AN UNEXPECTED TURN
Chapter Four

After they ate lunch Bruce insisted on going out for a walk around his ship.

'What is this all about? I don't want to go on a walk!' she thought in her head.

They walked out onto the deck and as Bruce stopped to talk to someone Gwen looked around and saw people milling around doing nothing really. A few women were on a bench, no doubt gossiping and some men were drinking a brandy or something and talking about business. As she looked some more she happened to see Will standing off in a distance talking to her father. She then had to turn her attention back to Bruce as he was asking her a question. She answered with trying not to sound as annoyed as possible. As she answered her father came up with Will still standing beside them. She finished talking to Bruce and then he greeted her father and Will.

"Good afternoon Henry, Will," Bruce said.

"Good afternoon Bruce," Henry replied.

"Good afternoon sir," Will said with a slight smile at Gwen.

"William have you met my fiancé? Gwendolyn?" Bruce asked.

"Just briefly yesterday at lunch," Will answered.

Gwen and Will exchanged secret smiles, Will knew full well that there could be problems if Bruce found out that they had dined together in private that morning.

"Ah well Gwen this is William Murdoch. Will this is Gwendolyn Ann Wilde. Henry here is her father," Bruce said with a grin at knowing so much.

"It's lovely to meet you miss," Will said as he gave her a kiss on the hand, as he always did. This caused Gwen to blush slightly and make her heart scream.

'This is crazy!' she kept telling herself.

"Well I am going to escort Gwen back to her suite now. Will we be seeing you at dinner tonight?" Bruce asked.

"Well I have my shift tonight Bruce. But Will shall be joining you. Won't you Will?" Henry asked.

"Yes sir. I enjoy the company that is always at the table," he answered with a glance at Gwen that made her want to start laughing at the secret the two had.

"Wonderful, then we will see you this evening," Bruce said. Henry gave his daughter a kiss on the forehead and then Bruce began to walk Gwen back to her suite.

When they reached her room Bruce planted a kiss on her cheek and then he left. She walked into her room and began to wipe off her face.

'Great, she had been kissed by Bruce Slime ball Ismay. Fun!' she thought out loud.

"Miss? Is that you?" Judy called.

"Yes Judy, it's me," Gwen replied.

Judy came out and looked at the girl who was wiping at her face.

"Did Mr. Ismay kiss you miss?" Judy asked.

Gwen looked at the maid, "How did you ever guess?" she asked with a laugh.

Judy smiled at the girl, then Gwen sat down onto the sofa. She opened a book and began to read it. Gwen knew that people would frown if they saw her reading a book. Young women should not be reading novels, it just wasn't done. She and her mother both thought that this was a very idiotic rule. Why should men be the only ones to read novels? In fact this very book was one her mother had given her on her thirteenth birthday. She laughed as she read the familiar story. One her mother would read aloud to the children and she remembered all of the memory's the family had shared.

As Gwen stopped reading and thought about her mother she wondered what she would have to say about this whole marriage thing. If for one second her mother had detected her unhappiness about this marriage her mother would demand that it all stop. She would never make Gwen go through with something that she wasn't comfortable with. But that would never happen, her father wanted to marry his daughter off to a man who had money who would keep Gwen safe after he died. Who would always make sure she was alright, and she guessed now that’s what her father thought she would be. Always safe. That’s all that counted, safety. A few hours later while Gwen was out on her deck enjoying the sunset she heard the bugles go off.

"Quick Judy! It's a battle...oh wait no. That’s just dinner being announced," she said, laughing.

Gwen walked into her suite and into her room and decided to change, it would be odd if a girl wore the same gown to dinner that she had worn to lunch.

Gwen decided on a black satin gown that had gold embroidery on it, it scooped down just a bit. She wasn't trying to look nice for Bruce, just trying to look pretty for Will. The gown had a bit of a train with the gold all over it. The dress had just the right kind of sleeves. As Gwen put on some gloves Judy fixed her hair up. Once she had everything on Gwen truly looked beautiful, this disturbed her just because she was afraid Bruce might gawk at her. She wanted one set of eyes on her and one set only, Will's.

Gwendolyn knew this was being vain of her, and impure. She knew that she should not wish any man to look at her at all. But there was something about Will. He kept her laughing and had such a kind gentle smile. He also understood her, he listened to her. She told him her dreams and he listened. Maybe that was what attracted her to him. He didn't treat her as an object.

Just as she was collecting a purse there was a sharp knocking on the door and she was pulled from her thoughts of Will. Judy answered the door and for the third time that day there stood Ismay.

"Gwen, you look wonderful!" he exclaimed.

"Thank you Bruce," Gwen replied.

He gave her a kiss on the cheek and then held out his arm for her. Gwen took it with disgust and they left.

'Great, now I get to burn my favorite pair of gloves,' she thought.

The two arrived in the dining saloon and as Bruce did his usual talking and reminding that he was Bruce Ismay, President of the White Star Line, Gwen looked around. As she looked her eyes passed over one man and almost continued. But then she looked back and saw it was Will. She didn't recognize him in just a tux. She was so used to seeing him in his uniform that he looked almost strange in a tux. He was talking to the Captain and was just finishing his conversation when he saw Gwen. The two exchanged smiles and he slowly made himself over to the couple.

"Good evening Bruce, Miss Wilde," he said with a smile.

"Good evening Will," Bruce said.

"Good evening," Gwen mouthed with a smile tearing at her lips.

Bruce talked for a few minutes to some other people, totally ignoring Will. Gwen whispered something quickly into his ear as Will made his way to the table. He laughed at the joke and then sat down. Finally Bruce finished his boasting to the Astor's and they walked to their table. Tonight Gwen was in between Bruce, and Will. With Thomas Andrews on the other side of Will. As much as she detested Bruce, this arrangement suited her well. Gwen decided on having the salmon that night. She waited for her food while making small talk with the people at her table and on occasion whispering things into Will's head which made him laugh. No one seemed to notice, well no one except for Mrs. Brown. Or Molly as she insisted on being called. She watched the two friends laugh at the little inside jokes the two shared. When she observed how Gwen was with Bruce there was a total change in her. But with Will this girl was alive and happy.

If you had come up to Gwen and asked her if she was happier with Bruce Ismay or Will Murdoch she would lie and say her fiancé. But the truth was she loved most being with this man, the first officer of the ship. She preferred being with him any day. Well she preferred being with anyone else but Bruce Ismay. But when she was with Will it was true. He made her come alive, she would laugh. Laughing more than she had done since before her mother died. As the food was served Gwen looked at Bruce and noticed he had gotten up and was talking to the waiter. She didn't hear much of his yelling except that he was Bruce Ismay, owner of the ship and that he didn't order lamb!

Gwen looked at Will and the two started laughing.

"He's upset about lamb?" Thomas muttered.

"Apparently," Gwen said, still laughing.

"I'm sorry everyone, but I seemed to of been struck with the giggles and I can't control it," she said to the table.

Everyone smiled at the girl and soon they were all laughing. Unable to control themselves, mostly laughing at the girl but partly laughing at Bruce who was still telling the waiter off. They looked up and cooled down quickly because Bruce was returning. Gwen didn't dare look at him for fear she might start laughing again. She began to quietly cut her food and half listening to the idle chatter as she ate. After dinner much to her protest instead of going straight onto the smoking room he insisted on taking Gwen to her suite. She said good evening to Will and the rest of the table and Bruce held her arm as they walked to the suite.

"That surely was annoying," he said.

"What? I'm sorry Bruce. What was annoying?" she asked.

"Those men who claim to be chefs. Messing up my order, that was completely uncalled for!" Bruce said.

"Oh, that," Gwen said as she restrained the giggles that were trying to come up.

When they reached the door to her suite Gwen went to reach for the doorknob but was stopped by Bruce's arm.

"Do you have something more you wish to say before going to your brandy?" Gwen asked, who had already taken on hair pin out of her hair.

"You looked...so beautiful tonight. Like your mother," Bruce commented.

"Well thank you," she went to reach out to open the door again but was still stopped.

To her horror Bruce began to take his other hand and gently stoked the back of her neck. It was gentle and yet so rough. This caused Gwen to shudder, she knew what he was trying to do.

"Well I'm going to go to sleep now. Good night Bruce," she said as she tried to reach out for the door again.

But as before he stopped her. This time his hand was rubbing the small of her back.

"Bruce will you please stop? Your making me uncomfortable," she said.

"Your my fiancé. You should not be feeling uncomfortable," he said.

"Can I please go to my room now? I'm very tired," she replied.

But instead of an answer Bruce began to lean in for a kiss, not the usual dumb kiss on the cheek. He was going for a kiss on the lips. By the time he was close and Gwen had figured out what he was doing she freaked out, poked him sharply with the hair pin, very hard for that matter. And took off running, running as fast as she could in this dress and corset. Leaving Bruce bent over in pain. She continued to run, up to the deck. Not watching what she was doing, and then that’s when it happened. She bumped into someone which caused her to almost fall down. When the man saw her nearly fall he grabbed her just in time. By this time Gwen had been crying and did not want to be in the arms of some strange man. Except the man was not strange, in fact she knew the man.

"Gwen?" the familiar voice asked.

Gwen opened her eyes and wiped the tears to see Will looking down at her.

She tried to calm herself down and like the night before when she saw the gleam from her engagement ring she started to cry harder. Will stood her up and tried to get her to stop crying. But instead she just crumpled into his arms, just crying and feeling the safety and warmth of his jacket.

"Shh it's ok," he said softly as he tried to calm her.

Gwen sniffed as she slowly stopped crying, loving the feeling of his arms around her. When she finally stopped crying Will looked down at her.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Well Bruce took me back to my room and I was trying to get into my room and he started to touch me and I told him it made me uncomfortable and then he leaned in and wanted to kiss me. I poked him with a hair pin and took off running," she explained.

"He continued even though you told him you were uncomfortable?" Will asked, appalled.

Gwen nodded.

"Well it's alright now, your safe. I won't let him hurt you," he said reassuringly.

Chapter Five
Stories