EVERYTHING’S NOT LOST
Chapter Twelve
"Harry, what is this all
about?" I asked him, laughing, as he continued to drag me towards the crew
area from the deck.
"I can guarantee this’ll be
better than dinner—and that’s all I’m going to say."
"Will there be food?"
"Well, no." He managed
a laugh.
"Then, it can’t be better
than dinner." He smiled.
"You’re right on that
account." As we passed through areas I don’t even remember seeing on the
tour of the ship the day before—We passed a room filled with telegraphs and
tables, where two operators sat, their backs to us, their ears covered with
headphones. Harry whistled at them, making me jump.
"Sorry, Ann," he
apologized as both men took off the headphones and turned.
"Harry!" said one Irish
man. The other waved a greeting of hello.
"Jack, Harold, this is
Antoinette," he said, gesturing to me. They both nodded, seeming to be
attached to the cords from the table, unable to move. "Antoinette, this is
Harold Bride, the assistant wireless operator." He gestured to the man who
had just said hello. "And that’s Jack Phillips, the chief operator."
He then pointed to the one who had waved.
"Hello," I said simply
to both of them, with a smile.
"Hello to you, Miss…?"
Bride’s voice trailed off.
"Andrews," Harry said
simply. This is going to be extremely confusing—Harry and now Harold…? I shall
call Harold Bride merely Bride and Harold Lowe simply Harry. That’s that,
problem solved.
"Andrews?" Jack
questioned. Well, at least I know he’s not a mute. I nodded. "You’re
Thomas Andrews’s daughter?" I smiled shyly.
"That’s me."
"Pleasure," he
responded sincerely. "What are you doing, Lowe, dragging someone like Miss
Andrews through our cramped quarters?" Harry didn’t respond.
"Are you coming or
not?" he asked both of them. Coming to what?
"That’s tonight?" Jack
asked, confused. Harry nodded. "Aw, I’d love to, but I’ve got to stay
here. It’s my shift tonight—Harold will be happy to go, though, won’t you
Bride?" He nodded eagerly, taking off his headphones and standing up.
"Hey, if you lose, it’s my turn!" Jack laughed.
"I don’t plan on
losing!" Bride responded enthusiastically to his superior.
"Harry, what are they
talking about?" I asked him. He just smiled at me.
"Oh, you’ll see." But,
I don’t want to see! I want to know. Harry, well, Lowe, he checked his watch
and looked at Bride impatiently.
"Are you coming or
not?" he asked him. "They’re going to start without us."
"Yeah, yeah," Harold
responded, stepping into the hallway with us. Oh, we’re leaving?
"It was nice to meet
you," I attempted to say to Jack. He smiled at me.
"You, too, Miss
Andrews." Harry took my hand once more, intertwining his fingers with
mine. My heart must’ve leaped! It had to have—I have this funny feeling in my
stomach. It’s just nerves, I suppose. We continued down the long corridor and
Bride cleared his throat behind me.
"Miss Andrews, I—"
"Antoinette’s fine," I
said simply. "We’re in the middle of a cramped corridor—why bother with
formalities?" Harry began to laugh as he continued to pull me down the
long hallway.
"Harry," Bride began,
"I thought we weren’t going to have women know about this!" Harry
glanced momentarily over his shoulder at the operator, raising an eyebrow
skeptically. "I thought we said that…"
"Antoinette’s coming,"
he said, with a smile. I managed to get a peek over Harry’s shoulder and we
seem to be going towards a room at the end of the corridor. We suddenly took a
sharp right and he opened the first door to our left. "Hope you didn’t
start without me!" he said happily.
"Harry, welcome back!"
said a voice. I got another look over Harry’s shoulder. Sitting at a rather
large table were a few of Titanic’s officers—Moody, Lightoller and…I let in a
sharp breath of air, trying not to turn in another direction when I saw him.
Will. Woman-less Will. Will was the one who spoke to Harry when we first
appeared. I need to find someone he can fall in love with, fast.
Around them and the table were a
few empty folding chairs with the White Star Line’s red flag logo gleaming. I
can never get away from Ismay, can I? In the center of the table was a deck of
playing cards, that looked to have been really used. Harry dragged me all the
way down here to play cards? I’m missing dinner to play cards?
"And we’ve got Bride,"
Harry said as Bride passed me and took a seat for himself at the table,
"…and I’m sure all of you remember Antoinette." There was silence.
"Mr. Andrews’ daughter?" he reminded them. There was a mumbling
amongst them, as if the light bulbs in their heads had just turned on.
"Yes, yes," Lightoller
said in his pristine accent as Moody managed a nod. Will smiled at me and
although I could hardly see him, I can’t bare to make eye contact. Harry
squeezed my hand and pulled my arm a bit to get me to move into the room, but
my feet seem planted into the floor.
"Ann, Ann, what are you
doing?" he asked me when he realized I wasn’t moving.
"Harry, I think I should go
back to my room," I stammered.
"Oh, come now, Love, it’ll
be fun." Love? Is that a British pet name or something along those lines?
Why am I suddenly okay with this? "It’s either this or dinner, don’t you
remember?" he asked with a slight smile. "And…" he lowered his
voice so only I could hear. "…Ismay." I shuddered at the thought of
that.
"I forgot about that,"
I admitted. He smiled.
"Come then. If it’s that
awful, I’ll take you back, alright?" I nodded, somewhat relieved.
"Okay."
"Okay." He turned back
towards the room and took a step into the doorway, gently pulling me in. Will
made eye contact with me and kept his eyes locked into mine until he saw my
fingers intertwined with Harry’s. His smile faded in a matter of seconds as I
managed to take a step into the room. Those steps I just took, I stepped over
Will’s heart and crushed it. I could see it in his eyes.
"Well, welcome, young
lady!" Moody said enthusiastically.
"How about we get down to
playing while the night is still young?" Lightoller said with a laugh.
"…We’re going to play
poker," Harry informed me. He must’ve saw the confused look on my face.
"Ever played?" I shook my head.
"I suppose there’s a first
time for everything." With that, I took a seat. Let’s play some poker.