CLASS OF 2000
Chapter Twelve
Rose stretched
lazily and settled back into an easy chair in the living room. Her tutor had
left half an hour ago, and for the moment, she had nothing to do.
Her morning
sickness had finally eased with the passing of her first trimester. Her waist
had begun to thicken, though she had yet to feel the babies’ first kicks.
Her pregnancy had
done nothing to dampen her popularity; in fact, many people who had formerly
shown no interest in her music had been attracted by the publicity surrounding
her expected babies. Thomas Andrews had handled the questions of reporters and
fans, sending only a few Rose’s way. Jack had also been supportive, continuing
his career right alongside her own.
Her eighteenth
birthday was two months away, and she was already booked to sing in a casino in
July. It was near to the time that the babies were due, but she didn’t worry.
She had taken on less work since she had become pregnant, and thought she could
handle a few appearances. Everything was going well, and there was no sign that
it would change anytime soon.
Rose was brought
from her reverie by the sound of the doorbell. She sat up, wondering who it
was. A glance at the clock told her that it was just past three o’clock, so
maybe it was one of her friends, out of school for the day. Getting to her
feet, she went to answer the door.
"Ryan!"
Rose stepped back in surprise. She knew that he was still interested in her,
but she hadn’t expected him to show up, especially when Jack wasn’t home. Ryan
and Jack were still friends, but Rose thought she had made it clear to Ryan
that things were over between them.
"Hey,
Rose."
"Jack isn’t
home right now, Ryan," Rose told him, starting to close the door. Jack was
in Los Angeles, recording a couple of new songs, and didn’t expect to be home
until at least six o’clock.
"I know,"
Ryan told her, pushing the door open. "I came to see you."
"Ryan...I told
you already. Things are over between us."
"Rose...just
let me say this, okay?"
Rose sighed,
leaning back against the doorframe. "Say it, Ryan. It won’t do any
good."
He ran a hand
through his hair. "Rose, I still love you--"
"Ryan--"
"Just let me
say this, okay? I still love you. I should never have allowed things to end
between us when you went off to be a pop star."
"But you did,
and you asked Emily out. It would never have worked between us anyway, Ryan.
You’re a nice guy, and I like you--but I love Jack. You’re the one who
introduced us in the first place."
"You were my
date that night."
"But you
didn’t object when Jack and I stayed behind to get to know each other
better."
"I’d tried
setting you up with my friends before, and it had never worked."
"And you
didn’t want it to work. But if you were so attracted to me, why did you try to
set me up with your friends in the first place?"
He wouldn’t meet
her eyes. "I’d liked you for years, but I didn’t think you liked me back.
I guess I thought that if I set you up with enough guys you didn’t like,
eventually you’d decide that I was a pretty nice guy."
"Ryan, you are
a pretty nice guy. I’ve always thought so. But we weren’t meant to be together.
I think I would have fallen in love with Jack even if I hadn’t met him at Santa
Monica High. We worked so well together that it was only a matter of
time."
Ryan made a final
plea. "Rose, I love you, more than you could know. Please give me another
chance."
Rose sighed,
growing irritated with his unwillingness to let her go. "Ryan, I love
Jack. I’m married to him. I’m having twins in July. What part of it’s over
don’t you understand?"
"I can’t give
you up."
"You have to.
You gave me up a long time ago. Emily likes you. Why don’t you go out with her
again?"
"I don’t want
to go out with Emily."
"Well, then
you’d better find someone you like, because you’re not going out with me. I’m
married--happily married, I might add--and that’s not going to change. Things
were over between us when I left, and we both know it."
Ryan shook his
head. "It’s not over, Rose. You and I have known each other since
elementary school. You’ve only known Jack for a few months."
"You and I
have been friends for years, Ryan, but that’s all we’ll ever be--friends. And
not even that if you don’t stop bothering me."
"Rose--"
"Go away,
Ryan. I don’t want to talk to you right now." She stepped back, closing
the door in his face. Looking out the peephole, she saw him stare at the door
for a moment before turning and stalking away.
*****
Jack returned home
at seven o’clock. Rose was in the dining room, waiting for him.
"Hey, Rose.
What did you do today?" Jack asked her after he kissed her.
"The usual.
The tutor came--oh, she says she’s going to have to work with you on Saturday,
since you weren’t around today."
"Great. Just
what I need."
"We’ll be
graduating in five months anyway. Just hang in there. Jack..." Rose
paused. "Ryan came by today."
Jack swore under
his breath. "Is he still trying to get you back?"
"Yes. I told
him you weren’t home, but he wanted to talk to me. He keeps insisting that he
loves me, even when I told him that I’m happily married to you. I told him that
we could be friends, but nothing else. I don’t think he wants to accept that,
though."
"You’re hard
to resist, Rose."
"Well, he’d
better start resisting me, or I’m going to have him slapped with a restraining
order. He’s really freaking me out, Jack. He should know better than to pursue
another man’s wife--especially when she isn’t interested." Rose gave him a
baleful look, not at all happy with his cavalier attitude toward Ryan’s
continued interest in her.
"I think he’s
serious, Jack," she continued. "I don’t know why he’s suddenly
pursuing me again after all this time, but I want him to stop, and he won’t
listen to me. Maybe he’ll listen to you."
Jack didn’t want to
believe that things were really that serious, that his best friend was really
chasing his wife, but he agreed. "I’ll talk to him tomorrow, Rose. I don’t
want him trying to win you back."
"He won’t
succeed. I can assure you of that."
"I didn’t
think so, but I’ll try to get him to stop bothering you. Even if you are old
friends, he still doesn’t have the right to mess with your life."
"I don’t think
he quite realizes what he’d be getting into if he did win me over. I’m having
twins in July, and babies are a lot of work. Besides that, I’ve got my career
to think about. You understand about that, since you’re doing the same thing,
but I don’t think he would."
"Okay, Rose. I
still think you’re blowing this out of proportion, but I will talk to him. I
promise."