Title: Maybe I'm Amazed

Author: doctors gal1792

Rating: T for language

Word Count: 2,640

Dedicated: This was written for classicmovielover who specifically requested a Lightoller romance...

Summary: A young maid is traveling with her mistress and friend, Isabel Phillips, on the Titanic as Isabel sails to marry an American man from Boston. A chance meeting brings young Charlotte Bennett into the path of Charles Lightoller. Both are dedicated to their work and looking to making the trip and not letting anything get in the way, but they soon learn that plans don't always go the way they want, and for good reason.

Disclaimer: I do not own Titanic, the ship or the film. The ship belongs to the Ocean and the film belong to James Cameron and Paramount. I am but a simple fan of this beautiful ship. I mean no disrespect to any members of family who are used and mentioned in this story, it is simply a silly little work of fiction. No money is being made off of the writing of this story.

A/N- I battled for awhile if I wanted to touch Titanic again, so soon after I finished the other story. My last review on "Run Away With Me" had been a "I hope to see a Lightoller romance," and of course saying stuff like that makes me have thoughts! However I could not see a plausible plot line that had not already been done, and dear God has the servant story line been done. Someone else is even doing one about Lightoller on the Olympic...which initially hindered me from even trying this! But antionetterose and I both agreed that since this is a different ship then all should be fine. I mean no disrespect and everyone should read the Olympic story because they had the idea before me! I finally came up with a servant idea because back before I graduated my teacher told me to read "Amanda Miranda" and so I checked it out simply to find out it's a Titanic story about a servant attending her mistress on the Titanic. So it'll be safe to say that this story is being heavily influenced by Richard Peck's little book. The title of the story came from a Paul McCartney song so I hope you enjoy. Thanks and enjoy!

XX

Chapter 1

Home is Where The Heart Is

Charlotte Eliza Bennett was born to James and Grace Bennett in 1887. Her parents both worked for the Phillips family of London, until they died in 1899. At twelve years old, Charlotte was orphaned with no other family to speak of and still a resident of the Phillips home. After her parents death, Charlotte stayed close to the older woman who cooked the meals for the family, and that was where she learned how to cook and be a servant of the house. At sixteen she became the personal servant to Mr. and Mrs. Phillips daughter Isabel, who was nine years old at the time.

Isabel and Charlotte developed an unlikely friendship and thus the two were very loyal to each other, which was typically frowned upon by members of London society, but the Phillips preferred their daughter to be taken care of by someone Isabel trusted, then someone she did not. As the two girls grew older, Isabel became a very beautiful young woman and when she was eighteen, she was proposed to by an American who worked in the banking business. Before Charlotte knew what was happening she found herself packing trunks for Isabel and the rest of the family to travel to America and first class tickets for the Titanic in hand.

Charlotte was pondering these things especially on the evening of the ninth of April. So much had happened to her since she was twelve and now she was about to turn twenty five and was about to move to Boston, Massachusetts in order to continue as Isabel's personal servant. It seemed like she would be with Isabel for the rest of time and she would never marry, which would have broken her mothers heart if she was still with them. She sighed as she carefully laid one of Isabel's evening dresses in to the trunk.

"Charlotte?"

The girl looked up from where she was packing to Isabel, who was sprawled out on her four poster bed, her eyes fixed on the canopy that was a luscious velvet and the color red.

"Yes miss?"

"Oh none of that miss nonsense, not when it is just you and I without the eyes of London society peering at us and tutting about how we should not be friends," Isabel fussed.

Charlotte laughed, "Alright Izzie, what is it?"

Isabel paused for a moment and Charlotte knew she was most likely making a face at being referred to as 'Izzie.' "Do you think you would like to marry some day?" the girl finally asked.

Charlotte stood to her full height and moved to some hat boxes that needed to be packed away still, "I would very much like to but as I am now twenty four-"

"Twenty five in six days!" Isabel corrected.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "The point stands that once you reach an age like twenty four, most men do not want to marry you. Besides, when do I ever have time to do something silly like fall in love when I have a trip to America to make with you?"

Isabel was silent again, "But if you ever fell in love and had the opportunity to marry, would you take it?"

Charlotte was silent as she thought about Isabel's words and then shrugged, "Well if some fellow came along and we both got along and he did not mind marrying woman who has been a servant since she was twelve years old, then perhaps. Your mother would have to give me more than just two days off though!"

Isabel gave a childish giggle and said, "Well once we live in America my mother will no longer be paying your wages, as I suspect that is something my dearly betrothed and I will be doing."

"Would it be inappropriate then to ask for a raise?" Charlotte joined Isabel then in her laughter.

"Of course we shall give you a raise and if a man ever were to ask for your hand I would give you a whole month off so you could run off and be married. Maybe you could honeymoon in Canada!" Isabel said.

Charlotte shook her head, "I hear Canada can be quite cold since it is so far North."

"Where did you hear that?" Isabel asked, sitting up finally.

Charlotte gave a little shrug and said, "Your father's geography journals that he has Jones throw out."

"Well then perhaps your dearly beloved will take you to California! We shall finally be seeing the Atlantic Ocean and so then you could see the Pacific Ocean!" Isabel said, smiling.

"Perhaps," Charlotte said, smiling. She set the hat boxes near the trunk and then looked back to Isabel, "Now we have to be up very early in the morning and so I think you should dress for bed now because I still have my own things to finish packing."

Isabel nodded and stood to her feet, her layers of gowns swishing around her feet as she moved. Charlotte followed her and pulled a night dress out of the wardrobe which had been folded beside Isabel's traveling suit for the next day. Carefully Charlotte began to pull Isabel's elaborate hair style down so that the girls brown curls fell around her shoulders. Isabel then removed her dress and let out a sigh of relief as Charlotte loosened the ties on her corset. Once Isabel was fully dressed for bed and her hair brushed out, Charlotte said good night and left the room for the evening.

Charlotte quietly walked down the hall to her own bedroom, which was smaller than Isabel's but well furnished. Her own suitcase was sitting open on the bed, still waiting to be packed. Charlotte sighed as she looked around the room, this was the room her parents had lived in and the room she had lived in for the last twenty four years, and come tomorrow she was quite sure she was unlikely to ever see it again. The girl crossed the space to her own set of dresser drawers and emptied the contents within a few minutes. She then found her mothers wedding ring which had been stowed away and she hid it in a secret pocket that had been sewn into the lining of the suitcase.

Once Charlotte's room was packed up she stepped back to look around the small bedroom and she couldn't help but think it no longer looked like the room she knew. The girl dressed for bed and climbed under the thick quilts where she tossed and turned for an hour or so, before she finally decided it was a fruitless effort. She found her slippers and dressing gown and slipped them on before quietly walking down the stairs to the kitchen. Her footsteps were padded because of the carpet, but before she had even reached the kitchen she heard a voice say, "Can't sleep child?"

Charlotte carefully pushed open the door to the kitchen and saw Ethel the cook sitting with Jones who was the butler. There was a steaming pot of tea between the two and they were drinking from older mugs, a usual evening send off that the two shared in before retiring to bed. Charlotte smiled at the two and retrieved her own mug from the cabinet and set it down on the counter, "I am quite nervous Ethel," she confessed, her eyes fixed on the amber liquid that Jones was now pouring out of the tea pot.

"Of course you are nervous, love. You've never sailed on a liner before, let alone a liner like the Titanic!" Ethel beamed at the child, but Charlotte detected a hint of sadness in the woman's voice.

Charlotte sighed as she began to stir some sugar cubes into the cup, "I am going to miss the two of you terribly."

"Nah, you won't. You are going to reach America and I don't want you to ever look back on this little old house. America is the place of dreams and I think your dreams will finally come true there," Ethel said as she reached out a hand to gently smooth back one of Charlotte's blond locks.

Charlotte gave a half smile, "But I shall miss this..." she nodded at the tea and the cups, "Sitting with you two and talking about the day, sharing the stories of our adventures in the house or out in town. Besides, I hear the people of America do not think much about our tea drinking."

Jones and Ethel laughed, "Yes well miss, I do believe Miss. Isabel will see to their being plenty of tea in her home."

"Well it shall all be very ironic given we will be living in Boston!" Charlotte said, laughing.

"Those damn Americans, one hundred and thirty-nine years later and I still do not understand why they had to waste so much precious tea," Ethel said.

Charlotte pretended to be shocked by Ethel swearing but she simply smiled, "Well I do suppose the taxes were unfair but there are better ways to protest!"

"I suppose we are probably just a tad biased though," Jones said, smiling at the two women.

"Yes, I suppose we probably are," Charlotte laughed.

"We sure are supposing a lot!" Ethel declared.

The three laughed again and fell into a silence immediately afterward.

They sat and sipped from their tea, listening to the ticking of the clock above the stove. Finally Ethel stood up from her seat and said, "Well child, you will be turning twenty-five in a few days and being that you will be a quarter of a century old, I have a gift for you."

Charlotte raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Oh Ethel, you do not have to do something like that!"

"I do and I have, so please do not argue the fact with me."

Charlotte sighed and watched as Ethel went to the cupboards and dug out a jar from the back that the select few knew Ethel used the jar for things other than food. Ethel pulled a box out and turned back to face Charlotte, "This is from Jones and I."

Charlotte took the box, carefully caressing the box, the material smooth under her fingers. She opened the box and inside was a silver necklace with a heart on the chain. She stared at the necklace, her gaze transfixed by the gleam of the chain and charm. "Oh Ethel, it is so lovely," she finally breathed.

"We wanted you to have this to know that when you leave tomorrow, you are taking our hearts with you and we don't want you to ever forget us."

Charlotte looked up at Ethel, her eyes brimming with tears, "Oh thank you, so much. I truly have no words that I can use to express how much this means to me."

"That is fine because I know how you truly feel," Ethel had tears in her eyes as well as she looked down on the girl. She quickly brushed them from her eyes and smiled, "Now my dear, you have an, early morning trip to make and you should really try to sleep. I suspect that you will be very busy all day tomorrow."

Charlotte finished off her cup of tea and still clutching the box in her hand, she threw her arms around Ethel. The two women embraced for a moment and then Charlotte kissed Jones on the cheek, "Good night," she said before hurrying out of the room and up the stairs to her room.

Xxxx

The next morning Second Officer Charles Lightoller stood just outside of the bridge, overlooking the passengers who were boarding and the stewards who were running around frantically, making sure every last detail was perfect. Charles had been an officer on many ships but he was quite sure that this one was the grandest.

He had made many trips back and forth between America and England, even dropping everything and living in Canada for a bit, but every single time he was going to New York, he faced the journey with an eager and excited stature. That's not to say that he did not take his job seriously, because he did. You didn't just become a second officer (technically first, he would remind people when the Captain and Wilde had left the room,) by acting like a young and immature sailor.

"All ready?" Captain Smith asked as he emerged from the map room, a warm smile gracing his face.

Lightoller and Will Murdoch looked at each other before they both nodded at the Captain, "Yes sir, so far everything is set for us to leave on time."

"Just so long as the crew can hurry up the damned boarding process."

The officers looked as Bruce Ismay entered the room followed by Thomas Andrews who simply shook his head at Ismay's impatience.

"There are no foreseeable problems sir," Chief Officer Wilde said to Bruce.

"Good and it better stay that way," Bruce said, walking to a window of the wheel room and looking out of the perfect, gleaming glass. "I need everything about this journey to be perfect and to make headlines. The future of the White Star Line rests on this trip going well."

Lightoller caught Thomas Andrews eye for a moment, who was grimacing every time Bruce opened his mouth. He contained a smile and winked at Harold Lowe who was trying to hide his own look of dismay. The officers had been subjected to many speeches like this since they had been hired and they were looking forward to not having to deal with the "perfection speeches" and the "Unsinkable ship" nonsense. They all knew full well that no ship was unsinkable, despite whatever ideas fueled by complete lunacy that Ismay had in his mind.

"Alright well I have a dining room to oversee and an afternoon tea to prepare for, I shall see you there EJ," Ismay said, looking at the Captain. He nodded at the Officers and then left the room.

"Thank God," Boxhall muttered.

"Alright, let's get back to work and get this ship ready to go," Smith said after a moment. He looked at Thomas Andrews, "Come along into the map room," he said.

Murdoch watched the two disappear and then looked back to the Officers, "Alright you heard him, get back to work. Moody is down loading passengers at the third class entrance, Lowe go and assist him."

"Yes sir," Lowe said before quickly rushing out of the room.

Lightoller watched as Murdoch dispersed Boxhall and Pittman and then he walked over to the side of the ship again, looking down at the people who were boarding. His eyes caught a young maid who was following close behind a beautiful young woman who was flanked by an older woman and man who surely had to be her parents. However he wasn't focused on the passengers but instead the servant. She had her own sort of unearthly beauty to her and she seemed so determined to get her mistress on the ship and to do her job properly. There were other men behind them carrying piles of luggage and another man, younger, who was dressed handsomely, Lightoller couldn't figure out how he fit into the equation. His eyes roamed back looking for the young servant but she had already entered the ship or something, for she had disappeared. He shook his head and returned to the bridge, thinking that this trip would indeed be an adventure to be excited for.

Xxxx

A/N-Oof...a first chapter of a new story so close after I finished another story? What is this sorcery? Anyways...I have nothing much to say except I hope you enjoyed this first chapter...I'll be working on more on my next two days off of work! Please review and I shall give you cookies and tea!