CHANGES
Chapter Twenty-Three
"Take your coat off. Make yourself at
home," Kaci said, heading into the kitchen.
"Uh...nice place you got here,"
Jack said, shrugging out of his jacket. The apartment was small, very small.
A bed stood in the corner, with a tiny dresser next to it. On the wall across
from it was a battered couch and a television. On the other side was a door
which he suspected led to the bathroom, and then there was the kitchen. It was
clean, though.
Kaci's laughter floated through the room.
"It's a roof over my head, at least."
Jack was about to respond, but turned as she
came into the living area and handed him a drink. "Thanks," he said,
eyeing it somewhat suspiciously.
"It's not poison or anything." Kaci
laughed, settling down on the couch. "Just something to loosen you up a
bit."
"I'm--uh--not much of a drinker. Illegal
for me back home, you know," Jack mumbled, sitting down as well.
Kaci grinned. "How old are you exactly,
Jack Dawson?" she asked flirtatiously.
"Twenty."
"Twenty, hmm? And what does a sexy young
man like yourself have to be in such a funk about?"
Jack backed away from her advances slightly,
feeling a bit disoriented. Was she coming on to him? "My...uh...my fiancee
and I got into a fight," he said, putting extra emphasis on Rose's title.
A look of disappointment filtered across
Kaci's face, but it was replaced with a sly smile so quickly, he wondered if he
had imagined it. "Oh, that's too bad. What was it about?"
Taking a long sip of his drink, Jack moved
away a little more. "Nothing, really. She's been kind of out of it
lately."
Kaci stared at him for a moment, smiling
devilishly when she noticed the effect the alcohol was having on him. Oh, yes,
tonight would be fun...
*****
"There's still no answer." Rose
sighed, slamming the phone back down.
Frankie shook his head. "Maybe he turned
the phones off?"
"I don't know," she said, falling
back in the chair and pulling her knees up to her chest. She had been trying to
contact Jack for the past four hours, and had yet to do it.
"He's probably just trying to sort
things out. Don't worry about it so much, sis," Frankie said, giving her
an encouraging smile.
Rose sighed, and absentmindedly played with
her engagement ring. "We never fight, though. Not like this. Not over
nothing."
"Aw, come on, Rose. All couples have
stupid fights. Look at Mom and Dad. Remember that one time Dad moved out to
Grandma's for a week because Mom yelled at him for putting a coffee mug in the
wrong cupboard?"
Grinning at the reminder, Rose looked at him
doubtfully. "Do you really think we'll be okay?"
Frankie nodded earnestly. "I do. You two
love each other."
"Yeah." Rose smiled.
*****
Jack gulped back his fear as Kaci moved
closer to him. He was slowly but surely running out of room on the couch. The
alcohol racing through his system was beginning to take effect, and he found
himself struggling not to give in to her advances. With blond hair and
almond-shaped brown eyes, he couldn't deny she was attractive. And it seemed she
was very attracted to him by the way she kept flirting with him and making as
much physical contact as possible.
"So, you're from Minnesota, huh?"
she was murmuring, her breath hot on his neck.
"Um...yeah. Born and raised," he
said, barely coherently.
"I see," Kaci continued, tracing
her finger up along his jaw line.
Jack's mind died somewhere between that and
the time hours later when he became aware of just where he was and who he was
with. Choking back the disgusted sobs that threatened to escape his throat when
Rose--his beautiful Rose's image appeared in his head, Jack quietly slipped out
of the bed and left the apartment.
*****
"Mommy." The tiny blond-haired
child shook Rose's arm impatiently.
"Hmm?"
"Mommy, beakfes!" the girl
exclaimed.
Rose's green eyes opened reluctantly, to see
her daughter standing in front of her with arms crossed. "What,
Mandy?"
"Beakfes!"
Just then, Frankie came into the guestroom
with a spatula in hand. "Breakfast is ready."
"Hmm...thanks," she muttered,
falling back down onto the pillow.
"Mommy!" Amanda squealed.
Frankie swiftly picked up his niece.
"Hey, buttercup, why don't we go eat, and let Mom sleep for awhile
longer?" Amanda stared at him unhappily until he mentioned something about
candy. Perking up immediately, she demanded to go into the kitchen. Rose just
watched them go, amused.
*****
Stumbling into the darkened apartment, Jack
silently thanked his lucky stars Rose wasn't home. He couldn't face her, not
after what he had done. Wandering down the hall and into their bedroom, the
tears began to fall on their own accord, as he fell onto the bed and stared
blindly at the photo of them at his sister's wedding earlier that year. What
had he done?