A LIFE SO CHANGED
Chapter Three
Cal and Rose were sitting on a
deck. It seemed to be that it was in the middle of the ocean somewhere, most
likely on the Titanic.
"I had hoped you would
come to me last night," Cal said.
"I was tired," Rose
replied.
"Yes. Your exertions
belowdecks were no doubt exhausting," Cal said.
Rose stiffened. "I see
you had that undertaker of a manservant follow me."
"You will never behave
like that again, Rose! Do you understand?"
"I’m not some foreman in
one of your mills that you can command! I’m your fiancée–"
Cal exploded, sweeping the
china off the table and putting one hand on each side of the chair so Rose
couldn’t escape. She looked frightened.
"Yes! You are!" he
shouted. "And my wife...in practice, if not yet by law. So, you will honor
me, as a wife is required to honor her husband! I will not be made out a fool!
Is this in anyway unclear?"
Frightened, Rose started
shrinking into her chair, taking shallow breaths.
Everything flashed forward to
when Rose was walking into what appeared to be a posh stateroom. Rose had a
somewhat nervous look on her face. Jack was trailing behind her.
"Something serious has
happened," Rose said.
"That’s right. Two things
dear to me disappeared tonight. Now that one is back, I have a pretty good idea
where to find the other," Cal said.
Jack was being searched by the
Master-at-Arms when something was pulled out of his pocket. It was shiny,
obviously something of great value. Jack was put in handcuffs and was starting
to be taken away.
"Don’t you believe it,
Rose!" Jack said.
"He couldn’t have,"
Rose said, uncertain.
"Of course he could. Easy
enough for a professional. He memorized the combination when you opened the
safe," Cal said.
"But I was with him the
whole time!" Rose said.
"Maybe he did it while
you were putting your clothes back on, dear," Cal said quietly to her.
Everything flashed forward
again to when someone who appeared to be Rose’s mother was the only person
besides Cal and Rose in the room.
"I had better go
dress," the woman said.
The door closed behind her.
Cal stared at Rose coldly for a moment, then slapped her across the face.
"It is a little slut,
isn’t it?" Cal asked, grabbing her by the shoulders.
Rose refused to meet his eyes.
"Look at me, you
little--"
*****
Sarah’s eyes flung open, her
knuckles as white as the pillow that she was gripping. She tried to relax her
racing heart by breathing slowly.
She slowly sat up, her hands
shaking slightly. "Oh, my God," she whispered.
Rose...no. Cal couldn’t be that
inhumane to the woman he had supposedly loved. He couldn’t do that to anyone.
She wondered what Rose had done
to deserve to be hit. All she did was actually find love. And the last time she
checked, that wasn’t a crime.
Sarah’s body relaxed finally. She
stood up, tied a robe around herself, and walked downstairs. Rose still wasn’t
up. Typical. Sarah was the early bird, whereas Rose was the night owl.
She sat on a chair and curled up
in it, hugging her knees to her chest. How could Rose possibly put up with
that? She felt terrible for her. Sarah wanted to believe that all of that was
just a bad dream that her mind had made up. But she knew better. This was not a
dream. This was only a glimpse into Rose’s past.
How had she tolerated this?
Didn’t she ever feel a time that she felt so helpless that there was no way
out?
*****
Sarah joined Rose that night at
Richard’s. Tonight she had been smart and brought paper and a pen. Inspiration
as well as rage were flowing through her system.
Sarah could never look at the man
who she had called her father for fifteen years of her life the same way ever
again. How could he do that to Rose? Oh, it made her so angry! She silently
thanked God that she had been so lucky as to never experience Cal’s rage. Then
again, she had grown up smart enough to realize how to avoid it--do not, under
any circumstances, argue or cross the line.
After looking up at Joey, the
spitting image of Jack, within the same view as Rose, she brought a line into
her mind. After playing with her pen for a few minutes, she wrote a few lines
down on the paper.
Do you feel like a man when
you push her around?
Do you feel better now when she falls to the ground?
That was all she could write
before she was at a loss for words. Those two lines said it all.
"What are you writing?"
Joey asked.
Sarah looked up and folded the
paper so he couldn’t see. She didn’t realize that she had been staring off into
space for this long.
"Nothing," she said.
"Just jotting down a few ideas for a new song for Rose."
Joey nodded and sat down across
from her. "The piano was a killer tonight," he said.
Without even thinking, Sarah took
his hands in hers. Once she realized what she was doing, she was somewhat
amazed at being so bold.
"Are they better?" she
asked.
He smiled. "Yeah. They
are."
Even though Sarah was pleased she
had said a few words to Joey, she still couldn’t get her mind off of that
dream. It was really starting to make her angry that she couldn’t stop focusing
on it. Her eyes drifted down towards the table.
"Are you all right?"
she heard Joey ask.
She nodded. "I’m fine,"
she lied. "Why?"
"You’re quiet and you look
sort of sad. And you’re sure nothing’s wrong?"
She sighed. "Well...sort of.
I mean, there is. I just haven’t told anyone." She noticed that she was
still holding Joey’s hands. "I assume that your hands are much better
now?"
He grinned. "Well, I know
who to come to when my hands are tired."
She let out a giggle.
"Artist's hands and
pianist's hands, you know. They really get a beating," he said.
"You’re an artist,
Mr...?"
"Dawson." He chuckled.
"Same last name. That’s funny."
He had to have been related to
Jack. There was no way they could look that similar and have the same last name
and not be related.
She let out a small laugh.
"That is funny. But you never answered my question," she playfully
said.
"I did. Before you asked it,
I might add."
She smiled. Being around Joey
could do her wonders. She could do a complete turnaround with him in a matter
of minutes.
"See?" Joey said.
"This is the Sarah I know. Happy, beautiful Sarah. Not quiet and
sulky."
She smiled more widely at being
called beautiful. Somehow, she knew today was going to end all right.
*****
"Rose, I have to talk to
you," Sarah said as they walked home from Richard’s. The moon was out, the
stars barely visible over the harsh city lights.
"No, I think I might have to
talk to you first," Rose said. "You and Joey were sitting together
holding hands. You know, I may be on that stage, but I can still see you two.
And you were smiling. And, as your guardian, I do believe I must know your
current love interests."
"Well, you’re a bit
nosy," Sarah replied.
"Last time I checked, Joey
was trying to hide a smile whenever your name came up."
"Really?" Sarah asked,
her voice a decibel higher than it should have been.
"Really," Rose echoed.
Sarah smiled ear-to-ear. Just
hearing that he liked her back-even though she had guessed it--was music to her
ears.
"Talk to him sometime. Go on
a date," Rose said. "Enjoy love while you can. It doesn’t come
often."
Sarah knew she was speaking from
her experience with Jack. Maybe she should really consider that advice and take
it. No. Joey had to be the one to ask her. She would say yes in a heartbeat.
But she couldn’t get ahead of herself. He hadn’t even asked her to go anywhere,
after all.
"You were going to ask me
something?" Rose asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Oh…um...I forgot," she
lied.