Thank you sooo much everyone who reviewed, I love reviews, they make me want to bring back Kartik more, so keep em coming
Jeanne led me out the dining hall. I sat next to Felicity on one side and Jeanne sat on her other. I noticed the other people at our table. There was an older plump woman sitting next to Jeanne, who was constantly nagging her equally plump husband. Next to them was a young woman and what I supposed to be her sister. They were both probably in their mid-twenties. Their hair was styled in the latest fashion and their gowns were definitely expensive.
And next to me was young man. He was about my age, with sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. I had the strangest sense of déjà vu. He turned around and caught me staring. I blushed and tried to join in fee's conversation.
"I'm Daniel" He said. I slowly turned back to him.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Gemma Doyle" I was embarrassed, so I tried to end the exchange, but he persisted.
"So what awaits you in Paris?"
"I'm traveling with some friends who live there. I will be staying with them for a bit" I told him. "What about you?"
"I'm also meeting some friends." He informed me.
"That's nice." I turned back to Felicity and endeavored to join in her conversation, but I was completely lost so I gave up and waited for our food to come. I was ravenous and it was taking forever.
"Miss Doyle, could I ask a favor of you?" Daniel asked. He looked so earnest, there was no way I could turn him down.
"Alright. What is it?"
"There's this young lady on the ship and she's taken a fancy to me. She's got it in her head that we are meant to be. But, the only way I could convince her otherwise was to tell her that I am engaged."
"How can I help you?" I questioned him, knowing full well what it was he wanted me to do.
"If you could just pretend to be my fiancée for a couple of minutes, I would be eternally grateful". He pleaded. "Here she comes". I looked over my shoulder and sure enough headed right towards us was a girl of fourteen or fifteen. She had light blonde hair that was pulled back into a bun and accented with a blue ribbon. We stood to greet her.
"Hello, Daniel!" She exclaimed as she reached us. "Who is this?" She asked, irritated upon seeing me.
"This is my fiancée." He explained while wrapping his arm around my waist, I released a tiny gasp before speaking.
"Darling, who is this?"
"This is Miss Dorothy Thompson, the girl I was telling you about." He replied. Dorothy's face fell with the realization that he was telling the truth.
"I should be going." She quickly excused herself and we sat back down.
"Is it true?" The plump woman across the table asked. "Are you truly engaged?" I looked over at Daniel who turned around to see if Dorothy was still in earshot. She was frozen not two steps away from the table. Daniel was torn I could tell he didn't want to put me in an awkward position.
"Yes, we are". I announced with a big smile. Daniel looked at me gratefully and I watched as Dorothy walked away.
"I do love a good wedding". The woman practically shouted. "Have you set a date yet?"
"Not yet, this is a very recent engagement" Daniel answered. There was something about him. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but he intrigued me. There was something so familiar about him. I wanted to get to know him better, but that made me feel guilty. I loved Kartik and even though he was gone I wanted to be true to him. So much had happened since I had been at Spence. Daniel looked over at me endearingly, and for a moment it seemed as though he wasn't pretending. I was so confused. I couldn't be attracted to him. The thought that I actually might be attracted to him made me sick with guilt. I couldn't cheat on Kartik. I couldn't even think about Daniel. Why was I so worried about him? I didn't know anything about him.
"Excuse me for a moment" I said as I excused myself from the table and ran from the room.
"Gemma!" I heard Felicity shout after me. I just needed to sleep. I could see Kartik in my dreams. I could forget that he wasn't there anymore, if only for a minute.