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Ruined
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2021-02-25 04:32:32“What do you mean you think I should go talk to her? Are you mad? You of all people should know everything I’ve been through. The last thing I need to do is go talk to her!”
“Well, no, not right now,” Jonathan admitted. He had only been in Charlie’s stateroom for a few minutes, but he had easily ascertained that his friend was hammered, a rarity. “Right now, what you need to do is put that bottle of Jameson down and go sleep this one off.”
“You don’t understand, Jonathan. She. Lied. To. Me. Again!” He was standing on the outside deck, bottle in one hand, glass in the other, his shirt mostly unbuttoned, shoes off, still in his suit pants, and Jonathan was doing his best to ensure he kept his voice low enough that the other First Class passengers nearby in their staterooms couldn’t hear him.
“Why don’t you come inside, and we’ll talk about it in there?” he asked for abo
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Charlie heard a stirring from the main living quarters and emerged from the bathroom to find Jonathan with an array of potential brunch items. “Good morning,” he said. “I’m guessing you’re probably not hungry, but I did order some dry toast—which I think is probably your best option. And possibly some orange juice.”Charlie waved both items away and dropped onto the couch on his back. “Why is the sun so bright?” he asked, tossing a pillow over his face.“Let me turn it down for you,” Jonathan said sarcastically. He did, however, adjust the blinds to make sure they were closed as tightly as possible.“How much did I drink?” Charlie asked, pressing the pillow against his eyes.“From what I can tell, about a bottle of brandy, and most of a bottle of Jameson.”“Don’t ever let me drink alcohol again, all right?” he said, muffled by the pillow.
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Meg had just dozed off when a knocking on the cabin door jarred her awake. The family had come back briefly after breakfast, delivering the promised food stuffs, and then set out again. This time, Ruth was determined to see an “ocapus,” and even though her parents warned her that Uncle Charlie probably wouldn’t be around to help her find one, she was hopeful he would show up.She wasn’t the only one.But Meg was fairly certain when she reached the door, it wouldn’t be him on the other side. Pulling it open to find Jonathan standing in the hall, therefore, was not disappointing.“I think you should come with me,” he said, not even bothering with a greeting.Meg ran a hand through her disheveled hair. “Does he want to see me?” she asked, confused.“Not necessarily,” Jonathan admitted. “But I think you should still come with me.”“To Charlie’s stateroom?&r
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Even at this distance the piercing nature of Charlie’s green eyes locked on Meg in such a way made it very challenging for her to think, and even under normal circumstances it was extremely difficult for her to tell the story of what had brought her to this point. She wasn’t quite sure what to say or where to start. She certainly didn’t want to rehash exactly what she had conveyed to Molly. Rather than starting at the beginning, she decided to start at the end. “The reason I told you I wasn’t good enough for you, the other night, after the dance, was because it’s true. I haven’t been good enough for you for quite some time. And over the years, that knowledge has caused me to make some terrible decisions, many of which, I’m afraid, were made without even taking you into consideration, for which I’m truly sorry, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that I don’t think I ever really saw you as a person until I glimpsed yo
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Meg had gone to bed fairly early that night. After returning to the cabin, she’d gone over everything with Kelly, cried some more, and then read for a bit before falling asleep around seven o’clock. Her exhaustion from the night before had caught up to her at last. A few hours later, a strange sensation jarred her from sleep, and even though she had been resting quite some time, she was suddenly wide awake.She glanced around the darkened room and realized everyone else was still sleeping soundly. The idea of rolling back over and returning to sleep seemed like a good one, but the uneasiness in the pit of her stomach stayed with her, and she decided to go out and investigate.Taking the extra time to change into clothes, she pulled her shawl around her as well and went out into the hallway. There were a few other passengers out and about, all of them with curious expressions on their faces. “Did you feel something, too?” she asked another woman,
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Once Kelly realized she was slowing their progress by continuing to fight her husband, he was able to get her through the crowd and up the Boat Deck much more quickly. He was quite surprised at how few people were actually present atop the Boat Deck. Though there were quite a few First Class passengers, particularly women, he saw very few Second or Third Class passengers at all.They were approaching the bow of the ship on the starboard side when Kelly spotted Jonathan and Charlie, who were walking quickly toward them, as if they had already seen the family from afar. “Charlie! Jonathan!” she yelled. “Thank God we found you. Do you know what’s going on?”“Apparently, we’ve struck an iceberg,” Charlie replied. “We were told to make our way up, but it really doesn’t seem to be all that serious. Where are Meg and Ruth?”“Ruth took off again, and Meg went back to find her,” Daniel explaine
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Jonathan stood near the lifeboats with Kelly, his arm around her in an attempt to keep her and Baby Lizzy as warm as possible. He frequently checked his pocket watch and looked around for any signs of Charlie, Meg, or Daniel. At 12:45, a flare illuminated the sky above them, with the bursting sound of a firecracker, causing many of the children to squeal in delight. It was a sure sign to Jonathan that this was no drill. The ship was going down. “Let’s scoot forward a bit, Kelly, shall we?” he asked, guiding her closer to the nearest lifeboat.Upon reaching a location nearer what happened to be Lifeboat Number 6, Jonathan saw a familiar face. “Molly,” he said, getting her attention.“Well, if it isn’t my favorite valet,” she smiled. She was dressed in a fur coat and gloves with a hat to match. “Where’s Charlie?” she asked, glancing around.“Looking for Meg.”“And my daughte
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“Charlie!” Ruth yelled.“Let’s get you out of there,” he said.“It’s locked,” Meg reminded him. The water had risen so high, she could no longer even see the keyhole.“It’s a good thing I have this, then,” he replied, pulling the gate open and showing her the key he had used to do so.“A key! Where did you get a key?”“Come on,” he said, taking Ruth out of her arms and pulling her back the way he had come. “We need to get you two to a boat immediately.”The water on E Deck was rising, but they were able to walk out of the deepest part fairly quickly. Charlie seemed to know exactly where he was going, and Meg held onto his hand and let him lead her.“I need to go back to the stairwell and see if I can find Daniel,” she explained.“No time for that,” he said dismissively.“But I promised him I
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Last Updated : 2021-02-25
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She’d been in Charlie’s bedroom a few times before, but this time was certainly different. Butterflies fluttered around her stomach, some of the nervous variety, but most of them fueled by excitement.They were sitting on the edge of his bed, the door closed and locked, the drapes pulled tightly. She knew that there were a few servants elsewhere in the house, but they would leave the couple undisturbed at least until mid-morning. Glancing up at him, she could see that he felt much the same way that she did.“It turned out quite well, don’t you think?” Charlie asked, clearly meaning the wedding.“Yes,” Meg nodded.“Even though a few guests certainly had too much to drink.”She giggled, thinking of one older gentleman who had made quite a spectacle of himself trying to climb atop one of the tables to dance. He had been escorted out, but Meg was thankful for the diversion. For once, everyone wasn&r
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