LOVE DOESN'T ASK WHY
Chapter Nine

Mark woke up to find Rose right beside him. He smiled to himself as she slept soundly. She opened her eyes to see him stroking her hair and looking at her.

"Good morning, Rose," Mark said.

"Good morning, Mark," Rose said.

"How was last night?" Mark asked.

"Nice, and for you?" Rose asked.

"Wonderful," Mark replied.

Mark got up and put a robe on. Rose sat up in bed and watched him.

"Where did you and Jack go last night? I really didn’t get to ask you," Mark said, turning around to face Rose.

"We went down to third class," Rose said.

"Why?" Mark asked, perplexed.

"Well, you and Maria were dancing, and we just decided to go see what the other bands were doing," Rose said.

"Well, I kind of figured that, but what were you doing down there?" Mark asked, chuckling.

"Well, we just listened to the music, drank some beer, and danced," Rose said, a little annoyed. "What about you and Maria? What did you do when we were gone?"

"Well, we drank champagne, listened to the music, and danced," Mark said.

"Oh, I see," Rose said.

There was a knock on the door and Mark answered it. It was a waiter with a breakfast cart.

Mark and Rose sat down at the table and ate their breakfast.

"You and Jack kept your distance, right?"

Rose almost cracked her plate when she set her fork down. "Yes, Mark, we did. How about you and Maria?" she asked.

"Of course we did. Can’t a man and a woman dance without worrying you?" Mark asked.

"My point exactly, Mark!" Rose said, this time annoyed.

"All right. Let’s just not talk about it anymore," Mark said.

"All right, then. That’s fine with me," Rose said, and picked up her fork and started to eat her pancakes.

After that, they ate their breakfast in silence.

*****

Jack woke up to find Maria taking headache medicine. She did not look good at all, in his opinion.

"Maria, are you okay?" Jack asked, sitting up in bed.

"Does it look like that I’m okay?" Maria asked, swallowing her pills.

"What’s wrong? Did you have too much champagne last night?" Jack asked, chuckling.

"That, and I’m seasick," Maria said, lying back down in bed.

"Oh, Maria, I’m sorry," Jack said, rubbing her back.

"It’s all right. I’m so sorry about this," Maria said, starting to cry.

"Oh, Maria, don’t cry. How about we have some breakfast? Maybe that will make you feel better," Jack said.

"Jack! I’m sick. Are you kidding me? I would probably puke from here to kingdom come!" Maria said, and then grabbed her stomach.

"All right. Well, how about just trying some toast? When I was little, every time I would get sick, my mother would give me toast," Jack said, and brought some over to her.

"Well, all right," Maria said, and took a bite.

Later, Jack put a cool washcloth on Maria’s forehead as she lay in bed.

"Why don’t you get some rest? You had a busy day yesterday," Jack said.

"Sounds wonderful," Maria said.

"I might go and take a walk. Is that all right?" Jack asked.

"Yes. Just let me sleep," Maria said, closing her eyes.

It was about fifteen minutes later when Jack heard a knock on the door. Jack was surprised to hear it, but got up to answer it. As Jack opened the door, he was surprised to see Rose in front of it.

"Rose, what are you doing here?" Jack asked, smiling.

"Hey, can we talk?" Rose asked, smiling back.

"Uh…sure. Why not?" Jack said, and closed the door behind him. "Hi."

"Hi," Rose said back, chuckling.

"Where’s Mark?" Jack asked.

"Oh, well, he decided to go to the smoking room...where they congratulate each other on being masters of the universe." Rose chuckled. "How about you? Where is Maria?"

"Well, she is seasick," Jack said, chuckling.

"Oh, Jack, I’m so sorry," Rose said.

"I don’t get it. She has never been seasick before," Jack said.

"Maybe it's something else," Rose said.

Jack sighed, saying, "I don’t know, but I’m having a good time."

Rose looked at Jack and blushed. Jack looked at Rose and smiled.

"I wonder what it was like when the first Titanic sank," Jack said, looking around.

"It was probably frightening," Rose said.

"You're right, and it must have been hard to say good-bye," Jack said, looking at Rose.

"Jack, do you think that this ship will sink?" Rose asked, worried.

"I don’t know, but if it does, we will make it together," Jack said, smiling, and Rose blushed again. "Are you going to church on Sunday?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Rose said, nodding her head.

"Is Mark going with you?" Jack asked.

"I think so," Rose said. "And how about you? Are you and Maria going?"

Jack nodded his head, and said, "Well, I’m pretty sure that I’m going. I’m not that sure about Maria, though. So, Rose, we've walked a mile around this boat. What did you want to tell me?"

Rose’s face brightened. "Oh! Well, I have a favor to ask of you."

Jack looked at Rose, and said, "All right. Let’s hear it."

Rose smiled. "Well, there is this band that is playing in third class, and they are called Gaelic Storm. Mark really hates this kind of music, so I was—"

Jack interrupted Rose, saying, "Gaelic Storm is on this ship? Get out of here! I love them!"

"So, is that a yes?" Rose asked, smiling.

"Yes, it is," Jack said.

After they said their good-byes, Jack and Rose went their separate ways to go to lunch. As Jack opened his suite’s door, he noticed that Maria was scratching herself and had red spots all over.

"Maria?" Jack asked in shock.

"Jack, I don’t feel good," Maria said, scratching.

"Stop scratching. You have the chicken pox!" Jack said. "I’ll call the doctor."

Chapter Ten
Stories