Serenity

The Saviour

Was it a sign from the heavens? As for a silly, little second, all of her misery seemed to dissipate. His hands around her waist were completely amicable and warm, as though she had been touched by an angel with love. The ice that encompassed her heart began to thaw briefly. She felt safe, as though some prayer had been answered.

As Rose turned into the warmth, she came face to face with the most beautiful, soul shaking pair of eyes that she had ever witnessed. Completely blue; the colour of serenity, a stark contrast to the black depths below them, churning as Titanic carried on her voyage into the night.

If she had not gathered herself together, she would have surrendered to them entirely, coming apart at the seams as though she was a cheap, tattered dress for the impoverished.

"Take your hands off me." Rose heard herself shriek, completely returning to reality, the ice encapsulating her heart once more. "What made you think that you could put your hands on me this way?"

The truth was, that whilst he had touched her in a place that was indecorous, a place where no man aside from her husband should, both of his hands across her waist, pulling her into him, should have set off alarm bells.

Instead, she found her vexation coerced, as though she had been taught to act in such a way towards him, and that her natural reaction was to allow the floating feeling to overcome her.

"I'm sorry, but you were about to take a swim with the fishes."

"And how should that concern you?" Her eyes gleaming with a fire burning within. He slowly loosened his grip but not enough, his lack of immediate response irritated her and she jerked in his embrace until he held her tighter and tighter.

"Because I can't turn away knowing you're about to jump down there."

"So you think by taking the decision away from me, that it is yours to make?"

"I was hoping that you were just needing a minute."

"No, I intend to jump. Let me go!"

As she struggled within his tight embrace of warmth, her fear of everything else disappeared, but the reality of the drop below was frightening as she felt the unsympathetic iciness of the whooshing void below.

"Will you come back over the rail, or will I have to jump in there after you?"

Rose whipped her head to him, but those eyes that seemed benevolent, were earnest. Realisation crept in towards her, seeping into her now comprehending mind, gears turning. Still, the guard that had firmly been put in place by the rules of society remained unwavering. "Don't be absurd, you would be killed."

"I am a good swimmer."

"The fall alone will kill you."

"Is that what you intended?" The silence was deafening, louder than everything else about them, as if the whole world had gone still and all that remained was the two of them. "I'd have been more concerned about the water being so cold."

"That's no concern of mine, now let me go or I shall scream so loud-" The kettle was about to boil over at any moment now, until he intervened.

"-no you won't."

Her mouth gaped. "What do you mean no I won't?"

"Well you would have done it already. I've been holding you for a few minutes and you've done nothing but squabble with me."

A wave of smugness crossed his handsome face and she was ablaze with fire, her arms pushing back against his solid chest. When he loosened his grip, her stomach lurched. Now she wasn't falling, the feeling made her uneasy.