WriterFreak001:

In honor of the 104th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, here's chapter 3!

Additional note: The layout of the Scorpion might be a bit different than the Titanic purely because I don't have all of the resources available to me to use the exact layout of the ship. IF you are a Titanic expert, feel free to consult with me via PM! :)

The Scorpion

Written by WriterFreak001

Chapter 3:

First Encounter

~ SCORPION ~

Paige could not stop thinking of the handsome man staring at her earlier in the day. His eyes were filled with so much mystery and an intensity she never felt before, and before Drew prompted her to leave and apologize to her mother for her crass behavior (something she did not do wholeheartedly), she was tempted to approach the man and inquire more about him. But when she returned to where she was standing afterwards, he was gone, and she doubted she would ever see him again.

"Is something on your mind?"

Paige fluttered her eyelashes as she snapped her attention to Megan, her appointed suite maid, and smiled softly. "Oh, nothing particularly too important."

"It's… It's just the two of us, Paige. I promise I won't tell anyone anything." Megan replied as she combed the young woman's hair, preparing her for the evening dinner in the dining hall.

Paige grinned at the thought of having a confidant. Growing up, she didn't really have time for friends, and anybody she was friends with were people associated with her mother's connections. She didn't dare tell them anything; gossip tended to spread like wild fire among the wealthy. "Well," she bit her bottom lip as her mouth curved to a silly grin. "If you must know," she flushed as she fiddled with her fingers, "I sort of met a charming, handsome man today…. I can't seem to stop thinking about him."

"Oh?" Megan suddenly thought of her brother. "Do you know his name?"

"No," Paige shook her head. "We didn't speak…. I, uh, I saw him staring at me while I was outside, catching some fresh air. There was just… something about his eyes… that intrigued me. He had so much intensity in one gaze, and though I don't even know him, I feel like I already do. Drew has never looked at me like the way this man was, and I felt…," she paused and giggled quietly, "This is going to sound strange and highly arrogant, but… it was the first time, in a very long time, I felt… dare I say it… desired."

"What does he look like?" Megan asked, hoping she would end up describing her brother.

Paige opened her mouth to speak, but a loud tap sounded from the door. "Paige, darling, are you almost ready? We need to leave for dinner soon."

Paige sighed and closed her eyes before flatly saying, "I'll be out shortly." She paused for a moment and then added, "Make sure my mother is properly escorted to the dinner; I'll follow as soon as I am ready."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Please." Paige called to the door. "Think of it as a way to impress her. I know you like doing that."

"If you insist," Drew replied almost instantly as though her suggestion became his own epiphany. She stayed silent for a few seconds until she was sure he was gone.

"Good riddance," she muttered under her breath and then turned to Megan. "Between you and me, I dislike my fiancé very much. He's too rich for his own good, and I truly think his finances will be his downfall one day."

"If you dislike him so much," Megan asked as she continued combing Paige's long wavy locks, "why did you agree to marry him?"

Paige shrugged. "I didn't. Marrying Drew is my mother's idea, and because what I want doesn't seem to matter, I have no choice."

"If you ask me," Megan muttered as she mindlessly placed Paige's hair bush on top of the vanity, "I think your opinions matter much more than you think. Anyone who oppresses you doesn't deserve you."

Paige quietly snorted. "Easier said than done…. There's a lot of pressure being a woman, and if society doesn't change," Paige fastened her earrings to her earlobes, "oppression will destroy womankind. At the end of the day," she sighed, "it doesn't matter how we think, feel, or what we want. No one cares."

"You should visit the third class sometime while you're on the Scorpion; I assure you, your outlook on life will be very different." Megan grinned as she draped Paige's pearls over her neck and fastened them.

Paige scoffed. "If I can ever get away from my mother or Drew, maybe."

"You did earlier today," Megan shrugged, and Paige slowly grinned. "Anyway, you're ready for dinner; shall I call for someone to escort you to the dining hall?"

"No, no," Paige waved her hand and shook her head as she stood up. "I'll be fine. Thank you, though."

"You're welcome."

~ SCORPION ~

"Ah, it's so lovely being rich. I can't wait for the Scorpion to make the headlines! It'll be grand, I'm sure." Bruce Ismay sneered as he twirled the ends of his mustache. "What do you think, Patrick?"

"Oh, I'm quite sure the Scorpion will prosper in everything, including the newspapers." He turned to his daughter, Happy Quinn, and grinned proudly. "Isn't that right, Happy?"

Happy nodded gracefully. "Yes."

"Your daughter is a woman of many words," Bruce chuckled, resulting in both Happy and Paige rolling their eyes.

Happy abruptly stood up and pushed her chair back. "Excuse me. I'm suddenly not hungry anymore. Since Bruce Ismay is such a glutton for many things, maybe he can stuff his face with my share instead."

Paige and Cabe both snorted as the young woman marched away from the table. Bruce, on the other hand, was too stunned for words as Patrick Quinn began apologizing for his daughter's uncouth behavior. Paige tuned out the rest of the conversation for most of the meal until she heard Drew mention her name.

"Paige has this strange fascination with art and music," Drew hooted loudly as the others (except for Cabe) joined him in laughter. "While I absolutely don't understand why art and music intrigues her so, but," he suddenly placed a hand over her leg, and she froze, "I would certainly pay a high price if Paige would ever consent to having one of her favorite artists draw her in the nude."

The men chortled, and Paige stared at her mother, but she tightly pursed her lips and kept her mouth shut.

"And if you sell the painting," Bruce Ismay grinned as he raised his glass, "it might be worth far more than your fiancée herself."

"Maybe, but I will be the judge of that," Drew chuckled as his hand caressed her inner thigh.

Immediately, she stood up and smacked him square on the jaw. Multiple gasps sounded from the various guests at the table, but she didn't care. She had enough of Drew disrespecting her and treating her like she was nothing but another treasure to add to his collection. SHE WAS NOT HIS PROPERTY! Paige was tempted to slap him again, but her mother grabbed her wrist before she could make another solid blow.

"Paige, what on earth?!" Her mother bellowed in a stern, controlled voice. "What has gotten into you today?!"

"Let go of me!" Paige exclaimed as she ripped her hand away from her mother's grasp. Without another word, she stormed away from the table, and her mother marched after her.

"Paige, control your temper!"

"How could you just sit there?!" Paige swung around and threw her arms outward, forcing her mother to step backwards.

"Paige, if you are having your monthly bleedings…"

"Don't berate me mother!" Paige hissed, trying not to attract more attention than necessary. "This has nothing to do with that, and no, for your information, I'm not having my monthly bleedings!"

"Then what on earth is going on with you today? You're not yourself."

"Not myself?" Paige scoffed and let out a cold, chilly laugh. "You won't let me be myself, Mother! I don't want to marry Drew, and you know that! You know how much I despise him and how horrible he treats me! But you don't care! You don't care at all!"

Before she could let her mother respond, she whipped around and strutted towards the elevator, demanding the operator to take her to the lowest deck. She was absolutely done with everything! She couldn't stand her mother continuously reprimanding her, and Drew was the absolute worse man in the world! Neither of them truly cared about her; all she was, was a possession to them, a pawn they carelessly manipulated, and she was tired of her inner turmoil. She was tired of trying to hide her pain and her disgust and her desire to be her own woman, make her own choices, and marry a man she loved.

Her life didn't matter. Nothing about her mattered. Only what she could inherit if she married Drew, AND SHE DID NOT WANT TO MARRY DREW! Her mother never listened to her, her mother never asked her what she wanted. The constant do's and don'ts made her head swim, and she only saw one way out of her miserable captivity.

The moment the elevator landed on the first deck, she sprinted from the operator, not caring to look back. She wanted off this ship! She wanted away from those horrible people and exiled from her life! They didn't care about her so why should she care about them? Why should she waste her life away, pretending to be someone she wasn't?

Clumsily, Paige climbed up the railing of the back of the ship and swung her legs over until there was nothing left between her and the water but her fingers keeping her attached to the ship.

They didn't know how much she hated her life, and they didn't care to know. No one cared to know how she felt, thought, or wanted. NO ONE CARED! ABSOLUTELY NO ONE!

So why should she care about living? Why should she care about continuing her life in shackles when all she had to do was lean forward and let go.

"Hey, Hey!" a male voice startled her, and she gripped the steel railing tighter. "Don't do it."

Paige whipped her head around and gazed at the ruggedly handsome man she found staring at her earlier in the day. Unsure of what he was going to do, she inhaled a deep breath and warned him to keep his distance. "Stay away! Don't come any closer!"

He slowly approached her and extended his palm. "Take my hand. I'll pull you back in."

"No!" She cried as she turned her attention back to the sea. "Stay away! I mean it! I'll let go!"

"No you won't."

"What do you mean no I won't?!" Paige fumed, tired of everyone telling her what she could or could not do. "You cannot control me! You don't even KNOW me!"

The man took another step towards her, his voice gentle and concerned. "You would have done it already. Now, take my hand."

Paige, confused as to why this man was determined not to leave her alone, released the rail with one hand and wiped her teary eyes. "Y-You're distracting me! Now, go away!"

"I can't," his voice came closer. "I'm now involved, and so if you jump of this ship, I have no choice but to jump in after you."

"Are you insane?!" Paige barked back as she turned to face him again. "You'd be killed!"

The man scoffed and gave her a pointed look before he shrugged off his jacket. "I'm a good swimmer," he said as he toed off his shoes. "I can take the challenge."

"The fall will kill you alone!"

The man chuckled. "It would hurt. You are correct, but I'm more concerned about how cold the water's going to be."

"H-How cold?"

"Based on our current coordinates, the Atlantic, at best, is at a subfreezing temperature of -2 degrees Celsius," the man replied as he slowly approached her and overlooked the sea. "As cold as the water is below, it'll feel like hitting a thousand knives; you can't breathe, you can't think… at least not about anything but the pain."

Paige inhaled a deep breath and inwardly cringed at the very thought.

"Which is why," he gripped the railing, "I'm not looking forward to jumping in after you, but like I said, I don't really have a choice. I'm… sort of hoping you'll take my hand, climb back over the rail and get me off of the hook here."

"You're crazy!" Paige exclaimed a lot louder than necessary.

He smirked. "I get that… a lot…, but with all due respect, I'm not the one hanging off of the stern of the ship." He gently covered her hand with hers and whispered, "Come on, now. You don't need to do this."

Paige, for the longest time, stared at him, unsure what to do or say, but when his deep brown eyes met hers, she remembered the intensity she felt earlier, and they suddenly seemed to fill her emptiness. "All right," she muttered softly and slowly twisted around until her right hand met his. He firmly wrapped his fingers around hers and held her hand tightly.

"I'm Walter O'Brien."

"Paige Dineen," Paige quietly laughed as he gently shook her hand. With her other hand gripping the railing, she began to climb upward but her foot caught onto her dress and missed the rail, plunging her downward towards the dark, tumultuous waters. She shrieked loudly, and Walter almost threw himself overboard to keep her from falling.

"Help me!" She screeched at the top of her lungs. "HELP ME, PLEASE!"

"I've got you!" he shouted. "I won't let go!"

Walter awkwardly hurled himself over the railing even more and lifted her upward until he was able to wrap his arm around her back and carry her over the railing. He stepped backwards, and they fell onto the deck in a tangled mess. Paige was flat on her back, breathing heavily, and Walter was on top of her. He was staring at her again, deep brown irises piercing hazel, and neither of them made an attempt to move. "T-Thank you," she uttered breathlessly, and he nodded quietly, still unable to look away from her.

"What's all of this?!" Without warning, Walter was thrown off of Paige immediately by the quartermaster, and after one look at the woman, with her ripped dress and her disheveled appearance, he pointed at Walter and shouted, "You, there! Don't move an inch!"

Paige, with shaky hands, smoothed down her dress before the quartermaster helped her to her feet. He turned to another employee approaching the scene and ordered him to fetch the Master of Arms.

…

"What makes you think you can touch my fiancée?!" Drew exclaimed as he approached Walter swiftly and grabbed him by the lapels. "I should have you beaten, you piece of filfth!"

"Drew! Stop it!" Paige exclaimed as she pushed her fiancé off of her savior. "It was an accident!"

Drew eyed her suspiciously. "An accident?"

She nodded. "It was stupid, really," Paige bit her lip and looked into Walter's gentle eyes. "I was leaning over the railing, wanting to see the… the… propellers, and I slipped. I would have gone overboard, but Mr. O'Brien saved me, and he almost went over, himself."

Drew blinked with confusion. "Y-You wanted to see the propellers?"

The quartermaster shook his head in dismay. "Women and machinery do not mix."

The Master of Arms turned to Walter and cocked an eyebrow. "Was that the way of it?"

Walter glanced at Paige, and she was glaring at him not to say a word about why she was really out there. He shrugged and nodded slowly. "Yeah… That's what happened."

The colonel smiled and patted Walter's shoulder. "The boy's a hero! Well done, son!" He uncuffed Walter's wrists as Drew touched the small of Paige's back and guided her away from the Irishman.

"Let's get you inside, darling. You're freezing." Drew then hooked his arm around her, but she pushed it away and frowned.

"Is that really how you treat the man who saved your fiancée's life?"

Drew sighed and scratched his head before gesturing his right hand man to give Walter a small token of his gratitude. Paige gave her fiancé a pointed look, and he sighed louder. "Perhaps," he turned to Walter and pursed his lips. "Perhaps you can join us for dinner tomorrow and tell our friends of your heroic tale."

Looking straight at Paige, Walter nodded. "Sure. Count me in."

Drew's lips curved to a crooked smile. "Good. It's settled then. Come on, Paige," he draped a protective arm around her and tugged her close to him, oblivious to her never leaving eye contact with Walter.

Paige bit her lip as Walter licked his, and she knew she had to see him again before tomorrow night's dinner.

~ SCORPION ~

WriterFreak001

I had fun writing this chapter! :D