CALIFORNIA PARADISE
Chapter Nine
The following day, a note was found next to
Rose’s old wedding dress.
Dear family and friends,
We’re sorry to inconvenience any of you,
but we decided to skip the planned wedding and elope instead. Though we’re
extremely sorry that none of you were there, we hope you understand why this
had to be done.
We have decided to leave for our honeymoon
in Santa Monica early, but we aren’t sure when we’ll be back. We love all of
you dearly.
Mr. and Mrs. Jack Dawson
*****
"See, I told you you could do it."
They were in their hotel room near the beach. It was two days after the
wedding. Rose was changing back into a dress after riding a horse right on the
surf. And none of that side-saddle stuff.
"I was feeling giddy from the cheap beer
and riding the roller coaster ‘til we throw up," she teased.
"So, are you still up for a week of
sightseeing?" Jack asked her.
"Definitely."
The Next Week
"Oh, I missed you so much!" Jack
and Rose were greeted heartily by all of their loving friends.
"So, did you have fun?" they were
asked.
"More than we have ever had in our
entire lives!" was the joyous reply.
"So, when do you want to move?"
Jack, Rose, and Rich were sitting in the living room, discussing the move to
California.
"We’ve bought our house. I don’t know
where you’re planning on staying..." Jack teased him.
"Actually, I’ve always wanted to stay in
a big, fancy hotel. And now that I can, I plan to make the most of it."
"Do you really need a big, fancy hotel
room? I mean, I hear the bigger and fancier the hotel, the more uptight they
are about big parties and things like that," Jack said.
Rich turned red. "Well, I--uh…I kind of
met a girl, and…well, we’re hoping to start a family someday..."
"Really? How’d you meet her?" Jack
asked.
Looking smugly at Rose, Rich answered,
"Chad introduced us."
"Who’s Chad?" Jack asked, confused.
Pretending to be angry, Rose answered through
clenched teeth. "No one."
Rich laughed, and, imitating a nine-year-old,
teased Rose. "Her old boyfriend."
"He was never my boyfriend!" Rose
pretended to be outraged.
"Tut, tut, tut, Rose. It’s really not
very ladylike to go gallivanting around like that." Jack played along.
After the laughter had died down, Rose
finally explained, "When I was thirteen, my parents sent me to this snooty
boarding school. Chad was there, and it was his biggest amusement to pick on
me. Anyway, being the big showoff that he was, he always got into trouble.
Anyway, about seven months after I arrived, Chad was caught looking through the
principal’s permanent records and was given a warning. Two days later, he was
caught sneaking out to buy brandy. That was his last warning. He was good for
about a month, but then he was caught stealing another person’s belongings and
was instantly thrown out of school. His daddy could have easily talked the
administrators into letting him stay longer, but he was too strict. Chad was
sent to a reform school a week later. The night he had to leave, he came into
my room--which was another offense, by the way--and said, ‘Rose, I’m so sorry
that I acted the way I did. I’m a jerk and I know it. I just couldn’t get up
enough courage to say how I really feel, and now that I’m leaving I feel like a
complete idiot for not telling you how much I actually liked you before.
Anyway, I want you to have this picture of us to remember me by. It’s from the
time we were lab partners and we had to do a project on photo and movie
cameras. Remember?’ Well, I’ve lost the photo, and haven’t seen him since
then."
"Yeah, well, he came by right after you
two left for Santa Monica. The girl, Jolene, is his cousin, and he was taking
her on a tour of the big city before he decided to drop by. Right now, they’re
staying at a hotel across town," Rich said.
"Wait. You’ve known this girl for barely
a week, and you’re already planning your future together?"
Rich shook his head. "You don’t know
Jolene. Love at first sight, if there ever was any."
"Okay. Who else dropped by?" Jack
asked, only half-serious.
"Funny you should ask. Do you remember
Anna?"
"No..." That name just sounded so
familiar. "Wait! Yes, I do! She lived next door to me back in Chippewa
Falls! Right?" Jack’s face lit up.
"Right! She heard about the wedding and
came down to see how it went. She and Chad met at the front door, and they’ve
been inseparable ever since. In fact, she got a room at the same hotel as
him...right next door."
"You’re kidding me!" This was too
much for Jack. He turned towards his pretty wife. "See? If we hadn’t
gotten married, two couples might never have found each other."
The Next Day, at the Claremont Hotel
"I really do think you should come to
California." Jack was trying to convince Chad and Anna to come.
"Well, maybe. But first we want to tour
the country. I was going to go on the trip with Jolene, but I guess that fell
through the roof." Chad playfully glared at Rich, who was lovingly curling
Jolene’s dark curls around his finger.
"Then how about you tour California in a
week?" Jack was persistent.
Anna laughed, her golden hair falling into
her eyes. "If he wants us to come so badly, I think we should. It really
means a lot to him."
Chad sighed. How could he say no to that
angelic face? "Fine."
The Renaissance Restaurant
Two Days Later
Rose, Jolene, and Anna’s friendship had
blossomed over the past couple of days. The ice had immediately been broken
after they found out that Rose would be shooting a movie in California, Anna
was a well-known model, and Jolene had a knack for costume design. They sat at
a small table, eating their desserts, after a warm and delicious meal.
"I can’t believe I’ll be in California
is just two days," Anna was saying.
"I know. Guys just expect us to just
throw everything into a suitcase, hop on a train, and never look back,"
Jolene agreed.
"That’s because that’s what they do."
Rose giggled.
"I have an idea," Anna said.
"Us girls need more time, and I’m also tired of the guys constantly being
around. They worship the ground we walk on, for crying out loud! So why don’t
the boys head out for California, and we can stay here an extra week. It’ll
give us a chance to really enjoy ourselves."
"I’m in!" Rose said.
"Me, too!" Jolene chorused.
After thinking it over, Jack finally gave
Rose his opinion. "Okay. That sounds great."
Rich was automatically at his side.
"What do you mean, okay? Are you out of your mind?"
Jack clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Please. Just trust me."
After Chad and Rich had both agreed, and the
girls were all planning on how they would spend their last night together, Jack
took the guys aside. "Don’t you see? Our lives will be revolving around
those three for the rest of our lives. We need a week to be free. Parties. Beer.
Girls. We can act like we did before love got in the way."
"I don’t know." Chad was skeptical.
Anna sneaked up behind him. "Oh, come
on. It’ll be fun!"