Hey guys, sorry for making it so long between posts, it's been a busy year so far! Hope you're enjoying the story! A side note which some of you may have figured out already is that Catherine is supposed to be the female version of Caledon and her father Nathan is based on the character of the 'man servant' Spicer Lovejoy. Some of the deleted scenes from the movie will also be incorporated. Please review you r thoughts/likes/dislikes about the story, feedback is always appreciated. :)
Within no time they had been directed tho their rooms and Jack went through the whole ordeal as if he was on auto-pilot. He noted the excitement of the children as they raced around to find their rooms. A rare moment where their respectable mothers did not tell them off for being rambunctious on the world's most majestic ship. Jack sighed, wishing that he could feel that was about the experience. "Trudy, continue unpacking these awful canvases" ordered Catherine, turning her nose up at the contents of the crate. They were Picasso paintings that Nathan had purchased for Jack when they were at a gallery auction. None of them could see why Jack was so taken by these drawings, but it pleased him nonetheless. "Thank you" mouthed Jack to Trudy, and she returned a grateful curtsey as they headed down to the lobby.
"Well, I wasn't about to wait all day for you, sonny" said a woman loudly and a porter rushed to take her bags. Jack looked at this woman with great interest. She was in her forties, and was a larger woman. Whilst she was certainly dressed like the rest of the people in first class there was something different about her. Something common about her, Jack's mother would sneer later at dinner. "Hey, Hockley!" she said cheerfully, dropping her heavy bag and making the porter fall to the floor. Nathan Hockley shared an amused look with Jack as she strode over. "Margaret Brown-"
"Please, call me Molly."
"Care to join us for our luncheon in the restaurant Mrs. Brown? We're meeting with the master ship builder Mr. Andrews and Mr. Bruce Ismay."
And with that Catherine pulled lightly on Jack's arm as if to steer him to the dining area. They all seated themselves and began discussion about the construction of the Titanic. Already bored with the small talk, Jack took out his sketchpad and started drawing the dining room. Jack found that drawing was his only real hobby or passion in life, he could see things for what they were and could put them on paper. Ruth glanced at Jack and shot him a warning look. "You know I don't like you drawing at the table Jack." He didn't look up and kept sketching the chandelier above them. "He knows" frowned Catherine, snatching his leather bound folio away from him. She never did appreciate his talent for drawing, and found it rather dull if anything. The waiter hurried over to take their order. "We'll both have the lamb. Rare, with a little mint sauce. You like lamb, don't you darling?" Jack grimaced but suppressed it and nodded. If there ever was a chance to question his manhood, now would be the time. "You gonna cut his meat for him too Cath?" joked Molly, who immediately continued conversation to avoid Catherine's hazardous glare. "Hey, who thought of the name Titanic? Was it you Bruce?"
Mr. Bruce Ismay grinned smugly, taking as much credit as possible. "Yes actually, I wanted to covey sheer size, and size means stability-"
"Do you know of Dr. Freud, Mr. Ismay? His ideas about the male preoccupation with size might be of particular interest to you" stated Jack, not caring that he broke character.
"What has gotten into you?" whispered Ruth angrily.
Jack got up and grabbed his sketchpad from the vacant seat next to Catherine and exited the dining room.
Jack walked to the A-deck promenade and grabbed the rail. He was fed up with the charade that was his life. He looked at the drawing of the dining room and saw a charcoal line from when she confiscated his book like he was a child. Jack ruffled his hair and looked out at the people below him. Third class was right in his view. Everybody around him, with the exception of Molly Brown, seemed to hold disdain for these people. Molly tried to justify over lunch that money wasn't everything, and Ruth had snorted in high amusement. In a sea of caps and tied up scraggy hair Jack's eyes spied a woman who looked more like an angel. Her magnificent red hair was tied up in a bun, her porcelain skin shone brilliantly in the light like a thousand illuminated pearls. She was beautiful, like a rose amongst daisies. He stared at her, not wanting to blink in case she disappeared. She was taking in the breeze of the ocean, and she looked sad, and lost. She looked back towards the A-deck and locked eyes with him. He felt a cold hand touch the small of his back and turned to see Catherine behind him. "Well Jack, I have no idea what you were thinking. Do you have any idea how rude that was?"
Jack turned quickly to see the red haired girl who was watching intently. Catherine sighed dramatically and stormed off back towards the restaurant. Jack went to follow her and then remembered that he put down his sketchpad on the bench near the rail. He searched again for the red haired beauty but this time she was truly gone.