FEELINGS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Chapter Fourteen

Some time passed, and the movie awards were coming. Jack’s representatives were excited. Jack had been told that there was a big possibility for him to win another award. Rose was also excited; her last movie had surprised a lot of people.

Jack was asleep when his phone rang. Mandy slapped his shoulder and he woke up. He walked to the phone to answer it.

"Yeah…" he said, still half-asleep.

"Jack…you sleeping?" Sofia asked.

"It’s 8:39 in the morning. I worked all day yesterday," he said, in a complaining mood.

"Well, don’t whine, because what I’m about to tell you is great!" she said, excited.

"What?"

"You have been nominated again! With the competition this year, it seems you have already won it."

"Uh...that is great news, Sofia. Um...who else was nominated?" he asked.

"Uh...well, a lot of people. Why?"

"Just wondering…" he said slowly.

"Well, that was the news, Jack. You can go back to sleeping, lazy," she said, laughing, and hung up. Jack smiled and looked at Mandy, who was wide awake.

"What happened?" she asked, smiling.

"Oh, just that I’m nominated for best actor again," he said with a big smile, sounding not surprised.

"Oh, Mr. Conceited! I’m so proud of you, babe," she said, and he lay by her and started to caress her face.

"You know what I have been thinking?" he asked, kissing her nose.

"What?"

"I’m getting old and…well, I’m in my thirties now. I was thinking about family. I used to think I would never want it, but that was when I was a young and cool actor and family was the last thing I thought about, but now I feel like I want one," he said, and she smiled.

"Jack, I would love to, but I’m barely getting started. Models don’t get pregnant," she said. She was younger than him and barely getting started with her career. Of all the things about her, the only thing Jack didn’t like about her was her unwillingness to have a family. It reminded him of his old self.

"Okay. I won’t force you. But I would love to have a kid running around someday," Jack said, and laughed.

*****

Rose was with Samuel at a restaurant. They were celebrating the fact that she had been nominated for best actress. They were laughing and having a nice conversation. She loved to talk to him, even though she didn’t talk to him much. He was always working and too busy. Sometimes she would feel frustrated, but understood that it was his job and responsibility. While they were eating, his cell phone rang.

"Hey," he answered. "Well, I’m sort of busy right now," he said, and Rose smiled at him. "Oh, okay. I’ll be there in a few minutes," he said, and looked at Rose.

"Where are you going now?" she asked sadly.

"Oh, you know. I know this sucks, but I have to work, Rose. I’m sorry. I promise I’m going to try my best to stop this from happening," he said.

"No. I understand. Don’t worry about it."

"I’ll take you home, and then after that, I’ll go to work," he said, and they stood up. He left a tip for the waitress. They started to walk to the door when Rose saw someone she wasn’t planning to see. She saw Jack walking towards the glass door. A woman was following him. He opened the door for her as she walked in, smiling. He took her hand, and Rose and Samuel walked past them. Jack saw her, and his heart almost jumped out of his chest, but he ignored her. He looked away, kissed Mandy on the cheek, and started to laugh. Samuel stopped, and Rose wondered why he had stopped.

"Hey, Rose, isn’t that Jack Dawson?" he asked, and she gave him a weak smile indicating he was right. "Don’t you want to say hello? I heard you two were very good friends while making that movie," Samuel said, and Rose didn’t look at him.

"Oh…uh...well, time and distance sort of messed that up. I really don’t talk to him anymore," she said, and started to walk. Samuel followed.

In Samuel’s car, Rose stayed silent and thought to herself, How can you just do that? Walk on by like you don’t know me. After what we went through, like what happened was a lie. Ugh…why do I even waste a thought on you?

"What’s wrong, Rose?" Samuel asked.

"Oh…nothing. I’m just a bit tired," she said, smiling at him.

*****

Jack and Mandy were having dinner. Mandy was telling him about her next photoshoot, but Jack wasn’t really listening to her. His mind was on Rose. Those few seconds that he had seen her stole his thoughts. He was quiet the rest of dinner. When they got home, Jack took off his shirt and lay down on the couch. She knew something was wrong with him.

"What’s wrong, Jack?" she asked, sitting next to him.

"Nothing…why?"

"You have been quiet lately, and both you and I know you aren’t the quiet type," she said, and he smiled.

"No. I just have a headache, but don’t worry. My loud self will be back," he said, and she smiled and walked away. Jack just stayed on the couch and lay his head back. He wasn’t really paying attention to the television show that was on.

Uh...I wonder who that guy was. Is he her new boyfriend? Maybe they are married…why am I even thinking about her? This is ridiculous. It has been six years, and just by the mention of her name, I get sad and I think and I think of her. It’s stupid, he thought to himself.

*****

A few weeks later, Jack received a call about the award show. They told him he was going to be a presenter and that he needed to go one day before the actual show to rehearse.

Rose also received a call saying the same. She found out that Jack had also been nominated and really wanted Samuel to go with her to the awards. She and Sarah went looking for a dress. Rose didn’t know why, but she wanted to find the best dress. She wanted to look her best for that night. Rose tried on a beautiful, light blue dress that made her pretty green eyes stand out with her blonde hair.

"How do I look?" she asked, modeling for Sarah.

"Wow, Rose, that dress is beautiful. You look gorgeous in it. Well, you look gorgeous in anything, but this dress is not only the hundred millionth dress you have tried on, but it’s the best. So, you already have Samuel. Why do you want to impress him more? The guy is already crazy about you. Well, it seems like it," Sarah said.

"Samuel? Oh, I mean, yeah, Samuel…what do you mean seems like it?" Rose asked.

"Well, he isn’t the most loving boyfriend you’ve had. He is sort of cold, and always busy. Even Jack was more loving with you. I liked Jack better…oops," Sarah said, realizing what she had just said.

"Sarah, why do you have to bring him up? It’s been six years since he and I called it quits, and I’m doing fine without him. Samuel might not be so loving, but he is a sweet and kind man."

"Doing fine without him…you cried and cried for almost two years. With him, I really felt like you were in love, Rose. I wonder if he still thinks of you."

"I doubt it. I saw him with this very pretty girl last time."

"So, what does that matter? Regina Thomas--come on. We have to admit she was very sexy. She is tall and skinny and she models bras for a living, but Jack always thought of you, nice and simple Rose," Sarah said.

"Well, I don’t know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. You just compared me to a model, but called me simple. You could have just said I was pretty, but you could leave the tall and skinny part out," Rose said, smiling.

"You aren’t short and you aren’t fat. You are…juicy," Sarah said, and they both started to laugh.

"Oh, well, but I’m no model."

"Do you even love Samuel?" Sarah asked.

"Yes…yes, I do," Rose said.

"Okay. Let me rephrase that…do you love him more than you loved Jack?" Sarah asked, and Rose stayed quiet. "Look, Rose, there are loves that mark us forever. But that is no reason to lie to ourselves. You don’t love Samuel. He is a great guy, but he is boring. You might never be with Jack again, and that might be a good or bad thing, but you shouldn’t just go with the first guy who is nice to you," Sarah said, and Rose looked at her sadly.

"I love Samuel, and I know he loves me, too. All I ever wanted was a love like in the movies. You know, where that guy at the end of the movie runs to the girl and yells out that he loves her after all they have been through. I want a happy, cheesy ending for myself. That is all that I want. For him to give me white roses and tell me that I’m the one for him. I know that sounds stupid and pointless, but if I can have it in fictional life, why not in real life? I want a prince charming," Rose said, and Sarah smiled.

"That is neither stupid nor pointless. That is what every girl dreams of. Well, the nice girls…but one day you will have your prince charming running to you. I just know it," Sarah said, and Rose hugged her.

*****

Rose was on her new movie’s set. It was her first day of filming. She didn’t have the main role, so she wasn’t going to be around much. She was sitting down, waiting for her makeup artist. She saw a magazine on the table and was reading it when her makeup artist entered the room.

"Rose…Rose!" Judy yelled. Rose looked up as she recognized the voice.

"J-Judy! Hey, girl. I haven’t seen you in ages. Oh, my God. You haven’t changed one bit in ten years!" Rose said, laughing and hugging her.

"Oh, my gosh. I still remember when I told you we would work together again someday. How are you doing?"

"Well, I guess you could say all right. How are you?"

"Oh, working as usual. So, I got here late and they didn’t tell me I would be putting makeup on you again. I have only heard of you on TV and in magazines. You are a star now," Judy said, and Rose smiled. Judy walked to Rose and started to set her makeup on a table.

"It’s great seeing you again. Too bad I’m only going to be here for a few weeks. This is just a special appearance by me," Rose said, laughing.

"Ah...that is just too bad, ‘cause I miss sharing gossip with you."

"Yeah. Me, too. I have needed a friend these past few years."

"Why? Have you had a bad life? Even though I doubt it, miss. You get fifteen million dollars a movie. Wow. The things I would do with that much money," Judy said, and Rose started to laugh.

"What would be the first thing you would buy?" Rose asked playfully.

"Uh...well, first I would buy myself a younger and sexy male model," Judy said, laughing, and Rose laughed with her.

"I thought you didn’t like models," Rose said.

"Who said anything about male models?" Judy asked, and Rose smiled. "So, what has had you blue all this time? Men?" Judy asked with a smile.

"Ugh…more like a man."

"Really…who?" Judy asked, and Rose stayed quiet and looked at her like she already knew who she was talking about. Judy started to put makeup on Rose, and almost dropped it as she realized who Rose was talking about. "Don’t tell me those tabloids a few years back were right. Jack Dawson? The Jack Dawson? The one I would make fun of you for liking? The…"

"Will you stop already?" Rose asked, smiling.

"Sorry, Rose, but are you for real? How come we never saw or heard of you together on the magazines or shows? Sorry. I’m a big fan of that stuff," Judy said.

"For the same reason I said good-bye to him. He was…he didn’t want to share our feelings with the world. He would always say that it wasn’t going to work if we told everybody and, well, his negative feelings about telling people scared me, so I said good-bye."

"So, let me get this straight. That is the only reason you broke up with him, because he wanted to hide? Well, I don’t care if he wants to hide or not. That man is fine!" Judy said, smiling.

"To tell you the truth, that is not the only reason I did it. That was just part of it."

"So, why did you do it?"

"I did it before he could do it," Rose said.

"What? You did it before he could break up with you?"

"Yes. I was scared. He had always acted, you know…not serious and goofy. Then he started to act like that about our relationship. You know what he is known for. He is Jack Dawson, the hottest bachelor in Hollywood. He had always dated the prettier women before me. What did he want with me? What was he thinking? I don’t know. I guess I was scared that he didn’t love me enough, and I was scared to get my heart broken, so I decided to let him go before he let go of me. I loved him. I swear I did, but I wouldn’t have liked for him to turn to me and say he didn’t love me anymore, and I guess I was right. He never called me or anything. So, I went on vacation for a very long time," Rose said sadly, and Judy sat down next to her and got serious.

"So, what you are saying is that you let him go before he let go of you…you didn’t think you were good enough for this guy? You’re totally wrong, Rose; you are awesome, different from any actress or model I have ever worked with. You are funny and fun. You don’t boss me around and you don’t act like a diva. You are a simple girl that happens to be an actress. Did you ever stop and think maybe that is what made Jack fall in love with you? Maybe he didn’t want the pretty diva or model or huge star. Maybe he wanted you. He was wrong for not wanting to share his feelings with everyone, but you should have given him a chance. The only thing you did was run away," Judy said, and Rose looked away. She was probably very right.

*****

A few weeks later…Rose arrived at the place where the awards would take place. She was in her jeans and t-shirt. These were just rehearsals for the presenters. She had not been told what she was going to present. She had been busy with her latest movie and had no time to answer any phone calls. When she got there, two women led her inside. They explained where she had to stand and when she was going to present. As they were explaining, Rose wondered what she was going to present.

"Um...excuse me. What am I going to present?" Rose asked, smiling. The ladies looked at her and smiled.

"Well, we will explain that when the other presenter, the one that is going to join you, gets here," one of them said. Rose smiled. She hadn’t known she was going to have another presenter with her.

"Uh...who?" she asked.

"Um…oh, look. He is coming. He is over there," the lady said, and Rose looked where she was pointing. To her surprise and shock, it was Jack. He was barely walking in. He walked down the stairs and headed to the stage. He was followed by Joe and his manager.

"Oh, my God," Rose said in a low tone so they wouldn’t hear.

"What?" they asked.

"Oh, nothing. I’m just shocked that I didn’t know that he was going to be with me," Rose said, trying to sound happy about the situation.

"Oh, I don’t think he knows, either. We haven’t been able to talk to him," the lady said, and Rose felt even more nervous.

Jack walked onto the stage and stopped walking when he saw Rose. Joe looked at her and gave her a weak smile. One of the ladies walked to him and pulled him next to Rose.

"Um...now, you both know you will be presenting together," she said, and Jack looked at her.

"What? I mean…" Jack didn’t know what to say. He didn’t look at Rose. The women smiled and handed them their lines.

"Here is what you are going to say tomorrow night. Um...you are going to present a singer. She is going to sing the song of a movie that is nominated. You just have to present it in a very special way. It’s an awesome love song," the lady said, and started to walk away.

"Wait!" Jack yelled. "So, what do we do? We just rehearse this?" he asked, sounding worried.

"Um…yes. Is there a problem?" the lady asked, and Jack stayed quiet for a minute.

"Oh, no, not at all," he finally said. The lady smiled and left. Jack slowly turned and faced Rose, but didn’t look at her. Joe walked to him.

"You can get through this. I promise this is the last time you do something with her. Like you didn’t tell me about the autograph thing. Remember that?" Joe asked, and walked away. Jack walked a bit closer to Rose and looked at his paper.

"Um…I guess we are suppose to…uh...practice," he said, and Rose looked at him.

"Yeah…" she said, and Jack looked at her.

Is that all you have to say to me? he thought. Yeah? Why does this bother me? I shouldn’t care. It’s been too long a time since that day. I shouldn’t still care, he thought, and started to read from the paper. When he finished, he looked at her.

"It’s your turn."

"Oh…" she said, and started to read. She finished and pretended to present the group. She finished and looked away. They didn’t know what to do, so they stayed there in painful silence. The lady finally came back. She noticed they were standing far from each other.

"Oh, this is so wrong. You should be closer," she said, and made them stand closer, very close. Jack could feel her arm touching him. She didn’t look at him.

"Read it again," the lady said, and Jack and Rose read again. When they finished, the lady smiled and pointed them to the back of the stage. "Um...this is where you will go when you are done presenting. Are there any questions?" the lady asked, and both of them stayed quiet. "Well, I guess that is it. Make sure to look your best tomorrow night and enjoy yourselves," she said, and left. Jack and Rose didn’t move. For a moment, they just looked at the ground. She didn’t look at him, but oddly, he just looked at her. Fernando, Rose’s representative, walked towards them and smiled.

"Rose, darling, we can leave now," Fernando said, stopping in front of them. At that moment, Joe also walked to Jack.

"Jack, they gave me the sign, so we can leave," Joe said, and Jack slowly walked towards him. He turned back to see Rose. She was walking with Fernando towards the exit. She didn’t look at or talk to him at all. Jack angrily turned away and walked with Joe. Rose turned back to see Jack. He kept walking with Joe. She turned back. As Jack walked with Joe, he started to think. He completely ignored Joe.

I wonder and I wonder about you, and I ask my heart why. Why are you in my thoughts? If you probably don’t think of me anymore and I’m a fool for thinking of you. I wonder if you ever missed me, because I know I did, he thought, and kept walking.

Chapter Fifteen
Stories