JACK AND ROSE: PRESENT TIME
Chapter
Sixty-Two
Two weeks. Had it
really been 14 days since Rose had left? It seemed much longer for Jack. He
usually doesn't do much, now that Rose has left. He occasionally goes over to
Tommy's house, or goes for a ride with Dominique to talk. But, usually, he just
stayed at home.
Jack sighed as he
flipped through the TV channels. Nothing on, as usual. Then he stopped when he
hit CMT. His and Rose's song was being played. Jack just dropped the remote and
left it on the ground as the video played. Jack had no idea who Leann Rimes
was, but she had a beautiful voice.
As their song was
being played, Jack really listened to the lyrics. How was he going to live
without Rose? Then, his thoughts were interrupted.
"Jack,"
John said. "Get your eyes off TV and go outside. Go fishing or go play a
game of basketball."
Jack's eyes shot up
and looked at John. John could tell Jack had been crying. John just looked at
him sadly. "I didn't want her to go, you know."
Jack laughed
sarcastically. "Yeah...right."
John looked at his
nephew. "Jack...we couldn't keep leaving like that. Besides," John
paused. "It was Ruth's decision. Not mine. Rose is not my daughter."
"But she is
your wife's daughter," Jack said back. "Thanks for ruining my life,
Uncle John."
John rolled his
eyes. "Come on, it can't be that hard to get over puppy love." After
John had said it, he regretted it.
"Puppy
love?" Jack gasped. "Is that what you think..."
"I didn't
mean..."
"John!"
Jack said. "We love each other with all of our heart. We're gonna get
married someday. We're gonna have kids someday..."
John just ignored
him. He picked up the paper that was laying on the table and left the room.
Jack turned off the
TV and turned over on the couch. He was tired. He had been up all night last
night. Mostly thinking about Rose and reading a book. The book that Rose was
reading on the day he asked her out.
Before drifting off
he thought about all those people who had died on Titanic. What it was like to
lose somebody close, he knew the feeling. He knew it all to well. He couldn't
help but wonder what it must have really felt to be on that ship. To hear the
screams of the thousand people who had to witness that terrible night...
Jack looked around
him. He was no longer in the lounge of his home. He was standing in a room full
of gold. He looked up at the staircase near him. There were tons of people
walking by. Jack looked down at himself and noticed his clothes had changed.
He was now wearing
a tux. But, no ordinary tux. It looked like it could have been from the
beginning of the century. Then, something caught Jack's eyes.
It was Cal and
Ruth. What were they doing together? They were joined at the arm and were also
clothed old fashioned. What was going on here? He was about to say something
when he saw Rose. There she was, standing at the top of the stairs.
"Rose!"
Jack yelled, making everybody stare.
Rose gave him a
funny look and continued walking down the stairs. As she reached the bottom,
Jack took her in his arms. But, she pulled away.
"Jack?"
Rose asked with a smile. "What are you doing?"
Just then, Cal
joined them. "Mr. Dawson, what do you think you're doing?"
Jack gave Cal a
dirty look. "What does it look like I'm doing?" Jack yelled. Then,
his voice became soft and he looked at Rose. "Rose...where are we?"
Rose just stared at
him as if he were crazy. Was this really the man that saved her from last
night? She didn't know.
Jack tried to reach
out for Rose, but Cal pulled him away. "Don't you dare put your hands on
my fiancee!"
Jack laughed.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Cal took him by his
shirt. "Listen, Dawson..."
"No,
Cal!" Jack said. He punched Cal as hard as he could across the face. Cal
went tumbling to the ground with a bloody nose. The master at arms came and
took Jack away while he was screaming.
"Rose!
Please...listen to me! Rose!" He just watched as Rose disappeared out of
his life.
Jack woke up with
cold sweat running down his face. It was just a dream. Jack sighed and wondered
why God would let people have such terrible nightmares. How many times was he
going to be taken away from Rose?
Jack went to the
kitchen and looked at the clock. He had been sleeping that long? He wondered
why his uncle didn't wake him and order him to go to bed. Maybe John finally
figured out how much Jack was hurting.
He saw a photo of
him and Rose on the refrigerator. It was them kissing at Dominique's house. He
remembered Tonya took that picture. Those were the days.
He wished that he
could call her, but he didn't know her number. She had said she would call him.
Why hadn't she called him yet? He didn't know. He wondered what Rose was doing
right now...
~~~~~~~~~~
"How is your
room, dear?" Rose's aunt asked as she walked into Rose's bedroom.
Rose looked up at
her aunt. She was such a kind woman. So much different than her own mother. She
wondered how they could be sisters. She prayed she would turn out to be just
like her aunt.
"Very nice,
Aunt Molly," Rose replied.
"Why, you
still haven't unpacked all of your stuff yet..."
Rose didn't want
to. She would be leaving tonight. No use in unpacking just so she can pack
again. She knew she had to go home. Home to Jack. If they had to run away to be
together...so be it.
"I'm sorry,
Aunt Molly," Rose said. "I promise I will tomorrow."
Molly nodded in
agreement. "Well, I'm going to go take my afternoon walk..."
"Okay. Have
fun."
Molly smiled and
shut the door. Rose had to admit, it was beautiful in Paris. Especially in the
morning. She loved it, but she loved Santa Monica even more. She missed it.
Rose wanted to call
Jack so bad. But, the time zones were totally different. She figured it would
be in the middle of the night there. She had not called Jack yet because she
figured it would be too hard. How could she talk to him and not be able to see
him? She knew she couldn't do it.
But, now she knew
she could because she was going to leave tonight. It was all worked out. She
would sneak out of the house tonight and meet Cal. Then, they would fly back to
Santa Monica on one of his private jets.
Sure, Rose didn't
like Cal. In fact, she hated him. But, it was the only way. She knew any other
way her aunt would find out. Plus, Cal was being really nice lately. Rose hoped
he'd stay that way.
Rose walked down to
the kitchen in search for lunch. She grabbed a bag of chocolate chip cookies
and decided to watch one of her tapes she brought. Now, she was thankful
Fabrizio had brought his video camera often, even though it was annoying. She
thought it was so sweet for him to make copies for her. She slid in one of the
tapes.
Rose smiled as she
watched the TV. It was all of them jumping on Dominique's trampoline. It made
Rose happy to see Tonya...she was glad somebody got footage of her before she
died.
"Fabrizio...put
the camera away," Tonya begged.
"Yeah,
Fabri," Jack said. "Come jump with us." Fabrizio ignored them
and got a close-up of Dominique's butt.
It made Rose feel
good inside to see her friends so carefree and happy. She wondered if Tonya and
Alexia would have gotten along. She'd never know.
"Rose,"
Tonya said. "I didn't even notice your new bracelet. Did Jack buy it for
you?"
Rose smiled.
"Yeah. Isn't it pretty?"
Rose wondered if
she looked any different since then. She looked down at her wrist and there it
was. The bracelet Jack had given her so many months before. It held a special
place in her heart.
"And...how
much did that cost, Jack?" Tommy asked. They were now all sitting down on
the trampoline talking as Fabrizio taped them.
"And...that's
none of your business, Tommy," Jack said with a laugh.
Rose laughed out
loud as she watched. Her friends were really goofy. She missed them so much. Rose
heard her cell phone ring. She picked it up. It was Cal.
They talked about
the escape plan. Everything was going to work out. It had to. Rose needed to
get home. As long as they didn't get caught and Cal remained a gentleman,
they'd be okay.
"Don't worry
guys," Rose said after she hung up with Cal. "I'm coming home."