April 6, 2012
Actors Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kathy Bates, Ewan Stewart, Frances Fisher, and Victor Garber were all standing on Pier 54 in New York City. Each of them had received a phone call from Titanic director James Cameron asking for all of them to meet him there.
Kate was the last to arrive, wearing blue jeans, a white shirt with a black blazer on top, and sunglasses that pulled her beautiful long blonde hair back from her face. She looked around at her fellow actors with a confused face. Leo was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. Kathy was in a blue skirt and black blouse, her pretty, silky gray hair blowing effortlessly in the wind. Ewan Stewart looked as great as he did in the film, only she could tell he had aged a bit, but he had aged gracefully. He wore blue jeans and a black button down shirt with a jean jacket over the top. Frances looked exceptionally great in a black minidress and a black blazer with brown cowboy boots. Her pretty red hair was down around her shoulders. Lastly, Victor looked just as great as he had fifteen years ago in his black shirt, black blazer, and blue jeans.
"You guys got a call from James, too?" Kate asked.
Kathy laughed briefly and shook her head. "I got my call right in the middle of shooting Harry's Law in L.A.," she said, frustration in her tone. "He wouldn't say what this—meeting was for, just to meet him here."
"Well, today Titanic 3D comes out in theaters," Leo said, "so maybe it has something to do with that. I—I don't know. I took a red-eye from Australia last night after I got his call."
Victor looked all around with curious eyes, his mind wandering with thoughts.
"No. No. This—this is where the Carpathia docked with all of its Titanic passengers in 1912," Victor said, looking all around the area they were in. "He wouldn't just ask us to meet him here for the 3D movie. Something's up with this."
"What could that possibly be?" a voice asked, laughing, from behind Leo.
They turned around and saw Billy Zane standing there, Billy who had portrayed Cal in the movie Titanic. He looked still like the same old Billy, except he was bald, but that was covered by a tweed hat. He was wearing a green blazer with a dark blue sweater underneath, blue jeans, and sunshades. He looked like he had come from some Hollywood movie premiere.
Leo laughed. "Billy, long time no see. How's it going?"
Billy nodded and smiled. "I'm doing pretty good, Leo, ya know, work, taking care of my daughter, stuff. How are you?"
Leo nodded. "Pretty well. Just busy, too," he responded as he walked over and greeted Billy with a hug.
"So, what's going on here?" Billy asked. "Why did James ask us to come here?"
Frances shrugged. "Your guess is as good as ours," she said in a low voice.
"Yeah. We've been standing around here for almost an hour—and no James," Ewan stated. "This is a bit confusing."
"Well, maybe we—" Kate began to say, but she was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. "Oh, maybe this is him now."
Kate took out her cell phone and put it to her ear.
"Hello?" Kate answered.
"Kate, hey. Are ya at 54?" James asked.
"Uh…yeah, James, we are. What's going on here?" Kate asked.
"That's him?" Leo asked. "Put him on speaker so we all can hear."
Kate nodded and put James on speakerphone.
"Well, there's a ship coming in a few minutes," James said. "It's a…um…cruise ship called the Osänkbara . All the media is on there—ET, Access Hollywood, E! News—all the crew who worked on Titanic…um—even me, and I want you guys to board it for a few hours. It’s part of the press party that I'm doing for today's opening of Titanic in 3D."
"What!?" Kathy asked with a what the hell? expression.
"Oh, hell, no!" Billy blurted out.
"Hear, hear," Leo agreed. "I'm sorry, James, but I—I don't have time for this. I've got to get back to Australia. I'm filming a movie on Monday and I need today and the rest of the days to prepare."
"Oh, come on, guys. I'll pay you for doing this, all right?" James said. "It’s important. Do you know how big and successful the movie was that you were all in?"
Ewan and Frances sighed. "I—I don't know, mate. I mean, I have a function to go to on Saturday in London," Ewan said.
Frances looked down and briefly smirked. "I'll board it, James," she said with a smirk. "I—I loved Titanic the first time and I'll love it again this time—promoting it, ya know?"
"Thank you, Frances. I truly appreciate it, dear," James said.
"Hold on. Hold on," Billy said, waving his hands in front of him quickly. "You want us—us, the actors of a film about the Titanic, a ship that sank, to board a ship that's coming to the same pier where the Carpathia dropped off the passengers of the sunken ship. Um…does anyone else see any problems with this?"
Leo laughed.
James laughed.
"Oh, come on, Billy!" James said, some humor filling his voice. "It’s for the movie!"
"Uh…I—I don't know about that either, James," Victor said with a shrug. "I mean—shit, this is a little eerie. It's a few days before the anniversary of the Titanic sinking, and you want us to get on a ship?"
Billy scoffed and shook his head. "Exactly. Hell, no, I'm not doing it," he said. "I'll be damned if I'm playing as Caledon Hockley for real on some damned ship a few days before the Titanic's sinking anniversary."
Victor and Frances laughed.
Kate looked at Leo and Frances with an unsure look.
James was heard sighing on the other end of the phone.
"Do it and there's three thousand in it for all of you," James lied.
"Three thousand? Really?" Kathy asked, eyebrows raised in interest.
"Three thousand," James repeated.
"Okay, I'll do it," Ewan said quickly. "But, damn it, I want my three thousand by the end of the week."
"All right. All right. That can be arranged," James said.
Leo sighed and frowned briefly. "For three thousand, I'm in, too," he said in a frustrated tone. "I—I guess I can go ahead and promote this film—one more time."
Frances looked at Leo with a slight smile. "Geez, Leo, with the way you make it sound, you seem like you hate the movie now," she said lightly.
"No. I—I don't hate it,” Leo responded, "but imagine being stopped every five minutes, everywhere you go, because fans everywhere are shouting 'Jack!', 'Look its Jack, and he's without Rose!'"
Kate and Kathy laughed heartily.
"It’s annoying after a while," Leo said. "I mean, what about Inception, Gangs of New York, my other films?"
"Well, you could've handed me some of the attention." Billy said. "You wouldn't believe how hated I was after playing Cal, people coming up to me, telling me I was a jerk, a bastard. One eighty-year-old lady even slapped me."
Ewan and Kathy gasped. "No. You've gotta be lying, Billy," Kathy said, a smile and disbelief in her voice.
"I am not," Billy said with a slight frown. "It took years, and I mean years, for people to realize Cal was just a character."
"Damn, that's fucked up, Billy," James said. "So, will ya do it?"
Billy looked at Kate's phone and raised an eyebrow of disbelief. "Oh, how heartfelt that seemed, James, really," he said sarcastically.
"I'll do it," Kate said, almost hesitantly. "If Leo will do it, then so will I."
"Well, Leo, will you?" James asked.
Leo sighed and frowned. He looked at Kate and could tell she wanted to do it. She had always loved the movie Titanic, even though she only saw it once. She had practically bombarded James with requests to portray Rose in the film, so of course she wanted to do it.
"All right. All right. I said I was in, so I'm in," Leo said with a brief—very brief—smile. "Who am I to turn down three thousand?"
Kate laughed and hugged Leo happily.
"Oh, what the hell. It's only one day. I'll do it, too," Kathy said with a smirk.
"Great!" James said happily. "Billy, Victor, how about you two?"
Billy looked unsure. "Well," he said, "how many people are on it? How many lifeboats do they have? And please tell me none of Bruce Ismay's relatives had anything to do with the ship."
Kate, Leo, and Victor laughed.
"No, Billy," James said, laughing. "It’s only…um…a small number on board—I forget the exact number—and there are plenty of lifeboats, and it's only for one day, Billy and Victor. Come on! It’s Titanic. It’s what made you all stars!"
"Hey! I was already a star!" Kathy snapped.
Kate laughed. "Yeah, I remember you in Misery," she said with a smile. "Fucking picture scared the shit out of me for weeks."
Kathy laughed.
"You and my mother both," Billy said with a smirk.
"Sorry, Kathy. It’s what made some of you stars," James said.
Victor sighed with a worried expression. He nodded hesitantly. "Um…all right," he said. "I—I just—I—"
"You what, Victor?" Leo asked curiously.
Victor looked down and frowned. He was worried, but he didn't know about what. He just had a feeling, a bad feeling, about all of this.
"Well, I'll oblige and do this," Billy said. "Only I have to be back in L.A. by tomorrow. My daughter and my girlfriend and I are taking a week’s trip to Cancun."
"Uh…yeah. Sure you will, Billy," James said quickly.
"Good. Well, it’s settled," Billy said confidently. "Now, get this fucking ship here so we can get on. It’s freezing out here."
"No shit. It feels like it’s forty degrees," Kate said with a slight shiver.
"It’s New York, remember?" Frances said with a smile. "It’s always freezing in New York in April."
Leo laughed.
"Well, relax. The ship should be arriving any moment now," James said. "Uh…I gotta go, but when you get on, just relax, have drinks, enjoy. The press party doesn't begin until four…um—see ya on there—bye."
Before Kate or any of the other cast members could say anything, James hung up.
"O—kay, bye?" Kate said, which garnered a laugh from Kathy and Ewan.
"Oh, look. There's the ship now," Leo said as he pointed out at a huge white and blue ship that was sailing towards them and the pier.
The ship looked awesome. The outside design looked exactly like the Titanic, but they could tell it was different by the windows. The windows and the deck looked more like the windows and deck of the Royal Caribbean. The actors all looked as the ship sailed towards them and the pier.
"Damn, that's pretty fucking big," Frances said with a slight chuckle.
"Not any bigger than—" Kate was interrupted by Leo.
"Oh, no. Don't even say it," Leo said with a smile, which made Kate laugh.
Victor stared at the ship with suspicious eyes. There was something about the ship. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it was something. Something was making his stomach twist in knots.