Dear Fate

Holly Spencer made her way slowly from the suite and headed out to the first class deck. Although she was a maid and should have been staying in second class, it was a rare stroke of luck that the Hamilton’s decided she should stay with Olivia in her suite. So, even though she was a maid, she still had first class privileges.

Reaching the promenade deck, she looked out to the ocean briefly before turning her head. Seeing the vastness of the ocean made her slightly nervous.

She didn’t have to worry though, as it was unsinkable. Or so everyone said. In her opinion, nothing could be unsinkable. She had overheard some men talking that not even God himself could sink this ship. Holly could not disagree more. Now that he had said that, God would probably sink the ship just to spite him. She shuddered at the thought.

She walked quietly, with her head down so as not to make eye contact with any of the other passengers. Despite technically having a first class ticket, she still did not feel comfortable around all of these rich people. Even though hardly any of them were out considering it was lunch time.

As she was lost in thought and not watching where she was going it was inevitable that she would run into something. She just didn’t expect that something to be a someone.

“Oh my! I am terribly sorry!” she started to apologize as said someone caught her before she fell back.

“It’s quite alright Miss. It’s mostly my fault. I was not watching where I was going,“ the voice cheerily replied.

She looked up to see a handsome man staring down at her with bright brown eyes. A closer glance revealed him to be some sort of officer on this ship.

"Are you alright, Miss?” he asked, concern briefly crossing his face.

“Yes. I’m quite fine, actually. I’m terribly sorry about running into you, sir. I was not watching where I was going,” Holly replied, looking down once more.

“Maybe because you were looking down. I’m no expert, but I’d say that’s not a good idea when walking around,” he joked.

Holly smiled slightly and looked up at him. He was young, but older than her. If she had to guess, she’d say early twenties.

“Oi, Moody! Quit chatting up the pretty girl and get back to your rounds!” a voice called from behind the officer, now identified as Moody.

Holly felt an extreme blush on her face and looked down again. She had never had anyone call her pretty before. As Olivia liked to remind her constantly, her eyes were slightly too large for her face, her hair was a dull shade of brown and far too long, and she was too short.

“Oh shut it, Lowe! You’re just jealous it’s not you!” Moody called back, turning around to face the other man.

Holly took this as her cue to leave and quickly turned and left.

“Wait! Don’t let him scare you off! He’s just a grumpy old man who’s jealous I’m talking to a pretty girl and he isn’t,” the young man said, easily catching up with her and gently grabbing her arm.

She looked behind him.

“He hardly looks older than you,” she stated, seeing the man in question.

“What?! No. He’s at least five years older than me. If not more,” Moody replied.

“That is not much of an age difference. If you’ll excuse me, I must be getting back,” Holly said quietly, pulling her arm from his grasp.

“Would you like me to walk you? It’s not proper for a lady to be unaccompanied in the presence of so many men,” he asked.

“I’m sorry, sir, but you must have me confused with someone else. For I am not a lady, but just a maid,” Holly replied, looking down once more.

“A lady all the same. Where are you headed?” he smiled, looking down at her.

“The first class dining hall. To meet my mistress,” she replied, seeing no point in arguing.

He gently grabbed her hand and hooked it in the crook of his elbow, steering her in the direction of the door which led inside. No words were spoken between them, but Mr. Moody did occasionally look down at the young girl. She chose to stay silent, instead looking at the floor. When they reached the dining hall, Holly looked up to see Olivia standing there, talking to a young man and his younger red headed companion, a bored look gracing her beautiful face.

"I suppose this is where I leave you. Try not to run into any more people,” Mr. Moody smiled, causing Holly to turn a deep shade of red.

She smiled shyly and made her way over to Olivia, standing a few feet away to be polite and not eavesdrop on their conversation. She looked up to see the young red headed girl looking at her, a strange look on her face. When she noticed her, the red head gave a brief smile and returned to the conversation. Finally, Olivia noticed her.

“Ah, Holly. How delightful for you to join us,” she said somewhat sarcastically.

Holly curtsied but stayed silent.

“Well, Mr. Hockley, Miss Rose, if you’ll excuse me. I must be going,” Olivia said, and with that, she turned around, not bothering to even wait for a response.

Holly followed Olivia all the way out to the promenade deck, managing to keep at least a foots distance between them.

“Holly, come up and walk with me. I have no desire to adhere to formalities and wish to speak with you.”

Holly meandered up to Olivia, walking slowly by her side, if not a few inches behind her.

“Well, lunch was simply delightful. I was in the company of some of the richest people on the ship, including J.J. Astor, in fact the richest person on the ship, Bruce Ismay, the owner of White Star Line, and Thomas Andrews, the ship’s designer. Isn’t that just lovely?” Olivia practically squealed with delight.

“Absolutely fascinating,” Holly replied, somewhat sarcastically.

“So who was that tasty dish that escorted you back to the dining hall?” Olivia asked, ignoring the sarcasm.

Holly looked up quickly to see a smirk plastered across her face.

“Just an officer of the ship. I managed to run into him when I was walking on the promenade deck,” Holly replied, somewhat embarrassed.

“He seemed quite keen on you. Am I going to have to keep you locked in my room and away from him?” Olivia joked.

“He was not keen on me. He was simply being polite,” Holly replied, ignoring the joke in Olivia’s voice.

“Oh! My little Holly is growing up and getting beaus! What’s next? A wedding?” Olivia laughed lightly.

"I’d hardly think so. As I said, he was just being polite,” Holly replied.

“Ah. Miss Olivia. Fancy seeing you up here. And who is your lovely companion?”

Holly looked up to see an older gentleman standing there, a kind smile on his handsome face. Holly would have been nervous to be in Olivia’s presence while in the company of someone else, had he not had that pleasant smile on his face.

“This is my maid, Holly, Mr. Andrews. And it is nice to see you again. I very much enjoyed your company today at lunch,” Olivia replied, smiling politely.

“And I yours. Good day, Miss Olivia. Very nice meeting you, Miss Holly,” Mr. Andrews replied, bowing slightly to the two of them before walking past them.

“Isn’t he just so charming? And he is just the most polite person. He is even nice to the lower class people. I just don’t see how he does it,” Olivia said, turning to watch him walk away.

Holly said nothing and they continued on their way. They continued to walk for another ten minutes before Olivia complained that she was in need of an afternoon nap before they reached Cherbourg that night.

As they were walking back, Holly noticed the older officer who scolded Mr. Moody a while ago, Lowe, if she recalled correctly. He noticed her as well and gave her a pleasant smile and a small wave. She blushed and smiled in return, nodding her head slightly in acknowledgement. This did not go unnoticed by Olivia, apparently.

“Well, well, well. Looks like I’m just going to have to lock you away from all of the officers, now won’t I?” she laughed.

Holly merely blushed in response.