THE UNEXPECTED COINCIDENCE
Chapter Six
Daniel leaned over the rail at
the end of the ship after his encounter with the captain.
The dark-haired man stared into
the darkening depths of the water and realized that he was going to be late to
dinner.
Rose’s rescuer will dine with
us tonight. I wonder what he will be like, he thought to himself.
He realized that he had no
specialty in investigating crimes. He was not going to find out the real
killer. He would have to trust his instincts.
And those instincts tell me it
wasn’t Keisha, he
thought.
The young man stood straight and
gazed out into the horizon. He decided to go back to his stateroom and talk to
the woman who had held his thoughts for the past few days. He knew he was
infatuated by her, though he didn’t know what to think of this revelation.
He did not care what other people
thought of him. He never had.
I’m going to confess how I
feel. It’s the right thing to do, he vowed himself, heading back to his stateroom.
He nodded to several people he vaguely
recognized, allowing a small smile to cross his face as he saw Rose going down
for dinner.
He hoped that Rose would start to
feel better soon. He guessed that Jack would help her with that.
Daniel entered his stateroom five
minutes later and saw Keisha lying on a chaise lounge, staring at the door he
had just entered, obviously waiting for him to come back.
"Keisha," he whispered,
smiling as the girl in question stood up and walked over to him.
She had taken a bath and changed
her dress since he had been gone. Her curls were still slightly damp from the
rose-scented water.
She smiled at him as he walked
closer.
Not able to contain his emotions,
Daniel kissed her. He felt a strange emotion going through him as he gathered
Keisha into his arms, pressing her against his body.
"Daniel, this is wrong. Kate
has just died. You need time to mourn," Keisha said between kisses.
"I will have the rest of my
life for that, and I have been wanting this for so long. Don’t deny me
it," he replied, kissing her again.
Half an hour later, Daniel
slipped out of his bed and began to get ready for dinner.
"I have dinner to attend.
Jack is going to be there. You know, the guy I told you about?" Daniel
asked Keisha, waiting for her nod before he continued.
"I will get back here as
soon as I can," he mumbled, kissing her on the forehead, cursing himself
for wanting to get back into bed with her.
He exited the luxurious room and
took the familiar path down to the first class dining saloon. He grinned
broadly at anyone who nodded at him out of politeness, causing some expression
of surprise.
He approached the DeWitt Bukater
table and exchanged hellos with everyone present.
He dropped into a seat next to
Jack, raising his eyebrows at the suit the blonde man was wearing.
"Mollie?" Daniel asked
in an undertone to Jack as the appetizers were served.
Jack grinned at Daniel in reply
before quickly turning his attention back to Rose.
The dinner passed fairly quickly,
much to Daniel’s liking.
"Tell me of the
accommodations in steerage on this ship, Mr. Dawson. I hear they are quite
good."
Daniel glared at Ruth. How
dare she say that? he thought to himself.
"Best I’ve seen. Hardly any
rats," Jack replied scathingly, causing Ruth’s eyebrows to shoot up her
forehead.
Daniel grinned at the response,
defiantly carrying on as Cal threw a dirty look at him.
For once, at the end of dinner,
Daniel opted to go the smoking room, intending to talk to Cal.
Daniel had never been in the
smoking room before, unlike most first class men, not that he was particularly
eager to visit it in the first place.
He grudgingly admitted that the
place was tastefully decorated. The richly paneled walls and beautiful tiles gave
off a distinct impression of wealth and worth.
He felt a hand tug at his sleeve
in his state of wonder, causing him to come back to earth.
"Caledon, I have business
proposition for you. Do you mind if we discuss it in private?"
Daniel looked into Cal’s eyes,
long and deliberately, hoping he realized that he had no proposition. He just
needed to talk.
"Of course, Daniel. Shall
this table suffice?" Cal answered, pointing to a circular table in the
corner of the room, not too far away from a poker game.
"It most certainly
will," Daniel intoned as he walked over to the aforementioned chair.
Daniel waited as the slightly
shorter man dropped himself into a chair, in an elegant manner, of course.
Daniel almost rolled his eyes.
"You know, it’s hard to
think you are the same guy I used to have mud fights with," Daniel said
casually, taking off his dinner jacket.
Cal laughed at the memory, one
that had resulted in them getting spankings from their fathers, not that they
had been that bothered by the punishment.
"I wanted to talk to you
about Rose," Daniel said, looking carefully at Cal’s chiseled features,
probing for a reaction.
Though his face remained
unyielding, Cal’s eyes showed softness that words could not describe. He
loves her, he realized.
"She is unhappy, Cal. I
think you have realized that. I think the love is one-sided."
The dark-haired man frowned at
Daniel’s words, though Daniel knew he had already reached this conclusion.
"Yes, it does appear that
way," Cal admitted, eliminating all pretence on his part. For now, they
were just two best friends, talking about their estranged love lives. Women--do
they realize what they do to us? Daniel thought, looking at the hurt in
Cal’s eyes.
"It’s not too late to break
the engagement. I will stand by whatever choice you make. Women are
replaceable, though I am sure Ruth would have rather contradictory views to
mine."
They both laughed at the only
humor in the situation.
"Thank you, Daniel. You have
given food to my thoughts, but I daresay it is rather rude of us not
participate socially and just sit here by ourselves. Would you care for a
drink? A cigar?"
Daniel laughed at Cal’s
expression. They had both tried brandy at Daniel’s house one year, resulting in
a lifelong addiction for Cal and a lifelong hatred for Daniel.
"I thought the vomit on my
uncle’s study floor was answer enough for you," Daniel said, remembering
the aftereffects of the liquor. "I will be heading back to my stateroom, I
think, though I would like to say good night to Jack first."
Cal’s eyes clouded over at the
mention of the third class passenger.
"For heaven’s sake, Cal.
Stop holding a grudge. He may have won over Rose and saved her, but remember,
he is steerage. He has little, if any, power. You are in control of the
situation."
Cal smiled in an evil way at
Daniel’s words. As much as he hated to admit it, the class structure was an
important part of society.
Especially these men, he thought, eyeing a group of
finely-dressed men, all sipping brandy.
"Good night, Cal,"
Daniel said, as he walked out of the smoking room, holding his breath to avoid
the vulgar smoke entering his body.
Daniel took the lift down to
E-Deck, going around the same dull white passages, following the unmistakable
noise of a party.
After ten minutes, Daniel climbed
down some stairs into a small meeting room of sorts, filled with third class
passengers laughing and dancing to some Irish music.
He felt a pang of jealousy at
their enjoyment. The informality of the situation endeared him.
He spotted Rose and Jack dancing,
Rose laughing in the blonde man’s arms.
Daniel moved through the crowds
of people, stopping occasionally to smile at people and hug children he had met
on the deck yesterday.
"How did you find the
dinner, Jack?" Daniel asked, as he reached the ecstatic couple.
Jack turned around, smiling at
him.
"A tad too posh for my
liking, but enjoyable in a rather analyzing way."
Both Daniel and Rose laughed at
this statement.
They talked for a further five
minutes of Ruth’s rudeness, unfazed by Rose’s presence.
"I must go. I am slightly
overwhelmed with the desire to sleep. I trust I will see you at tomorrow’s
service, Rose?" Daniel asked. He spoke of the Sunday church service
available to the first class passengers.
Jack gave Daniel a penetrating
stare before bidding good night. He is up to something, he decided,
yawning as he rode the paneled elevator to A-Deck.
"Keisha?" Daniel asked,
as soon as he entered the stateroom that had been his home for the last couple
of days.
The girl in question, he found on
search, was still sleeping in his bed. Not having the heart to move her, Daniel
undressed and climbed in next to her, savoring her warmth.
This trip hasn’t turned out so
bad after all, he
thought, as he slipped into a deep sleep.