IN THE ARMS OF A STRANGER
Chapter One

Southampton

Rose DeWitt Bukater looked up at the ship as she stepped out of the car. It was majestic...wonderful...magnificent. But she wasn't about to let Cal and her mother know that. In fact, she dreaded the journey back to America. To most, the Titanic was the ship of dreams, but to her it was a slave ship, carrying her back to America in chains.

Two weeks from now, she'd become Mrs. Caledon Hockley, a fact she dreaded. She hated—no, she despised Cal. If it wasn't for the fact that she and her mother would be flat broke if she didn't marry Cal, she'd be off to explore the world, a dream of hers since she was a little girl. But that dream wasn't to be.

Cal was not the traveling type, and when he did travel, he controlled where they went.

Yes, Rose was miserable with this arranged marriage, and she was determined to let everyone know it...no matter what. "It doesn't look any bigger than the Mauritania." Rose looked towards Cal.

"You can be blasé about some things, Rose, but not about Titanic. It's a hundred feet longer than the Mauritania, and far more luxurious." Cal gazed up at the ship, then turned to Rose's mother. "Your daughter is far too difficult to impress, Ruth."

Her mother only laughed at the comment and gazed up at the ship.

"Come, ladies. We'll be late." Cal walked ahead.

Rose sighed forlornly. She had to get away for just a second. The ship wouldn't be going anywhere for another five minutes or so. She glanced at the back of her mother and Cal and decided that they wouldn't notice if she slipped away for a few seconds. She'd catch back up with them in a few minutes. Taking a deep breath, Rose turned in the opposite direction and disappeared into the churning crowds of Southampton.

*****

"I'm sorry, Fabrizio." Jack sighed as he turned to his friend.

"What do you mean, you're sorry?" Fabrizio asked.

"We lost. We won't be going to America on Titanic." Jack threw down his cards.

"Jack, you bastard! You bet everything we have!"

"Look at it this way, Fabri. When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose, and we have nothing." Jack tried to comfort his friend. "Olaf, Sven, it was nice doing business with ya." Jack offered his hand to the two Swedes sitting across from them. "Have a safe voyage."

Both Swedes nodded before getting up and leaving, both glad that they were able to keep their tickets to America.

"Don't worry, Fabri. We'll find our way to America, one way or another." Jack smiled enthusiastically. "For now, let's get back to our flat. It may be small, but it's a lot better than that bridge we were sleeping under last week."

"Yeah, yeah." Fabrizio shrugged, standing up from his chair.

6:00 PM

Rose sank to the ground as she finally accepted her situation. For the past two hours, she'd been trying to deny the fact that she was lost and the ship had departed without her. She had kept walking, trying to find it, but now there was no denying that she had missed the Titanic, and now she was not only hungry and alone in Southampton, England, she was in one of the roughest neighborhoods. She had to find a decent place to sleep tonight, but where?

"What am I going to do?" She began to sob uncontrollably.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" a slurred voice asked. Rose glanced up to see two sloppily dressed men advancing on her. It was obvious that they were drunk and didn't have the best intentions towards her. "Looks like we have a real lady in our midst."

"What's a lady doing in a slum like this?" one of the men slurred, now hovering over the shivering girl.

"Waiting for two handsome gentlemen like us, of course." The other man laughed, reaching down to touch Rose's hair. She immediately shrank away.

"Please go away!" she sobbed.

"Oh, look, Ed. She wants us to leave her alone. Whatever shall we do?"

"Sal, don't you know that when they say no, they mean yes? It's a fact of life." The man named Ed grabbed Rose and forced her to her feet. "I go first, though. I saw her first."

"No!" Rose screamed.

"Shh, now, dear. No one can hear you here in the slums. The only people here are the drifters in those rundown flats and us drunks, and believe me, those drifters don't care one bit about swells and their fancy ways. In fact, they'd probably cheer us on."

Rose stared into the man's eyes and saw pure lust. She wished with all her might that she hadn't wandered off from Mother and Cal, or that one of those drifters in those flats did care, but most likely the man named Sal was right. She had seen how people of the lower classes looked at her. Resentment was always present. No one would care if two drunks raped and maybe even murdered her.

"Now, be a good girl and let us have our way, or do we have to hurt you?" Ed tightened his grip on her arm, causing her to wince in pain.

"Let her go." A strong voice spoke from behind the two men. Rose glanced over Ed's shoulder to see a handsome blond man about twenty years old with the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. His expression was a mixture of concern and seriousness.

"This is none of your concern, whoever you are. I suggest you go back to your flat and pretend that you never saw this," Ed growled, not bothering to look at him.

"Yeah, kid. She's not worth it," Sal sneered, leaning so close to Rose that she could smell the sickening scent of whiskey on his breath.

"Please help me!" she whimpered.

"Shut up!" Ed hissed, squeezing her arm even tighter.

"Jack? What's going on?" Another young man appeared behind the man known as Jack.

"I'll tell you one more time to let her go." Jack's voice was stronger now, and he took a step towards Ed, who was still holding onto Rose's arm.

Ed turned to Jack, and recognition was in his eyes. "So, it's Jack Dawson, the boy who was interested in my daughter. Come again to play hero?"

"Jack, I think we should forget it and leave." Fabrizio grabbed his friend's shoulder. "We don't know this girl. She's not our concern."

Jack took another look at the frightened girl. She was very beautiful, and was obviously upper class. Hmm. Maybe he could use that fact to save her. Maybe if he could make the two men believe she was related to someone powerful enough to destroy their lives, they'd leave.

"No, Fabri. We're not going. There's bound to be a reward when Mr. Conway hears of this."

"Conway?" Fabrizio asked.

"Yeah, Fabrizio. Mr. Conway's going to want to know the description of the men who raped his granddaughter."

"Granddaughter?" the man named Ed asked. "He doesn't have a granddaughter."

"Of course he does, and you're trying to assault her right now. When he finds out...let's just say I wouldn't want to be in your shoes."

"Ed, we’d better get out of here. If the boy's right...there'll be big trouble we don't need," Sal whispered to his friend, stepping away from Rose.

Ed glared at Rose, then released her arm. "She better not breathe a word, Dawson, or I'll be back."

"I'm sure she won't say a word." Jack glanced at Ed before he and Sal disappeared down another dark alley, perhaps looking for another girl to assault. Jack looked back at Rose in time to catch her as she began to fall to the ground, sobbing. "It's okay now, miss. You're safe. No one's gonna hurt ya."

Rose looked up at Jack in relief and gratitude. She instantly recognized that he didn't have an English accent. "You're American?"

Jack nodded. "And so are you, I can see. What are you doing here in the slums of Southampton, alone, at this time of day?"

"Titanic," Rose managed to choke out. "I just stepped away from my party for a few minutes, but I got lost and the ship left without me."

"And you ended up here in the slums." Jack sighed. "With nowhere to go. I'll tell you what, miss. You can come with us and stay in our flat. You'll be safe there. Then, in the morning, we'll think of a way to get you back to your family. What do ya say to that?"

Rose simply nodded, grateful to this guardian angel that had showed up out of nowhere. "Th-thank you."

"No need to thank me, ma’am. It's just good old Wisconsin hospitality." Jack smiled, helping her to her feet. "Come on. We'll get you inside where it's warm. By the way, what's your name?"

"Rose DeWitt Bukater," Rose answered, her voice void of emotion.

"I'm gonna have to ask you to write that one down for me." Jack smiled at her.

Rose smiled at the joke. Looking back towards the ocean, where Titanic had begun its voyage, Rose allowed Jack to lead her to his flat, where she had a bite to eat and a good night's sleep before starting on the adventure of her lifetime.

*****

Rose winced and rubbed her neck as she woke up. She couldn't believe how stiff one could be after a night on a hard, cold floor, but she didn't mind. She was just thankful to the two young men who had taken her in, even though the flat wasn't even big enough for the two of them, much less a third person. But neither seemed to mind sharing their space.

She sat up and looked around, taking in her surroundings in daylight. The place was indeed small. It hardly had any furniture, only a table and three chairs, and a lantern to light up the place at night. She had to wonder how anyone could be happy in such surroundings. Looking around, she spotted the Italian known as Fabrizio asleep in the corner, but there was no sign of the handsome American who had saved her life. She wondered where he had gone. She had to admit that she was looking forward to seeing him again this morning. He was much better to wake up to than the bleak future with Cal she'd been stuck with for the past year.

"I see Sleeping Beauty is awake." Jack entered the flat, carrying a bag in his arms. "I've rounded us up some breakfast. It's not much, but it's enough to survive on."

"Mr. Dawson...I'd like to thank you for what you did for me last night." Rose got to her feet. "I know most people would have just turned away."

"Well, Rose, I wasn't raised to turn away when I saw people in trouble. Always help out when you can, and make each day count were two of my father's favorite sayings." Jack smiled. "Oh, and call me Jack. Mr. Dawson was my father."

Rose couldn't help but smile. His sunny attitude was contagious. "All right, Jack."

"Come sit." Jack motioned towards a chair. "I'll fix ya something to eat."

"Shouldn't we wait for Mr. di Rossi?"

"Nah, he'll wake soon enough, and can eat then. By the way, Rose, you don't have to be so formal with us. We're not going to die if you don't use our last names. Just call him Fabrizio." Jack shrugged.

"Fabrizio." Rose said the name with a smile. This was the first time anyone had encouraged her to use his or her first name right off the bat like this. She loved it. It was like breaking one of her mother's unwritten rules.

"So, Rose. You were going to sail on Titanic. Whatever made you get lost from your party?" Jack asked, placing the food, three Polish sausages and one loaf of bread, on the table.

"I needed to get away from my mother and fiancé for a couple of minutes. I thought I had time before the ship left. Then I heard the whistle and tried to find my way back, but the crowd was too heavy. By the time I got back to the dock, Titanic had pulled away," Rose explained, staring down at her hand and the big diamond engagement ring Cal had given her. She wondered how much she could pawn it for.

Chapter Two
Stories