THEN YOU LOOK AT ME
Chapter Eight
Performance Night
August 2000
It was the second of two performance nights
and Rose was a wreck. As far as she was concerned, tonight was worse the last
night. Last night had been the opening night; things were expected to go a
little wrong. But tonight, the actors were supposed to be over all that. And to
make matters worse, almost everyone Rose knew was here to watch her tonight.
Her mother, her cousins and aunt and uncle from Seattle, Mollie, Liza, Nick,
Sara, Jack's family, Fabrizio, John, Marianne Westmore, and a bunch of people
from Rose's old school. Rose was more nervous then she had been the night
before, pacing in her dressing room.
Come on Rose, you know this play! Just
pretend its dress rehearsal. You won't even notice them once you get out there.
Just breathe, Rose. Just breathe, she
silently coached herself. Glancing in the mirror, she checked her makeup again
and then looked at the clock. Three minutes until curtain. Suddenly, there was
a knock on the door. Rose opened it and gasped when she saw Jack. Jack, who was
dressed in his tights and such that went along with his costume. Rose thought
he looked adorable, but none the less, she was shocked.
"What are you doing here? You have a
scene before I do. You're suppose to be backstage!"
Jack grinned and came in. "Can't I just
take a minute to see you before I go?" he asked playfully.
Rose groaned and shut the door. "You
know you're not suppose to be here. Now, hurry up. We've got a play to
do."
"Come here," Jack said, pulling her
toward him. "I just want to kiss you before we go onstage. After that, all
the kissing I will do will be in front of the audience."
Rose smiled even though she was worried about
being caught. She leaned in and quickly kissed Jack. "Now go," she
whispered, motioning toward the door.
Jack leaned down and kissed her one last
time. "All right. I'm leaving." He let go of Rose and started toward
the door. Once his hand was on the doorknob, he turned and smiled. "Don't
be nervous, Rose. You'll do great!"
"Thanks." Rose blushed. "Now
go!"
Jack laughed and opened the door. "See
you at the party, Juliet!" he called as he left the room.
Rose sighed and glanced at the clock again.
"I better get up there," she mumbled to herself. Checking herself
over one last time, Rose started out of the dressing room. Her white gown
swished as she walked, her heels clicking on the floor. And even though Rose
knew that the costume was suppose to be low, she couldn't help feel
self-conscious as to how much cleavage the dress showed. Jack had told her she
looked great, but Rose still felt weird.
Passing by a few people, who weren’t in
scenes until much later, Rose tried to smile and appear calm. They waved and
called soft good lucks! But all Rose could hear was the soft sounds of people
talking out in the audience. Just as she arrived backstage, the lights in the
house dimmed, and Rose heard Kathy start to talk.
"I want to thank you all for coming
tonight. You are in for a real treat. Our actors have been practicing for two
months, night and day, to bring you this show. And I promise you, you will not
be disappointed. While all of our cast members are wonderful, and are truly
gifted, I think two people will surely stay in your mind for a long time. And
those two people are Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt-Bukater, also known as Romeo
and Juliet. These two will draw you into the story in such a way that
Shakespeare would have been proud." Rose blushed and glanced over at
another cast member, who gave her a thumb’s up sign. Kathy continued,
"They will make you want to fall in love all over again, and I promise
you, there will not be a dry eye in this theater by the time the night is
over." There was a soft laugh from the audience. "I could go on
forever, talking about the antics of the cast. About how at times, they were
ready to give up and storm out of here. And how Rose and Jack sometimes got
carried away with being Romeo and Juliet…ahem!’’ There was another laugh from
the audience, and once again Rose blushed as red as her hair. She could tell a
few of the other actors were trying not to laugh at the memory. "But I
know you are all anxious to get to the show. So, ladies and gentleman, I give
you...Romeo and Juliet!" The sound of Kathy’s heels was quickly drowned
out by applause and a moment later, Kathy appeared from the stage. "Go get
'em," she whispered to Rose as she came over.
"Thank you," Rose mumbled.
Kathy smiled and walked away, leaving Rose by
herself. She moved over to where she could see the play, and sat down in a
nearby chair. Watching with awe, Rose saw the play start to gain momentum. The
cast was putting their hearts and souls into this play, knowing it was the last
night. Rose smiled when Jack first was on stage, looking forlorn and sad. She
loved watching him act. It made her heart soar the same way it did when he was
drawing. Before long, Rose noticed she was due onstage in a few moments. She
took a deep breath and waited for her cue.
"What, Juliet!"
There it was, the line she was supposed to
come in on. Rose closed her eyes for less than a moment and then opening it up,
saw Jack on the other side of backstage. He caught her eye and smiled at her.
Rose smiled back and in that instant knew she could do it. She could perform
this play. She could be Juliet. Walking onstage, Rose calmly started her lines.
Jack sat backstage and watched Rose talk with
her Mother and nurse. She was such a wonderful actress, he decided, speaking
her lines with passion, and Jack began to think she was really Juliet. The way
she moved and spoke made her seem like the real thing, the real Juliet. Well,
if Juliet had have been real, Jack thought to himself, Rose would have been her
clone. Funny, beautiful, smart, a girl willing to risk it all for love. It made
Jack smile just to think of her looking at him.
"Stop it, Jack Dawson," he
whispered very quietly. "You'll never get through the play if you don't
stop it." He tried once again to watch Rose, but his thoughts just kept
going to all the times they had spent together. Jack knew they were both only
eighteen, and they were just out of high school. But he loved Rose more then
anything. He would do anything for her. He would die for her. Jack looked at
her again. And glanced down at her left hand. An idea started to form in his
mind and slowly a smile formed on Jack's face.
*****
Rose was trying not to laugh as she listened
to Romeo speak his lines. He had an almost funny, adoring look in his eyes that
Rose was sure only she could notice and she wondered what was going through his
head. They were doing the scene were Romeo left Juliet after their wedding
night, standing up on a balcony, Juliet begging Romeo not to leave. Rose
smiled, successfully stopping any thoughts of laughing.
"Yon daylight is not daylight, and know
it I," she said, going on with the rest of her lines. Her mind kept
thinking about what would happen if this were real, she and Jack were talking
the morning after their wedding night. Wedding night...Rose almost blushed when
she thought of it and forced herself to focus on the play.
The rest of the night went smoothly, Rose
even working up real tears for the death scene. As soon as the curtain dropped,
the audience burst into applause. Kathy and Terry gave a thumb’s up from
offstage as the cast members all came out from various places offstage and all formed
a line. The curtain opened again and they all bowed. Then the curtain closed
for a seconded time and everyone quickly paired off in twos. Once the curtain
was raised again, Rose watched as two by two people's names were announced
along with their characters. Finally, it was time for Jack and Rose, who were
the very last people.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, I give
you the stars of our show...Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt-Bukater!" Terry
announced excitedly, pride in his voice. Rose grabbed Jack's hand and they
walked downstage. The moment they raised their arms and prepared to give one
last bow, the audience all stood up and clapped wildly. Some people were
whistling and some were shouting things like "Go Rose!" and
"Awesome job, Jack!" The couple bowed and when they came back up,
Jack pulled Rose toward him and kissed her again. The audience went wild again
and with that, the final curtain dropped.
*****
Jack was lying out in the grass, Rose
half-asleep next to him. It was past midnight and they had just gotten back
from the theater. The play had lasted until ten, and by the time they had
helped take the set down it had been 11:30. Since everyone was too tired to
think, the cast party had been put off until the next afternoon and thankfully
the cast had all gone home. Jack had driven Rose home and they had never quite
made it into the house. He had pretty much just parked the car at her house and
then they went around back with a blanket and lay down, looking up at the
stars. Both were tired as hell, but neither wanted to leave. Jack felt Rose
stir and he looked down at her. She was snuggling closer to him, resting her
head on his shoulder.
"It's nice out tonight," she
whispered when she saw him look at her.
Jack smiled and nodded his head.
"Yeah," he mumbled, yawning loudly.
Rose smiled back and then looked back up at
the sky. "I think the play went great," she commented. "You
especially were wonderful. God, I have seen you do some scenes a million times
and I still get these little goosebumps all over. It's like I am seeing it for
the first time." It was dark, but Rose could tell he was blushing.
Jack cleared his throat and pulled Rose
closer, kissing her head. "You were brilliant too, you know," he
whispered in her ear. "You were magical. You brought that whole play to
life. You were Juliet, Rose. You brought her to everyone in that
audience."
Rose was blushing now, her blue eyes staring
at Jack as though he were a god. "How did I find you?" she asked
softly. "I love you so much, Jack."
"I love you, too, Rose," he
whispered back.
It was quiet after that, only the soft sounds
of the wind and distant crickets. Jack's mind was wandering, though, to
different thoughts. To different places. He looked down at Rose again,
wondering how to word what he wanted to say next.
"Rose--" He stopped short, thinking
again of what Rose might say.
"Hmm...what, Jack?" she asked
softly, looking up at him with wonder.
"I...well...Rose, will you come to
Seattle with me?"
Rose gasped and sat up. "What?" she
asked. "What are you talking about?"
Jack sat up next to her and started to
explain. "I am going to Seattle next week to look at the college campus
and I wanted to know if you would like to come along. Seeing as you are going
to the same college. School starts in just a few weeks and I kind of want to
see the place before I just show up there."
Rose sighed and put her hand on her heart.
"Dear God," she whispered. "I want to go Jack, its just we've
been so busy, and...oh, I don't know. Can I think about this?"
Jack nodded. "Of course," he
promised. "I am not forcing you to go, Rose."
She nodded as she stood up. "I'll talk
to you tomorrow," she whispered. "Good night, Jack."
And with that Jack watched her run across the
backyard and then disappear inside the house. He sighed and slowly stood up,
thinking about Rose's reaction. She seemed almost scared. Jack reached down and
picked up the blanket, folding it over his arm. A moment later Rose's bedroom
light turned on and he watched as she came to the window. She looked down at
him and blew a soft kiss. He blew a kiss back and then started toward his car.
*****
Phone Conversation Between Rose and Sara
10:00 AM The Next Morning
Rose: Hello?
Sara: Hey! You sound funny. Are you okay?
Rose: Hey, Sara. You woke me up.
Sara: Oh, sorry. I forgot you were out late.
Rose: It's all right.
Sara: So how drunk were you and Jack?
Rose: Sara!
Sara: Geez, it was a joke. I guess you are
awake now, huh?
Rose: It's not funny...so how was I last
night?
Sara: You were great, really. I loved that
one scene you did, you know, where you demanded the poison. That was great!
Rose: Thanks.
Sara: Yeah, no problem. So how late did you
get home?
Rose: Um, around twelve.
Sara: The play got over at like 10:30...
Rose: Yeah. So?
Sara: Where were you and Jack all that time,
huh? I saw you up on stage. I know you two are getting pretty serious.
Rose: Sara, come on, we were taking down the
set and stuff. It takes a while. And anyway, Jack and I aren’t like that yet.
Sara: Really?
Rose: Yes, really. I told you that last week
or whenever.
Sara: I know, but I figured, you know, I
guessed you would have by now.
Rose: Well, we haven't. So drop it.
Sara: Okay, sorry.
Pause.
Rose: He asked me to go to Seattle with him.
Sara: Oh, my God! Really? Why?
Rose: To look at the college, get a feel for
the campus. Makes sense, actually.
Sara: Monkers...
Rose laughed.
Rose: Monkers? I haven't heard you use that
word in a while.
Sara: Yeah, well...so you're going?
Rose: I don’t know yet. I haven't given him
an answer.
Sara: You haven't! You have to go. I mean,
how many people get a chance like this to go away with their boyfriend, no
parents, no siblings, no anyone around.
Rose: There will be lots of people around.
Sara: Yes, but none that you know.
Rose: True...and I really do want to go. I
love Jack. I can't imagine being away from him like that for a week.
Sara: See! You want to go bad. You're scared
of what your Mommy is gonna say.
Rose: I am not!
Sara: Yes, you are. You are afraid Mommy will
hate you for going off to the big city with your boyfriend.
Rose: I'm eighteen, Sara. My mom can't forbid
me to go.
Sara: So does that mean you are going?
Rose: Why do you want me to go so bad?
Sara: No reason. You just need a vacation is
all.
Rose: Yeah. Okay, I know what you mean.
Sara: So you're going?
Rose: Yeah...
Sara: Don't sound too excited.
Rose: I'm just tired.
Sara: Gotcha. I'll let you go, I guess.
Rose: Thanks...
Sara: But I'll be calling you this afternoon
to make sure you've called Jack.
Rose: Okay.
Sara: I'll talk to you soon.
Rose: All right. Bye.
Sara: Bye.
*****
Phone Conversation between Jack and Rose
Eleven AM
Jack: Hello. Dawson residence.
Rose: Hey, Jack.
Jack: Oh, hey Rose. What's going on?
Rose: Nothing much.
Jack: Yeah, me either. I am so tired. Aaron
woke me up at like eight with stupid Spongebob Square Pants. You know I hate
that show.
Rose laughed.
Rose: Yeah, I know.
Jack: There should be a law...
Rose: Hmm, yeah.
Jack: Yeah...
Pause.
Rose: Um, look Jack. The reason I was calling
was to say that I wanna go to Seattle with you.
Jack: Really! Great! Wow, I was worried you
would say no.
Rose: No, I really want to go. It will be
fun. We can go hang out at the waterfront and go to the Space Needle and all
that jazz.
Jack: Yeah, sounds great, doesn’t it! We
could take a ferry to Bainbridge Island if you wanted to. Or maybe up the San
Juan’s.
Rose: Okay. Awesome. Ah, look, I gotta go talk
to my mom about all this. So I'll call you back later. Oh, yeah, when are we
going?
Jack: The, ah, fifth. So, Saturday.
Rose: All right. I love you.
Jack: Love you, too.
Rose: Talk to you later.
Jack: Bye.
Rose: Bye...