mind!" Elaine waved. "We have this stupid tour in the afternoon, I want you to pull me out the finest dress I have. Make it quick!" she clapped.
Amelia nodded and got on to it. After a while she pulled out a silky white dress with black details.
"Will this work?" she showed it to Elaine.
"Yes! Yes! Perfect!" Elaine felt overjoyed. "Okay, we are going an hour after lunch so you are free now. Get back on what you were doing." she replied and soon dismissed her.
After lunch Elaine rushed back to her room. She was excited to see Harold. At least, she was hoping to see him. There was a high possibility that they'll meet.
"Hurry, Amelia, everything needs to be perfectly set-in place," Elaine said and loudly shut the door. "Where is my dress? You didn't wrinkle it, did you?" she gave her a look.
"No, miss. It's been hanging here since you chose it."
"Okay, good. Come, help me untie this one." she said, already beginning to undress herself.
The two girls worked hard and fast. After getting dressed, Amelia did Elaine's hair by her liking. It was rare that Elaine let anyone choose for herself, but now she let Amelia do what she thought was the best. After Amelia was finished, she stepped back, letting Elaine do her minimum makeup.
"I haven't seen you this excited for a long time, miss." the young servant watched her mistress with joy.
"Oh, Amelia, you don't even know!" the other girl shouted and sighed. "How do I look?" she turned in her chair and stood up.
"Perfect as always, miss." the servant smiled.
Elaine smiled back and grabbed her purse and gloves and went to meet with her family on the boat deck.
When Elaine reached the boat deck it was only her mother waiting there. She started suspiciously walking towards her.
"Mother? Where is everyone?" she frowned in wonder.
"Oh, your father and Philip went back to business. Between you and me, I think he's going to convince Caison to invest in us. You might as well help." Elizabeth eyed her daughter and Elaine knew exactly what her mother meant. "Estella and Edward should be arriving shortly." she added as if nothing was mentioned before.
Elaine pressed her lips in a thin line and didn't say anything. As in that moment, William arrived with his mother Charlotte in arm. Charlotte and Elizabeth greeted each other as if they didn't see each other at lunch an hour ago which made Elaine to turn the other way and roll her eyes.
Charlotte wasn't a bad woman. She was very much loving, kind and polite. Trying to stay open-minded, she wasn't judgmental and hated getting in conflicts. William very much resembled her. He got her blonde curly hair and height, though both of his parents were tall. Only difference between them were her bright blue eyes. Maybe that's why she liked to spoil him so much, other than he was the only child they had. He was considered momma's boy and Elaine hated that kind of men.
"Oh, I was going to apologize for Brandon being absent, but seeing that Kenneth's not here either I might get the idea why." she giggled.
"Sorry we're late! Edward took forever to get ready." Estella came running down.
"Nonsense, dear." Edward touched her nose and she wrinkled it, giggling.
"Shall we go? If we're all here," Charlotte wondered.
"I think we should wait for Mr. Andrews to come pick us up—Oh, here he comes." Elizabeth pointed out.
"Shall I walk with you?" William offered his arm to Elaine.
"I don't want your mother to be mad at me." she tried politely to decline.
"Don't be silly, dear," Charlotte cut in. "I'll walk with Elizabeth, no problem."
Elaine smiled nervously and nodded, linking her arm with William's. So far, the tour for Elaine was boring. William wasn't of any help by trying to make a joke or play smart. It only made her roll her eyes. It was so until they reached the bridge and Elaine was looking for a familiar face. And it wasn't so until she saw one. Captain Smith's.
"Ah, Badour's. And Caison's. Lovely seeing you again. I hope everything's alright?" he kindly greeted them all.
"Of course, thank you. Mr. Andrews here is giving us a tour of the ship. This is our next stop." Elizabeth was having the main word.
"Sir!" an officer, who Elaine saw speak with Harold last night, walked to the Captain holding a piece of paper in his hand.
"Ah, good, good. Feel free to ask any quest—"
"Sir!"
"What is it now, Mr. Moody?" Captain turned his head to look at him, annoyed that he interrupted him again.
"Another ice warning, sir!" he handed him the paper.
Captain Smith took the paper from him and studied it for a while. He looked at the group before him trying to act normal as possible.
"Oh, nothing to worry about. Pretty normal for this time of year," he said, seeing everyone's expectant look on their faces. "In fact, we're speeding up. Mr. Moody, you're on rounds now, right?"
"That is correct, sir!"
"And Mr. Lowe?" Elaine could feel her heart skip a beat on mentioning of Harold's name.
"He was just released off his rounds, sir."
"Is he still on the bridge?"
"He should be, he never goes straight to his quarters. Do you want me to go look for him?"
"Yes, do so." Captain waved off, nodding his head.
They lingered around for a while because Elizabeth was asking some ridiculous, to Elaine, questions when Harold appeared.
"You wanted to see me, Capitan?" he was all formal, standing tall and putting his arms behind his back.
"Ah, yes, Mr. Lowe. I know you're off your duty for now, but I have a little favor to ask."
"Go ahead, sir." he acknowledgedly nodded.
"Please, help Mr. Andrews here lead the tour. And it could be a great practice for you as an officer. Don't worry, you can take an extra hour later to rest if you need to." Captain Smith patted his back and went on with his duties.
Harold's face went blank and white when his eyes met with Elaine's. To make it even worse, she was standing with William, arm in arm.
"Wh-Where is the next stop, Mr. Andrews?" he tried not to look at her anymore.
"The gymnasium. Lead the way, Mr. Lowe." Mr. Andrews replied.
"Right," Harold said under his breath. "Right, ladies and gentlemen," he piercingly looked at Willian and Elaine tried to sustain a giggle. "Right this way!" he quickly turned around and led the way while closing his eyes and cursing himself.
Elaine let go of William's arm and hurried to be closer to Harold although he didn't seem to notice, but who did seem to notice was her mother. She was watching them like a hawk.
The Gymnasium was just aft of the forward Grand Staircase along the Starboard side of the Boat Deck. It was a wonderful innovation for an ocean-going liner. When they entered, it was brightly lit room with white-painted oak paneling and tile floors. Along the wall opposite of the entrance was a carved oak installation with an illustrated cutaway of an Olympic-class ocean liner and a map depicting the travel routes of the White Star Line throughout the world. The room was equipped with state-of-the-art exercise equipment manufactured in Wiesbaden, including two electric camels, an electric horse, a rowing machine, a punching bag, a weightlifting machine and mechanical bicycles.
All of the ladies were interested in the equipment and what Thomas Andrews was saying with Harold adding something now and then. What interested them the most was when he said they were free to try any of the equipment and Elaine, of course, got right on to it.
"Mind giving me a hand, officer?" of course she was just seeking an opportunity to steal some time with Harold.
"I got you, El." William interjected, helping her get on the bike.
"Looks like you've got everything covered." Harold said stepping back.
Elaine wanted to scream. Suddenly, she didn't feel so interested in trying it out anymore. William wandered off listening to something else Mr. Andrews was talking about. She 'exercised' for a couple of seconds when her gaze met Harold's. He quickly looked away as if nothing happened which made her even more mad.
"Alright, next stop, the engine room!" Mr. Andrews announced and they all left the room leaving Elaine and Harold alone.
"I think that's enough exercising for you today, miss." he said in a serious tone.
Elaine raised an eyebrow at him.
"Although, looks like you'll have to spend the rest of the day here since your little gentleman forgot about leaving you up there."
"Don't you mind helping me?" Elaine finally spoke up, sounding offended.
"Certainly not." he replied, offering her his hand.
"Always happy to help a lady in trouble, you said so yourself." she smirked.
"Yes, a lady," he pulled her down a little harder than they both expected.
Elaine could feel his heavy breathing and heart beating and his breath on her face. They looked intensely into each other's eyes.
"What do you mean by that?" she finally said after coming to her senses and breaking the silence. "Why are you being so rude?!" she asked again when he didn't say anything.
"We should get going. We're falling behind." he said, letting go of her and stepping away, heading for the door. He opened them and waited for her. "After you, miss."
She pursed her lips, hesitating for a while, before hurrying past him. She rushed out going down the boat deck, Harold hurrying behind her.
"At least you're going the right way." he commented.
"I would've managed!" she shot back.
He smirked, but didn't say anything.
The Engine Room was located between the Turbine Room and Boiler Room 1. It contained the two reciprocating engines, the feedwater heaters, the ship's refrigeration plant and other auxiliary equipment.
They finally rejoined the group. Elizabeth eyed them both suspiciously when they entered, and Estella wiggled her eyebrows at Elaine which made her to roll her eyes annoyingly.
"Ah, maybe Mr. Lowe can tell us something more." Mr. Andrews exclaimed when he spotted Harold.
"I'll try. What's this about?"
Elaine didn't want to listen about the stupid engines. She wanted to leave. For the rest of the tour, she and Harold didn't speak. In fact, they were trying to avoid each other. Back on the boat deck they we're all saying their goodbyes as if they're not going to see each other at dinner.
"Mr. Lowe, you were of a great help today," Elizabeth said and Elaine looked at her in as if she knows look. "Why don't you join us for dinner tonight? As a thank you," this one Elaine did not see coming.
She looked at her mother with her mouth wide open. Elizabeth surely did notice her daughter's reaction, but did not let herself get shaken by it and continued to keep staring at Harold with a small wicked smile on her face, waiting for his answer.
The question itself caught him off guard as well. He was never invited to a dinner before, let alone to the first-class dinner.
"That's very generous of you. Yes, I'd be delighted." he accepted.
"Then it's settled!" Elizabeth looked at no one in particular with amusement. "We'll see you then, Mr. Lowe."
Harold touched his hat before they all left to get prepared for the dinner of a life time.
