“…Rose?” A voice echoed in her head and she felt a soft hand on her face. Her vision was blurry and she felt as though she had been asleep for years. Her memory cleared and she remembered what had happened…Cal.
“Rose…come on. Hurry.” The voice came again and Rose opened her eyes wider, seeing Maria before her, shaking her. Rose jumped upright and saw Cal’s lifeless body beside her. She was about to scream until Maria stopped her by grabbing her arm and pulling her towards her. What had she done? Maria shook Rose to get her attention. “Rose, listen to me. I want you to go to Jack. I want you to leave Paris tonight and never return. Do you understand me?” she asked breathlessly, pulling the bloody sheets from the bed.
Rose frowned. Was she hearing right? She laughed a little, convinced she was dreaming. How could she just leave with Jack? “What?”
“Rose, you have to listen to me.” Maria raised her voice and looked Rose straight in the eye so that her attention was fully focused on her. “You go to Jack, tell him how you feel, and leave Paris tonight. This was a bad idea. You two are destined. Now, go.”
Rose didn’t even have time to think. Taking one look at Cal, she ran to the door, then looked back for a second at Maria. “What about everything here?”
“Consider it all sorted. If you go, make sure you are never found. Satine will never know anything. This will forever be our secret.” Maria looked down at Rose and saw that she was covered in Cal’s blood. “Shit.” She ran to the wardrobe and grabbed any coat she could find before digging into her corset to find the money she had earned that day, around three hundred francs. “Take this money and leave. Wear this coat until you reach Jack’s and then change and burn the dress. It’s covered in blood. Now, go.”
“But Maria, what about you? What about Cal?” Tears pricked her eyes. She didn’t know what to do. What if she was found? She had not yet fully recovered from fainting and her corset dug tighter into her.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve done this before.” She smiled a little at Rose. “I’m going to find somewhere for his body. He’s still breathing, so I don’t have much time. Just go. Don’t worry about me.”
Rose nodded, taking everything in before running out of the door. She ran through the winding corridors and avoided all of the other girls’ stares and didn’t look back. She reached the main entrance door and stopped just outside, buttoning up her coat and feeling the chill of the evening and the rain pouring down on her.
She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, heading for Jack’s place. Nothing ran through her mind except the fact that she was free to see Jack. Tears spilled from her eyes from the shock of the evening, but it was over now, thanks to Maria.
Her heels clacked on the pavement and her dress was soaked at the bottom because of the rain, but she didn’t care. Her hair flew about her and her breathing quickened as Jack’s house came into full view.
Running up the steps, she stopped for a second to catch her breath and collect her thoughts. She didn’t know what to expect. Would he actually still want her after she had shunned him earlier? Her head whirled and she felt sick and dizzy from the day’s events, but she didn’t care at this moment in time. All she wanted was to see Jack. Picking up her skirts, she continued to run up the last flight of stairs, feeling completely out of breath. Her heels clacked loudly on the floor as she ran.
When Jack’s door was in sight, it opened and he emerged with a look of confusion on his face. He had heard the sobs and the clacking of the heels on the stairs and had come to see what all of the noise was about.
Rose was there. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her and leaped into his arms, crying hysterically. He did nothing but hold her in his arms.
“I couldn’t do it, Jack. I—I—” She trailed off, unable to breathe, just thankful to be in his arms. Her makeup had run and tear tracks were visible on her porcelain cheeks. Jack shushed her and pulled her back into his arms, feeling tears in his own eyes. “I couldn’t go through with it.” She struggled to breathe and pulled away from Jack, feeling her stomach and chest tighten. She undid her coat quickly and put her hand over her stomach in an attempt to calm herself.
Jack felt his breathing almost stop as he saw the huge bloodstain down her dress.
“Rose, who did this to you?” He felt tears running down his cheeks, thinking Rose had been hurt.
“No, no. It’s Cal…” She breathed heavily and felt herself become dizzy once again. Jack took her hand in his and she leaned against him. “Cal was on me, and trying to…” She broke down in hysterics, remembering what had happened just half an hour before. “He was on me, and I couldn’t breathe. He wouldn’t get off me, and I screamed and blacked out. Maria hit him over the head with a doorstop after she heard me scream. That’s where the blood is from.”
Jack struggled to believe any of the events of the night. “Maria hit him? Is he dead?”
Rose shook her head violently. “No, but Maria told me to leave, that she would deal with everything. She told me to come to you and tell you that I love you and for us to go away together and never come back here…so I’m here, Jack…” She fought for her breath, the words tumbling out of her mouth so fast Jack could barely comprehend them. It was silent between them for a few seconds and they just looked each other in the eyes. “I’m here, Jack, to tell you that I love you, too,” she finally managed.
A smile came across both their faces. Jack gently touched her face. He traced the tracks of her tears with his right index finger before leaning forward and kissing her gently. She immediately came forward, leaned against his body, and put her arms around his waist. This was what she had been waiting for, just for this moment right now. When Cal had been kissing her, she had pictured this, the tenderness of Jack’s kiss. She felt herself shake and a tear fell down her cheek. Jack pulled away from her and wiped it away.
“I love you, Rose, more than anything,” he whispered to her, touching her face with a smile playing on his lips. “We’ll go to England. We’ll go tomorrow and leave Paris behind.”
Rose’s heart began to beat faster, from both nerves and excitement. She couldn’t wait to leave Paris to be with Jack and to escape the trouble here, but there was so much Jack was leaving behind. “But you have a house here. What about Fabrizio?”
Jack smiled. “The rent’s paid up here for this week. I don’t intend on telling anybody where I am going. Fabrizio can come with us.”
“We have to leave before sunrise, Jack, and I have to burn this dress.” Rose saw the blood once again and thought of Cal. She wondered if he had awakened yet, if he was looking for her. Her heart began to beat faster.
“I want you to take a bath, wipe the makeup from your face, refresh yourself. I will find you a dress that you left here, then make us a little something to eat. I’ll wait for Fabri to wake up and then explain everything to him.” Rose nodded, taking in Jack’s instructions. She was about to walk in the direction of the bathroom when she remembered something. Reaching into the pocket of her coat, she pulled out the wad of bills that Maria had given her to get away from Paris. She held it out in her hand and Jack looked at it in disbelief.
“Holy shit, Rose. Where did you get that money?”
“Maria gave it to me to get away from Paris. I thought you’d be better at safekeeping it than me.” Jack took the money from her hand and looked around the room to find something, anything to do with it. He hadn’t handled so much money since his days fighting. Eventually, he stuffed the bills into the pocket of his coat and hoped no one found it.
“I cannot believe any of this.” Jack held his head for a moment, feeling a headache. It was around ten at night and Fabrizio was asleep on the sofa.
“I’m so sorry,” Rose apologized, glancing down, feeling she was to blame. “I wish it was all so simple, but it’s not, and I brought you all trouble.”
“No, Rose, you didn’t. You brought light into my life. You are everything to me,” he whispered, coming closer to her. They both felt their hearts race. His blue eyes shone in the dim light of the kitchen and she felt herself falling into them more than ever before. She broke eye contact with him for a second and turned her head towards the bathroom. She had to take a bath and eat a little before sunrise.
Jack filled the bathtub with a mixture of cold water and hot water that he had boiled on the stove. The bathtub was tin and very uncomfortable, but Jack had been happy to have a bath at all when he had moved into the house. Steam floated from the water in the tub and Rose could not wait to wash herself after having Cal all over her. She removed her dress the best she could and let it fall to the floor, but then remembered she was wearing a corset which Maria had laced tightly. Stepping out of her heels, she removed her stockings and threw them to the floor. Next, she attempted to untie the corset at the back, but no matter how hard she tried, her hands wouldn’t reach. She felt frustrated. She wasn’t even able to undress herself properly. A quiet knock sounded at the bathroom door and Rose jumped.
“Rose, I have a dress for you. I’ll leave it outside the door,” Jack said softly.
“Actually…” Rose thought for a moment. How else was she going to get out of her corset? “Jack, could you help me?”
Jack didn’t know what she meant by help. He didn’t know how he would react if he walked into the bathroom and she was naked. He remained silent for a moment, thinking about what to say, but instead he slowly opened the door and saw Rose struggling with her corset.
“I can’t get out of this damned thing.” She attempted to reach the tie at the back. Jack stood in awe for a few moments. He had never seen her in so little clothing and he felt his heart beat faster. “I know you’ve probably never done it before, but could you untie me?”
Jack thought of something to say, anything. He thought about his words before he spoke them, not wanting to stutter. “Sure,” he said simply. He placed her dress on the floor and stood behind her. The laces went all the way from the top to the bottom of her back and looked terribly complicated. It was as though she had been put in a straitjacket.
“You just pull the lace out from the top to the bottom,” she explained, feeling a little nervous for some reason. It wasn’t as though she was in the nude. She was wearing her corset. Jack began to unlace the garment as gently as he could, but still tugged on the lace, causing Rose to fall backward a little. She held her hands over her stomach to stop the corset from falling to the floor when it was unlaced. It felt so good to be getting out of the garment she had been wearing all evening. She felt restricted and in pain from it. He felt his hands trembling slightly, her bare back coming into view as he continued to unlace the garment.
“Done,” he told her, smiling. He could feel his uneven breathing as she turned to face him. Her curls cascaded down her shoulders. She was wearing just her corset with her hands around her chest area to keep the garment from falling to the floor. She looked at him and gave him a small smile, almost shyly. He stepped towards her, not exactly knowing why, just feeling he had to be close to her. She was nothing short of perfect, and he couldn’t believe she returned the feelings he had for her. She lowered her lashes before their eyes met and interlocked. Silence fell upon them for several seconds, both of them feeling their hearts pound.
Suddenly, Jack could take no more. He had to kiss her and be close to her. He pulled her body towards his and their lips met, but this time it wasn’t soft. It was full of passion. Rose kept one hand over her corset, but placed her other arm around his waist. Jack touched her face as he kissed her, making her stomach churn heavily. Neither of them knew what this would lead to. It was as if passion had exploded inside both of them and all they wanted was each other.
Jack kissed Rose’s neck breathlessly. She pushed him away slightly. He looked at her with confusion on his face. He thought he had hurt her or moved too fast, but she ran her hand up his shirt and began to unbutton it slowly, one by one, with the one hand she wasn’t using to hold her corset up.
He trembled more, looking down and swallowing heavily. He couldn’t believe she was doing this. Once his shirt was unbuttoned, she ran her hand across his bare chest and stomach. His muscles were tight from fighting and he had little hair. He was tanned and the most beautiful man she had ever seen. She wanted him. She knew that.
Jack pulled Rose to him and removed her hand from her corset, pressing her naked chest against his. He wrapped his arms around her, keeping their torsos pressed together. He pressed her against the wall and kissed her again. She ran her fingers through his hair, feeling her hands shake. She had never been naked in any way in front of a man, but now she felt as though she was ready.
She could feel cold shivers running down her back as he kissed her neck before slowing the kiss down as they caught their breaths. His tongue began to play with hers and he felt his whole body throb for her, for his Rose. Pressed against each other, he could feel her breasts against his naked chest. He hadn’t looked. He hadn’t dared.
His breathing grew rapider as he heard Rose moan a little. He opened his eyes as he kissed her neck and shoulders before stopping. Rose turned her head a little and looked at him with concerned eyes.
He shook his head a little. He couldn’t do this, not here or now. He looked at Rose, at her beautiful face. She was just sixteen. He wanted to wait, for them both to wait. He wanted any lovemaking they did to be special.
“We can’t, Rose,” he whispered breathlessly.
Rose swallowed, feeling dejected. “Why not?”
He leaned forward and kissed her just once on her lips, still catching his breath. “Because I want it to be special with you. I want to take my time. I don’t want to make love in a tiny bathroom with Fabrizio in the next room.”
Rose looked down, feeling her heart ache a little. Jack lifted her chin with his index finger. “This isn’t what you deserve, darling. I do want you, so much, but not here. Not like this.”
She nodded, understanding. It wasn’t the most romantic of places. They had just let themselves get carried away. “I thought you didn’t want me,” she confessed.
“Oh, Rose. I do. God, I want you. But I have never done anything like this with a girl before, and I want you to be my first and only, and I think we should wait.”
“I guess so. I want that, too.”
Jack studied her face and touched it gently, their bodies still pressed together. “Rose, I love you so much. You are stunning, and when God made you the perfect woman that you are, I cannot believe he sent you to me.”
Rose felt tears in her eyes from the sincerity of his words. No one had ever told her anything like that before in her life. “Maybe it’s destiny,” she whispered, smiling.
Leaning towards her slightly, he kissed her forehead. “Maybe it is.”