Chapter 10: Tommy

The sound of the factory whistle blew from the distance, waking me up easily. Groaning, I sat up seeing the sun was just about to rise through the window. Thinking of how the day was just getting started, I regretted only getting about an hour or two of sleep.

That was until I looked down at El, still fast asleep. Her brunette locks flowed across the pillow she held onto, a few strands fallen in front of her face from falling asleep on her side. Her exposed breasts rose and fell and she breathed so slowly and deeply, in the midst of a deep sleep.

She was a vision. Definitely worth the lack of sleep.

Hearing the whistle blow again, I snapped out of it and quickly got ready, throwing on a sturdy pair of tan trousers and white shirt, topped with a bowler hat. On my way out, I gave El a quick kiss before covering her up with the blanket that had fallen across her waist. She didn't budge.

The woman could sleep through anything.

The mill was only about a ten minute walk from the apartment, which gave me enough time to snag something to eat on the way over. Darkness had completely subsided by the time I arrived, catching up to a line of other workers making their way through.

The mill itself was almost like it's own little town, with multiple buildings dedicated to different parts of the steel making process. The two huge blast furnaces loomed over us like giant towers, black smoke escaping them, that encapsulated us into shadows. They were at least ten stories high.

As I entered the main building, a wall of heat hit almost knocked me off my feet. I hadn't even started and within seconds, I was already breaking out in a sweat. Everything around me flowed in a fast paced manner, the night shift guys switched out quickly with the others I walked in with. Without saying a word, they went right to loading materials into the furnace. There must've been hundreds of workers around me, none of them noticing me at all.

When I wasn't working in the coal mines at home, I would fill in for shifts at the local mill. There was maybe about fifty guys there at the most. It was nothing compared to this.

"New guy?" I could barely hear over the running stoves and the sound of limestone being drug in as a thin, dark haired man, who must have been in his mid to late thirties, approached me. His sleeves were rolled up, trousers covered in soot, sweat dripping from his thick mustache. It looked like he had been here for hours already.

"That's me," I was practically yelling as I held out my hand, "Tommy Ryan."

"Charles Denver," he shook my hand, "You'll be under my wing for the week, some training to get your groundings here."

"Alright," I nodded.

"You ever work at a mill before?"

"Not at this capacity," I admitted.

"But you know the basics of steel making?"

"That's right."

"Well that's a start at least," he wiped sweat off his brow, "We'll rotate you through everything this week but your place will be with the stove tenders. Once you get the hang of everything, you'll be overseein' the new ones comin' through with me. So get used to me," he snickered, "People are coming through here constantly."

"I see."

"Follow me this way," he guided me through to a large array of stoves with a handful of tenders. It was sweltering, "Main job here is to make sure the stoves are at the right temperatures. To melt, the limestone, iron. and all other materials in here have to be at least 3,000 degrees, so you make sure that temperature doesn't drop in the stoves at all. Once it melts, the slag and everything else that floats to the top has to be removed."

"Mhmm," I nodded, attempting to take a deep breath. It was difficult to concentrate on what he was saying with the heat making the air so thick. He seemed to notice.

"You'll get used to the heat here. Takes some time."

"I hope so."

"It ain't so bad after awhile. It's a lot to take in," he said, "But the biggest thing, be careful. You don't wanna burn yourself, or get yourself killed. Lost too many guys here as it is."

"What?"

"Guys have died where you're standin' boy," he patted me on the back. I swallowed uncomfortably, "You listen to me, you learn, you'll be fine."

Everything seemed to go blurry as he continued on, explaining the inner workings of the stove, and gave me a tour of the rest of the mill. So much information was getting dumped and dumped on me, and it felt all too overwhelming.

I stood there wondering how any job could be worth a man's life.

Ellie

A pounding at the door woke me abruptly from a deep sleep. Startled, I jumped up quickly, covering myself with the blanket wrapped around me.

"Who is it?"

"Ellie, it's Sarah," I could hear her call from behind the door.

"Hold on one moment!"

I lunged for suitcase, digging for something I could throw on quickly. As I was crouched down, I could feel my whole body aching from last night's excursions. I was blushing thinking about it. I opted for my white nightgown as it was on top of the pile, the same one I wore the night of the sinking, and slipped on the red, satin robe gifted by Sarah. I kicked the suitcase to the side of the room, running my fingers through my tangled hair a bit shakily before throwing open the door with a smile.

"Hello, Sarah!" I greeted a little too gleefully.

Seeing the look on her face, there was no hiding of anything from her.

"Dear Lord in Heaven, look at you," she shook her head.

"Well good morning to you too," I responded, brushing past her to shut the door.

"Morning?" she snickered, "It's nearly noon."

"Oh," I chuckled sheepishly, "I can't believe I slept so late."

"Well judging by the state of you, I don't even want to know what escapades you two were up last night," she ran her hand through her golden hair, sighing, "I have it in my right mind to drag you both to the priest for confession."

"I'm sorry," I was flushed from a bit of embarrassment, no way I could admit to her this was not the first time this had happened between us, "If I would have known you were coming I would've been far more put together."

"Ah, so Thomas didn't tell you I was coming by," she rolled her eyes, "Typical man. But I take it you two have made up?"

"Yes, we're just fine."

"Any other news you need to tell me?" I could see her eyes drifting to my left hand. I quickly hid it behind my back.

"Oh, no. Nothing at all."

"Don't test me, lass," her eyes brows furrowed. Grinning from ear to ear, I extended my hand out and showed off the ring. She laughed in delight, "Ha! Congratulations!"

"Don't act surprised, I know you put him up to it."

"All I did was give him the ring and told him he could whatever he wanted with it," she shrugged, "I didn't do a thing."

"Well regardless, thank you," I smiled warmly, "It really means a lot that you believe your mother's ring is worthy enough to rest on my hand."

"Don't mention it," she took my hand, giving it a squeeze, "It was always meant to be passed down to someone special. I can't wait to write to my sister and tell her, she'll be thrilled."

"Good," I said, letting out a deep breath, "So did you just want to come by to see the place?"

"Of course! Have to make sure you two are living in half decent conditions," she handed off a large paper bag to me, which I didn't even notice she was holding, and began to look around, "I also wanted to bring over some things to hold you over until you can get settled, some cooking utensils and pots and pans, some small things to eat, things of that nature."

"Thank you, I'm sorry I can't offer you coffee or tea at the moment."

"That's quite alright," she opened up the two door kitchen cabinet, inspecting it, "Oh! This too," she reached into her dress pocket, pulling out the Heart of the Ocean, "I believe this belongs to you."

"Thank you," my face turned red as I quickly retreated to the bedroom with it, finding a place to store it away from any possible wandering eyes that could stumble upon it.

"You're not in any kind of danger are you?"

"No, Sarah," I called from the bedroom.

"I won't tell a soul about it. It's your business, Ellie. You do what you have to do."

"I appreciate that, Sarah," I made my way back to the kitchen. She was peering into the sink now.

"I just hope you know you could always come to me and John if you need anything at all. If you're in any kind of trouble or-"

"I know," I said, "Honestly, everything is alright."

"Good," she nodded and went to inspect the bedroom next, "It's clean here."

"All Tommy."

"Really?" She poked her head out, "I'm impressed."

"He's really trying," I said, "I'm proud of him for everything."

"You're sleeping on the floor? There's no mattress in here."

"Only briefly!"

I could hear her sigh before she came back into the kitchen.

"Well they've certainly stepped up these places since I first came here. I'm relieved there's actually light and a bathroom in here."

"So you find it acceptable?"

"As long as you two are happy, I'm happy," she patted me on the shoulder, "I have seen a lot worse. Now go get dressed so we can get you something to eat. The kids are out with their grandmother today so I can run some errands if you would like to accompany me."

"Sounds good," I said, heading back to the bedroom.

"We can discuss wedding planning while we're out."

"Already?" I called out, stepping into my chemise.

"Yes, already!" She scoffed that I even questioned her, "At the rate you two are going, we'll have a bastard child in our midst in no time."

Another short one, but I'm hoping my next few will end up being longer. Hope you're all enjoying! Again, if you're reading please don't forget to favorite and drop a review! I love hearing your thoughts and any ideas. It's much appreciated!