A New Beginning

Chapter 67: Finding Wendy

Chapter 67: Finding Wendy

"And this concludes our meeting for today," Molly Brown says to the women's group. Wendy blinks a few times, trying to remain alert, but it just wasn't coming to her anymore. The women were discussing the potential of a Christmas bazaar in December and most of the duties would fall on their new secretary and typist.

The former maid stands up with her notes and goes to her desk to start the day's work. She had to send a few telegrams, mail potential sponsors for the upcoming bake sale and files more paperwork.

It had been a few weeks since Wendy started work in the Women's Rights group and the excitement of working at a new job had worn off and she was beginning to become bored. The work she had to do was becoming repetitive and there didn't seem to be a lot of support for the cause. The world was not changing fast enough to meet the group's expectations and even consider emulating their ideas. At this point in time, the women were basically doing things that they would do at home or for the church community; baking and raising money. Wendy felt like she wasn't really contributing much anyway and was mostly there to take notes and do mindless busy work. She wasn't being challenged in any way and a few times longed to go back to service... The one fortunate thing was that since the new secretary could do all her work quickly, she could use the typewriter for her own personal use.

Wendy was becoming increasingly inspired to write her book. Every day she would write down new ideas and type up manuscripts for each chapter on the brand-new typewriter. It felt nice not having to remember which letter key was missing and readjust the ribbon every few sentences. Here, her writing went smoothly. She asked Eric and Saul about stories they picked up during their travels and at the bars, picking the most interesting ones to write about. She'd ask Tommy about the miners and what kind of tales they spun as they worked in the dark all day. She'd also borrow library books so she could learn about the different styles of writing and emulate them herself. With every passing day, Wendy became more confident in her writing and she was hoping that maybe one day, she'd become a published author.

On this particular day, the former maid thought that it might be a good idea to write about Molly's experiences of being a common woman and rising to a socialite. As the other women cleared out, Wendy stood up to talk to the woman.

"Excuse me, Miss Brown," she says.

"Wendy, darling, I've told you to call me Molly."

"I'm sorry...Molly, but I wanted to get your story about going from an ordinary woman to the unsinkable heiress you are today."

"What might this be for? The newsletter?"

Wendy swallows. She becomes nervous, thinking that Miss Brown might discourage her writing stories on the side instead of doing her job during business hours.

Molly comes around Wendy's desk and spies the file folder of her typed manuscripts on top of several library books. Before the secretary can stop her, the socialite begins reading them. The writer's heart is pounding in her chest as she wants to grab the papers back. She wasn't ready for anyone to read them, she hadn't even read them aloud to herself. She just wanted to get the stories down and worry about everything else later. The room becomes very silent, except for the ticking wall clock.

Before too long, Molly begins to chuckle, scaring the daylights out of the secretary. Her hands shake while holding the pages and her eyes are alight with joyful laughter. She continues through each of the stories, not putting them down until she's finished. When the heiress does, she locks eyes with Wendy.

"Darlin' you have quite the sense of humour and way of telling tales."

"Y-You're not mad?"

"Mad? Why on earth would I be mad?"