LOVE DOESN'T ASK WHY
Chapter Thirteen

It was morning, and the sun was shining brightly on Jack and Rose.

Jack looked at Rose, who was awake, but didn’t want to wake him up.

He leaned over, and whispered, "I’m dancing and singing in the rain."

Rose looked over her shoulder and saw Jack smiling at her. "Good morning, Jack." Rose smiled.

"Good morning, Rose," Jack said happily.

"You sound happy this morning," Rose said.

"Well, I should be, shouldn’t I? I’m with my true love now, and nothing could possibly go wrong," Jack said, looking at Rose.

Rose giggled, and said, "I’m glad you feel the same way."

Jack looked at Rose, and it was a thoughtful look.

"What’s wrong?" Rose asked.

"Nothing. It’s just that I had another idea," Jack said.

"Well, your first idea went well, didn’t it?" Rose asked, chuckling.

"How about we get engaged?" Jack asked Rose.

"That’s not crazy at all. I think it is wonderful!" Rose said, smiling. "We’ll have to wait until our divorces are finalized, though."

Rose smiled at Jack and kissed him passionately.

*****

Jack walked towards the cabin that he and Maria had shared and knocked on the door. She answered the door and looked at him.

"What do you want? Do the terms get out and stay out mean anything to you?" Maria asked.

"Yes, they do, but I might as well get my stuff," Jack said back.

Maria gave an annoyed sigh and went off into the other room. She came back with a blue Adidas bag. "Have a nice time on the rest of your voyage on the Titanic II," she said.

Jack opened it, and said out loud, "Clothes, clothes, and more clothes. Yet I am missing my lucky baseball cap, my fleece jacket, and my shaving kit. Unless you were going to use my razor as your personal facial hair remover."

Maria’s face became as red as a tomato on hot summer day, filled with anger. She stormed into the other room to get the things and she slammed them on the floor in front of Jack.

Jack looked down at them, picked them up, cleared his throat, and held out his hand. Maria sighed, took off the wedding and engagement rings, and put them in the palm of his hand. He put the rings into his pocket, put on his fleece jacket and his cap, swung his Adidas bag over his right shoulder, and held onto his shaving kit.

"Have a nice time on the rest of your voyage on the Titanic II," Jack said, and walked off. Behind him, he could hear Maria slamming the door.

*****

Rose went to make some land calls. "Can I help you?" a woman asked.

"Yes, I would like to make two phone calls to America, if possible," Rose said.

"Yes. Just write down the first number that you want to call, and I will dial it for you," the woman said, handing Rose a notepad and a pen.

Rose wrote the number and handed the paper with the number on it to the woman. The women dialed the number, which was Rose’s parents. Rose’s parents were country club folks. It was always either a party or golf with a client or good friends. Rose had never liked those things. She would either go to the mall with her friends, go to a movie with her friends, or stay home and practice her piano lessons. It might have sounded bad, but to Rose it was heaven for her when she heard the maid or butler sing along with tunes. Rose waited for someone to pick up the phone, and finally they did.

"DeWitt-Bukater," the maid answered.

"Rosalind? It's me, Rose. Are my parents home?" Rose asked.

"Oh, my little Rosie! Fred! It’s Rose!" Rosalind said. Rose could hear the butler come running towards the phone.

"Rose? Is that you? How are you, my dear?" Fred asked.

"I’m doing wonderful, Fred, but can I talk to my parents, please?" Rose asked.

"Yes, hang on a moment," Fred said.

"Hello? Rose, is that you?" her mother, Ruth, said over the phone.

"Yes, Mom, it's me," Rose said.

"How is Mark doing? Is he all right?" Ruth asked.

"Actually, Mother, we are getting a divorce," Rose said.

The woman who was at the desk looked up when she heard the noise coming up from the other end.

"Mother, this is my decision now, not yours. The only reason I married him was because he was sweet sometimes, when he wasn’t stuck behind that newspaper," Rose said.

"Rose! How can you say that? Who will support you now?" Ruth asked.

"I will support myself. And I have someone. His name is Jack. He hates the stock market and Wall Street. As I matter of fact, I hate them, too. He is a cartoonist with the New York Times," Rose said.

Ruth sighed, and there was the sound of a door opening in the background. "It’s all right, Donald. It's Rose," Ruth said.

"Rose? Is that my little girl on the intercom?" Rose’s father asked.

"Yes, Father, it's me," Rose said.

"Oh, how are you and Mark doing?" Donald asked.

"We are getting a divorce," Rose said.

"I told you, Donald. It's those cruises that do something to you!" Ruth said.

"Now, honey, this was Rose’s decision. Rose must have an excellent explanation as to why she and Mark have chosen to split up," Donald said.

Rose smiled, and said, "He wasn’t the one."

"Now see, honey? She has a good reason. Did you meet someone else?" Donald asked.

"Donald!" Ruth said.

"Yes, I did," Rose said.

"Donald, what are you thinking? Donald, no!" Ruth yelled. The line went back to the dial tone.

"Do you still want to make that other call?" the woman asked.

Rose let out a sigh of relief, and said, "Yes." She wrote the number down.

The woman dialed the number...Jessica’s. The woman handed the phone over to Rose, and she put it to her ear.

"Hello?" Jessica asked on the phone.

"Hi, Jess. It’s me, Rose," Rose said.

"Rose? Hi. Is the ship sinking?" Jessica asked, panicked.

"No, the ship is not sinking. I need to tell you something," Rose said.

"Well, if the ship isn’t sinking, then what is it?" Jessica asked.

"Mark and I are getting a divorce," Rose said.

"What? Oh, my God, Rose. What happened?"

"Well, to make a long story short, he wasn’t the one."

"So, is there the one yet?"

"Yes. Remember the guy I told you about? Jack?"

"Did you tell you parents yet?"

"Yeah. Mother is upset, but not Daddy. Thank God for fathers! Listen, I should go. I need to get back to Jack."

"All right. Well, don’t let me stop you."

"Okay, Jess. Bye!"

"Good luck, Rose!"

"All right. Thanks. Bye!" Rose hung up the phone. "Thank you," Rose said, and she went back to her room.

Rose opened the door to the cabin to find a duffel bag, a fleece jacket, and a baseball cap. "Jack?" Rose called.

"Rose!" Jack said, as he came out from the bathroom.

"Hey! You got your stuff back," Rose said, hugging Jack.

"I told you she is negotiable. Did you call your parents?" Jack asked.

"Yes, and they're fine," Rose said.

Chapter Fourteen
Stories