LOVE DOESN'T ASK WHY
Chapter One
"Would you like this one, Miss DeWitt-Bukater?"
the woman who owned the wedding boutique, Jeanette, asked.
"No. That one's too frilly. What do you
think about this one, Mark? Mark?" Rose asked, holding up a gown that had
crystal draping on it. Mark was a stockbroker who read too much of the Wall
Street Journal, which he was doing right now.
"Hmm…what, sweetpea?" Mark asked.
"Hello? Mark? Wedding. Rose trying out
dresses. Your soon-to-be wife who is marrying you on Sunday," Rose said,
annoyed.
"Oh, right. Um…I like that one. Why
don't you try it on?" Mark asked, looking back to his precious newspaper.
Rose sighed and headed for the fitting room. While Rose was trying on her gown,
another couple came in and were also looking for a wedding gown.
"Jack, I'm going to try on some wedding
gowns. Why don't you sit over there with that guy and look at me while I pose
with my dress on?" Maria asked. She was the soon-to-be wife of Jack
Dawson. As Jack sat down beside Mark, who didn't even notice that he was there,
Rose came out of the fitting room. She caught Jack's attention.
"Well, Mark, how do you like this
gown?" Rose asked as she twirled around.
Suddenly, Jack burst out, saying,
"Beautiful."
Rose was shocked to hear the man say that to
her. For some reason, she liked it, though. She smiled at the man, and said,
"Thank you."
Jack just smiled back. They were interrupted
when Maria came out of the fitting room with her dress on.
"Jack, babycakes. How do you like the
dress?" Maria asked as she did a supermodel pose. It wasn't as beautiful
as Rose's, but he smiled and nodded.
"Mark, darling," Rose said as she
pulled the newspaper down. "I like this one. Do you?" Rose asked.
"I think it looks nice on you,
sweetpea," Mark said. As Mark and Rose smiled at each other, they were
interrupted by the other woman, Maria.
Maria gasped out loud, looking at the price
tag on the gown.
"One thousand dollars! For this dress? I
don't have to spend my money on a thousand dollar dress!" Maria said as
she stomped back into the fitting room.
"You must excuse my fiancée. She’s a
little nervous because the wedding is Sunday," Jack said, embarrassed.
"Don't mind at all," Mark said.
"We’re getting married on Sunday, also. To tell you the truth, I am
getting nervous, too." He went back to reading the paper. Rose smiled at
Jack.
Breaking the silence, Jack said, "I'm
Jack Dawson, and in there is my soon-to-be wife, Maria."
Shaking his hand, Rose said, "I'm Rose DeWitt-Bukater,
and this is my soon-to-be husband, Mark."
"Come on, Jack. We can find a better
dress that doesn't cost an arm and a leg!" Maria said as she came out of
the fitting room.
"Where? At the Goodwill?" Jack
asked as he followed her.
"Jack, cut the crap!" Maria said as
she opened the door.
"It was nice meeting you, Rose,"
Jack said, turning around.
"It was nice meeting you, too,
Jack," Rose said, smiling back. Jack opened the door and followed Maria.
"Jeanette, I think I'll take this
one," Rose said as Jeanette passed by.
"All right. Do you want the shoes and
the veil that come with it?" she asked.
"Yes. I think I do," Rose said as
she looked at Mark, who was reading the newspaper.
"Well, why don't you go and put your
regular clothes on, and I'll go get the shoes," Jeanette said.
Rose nodded her head. "All right."
Rose held her skirt up as she started to walk into the fitting room.
"Oh, Rose. What is your shoe size,
dear?" Jeanette asked, turning around.
"Size ten," Rose said, turning
around also and then heading for the fitting room.
I’m such a fool to even agree to this
engagement, Rose thought as she put
her regular clothes on. The only reason I’m actually going through with this
is because my mother won't bother me anymore, because she knows that I'll be in
the arms of a man with good money.
That was one thing that Rose was wavering
around in life...her mother. The only way that Rose could make her mother proud
was to marry a millionaire—or in this case, a stockbroker. She had never wanted
to marry a millionaire—or a stockbroker. She had never wanted to make her
mother proud of her that way. What she wanted was to marry was a man who would
understand how she felt, though she knew that this would never happen.
Her thoughts turned to Jack, though she’d met
him only a few minutes earlier. But he was also getting married, and getting to
know him was impossible.
Rose opened the door of the fitting room and
went back out to find Jeanette with a pair of shoes in one hand and a veil in
the other.
"Ready to try on some wedding
things?" Jeanette asked. Rose took a look at Mark, then at Jeanette.
"Yes, I am." They went over and sat
down where Rose could try on the shoes.
"So, how are you and..." Jeanette
asked, nodding her head at Mark.
"Oh, Mark? It's all right. Can you tell
he's a stockbroker?" Rose asked her.
"Honey, if I was on that Who Wants to
be a Millionaire? show, and that was the million dollar question, I
wouldn't be in this small shop in New York," Jeanette said, chuckling.
Rose chuckled with her. "Does he always do that? Just sit in a chair and
read his paper?" Jeanette asked as she pinned the veil on Rose’s head.
"Well, mostly he is very cuddly. Today,
though, is a very important day in the world of money. Watch. Any minute,
someone will call him on his cell phone," Rose said as she smiled. At that
moment, Mark's cell phone rang.
"Amazing." Jeanette said as she
gave Rose the shoes.
Rose put them on. "Perfect," she
said.
"So, do you and Mark have any honeymoon
plans?" Jeanette asked.
"Yes. We decided to go on the Titanic
II." Rose smiled proudly.
Jeanette gasped. "Really? Where is that
going, anyway?" she asked excitedly.
"To the Bahamas," Rose said.
"Well, I guess it does pay to be married
to a stockbroker," Jeanette said.
"I guess it does," Rose said as she
sighed and looked over at Mark.