FEELINGS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Chapter Eight
Two years later, Jack and Rose
had tried their best to move on. They had not talked at all since that night in
England. He didn’t even go to the award shows, making her think he didn’t want
to see her. The movie was successful and won a few awards, but neither Jack nor
Rose won anything, though their popularity went sky high. Everybody knew them
and what movie they were from. Paparazzi were now a bigger issue for Jack and
Rose. They couldn’t even walk a mile without ten camera people following them.
Everything Jack feared came true. He was on the front cover of every tabloid.
Everything he did, no matter how small an event, would be all over the magazine
stands. His relationship with Regina got worse. Nobody left them alone, and the
bigger issue was that he didn’t love her. They ended up breaking up, and that
was even more pain, as he was on every gossip show.
Rose kept making movies, trying
her best to ignore the tabloids. All she wanted to do was make movies, and
nothing more. She was tired of hearing her mom telling her to take a break and
date someone, so she did. She and Ben started to date, and that was in the
news. He was a wealthy movie producer now, and she was a famous actress. It was
perfect. It was the perfect relationship. It was a match made in Hollywood
heaven. Even though her family was happy and everybody seemed to think it was
perfect, Rose couldn’t disagree more. She liked Ben, but she didn’t love him.
She had given her heart to someone else, who still seemed to have it. She had
given her heart and offered him the best, but he had rejected her and broken
her heart. But he still was the one she would give up forever for, the one she
loved. No matter what she did, Jack still was the one she loved. Little by
little, she had moved on, and lost all hope that there would be anything
between them.
One day, Jack woke up and went to
shower. He was living alone, and Regina had moved away. Jack had dated a few
more girls, adding to his reputation, which was not very good. He thought that
by dating different women, he would finally get one out of his mind. He would
be seen at clubs and at expensive restaurants with different women. All he was
trying to do was fall in love with someone else. He couldn’t stand being in
love with someone he wasn’t able to be with. But it never worked. He made
another movie, but it wasn’t as successful as his last one. Joe finally got his
salary higher, just like he had planned. Of course, now he wanted a raise from
Jack, so Jack obliged.
Jack walked into his living room
and heard the television on. He got scared. Now he lived alone. He slowly
walked into the living room and calmed down as he saw Todd.
"What the hell, Todd?"
Jack asked, punching Todd in the arm and sitting down. "How the hell did
you get in here?"
"Well, I brought you home
yesterday. You don’t remember, because you were completely out, party
animal," Todd said. He was eating a bowl of cereal and watching cartoons
on the television.
"I thank you for that, but
why did you have to stay in my house, eat my food, and watch my TV?" Jack
asked.
"Oh, I just wanted to know
how it felt to be a millionaire like you, Jack. You live in heaven, rich
boy," Todd said with a mouthful of cereal. Jack looked at him, disgusted
,and threw a cushion at him. He grabbed the remote and changed it to the news.
"Why are you so depressed, Jack? Only sad people watch the news."
"Oh, shut up. Only lonely
people watch cartoons," Jack said, laughing. His laughter stopped when he
heard a name coming from the TV. The news was on the celebrity gossip segment.
Jack’s eyes were glued to the TV as he heard Rose’s name.
"Well, it seems like we have
a happy couple in Hollywood. Yesterday afternoon, actress Rose Bukater became
Rose Stone. She married her longtime boyfriend, Ben Stone," the reporter
said, and Jack’s heart broke. He was in shock, and Todd quickly realized that
this was bad. He knew what Jack was feeling, and it couldn’t be good. Todd
could tell by the look in Jack’s eyes as the images of the wedding came on the
TV.
"It was a simple but elegant
ceremony. Guests included very famous people, including director Randy
Peterson, who directed What Do The Stars Say?, a film in which Rose and
heartthrob actor Jack Dawson starred. Speaking of Jack Dawson, he was
surprisingly not at the wedding. A lot of people say she and Jack became very
close friends during production. Well, we wish Rose and Ben the best," the
reporter said, and Todd turned the TV off. Jack had the saddest look on his
face. He looked like someone had just given him the worst news ever.
"I’m sorry, dude. But learn
from Rose. She moved on, and so can you," Todd said. Jack covered his face
with his hands. Todd laid a hand on his shoulder and sat next to him. "I’m
sorry, dude; I bet it hurts like hell, but that’s love. More pain than
happiness," Todd said.
"No. It’s not supposed to be
like this. I just fell for the wrong person, or I didn’t choose right that
night," Jack said.
"What night?"
"No. Forget it. But I will
tell you one thing. Rose, from now on, is out of my heart and out of my head.
I’m going to do what she did. I’m going to forget her and live like we never
loved at all, like we never loved each other," Jack said, and walked to
his bedroom.
*****
Months passed, and Jack’s new
movie was making good money and critics loved it, saying it was surely an award
winner, not like his last movie. More time passed, and Jack was invited to an
award show. He got ready, and Joe and his representative were waiting for him.
He walked to the limousine where they were waiting. They got in and headed for
the show.
"Well, you finally decided
to go to where they invited you and get out of your shell," Joe said. Jack
had not been the same lately. He wouldn’t go where they invited him, but he
thought he had to get out of his pain.
"Well, I didn’t plan to die
alone. Besides, I’m not that bad," Jack said, fixing his tie.
As they got out of the car at the
show, women started to scream and yell his name.
"They still love you. Smile
and wave," Joe said in Jack’s ear. Jack looked at him and then looked at
the crowd. He waved and smiled at them. They went crazier, shouting his name.
As they made their way through the cameras and onto the red carpet, Jack posed
for the photographers. He gave them his shy smile and walked down the red
carpet. He was starting to walk inside the building when he saw someone he
didn’t expect to see that night. Rose and Ben were walking towards him. Joe and
his representative walked behind Jack. Two bodyguards walked in front. Rose
noticed him, as well, and tried not to look at him. As they passed each other,
they looked at each other once, and with pain, looked away. They acted like
they didn’t know each other, like they had never loved at all, like they had
never shared a second in this world. Rose had her arm around Ben, and this
crushed Jack even more.
The show went on, and Jack didn’t
win, and Rose didn’t, either. The one time their names were announced as
nominees, both turned away. As the show ended, Jack quickly left, and Rose and
Ben left, as well.
*****
A few days later, Jack decided to
lie to his heart a bit. He wanted to stop his hurting.
Rose was in her house when the doorbell
rang. She opened the door to find two men with their hands full of white roses.
They laid them on top of a table, smiled at her, and left. She had no idea who
they were from, but she loved them. They were her favorite white roses. Nobody
knew that, not even Ben. There was a card on top of the flowers, so Rose picked
it up and opened it.
I have missed you. I still
miss you. I miss you every day. I miss you every hour, minute, and second.
Sorry for all this time. Hope you can forgive me and give me the chance to just
be your friend. I would like that, to be your friend again. I remembered what
you said about the white roses. I hope you like them.
Love,
Jack
Rose folded the letter, took a
rose, and kissed it. She smiled and thought of what Jack had said.
A friend? Friends again? Okay.
Anything is better than this loneliness, she thought, and Ben arrived.
"Hey, baby!" he said,
and kissed her. "Who sent you all these flowers?" he asked.
"Oh…a friend of mine who I
have not spoken to in the longest time gave them to me," she said, hiding
the letter from him.
*****
A few days later, Jack and Rose
were invited by Randy to the premiere of his new movie. They both accepted, not
knowing the other was going.
When they go there, Jack smiled
at the cameras, walked into the theater, and saw Rose. He thought of walking
the other way, but he decided to end his suffering and lie to himself by just
being her friend. This would be much better than not talking to her at all. At
least he would be able to see her and laugh with her.
He walked behind her and smiled.
"Hey, weirdo," he said. She smiled, knowing it was him. Nobody called
her that except him. She turned around, smiling, and looked at him.
"Hey, creep. How are
you?" she managed to say.
"Oh…well, I guess I’m a bit
tired. I was just on the set of another movie. It’s a violent movie," he
said.
"No more romantic
movies?" she asked. He looked at her and forced a smile.
"Not for now," he said.
They stared at each other for a few seconds. "Listen, Rose, I’m sorry for
acting like a complete idiot. I didn’t know what I was doing that night. I just
hope you can forgive me and be my friend again. I would really like that,"
he said, smiling.
"It’s okay, Jack. I have not
thought of that night in the longest time," she said, lying.
"Really?" he asked,
sounding a bit disappointed. "I mean…oh…okay. So, are we cool? Are we
friends again, weirdo?"
"Yes…friends like we used to
be. It’s just sad that it took us this long to fix this problem," she
said, smiling.
"So, where is your husband?
Ben…right?"
"He is on a movie set. Very
busy like always. I don’t see him much. Sorry for not inviting you to our
wedding, but it was a sudden thing, and I really didn’t know if you wanted to
talk to me. But I’m glad we are talking now."
"Don’t worry about it. I
really don’t like weddings that much. So, are you thinking of having little
Bens and little Roses?" he asked, hoping her answer was no.
"No. Not right now. We both
are much too busy with work," she said, and he smiled. "By the way,
thank you for the white roses. I loved them. I’m a bit surprised you
remembered, but thank you."
"It was my pleasure. Listen.
I have to go. I’m going to tell Randy I can’t stay long because of the movie I’m
making. But I want you to know that I’m excited that you and I are speaking
again. Maybe we can get together again someday. Maybe grab a burger with fries.
I don’t know. Whatever you want," he said, smiling.
"Okay, creep. I would like
that," she said, smiling, and he hugged her. He hugged her tightly, and
she hugged him back and buried her face in his shoulder. He buried his face in
her neck. He could smell her perfume.
You’re so beautiful, he thought to himself. They didn’t let go
for a while. I love you, but I can’t tell you. I don’t know how, he
thought, and let her go. He smiled and started to walk away. He looked back at
her and waved. She smiled at him and waved back.
Months passed, and Jack and Rose
kept calling each other and talking. This was as close as they could be
together. They would be friends and make fun of each other, just like they had
done when they were making the movie.
One day, Jack was talking to her
when Todd arrived at his house. He walked into the living room, where Jack was
sitting.
"Okay. I have to go now,
weirdo, but we’ll talk later. All right? Bye," Jack said, and hung the
phone up.
"You know, you can only lie
to yourself for so long. One day, you are going to explode and spill the beans.
Jack, I advise you to stop living a big lie and acting like you only want to be
her friend, because you and I know that you would give anything to be with her.
You just chose your career over her, and now she is married to another dude.
You can’t change that. I don’t know if that was a huge mistake that you made by
choosing your career over her, but now it’s killing you. You should have been
like those celebrities that just don’t care and date whoever," Todd said.
"No, but you’re right. I
feel like I’m dying little by little, but talking to her and pretending like
everything is all right is slowing down my death. I could live for a while just
by hearing her voice. I know I’m lying to myself, but sometimes it’s easier to
live with a lie. The truth hurts," Jack said, and lay back.
"Whatever makes you a little
happier. If you had the chance, would you go back in time and change your
choice? Would you choose Rose over what people think or say?" Todd asked,
and Jack stayed quiet. He just closed his eyes and thought of how different
things would be if he had chosen differently that night.