FORMALITY
Chapter Two
April 11, 1912
The next day was just as bright
and sunny as the day before. My family and I took our breakfast in the cafe,
the same place where we took our lunch yesterday. I wasn’t very hungry, and the
conversation was about business topics, so I grew bored quickly. I looked
around the room. It was a narrow room, with windows all along one side, and
only two rows of tables. There were potted plants in every corner, and there
was white lattice woodwork on the wall. At the far end of the room, there was a
cart with different pastries and such, and at the other end, there was a stand
with the china and silverware. It was a lovely room, full of light. I looked
around at the people sitting at the other tables. Mr. Andrews, the master ship
builder, was at one table with the Carters, the Ryersons, and Mr. Ismay. At
another table, my eyes stopped on a pair of emerald green eyes from across the
room. Instantly, a smile spread across my face when I saw his handsome face
smiling back at me. He excused himself from the company he was with and winked
at me when he walked by, tilting his head toward the door.
"If you’ll excuse me, I’ll
be in the library," I said, getting up from my table and following Robert
out the door.
"So, we meet again."
Robert smiled as he turned to face me.
"We meet again." I
smiled back, taking his arm.
"Is that your family that
you were sitting with?" he asked as we climbed the Aft Grand Staircase to
A Deck.
"Yes, my father and mother,
and my younger sister, Marie," I answered.
"She’s your sister? Hmm…you
don't look anything alike," he said, chuckling.
"Sometimes I think I was
adopted," I said, laughing. We walked out a door and onto the covered
promenade deck.
"So, Isabelle, tell me about
yourself," he said, looking right at me.
"Please, call me
Belle," I said. He nodded. "Well, let’s see, I’m sixteen, and I was
born in New York City. I love to read and explore new sights."
"Explore?" Robert
asked, one eyebrow raised. I laughed at the face he made.
"One eyebrow? How can you do
that?" I laughed.
"It’s easy. I guess it’s
hereditary." He laughed back. "You were born in New York City?"
"Yes, but we had to move to
Philadelphia when I was twelve. It was hard to leave all my friends," I
said seriously.
"Ah…but you like Philly
better, though," he said.
"Yes, how would you
know?" I asked.
"Well, you just seem to be a
Philly girl," he said, smiling. I stopped walking and looked at him. A
smile that I couldn’t help crept across my face.
"And just how do I seem to
be a Philly girl?" I asked slyly.
"You’re different from the
others. I can tell. You’re not all into stupid, boring parties. You’re in for
adventure," he said seriously, much to my surprise. My smile grew wider,
and I started to walk again.
"Now, Robert, tell me all
about you," I said.
"Call me Rob." I smiled
up at him. "I was born in Boston, and I’m nineteen."
"Wait a minute. How did you
get off without an accent?" I asked him.
"Ah…you didn’t let me
finish." He smiled back.
"Oh, well, go ahead," I
urged him.
"When I was four, we moved
to Pittsburgh. My uncle was starting a new railcar company, and he wanted my
father to be his partner. And I’ve lived there ever since," he finished.
"What do you like to do in
your free time?" I asked him.
"I like to collect
paintings, and I hope to own my own art gallery someday," he said.
"Really? I like art, but I
don’t collect anything. My favorite thing to do when we go to New York is to go
to the art museums," I said.
"So we have something in
common," he said, smirking.
"We do," I said. At
this point, we had reached the end of the covered promenade, so Rob led me up
to the boat deck, which was breezy but nice. A few strands of my blonde hair
fell from my clips alongside my face.
"What have you been doing in
Europe?" he asked, continuing our conversation.
"My father decided to take
us on a small tour of Europe to get us out of the house. We went to France and
Spain, and stayed in England most of the time with my grandmother. I love
visiting my grandmother. She’s the total opposite of my mother, which I love.
The only thing that I regret about this trip is not going to the top of the
Eiffel Tower in Paris," I said.
"I heard it’s a wonderful
sight from up there. They even say you can see England," Rob said. I
smiled.
"That would be spectacular
to see," I said. "What brings you on the Titanic?" I looked up
at Rob, who was looking at me contentedly, like he was hanging on every word I
said.
"My mother’s sister lives in
London, and she just had twins. They are the cutest little babies," he
said, smiling. "We stayed there for about a month, and now we have to head
back to the factory." He sighed heavily.
"You don’t like the
factory?" I asked, sensing his sadness.
"It’s nice, but it’s not
what I have planned for my life. I don’t want to be tied down like my
father," he said slowly. He lifted his head back up. "The worst part
of going back is the annoying, flirting girls."
"The boring formalities of
the upper class." I sighed. "Wait. Annoying, flirting girls?" I
smiled mischievously up at him.
"Oh, yes." He laughed.
"You’re not one of them. Trust me."
"I trust you," I said.
He looked at me as we approached the aft railing, smiling at me with that
already familiar twinkle in his eye. On the first class deck below us, a
red-haired woman stood looking down on the steerage deck. I assumed it was Rose
DeWitt Bukater, the one Mother always talked about.
"See that man in steerage
with the sketchbook?" Rob asked, taking my gaze away from Rose. I scanned
the stern deck, and saw a blonde man with a sketchbook.
"Yes." I nodded,
looking back up at Rob with questioning eyes.
"You said you liked art, so
let’s go down and see what he’s got," Rob said, grabbing my hand and
pulling me toward the second class stairs.