Cynthia eventually made her way up to the promenade deck, the salty breeze passed her by as she looked around. There were a couple of people already walking along the deck, some were sitting on the wooden lounge chairs. She smiled a bit as she walked along the edge, glancing out at the sea, at Queenstown in the distance. It felt so calm, but her mind continued to dwindle on her current circumstances.
I need to think of how I can stop the iceberg, she thought. Maybe I could damage the propellers somehow enough that I could get the ship to stop. But could I hit it? They're huge.
Even then though, we might not even stop and we'd still keep going. Cynthia began to think more, perhaps so far there wasn't an absolute solution to stop the iceberg, at least not one she could come up with right now, not at this moment.
There might still be a chance that I don't stop the ship from hitting, Cynthia thought solemnly, Maybe I should start thinking of what I need to do before we hit, yeah, I can still save more lives than what was lost that night. Cynthia looks over to the end of the deck, their the Third class promenade deck was.
The reason third class passengers didn't make it to the boats until later into the sinking was because they didn't have any idea of how to get to the boats, she remembered, All of the crew and staff forgot to go get them and guide them to the boat deck, that's why they didn't show up to the boat deck until most of the boats had already left.
Then that's it, Cynthia thought, an idea suddenly popped into her mind and she smiled excitedly, I'll go down to Third class after lunch and I'll make a map on how to get from there back to first class. Yes, oh my gosh, this will work, this is gonna work.
She smiled happily at her plans, as she went closer to the edge, and began to take photos of Queenstown in the distance, she took a couple, some showing the ship as well. She smiled at the photos she took when she finished. Mum and Dad are gonna love this when they see these, she thought happily.
Then she suddenly remembered, she had not written her next letter to her mum about last night's events. I should probably write another letter to them after lunch too, they'd probably want to know what I got up to at dinner and my new plans,
Cynthia then wondered what she should do, there was still plenty of time before lunch and by now she had already taken repeated photos of the promenade deck, what else could she take photos of? I should go down to the Grand Staircase and take some photos there. She thought I'd be the first person to actually photograph Titanic's first-class Grand Staircase.
She turned around and was about to take a photo of one of the funnels when she stopped.
She pulled her camera down as she looked across the promenade deck, and walking alone was someone she recognised from the night before.
It was Rose, and much like how she had seen her the first time the night before, she looked bored. She wore a white lace dress with a large black and orange belt.
Why is she by herself? She thought, Maybe I should go and say hi her to, ugh but she might be busy, she might not wanna talk-
Rose's head turned slightly, glancing at Cynthia and then shot away for a few seconds before she seemed to recognise her, the boredom in her eyes immediately went away as her eyes lit up and she stopped walking.
"Oh, Cynthia, good morning," Rose said warmly, walking over to her.
"Hey, good morning," Cynthia said casually as Rose stood in front of her. "What are you doing?"
"Just a walk, I feel like I needed the fresh air," Rose admitted, "How did you sleep last night?"
"Yeah fine, didn't feel anything after I hit the bed," Cynthia laughed a bit, "Did your mother manage to get back to your cabin safely?"
Rose's mouth then seemed to pipe into a thin line, "Yes, I'm sure I heard her returning back to the cabin sometime during the night."
Seems like her mum is not the best topic to talk about, Cynthia thought.
Rose shook her head a bit, as her eyes looked over to the ocean.
"Are we already out of Queenstown?" Rose asked, walking over and leaning against the edge, "We can still see it from where we are."
"Yeah," Cynthia says, joining her as she puts both of her elbows gently on the edge, looking out, "That means we're finally on our way to New York then."
At those words, Rose seemed to tense up a bit, her eyes a bit unsure and tense.
"So why are you going to New York then?' Cynthia asked, hoping maybe it would take off the tension.
Rose doesn't say anything at first, but as Cynthia watches her, it's like she's trying to make her mind up on what she's going to say.
"I'm gonna be getting married in America," Rose said, trying to sound confident in her answer but even Cynthia could tell she wasn't happy about what she was saying.
Is there something about the wedding she isn't happy about? Cynthia thought, She doesn't seem to be very happy talking about it. Maybe it's got something to do with her mother maybe or her fiance? Cal? Clearly, there's something wrong with either one of them.
But she's not gonna talk about it, and it's clear she's not ready to talk about it yet.
"It's alright, we don't need to talk about boring stuff like marriage anyway," Cynthia said reassuringly. Rose turned her head to Cynthia, her eyes widened a bit, almost perplexed.
"Well, you see for me, Both of my parents are waiting for me in New York," Cynthia continued, looking out at the ocean. It wasn't entirely a lie, "So I'm going there to hopefully meet up with them."
"So you've been in Europe, all alone?" Rose asked.
Cynthia looked down, it had only just been yesterday that she was thrown into 1912, she had only been gone from home, her real home for up to 24 hours, and for the first hour being there, it was true. She had been alone, there was no one there for her, not for Cynthia Thorntell, no one who could have understood what was going on with her, or with what just happened. But there were people there for Maybelle Cornell, people helping her with the loss of her husband, helping her unpack Maybelle's clothes. But regardless of the fact that Lillian or Herman or Pearl and the others thought she was Maybelle, they still treated Cynthia kindly, with warmth, with gentleness, with no belittlement or mockery.
"I did feel like I was alone at the start, to be honest," Cynthia said honestly, looking out at the ocean, "I was so scared in the beginning, I didn't really get what was happening around me like everything from before until that point was against me like no one really was on my side or that perhaps this was some kind of sick twisted game. I felt like no one saw me, really me. But, the longer I was there, the more I felt better about everything and all the people around me, and I felt like I was able to find the path I was supposed to go."
Cynthia smiled and glanced over to Rose, who just stared at her, listening.
"You know, I actually have some other family in America," Cynthia said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, My great-grandmother, she was on a ship heading to New York to reunite with her parents," Cynthia explained, "but the ship hit an iceberg and sank. She managed to get onto one of the lifeboats and was eventually reduced by the rescue ship which took her and the rest of the survivors to New York. Her parents were waiting for her, but she didn't meet up with them or see them for that matter. She never met them and she made a living for herself in New York and eventually made her way back to Europe and had my family there."
"She did that? Never saw her parents again?"
'Yeah, we're pretty sure it wasn't some miscommunication or just missing each other, at least that's what my grandparents believed. They're sure she wanted nothing to do with them, though we do know we have a lot of family from her side that live in New York and around America, none of us has ever met any of them though."
"Yeah, I don't know why but I guess being on this ship in a kinda weird way, it feels like I'm closer to her than I ever was before." Cynthia continued
"That's incredible," Rose said breathlessly, "I mean, she travelled all by herself to America and managed to survive on her own as well, she must have been so alone even in New York."
"Yeah, I can't imagine what it would have been like.." Cynthia faded off.
"I wouldn't mind doing something like that from time to time," Rose said honestly.
"Doing what?"
Cynthia turned her head to Rose who seemed to look a bit flustered.
"Well,... you know, the weather looks really nice out today," She said, faking a smile as she looked up at the sky.
"The weather?' Cynthia said, confused.
"Yes, it's really… blue out today isn't it?"
"Rose."
Rose turned her head back down to Cynthia, who smiled at her, hoping it might give Rose some reassurance.
"Yes, the weather is nice today, but it doesn't look like it's something that you're very passionate about."
Rose stares at Cynthia, her eyes keeping moving from her to the people around them. And then she sighed.
"I don't know honestly, I just…" Rose starts, "Sometimes I just want to get away from these people, even if it's for a little while."
"Why's that?"
"I just don't think they get met rudely, or understand me for that matter. Anything I'm interested in I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall, like I don't know what I'm talking about. None of them seem to really understand or even try to talk about my interests."
"What about your Mother?"
"My Mother, ugh, I don't know really, I feel like anything I say to her she's somehow unhappy with, it's the same with Cal, I just don't think they understand me, that part of me anyway. Neither of them try to understand when I'm talking about what I like, they either see it as a challenge or something to lecture me about and what I should be doing instead."
Cynthia stared at Rose, her face contorted in an anxious expression like she was desperate. There was something about what she was saying, that feeling like there was no one, no one who would listen to her. How many times have the people around her let her down like Cynthia thought. She then thought about how she had felt after she left the cafe, and what she had heard from Rachel and the other girls. That loneliness, that betrayal, how they had felt about her the whole time. She's just like me, Cynthia thought, She's the same as me.
How long has she felt like this? There's gotta be someone other than me who is seeing her like this, right? Surely there's someone who sees this girl…
"So then, what are you interested in?" Cynthia asked, crossing her arms and looking right at Rose.
Rose's eyes go wide for a few seconds, surprised as it looks like she's trying to think of an answer.
"I like art, I like looking at it and collecting it," She said honestly, smiling to herself, "There's just something about it that makes me feel so… so…"
"Alive?"
"Yes, when they paint landscapes or.. Or buildings or people, these fantastical places, they are just so beautifully captured like I'm actually looking at them. It's remarkable, there's no logic to it."
"It gets that, It's hard to believe some time they've been painted and not simply just been photographed."
"Yes," Rose said happily, "I actually bought a couple of finger paintings while we were in Europe."
"Oh yeah? What were the artists?" Cynthia asked.
"I can't remember… some of them were different… there was… something Picasso?"
Cynthia's eyes shot wide with recognition, I'm sorry what?i Cynthia thought. Rose seemed to notice.
"Have you heard of him?"
"Oh yes… yes I think I've heard of him.." Cynthia trailed off, She definitely knew who Picasso was.
"There were some Monet ones," Rose continued, seemingly trying to remember what she had bought.
"Definitely heard of him," Cynthia said quickly, "I love his paintings, his pieces are great."
"Yes, they're incredible… and I think there were a couple of Deglass… I think that's his name."
"Deglas… doesn't ring a bell, what does he paint?"
"Dancers mostly," Rose said, her eyes moving over to the sea, "I don't even know If I'm gonna be able to get any more when we're in America."
"Surely you'll be able to buy some while you're there won't you?"
"I don't know, I don't know If Cal would let me buy anymore…" Rose looked sadly down at the water.
Cynthia stared at it too, not really sure of what to say.
"You know what, when we get to New York, I'll get you some art," Cynthia said, without really thinking.
"What?"
"Yeah I'll find something, maybe go down to the market, maybe get from a gallery and I'll send it to you. Heck maybe I'll try making one of my own and you can have it, it wouldn't cost you anything."
"How are you going to send it to me?" Rose started to laugh a bit, "Can you even paint?
"Eh, not really, but It would be worth millions anyway because it was painted by me."
Rose laughed a bit more.
"We could trade if we wanted to, you could send me one of your paintings and I'll give you one I find."
"When would we have this trade?"
"Anywhere you'd want, I'll be sure that you get some kind of painting delivered to you while you're in America."
Rose laughed again as Cynthia smiled, her gaze softening at Rose as she relaxed a bit more. There was something about this moment, just with her that felt different. It was different from when she hung out with Rachel and the others. There was joy and happiness when she hung out with them, but it didn't feel like this, they never seemed to react to what Cynthia said the way Rose was doing, the way she was smiling genuinely, happily, like she really did find what she said was funny.
Rose's eyes then went down and looked at her camera.
"What is this?" She asked, her hands reaching and lifting the camera up, which was still strung along Cynthia's neck.
"That? That's my camera," Cynthia said as she watched Rose examine it, "It takes photos and prints them out in colour."
"It does? How? It looks so small," Rose said, perplexed.
"It's really not that hard, watch," Cynthia then gently took the camera out of Rose's hand and stood back a bit, bringing it up to her face, the lens pointing to Rose. Rose looked a bit started, but then calmed a bit, leaning against the edge, smiling at the camera. Cynthia snapped the shot and immediately the photo came out from the photo slot as Cynthia pulled it out. Rose also quickly came up and looked down at it, both of their heads gently together looking down at it.
"There's nothing there," Rose said.
"You gotta give it a minute to develop," Cynthia said gently and the two watched and waited, staring at the blank image as it slowly started to develop, and sure enough, the image of rose smiling at the camera finally developed.
Cytnhai starts to look up to Rose's expression, as she does, she thinks back to how Pearl, Naiomi and Marie had reacted when she showed them the photos, with disinterest and boredom. She's probably not gonna be that impressed, Cynthia thought, It may not be as impressive as I thought-
"Cynthia, this is incredible," Rose said excitedly and Cynthia looked up as Rose gently took the photo from Cynthia's hand, looking at the photograph, "I've never seen anything like it."
Cynthia blinked at her, Wait, she's actually excited about it? Where was this reaction from the others yesterday? She then smiled, her eyes softening as Rose stared at the photo.
"Do they all come out like this?" Rose asked.
"Yeah, plenty of them do, I've got some more photos I've taken."
"Really?"
Cynthia then pulled out the other photos she had taken from her handbag and showed them to Rose, who kept shuffling between the photos, some of them were of the ocean and of Queenstown, while others were of the exterior of the ship, the funnels, the promenade deck, the portholes.
"You took all these yourself? They're really good Cynthia."
"Thanks, I've had it for so long now, I've gotten pretty good at it I think."
"I guess then, they should appoint you to be the ship's photographer then," Rose said, looking up at Cynthia.
Cynthia felt her cheeks flush slightly, her eyes looking at Rose. Is she being serious? She thought earnestly, and she couldn't remember any time that Rachel and that had said that about her photos.
"You don't have to say that," Cynthia said, her eyes glancing around.
"No I mean it, they're really well done Cynthia, I've never seen someone photograph in colour before."
"Yeah, My dad got it for me when I was 10, and I've been doing it ever since."
"10? You were 10 when You started?"
"Yeah, my dad got it for me for my birthday, his side is very much into photography so I guess they wanted me to continue the trend I guess."
"Really…"
"Yeah, but I guess it also comes a bit with my mum's side too, they're really into like the historical aspect of it I guess."
"The historical aspect?"
"Yeah, it kinda all comes back to my great-grandmother, because she didn't really have much when It came to her life before she had our family. Everyone in a way wanted to be sure that there would be nothing left of our history, that we were her. We wanted to keep every keepsake possible so that we didn't forget them. We kept everything we could find and documented it, as much as we could find, especially if we found anything that belonged to her. I guess you could say my family went a little crazy about it huh."
Rose glanced down at her camera as she gently returned the photos back to Cynthia. "Do you think you can?"
"Huh?"
"Take my photo? If that's alright with you."
"Oh yeah, that's fine," Cynthia said, clasping her camera in her hands, "Where do you wanna take them?"
Rose looked around them, the slight breeze blowing against her hair, "Over there maybe?" Rose said, pointing to the lounge chairs nearby..
"Yeah that's fine," Cynthia said and the two of them walked over there, with Rose leaning down against one of the chairs, her arms gently posed along the lounge as Cynthia prepared her camera.
"Alright, make sure to stay still for a bit," Cynthia said, looking through her camera, "Keep your eyes on the lens."
Rose gave a slight nod as she kept her eyes on the camera as Cynthia managed to snap her photo and gently pulled the photo out of the camera slot, Rose moves and changes her position as Cynthia takes a couple more, with Rose either smiling or having a serious expression.
It was while Cynthia was taking her fourth picture that Rose decided to change it up a bit, putting her wrist on her head dramatically, and she seemed to be laughing about it as Cynthia took her photo.
"What changed?" Cynthia asked as Rose laughed, moving herself again, this time sitting on the chair,
"I have too many pictures of me looking so stiff at home," Rose explained, "Wouldn't it be that bad to have some… variety in them."
Cynthia laughed a bit as Rose put her hands up along her face dramatically, with some of them she had her eyes closed, but at least for one of them, she had one eye open, looking at the camera, smiling.
Cynthia smiled as she took a couple of more thoughts before she suddenly thought, Mum would probably like some photos of me on this trip, wouldn't she? She put the camera down gently.
"Do you mind taking my photos then?" She asked.
Rose blinked for a moment, "Me?"
"Yeah," She said, walking over to where Rose was and starting to remove the camera from her neck, passing it to her. "It's not that hard to use, see, you hold it up like this," Cynthia explained, gesturing up to her face.
"Like this?"
"Yeah, and you look through that glass hole, see how you can see me from the other side, that's what the lens sees, so then you flick that button the top and it snatches the picture and that's it."
"Like this?"
Rose then snapped a picture and Cynthia pulled it out from the camera slot and the two looked at it, waiting as the image began to develop. Sure enough, it did show a very close-up of Cynthia's face looking up away from the camera.
"See you did good," Cyhtia said smiling, "But uh, this time I won't be as close."
The two laughed as Rose backed away slightly, her hands shaking a bit as she clung tightly to the camera as Cynthia leaned against one of the wire ropes that tied itself to one of the funnels, she looked at the camera and smiled, showing her teeth a bit as she waves to the camera.
Rose manages to shakily take a photo and gently pulls it out from the camera slot and looks at it, it slowly develops and while it does show Cynthia in the photo, it looked a bit blurry.
"How'd it go?" Cynthia called.
"It's a bit blurry!"
"Try and keep the camera still, don't try and move when you take the shot."
"Ok…"
Rose lifted the camera again to her face as Cynthia kept smiling, this time Rose was able to keep her hand still as she took the photo. Once again she pulled it out gently and waited as it developed. Sure enough, it showed a clear photo of Cynthia smiling, waving to the camera.
"They came out fine," Rose said excitedly,, glancing up at Cynthia and then down to the photo.
"Great, good job."
Rose smiled happily as she took more photos, each time Cynthia would change her pose and position, sometimes it would be serious with her leaning against the chair, while others were a bit more silly, with her dramatically pointing to the ship's funnels. Rose laughed as she took these photos, and Cynthia found herself laughing, which Rose managed to capture on some of her photos.
"How did they come out?' Cynthia asked, walking over and looking over Rose's shoulder as Rose was looking at the photos. Cynthia smiled at the results.
"They look great, pretty good for your first time using it."
"You think so?"
"Yeah, they came out really good,' Cynthia said, "We can take some together if you want."
"How? Wouldn't we need someone else to take the photo then?"
"Nope, There's a dial on here that allows me to set a timer that will automatically take photos without me needing to snap the picture myself."
"It can do that?' Rose asked, astonished.
"Yep, so If I just flick this here," as she took the camera from Rose's hands and gently placed it onto one of the lounges, facing the both of them.
"So what now?" Rose asks.
"Well, we have about 10 seconds before it takes out the picture."
"So, then we should probably get ready then."
"Right."
Cynthia and Rose then quickly moved so they aligned themselves with the camera, trying to figure out what pose they should do. Eventually, they figures it out as Cynthia joined arms with Rose and smiled for the picture. The photograph seconds later came out of the camera slot and the girls quickly went over to check it. Sure enough, the image and Cynthia's linking arms showed in the photo, along with a small glint of the sunlight.
"Came out alright huh?" Cynthia said.
"Yes, it does," Rose said smiling.
Cynthia looked up at Rose, there was so much more happiness and joy in her eyes, much more than when she had first seen her walking on the deck, and it made her happy, happy that she could see her smiling face, her laughter.
And somehow, the two of them started walking along the promenade deck again, with Cynthia putting her camera back along her neck and the photos they had taken into her handbag. Cynthia doesn't know what else to say as they walk, and it seems the same goes for Rose as they walk in complete silence, Cynthia's eyes keep glancing around, for anything that the two could talk about.
And then she saw, something.
There were two chairs and a table set u in the enclosed part of the promenade deck, which had a chess set all prepared.
"Huh, they have a chess set here," Cynthia finally said, stopping.
Rose stopped walking and looked at where Cynthia was gesturing towards.
"Oh, so they do..."
"Do you wanna play?"
"Right now… I don't know… I've never played before" Rose said, her eyes glancing elsewhere as Cynthia moved away from Rose and sat down.
"Oh come it should be fine," Cynthia, said earnestly, "It can't be that hard."
Rose looked at Cynthia, who had earnesty in her eyes, and so she sat down in the seat opposite of Cynthia.
"Alright then…" Cynthia took a deep breath and exhaled, the truth was though she had never played chess before in her life, it hadn't been a very popular activity with much of her family.
So what do I do first? She thought frantically, looking at the board, at the pieces.
Then, without thinking, she picked up her bishop piece and moved it to one of the black spaces on the board.
"Alright, your go."
"Right."
Rose looked down at her board, seemingly thinking, and then she quickly moved one of her pieces; the queen.
Now what do I do? Cynthia thought as Rose watched Cynthia think. Cynthia then moved her Queen piece along the board.
Rose then moved her king.
So how am I supposed to take her pieces?
Cynthia stared at the board, at Rose's pieces.
And withou really thinking, she moved her castle a couple of spaces and then knocked over Rose's king and Queen and took them.
"What move was that?" Rose asked.
"Ah yes, it's a very well-known rule in chess, once you move your king and queen on the board close to one of my pieces, they both run off together, therefore they're mine now."
Rose then laughed.
"That's not how you play the game," She said, still laughing.
Yeah, that was definitely not a chess move.
"Yes, I know that," Cynthia then ended up laughing, "We can make out own rules though."
As they were laughing, Cynthia felt her hand slide hard against the table.
"Arg," She cried quietly, holding her hand out in pain.
"You ok?" Rose asked, concerned.
"I think so, Just bit my hand a bit," Cynthia then looked at her hand, her left index finger had a small cut on it, which now had blood dripping out of it. I can still get hurt was the first thought that came into Cynthia, it seemed like a stupid thought to Cynthia, of course, she could get hurt, but somehow it perplexed her, just a bit though.
"Here," Rose then grabbed something from her handbag and pulled something out; a green lacy handkerchief. She folded it multiple times and got up from her seat, "Hold it out for me," Rose said and Cynthia presented her bloodied finger out as Rose wrapped her handkerchief around Cynthia's index figure and secured it.
"That should do it," Rose said, smiling at her handy work.
"Its really good, thank you," Cynthia said smiling up at Rose as she went back to her sea. And once again, it was Rose's turn to make her move, she looked at her pieces, moving her head forward a bit to get a better look. Cynthia didn't seem to notice this as she too leaned her head forward to see what Rose was looking at.
Immediately, both of them bumped heads with each other. They recoiled a bit, looking up at each other, smiling a bit.
"Sorry," Both of them said at the same time, and then laughed again as Cynthia moved her head back again.
Rose looked down at her board, trying to figure out her next move, and then she moved her castle and moved it a couple of spots before she took Cynthia's castle.
"I do believe a Knight does not leave the castle," Rose said, trying to sound confident.
"See now you're getting it," Cynthia said clapping as Rose put Cynthia's castle to the side.
And they kept playing, making more rules as they went along, laughing to themselves every once and a while, and in the end, they had both taken all their chess pieces and were left with nothing.
"Now what do we do?" Rose asked Cynthia while they were sitting there.
"Well there's plenty of stuff on this ship to do, there's the squash courts, the Turkish baths, the gymnasium…"
But then Cynthia remembered.
"Wait, it might not even be open to us girls."
"Ah…"
Cynthia then kept thinking, Well, there is the swimming pool isn't there. Yes, the swimming pool, that's perfect.
"What about the swimming pool? I mean, the ship has a swimming pool on F deck."
"Oh yes, I heard about that. I'm pretty sure you have to pay to get in…" Rose said, "If your women, I think... Two sherlings per person."
"Then I'll pay for us both, at least then we'll have something to do."
Rose blinked at Cynthia.
"Alright then."
Cynthia then got up, reaching out and grabbing Rose's hand, pulling her up from her chair. And then the two set off towards Cynthia's cabin.
Once they reached the door, Cynthia opened the door, opening enough to let Rose in as she shut the door.
"Right, there should be coins around here somewhere," Cynthia said, as she moved and began to rummage around the draws in the sitting room. Do we even have any coins around? Cynthia thought as she looked. Rose looked around the cabin too, trying to feel around the couch and drawers as well.
"Find anything yet?" Rose asked.
"Not yet… oh wait hang on."
Cynthia was currently looking at one of the bags that had been put in one of the corners of the drawers, it was small and silver.
"Found one!" Cynthia yelled, pulling it out and holding it triumphantly.
"Great, that just means one more."
"Right."
They continue to look around the sitting room, rummaging through more drawers and around the chairs and vanity.
And eventually, it was Rose's turn, "Found another one."
Cynthia stood up and turned to look where Rose was, she was standing near one of the vanities as she held up something small and silver in her hands.
"Great, good job," Cynthia said, smiling, walking over to where she is.
"I'm sure I saw I had a swimming suit packed somewhere in my luggage," Rose said, still holding on to her coin, "I'll go grab it."
"Yeah sure, I'll meet you outside," Cynthia said as she watched Rose quickly leave the sitting room and out of the cabin.
Well, this is exciting, Cynthia thought as she went over to her room and began to scuffle through her wardrobe for something that looked like swimwear, after a while she managed to find something, a white and light blue striped swimming costume. Cynthia then stands up and takes off her camera from around her neck and places it down on the dressing table, along with her handbag with all of her photos.
Still carrying the swimsuit, she walks out of her room and out of the sitting room to the outside of her cabin. As she does, she can already see Rose coming up towards her, in her hands carrying a similar swimwear.
"Looks nice," Cynthia said, glancing down at Rose's swimwear in her hands.
Rose smiled.
"Shall we go?"
Cynthia nodded and the two of them made their way down the corridor and headed towards the elevator.
"F deck," Rose said to the elevator operator as they entered. He simply nodded as the two stood there as the elevator went down. They were going down for quite some time before they finally made it to F-deck and quickly hopped off. 'Thank you," Cynthia said as they left. They went down even more hallways and corridors, all of which were beginning to look the same.
"You sure it's on F-deck?" Rose asked, who was leading the way.
"Pretty sure, wait, if you don't know the way, then why are you in front?" Cynthia asked.
"B-because I went in front, obviously," Rose said, trying to sound confident.
"So, do you want me to go in front then?"
"If you would do so," Rose said, moving away so Cynthia could go in front. Cynthia then took the lead, looking over at the walls as they made their way further along until finally, they saw a sign that read: "Swimming Bath."
"Oh, we're here," Cynthia said, And they both headed inside.
There was a steward inside waiting for them.
"Just of the two of you then Mrs,?' He asked.
"Yes," Cynthia then gave him their two shellings. He looked over them for a bit.
"Very well," He said and moved aside as Cynthia and Rose went along towards the swimming pool.
The room was quite large, and so was the pool which had white stairs on both ends of the pool which led into the water. Cynthia walked over to the railing and looked down, the pool looked very deep on end. Right near the railing were the changing rooms, and so far there was no one in there except them.
"Looks like it's just us," Cynthia said as Rose joined her at the railing.
"I guess so," Rose said as she glanced over at the changing rooms.
"We better get changed then huh," Cynthia said and they both headed into their respected change rooms and shut the door.
Cynthia struggled a bit as she slowly took her dress off, letting it fall onto the ground as Cynthia began to try and undo her corset strings. I see why I need Lillian so much with this, she thought as she loosened her corset until finally, she was able to take it off.
In the other stall, she could hear Rose seemed to be having the same struggles, hearing grunts and scuffles from the other side.
"Hey, you ok in their Rose?" Cynthia gently called as she began to pull her swimwear on.
"Oh, sorry It's just, ugh… this dress is so-"
"Do you need any help?" Cynthia asked.
There was a bit of Silence from Rose's side as she seemed to have stopped moving.
"Would you?" Rose asked.
"Yeah, just hold on I'll be out in a sec."
Rose hummed a response as Cynthia pulled her corset back on over her swimsuit as some coverage as she unlocked her stall and stepped out, stepping towards Rose's stall.
"I'm right here, you ready?"
"Alright."
Cynthia heard the lock on Rose's door unlock as Cynthia then gently opens the door and goes inside. Rose has her back to her as Cynthia gently closes the door, her arms reaching to her back trying to grab at the dress.
"It's just so-" Rose was saying, as she did Cynthia could have sworn her eyes were becoming watery.
"Hey it's alright, it won't take long," Cynthia said, reassuringly.
Rose sort of glanced back at Cynthia as she began to undo the back of Rose's dress, and managed to loosen it enough that Rose could take it off.
"Thank you," Rose said softly.
"Yeah it's fine, you ok to finish changing?"
"Yes, I think so."
Cynthia nodded as she left Rose's stall and went back into hers where she finished putting the rest of her swimwear on. She put the rest of her clothes onto the wooden seat inside and finally took her shoes off and opened the door. She stepped out a bit, and soon enough, Rose stepped out of her stall, wearing her swimwear. The two looked at each other and smiled a bir before they made their way towards the stairs to the pool.
Rose gracefully went down the stairs, on the last couple she began to swim out into the pool keeping her hair up and out of the water. Cynthia watched her for a bit before she too started to go down the stairs. As her feet met the water, she could feel the warm heat from it to her surprise. I guess it's heated huh, she thought as she took a couple of steps in, reaching to her knees. She didn't go any further before she bend her knees and dived head-first into the water.
The warm water takes over her body as she dives through the deep parts of the pool. She glances up a bit, seeing the blurry image of Rose above her. She kicks up and resurfaces back above, meeting with Rose as she rubs her eyes a bit, and everything around her becomes more clearer.
"The water is really warm huh," Cynthia says.
"Yes, I'm pretty sure that its heated seawater."
Seawater, Cynthia thought as she looked around at the pool. It wouldn't be so bad if we were swimming in water like this in a few days, then no one would have freeze to death waiting for help to arrive. To think we might have to be swimming in colder water like this.
Cynthia then took a deep breath and went underwater again, Rose watching her as she kicks deeper and deeper down until she reached the bottom of the pool. What am I thinking, I'm gonna do everything I can so no one is gonna be swimming in the North Atlantic. She then looks up at Rose as her feet touch the bottom. She's gonna make it to New York, She's not dying on this ship, if anything else, I'm making sure that you don't die, Rose, I'm gonna do something to save this ship.
Cynthia then pushed off hard against the bottom, pushing herself back up towards the surface, as she did, she kicked her legs a bit and turned her torso around, maneuvering herself into a backward somersault as she resurfaced. She gasped her air a bit as she wiped her eyes again, when she looked at Rose, she looked at Cynthia amazed.
"That was incredible," She said speechless."
"Yeah, I have really good balance, I did ballet a couple of years ago."
"Really? I did something like that too, but I haven't done anything like that in years."
Then Cynthia had an idea, and she smiled at the thought of it.
"I can show you something else," Cynthia said and began to kick towards the shallow end of the pool. Rose followed as Cynthia began to walk a bit on the shallow end, keeping her distance from Rose as well as the stairs. She takes a deep breath in as she raises her right air into the air until it is at a 45-degree angle, she stays there for a bit before she begins to raise it even higher, as she does she leans her torso back and then both of her arms, until her right leg is straight up in the air.
Rose's mouth is agape as Cynthia laughs at her expression, trying to keep her centre of balance under control.
"That's amazing," Rose finally said, smiling, almost laughing.
Cynthia let a chuckle as she stared at Rose, who to her and the rest of what she saw looked upside down. Cynthia slowly and carefully brought her leg and torso back up.
"So what are your plans for lunch?" Cynthia asked as she made her way back down where Rose was, "I mean if you didn't have anyone to have lunch with then I could-"
"Sorry, I'm already having lunch with Cal and my mother," Rose said, "I believe we're also being joining by Mr Ismay, Margret Brown and the Head Designer of the ship."
Cynthia tried to not look disappointed, which Rose seemed to notice as she then said,
"Are you doing anything after lunch, we could do something afterwards?"
"Nah, I've got plans that I need to get done after lunch, sorry."
"I see."
Rose seemed to be thinking about something as they continued to swim around the pool. Periodically, they would try to see who could get to the edge the fastest, and every time seemed to have a different winner. By the fourth race, Rose seemed to be looking over at the portholes.
"We should probably start of thinking of getting out, It has to be close to luncheon," Rose said.
"Alright."
The two then swam up the stairs and out of the pool, were nearby they found warm towels waiting for them which they used to pat themselves dry.
"Do you need help putting your dress back on?" Cynthia asked as they made their way to their respective cubicles.
"I believe so," Rose said, glancing over into her cubicle, at her dress and garments.
"Ok, just let me know and I'll come in," Cynthia said as they both entered their cubicle and closed their doors.
Cynthia began to put her undergarments on, this time she put her corset on at the front and tightened it that way. She could hear Rose struggling again from the other side.
"Need help?" Cynthia called.
"No, I think I've got it."
Cynthia nodded as she finished putting her corset back on and began to put her blue dress on again, as she did she patted her towel along her hair drying to dry it a bit more as she put her shoes back on.
"I'm about ready," Cynthia said as she opened her cubicle door and stepped out, as she did she wrapped her swimwear with her towel. "You ready for me to come in?"
"Yes."
The door once again gently crept open and Cynthia went in, closing the door behind her. Rose had most of her dress on, it was just the back of it that needed to be tightened into place. So Cynthia began to do the buttons along Rose's back until they were all done.
"All good," Cynthia said smiling as she quickly left Rose's cubicle, grabbing her wet towel from her cubicle. Shortly after, Rose came out too, holding her towel and swimwear in a similar fashion.
"Could you help me?" Rose asked.
"With what?"
Rose then lifted a long necklace from one of her hands.
"Of yeah sure," Cynthia said, taking the necklace from Rose's hands as she went behind her, clasping the necklace along Rose's neck and clasping the two ends together.
"There we go," Cynthia said when it was all finished.
"Thank you."
Rose smiled at Cynthia and Cynthia smiled back.
Together, the both of them then left the swimming pool and made their way back to the elevators which they took back up to B-deck.
They then made their way back to the outside of Cynthia's cabin.
"I should probably head to Lunch then," Rose said as Cynthia opened the door to her cabin, "I'm having lunch at the cafe Veranda."
"You know I can walk you there if you want," Cynthia offered.
"Would you?"
'Yeah sure, I'll just put these away," Cynthia said gesturing to her towel.
"Yes I should probably do that too, I'll be back in a minute."
Rose then hurried off towards her cabin as Cynthia went into hers, looking for somewhere she could put her wet clothes.
Maybe there's a laundry basket somewhere, She thought, Where is Lillian when you need her?
She then looked to the bathroom, There, it won't leak around anywhere in there. Cynthia then quickly went into the bathroom and dropped the towel into the bathtub. She then hurried off out of the cabin, Maybe she's gonna just go and head to lunch anyway, she found herself thinking, She doesn't really need-
Rose then came hurryingly along the corridor and made her way to her.
"Alright, shall we go?" Rose asks.
Cynthia blinked.
"Yeah ok."
And the two then made their way along the corridors again, as they get closer to the cafe, Rose speaks up again.
"I just don't know about the company I'll be having at Luncheon."
"Hey, you have nothing to worry about," Cynthia said as they stopped outside, as they do, Cynthia reaches out and takes Rose's hand, squeezing it reassuringly, "I hear that Thomas Andrews and Molly aren't boring at all, I think you'll enjoy being with them."
Rose looked down at Cynthia's hand, smiling a bit.
"Well, that gives me something to not be worried about."
Cynthia laughed a bit as she let Rose's hand.
"Well, then I guess I'll see you later then."
"Yes, I'll see you later."
Cynthia nodded awkwardly as she began to walk away, Rose started to enter the cafe when she turned back to Cynthia.
"Wait, who are you planning on having dinner with tonight?" Rose called.
Cynthia turned right back around.
"No one at the moment, why?"
"Well if that was the case then would you mind having dinner with us tonight? Since I couldn't be able to have Lunch with you, I guess in a sort of way it makes us for it."
Cynthia blinked a bit, but she knew what she was going to say.
"Yeah sure, I'll be there."
"Great, I'll see you tonight then."
"See you tonight."
Cynthia smiled as she turned back again to walk away, as she did though, she couldn't help but keep looking back at Rose, who to her surprise was doing the same. Invited to dinner again, she thought to herself. She then smiled, I can't wait to see her tonight.
