CHATROOM LOVE
Chapter Fifteen
Wednesday, September 12, 2001
"Hey, Jack!" Rose called, as she
caught sight of him. It was almost time for the bell; she and Dawn had gotten a
late start that morning. Rose had yelled at Dawn for being so slow, but it
hadn’t done any good. Dawn did things at her own pace, regardless of how eager Rose
was to get to school and see Jack.
"Hey, Rose." Jack hurried over to
her, glad to see her. Until yesterday, he’d regarded Rose as a pretty, fun, and
interesting girl who was a friend. To be sure, he’d developed quite an interest
in her, but they had still been just friends. But now, after the events of the
previous day, things had changed between them. He felt closer to her, and
wondered if she felt the same way.
"How’s everything going?" Rose
asked. "Any more news about Trudy?"
Jack shook his head, frowning. "No. We
didn’t hear from her at all, and the interview wasn’t replayed on any of the
news shows I watched."
"Well, at least you know she’s
okay," Rose told him. "That’s something. I’m sure you’ll find out
what’s going on sooner or later."
"Yeah, but it’s so hard to wait for
news. I mean, now that I know she’s safe, I want to know what happened, how she
got out. Was she late for work? Was she running an errand in another part of
the building, or outside of the building entirely? Did she somehow manage to
escape from her own office? Not knowing is driving me crazy."
"I’m sure you’ll be able to get in
contact with her soon," Rose soothed him. "I think the phones are
probably still a mess. You know how things can be after a major disaster. It
takes a while for everything to start working again."
"You’re
probably right, but still…"
The bell rang, and the students began
scattering to their classes. Rose waved to Dawn, then linked arms with Jack and
began heading in the direction of their classrooms.
"You’ll get in touch with Trudy sooner
or later," Rose told him. "If all else fails, you can always send her
a letter using snail mail."
"Yeah." Jack sighed. "I just
hope it doesn’t take that long."
*****
The rest of the day went by in a blur, as
Jack was anxious to get home and hear any more news that they might have found
out about his sister. As soon as the bell rang, he zoomed out of the building,
jumped in his car, and headed straight home. He just barely made it in the door
when the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Jack?" The voice on the
other end asked. It was snowy on the other end, and the voice was fading.
"It's Trudy."
Margaret entered the room, with a dish towel
in her hand. "Who is it?"
"It’s Trudy," Jack mouthed, trying
to hear what she was saying. "Trudy? Hello? Are you still there?"
"Yeah. I’m here," Trudy replied, as
Margaret picked up the extension. "It’s really hard to hear."
"I know. What’s going on?"
"I’ll be catching a plane out to Edmonton
as soon as I can, but it may take a while because of all the heightened
security."
"Good," Margaret replied.
"We’ll be glad to have you. You’re more than welcome to stay with
us."
"Thanks. I’ll do that." The line
faded in and out.
"Trudy, how did you survive?" Jack
asked, slapping his hand against the phone as if it would make the reception
clearer.
"What?"
"How did you survive?"
"I…"
The line crackled, fading out again, and then
disconnected.
"Trudy? Trudy?" Jack shouted into
the phone, but got only a dial tone. Quickly, he tried punching in her number,
but after a couple of rings a recording informed him that the number was not in
service.
"Dammit." Jack hung up the phone,
frustrated. The phone service in New York City was still sketchy, and they were
lucky to have heard from Trudy at all.
At least they knew that she would be coming
to Edmonton, but they didn’t know when. Security was extremely tight in the
United States; planes to there had been rerouted to Canada.
"Don’t swear, Jack." Margaret came
up behind him, Sandy and Johnny following her.
"It’s just so frustrating. I want to
know what happened!"
"We all do. But things are a mess in New
York right now, so we’ll have to be patient."
"Easy for you to say. She’s not your
sister."
"Jack…" Margaret’s voice held a
warning note. "Trudy is my cousin, and I am concerned about her. I was
very relieved last night to find out she was okay. Don’t take that attitude
with me."
"Sorry," Jack mumbled. He knew he
shouldn’t take it out on her; she had nothing to do with it. He was just
worried and impatient.
He looked at his two little cousins, who were
staring at him as though they expected him to do something strange, and decided
that the best thing he could do was to get out for a while. He reached for the
phone again, hoping that Rose was home.
"I’m gonna go out for a while, okay,
Aunt Margaret?" Jack told his cousin. "I’m just going to see if Rose
wants to come along."
"That’s fine, Jack. Just be back by ten.
It is a school night."
"I know." Jack sighed, hoping that
Rose was around and wanted to go out for a while.
*****
"It's a beautiful night." Rose
sighed, looking up into the night sky. It was at this moment, he thought, she
had never looked so beautiful.
It was almost nine o’clock, but they still
had some time before they had to go home. Jack had picked Rose up at her house
that afternoon and driven around for a while. Rose had listened quietly while
he told her about Trudy’s phone call, then offered to help get things ready for
when she arrived. Jack had appreciated the offer, but knew that Margaret would
want to do it herself.
After that, they had driven out of the city.
They had stopped for dinner at McDonald’s, then found a quiet, out-of-the-way
place to sit and watch the night sky. They sat close together, enjoying each
other’s company.
Rose glanced at Jack as he took her hand. She
had been worried about getting too close to him, after what she had gone
through with Cal, but things were so different this time. She trusted Jack. She
couldn’t say why she trusted him; it was almost instinctual. There was no way
to pinpoint her feelings; they simply were. She liked him—more than liked him,
she admitted—and trusted him.
Jack caught Rose’s glance and watched her for
a moment, almost mesmerized by her expression. She looked so beautiful in the
starlight, her face calm and peaceful. When she turned back to him, their faces
were only inches apart.
Jack caught his breath, wondering if he
dared. She was so close, and they were alone in the cool, starlit night.
Rose stared at Jack, her heart beginning to
pound. Would he kiss her? Did she want him to? She immediately answered her own
question. Yes, she did want him to kiss her. But what if he didn’t? What if he
didn’t want to?
Jack made his decision. It was now or never.
Leaning in, he kissed her gently, almost surprised when she immediately
returned the gesture, her arms wrapping around him. He embraced her, his hands
running over her soft red hair. She pulled away for a moment, her eyes wide,
then returned to kissing him.
All of Rose’s fears vanished in that moment.
Cal…the misery of their short relationship…all of that was in the past. Jack
was here now, and she wanted nothing more than to stay with him this way. She
was so comfortable with him, so content. She wondered if he felt the same way.
They broke apart a moment later, still
holding each other close. Rose rested her head against Jack’s shoulder, wishing
that this moment never had to end.
"Rose?" Jack whispered into her soft
hair.
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
Rose looked up at him, her eyes reflecting
the starlight.
"Jack…I love you, too."