𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 |Harold Lowe

Chapter 3: The ship of dreams

Southampton, England April 10, 1912

"Did you get everything Dean?" Meredith asks his friend, knocking on the door of the room that they rent quite close to the port of Southampton for the last two days in England. After the month spent in the newlyweds' apartment, Dean and Meredith moved a bit here and there without a precise destination, on the other hand a few weeks later they would start a new life. "Yeah, I need to get the last bag" perfect, everything was ready by now, Meredith had spent the last month researching this man, Caledon Hockley and his future bride, Rose DeWitt Bukater, a girl a year younger than her that lives with her mother, Ruth and seems to have had an accumulation of debts left by her father and marriage to Hockey would be ideal to solve all these problems.

"Tickets taken?" Dean asks her finishing arranging his beautiful dress taken, or rather, stolen from a closet of some London nobleman "Yes, I have them in my bag. Did you study the plan?" Meredith had organized everything perfectly, even making some revision schemes for Dean even though he wanted to know as little as possible "Yes, Mery, I've been doing it for weeks ... you'll have that necklace, just don't worry." the boy reassures her, Meredith nods as a response "Let's go then...car?" Dean looks at her with a questioning look, but then understands "Let's see if we can find one, we should be close enough to the port, it will take us around 10 minutes by car" The girl checks her pocket watch to organize the time as best as possible. Once on the street they both squinted in search of a car parked in a place that is quite far from prying eyes. A black car, parked on the corner of an isolated street. The two friends ran towards it. Meredith pulled a hair clip from her blond hair, already used on other occasions, with it she managed to open the car door when suddenly a man's voice attracted the attention of they two.

"Clark!" the voice yelled behind them calling Dean's last name. He was a tall and robust man, with a long and dirty beard, his white shirt showing the tattoos on his arms and chest "Clark! Have you forgotten me yet? Where do you think you're going without my money?" the man slowly approached more and more to the car "Dean who is this man?" Meredith asked panicked "Meredith is the man I owe that money I told you about months ago, I owe him for bets and weapons...Get in the car!" the boy made his friend get on the side of the steering wheel when sudden uninterrupted shots made both of them jump "Go Meredith!" The boy yells covering himself with his arms "Dean I'm not going without you!" she yelled at him from inside the car "Meredith I said leave! the ship will sail in less than half an hour!" the boy said again "Keep the ticket Dean" the young woman handed the ticket to her friend slightly opening the door while the mysterious man was getting closer and closer and intent on reloading the gun "Mery you have to leave! don't think about me! you have to start over... promise me!" another shot "Take this" Dean handed her a gun from the car door closing it "See you soon Meredith. Now leave!" after his friend ran away with still his luggage, Meredith with her hair clip again started the car, while from the car mirror she watched her friend and the man go away. The tears on the girl's face certainly could not be missed... she was about to leave for America without her best friend, the boy with whom she shared the best moments of her life in the last years. But she couldn't back down, not now, she had a ship waiting for her to catch.

Exactly as she had predicted, ten minutes later she was in Southampton harbor and the Titanic ahead of her. Meredith got out of the car still looking towards the ship, when a voice brought her back to reality "Miss? What cabin do I take your luggage to?" Meredith watches the man before pulling the ticket out of her bag and showing it to him "Master cabin B6" the man warns his colleague that together with other men carried the girl's luggage on a trolley and then disappeared into the crowd "The car Miss ?" the little man asked her again "Oh no it's not mine" she smiled at him receiving a fake smile from the steward who obviously didn't understand "Then let me escort you in" the girl put away the ticket in the neckline of her dress this time , she took the bag, but before continuing she turned around one last time, hoping to see if her friend Dean run to get on the ship at the last moment, but it wasn't like that, sighing she walked towards the first class entrance. Meredith before entering the ship saw from a distance a familiar man together with a young red-haired girl with a large white and purple hat, they were Hockley and his future girlfriend, recently arrived as they were still near the car unloading the luggage. Meredith was distracted by the voice of the officer at the entrance "Hello Miss, I'm second officer Lightoller, your ticket?" after looking at her carefully the man smiled at her, a smile that Meredith knew very well having received thousands of them in the last years "Of course..." the girl showing a fake smirk to the man in front of her slipped the ticket out of the neckline of the dress she had put on a few minutes before, provoking a slight laugh by the officer who read all the necessary information and then wrote something down on a pad with documents "Welcome to the Titanic Miss Moore, one of the stewards will personally accompany you to your room" the man gave her back the ticket, and with his eyes still on him Meredith smiled at him one last time receiving another more discreet one from the officer. Meredith knew very well how to behave with men she above all she knew how to receive everything she wanted even she just simply with a glance... she was a professional after all.