THE DIARY OF MRS. TOMY RYAN
Chapter Six
After lunch, I went and changed into an
afternoon dress and headed towards the third class common room. That was where
I expected to find Tommy. When I entered, I look around until I spotted him
talking to some other men. I approached him slowly, the memory of his kiss
fresh in my mind. As I walked towards him, I exchanged a friendly wave with
Jack. He was sitting on a bench with Cora. Cora seemed to have a little girl’s
crush on him. As I got closer, Tommy looked over and saw me, and I noticed how
his face lit up in a smile. I smiled back, relaxed by the thought that he truly
had wanted me to come.
"Hello, Tommy."
"I was wondering when you might come.
Have a seat."
"Thank you." He turned away from
the other men. They chuckled before moving away to give us privacy.
"I knew you’d be down."
"I couldn’t stay away."
"Oh, Katie." He reached out and
took my hand.
Just then, the noise level that was so much a
part of the background died down and everyone was looking towards the main
stairs. On the steps was Rose! What is she doing down here? I thought. I
watched as she slowly approached Jack. They seemed to talk for a few minutes,
and then he followed her out, turning to shrug his shoulders at Fabrizio in an I
have no idea kind of way. I was curious, but Tommy soon had my attention
again.
"Well, I see he got to meet his dream
woman, too."
"Really? And who else got to meet
theirs?" I teased.
"I did." As he said that, I looked
into his eyes and felt captivated. I felt like he was going to kiss me again.
"What shall we do now, Tommy?"
"Well, this time after lunch but before
dinner is usually the best time to fade into the background and try to have
fun." He smiled at me, and I laughed.
"How about we go up on deck?"
"All right. I haven’t been out
yet."
We got up and walked towards the stairs to
the deck. Tommy’s hand was brushing against mine like he was asking permission
to hold it. I knew why. We hadn’t really shown any affection in public. I
enjoyed the feel of his hand brushing against mine, but made no move to let him
know that he could hold mine.
Out on deck, we stayed mostly in the third
class area, and once when I looked up, I saw Jack and Rose walking around the
boat deck. I was getting more and more curious, but it was really none of my
business. It made me start to wonder if this was why she didn’t survive,
because of something Jack did. I still hadn’t had a chance to talk to her, but
I still felt like I should try. Something was telling me there was more to the
story of Jack and Rose than I was seeing.
Tommy and I went over and leaned against the
rail, looking out at the sea. I was painfully aware that tomorrow night we
would hit that iceberg. Tommy moved closer and put his arm around me. I leaned
into him and couldn’t think of anything to say. Apparently, neither could he.
We stood there like that for at least an hour, comforting each other by just
being there. At last we were called back to the present by the far off sound of
a bugle. It was dinnertime already!
"Tommy, I must go dress for
dinner."
"Why don’t you eat down here with
me?"
"I’d love to…but I’m suppose to eat with
friends of my parents tonight."
"Then come down after. There will be
another party."
"I’ll try, but I don’t want to promise
you anything. If I can’t make it, you go to your party and have a good time
without me."
"Okay, but I’ll miss you."
"Every man needs a night with the boys,
don’t they?"
He started laughing, and walked me to the
stairs leading up to the higher decks. I glanced around and saw that no one was
near, and stepped into him, kissing him and putting all I felt into it. He
wrapped his arms around me and deepened the kiss, making me feel like I was
melting. I broke away, afraid that I might change my mind and stay with him.
But I needed to go to this dinner if I was going to change anything.
"I’ll come see you as soon as I
can," I told him.
"I’ll be looking for you." With
that, he turned and walked away. I went up and returned to my room. This dinner
was going to be very important. I was going to be sitting with no one I really
knew, but I would be able to hear all the conversation at Mr. Andrews’ table.
He would once again be sitting with Mr. Ismay, and I wanted to see if he had
thought about our earlier conversation at all. Also, I was hoping to talk to
Mr. Ismay afterwards.