I waited patiently in my room. It felt like I'd been there for hours – in reality I'd only be waiting for half an hour at most. It was strange – my stomach felt like it was tied in knots, and I wasn't even the one whose career was in danger! God, I hoped his career wasn't in danger.
Was it my fault? Maybe I had distracted him too much in Belfast? Maybe Mr Smith blamed me for what Lights said at lunch?
Thinking of lunch, I suddenly realised – I hadn't eaten since then. But I wasn't hungry – I just felt horribly tense and nervous for Will. Oh, I hoped he would be alright.
I tried to relax and read, but as soon as I managed to actually settle back without fidgeting Will burst into the room. He had a strange expression on his face – a mixture between relief and disappointment.
"What happened?"
"I...I've been bumped down to first officer."
"Oh, Will! No! Why?"
He sat down beside me and let out a sigh. "The captain wanted the chief officer from Olympic to transfer to Titanic."
"So you have worked with him before?"
"Yes."
"That's not so bad then, is it?"
"It is, lovvie. I'm not to tell any of the others about this yet, but that pushes Lights down too – and pushes Davy out. He was looking forward to this trip!"
"Well..." I really didn't know what to say. "When are the others going to find out?"
"I don't know." He bit his lip. "God, Lights isn't too fond of Wilde anyway. And Davy will blame me, lovvie. He will think I ratted him out to the captain, which led to him being bumped out."
"No he won't, Will. He'll know you already got your back, remember? The money for that room?"
As if on cue, a roar could be heard outside.
"William McMaster Murdoch! Get your sorry hide out here now!"
Will looked up at the sound of Davy's voice. I smiled.
"At least he's not hungover, Will."
Will grinned at that, before going to the door and gingerly opening it.
"Good morning, Mr Blair! And what can I do for you?"
"This gentleman," Davy gestured to the clerk from the hotel. "Tells me you didn't pay your bill."
"That is very true, Mr Blair. I must point out, however, that you did almost break my nose last night!"
"What the hell? What relevance does that have...?"
"Please, Mr Blair, there's a lady present!"
Davy scowled. "I apologise, Miss Banks. That's beside the point, Will. You know I don't get paid 'til we get to New York."
Will paused and reflected on this for a moment. "Surely you have some money?"
"No I do not, Will. In fact, I was going to ask you for a small loan which I'd pay you back when we got to America. How the he – sorry, how that works out now is beyond me."
"Very well, I will pay the man." Will grumbled, fumbling in his pockets. "How much, did you say?"
"He didn't." Davy muttered sarcastically.
"Five pounds."
"Five pounds?!" Will looked shocked. "I didn't even get to lie down last night! That's robbery, that is!"
"I'm sorry, sir, but that's including cleaning."
All three of us stared at him. Cleaning?
"Bloodstains on the eiderdown."
"Oh. Yes. Right. Well, I suppose that's down to me, Mr Blair?"
"It weren't coming out of my nose."
Will shot him a look, gave the man his money and went to close the door again. Davy stopped him.
"Look, Will, I apologise. I really shouldn't touch alcohol. I'm going to take a leaf out of Harry's book. Truly. I don't want this to come between us. I've been looking forward to this since I was told and I really don't want this coming between us..."
He was babbling. Will put him out of his misery by shaking his hand.
"No worries, Davy. We're all adults, right?"
He nodded, then turned on his heel and left. Will stared after him.
"God, Ada, he is going to be devastated when he finds out."
"Don't worry about it, Will. Maybe they'll change their minds and want him back – you never know."
He shook his head. "They won't."
A moment or so passed, with me sitting on my little couch and Will leaning on the door. He suddenly perked up, and grabbed my hand.
"No use moping in here though – do you want to see the sights?"
"What sights? It's Southampton!"
"We need to get in some practice, lovvie!" He kissed my nose. "You see, when we get to New York I intend to show you everything. Absolutely everything. So we need to practice our sight-seeing!"
I laughed as he pulled me outside. I wasn't sure there was anything I wanted to see in New York, but if it meant spending more time with Will, I was more than happy to oblige. Still – sight-seeing in Southampton? We had already seen on the way back earlier that morning that the sight most people wanted to see was Titanic.
