Overprotective
Chapter II
I awoke around seven in the morning to Emma knocking loudly on my door. I arose and answered.
"Hello, miss. We must get you ready for breakfast with your aunt." She then proceeded to get a corset from my wardrobe and tie me into it. I had quickly begun to despise those things. With every pull of the laces I drew in a sharp breath as the corset made my waist tinier. I put on a light yellow dress and a matching hat was placed on my head as soon as Emma had tightly pinned up my hair. She was just completing my make-up when Aunt Gwen knocked on the door. The young stewardess stopped what she was doing and then answered the door.
"Good morning, ma'am." she curtsied and stepped aside to let my aunt through.
"Meredith, dear, are you almost ready for breakfast? We need to be there soon." Aunt Gwen asked while she checked that her graying mousy brown hair was still in place.
Emma spoke up, "She'll be done in one moment." and finished applying powder to my face. Then the lipstick, and she smiled politely at me. "Pretty as a picture."
I stood up from my seat. "Thank you, Miss Winfield." I wasn't going to call her by her first name in front of my aunt. I didn't want to be in trouble for socializing with the crew. If only she knew her own nephew was aboard as a ship's officer…
On the way to breakfast I couldn't stop the wave of memories that flooded my conscious. I kept thinking about my younger years. How Harry would push me on the swing outside our home and even play with my dolls occasionally with me since I didn't have a sister. He was a great older brother, when he was around. But then he left, and that fact could not easily be forgotten. I was only a young girl and I had lost my best friend. It was difficult for me to comprehend then.
"Hello, Merry." I saw Spencer and Adam behind me.
"Hello, boys," my aunt was now up ahead of me, "Where are you heading?"
"Going to the squash court to watch our father play. Then we're going to go on deck just in time to see Queenstown."
"I'm going to breakfast. Perhaps I can try to find you guys on deck later. I want to catch a glimpse of Ireland too."
"Sounds good." Then we had to go our separate ways.
"If you see Clarissa, tell her to meet us as well." Adam said to me with a smile on his face that he tried in vain to hide.
"Ooh, I think someone is in love." Spencer stated in a singsong tone and repeated until Adam shoved him lightly.
I couldn't help but let out a giggle. Then I walked faster to catch up with my aunt.
Aunt Gwen and I found a table by the windows which the morning sunlight was shining through.
In the middle of our quiet breakfast, I saw Clarissa walk past.
"Meredith!" she said excitedly and smiled. "Good morning."
"Good morning to you as well." I then turned to my aunt, "This is Miss Buller-Hewitt." and then returning to look at Clarissa, "This is my aunt, Gwen Quinley."
"Lovely to meet you." My aunt smiled what didn't seem to be a genuine one.
Clarissa smiled too, or at least attempted one. What was going on?
"I should be going. I promised a friend of mine I would stop by for a visit this morning." she stated rather awkwardly and left.
"Meredith, that's one girl you do not want to be caught befriending."
I stared at Aunt Gwen with a confused expression, "Why?" was all I could say.
"She is trouble." she leaned closer towards me. "I recognize her now. Miss Clarissa Anisette Buller-Hewitt, right? She is only nineteen and already caught in a scandal with a married man in England. He broke it off a month ago, but it is reported she may be 'with child'."
I gasped slightly. "Are you sure? She is such a sweet girl."
"I'm sure. Although you might not want to ask her about it. I'd assume she would be a bit touchy. Such a nasty ending it was, however necessary."
I didn't respond. I only finished my breakfast in silence.
I then remembered I had forgotten to invite Clarissa up to the deck later for Adam.
After breakfast I returned to my room and sifted through my luggage until I found my journal. Such an old, fragile book. A few pages had already begun falling out since I'd had it for years. I only wrote when something interesting happened, and I thought my voyage on the RMS Titanic could be considered interesting enough.
I flipped through the old pages, stopping a few times to glance at entries such as my 18th birthday when I got this journal, or last year when an old friend of mine, Frank, moved away and we had a going-away party for him.
Finally I found a fresh page and began to recount the events of everything that has occurred since I left Wales. By the time I was finished it was nearly eleven thirty. I figured it'd be a good time to venture up to the deck and see how quickly we'd be getting to Queenstown.
On the deck I saw a few people strolling together, and some were reading in deck chairs in the sun light.
"Meredith!" Oh, no. They found me.
I turned and there were the Welch boys. "Is Clarissa here?" Adam asked.
"No, I'm afraid not. I haven't seen her." I lied and hoped to sound convincing.
His smile fell and then he looked out at the ocean. "Look! Ireland!" he pointed outward and Spencer and I turned. There it actually was. It looked beautiful from this distance.
"Meredith…" I heard a familiar voice behind me, but I didn't turn. "Mer, please speak to me."
"No, Harold." I replied sternly, still with my back to him.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Spencer asked.
"I do not wish to speak to him, but he insists on trying to speak to me." I explained.
"Leave this young lady alone. She doesn't want to talk to you."
"And who are you?" Harold asked.
"I'm her brother." Spencer put an arm around my shoulders.
I sighed and attempted to hold back a laugh.
"Really, that is funny," Harold began, "Because I happen to be her brother too. Now if you would, please allow me a moment to speak to my sister." he reached out, took my wrist, and pulled me aside.
"Who are those guys?" he asked, acting like an overprotective brother. Oh wait… he was an overprotective brother.
"Just some friends I met while on board."
"And why, may I ask, are you on this ship in the first place?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to New York." I replied sarcastically.
"But why are you going to New York?!" he asked angrily.
"I'm with Aunt Gwen. She's taking me home with her because she wants me to become a 'lady' and find a suitor. She's hoping to marry me off."
"Aunt Gwen is on board? I want to see her."
"Why? Family didn't seem to matter to you before…"
"Yes, it did." he then sighed and it was obvious he was annoyed. "Are mum and father alright with this?"
"They agreed to it. Aunt Gwen asked for their consent and she received it. I'm now her responsibility."
"They would just give up their only daughter that easily?"
"Well I'm twenty one years old, Harold. I'm not a little girl. I shouldn't be living at home anymore anyway. I should be married, but I never met anyone. Now I need to go with Aunt Gwen so I can live properly. Why wouldn't our parents be alright with that? It's for the best."
"I suppose… I had actually forgotten you're twenty one already. You look so different."
"That tends to happen, in case you hadn't noticed. People grow up and they change. I'm not the little six-year-old sister you left in Wales anymore."
"And I'm not the foolish fourteen-year-old boy who left his family anymore. I've changed too."
"Could've fooled me. If you've changed then why didn't you contact us? If I hadn't showed up on this ship you wouldn't have given a thought to those you left back home. Nothing has changed. You're still foolish."
"I did think about my family. All the bloody time, Mer. Can't you see that leaving was what I had to do? Look where it got me! A berth on the grandest ship on the sea right now. I'm doing well with my life and I'm doing what I love. I figured perhaps one day my family would be proud."
"We're not proud. Once you left you became the world's problem, not ours. We all gave up on you and any hope that you would return."
"I wanted to return. Believe me, I did."
"Shouldn't you be working now?" I asked coldly.
He was silent and then slowly turned to walk away. I watched him leave. That was nothing I hadn't seen before.
I returned to the boys, who were now leaning over the railing.
"Be careful." I warned then, but they didn't listen or care. If they fell over, it'd be their own faults.
"Merry, you've got to see this view!" Spencer grabbed my hand and pulled me over towards them. "Look. You can see the coast. Isn't it magnificent?"
"Yes," I grinned, "It is." The view was lovely, and I couldn't help but lean over the rail a bit too, despite my previous warning.
Soon enough we docked and began to take on more passengers. A very small number of people disembarked.
"Whoa, can this ship really hold so many people?" Adam asked.
"Actually, yes, it can." a voice said from behind us. We turned and there was James. "We're actually under booked. We can hold many more. Over a thousand more people could be on here."
"I would have assumed everyone would want to be on the most talked about ship." I stated. I, myself, hadn't really any preference about which ship I was placed on, but many other people were excited about being on the maiden voyage of the grandest ship on the sea.
"Not everyone. Some people were actually booked on other ships but the White Star Line switched them over to the Titanic. Although less people would probably be a good thing. There's only enough life boats for a little over half the passengers at the moment."
My jaw dropped a bit. "Excuse me… Half?!"
"That's what I said." he replied calmly.
"You must be joking. Is White Star actually that incredibly stupid? What if there's an emergency?"
Spencer placed his hand on my shoulder, "Relax, Mer. We're on an unsinkable ship. Nothing is going to happen, especially with capable crewmen like…" he pointed to James, at a loss for a name.
"Officer Moody." James interjected.
"Like Mr. Moody here. We'll be fine."
"You're in good hands, Meredith. Your brother and I will make sure of it." James said with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry your pretty little head over it."
I smiled back without meaning to. "I'll try."
"Good." James leaned in towards me, "could you meet me later tonight. When you've finished your dinner, around nine o'clock. I need to speak to you. At the stern."
"Sure." I replied softly, with my knees weakening a bit beneath me. Thankfully that went unnoticed by everybody.
James left, and I stood there lost in thought. He was a nice young man, and he had called me pretty! Or so I think… Perhaps he hadn't meant it that way. Either way, I felt a slight attraction to him. Alright, maybe it was more than just slight. I'm not one to 'fall in love' with every boy I meet, but I do go a bit crazy over certain men every once in a while. An attraction like this is rare for me to develop.
"Meredith?" Spencer was waving his hand in front of my face. "Are you alright?"
"Yes. Of course. My apologies. I was thinking."
They paid no mind to me then because the view of Queenstown was more exciting. Although I do believe they were more interested in the view of the pretty Irish lasses boarding through the gangway door below.
"Would you boys care to join me for some tea or lunch down at the café?" I asked after a few minutes of being bored nearly to death.
"Sure, I'm starved." Adam nearly began to jog down the deck but I caught him by the back of his shirt.
"How is it that you were actually raised in polite society but I seem to have better manners than the two of you combined?"
They just shrugged. Ugh… Boys…
They each took one of my arms as we walked down the deck and went to the café. Once we found seats we each ordered a cup of tea and got a few scones. There was just simple light conversation. I found out that Adam was in college and played football for his school. That was a game I was sure I'd never understand. Spencer had gone to college too, and he wasn't the most dedicated student, but still managed to graduate with high marks.
I had only gone to school 'til I was sixteen, but my mother did a lot of work with me at home. I learned more with her than I would have learned at school.
Spencer had spent his years after college working with his father's steel business that was thriving. I had spent my last few years at home helping my parents. I haven't done much with my life. I was a bit jealous of him.
Spencer and I were in the middle of a conversation when we noticed Adam was staring over at the door. Clarissa has just entered the room and sat down. He couldn't keep her eyes off her.
"Why don't you go say hello?" I leaned towards him and suggested.
"Do you think she'd be annoyed if I did?" He asked, still staring at
"Not at all." I stood up and grabbed his arm. "Come on."
"What? No." he protested but I still managed to drag him over to the other side of the room.
Spencer was laughing from our table.
"Clarissa?" she looked up at me.
"Oh hello. Meredith, Adam, how are you two?"
"We're great. Listen, I need to go talk to Spencer for a moment so could you keep Adam here company for a little while?"
She glanced at him and then to me, "Of course. I'd love to."
I lightly pushed Adam into the chair across from her and walked away. I could hear him stuttering while attempting to greet her.
I sat down in my seat next to Spencer and we looked at Clarissa and Adam. She was laughing and he seemed more confident. All he needed was a little push. I was quite satisfied with my work.
"He seems to be having a good time." Spencer pointed out and taking a sip of his tea.
After a half hour of waiting for Adam to return, he finally came back, with Clarissa behind him. "I'm going to walk Clarie back to her room."
Then they left, and I could've sworn that by the doorway she grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers.
"Perhaps we should go back to our rooms too. I'm sure my mother is going to be wondering where I am." Spencer stood up and offered me his arm. "I might as well walk you to our room. They're right across from each other anyway."
I hooked my arm with his and we were off to the B deck corridor.
"Here's your room, milady."
I giggled and put my key in the key lock of the door.
"Mer? Could I possibly swing by around seven thirty and escort you to dinner?" he asked and I stopped to look at him.
"Well aren't you just such a gentleman."
"It isn't proper for a single young lady to be seen without a man on her arm. I'm merely offering my services to you, seeing as we are friends. We are friends, right?"
"Yes, Spence, we are friends. Come by at seven thirty. But if you're late, I'm leaving without you."
He nodded and entered his room as I entered mine and collapsed onto my couch again. Spencer was going to escort me to dinner. Why did he sound so nervous? It's just dinner. We ate together last night. It isn't as though there's anything different, right?
Around 6 o'clock Emma knocked on my door.
"Come in." I called from my comfortably place on the sofa where I had been napping for the past few hours.
"Good evening, Miss." she shut the door behind her.
"Please stop calling me 'miss'. My name is Meredith. I'd prefer to be called by that."
"But-" I stopped her.
"I don't give a damn how inappropriate it is."
"Alright then. Meredith… Let's get you ready then, shall we?" she led me over to my dressing table again and began her normal routine. She was very good at applying make-up, I must say. However I wasn't used to seeing myself look so gussied up each night.
She went on to tighten my corset, which was rather torturous again. Then she opened my wardrobe, "What would you like to wear tonight?"
I chose a turquoise gown with a square neck, delicate black lace adorning the bodice, and dark beads trailing down the skirt.
There was a knock on the door. "Merry?" I heard Spencer's voice call from behind it.
"One moment." I replied as Emma finished the last hook on the back of my dress. "How do I look?" I touched my pinned up curls gently to make sure they were all in place.
"Ravishing, miss. I mean, Meredith. Sorry. It's something I must get used to."
"It's alright, Emma. Thank you for your assistance. You did a lovely job." She and I both walked to the door. She opened it and walked past Spencer, and then I walked out, closing the door behind me.
Spencer stared at me and didn't speak.
Good evening." I greeted softly.
He still didn't respond.
"Spence?"
He finally snapped out of his daze. "Yes, sorry. You- you look nice."
"Thank you. You do too." He was wearing a sharp looking tuxedo like all the men wore. Although I thought they make men look a bit like penguins.
I once again took his arm and we headed to the staircase and then down to D deck where the dining hall is located.
"Spencer!" we turned and saw the same pudgy man from last night.
"Yes, father?"
"You left ahead of all of us, but now I see why. Vernon Welch." he held our his hand to me.
I shook it, "Meredith Lowe."
"Who are you traveling with?"
"My aunt. Gwendolyn Quinley."
"Oh yes. My wife and I ate dinner with her last night. Such a kind woman. She told us about you."
"I hope she said good things."
"Only the best." his lips formed a smile underneath his grey mustache.
"Let's find a table, shall we?" Spencer said. We followed his father to a table in the middle of the room and sat down.
Mrs. Welch was already seated when her husband fell into the chair beside her. She was lanky, with the figure of an awkward adolescent girl but the face and mannerisms of a middle aged woman.
Spencer sat beside his father, and I sat beside him.
"Gwendolyn, how nice to see you. Please sit." I turned as I heard Mrs. Welch greet my aunt.
"How are you, Trina?" she replied before she noticed I was at the table. "Oh, Meredith. Joining us tonight?"
"Yes, Aunt Gwen, I am" I answered plainly.
She sat beside me. I could smell her perfume which she had over used tonight. I felt like I was choking on it, but I hid a small cough into my shoulder.
Adam showed up a minute after, with Clarissa behind him. She whispered something to him before they stopped and stood by his parents.
"Adam, who is this lovely young lady?" Mrs. Welch asked.
"Mother, this is Clarissa Buller-Hewitt." he stated proudly and smiled at her.
Mrs. Welch's smile faded, "Oh." was all she could muster to say.
"She's really a wonderful girl." Adam seemed very excited. He grabbed Clarissa's hand and dragged her to the two empty seats beside his mother. Did he not notice his mother's less than satisfied reaction?
Clarissa noticed. She was staring down at her lap the whole time, unsure of what to do. Then Adam said something into her ear and she cracked a smile.
For two people who had just met they seemed to be connecting well.
The night went on full of mindless conversations. The food wasn't bad though. I had lamb, which my aunt had ordered for me.
"How's the lamb?" Spencer asked me.
I finished chewing and then replied, "It's fine."
"I hate to pry, but was that really your brother?"
"That was my brother, Harold. But I wouldn't really consider him a sibling. He's been away for fifteen years."
"I take it you don't forgive easily."
"No, I don't. Not him at least."
"He seemed rather rude, in my opinion."
"Well, it was only because he wanted to talk to me so badly. Plus, I must admit, it was a bit funny when you said you were my brother."
"I didn't know." he whined, "Also, if you're so sore at him then why are you defending him?"
He had a point. Why was I defending my brother?
"I'm not…" I explained in an annoyed tone. Not at him, just in general.
After dinner ended, Spencer pulled out my chair for me. What a gentleman, right? Yeah… who was he trying to fool?
"Spencer, son, would you care to join us men tonight for a smoke?" his father asked.
He turned to me but didn't speak. "Go ahead." I told him.
"You won't be upset?" he asked. Why would I be? I didn't care about what he did. Besides, I had to go meet James.
"Not at all. Go have fun with your cigars and brandy and business. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"
"Alright." he leaned in and kissed me softly on the cheek. I stood there motionless as he then walked away. Was I somehow sending him the wrong message? I'm his friend, and only that. Tomorrow I'd have to clear that up.
I headed up the main staircase and kept going up until I reached the boat deck. It was cold out, so I pulled a black shawl out of my small purse and wrapped it around my arms. Sadly that didn't do much. I still managed to walk in the bitter cold towards the stern of the ship.
I could see an officer standing there. He checked his pocket watch and leaned against a piece of metal. It was James.
I walked over towards him, "Cold outside, isn't it?"
He turned to look at me, but he didn't smile. He instead just rubbed his palms together. "Yes, it is. But I shouldn't be complaining. I'm wearing a coat. You must be freezing."
"I'm alright. I can handle the cold." That was a lie. I just didn't want to seem like I was weak. "You said you needed to speak to me?"
"Yes, I did." then he was quiet.
"Well… What is it?" I was expecting him to say something, but he didn't. He pulled out his pocket watch again and glanced at the time. "What's going on?"
"Nothing at all." he replied and put the watch away.
"You needed to speak to me and here I am."
"Here you are…" he seemed to be trying to come up with something to say. "Meredith…"
"Yes?" I asked, taking another step toward him.
"I…. um…." he stared at me at a loss for words. To me that said it all.
"I think I know what you asked me here for." I said with a smile.
"Oh… really?" he asked with a cute bewildered stare.
"Yes." I took another step toward him and placed my hands around his neck.
"Meredith…" he began, but stopped when I started to bring my face closer to his. We were only a centimeter away when he suddenly jerked his head away. "Shit…" he cursed loudly and placed his hands on my hips to push me away gently.
I turned around to see what he was now swearing about and I saw my brother storming over. "Moody! What the hell is this?!"
"Harry, I swear I was not doing anything with your sister. She came on to me."
"What?" I exclaimed, gaping at the two of them. "What's going on?!"
"I asked James to get you here so I could attempt to talk some sense into you." Harold explained. I looked over at James, who was looking at me with guilty eyes.
"Oh my God…" I put my hands over my mouth and then lowered them to yell, "You bastard!" at my brother. "You're not healing this at all. You're only making it worse. I used to just be upset with you, but now I utterly despise you!" Then I turned to James, "As for you, I am so sorry I misinterpreted what I thought were signals and I feel like an idiot now." a tear fell down my cheek. "Good night." I hissed to them both and ran off towards the first class entrance.
How dare they?! I felt so incredibly stupid! James tricked me, and I made a fool of myself. My brother was an idiot and I didn't care at this point if I never saw him again. I didn't even care if the bloody ship were to sink and take him with it. In my mind, I no longer had a brother named Harold. He was now just some sailor I've never set eyes on before, whom I wish to never set eyes on again. As for James, I don't think I can ever look him in the eye again. This voyage was turning out to be worse than I could have expected. The sooner we got to New York, the better.
I was waiting about a week to update because I wanted to see how many reviews I could get on the first chapter. I got four and I'm thankful to those four people for their feedback and the time they took to read this. I hope you all enjoy chapter two. I'm finishing up chapter three and it'll be up shortly. Thank you and please review. Love you all! -Kell.