Ruth
I was still in New York almost two weeks later, waiting on news that Jason had finished the task that I had assigned him. He had asked me to meet him at a café near the hotel for lunch today to update me on his progress. Realizing what time it was, I summoned an attendant from the hotel to help me get ready. After getting dressed, I sat down to collect my thoughts before I left to meet Jason. I wanted my daughter back. I didn’t care how it happened. Rose would be upset at first, but eventually she’d come to realize that what I did was for her own good. She was a lady of breeding and not some common filth that walks the streets every day. She deserved a life better than what that Dawson kid could ever give her.
It was nearing lunch and my stomach began to rumble. After locating my handbag and my shawl, I looked once more at the pictures of Rose and the Metcalfe girl on my bed and sighed. “You’ll be home soon enough.” Rose would be home where she belonged. She just didn’t know it yet.
I left the hotel and started out towards the café where Jason had asked me to meet him. It wasn’t too far away from the hotel so rather than summons a cab or a driver, I chose to walk. The café was almost empty and the waitress told me to find a seat anywhere and she’d be with me in a minute. I scanned the patrons for Jason, but he wasn’t here yet. Looking up at the clock above the counter, I realized I was early. I walked towards the back of the building and sat near a large window that overlooked the docks and the ocean. The sunlight was reflecting off of the water and was leaving reflections on the wall that moved with the crashing of the waves. A few smaller ships were in the docks, but for the most part, it was fairly empty.
The waitress came over and after dropping a menu on my table and getting my drink order, I heard the jingle of the bell hanging off the front door handle as the door opened. Not bothering to look up from my menu, I didn’t really find it necessary to look to see who it was.
“James! You’re getting so big!” A familiar voice was on the opposite side of the restaurant. I couldn’t quite place it.
“He’s just like his father and is getting better every day.”
That voice I knew. I looked around my menu and there was my Rose. She was handing her child off to the Metcalfe girl. The menu fell out of my hand and with a loud noise, fell to the ground. I quickly picked it back up before Rose turned around to see what was going on. It took all I had and then some not to rush over to her, snatch her by the wrist and drag her outside. I remained still, and hidden behind the menu, listened in.
“He is getting big. Anna isn’t that far off from him.” I looked up to see the Metcalfe girl speak, but she didn’t have her baby with her, and instead, was holding my grandson. “Harry has really been a gem the past few days. I just haven’t felt well at all. Stress of Anna teething on top of me being ill, it’s just been too much. This is the first time I’ve gotten out in almost two weeks.”
Rose smiled at my grandson and handed a bottle to the Metcalfe girl. “You are still looking a bit pale. But your energy seems to be returning.” She looked outside the window near where they were sitting. “Where did Jack and Harry go? They were right behind us?” I watched in amazement as my grandson’s hands reached up for the bottle she held. Rose smiled in a way I haven’t seen her smile since she was a child. It was a true and honest smile.
“I’m not sure.” The Metcalfe girl peered out the window behind Rose that overlooked the docks. “Weren’t they checking in with the dock master on the arrival of their next ship? I heard Harry say something about tomorrow or the next day.”
Rose shook her head, “I don’t remember. It’s hard enough to keep up with their schedules as it is. Plus Jack will stop and talk to anyone. I sent him to the market yesterday for a few items. He came back an hour later and forgot half of what I needed. I had to send him again and this time, I wrote it down so he wouldn’t forget.” Rose stopped as the waitress came to their table. “Water for me. My husband is on his way. Iced tea for him.”
The waitress turned her attention to the Metcalfe girl. After thinking momentarily, she softly spoke “Two glasses of iced tea, please.” The waitress nodded her head and walked off to get their drinks. “Harry isn’t as bad, but there are not many people in this world he can’t befriend. He just has one of those personalities.” The waitress appeared again with the glasses. She set them down and the Metcalfe girl took a drink and then continued. “Oh, did Jack say anything about your wedding anniversary coming up? Harry has something planned for me, but won’t tell me what. He just asked if Shannon was going to be out of school so she could watch Anna. If Jack has something planned for you too, I’m sure she won’t mind watching James as well.”
I was watching intently and didn’t pay any attention when the door opened again. I wondered who Shannon was at first, but when the door slammed shut, my eyes fell upon two men walking in. I recognized the Dawson kid immediately and my blood began to boil. I felt my face begin to heat up as I watched him sit next to Rose and kiss her. He turned to the Metcalfe girl and she reached across the table to hand him my grandchild. My grandchild responded by gurgling at his father and waving his hands madly as if he was trying to tell his father about his day. I felt a pang of jealousy and rage as I thought to myself that the kid he was holding should have been Cal’s, if not for Rose’s insanity on board Titanic.
Mr. Lowe turned to his wife and greeted her the same way as Dawson did my daughter. The pudgy cheeked girl Mr. Lowe had started babbling at the Metcalfe girl as soon as Mr. Lowe sat down. She scooted her chair over closer to him and put her head on his shoulder. Mr. Lowe reached around his wife and put his arm across her shoulders. “You still feel a bit feverish.” He motioned for Rose to take the baby and after she did, he stopped to bring his other hand near her neck. “Do you still feel bad?”
She nodded slowly, “A little. I’m still very weak from being ill the past couple weeks. My appetite hasn’t returned to normal just yet, but it’s slowly but surely coming. The chicken soup here is pretty good, or so I’ve been told.” She pointed to something on the menu then the waitress appeared. After getting the group’s order, she took off, brushing past me, then stopping to ask if I was ready. I waved her away, telling her I wasn’t quite ready to order yet. She nodded and went to the kitchen to give the order to the cooks.
I looked up in time to see Jason coming through the door. He looked around and after spotting the four of them, almost shut the door and left. He saw me in the back and quickly sat down with me. “What are they doing here?” His voice was hushed and low.
I shrugged. “Chance meeting? I don’t know. They arrived here shortly after I did. Are you planning on doing something now, or what?”
Jason shook his head. “No, not right now. I’ve got my plan worked out, but it’s too crowded here. Just trust me, please.” He motioned to bring the waitress over. “Coffee fresh?” She nodded and went to get him a cup.
I waited until she had come and gone before I started speaking again. “I’m getting frustrated with the situation. My daughter is merely forty feet away and do you know how taxing it is on me not to go over and get her?” I began to stand up.
“Mrs. Bukater, please let me…” Jason’s voice was louder than it should be.
Rose’s head turned around to find the source of the voice that called out the familiar name. “Oh my God!” She looked absolutely horrified. “What the hell!?”
The Metcalfe girl and Mr. Lowe both looked up at the same time the Dawson kid did. The Dawson kid and the Metcalfe girl both recognized me as evident by the horrified looks on their faces. Dawson’s face was already blood red.
“Someone want to tell me who the hell is that and why the three of you are so upset? Rose, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
My daughter looked at Mr. Lowe, “I have. Harry, I…Oh…Why…Oh…” She couldn’t finish her sentence. She started to stand up, but the Dawson kid stopped her. She sat back down.
Taking that as my cue, I got out of my seat. Jason tried to stop me, but this was the moment I’ve been waiting nearly two years to experience. “Rose? It is you!” I started to reach my hand out to touch her cheek, but she slapped my hand away. My hand knocked the tea glass in front of Mr. Lowe over, spilling it over the Metcalfe girl. She stood up suddenly and the chair she was in flipped over. Her daughter, frightened by the noise started to cry and Rose held the baby out until her mother could get her. The Metcalfe girl held the baby close and started to rock her to calm her while trying to wipe the wet tea off of her dress with a cloth.
“What in the hell are you doing here?” Rose shifted my grandson out of my line of sight. “What do you want?”
“Is that my grandson?” I peered around Rose, trying to get a better look at him. His green eyes were fixated on me, trying to figure out who I was. Sensing his mother was upset, he turned his attention towards her, trying to get some sort of reassurance.
“The hell it is. He isn’t your anything. This is my son. My son and Jack’s son. The only grandparent he knows is Torie’s father and if Torie’s mother were alive, he’d be calling her his grandmother, not you. I would rather die a thousand deaths than have my son know what a pathetic excuse for a mother you were to me. As far as I’m concerned, you’re dead to me. You have been since I died on Titanic.”
“Rose DeWitt Bukater! You are not dead nor did you die on Titanic. I did not raise my daughter to speak to me in such a manner!” I was furious. Never in my life has she ever raised her voice at me. Her manners and finishing school training had evidently been long forgotten after being with the Dawson kid for so long. “I am still your mother young lady!”
Rose scoffed. “The hell you are. My mother is dead. Just like my father. My whole family is right here with me.” Rose waved her hand over her shoulder to indicate the Dawson kid, her son, the Metcalfe girl and her husband and their baby. “My name is not Rose DeWitt Bukater. It’s Rose Dawson. Hear that, Dawson.” She turned around to walk off, still holding on to the baby, but I caught her by the sleeve of her dress.
“You are to leave here with me at once. Your fiancé is waiting on you.” I started to walk out the door with Jason and my daughter when Mr. Lowe and the Dawson kid stepped in between us.
“My wife will be staying her with the only family she’s got.” Dawson’s eyes were almost as fierce as my daughter’s. Rose struggled free of my grip and stood behind Mr. Lowe and Dawson next to the Metcalfe girl. She handed my grandson to the Metcalfe girl. She in turn handed my grandson to Mr. Lowe as she already had her daughter in one arm. Her daughter was beginning to fuss over the noise we were making. My grandson was fussy as well and she couldn’t handle both children at once. Mr. Lowe took my grandson and held him, rocking him gently as Dawson continued. “You are not welcome here. Now take your new servant and go.”
Jason spoke up, “I may work for Mrs. DeWitt Bukater, but I am not her servant. I’m here to attend to something else.” He nodded at me and excused himself. He walked out the door to the restaurant and I watched as he walked in the direction of the hotel until he was out of my line of sight.
My eyes shifted back to my daughter and her situation. “Where have your manners gone? You were not raised like this. We all thought you were dead. We held a funeral for you. We mourned for you. What did you think you were doing? I raised you better than this!”
Rose scoffed. “You didn’t raise me. Our attendants did. Remember? You and Father were too busy drinking our family fortune away. Only after he died did you turn around and realize no suitor in his right mind would take me and a drunken loser for a mother. And I did die. Rose DeWitt Bukater did die on Titanic. She’s no longer a part of me. Rose Dawson is who I was reborn as. You’d hardly understand how someone as rich as Cal couldn’t give me half of what Jack can. Money doesn’t buy happiness, Mother, but that’s a lesson you’ll obviously never learn. I have no regrets about letting my past go down with that ship. I am happy. I’m where I was born to be. Too bad you’ll never understand that. Cal didn’t understand it either when he paid me a most unwelcome visit back a few months ago. I showed him my finishing school etiquette by throwing a right hook directly at his check. Now unless you want the same, get out of my sight.” The Dawson kid looked confused at Rose first, then at the Metcalfe girl who just shrugged and waved her hand at him, signaling she’d tell him what that meant later. Rose’s green eyes were fierce with anger. She turned to grab the Dawson kid’s hand and started to walk off. The Metcalfe girl and her husband weren’t far behind.
Mr. Lowe shifted my grandson to his other arm, protectively moving him away from me. He turned to look at me before he followed his wife and my daughter out of the restaurant. “If I ever see you, that bastard Hockley or anyone associated with either of you near Rose again, I’ll file charges. The same goes with Jack or my wife and daughter or my wife’s family. You are no longer welcome here. Is this understood?” His thick Welsh accent was laced with as much anger and hatred as Rose’s voice was. After holding the door open for Rose and the Dawson kid, they left. The Metcalfe girl looked at her husband once more as she and her daughter went out, followed by Mr. Lowe.
“This won’t be the last time you see me. Rest assured.” My voice was weak but firm. I watched as my daughter and the only family she claimed walked off. Rose got the baby back from Mr. Lowe outside of the café. They walked off into the afternoon not even bothering to cast a glance back my way.
I was going to get my daughter back, one way or another. I gathered my handbag and shawl and after leaving more money than was necessary on the table for the bill, I walked off towards the hotel, eager to find out what Jason had in store.