Heartbeats
“Will this light do?”, Cait asked after guiding Vi into her suite after she’d convinced her to draw something in her presence.
“What?”, she answered, visibly fascinated by the luxurious interieur of the room.
“Don’t artists need good light?”
“That is true, but I’m not used to working in such horrible conditions”, Vi returned in a heavy French accent. Cait laughed as Vi’s attention got taken away by a painting she spotted.
“Monet”, she said, kneeling down in front of the picture.
“You know his work?”, Cait asked, immediately standing next to her.
“Of course. Look at his use of colour here, isn’t it great?” Vi gestured at the water lilies on the painting, but Cait couldn’t look at the colours for she was hypnotized by Vi’s hands.
“I know, it’s extraordinary.”
She walked over to the safe Cal insisted on taking everywhere, opened it and took the diamond necklace he’d gifted her, while Vi continued surveying the room. Luckily, Cal was still out with his gentlemen, and as long as they had cigars and brandy, he shouldn’t be back.
Cait took the necklace and walked over to Vi.
“That’s nice”, she said, looking at the diamond. Cait could see that Vi actually found it horrible, but tried to be polite. “What is it, a sapphire?”
“A diamond. A very rare diamond”, Cait answered, stepping closer to Vi. Then she took a deep breath before asking. “Vi, I want you to draw me like one of your French girls, wearing this.”
Vi didn’t look up but continued scanning the necklace.
“Wearing only this.”
Vi turned her head and stared at Cait, confusion in her eyes. Cait didn’t give her a chance to overthink, she quickly took the necklace and went to the room next to this one to undress. Through the door she heard Vi starting to rearrange furniture.
As she stepped through the door Vi was sharpening her pencil, her coat nowhere to be found and her braces hanging loosely from her hips, but immediately looked up as she spotted Cait, who jokingly spun the belt of her robe and smiled. Vi looked as if she won in the lottery.
“The last thing I need is another picture of me looking like a porcelain doll”, she said and handed Vi a silver coin. “As a paying customer, I expect to get what I want.”
Cait stepped back, and her heart felt as if it would be bursting out of her chest as she let the robe fall.
Vi swallowed and seemed to have forgotten how to use her hands as she silently gestured towards the sofa she’d pulled into the middle of the room.
“Over to the bed…uhm…couch”, she stuttered.
Cait laid down and tried to get comfortable while also trying to look at least a little bit elegant.
“Put your arm back the way it was”, Vi instructed, slowly regaining control over her body and her mind. “Put that other arm up, that hand, right by your face there.”
Cait did as Vi told her.
“Now, head down, eyes to me, keep ‘em on me.” As if Cait would look anywhere else.
Vi exhaled before Cait could visibly see her expression change from “Oh god there is a naked woman in front of me” to “I am a professional artist”.
Cait enjoyed watching Vi work. How her blue eyes switched from paper to her, how she slightly bit her lip when she was concentrating.
“So serious”, she joked, making Vi smile.
Some lose strands of hair kept falling in Vi’s face, and Cait really wanted to tuck them behind her ears, but she had to stay still.
“I believe you are blushing, Ms. Big Artiste”, she said after some minutes, making Vi smile again. “I can’t imagine Monsieur Monet blushing.”
“He does landscapes”, Vi countered. “Just relax your face, no laughing.”
Cait nodded slightly, took a deep breath and tried her best to keep her head from thinking things inappropriate for a young lady. But on the other hand, a young lady also shouldn’t let herself be drawn naked by a woman who she happened to have fallen for.
The minutes passed slowly, and when Vi was finished, Cait put on her robe again and took a look at the painting. It was absolutely beautiful.
Vi signed the drawing and handed the map to Cait.
“Thank you”, she said, before they gently kissed again. Cait loved how Vi made her forget all her problems. She’s happy with her decision to come back to her.
Before locking the picture of her in the safe, Cait decided to write a little note for Cal.
Darling, now you can keep us both locked in your safe. -Caitlyn
Then she dressed again, this time she went for a lighter, somehow flowy dress which wasn’t as tight and uncomfortable as the others she owned.
“Wow, you look nice”, Vi said, as suddenly someone knocked at the door.
“Miss Caitlyn?”
It was Mr. Lovejoy, Cal’s strange bodyguard. He was brutal and Cait was sure he would fight Vi as soon as he saw her, so she grabbed her hand and pulled her into another room.
Quickly, they made their way to the hallway and slowly walked along as if they were normal passengers on a stroll through the ship. Cait turned around and spotted Mr. Lovejoy, who also stepped into the hallway. She walked faster, he walked faster. Cait started running, he started running.
“Come on!”, she shouted and pulled Vi into one of the elevators.
Mr. Lovejoy got there a second to late, only getting to watch as Vi and Cait descended. Cait felt the adrenaline rush through her body as she grinned and flipped the bodyguard off.
They stumbled out of the elevator, through a white door and Vi almost knocked over a servant. Cait couldn’t hold back her laughter and burst out laughing until her belly started to hurt.
“Pretty tough for a valet, this fella”, Vi joked, referring to Lovejoy. “Seems more like a cop.”
“I think he was”, Cait answered, leaning against the cold wall. Suddenly, Lovejoy stood in front of the door and spotted the through the window.
“Oh shit, go!”, Vi shouted and together they ran off without a single clue where they were running. The met a dead end and Vi pulled Cait through the next best door to the left. It was some kind of machine room, where something was making a loud noise and smoke and heat were streaming from a hole in the floor. The room only had that one entrance, so Vi and Cait decided on climbing though the hole.
It was incredibly hot down there and the air was smelling of sweat and smoke.
“Hold up, what are you two doing down here?”, a man with an Irish accent asked them. Cait didn’t answer and grabbed Vi’s hand again before they ran off, searching for another way out.
At the end of a long corridor they found a white door and Vi opened it. It lead to a huge storage room, filled with all kinds of stuff. It was much colder in here and Cait started shivering, rubbing her hands to keep the warm.
“Ah, look what we have here”, Vi nodded towards a car.
They walked over to it and Cait pretended to be a fine woman, waiting for a gentleman to open the door for her. The car wasn’t locked and so Vi opened the door and offered Cait a hand so that she could climb inside. Then she sat down on the driver’s seat and honked the horn.
“Where to, miss?”
“To the stars”, Cait whispered, grabbed Vi’s strong arms and pulled her through a window into the passenger cabin. There they sat, in each other’s arms, Cait getting ever so lost in the blue of Vi’s ocean eyes.
“You nervous?”, Vi asked while gently stroking Cait’s shoulder. Then, Cait took Vi’s hand and kissed her fingertips softly before meeting her eyes again.
“Put your hands on me, Vi”, she said. Her voice was nothing more than a whisper. She took her hand and placed it on her torso, Vi immediately lowering her head to kiss her deeply. Their kiss turned from soft and gentle to passionate and demanding, and Vi started to loosen Cait’s dress as well as her own clothes.
“Are you sure?”, Vi asked as she dropped her shirt and Cait’s dress.
“Shut up and kiss me”, Cait returned. She was done playing nice, she wanted to be with Vi in every way possible. She wanted to feel her close, closer than anybody has ever been to her.
In a matter of seconds, the air in the cabin was thick and hot. Cait didn’t care anymore that she’s in a stranger’s car on a ship to America, cheating on her fiancée with a woman. She forgot all that was around her. There was only Cait and Vi, this moment should be theirs alone.
Cait was playing with Vi’s hair while they were kissing, and she caught a breath as Vi’s hands slowly made their way downwards. Her heart was pounding and the adrenalin dared to make her senseless. She couldn’t think anymore, Vi and her caressing hand was everything on Cait’s mind.
Cait hugged Vi tighter, not breaking their kiss. She wanted to feel her as close as possible, her strong body towering over her as Vi’s fingers slowly slid inside her and started moving gently. Cait bit her lip and made a grunting sound she didn’t know she could make. Vi seemed to take that sound as approval for she quickly found a rhythm and Cait’s body moved with her hand as if they’d already done this many times before.
The moment was overwhelming Cait and she knew from the start that she wouldn’t last long. Too many feelings, too much desire. Vi’s hand quickened, she seemed to feel that Cait was getting closer and closer to her sweet release.
Cait only broke the kiss when she threw her head back with a moan, feeling as if a wave of pleasure washed over her. For a moment she thought to be in heaven, and if this was heaven, she would gladly give up her life if she could share this moment with Vi for eternity.
She was breathing heavily as she opened her eyes, slowly coming back down to earth.
“You good?”, Vi asked, who lifted her head from kissing Cait's neck, probably leaving marks. Cait nodded, then rested on her elbows.
“I want you to feel this too”, she whispered.
Vi, waved her hand. “Don’t bother, I’m not much of a receiver anyways.”
But Cait didn’t let go. “Please, Vi. Show me how I can make you feel what you made me feel.”
Vi looked disarmed, before she sighed and kissed Cait again. Then she took her hand in her own.
“You take your hand…”, she mumbled between kisses and guided Cait’s with her own, over the hot skin of her abs further down. Cait kept her eyes open and watched how Vi reacted to certain touches. Slowly, Cait started to copy what Vi did to her before, and it didn’t take her long to find her own rhythm. Vi’s short breathes and her twitching eyes where confirmation enough that she was doing it right.
Cait continued to kiss Vi, getting more confident from second to second. Cait felt Vi getting closer, so she did as she felt before and quickened her pace a bit.
“You’re a fast learner”, Vi whispered between breaths. Cait smiled and kissed her again. Then Vi moaned and slammed one hand against the window behind Cait, leaving a handprint on the tarnished material. Vi’s breathing slowed down and Cait withdraw her hand while she held Vi close to her with the other.
“You’re trembling”, Cait said quietly.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be alright”, Vi answered, smiled and kissed her again, before she rested her head on Cait’s chest.
From this moment on, they felt as if their hearts were beating in unison.
*
Laughing and chuckling, Vi and Cait stumbled through a door on deck. They managed just in time to hide from two crewmen who were searching for them.
The air was cold, but Cait didn’t care, neither did Vi.
“Did you see those guys’ faces?”, Vi laughed. “Did you see…”
She stopped as she noticed Cait’s contemplative look.
“When this ship docks”, she said. “I’m getting off with you.”
“This is crazy”, Vi smiled.
“I know, it doesn’t make any sense. That’s why I trust it.”
Vi looked at her with nothing but love in her eyes. Who would have thought that a lucky hand at poker would lead to this?
Cait laughed and lowered her head a bit to kiss Vi again, who returned the kiss immediately.
Suddenly, the sound of a bell broke the silence around them.
“What was that?”, Cait asked and looked up.
“That came from the lookout, they probably spotted something”, Vi answered. She immediately had a bad feeling about this. From the distance, she heard crewmen shouting and felt the ship turning port. She stared straight ahead, trying to spot the reason why the ship was turning. That’s when Vi spotted the iceberg.
“Holy mother of-“
The ship looked as if it would make it past it, when the Titanic suddenly rumbled and groaned beneath their feet. Parts of the iceberg broke down and landed on deck.
“Get back”, Vi shouted and shoved Cait past her, in case and ice was flying towards them. The rumbling seemed to have woken many passengers. More and more people gathered on the deck, some in their pyjamas wrapped in their blankets.
“That was close”, many of them said. But Vi knew a thing or two about icebergs, and with the ship being this close to the top, there’s no way she could’ve survived without a scratch.
Cait threw Vi a sorrowful look, and together they walked to the upper levels of the deck. Maybe someone could tell them more, Mr. Andrews, for example.
“Boiler room six is flooded eight feet above the plate, and the mail hold is worse”, Vi heard a crewman say as they walked past some people. “She’s all buckled in in the forward hull.”
“Can you shore up?”, the captain asked.
“Not unless the pumps get ahead.”
“Have you seen the damage in the mail hold?” That was Mr. Andrews.
“No, she’s already underwater.”
“This is bad”, Vi said as the men rushed past them.
“We should tell my mother and Cal”, Cait suggested. She doubted the first-class would have any idea about what was going on. Even though Vi wasn’t really pleased with the idea of meeting Cait’s fiancée and her snake of a mother again, she agreed and followed her girlfriend, if she could already call Cait that, to her room. On the way, they met Mr. Lovejoy.
“Just keep holding my hand”, Cait whispered.
“We’ve been looking for you, miss”, Lovejoy said and followed them to the room.
“Something serious has happened”, Cait said as soon as she entered the suite. She tried her best to ignore the looks her mother, Cal, and the crewman gave her, although it didn’t quite work. Vi gently squeezed Cait’s hand, assuring her that everything will be fine.
“Yes, it has”, Cal answered, although he probably meant something different than Cait. “Indeed. Two things dear to me have disappeared this evening. Now that one is back”, he looked at Cait. “I have a pretty good idea where to find the other. Search her.”
Immediately, Vi was surrounded by crewman. They took her coat and started searching for something. Cait could see how much self-control it took for Vi not to start punching everyone in this room except for Cait, and it made her feel bad but also protective.
“Cal, what are you doing?”, she asked. “We’re in the middle of an emergency. What’s going on?”
“Is this it?” Cait turned and saw a crewman holding up the diamond necklace. “This is it”, Cal answered.
“This is horseshit!”, Vi protested. She didn’t take the damned thing, and Cait had to know it. “Don’t you believe it Cait, don’t!”
“She couldn’t have”, Cait said, although her voice was quieter than before. Vi’s heart sank. She couldn’t believe it, Cait couldn’t actually believe this.
“Of course, she could. It’s easy enough for a professional”, Cal shot back.
“But she was with me the whole time, this is absurd”, Cait protested as the men cuffed Vi.
“Perhaps she did it while you were putting your clothes back on, dear”, Cal whispered. He said it quiet but loud enough for Vi to hear as well. She really wanted to punch that son of a bitch back into the hole he crawled out of.
“Real slick, Cal”, she spat before turning back to Cait. “They put it in my pocket, Cait.”
“It’s not even your pocket, is it?”, Lovejoy threw in and held up the coat. “Property of A.L. Ryerson. It was reported stolen today.”
Cait looked at Vi. If she stole the coat, why not the diamond? What if Cal was right? Vi knew what she’s doing, but why would she? No, she wouldn’t betray Cait like that.
The thoughts in Cait’s head were running wild.
“You know I didn’t do this, Cait. You know it!”, Vi said before the men took her away. Cait watched silently, her heart heavy, not beating in synch with Vi’s anymore.