TITANIC CONTINUED
Chapter Four
"You just described yourself
perfectly," Rose stated thoughtfully.
Jack looked up at her. "What
are you talking about?"
"Your Uncle James--you
described him, and I noticed that you and he are exactly the same person."
Jack looked thoughtful. A few seconds
passed.
"You know, now that I think
about, it's true. It really is."
"Maybe that's why you loved
your uncle so much. Maybe that's where that free spirit of yours came
from," Rose said.
After a few minutes passed and
Jack didn't speak a word, but just looked down as if in deep thought, Rose
stood up.
"So, now what?" she
asked.
Jack, still expressionless,
looked up at her and finally snapped back to reality.
"Oh!" he exclaimed.
"Right! Well, you wanted to see my cabin, so here it is...I told you there
wasn't much to it." He stood up, walked over to the wall, and turned on
the light to give the darkening room a pleasant, warm glow. He returned to his
bunk.
Rose wandered over to Jack's
side.
"Tell me about these places,
Jack," Rose said, looking at the many pictures in his bag.
Jack stood and looked in the bag.
"Well, I don't know.
Whenever I see something--a poster, a photograph, a card, a brochure--anything
that interests me that I might enjoy looking at on occasion, I pick it
up."
Rose stared at the pictures,
pictures of people, flowers, shops, streets, brochures for vacations, travel,
and advertisements.
"That's pretty much all I've
got to show for my entire life...the places I've been, the people I've met, the
things I've seen," Jack observed aloud, and joined Rose on the bed.
Rose turned to look at Jack.
Jack's eyes were still on all the
pictures in the bag. Rose watched him look at each picture, one at a time,
while a barely noticeable look of recall, a look of familiarity, would appear
in his blue eyes. She studied every feature of his face; his defined
cheekbones, his unruly, tousled blond hair, his well-shaped eyebrows, his
perceptive chin and strong jawbone, and his perfect, full lips that always
seemed to be curved upright into a little smile of some kind.
Jack caught Rose's stare, and
their eyes met and held each other for what seemed like hours, each just
studying the other, as if absorbing every single detail about the wonderful person
sitting in front of them.
A few minutes later, they were
holding each other, kissing passionately, stroking each others' faces, running
fingers through each other's hair. They made love.
*****
Rose rested comfortably beside
Jack for a few minutes, then carefully climbed over him to set her feet on the
floor so she could dress.
She finished dressing, but
decided to carry her shoes--her feet still felt so good after that foot
massage--and looked at Jack, who still slept peacefully. Wondering what time it
was, Rose looked around the room for a clock. There wasn't a clock in the tiny
room, but a simple pocket watch rested on the dresser. It was 10:03 PM.
She knew it was time for her to
go. Her mother had long since retired to her stateroom to dress for bed, and if
Rose didn't get back to do the same, her mother would have people looking for
her.
Jack hadn't made a sound, so she
fought with herself over waking him and telling him good-bye, or leaving him a
note of some sort telling him she'd see him in the morning.
Rose decided to wake him up
before she left. I'm so selfish! she thought. But I wouldn't feel
right just leaving him there without saying good night, at least!
She padded over to the bed, still
carrying her shoes in one hand.
Rose shook him gently. "Jack,"
she whispered. "Jack, sweetheart, it's time for me to go."
Jack slowly opened his eyes.
"What? What time is it? How long have I been sleeping?"
Rose smiled, looking at him.
"Don't worry. It's barely ten o'clock. I need to leave...thank you
for..." She paused, not knowing whether to thank him for showing her his
cabin, giving her the half-dollar coin, or for just being so amazing.
"Don't thank me, Rose. Thank
you."
He sat up, and they kissed. Rose
wished the kiss could go on forever. However, after a minute or two, she pulled
away and touched her hand to his face.
"Good night, my darling
Jack," she said softly.
Jack took her hand from his face
and slowly kissed each of her fingers.
"And good night to you, my
beautiful Rose."
Rose stood and walked across the
room, dimmed the lamp, opened the door, and whispered, "Sweet
dreams," as she quietly closed the door behind her.