April 12, 1912- Aboard Titanic

For the first time since she had left Ridgeton Manor that crisp, April morning, Georgiana felt relaxed.

The large, open windows of the promenade deck let in both a burst of long sought for sunlight and fresh air. The atmosphere was light; the air full with the noises of the many couples, families, and young children walking along the deck.

Georgiana smiled to herself as she basked in the morning sunshine. Suddenly she stopped, twirled around, and let out a little squeal of delight as she closed her eyes, before once again setting off down the deck with only the sounds of her heels clicking against the hardwood floor filling her senses. An older woman, decked out in layers of furs, shot the young woman a nasty look as she passed. But Georgiana didn't notice. And even if she had, she wouldn't have cared.

Georgiana's current state of delight was caused by the fact that, in that moment, everything seemed to be going her way for the first time in quite a while. The previous night, the Countess of Rothes had invited her to dine in the À La Carte restaurant and Georgiana had leapt at the chance to escape both her parents and the Wideners, and thoroughly annoy the former. She hadn't since Harry now since luncheon the previous day, and it had given her plenty of time to clear her head and think rationally. She had come to the conclusion that her confusing feelings towards the young yankee had stemmed from her anger towards her parents and desperateness for a change. She also had decided that she would treat Mr. Widener in a completely civil way; exactly as she treated every other acquaintance on the ship.

Georgiana's mood was also elevated by the fact that she had evaded breakfast with her mother this morning by waking up early, and therefore was dressed in a kimono styled dress she most definitely would have disapproved of.

Yes, her day had certainly started out well.

"Lady Georgiana! Miss. Grex!" A voice coming from behind her caused Georgiana to been rudely jerked back into reality. Turning, she saw the young American boy she had danced with on the first night out, Jack Thayer, almost running towards her as he maneuvered his way through the parading passengers. Having not spoken to him since their dance, his sudden appearance surprised her.

"Mr. Thayer, what a surprise," Georgiana welcomed with a forced smile as he finally got to her. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Slightly out of breath, Jack pushed his blond hair off his forehead as he offered her a lopsided grin as he said, "Well I was just going to meet Charlie Fortune for a round of squash when I passed your parents at the bottom of the Grand Staircase. They were asking the Countess of Rothes if she had seen you today. When she said no, they were going to send a steward off to find you but I cut in and offered to go instead."

"Oh," replied Georgiana, holding back the urge to both laugh and roll her eyes. Jack's eagerness couldn't be mistaken. But he had to be at least five years younger than her, practically still a boy. "How kind of you."

"Anyway to get to know you better, Miss. Grex," he declared, offering her a wink. This time, Georgiana couldn't hold back her laughter at the boy's suggestion. She brought her hand up to her mouth to try to pass it off as a cough. Jack didn't seem to notice.

Georgiana started to turn around, going back in the direction of the first-class entrance. She was ready to end the conversation with this forward, young boy. "Well," she began, "I best be off to find my parents before they think I've gotten stuck in the boiler room!"

Of course, she had no intention of going the her parents. She planned on going in the opposite direction, in the direction of the stairway to third-class. Georgiana was on a mission to avoid her parents for as long as possible to put them on edge, or at least until luncheon.

"In that case, let me imitate a proper, English gentleman and escort you to them," said Jack eagerly.

Alarmed, Georgiana tried to make her answer sound as nonchalant as possible. "Thank you, Mr. Thayer, but that's really not necessary. I wouldn't want you to be any later than you already are for your squash match. I can make my back quite easily on my own and I need to go back to my cabin to change before I see them anyway-"

"It's no problem, I assure you, Miss. Grex," Jack cut in. "In fact, it'd be my pleasure to accompany an English lady back inside. He did a little bow after saying this, as if to prove his point.

As he started to walk towards the doors, Georgiana thought she might be able to slip away until he called for her to follow him.

Sighing, she started off after the persistent boy. As she was thinking about ways she could escape both Jack Thayer and her parents, she nearly fell to the ground as she ran into something. Looking up, she felt her stomach drop.

The something she had ran into was none other than Harry Widener. Suddenly, sticking with Thayer seemed like a wonderful idea.

Looking down at her with one eyebrow arched, Harry asked, "Is it a habit of yours? Barrelling over men as they innocently stroll along?"

Georgiana couldn't help but blush as she bit her lip and looked at the floor and she chided herself for doing so.

"Apparently only while I'm around you, Mr. Widener," she shot back.

Without warning, Jack was back next to Georgiana. "Morning, Widener," he greeted the man he had grown up alongside in Philadelphia. "I'm just helping Lady Georgiana find her way back to her parents."

"Yes, and making himself late for a game of squash in the process."

Georgiana didn't know why she said it. Especially after deciding against a relationship with Widener. Perhaps the prospect of spending any more time with the younger boy was just too awful.

Or perhaps... she wanted to spend time with Harry.

"No," she thought to herself. "I would just rather spend time with a man closer to my own age and much more mature. That's all."

"In that case," Harry said, with a glance towards Georgiana. "I suppose we should save you from missing any more of your game! It'd be no great burden for me to take Lady Georgiana from here."

"Or I could just find them myself," Georgiana added, in one last desperate hope to escape both men.

Jack crossed his arms before opening his mouth to speak. However, Harry shot him a look and he paused a moment, before concluding, "Alright. I guess I'll be off then."

Giving another silly little bow to Georgiana, Jack said, "Until we next meet, Lady Georgiana." Turning to Harry, he shot him a scowling and simply replied, "Widener." With that, he was gone.

"Right then," Harry cheered. "That's him done with. Now let's go." Harry promptly turned away from the doors and back across the promenade.

Confused and intrigued by this abrupt change of events, Georgiana ran after him. "Where are you going?" she inquired, catching up with him.

"We are going to explore the grandest ship in history, Miss. Grex."

Well... I guess I have nothing to say other than SCHOOL and WRITER'S BLOCK. And I'm really sorry about the outrageously long wait for this chapter... I really, really am. I hope I will get better at keeping this updated.

In other words, Happy 101 Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic! Except not really happy...

Please review!