CALIFORNIA PARADISE
Chapter Fourteen
The three short days meant solely for Rose
and Jack time seemed to come and go in the blink of an eye. Three perfect days
of breakfast in bed, picnics together, and watching the sunset’s pinks and
oranges slowly fade into a brightly lit night sky were soon behind both of
them.
"I can’t believe you have to leave
again," Jack said from his perch on the bed as he watched Rose pack.
"I know. Me, neither. But I’ll be back
in two days."
"I know that, too. But then another
movie will come up, and you’ll be whisked off to do scenes for it, and I’ll
still never get to see you."
"You know as well as I do that that’s
not true. I absolutely promise that anything I do from now on will be
completely local. It’s just that this is a very big part and it could be the
entranceway to a lot of other big hits."
She laughed softly as she heard Jack grumble.
Rose glanced up at the clock. "Isn’t it time for your meeting with
Cal?" she coldly asked. She detested the idea of them working together,
but it didn’t feel right for her to complain, since Jack had to put up with all
the disadvantages of her job.
Jack just grumbled louder as he got up. At
the doorway, he turned around. "Are you sure you don’t want to see him? It
might do you some good to face your past."
"No," was her meek reply. She hated
not being able to face up to Cal, but it hurt to think about it, let alone be
in the same room with him. It was very cowardly of her, and she knew it, but
she needed just a little more time to heal.
*****
"Jack, I want to see him."
They were having breakfast a week later. Jack
carefully swallowed his coffee and set his cup down. "See who?" he
mildly asked.
Swallowing down the tight lump in her throat,
Rose replied, "Cal."
Jack looked up. "You sure?"
"Yes. I--I miss my family. My mother. I
miss my mother. She may have been insensitive and greedy, but I--I still love
her and I just thought Cal might know..." She let the sentence hang in
midair and blushed.
"But I could ask him for you, or--"
"No, Jack. I want to see my mother
again, sure, but that’s only one of the reasons. This is a long-term project
for the two of you, and we live close by each other, so I guess I’m going to
have to face him one of these days anyway."
"Okay. Whatever you say."
*****
Jack sat in his office going over price
ranges with Cal. Cal took the pile of papers and leaned back in his chair,
almost isolating Jack from the whole affair.
I’m not your goddamn interior decorator.
Treat me like a person, you scumbag. I’m not your slave and I don’t work for
you. I’m providing you a service that you need just as much as I do, if not
more, Jack thought to himself,
glaring silently. Then, he took a deep breath. No. I’m not going to let him
get to me.
There was a soft knock on the door. Perfect
timing, Rose, he thought. You can keep me from giving this guy a bloody
lip... Then, he thought ,more realistically, If you don’t punch him
yourself first.
"Come in," he said, grinning
silently to himself.
*****
Rose got out of the car and walked briskly
from the large customized garage to the front door, turning down the offer of
an escort from her driver.
She checked her watch. 4:15.
"Shit. I told Jack I’d be in his office
by four." Not bothering to change out of the clothes she had worn to the
photo shoot or rubbing off her makeup, she went straight up to Jack’s office
and lightly knocked.
*****
Cal sat in the office. Just like every other
day. He would have liked to say that it was just another ordinary day, but he
had learned earlier that no day was ever ordinary when Jack Dawson was around.
Whether an old friend dropped by, the office was being redecorated--which
happened just about every week--or Jack found it unnecessary to do his hair
before work since there was so much extra time in the office, Cal was used to
coming over to the Dawson mansion prepared for whatever they threw at him, but
even he wasn’t prepared for what he saw as a particularly light knock was heard
at the door and Jack beckoned for whoever it was on the other side to come in.
Cal turned around to see who it was. A girl.
An extremely pretty girl. Gorgeous, in fact. But why did she look so darned
familiar...it hit him like a thousand knives.
Rose.
She had always been elegant, with a sense of
exquisite beauty in the very flow of her hair, the curves on her body, and the
beautiful features of her face. But now she seemed to be illuminated from a
warm light within herself, a light that would undergo almost anything before it
blew out.
She wore a light blue ensemble. The silk
blouse was low-cut and the sleeves sliced at the shoulders. The skirt flowed
from her waist naturally, the lace flowing freely at the bottom in good
contrast to the baby blue suede hugging her thighs. Her hair, which had once
curled and coiled like a blossoming river, was now straight, and it fell over
her shoulders and down her back in a managed, but nevertheless free, way. Her
eyes shone brighter than they ever had before, reminding him of a certain
diamond that seemed to be lost to him forever. Her lips, freshly painted with a
glossy shade, bedazzled him. Her creamy skin showed no sign of powder, and you
could see a California tan slowly beginning to grow. Though the thought of a tan
woman sent him aback, Cal was still too flabbergasted to worry about such
small things.
He fiercely clutched the armrest on his
chair. Then, inch by inch, he began to control himself. The ground settled to a
peaceful swaying. The room stayed still long enough for him to focus. His own
heart beating in his chest slowed down. The pounding pressure on his head
loosened and finally drifted away. Then, after what had seemed like all
eternity but had scarcely been more than three seconds, the breath came easily
to his lungs as his dumbfounded brain processed the need to breathe once again.
Rose did a lightning-speed glance around the
room. For the second that she looked at him, Cal felt sick to his stomach, but
swallowed what was about to come up quickly down. Her eyes settled on Jack as
she began to walk forward.
Her hair fell from her shoulders and blew
behind as she crossed the room. Each time she stepped, Cal caught a glimpse of
her leg far above the knee. Her cherry lips parted to speak, and a flash
crossed Cal’s mind.
His wife standing at the altar, her dark
brown hair in an upsweep. She had parted her lips just like that to form the
words. I do. Instantly, all the symptoms went away. Time resumed its
natural course, and he had never been better.
"Hey, honey." Rose quickly kissed
Jack and looked up. Her eyes bore directly into Cal’s. He didn’t flinch.
"It’s so nice to see you again."
Her voice flowed like silk. He was momentarily taken aback, but recovered
quickly as he pictured his two children.
"It’s truly my pleasure."