Harold Lowe has managed to claw his way up the career ladder of the British merchant marines, rising from a ship's boy to a master mariner with one of the world's elite passenger lines. Along the way, he's learned to master not only his craft, but...
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Katie burst into their stateroom the next morning after returning from breakfast, her eyes shining with secrets. "Someone told me there's an officer wandering around in steerage, with no particular purpose that anyone can see. I think it's him!"
"You mean Corrine's officer?" Kate ventured from the bunk below her. She had been feeling better since her visit to the doctor yesterday, which is why Corrine had decided to lounge about in bed reading rather than taking her usual morning promenade. Not having to hear - and smell - near-constant retching was a refreshing change.
"It's highly doubtful that it's him," said Corrine peevishly. She turned a page in her book. She certainly wasn't going to go and investigate. It probably wasn't Harry - there were plenty of other officers on this giant ship. And it wasn't like he would be down here looking for her anyway; there was a never-ending list of responsibilities on a ship this large that would likely demand his attention. "And besides, he's not my officer," she reminded them both. The conversation with Lightoller still stung. The things he had said about the junior officer, and the implications he had made about his character, had made her question everything she thought she knew about him. And despite Katie's near-constant assertions to the contrary, she had convinced herself that she was just a shipboard flirtation to him, and nothing more.
Katie pouted. "Well, can I at least go find out if the bloke's good-looking? Then we'll know for sure if it's him."
Corrine laughed. "Katie, you think all the officers are attractive; you're hardly a fair judge."
Both Kate and Katie giggled in agreement. "Well, I guess it's to be you, then. Go on; just take a wee peek 'round the corner and see," prodded Katie. She looked pointedly at the book in her hand. "It's not like you're doing anything important anyway."
Corrine sighed heavily and laid her book on the bunk. Why she was agreeing to this, she didn't know. That cursed curiosity of hers again, she guessed. And... well, despite telling herself again and again that her imagination had just gotten the better of her, and that he had likely already moved on to another girl by now, she wasn't always able to convince herself of it entirely. Hope is a hard thing to crush, she thought wryly.
Throwing her shoulders back, she walked to the door. "Well, ladies," she said, putting on her most sophisticated voice, "Try not to wait up for me. I'm off to see my knight in shining armor." She rolled her eyes and fluttered her lashes dramatically, and then left the room to the titters of her friends.
Once in the hall, she crept slowly to the common rooms. She really didn't want to be seen by whomever it was that had ventured to their corner of the ship. The thought of running into Lightoller in particular filled her with dread. That he had so easily sussed out her schoolgirl attraction to Harry still filled her with shame. She was certain that if she never saw Mr. Lightoller again, it would be too soon.
