THE UNEXPECTED COINCIDENCE
Chapter Three

Daniel awoke with a smile on his face, and luckily, today he remembered that the bed was not near any walls, and therefore did not fall out of bed like yesterday.

He leapt out of the satin sheets and made it quickly. He dashed into the bathroom and had a quick bath to clean himself up. He didn’t know why he wanted to look good all of a sudden, and he had never cared much about his looks beforehand.

He decided against wearing his heavy suits and grabbed a white shirt and black trousers, although for him this counted as too dressy. He didn’t want to appear too casual to Keisha.

He slipped into the paneled sitting room and saw Keisha, fast asleep on the couch, looking warm, comfortable, and clean, a complete contrast to the cowering woman he had met just yesterday. He felt like he had a duty to take care of this woman, to see that she did not just go hungry as soon as she reached America. He knew that he would never see her again after the maiden voyage had reached its course, but he didn’t want to stay melancholy for the rest of the trip. He knew that he had a large attraction to this woman.

He walked over to her and sat down on the edge of the couch, hoping that he would have to use extreme measures to wake her up.

It transpired that his weight was enough to wake the sleeping woman, for she sat up immediately, and grabbed him in a headlock.

Daniel was more surprised than hurt. He didn’t realize that she would do this to him when she awoke. He had not expected a warm reception; for life on the streets must require a person to be focused all the time, sleep with one eye open.

"Morning, Keisha," he managed to say. Her arm was squashing his throat.

He felt the arms lose their grip around his neck, though they were still there. He used her horror to swing her from her feet and bring her close to him, locking her arms behind her back.

"Never underestimate Daniel James Taylor," he said, looking the shorter woman directly in the eyes.

They stood together like that for what seemed like eternity, only to be broken by a loud coughing in the corner of the room.

Daniel let her go quickly and turned to face his fully dressed cousin standing in the doorway. Caught in an intimate position, Daniel tried to gloss it over.

"Morning, Kathy. How are you on this fine day?"

He used his snobbish voice he saved for dinner parties.

Needless to day, his upper class voice did not help out of this situation. He decided that he needed to get out of the uncomfortable situation as soon as humanly possible.

"I will have breakfast in one of the restaurants. Good-bye Kathy, Keisha." He gave them both a nod before exiting the room at top speed.

He cursed himself for thinking irrationally and tried to remind himself that he would never see Keisha after the trip.

Needless to say, his rational mind was not responding after the closeness he had shared with Keisha just a few moments ago.

He went to the Veranda Café and ordered a cup of lemon tea to calm his nerves.

Daniel noticed the odd looks he was receiving from the rest of the First Class passengers, obviously put off with his state of dress and longer hair. Truly shallow, Daniel thought, taking a sip of his tea.

Daniel noticed the DeWitt Bukaters and Cal making a beeline for him, obviously hoping to catch him, no doubt to ask him to dinner.

He genuinely smiled at Rose, who seemed distant today; she smiled at him, briefly locking eye contact, allowing him to see the distress in her eyes.

What’s wrong with her? he thought, hoping that he would have a chance to talk to her later.

This time Daniel remained seating, not bothering with etiquette when his mind was elsewhere.

He murmured a small hello to everyone and immediately went back to processing his thoughts and drinking his tea.

"Penny for your thoughts, Daniel?" Cal asked, puncturing Daniel’s thought train.

He knew that he must have looked detached, almost upset about something, but he did not want to share it with the rest of the table, who were now all looking at him with interest. Rose sat beside him, turning to face him properly. She placed a hand on his forehead.

"My, Mr. Taylor, your temperature is off the roof. You must come out for a breath of fresh air. Come now, and I will guide you."

Daniel tried to hide his confusion from the others, but he stole a perplexed look at Rose, who glared back.

Catching on, Daniel tried his best to look ill.

"It must be the sea. I do not think I have adjusted to it yet. Maybe a breath of fresh air is all I need," Daniel said to Cal and Ruth, who looked concerned, although Daniel noticed that Ruth’s was faked, not that he had expected much else.

The redhead escorted him out of the restaurant, steering him out to the deck. She didn’t stop walking until they were on the poop deck, far away from anyone who might overhear. He saw her look at the stern strangely, although he did not question it.

"Rose, are you all right? You seemed distant in the café," he said to her, hoping that she would reveal what was on her mind.

"I’m...fine, Daniel, really, but I know there is something you are hiding from us. They may be too shallow to see it, but that does not mean that I am. Please, tell me. I am your friend here, and you are mine."

Daniel knew she hadn’t shared her problem, but he decided to let it drop. He was truly touched by her concern, even though he thought it was misplaced.

"All right. I will tell you, although you must not tell a living, breathing soul. All right?" Daniel asked, looking at her straight in the eyes, trying to see if she would keep her promise.

"I can tell Cal, then," she whispered under her breath, causing Daniel to frown in worry. "Yes, I promise to keep it a secret," Rose swore in her normal voice, sincerity in her eyes.

Daniel nodded and proceeded to tell her about finding Keisha, getting her a ticket, and his realizing that he was falling for her badly. She gasped in a few places and shook her head a few times as well.

"Do you think I am crazy?" Daniel asked, once he had finished the retelling, carefully missing the moment he had shared with Keisha this morning.

"To be honest, if you love this woman, then no, I think you are wonderful, but remember she is a criminal. She boarded this ship illegally and is only safe now that she has found you. God knows what other crimes she has committed."

Daniel nodded at Rose’s wise words.

"For a seventeen-year-old, you seemed to have skipped the growing up phase," Daniel said, looking at the girl beside him.

"I was forced to grow up too fast," she murmured, looking out to sea.

"You’d better get back. They must be wondering where you are. Just say that I was sick and I will join them for dinner this evening, if that’s all right."

Rose nodded at Daniel’s comments and turned to move away and go back to the café.

"Rose!" Daniel called when she was a couple of feet away. "Don’t do anything foolish," he advised, knowing that something was wrong with the girl; something she didn’t wanted to explain.

She did not turn around, only stop for a second or two to process his remark. She carried on her way, leaving Daniel to lean over the rail and stare at the endless depths of ocean. There was nothing but sea in sight. All land had disappeared form the horizon, giving Daniel an odd feeling of foreboding and loneliness.

He smiled as the wind blew his dark hair from his shoulders. The savage force felt like it was cleansing him from all thoughts and emotions, as if he was given a fresh start to work with. So this is what they mean when they say that the wind blows your cobwebs out, he thought, laughing out loud as a strong burst of wind caused him to stagger back a little.

"I didn’t know that first class guys laughed," an American voice said, causing Daniel to turn on the spot.

His eyes were met with a man around the same age as himself with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He could tell that the man was in steerage, probably prejudiced against all upper class people, but the tone in his voice showed a friendly curiosity that was not present in the upper class regions of the ship.

"Ignore him; he’s not worth the trouble," an Irish voice said, a voice that belonged to a man wearing a battered bowler hat and smoking a cigarette.

"Oh, he asked a question, a fair one at that, and yes, first class guys do laugh when they are not in a room with shallow bastards," Daniel replied calmly, even though the wind was causing his hair to fly about his eyes and face.

The men looked astonished at his answer, causing him to laugh again.

"How did you guess I was first class? Judging by the looks I received during breakfast, I thought I look like I had come from the slums of New York," Daniel said, causing the Irishman to drop his cigarette on the deck. "My name is Daniel," he said, moving over to shake the men’s hands in turn, causing them to look even more surprised.

"You are too clean to be from the slums," the American man said once his confidence had returned. "My name is Jack, and this is Tommy," he said, a friendly smile on his face.

Daniel was once again shocked at how genuine the people were down here. He thought they might have been slightly resentful of being in the company of such a well-off man, one who outshone them in both importance and worth.

He was soon introduced to many people, who were all slightly apprehensive at being so near an important person.

Soon enough, the people became comfortable around him and talked about many things.

"You don’t know how good it is to have a conversation with someone that doesn’t involve politics and business," Daniel told Tommy, which caused the man to fall into hysterics.

"Come to a party tonight if you want in one of the halls in steerage. You will find it. Just follow the music," Jack said, obviously hoping to talk to him some more.

Daniel smiled at his kindness and turned to face him from his sitting position, for he had been kneeling on the deck, playing with the children.

"I have to attend dinner first, but afterwards I will come down and visit you all, and I will bring someone with me," Daniel said, pausing to see if bringing Keisha down was a good idea. He would have to ask her, but if she did not stand up to the prejudice at all, the prejudice would remain forever. "Be in for a surprise," Daniel added as he withdrew his pocket watch and exclaimed at the time. "Bloody hell. I am going to be late for dinner. I have already missed lunch."

He looked at Jack once he had said that, and realized that he had been hungry on one too many occasions, and realized how missing one meal must seem normal to him.

"Sorry, that was insensitive," Daniel said, shaking his hand quickly. "I must go."

He said good-bye to everyone and even hugged some of the children he had grown fond of.

He sped along the ship, finding his way to his room in five minutes. He burst into the richly decorated room to find Keisha calmly reading on the couch with her legs crossed up under her. She looked up as he burst in, cheeks red from the cold and hair a tangled, blown-about mess.

"You look a bit weathered," Keisha said simply, trying to hide a laugh.

He walked over to her and collapsed next to her on the couch. "You are going to a party tonight," he stated, looking at her closely, trying to see her reaction.

She sighed, placed her book down, and looked at him in the eyes, focusing her large brown eyes on his.

"In case you haven’t noticed, most people treat me like something smelly they have stepped in, and I doubt your upper class people would be any different," she said, as if she was explaining the matter to a child.

"Who said it was upper class?" he asked, causing her to raise her eyebrows at him. "Are you game? If I promise that at any sign of prejudice, we are out of there?" Daniel looked at her deeply, hoping that she would agree.

"Okay, then. Come here after dinner. I am guessing I don’t have to dress up." He knew she was only doing this for him, which made him even more grateful.

"Right. I will pick you up after dinner. I have to get ready."

Daniel stood up and left for his room, where he found Katherine putting some clothes away into his wardrobe.

"How has she been today?" he asked her in an undertone while hugging her.

"Fine. Missing you," Katherine answered quickly, fixing him with her cool blue eyes. "I will be in my room if you need me," she said in a clear voice that he was sure she had to cover their conversation.

Daniel laughed at her secrecy and quickly dressed in a tuxedo, and then carefully slicked his hair back.

He left the suite with a nod at Keisha and sped towards the Grand Staircase.

He descended the stairs quickly, not bothering saying hello to anyone as he passed them. He knew that he was damaging his reputation, but all he wanted was a good night out with Keisha.

Later, Daniel. You have to sit through this first, he told himself, hoping that he would not make a fool of himself.

He walked over to where Rose and Cal were sitting and was welcomed with many greetings and shaking of hands.

He sat down as soon as he could, and complained several times of the wait between courses.

"Do you have somewhere to be, Mr. Taylor?" Ruth asked the third time his impatience had gotten the better of him.

"Well, not really, Ruth, but I am feeling rather tired from my illness and I am wanting to recover for tomorrow," Daniel said, carefully avoiding looking into her hawk-like eyes.

Ruth seemed to buy his excuse, but Rose looked at him from across the table, noticing that Daniel was lying, for she had come up with the lie herself.

He excused himself from dessert, not wanting to stay around these people any longer than he had to.

"Do join us for breakfast tomorrow, Daniel," Cal said calmly, smoking a cigar.

Daniel, who had been at the point of escaping, cursed under his breath and smiled and nodded slightly, hoping that he would be ill tomorrow morning.

He carefully dodged around the tables, smiling and nodding at anyone who offered a greeting.

The route back to his room was unnoticed and rather lonely, not that he minded.

He quickly entered his suite and noticed that Keisha was sitting on the floor, next to a crumpled figure. There were dark stains on the floor that looked horribly like blood.

"Keisha, what happened?" Daniel asked, entering the suite and taking off his jacket, not yet realizing who the fallen figure was.

She turned to him, tears in her eyes. "I’m sorry. I was having a bath, preparing for our party, and when I came back into here, I found…" She broke off into tears. For Daniel, the tears validated her story.

He leaned down and hugged Keisha tightly, hoping to comfort her. He froze still as soon as he recognized the woman on the floor, blood smeared across her porcelain skin, unmistakably dead.

It was Katherine.

Chapter Four
Stories