Hey guys... So I saw that quite a few people read the story :D But I have only one small request. Can y'all review? It doesn't take very long! Just a short review :3 Haha, I sound really desperate. Nevertheless, I update and continue to write because I love writing so...yeah. Hopefully, I made someone else's day out there by updating :) I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please review if you did! :D
Elizabeth returned to her stateroom and chatted with Clara for a little over half an hour before she heard a knock on the door. Elizabeth left the bed to open the door and found none other than Mr. Andrews himself standing there, smiling at her.
As soon as he came into the room and shut the door, Elizabeth jumped up and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I really missed you, daddy!" she said cheerfully. After a long time, she finally released him.
He turned and saw a certain blonde maid. "Clara!" He smiled as he gave her a tight hug. She had been taking care of Elizabeth so long she was almost like family. "I missed you as well, Mr. Andrews." Clara smiled, patting the older man's back.
"Daddy? We're going to dinner together, right?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes sparkling. "Of course, sweetheart." He smiled at her warmly before kissing her on the forehead. The pair of father and daughter sat down on the edge of her bed and started to talk. He placed his hand on hers.
Finally as the conversation started to end, Elizabeth asked him something. "Daddy, can I invite someone to dinner tomorrow night?"
"Sure. Anyone I know? Come on, tell me who's the lucky lady joining us." He asked, smiling widely.
"It's a he, actually...and he's sixth officer Ji...James Moody." Elizabeth said, looking away, embarrassed.
Her father's face froze. "Moody, huh." He nodded as he said through his teeth. "Why? Is there anything wrong with him?" She asked suspiciously. Thomas merely shook his head. "Feel free to bring him along. Which reminds me, lend Clary one of your dresses. She's been working so hard, that poor dear deserves a good dinner." Elizabeth grinned at the thought of having someone else to talk to at the dinner table.
They laid on the bed, Thomas' arm wrapped around his darling daughter. He took out his pocket watch and opened it. There was a picture of him, Elizabeth and his late wife. Liz was only 5 years old at the time and that was when his wife was still alive. The two of them looked at the picture together and laid there, softly crying and comforting each other.
A little after that, Thomas got up and gave her a warm hug before he left to see his sister-in-law Augustine, but not before giving his daughter another kiss on the forehead.
"So, I overheard that you're inviting someone to dinner tomorrow night." Clara smiled at Elizabeth, trying to lighten the mood. "Oh, bug off Clary and help me pick a dress already!" Elizabeth said, flustered as she walked quickly to the wardrobe that Clara had filled up earlier that day. After almost an hour of trying on dresses, Elizabeth finally decided on one with a tight waist. It would show her figure off and since she was seeing Jim later, she wanted to look her best.
"Clary, would you come over here for a while?" Elizabeth said, still admiring the beautiful dress she held up in her hands. The maid quickly walked over. "What do you need, Liz?"
"You, my friend, are coming along with us to dinner this evening. My father's orders. Now, seeing as pretty as you are, picking out a dress for you should be an easy task..." Liz said, flinging her dress onto the bed to look for a dress for her maid. Clara chose not to argue with Elizabeth because she knew that when Liz set her mind to something, she would not give up until she got what she wanted.
Clara looked at the dress that Liz picked out for her and she looked at it in awe. It was so beautiful she did not feel worthy of wearing it since she was just a maid but maybe it would be nice to wear such a pretty dress for one night.
"So...who is this...Officer James Moody I heard about?" Clara asked while putting the two dresses at one side. Elizabeth heart beat faster just at the mention of his name. "He's...an officer I met earlier today." She said slowly, sitting down on the edge of the bed again.
Clara sat next to her. "Is he handsome?" She asked, grinning. "Simply charming, Clary." Elizabeth said giggling. "Oh yes! Clary, you cannot tell a soul about what I am about to tell you." Her face was serious. Her maid nodded. "After dinner, I'm meeting Officer Moody."
"WHAT!?" Clara shouted just as Elizabeth clamped her hand over her mouth. "Shush!"
"But what will I do without you?" Clara asked, nervous at the thought of being surrounded by people she normally worked for. She knew the Andrews family was so different from others in their society so she certainly did not want to deal with anyone else but them.
"You could wander the deck. Who knows? You might meet someone 'special' as well, Clary!" Elizabeth laughed, raising her eyebrows cheekily. Clara blushed before walking away, but not before throwing a pillow at her friend's face.
After a few hours of talking, there was a knock at the door yet again. Elizabeth opened it to see her father standing there, smiling at her. "What brings you here daddy? I'm sure it's too early to be dinner." She laughed. "I'm here to take you on a tour of the ship, silly!" Elizabeth smiled and took his hand and they both waved goodbye to Clara.
They walked up to the wheelhouse first to meet the captain and the various officers. It was purely coincidental that they were having a meeting with all the officers present. Knocking on the door first, Thomas looked in and saw Captain Smith talking to his crew. "Ah, Mr. Andrews, you're here." He said with a smile, welcoming the shipbuilder. When Jim and Elizabeth made eye contact, he smiled at her and she winked back at him secretly which only made his smile wider.
"Liz, this, as you already know, is Captain Edward J. Smith." They shook hands and exchanged words of greeting.
"This is chief officer, Henry Wilde." Thomas introduced. "Pleasure to meet you, miss Elizabeth." He said politely, taking off his hat before bowing. "Thank you, but Liz is fine." She smiled.
"First officer, William Murdoch." The stern looking man gave Elizabeth a friendly grin and tipped his hat while bowing.
"Second officer, Charles Lightoller." "Nice to meet you." He said, giving her a small smile. He removed his cap and bowed deeply.
"Third officer Herbert Pitman." The man only bowed and didn't even smile. Elizabeth just grinned lightly before moving on.
"Fourth officer Joseph Boxhall." He smiled and tipped his hat. She nodded her head politely.
"Fifth officer Harold Lowe." He bowed down and kissed her hand, to which she giggled lightly at. She swore she could've seen Jim glare at him for a second there.
"Finally, sixth officer James Moody, but I suppose you two have already met." They both smiled at each other and shook hands, not breaking eye contact. Even after the handshake, their gaze did not break away. Thomas himself had to step in. "Ahem!" He cleared his throat. The two jumped back, chuckling and giggling a little.
After some small talk among the Captain, Thomas and Elizabeth, the shipbuilder led his daughter out to walk about on the boat deck. "How many lifeboats are there?" Elizabeth asked, looking at the white boats on deck. "There are 20. Apart from the 14 you see here," he pointed to the lifeboats she was looking at "there are 2 other emergency boats and 4 collapsible lifeboats. Capacity wise, it could fit 65, 40 and 47 people respectively." He informed her kindly.
Elizabeth was silent for a while. "Wait...But with the number of lifeboats times the capacity of the respective boats...should this ship sink, there would only be enough spaces on the boats for a little over half the people on board." She pointed out after calculating an estimate.
"While I do applaud your calculation skills, it's no cause for worry for your pretty little head. After all, this ship is unsinkable!" Thomas smiled, gently patting his daughter on the head. "Come on daddy, you know better than anyone that there's no such thing as an unsinkable ship." She looked up at him knowingly. "All right, all right. I concede." He put his hands up to his chest level in mock surrender. "Oh, stop it." She giggled, dragging him along.
Have a nice day and review if you liked the chapter! :D
