ELUDING DESTINY
Chapter Eleven
The boy in the elevator tried to
pretend he wasn't staring at them. He caught Rose's eye once and looked away
quickly. Rose just grinned and moved even closer to Jack, who was studying the
floor nonchalantly.
He remembered them from the night
before. That much was obvious. Rose recalled how they'd dashed madly into the
elevator, his coat and her dress billowing, Lovejoy at their heels. Jack had
slammed the gates shut and they'd both stood laughing hysterically. And the
elevator boy had backed into the corner as though afraid of them.
Rose snickered; she couldn't help
it. Both Jack and the elevator boy glanced at her. "Sorry," Rose
murmured, struggling to keep a straight face. It was obvious they were all
thinking of the same thing.
The elevator stopped and the boy
slid open the gates, not bothering to hide his relief. "B-Deck," he
announced.
"Thank you," Rose and
Jack said simultaneously, stepping off the elevator with great ceremony. Once
the gates were closed behind them, they looked at each other and burst into
laughter. The hall stretching to their left and right was empty all the way
down, everyone in their staterooms dressing for dinner. Rose turned to look at
Jack, wiping tears from her eyes.
"I suppose I should
go," she said.
He nodded. "Yeah, they're
probably expecting you."
She sighed. "Well...good
night, then. And be careful."
He tipped her chin and kissed
her, closing his eyes, savoring the moment. "I'll be careful," he
murmured. "Don't worry."
"When will I see you
again?"
"I'll find you."
She smiled. "You always
do."
*****
"Hello, Mother," Rose
said as she strolled through the suite, intent on her bedroom.
Ruth whirled around, the flaps of
her dressing gown billowing. "Where--have--you--been?" she gasped.
"Not far," Rose said
maddeningly. "I'm going to dress for dinner now. Where is Trudy?"
"Right here, miss,"
Trudy said nervously, appearing from a far corner of the suite.
Rose smiled at her. "What do
you recommend for tonight?" she asked, guiding Trudy towards her room.
"I was thinking of the taffeta..."
"Rose, you come back here
right this instant!" Ruth said angrily. She stormed across the room and
grabbed Rose's elbow, spinning her around. Trudy disappeared into the shadows,
knowing a heated argument was imminent.
Mother and daughter faced each
other, eyes narrowed, arms crossed, identical expressions of anger on their
faces. "Now, I demand an explanation of your astonishing behavior!"
Ruth exclaimed. "You simply disappeared this morning and nobody has seen
you until now! I don't care how liberated you may feel, Rose. The fact remains
that I am still your mother and you are still my child, and therefore you will
obey me. Understood?"
"I'm sick and tired of you
thinking I'll come at your beck and call!" Rose snapped. "I actually
went and did what I wanted to today, and you know what? It was by far the most
wonderful day of my life. No luncheons...no gossip...no more conversations that
bored me out of my skull. Nobody that I had to impress or show off for. I was
actually happy all day, Mother--that's rare for me. So don't expect me to
apologize. I returned, I haven't eloped--hard to do on a ship--but if you keep
treating me as an inferior instead of an equal, don't expect me to stay around
much longer."
"I hardly think you're
planning on that anyway," Ruth said coolly, her face expressionless.
"Mother..." Rose
sighed, running her hands through her hair. "I love Jack. You know that. I
want to be with him. I'm happy with him. No, don't say anything--I've already
heard it all, remember? Just listen to me for a moment. I know you don't
approve of him. You think he's hardly worth the proverbial speck of dirt. So
far below me--us--that there is no comparison. So, instead, you tell me to
marry Cal. Cal and his millions, his manners, his fine reputation. But we both
know that looks are deceiving. Cal may appear to be a gentleman, but he isn't,
and you know that as well as I do. He's cruel and calculating and deceitful.
So, suddenly your class system falls to ruins. And if it works one way, can't
it work the other? If Cal, with all his money, can be nothing more than a
common scoundrel, can't Jack--the common man, the artist--be the true
gentleman?" She paused, studying her mother. Ruth stared at a point on the
wall somewhere over her left shoulder. Her eyes were blank, but she was
listening--for once, she was listening. "Because he is, Mother," Rose
said softly. "He is. In a million years, Cal couldn't be the gentleman
that Jack is, no matter how hard he tried. And so all I'm asking is for you to
accept Jack. You don't have to like him--he doesn't like you, either, so don't
worry about that. But just try to understand why I love him." Rose turned
away, calling for Trudy, and headed for her room. "You'd better hurry
up," she said over her shoulder. "Or we'll be late to dinner."