TITANIC CONTINUED
Chapter Eleven
While Jack was still trying to
pull himself together in Molly Brown's first class stateroom, Rose was walking
to her room so she could freshen up before lunch.
Expecting to run into her mother,
she opened the door to their stateroom and found Cal seated in one of the easy
chairs, reading a newspaper.
"Darling, there you
are," Cal said, his voice unfriendly.
"Where's my mother?"
Rose asked, looking around.
"Never mind, my dearest. We
must talk. But first, where have you been all morning?" Cal inquired,
folding the newspaper.
Rose walked into the bedroom and
came back, thinking her mother might be napping, but found the suite deserted.
"Talk?" Rose hoped the
redness in her face had disappeared completely. "No, Cal. There's
something I must talk with you about. I want to apologize."
Cal looked sincerely shocked.
"Apologize?"
Rose's mind drifted back to
earlier that morning, when Jack had broken everything to her. "I can't
marry you, Rose..." he'd said, his voice so blank, so empty.
Now, as Rose apologized to Cal
for shrugging him off so rudely since they had boarded the Titanic, feelings
for Cal that she'd never harbored before began to flow into her. Cal was
good-looking, with his dark hair, dark eyes, patrician features, and strong
jaw. Aside from being a little self-centered, there really was nothing wrong
with him.
"And we're engaged. I
shouldn't have been that way to you, Cal. You deserve so much better."
In the back of her mind, Rose was
only doing this to get even with Jack. She hadn't realized it yet. But someday,
she would.
*****
Jack was sitting in his cabin.
Fabrizio and their other bunkmates, most of whom didn't speak English, were
enjoying a gin rummy tournament. Jack's head pounded and his stomach rolled.
Molly's words had made perfect
sense to him. Yet he didn't know or understand what to do.
I've really messed this up, Jack thought. He covered his head with his
arms and rolled over on his side.
No solutions would come to him,
no plans or ideas. This was a story with no conclusion.
Fabrizio had been noticing his
friend's lowness. He knew it had something to do with Rose. So when he grew
tired of losing to the stocky Swede named Johann, he retired from the game and
wandered over to Jack's bunk, where he still lay, wordless and motionless.
"What's troubling you, old
friend?" Fabrizio asked Jack's back.
No response.
"Come now, Jackie boy. It
can't be that bad," Fabrizio reassured him, patting Jack on the shoulder.
"I've lost her," came
the muffled voice.
Immediately, Fabrizio understood.
"I don't know what to tell you, Jack. What happened? No, don't tell me. I
think I know."
Jack finally shifted over so
Fabrizio could see his face when he spoke.
"I've got to get her back.
I...I don't know what to do..."
Fabrizio know exactly what to do.