The Time-Traveling Fashionista (10 page)

“Oh, I’m on the swim team!” Louise blurted out. T. W. and
Anna both looked at her, confused, and then T. W. started chuckling.

“Right, right, and I’m on the Olympic equestrian team,” he replied sarcastically.

Louise felt her face burn hot with indignation. She wasn’t lying. If Brooke were here, she would vouch for her. But then she
realized that in this era maybe girls didn’t play team sports like they did one hundred years later.

“Perhaps I can interest you ladies in a camel ride? It’s like being in the Moroccan desert; you simply need to use a little
imagination.” Louise could not believe this was the treadmill of the early twentieth century. And that she was about to exercise
in a genuine Lucile dress.

“Yes, please,” Anna replied gleefully, hopping on the mechanical horse as though she had been doing it all her life.

Louise clumsily climbed on top of the other machine, getting the hem of her purple chiffon gown caught in the stirrups.

“That’s the ticket!” T. W. shouted. “I like a dame with a little spunk.” He turned on the machines, and the animals jerked
into motion.

Louise burst out laughing. Some man just called her a dame, and how exactly was this toning her problem areas? Brooke would
have died if she could see her like this. She was having too much fun to go home yet, but she also didn’t entirely want to
have any more experiences without her best friend.

The machines ground to an abrupt halt, and T. W. suddenly grabbed Louise around the waist and hoisted her off the camel. Louise
watched Anna dismount like a gymnast.

“Don’t want to overexert yourself,” he said protectively.

Overexert?
He had clearly never been to one of Mr. Murphy’s Saturday morning swim practices.

“See you ladies again tomorrow!” T. W. exclaimed in his upbeat tone. After several more bone-crushing handshakes, Anna and
Louise left the gymnasium and stepped back out into the main corridor. So far it seemed playing the part of Miss Baxter was
going to be a lot easier and more fun than she had thought!

“I think we go this way to the café.” Anna pushed open a set of double doors. “Oops, wrong entrance,” she said sheepishly.

They had accidentally walked into the ship’s library. The room was paneled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, all filled with
hundreds of leather-bound volumes. There was a dark wooden ladder propped up against one wall to help reach the upper shelves.

A few bespectacled men were sitting in forest green club chairs at dark mahogany tables flipping through newspapers or books.
One man glanced up and raised his eyebrows, apparently surprised to see two women in a room otherwise occupied by men.

Louise loved libraries. When she was a little kid, she had made it a goal to read every book in the children’s section. Somehow,
when she was five, and could barely read by herself, that seemed feasible. But now that she was twelve, and
read all the time, she realized how unrealistic that idea was. It was kind of sad and overwhelming now when she thought about
it.

She walked over to one of the walls and picked out a dark red bound novel at random.

“This is one of my mom’s favorite movies. Judy Garland is incredible….” Louise said, trailing off. Most likely
The Wizard of Oz
hadn’t been made into a film yet, so she probably shouldn’t say any more. “Anna, shouldn’t you be in school now?” Louise
added, thinking once again that she would be in big trouble if she didn’t show up for classes.

“In school? At my age?” Anna said with a shrug. “You really must have hit your head. I finished last year, and I’ve been working
for you since then. But soon I’d like to get married and start my own family.”

“How old are you?” Louise tried to keep her jaw from dropping. Maybe Anna was one of those people who looked really, really
good for, what was she, thirty?

“Seventeen. But not for long; I’ll be eighteen next month. In a few years, I’ll be an old maid!” Anna said. Louise laughed,
but Anna didn’t crack a smile.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Louise did her best to play along.

“Well, there’s someone, I suppose.” Anna blushed and low
ered her gaze. “He works on this ship. We have been spending a bit of time together. He’s so handsome.”

“That’s great. I’d love to meet him!” Louise exclaimed, happy for her new friend. Who was this guy?

“Pssst,” a voice hissed from behind a paper. “Pssst.”

Louise’s eyes darted over to Anna. Were they being too loud?

“Psssst.” The sound was coming from behind a newspaper at a nearby table.

The
Atlantic Daily Bulletin
lowered, revealing Benjamin Guggenheim’s face.

“I was hoping I would run into you. But I see you’ve found me out instead.”

Louise blushed. “I didn’t mean to, I mean, we were just passing through.”

“Well, I am certainly glad you did. Can you believe this ship has its own daily paper?” he asked as he folded up his periodical
and got to his feet, linking his arm through Louise’s elbow. With his chiseled jaw line and intense green eyes, he was even
more handsome than Louise remembered. “Let’s go for a walk, shall we?”

“It’s a bit brisk. Perhaps you can get Miss Baxter a coat?”

“Yes, sir,” Anna replied to Mr. Guggenheim, rushing off before Louise had a chance to argue. They were walking outside on
the partly shaded first-class promenade.

“Well, Miss Baxter, I must say, I’ve been hoping we would have a chance to take a stroll,” he said as they walked slowly along
the ship’s wooden deck.

Why couldn’t Todd act a little bit more like this?
Louise wondered, thinking back to the embarrassing scene that played out in the school hallway yesterday.
Where did all the chivalrous men go?

Louise looked down, blushing. She was burning up, despite the freezing temperature. Brisk wasn’t the word for it—they seemed
to be taking the arctic route to New York.

“Isn’t the view marvelous?” he asked her, arms clasped behind his back.

“Yes,” Louise replied. “I love the ocean.” The sky was a clear and cloudless expanse reflecting off the never-ending calm
cerulean blue sea.

They walked quietly, turning around at the bow to retrace the same steps. The boat must have been a mile long.

“And the ship is truly the epitome of opulence, is it not?”

“Yes, it is,” Louise replied enthusiastically, secretly realizing she was starting to get bored.
Do these people actually speak about anything?
She had never exchanged so many pleasantries in her life.

“I love your museum,” she began, trying to steer the conversation toward something more interesting, like art. And it was
truly one of her favorites.

Her parents had taken her into New York City to see a Julian Schnabel retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum last summer.
She remembered how magical it had felt the first time she had walked up the magnificent white spiral walkway under the skylight
while looking at some of the most beautiful modern abstract paintings she had ever seen. Some were made on broken plates,
some on green army tarps, some on velvet. She saw a whole landscape within those brushstrokes. She could have stayed in that
rotunda forever.

“My museum?” Benjamin replied, seemingly perplexed. “What exactly are you referring to, my dear?”

Oops. Does the Guggenheim Museum not exist yet?

Louise panicked. “I’m sorry, I mean, your… castle.” He gave her a confused look.

“I mean your… your estate,” Louise stammered.
This guy must have an estate, right?
“It’s so beautiful it reminds me of a museum.”

He was still looking at her strangely. “Thank you. Please come back for a visit whenever it suits. We would love to have you.”

We?

They continued walking, but she had no idea what to say next. Was he referring to his girlfriend? His wife? His mom? She was
pretty sure he was flirting with her, so maybe he still lived with his parents? Louise was cold and exhausted. She wished
she could just be herself.

“Can we sit, please?” she asked as they passed one of the many ornate iron and wooden benches situated throughout the deck.

“That sounds like a marvelous idea,” Benjamin replied, helping her to the seat.

They sat in an awkward silence. Pretending to be this other girl was totally tiring and not really as much fun as she thought
it would be.

Louise snapped out of her reverie and turned to see Anna stumbling toward her, arms full of velvet and fur and feathers, her
eyes barely visible through the plumes.

“Anna!” she called, excited and relieved to see a friendly face. Laughing, Louise rushed over to help her friend. She plucked
the ostrich-feathered hat off the top of the pile and helplessly tried to arrange it on her own head.

“You are an odd one, Miss Baxter,” Mr. Guggenheim said. “Shall I escort you ladies to the Verandah Café for afternoon tea?
It’s about time for me to enjoy a cigar in the smoking room before supper.”

“Yes, please,” Louise answered quickly.

Anna helped Louise into a burgundy velvet coat that cinched her waist with a nauseatingly tight belt. The cuffs were decorated
with huge puffs of fur; it was like she had two chinchillas wrapped around her wrists. The coat barely skimmed the floor,
making it difficult to walk without a serious risk of falling flat on her face.

“Splendid,” Anna remarked while carefully rearranging Louise’s hat and hair. The coat seemed to weigh about fifty pounds,
and Louise was already sweating underneath the weight of all of that fabric. She thought she must have looked utterly ridiculous.

Benjamin led them through a smoke-filled, mahogany-paneled clubroom that smelled strongly of cigars and cedar that adjoined
the Verandah Café. “Well, I will leave you two ladies for now.” He removed his gray bowler hat with a flourish and bowed down
to kiss Louise’s hand, back to being his
dashing self. “Miss Baxter, I look forward to seeing you again this evening for dinner.”

“Thank you, Mr. Guggenheim,” Louise said with a smile.

And with that, he spun around and left. It was a completely opposite feeling than she’d had when he’d first come to the room
this morning, but thank Gawd.