Titanic || Cake AU || A Luke Hemmings & Calum Hood Story

Chapter 3

| Calum |

1912

Our suite is huge. It is in the Empire style and comprises two bedrooms, a bath, WC, wardrobe room, and a large sitting room. In addition, there is a private 50 foot promenade deck outside. I am currently looking through the paintings I recently purchased. There is a Monet of water lilies, a Degas of dancers, and a few abstract works. They are all unknown paintings... lost works.

Isabella is out on the covered deck, which as potted trees and vines on the trellises, talking through the doorway to me, since I am in the sitting room.

"Those mud puddles were certainly a waste of money", she says to me.

Here we go again.

"You're wrong. They're fascinating. Like in a dream... there's truth without logic. What's his name again... ?", I reply as I look for the artist's name on the painting.

"Picasso", I then mumble quietly to myself.

Isabella then walks back into the sitting room.

"He'll never amount to a thing, trust me. At least they were cheap", she says.

I just secretly roll my eyes at her words.

A porter then wheels Bella's private safe in the room on a hand truck.

"Put that in the wardrobe", she tells him.

| Calum |

1996

I look around a bit at the people gathering around me. Seems like I am slowly building up an audience.

"At Cherbourg a woman came aboard named Margaret Brown, but we all called her Molly. History would call her the Unsinkable Molly Brown. Her husband had struck gold someplace out west, and she was what mother called "new money". By the next afternoon we had made our final stop and we were steaming west from the coast of Ireland, with nothing out ahead of us but ocean...", I tell my so called audience.

| Calum |

1912

We are currently in the first class restaurant of the ship, sitting together with some very "important" men regarding the RMS Titanic, I guess. One man is currently talking, his name is Ismay, I think.

"...and our master shipbuilder, Mr. Andrews here, designed her from the keel plates up", he says as he gestures towards a handsome 39 year old Irish gentlemen to his right, Thomas Andrews, of Harland and Wolf Shipbuilders. Mr Andrews is obviously not really enjoying the attention.

"Well, I may have knocked her together, but the idea was Mr. Ismay's. He envisioned a steamer so grand in scale, and so luxurious in its appointments, that its supremacy would never be challenged. And here she is, willed into solid reality", Andrews says.

"Why're ships always bein' called "she"? Is it because men think half the women around have big sterns and should be weighed in tonnage?", Molly suddenly says, causing everyone at the table to laugh.

Oh how I love Molly.

The waiter then arrives to take orders, while I light up a cigarette.

"You know I don't like that, Rose", my mother says.

"He knows", Isabella then says and takes the cigarette from me just to stub it out.

"We'll both have the lamb. Rare, with a little mint sauce", Isabella then says to the waiter.

Then she turns her head towards me.

"You like lamb, don't you sweetpea?", she then says.

I cannot stand her controlling personality at all. But I have to play along. I just... I have to.

Molly is watching the dynamic between me, Bella and Ruth.

"So, you gonna cut his meat for him too there, Bella?", she then says before turning back to Ismay to ask him another question about the Titanic.

I agree with Molly. I am surprised Bella is not doing that too for me, since I am apparently too stupid to do anything on my own.

"Hey, who came up with the name Titanic? You, Bruce?", Molly asks curiously.

"Yes, actually. I wanted to convey sheer size. And size means stability, luxury... and safety—", he says.

I cannot help but interrupt him.

"Do you know of Dr. Freud? His ideas about the male preoccupation with size might be of particular interest to you, Mr. Ismay", I simply say.

Andrews chockes on his breadstick, suppressing laughter.

"My God, Calum, what's gotten into—", my mother says.

But I just interrupt her again.

„Excuse me", I say as I just stand up and just walk away.

"I do apologize", Ruth says as she sighs loudly.

"He's a pistol, Bella. You sure you can handle him?", Molly asks her.

"Well, I may have to start minding what he reads from now on", Bell says, obviously being tense.

// AN: SURPRISE! Another update guys, yay! Thanks for the feedback on his story and thank you for actually reading it. I hope you guys enjoy reading it, just as much as I enjoy writing it.

I just wanted to let you know that even tho I absolutely love the movie "Titanic" and know it by heart, I am using the originaly script of the movie as a help to write this. :)

Anyway, I will update again today and well, Calum and Luke will meet (finally!) in the next chapter :)

And yes, that picture is Picasso, thought it would fit.