The Forever of My Dreams

2

The next day started off like any other day. Mother had scheduled for the servants to help prepare me for the day; fix up my hair, get my dress looking just as perfect as all the other women on the ship, and we must not forget to make sure my boots had the ultimate shine in them.

"There's one more thing for you to put on." My mother said to me just as the servant was finishing the last touches and heading out. She turned towards a jewelry box and pulled out the gorgeous silver locket I would always see her wear when I was a child, "I believe you are old enough now."

"Mother." I placed my hand on the locket as she placed it around my neck, "You've never taken this out of your sights."

"It was my mother's," My mother continued, "given to her by her mother.. and so on."

"More of a reason to not give this to me." I turned to her.

"My mother gave it to me when I was thirteen. I know you're much older than I was, now, but.. it's time."

I held the small silver heart locket in my hand. "We couldn't wait till we docked?" I asked her.

"Let's pretend like I never waited till after we already left England." She leaned her chin on my shoulder as the two of us looked back at our reflections in the mirror, "I wanted to make sure you were good and ready and.. well, now you can add that handsome young man to it.. if you wanted."

My cheeks grew hot. "Mother."

"Tell me about this.. Elliott." She smiled, moving over to the couch at the back of the room.

"There isn't much to tell." I blushed.

"He walked you back to your room." She placed her hand onto the cushion next to her, "Something about that boy was telling me that he didn't exactly belong to our kind of people."

Our kind of people? ..And that was why I didn't want him to meet my parents. "What about him told you that, mother?"

"Cecilia."

"No." I said to her sternly, "You seemed to have gestured just now that he didn't seem to fit in our kind of crowd.. now what part of him gave you that vibe?"

"Cecilia, be honest with yourself." She stood up, "Look back at the way he was dressed, for starters."

"He looked decent."

"Exactly." She said to me, "Decent. He was wearing a plain shirt and didn't even have his pants mended for God's sake."

"He brought me back to my room. Shouldn't that prove that he had some class?"

"I told your father to tip him as a thank you."

"He wasn't looking to get a tip, mother!" I shouted at her, "You haven't even tipped the servants when they help us to get ready for the day.. and they work here!"

"Cecilia Marie Jones," Mother raised her voice, "don't you dare use that tone of voice with me!"

I let off a loud groan, stomping over towards the door before turning back at my mother who was still standing by the sofa. "He seemed like a real nice boy, mother. You'd like him."

When we stepped out of the room, the suite was empty. Father and Carson must have already left; we always took too long for their patience. Mother threw on her shawl before heading out the door, with me quickly following behind.