Wednesday, April 28th, 1954
9:46 a.m.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck."
Therese drifted in and out of consciousness, vaguely aware of Carol running about the bedroom, opening drawers, pulling items from the closet, dropping a string of obscenities to make any sailor blush. Curtains were drawn open revealing an impending brightness in the bedroom. She hurriedly knelt down at Therese's side of the bed to try and coax her awake. "Therese? Wake up, sweetie." Carol murmured into her ear. She tried to speak sweetly and calmly, nonetheless there was a semi-urgent undertone in her timber.
"Bright," Therese muttered, "too bright," and pulled the blanket over her head, "gimme ten more minutes." She didn't really care about the endless barrage of the word "fuck" that had been falling from Carol's lips, not when she was still sleeping and warm and comfortable and naked and -
"Not today, angel, we overslept." Therese popped her head out from under the covers like a little gopher and looked at the bedside clock. She wasn't alarmed by what she saw and snuggled back down into bed with her blankets cocooning her. "Therese, Sunday we forgot to change the bedroom clock for Daylight Savings."
Therese once more popped her head from the covers, this time with wide, panicked eyes. "Fuck."
9:46 a.m 10:46 a.m.
"Darling, I am so sorry." Carol gave her a peck on the cheek and smoothed her messy brown hair.
"It's not your fault; I didn't think of it either." Therese looked at the clock once more, trying to see if they could still make their departure. Neither of them had gone to work the days leading up to their trip, so neither had need of the alarm clock, which had been stashed away until Tuesday night when Carol took it out to set for the following morning. "Are you packed?"
Therese looked over her shoulder to where Carol's trunk sat. "Nearly." she sheepishly replied. Carol's trunk had piles of cotton, silk, cashmere, and nylon in each corner of the case, without any thought to what was what or where. Therese then looked at her own trunk which hung open; it was more or less filled, only some shoes and books still needed to be added.
It wasn't every day that Therese had to ready herself in under half an hour in order to catch a steamship to Europe. The plan was to spend about two months abroad, visiting places Carol knew or places she wanted to explore with Therese, gathering images of springtime (especially the tulip season) for the Times, or finding unique décor and suppliers for the Manhattan shop. It would be a mix of business and pleasure, hopefully more pleasure than business.
Therese threw on the most readily accessible clothing she could find, knowing that she would need to help Carol finish up and organize getting the trunks downstairs. "Could you please call for the porter and get him to help us with the trunks? Then ask the doorman to hail a cab once we're both down there?"
"Sure."
Therese bolted into the living room to call downstairs while Carol continued packing. There was so much she wanted to bring along with her, but knew convention suggested putting everything on the bed and take half of the contents. In her case, maybe a third or a fourth would be more appropriate. There were so many different clothes, colors, styles, weights, it was impossible to choose.
Perhaps, she thought, it would have been best to have Therese pack for her. While Carol was perfectly capable, there was something charming about occasionally having her pick out what she'd wear to work, to the movies, or even to just lounge around the house. Therese always picked out the loveliest outfits, always able to gather from her mood, the weather, the daylight, and all the other little factors what would be the best thing to wear for the day.
"Oh, fuck it." Carol threw her hands up in the air, shut the trunk, and securely latched the brass closures. "I'll just pick up whatever I don't have," she groaned to herself. Taking the carton from the nightstand, she took out a cigarette, and sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the now closed navy blue trunk.
"All set!" Therese shouted as she sprinted back to the bedroom to finish her own packing. Carol calmly lit her cigarette. Therese reached over once Carol took the first drag to have a puff herself, then handed the cigarette back. Looking at it in her hand, Carol saw the mark from her red lipstick, now smudged from sharing the cigarette with Therese.
"I said, 'fuck it,'" Carol informed her, then took another drag. Therese could only roll her eyes and chuckle as she sat down besides Carol, resting her head against her shoulder. Carol put an arm around Therese's waist to pull her close.
There was something to being out in public with Therese, being absolutely unable to hold, kiss, or embrace her at any moment she wanted, that ultimately bothered Carol. "Could I possibly get in a kiss or two now before we head out, as I have no idea when the next time is that I might kiss you today?" Therese smiled, willingly obliging Carol with any request.
"Here is your stateroom." The young man opened the door and to cart in and arrange their trunks. Immediately upon noticing the one bed, porter appeared puzzled. "I do apologize, Mrs. Aird, but it seems as though you have been booked in a double and not a twin. Let me go check to see if another one is available."
Therese gave Carol an urgent glance. They had gotten so accustomed to living in their own comfortable bubble at home where they didn't have to be concerned about sleeping arrangements and appearances on a daily basis. Even when staying at hotels, it wasn't much an issue as Therese would make herself scarce for a moment to gather the luggage from the car. That and it wasn't often that someone was needed to show them to their rooms. On an ocean liner though, there wasn't really anywhere else to escape.
A wink from Carol said everything before she laid into the porter. "This is highly irregular. I made it perfectly clear at the time of making these reservations that I request a twin cabin - which I'll remind you was clearly noted by the booking office on my confirmation - with two separate beds. I can't believe the Cunard Line would make sure an egregious error, especially for this class of stateroom. Now let me find that booking slip in my purse…" She made a token, albeit dramatic, effort to drop her large purse on the bed and comb through it, finally flipping it over to sprawl out its contents all over the bedspread. Strips of paper, makeup, pens, pencils, tissues, keys, and a couple Sky Bars covered the foot of the bed, making the porter squirm where he stood watching this elegant woman empty his purse in front of him.
"I will immediately mention it to the staff, ma'am," said the young man who started to shift from foot to foot, "and we will do our best to see what can be done."
Carol stopped looking through the items on the bed and turned to Therese, ignoring him. "Therese, would you mind doubling up for the next five nights?"
Therese loudly sighed, eagerly playing along, "If we must. I mean, I think we can manage." She looked around the room, scratching her head, feigning assessment of the space with their two trunks. "It is a very nice stateroom; it'd be a shame to switch." It was a suite after all, so it wasn't truly a hardship for them to have to share. She just made it look like there was.
One by one, Carol started to place items back inside her purse. "If she says we can manage, I see no use in changing staterooms when we're already here and most likely the others are already taken."
"I'll inform the purser, ma'am. Again, apologies for any inconvenience."
"Thank you." Carol extended her gloved hand to tip the highly apologetic porter. He graciously accepted the tip and quickly left the two women alone in their cabin.
As soon as the young porter left, Therese locked the door then undid the buttons of her jacket so it would hang loosely on her frame. "'Highly irregular,'" she mocked as she walked toward Carol to hold her from behind, wrapping her arms around her waist.
Carol reached down to cover Therese's hands with her own arm. "That poor young man. Did I come off too strong?"
"No, it was a perfect level of ladylike outrage. I like watching you go to battle." Therese replied and rested the side of her head against Carol's back. There was a comfortable pause in conversation as Therese clung to her, stroking Carol's stomach through the tweed of her jacket. "I didn't get to bathe this morning. Join me?"
"In a moment." Therese craned upward to kiss the side of Carol's neck, with Therese knowing full well what she was doing kissing her neck like that, and a breathless gasp escaped her lips. She let go of her waist so Carol could stoop to remove her heels and walk over to her trunk in the corner. "I'm going to assess what I've actually packed."
"All right." Therese turned to enter the bathroom and left the door ajar. Carol listened for the familiar sound of zippers, clothes falling to the floor, and water running. She knelt down by the trunk to open it. So much empty space. There were namely stockings, sweaters, and skirts smooshed on the bottom beneath a few records, hardcover books, shoes, and her leather dopp kit; luckily plenty of room to bring home a variety of souvenirs, clothes, and shoes.
Carol took out items she needed during their voyage, tossing everything into one drawer. She pulled out a few books to put on the nightstand as well as some records which went on the sitting room table by the portable record player. Carol fully intended to make the six-day crossing into a delightful one.
About twenty minutes after Therese went to bathe, Carol strolled in and sat at the edge of the bathtub. Therese sat mostly submerged in warm soapy water, face covered by a washcloth. For a brief moment, Carol thought she had fallen asleep. "Comfy?" she asked in a low voice, just in case she had fallen asleep.
Therese lifted the hot washcloth from her mouth. "So comfy."
"Did you use the salt water?"
"No, fresh water." Therese replied. "What's the purpose of the salt water anyhow?"
Carol dragged her fingers through the bubbly water. "Oh, it's - soothing." Her fingers still ran back and forth in the water, not making any contact with Therese. There were only small bubbles remaining in the water after the twenty minutes Therese had been in the bath. Not that they much of anything anyhow. She leaned forward to Therese's exposed mouth, the only part of her face not covered by the damp washcloth, and kissed her on the lips.
When their lips parted, the corners of Therese's mouth upturned into a glorious smile. "Get in."
"Okay. Could you add some more hot water?"
Therese removed the washcloth from her face finally to look at the four taps on the tiled wall, turning on the hot fresh water. She ran her washcloth underneath to warm it again, reapplying to her face as Carol undressed. She forgot she had covered her mouth again and immediately uncovered it. "As much as I'd love to watch you strip for me, I'm too tired."
"Another time, sweetheart." Carol tested the water with her hand, finding it a perfect temperature and turned off the tap. With hands on her hips, she waited for Therese to move, but no luck. Poor dear, always so exhausted she thought. "Where do you want me?"
"Right here." Therese finally took the washcloth away so she could see Carol properly and gestured toward the space between her legs. She sat up straighter, holding a hand out for Carol to take. Therese spread her knees apart to make space as she settled into the water.
Carol's skin was chilled from standing on the cool tiles. Once sitting, Therese wrapped her arms around her, pressing Carol's against her abundant warmth. Her fingers nonsensically traced figures around her abdomen. If there was anything Therese loved more, it was the ability to wrap her arms around Carol whenever she wanted. Even though she was much smaller in height, there was something alluring about having Therese be the one to envelop her body to provide such warmth.
"This better?"
Carol lounged back, rubbing her shoulders from left to right against Therese and shutting her eyes to intake all the sensations of sharing the bathtub. "Much much better." Therese draped the warm washcloth across the exposed part of Carol's chest, making sure she wasn't cold. A pleasant moan fell from Carol's lips as she snuggled into Therese and finally began to warm up.
"Can we do this every day of the voyage?"
Therese nuzzled the side of her neck, and replied, "Absolutely."