A LIFE SO CHANGED
Chapter Nine
April 28, 2063
"His gift was beautiful, but was a cold
stone, a heart of ice, and I felt jealous, because he never bought me something
that big...but I knew that he loved me more than her."
"So, let me get this right. You were
going to kill yourself by jumping off the Titanic?" said Bodine, with a
guffaw. "That’s great!"
"Lewis..." said Lovett, warningly.
But Rose laughs with Bodine.
"All you had to do was wait two
days!" said Bodine, still laughing.
Lovett, standing out of Rose’s sight line,
checks his watch. Hours have passed. This process is taking too long.
"Rose, tell us more about the diamond.
What did Black do with it after that?"
"I’m afraid I’m feeling a little tired,
Mr. Lovett."
Lizzy picks up the cue and starts to wheel
her out.
"Wait! Can you give us something go on,
here? Like who had access to the safe. What about this Parrish guy? Did he have
the combination?"
"That's enough!" said Lizzy.
Lizzy takes her out. Rose's old hand reappears
at the doorway in a frail wave good-bye.
*****
Lizzy is preparing Rose’s bed. Rose is
looking out the window, and she is smiling. She is remembering what happened
after Cal left.
Cal had left to go to bed. He had told Rose
not to go anywhere, but to go get some sleep. Rose was still standing in front
of the mirror, thinking about Cal had said. "What really happened?"
entered her mind over and over again. She could not tell him the truth.
She decided to take a walk before going to
bed. She never thought about changing clothes. She picked up her coat from her
room, trying not to make a sound. She heads out the door.
Walking along the corridor outside the ship,
she saw couples taking a stroll, too. They nodded and said, "Good
evening," to her. She nodded back. As she got close to the back of the
ship, she did not notice that Jack had never left. He saw her.
Rose got to the rail, and climbed up to see
how far she dropped. Memories flooded back to her.
Rose: "HELP! Please get me!"
Jack: "I got you. I won’t let go."
Some how those words meant more than that to
her. Did he mean that he’ll save her from her gilded cage, or that he won’t let
her die? Somehow she wanted it to be both. Oh, how can he understand her pain
from being a little religious girl. What does she know about misery? Most of
all, hoping he won’t laugh at her, because she thinks she can’t get out of this
as simple as that. She can’t. She is trapped into their world...Cal and Ruth’s
world.
As she leaned over still, she saw it was
about a fifty or sixty-foot drop. It took her breath away when she thought
this. She also felt when she was in Jack’s arms. She felt so safe with him. She
just wanted to be in his arms for a lifetime, and never let go. Most of all she
loved the way he looked at her with his sea blue eyes, and touching her face.
Rose smiled at that. Now she decided to go in
because of the cold, and thinking that Cal might check up on her. She got down.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed her shoulder. She gasped and turned. There he was.
Jack. Standing there with a concerned look on his face as he did that
afternoon.
He’s here. Did he follow me here? she
thought. Oh, how I wish he could hold me again. After she had thought about
that, she didn’t care. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Will
he hold me back, or let go? As he read her thoughts. He hugged her back, only
tighter. Rose smiled.
"I’m sorry," said Rose, finally.
"No, it’s all right," he said, as
softly as she said it.
"No. It isn’t."
Rose lets go of him and looked into his eyes.
"I should’ve told them right away what happened."
"Why did you lie?"
"I knew if I did tell the truth, they
would still not understand."
"Understand what?"
"I will tell you. Not now. Can I meet
you tomorrow before dinner?"
"Yes," he said, with a smile.
"What ticket do you hold?"
"Third class."
"I’ll meet you there."
"All right. I’ll be in the steerage
area."
"Okay."
"Okay."
They stood there a minute longer, still
smiling at each other. Finally, she went to leave.
"Wait," said Jack.
Rose turned around.
"Can I at least walk you back, so you
can get in your room safely?"
Rose smiled. "Yeah."
Jack caught up to her, and they went to first
class. They never said a word as they got to the sitting room door. Rose turns
to him, her hand on the knob.
"Thank you for walking me back,"
she said, with a smile.
"Anytime. See you tomorrow."
"Tomorrow."
Jack waved at as he left. Rose waved back.
She went inside. She got into bed. She could not sleep. All she could think
about was Jack, and her day with him the next day. She could hardly wait...
*****
Old Rose smiled and went to sleep.