THE UNEXPECTED COINCIDENCE
Chapter Eight
Dinner was the usual parade of
wine, gossip, and fine food.
As hard as he tried, Daniel could
not focus on the conversation at hand, his thoughts constantly dwelling on Rose
and Jack, wondering what they were doing currently, and wondering if things had
worked out for the pair.
"Have you seen Rose,
Daniel?" a voice called out from across the linen clad table, causing him
to raise his russet head from the ceramic dinner plate he was currently staring
at.
Cal.
"Cal? Do you remember our
conversation?" he asked, seeing the realization and anger spark to life in
Cal’s eyes.
Daniel also noted with distaste
Ruth’s intrigued expression, though he doubted it was concern for her daughter,
for she had never displayed much in the way of motherly affection. Not in his
presence, at least.
"Cal, let us retire to my
stateroom. I have a business proposition for you," Daniel said carefully,
meeting his chocolate eyes with Cal’s ebony ones, hoping he would understand
that was more to this situation than he was letting on.
Cal gave him a brief nod, rising
from the table, as both men excused themselves.
Ignoring the subtle protests from
Ruth, the two men left the first class dining room, nodding at several people
who they passed along the way. He noticed with frustration that Cal’s valet was
accompanying them.
The journey to his stateroom was
tense, with Daniel giving glares at the valet every so often for good measure,
wanting to talk to his old friend privately.
My God! Keisha! he thought suddenly, realizing they could
not meet in his stateroom for fear of her discovery and the scandal it would
cause.
Think fast, he thought frantically as the elevator to
B-Deck was finishing its trip.
"Continue on to
A-Deck," Daniel instructed the young steward operating the lift, receiving
curious glances from Cal and Lovejoy.
"It is such a lovely
evening. We may as well talk on the deck, a much pleasanter sight than my
stuffy stateroom!" he exclaimed, ignoring the disbelieving grunt that came
from the blonde steward’s mouth, who obviously thought that the staterooms were
far from stuffy.
The three men headed across the
promenade deck, not speaking for a while. The tension was palpable and was on
all of three of their minds.
"Lovejoy, leave us," Cal
said suddenly, making Daniel snap his head up. "Meet me back in the
stateroom in fifteen minutes. This shouldn’t take long," he added, a
slightly sinister tone in his voice.
They both watched the elder man
leave, slightly disgruntled but silent.
"She’s with him. She loves
him. Break off the engagement before you become the laughingstock of high
society," Daniel stated bluntly, fiddling with his bowtie, causing it to
come undone.
Cal showed no response in his
words, only leaned over the railing, looking into the deep, icy water far
below.
"No, Daniel. She will not
get away with this! She is a woman, for God’s sake. She should respect
me," Cal said, his voice rising with every word he spoke.
"And what have you done to
earn her respect, Cal? Respect is not given with jewelry and money. It is
earned, and what have you done to earn it?" Daniel countered, hating to
see his friend in distress, for he knew he was under his cool façade.
"He’s a goddamned gutter
rat! A worthless pile of human flesh. Why would she choose him?" Cal
asked, talking to himself more than his old friend.
"When was the last time you
told Rose you loved her?" Daniel asked suddenly, trying to break away from
the bitter argument about Jack.
Cal did not respond. He just
continued to stare at the water.
"Have you ever told her you
love her?" Daniel asked, an incredulous tone displayed in his voice.
Daniel didn’t need Cal’s small
shake of head to know the answer.
"And you wonder why she
doubts your love?" he asked rhetorically, noticing his friend stand rigid
as John Astor and his wife walked behind them before relaxing again onto the
white rail as soon as they were out of sight.
"Maybe I should remind her
who has the real power," Cal said cryptically before stalking away from
him, back to the interior of the ship.
Sighing, Daniel followed suit,
heading to his stateroom, ignoring the people he walked past, his mind
wondering what extremes Cal would go to.
"Hello, Keisha," Daniel
said as he walked in, noticing the bronze-skinned woman rising from her seat on
the couch, wearing a lacy negligee and a dressing gown Daniel vaguely
recognized as things he had bought for Kate in an effort to change her into a
proper lady. He realized now it had been a terrible mistake, but he couldn’t
help himself, buying things for one of his only true friends.
"Hello," Keisha
answered in her London accent, giving him a full smile before walking forward
and giving him a tentative kiss on the cheek.
"Come. Let’s go to bed. I am
tired," Daniel said, grabbing her hand and walking her into the bedroom,
chattering mildly about his day and asking her about her own.
Changing out of his clothes and
slipping into a pair of cotton trousers, Daniel slipped into bed, holding
Keisha’s warm form against him, drifting off into sleep with the bright future
ahead of them.
*****
An awful shudder awoke Daniel
from his slumber, the bed vibrating violently.
"What is happening?"
Keisha asked suddenly, sitting upright, fear on her face.
"I have no idea,"
Daniel muttered, noticing that the shudder had stopped, leaving the room in a
state of calm yet again, waiting for them to return to their sleep.
He knew that whatever caused such
a vibration could not be good, and he refused to sleep knowing that something
could be wrong.
"Come. Let’s get dressed,
and I will go ask someone what is wrong," Daniel said to Keisha, moving
over to his wardrobe as she slipped out of his room, moving into her own in
search of clothes.
"Dress warmly and
comfortably," Daniel instructed, being overly cautious, in his opinion.
Daniel slipped on a pair of black
trousers and a red shirt covered by a white vest and a dark burgundy waistcoat.
Slipping on his black shoes and grabbing a black jacket, Daniel left his room,
running a comb through his russet locks.
He noted that Keisha had taken
his advice and wore a think woolen dress and a long overcoat, complete with
gloves.
"I will be back shortly.
Don’t worry," Daniel said, offering a warm smile to her before leaving his
stateroom.
"Hey, you!" he called
out to a harassed-looking steward who was walking by.
"There is nothing the
matter, sir, before you ask," he said shortly without stopping, causing
Daniel to gape at his rudeness.
Thinking that Cal might have an
idea of what was occurring, Daniel headed to his friend’s stateroom, only to
see Jack being dragged away by the Master-at-Arms, with the third class boy
calling to Rose all the way.
The two made eye contact for a
second, and he saw the deep anger and regret living in his cobalt orbs.
"What is going on?"
Daniel asked, peeking his head around Cal’s open stateroom door to see Ruth
pacing and Cal leading Rose into another room.
Ruth herself was wearing her
surprisingly long hair down, wearing a kimono-style dressing gown and sporting
a surprised look on her face.
"Mr. Taylor! What are you
doing up so late?" she exclaimed, stopping her pacing of the elegant room.
"I felt a shudder and I came
to investigate, only to see Mr. Dawson being taken away by the Master-at-Arms,
of all people!" he exclaimed, walking into the luxurious stateroom.
"Oh, yes, I know. That vulgar boy convinced Rose to pose for an erotic
drawing, only to steal one of her more exquisite pieces of jewelry in the
process!" she stated nastily, her distaste for the blonde steerage boy
showing in her voice.
Daniel did not actually believe
for one second that Jack had stolen the jewelry, not after Cal’s comment
earlier.
"I feel more is going on
than we actually know," Daniel muttered, half to himself, as he noted a
steward walk in behind him, causing him to turn around on the spot.
"I’m afraid you must put
your lifebelts on, Captain’s orders, and head immediately to the deck," he
said, walking into the room without further comment to a storage cupboard and
withdrawing a lifebelt.
Oh, no, Daniel thought, walking from the room to
return to his own.
He barged into his room, ignoring
Keisha’s startled expression, and hurriedly walked into the closet, withdrawing
two lifejackets, placing one around himself and motioning for Keisha to do the
same.
"I don’t know what is going
on yet, but I will find out. Stay here and out of sight. I don’t want you to
get hurt," Daniel stated, stroking her cheek lovingly as he once again
fled the room, not waiting for a response.
Daniel, forgetting all forms of
proper etiquette, all but sprinted to the Grand Staircase, bounding up the
stairs to the A-Deck foyer, where most of the passengers seemed to be milling
around, some drinking brandy.
He heard faintly Molly Brown
complaining about the lack of information and also noticed Rose talking to Mr.
Andrews on the stairs. Deciding this was his best bet for information, he
walked slowly down the stairs, only to hear the master shipbuilder’s last
words.
"…Titanic will
founder."
He felt his jaw drop. All of the
air seemed to be sucked out of him. He vaguely heard Andrews carrying on about
not starting a panic, and about there not being enough lifeboats for everyone.
Daniel noted Cal looking at him,
a cocky smirk plastered on his face as he saw the long-haired man walk down to
him.
He felt anger wash over him as he
sought the confirmation he wanted. Cal had set Jack up for the jewelry theft,
and now he was most probably looked down in the bowels of a sinking ship, and
Cal actually found it amusing.
"You cocky bastard,"
Daniel muttered, punching Cal in his nose before storming away, needing
desperately to talk with Keisha.
He stopped and turned around,
noticing Ruth’s astonished gaze, matched with Rose’s worried one. He managed to
give his younger friend a reassuring smile, before glaring at Cal, who was
wiping away blood with a handkerchief.
"Tonight, all hell will
break loose," he conceded, hurrying down the oak staircase to his
stateroom.
He gazed forlornly at the now
deserted corridor before slamming his stateroom open, watching as Keisha rose
from her seat on the elaborate chaise lounge to meet him in the center of the
room.
He couldn’t seem to articulate
any words. The shock seemed too great still, knowing that all the grandeur around
him would soon be at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
"We are sinking," he
managed to choke out as Keisha gaped at him, disbelief and pure panic morphing
into her beautiful face.
"Oh, no," she managed
to say, tears welling in her hazel eyes.
All he could do was hold her,
contemplating the seriousness of the situation laid before them.