Ship of Dreams {Immortalfox} HIATUS

Chapter 3: Eyes on Deck

AN: Ahhh, sorry for the wait! Was sick with a nasty stomach virus and had to go to the hospital. Took a (long) break, but now I'm back!

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*SHIP OF DREAMS*

Chapter 3: Eyes on Deck

On the Titanic one of the most luxurious rooms you could get is the Millionaire Suite. It’s called that for obvious reasons. It contains 2 large bedrooms, a bath, a wardrobe room, a large sitting room, and even a 50 ft. private deck outside. This is the room Aleks was lucky enough to get.

Currently, Aleks was looking through some new paintings and hoping he’ll be able to avoid his mother and Richard as long as possible. He could hardly stand being around them for more than 5 seconds lately. Not to mention the choking feeling he’s been getting ever since he caught sight of the Titanic. For now, Aleks hoped to distract himself.

His wish was broken was Richard swaggered out of the covered deck through the doorway. Aleks ducked his head to hide the grimace twisting his lips. Thankfully, the tycoon heir passed Aleks without a glance in his direction. Richard’s attention was solely on the private safe a porter was wheeling into the room.

“Put that in the wardrobe. Gently!” he snapped to the hassled-looking porter. Aleks saw his chance to escape while Richard was busy giving orders and fled to the bedroom, where a servant is hanging up some of Aleks’ clothes. The look on her face was one of excitement and glee.

“Everything smells wonderful, brand new.” She gushes. “Oh, it is new, of course. But just to think, that when I crawl beneath the sheets tonight, I’ll be the first…”

The servant was cut off when Richard appeared at the doorway, eyes focused on Aleks. “And when I crawl beneath the sheets tonight, I’ll still be the first.” Blushing at the innuendo, the servant murmured an apology, edged around Richard, and scurried away. Aleks avoided looking at Richard’s face and stubbornly kept his mouth shut. Heavy hands landing on his shoulders make him flinch reflexively. This was an act of possession, not intimacy.

“The first and only. Forever.”

Aleks felt his heart sink into despair at Richard’s vow. The future looked bleak for him.

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The sun sets as the Titanic makes its way past the coasts of France and Ireland. By the next afternoon the final stop is made and nothing is ahead but the ocean blue. Creamy late-afternoon light gives the ship a warm glow. Everything is calm. On bridge, Captain Smith observes with clear blue eyes. He turns his face from the navigational binnacle to his First Officer.

“Take her to sea, Mister Murdoch. It’s time to stretch her legs.” Murdoch nodded his head at the captain’s order and moved the engine telegraph lever to All Ahead Full. The reaction is immediate in the engine room, with engineers and greasers scrambling to adjust valves. The towering engines thunder like giants’ footfalls. In the boiler rooms, stokers start a shanty as they hurl coal into roaring furnaces. The heat was hellish, and the working men were covered with sweat and coal dust, their muscles stretching and tensing like machinery.

Smoke pours from the ship’s funnels and rather quickly the Titanic is building speed. Standing with his hands on the rail, Captain Smith looks tall and commanding, the very image of a storybook captain in charge of the ocean.

First Officer Murdoch approaches his captain with a hot cup of tea. “Sir, she’s at twenty one knots.”

“She’s got a bone in her teeth now, doesn’t she, Mister Murdoch.” The captain contently accepted the tea and watches the white, frothy water hurl outward from the bows. Here, they are invulnerable. Here, they tower over the sea.