Love Throughout Time

Chapter 16

*Millie*

I glance around to make sure we’re out of earshot of all the dinner guests then lean in and whisper, “I’d like to go downstairs.”

“Downstairs?”

“Yes, to third class.” I’m not even sure we can get there, but somehow they did in the movie. I’m guessing they lock the gates or guard them to keep people from coming up to first class, but maybe it doesn’t matter if we go the other way.

“I don’t know if that’s a wise idea.” His smile fades into a frown.

“You said you’d escort me anywhere I wanted to go,” I argue.

“I did.”

“And that’s where I want to go.” I give him my best puppy dog eyes, and he caves immediately.

“Very well.” He offers me his elbow again and we head to the exterior staircase, going down several flights until he pauses, holding up his hand then putting his finger to his lips.

“It’s a mighty fine mess you’ve made,” I hear a man say gruffly. “Clean it up!”

“But I’m supposed to remain at my post,” another complains.

“Do it now or you’d better figure out your swimming legs!”

Will turns to me, gesturing that we should step quietly, which we do. I feel like a ninja as he silently opens a door and ushers me through it, taking more than a few seconds to ensure it closes without a sound. I want to laugh, so I hold my mouth closed while he smiles and shoos me down another stairway.

Once we’re clear, I can’t hold back the laughter. He takes me by the hand and stays one step ahead of me, checking around each corner. Soon, I hear music filtering up the stairway.

My heart races. “This is just like the movie!” I hurry ahead of him, confident we’re clear of any crew trying to stop us.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what that means.”

I don’t bother to answer because I’m already pulling the door open, and a lively party is going on inside what looks like the dining room. “Come on!” I grab his hand and pull him in, smiling at all the happy people. The mood is clearly different from first-class, where I felt like I had to hold back everything I wanted to say or do. Here, people are really letting their hair down.

A man in the corner is playing a fiddle while everyone around him claps, and several couples are on the dance floor in the center. People are walking around handing out huge glasses of beer. Their energy is infectious, and I immediately pull Will into the center of it.

“Dance with me!” I shout over the noise of the crowd.

I spin around, laughing at his wide eyes as he’s suddenly thrust into the middle of the kind of party he’s probably never even seen before. After a beat, he shrugs, laughs with me, and takes a few hesitant steps, but it’s clear early on that his dancing style isn’t going to cut it here.

“Here, try this!” I try to show him a few steps, but it’s clearly not working, so I lean in where he can hear me better. “Forget all the ballroom dancing you learned. Here, just feel the music and go with it!”

“Like this?” He bounces as he spins me around, which makes me laugh again.

“Good enough!” I take both his hands and look down at my feet. “Try this!” I’m no Riverdance queen, but I’ve seen enough social media videos of people having fun with it to fake it. He catches on quickly to that. “I’m impressed!”

The song ends, and we all stop to applaud, then the fiddler starts in on a slow song, and Will pulls me in close, though he still keeps a little distance between us. His hand feels so warm against the small of my back, and we both sway softly to the music. Half the room has calmed into a more romantic vibe, though there are still people throwing dice and playing cards on the other side of the room, some of them loudly claiming victory and others arguing about the results.

I look up to meet Will’s eyes and hitch a breath. He’s looking at me intensely, as if seeing into my soul. My gaze travels to his lips, which look so inviting, and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest.

But I can’t let myself go there.

Clearing my throat, I back up. “Let’s go get to know some of these people.”

For a brief moment, he looks confused and disappointed, but he composes himself quickly. Of course, in his time, we shouldn’t even be thinking about physical contact. He’s been pretty good at pulling back those other times we’ve been close. Something tells me this time he wanted the kiss, but I can’t let him get to me like that.

We’re on a ship that’s going to sink, and I don’t know what will happen to us. Even if I somehow get transported back home, I’ll never know what happens to him.

The closer I get to him, the harder that will be.

And either way, I’ll never see him again.

So, I lead him over to a table with five or six couples. I can tell by their eyes that they recognize us as first-class passengers, but they seem to be welcoming regardless. “Hi,” I say to the woman closest to us. “I’m Millie and this is Will. Can we join you?”

“I’m Katie, and aye, that you can,” she says pleasantly. “Roger, make use of yourself and get our new guests some beer.”

“Aye, but ‘tis for the guests,” the man who must be Roger answers. He mutters something about a pushy woman as he walks off to get some from a woman walking around with a serving tray, causing me to giggle at their banter.

When he comes back with the beer, Will looks at me questioningly, and I smile to reassure him. I guess none of the ladies in first-class drink beer. “This looks great, thank you!” I tell Roger as he sets the pint in front of me.

“Much obliged,” Will says when he hands him his own. “Allow me to reimburse you.”

Roger laughs. “No payment needed here, sir. What we have, we share.”

“My thanks to you then,” Will tells him, holding up his glass with a nod.

I take a sip, a little worried about what beer will taste like in 1912. My eyes go wide. It’s a lot stronger than I’ve ever had before, but it tastes good.

“This is Mary, Ella Jane, and Lilly.” Katie points as she introduces everyone. “You know Roger, and that’s Liam and Conner.”

“Good to meet you,” I say at the same time that Will does the same. We make small talk for a bit, then after everyone seems comfortable, I ask, “What brings you aboard the Titanic? Where are you headed to in America?”

“Flying by the seat of our pants, we are,” Roger says exuberantly. I can’t tell if his accent is Irish or Scottish.

“Not true,” Katie argues, shaking her head at him. “Ella Jane and Connor have family in New York. We’ll all settle near them and see what life gives us.”

“Well, best wishes for a happy and successful future, then.” Will holds up his glass, and we all clank ours together for a toast, but his words make me sad. All these people are going to die if I don’t do something to help them. I take my sip of beer, combing through the Titanic knowledge in my brain to figure out something I can do to stop that from happening, something that will help them get out alive.

All I can think of is the locked gates. Maybe there’s something I can do about that.There has to be something. I’ll think about it, but I don’t have long to come up with a plan.

We chat for a while about the places they’ve left behind and what they hope to do in America. Eventually, the fiddler starts in on a slow song again.

“Connor, spin me a few times,” Ella Jane says.

He looks at her and frowns. “Ah, woman! Ain’t you had enough of dancin’ yet?”

She stands and grabs his hand, pulling him up. “Not yet, husband.”

He grabs his beer with his other hand and takes a quick gulp before she drags him over to the dance floor, and despite my grim thoughts, it makes me laugh. The other couples rise.

“Will and Millie, you two should give it a go, too,” Katie suggests.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to get that close to Will again with all the beer we’ve had. “We’d better get back to our rooms,” I say instead.

“Too bad,” she says. “Come visit us again, will ‘ya?”

I doubt we’ll have time before the ship hits the iceberg, so I’m not sure what to say.

“We shall,” Will says for me. He slides out my chair while I stand.

“It’s been so much fun meeting you all.” I smile at my new friends, my heart aching over their uncertain future, especially Katie, who has such a spirit of life in her.

“Don’t be a stranger then,” she says, laughing at something Roger says to Liam as we walk away.

We retrace our steps, which is a little harder to do with the beer in me, especially the part where we need to be quiet. I remember seeing on some of the documentaries that guards kept third-class passengers from going upstairs, but luckily, that man who was being yelled at before is still gone from his post.

We make it back to B Deck and up to Agatha’s door, and I turn to face him. Will’s eyes are so blue, lightly glossed over from the drink, though I doubt it’s affected him much since he’s used to 1912 alcohol. Me, on the other hand…. I can tell I’ve had a little more than usual.

“I had a wonderful time,” I say, my hand still wrapped around his elbow. I don’t want to step away from him.

“As did I.” He smiles at me, and we’re so close, I can feel his warm breath against my cheek. For just a few moments we stay close like that, gazing at each other and saying nothing. The way he looks at me with longing draws me in like a magnet, and before I can stop myself, my lips are on his.

He’s so warm, his lips stiff at first from surprise, but it takes only seconds for him to melt into me. His other arm wraps around me and pulls me in as I deepen the kiss and reach in with my tongue to explore his.

Electric sparks of pleasure tingle all over my body as I rub my hands against his back. I savor the way he tastes, with just a hint of strong beer on his tongue, otherwise deliciously sweet, his cologne a pleasant scent of musk and something else I can’t identify. The unfamiliarity of it reminds me where I am.

The Titanic….

I can’t do this with Will, a man I’ll probably never see again and always wonder whether he survives the disaster. Having shocked myself out of our moment of passion, I back away quickly.

“Um, goodnight.” I open the door quickly and slip inside before he can reply.

I can’t fall in love with a man from 1912… and definitely not on a doomed ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.