A LOVE NEVER FADING
Chapter Eleven
Gently, the door opened, to reveal a young
man, about twenty-seven, standing in his pants, dress shirt, and loosened tie.
"Can I help you?" he asked, without much emotion.
Jack felt a bit intimidated, but never lost
sight of what he was there for. "Yes. We are here about the room."
"Ah, yes. Please come in." This
time he answered with a much happier tone.
"Thanks," Jack answered as he
guided Rose into the corridor of the home. Rose surveyed the area she was now
standing in. Directly in front of her was a staircase leading up to a loft type
balcony that had a door on the left wall. She assumed the door lead to the room
that was for rent. On the opposite sides of her were two doorways. The one on
the left led to a living room. The one on the right led to the dining room.
Rose thought the house must have been much larger then it appeared from the
outside.
Jack was busy studying the young man who
stood with them in the room. Suddenly, a voice came from the family room.
"Who is it, dear?"
A girl, about twenty-three, walked out to see
who had been knocking on her door.
"Maggie, this is...I'm sorry, I didn't
catch your name."
"Jack and Rose Dawson." For the
first time in his life, Jack introduced Rose as his wife.
"Well, I assume you're here about the
room," said the bubbly young girl.
"Yes." Rose looked at the young
couple. They seemed so friendly. When Maggie looked into Rose and Jack's eyes,
her heart broke. She could tell something terribly tragic had just happened.
Their outward appearance was just as sad looking. However, she said nothing.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Brian
Fagin, and this is my wife Margaret--Maggie for short." He stuck out his
hand to greet the visitors. Jack shook the gentleman's hand and felt that this
was going to be the start of something wonderful. Rose felt the same way when
she shook Maggie's hand.
"Well, follow me. I'll show you the
room, and then you can make the decision if you would like to stay here or
not." Maggie took a key off the wall, and just as Rose predicted, started
up the stairs with Brian, Jack, and Rose in tow. Maggie described the room as
they walked upstairs. "It's a good, clean living area. And very private.
There are curtains on all the windows. And don't worry about noise. Not much
sound escapes these walls, and not much sound gets through them, either."
When Jack and Rose entered the room, they
were shocked at what they saw. "But this isn't a room. This is an
apartment." Rose was overjoyed with the picturesque setting. There was a
bedroom, a small but very practical kitchen, and a quaint living area.
Jack felt a little uneasy. The room seemed
much too nice for a couple to be giving up. "We couldn't possibly take
this space away from you," Jack stated in a tone as if he was refusing the
offer.
"Nonsense." Brian was more than
happy to see that the room would be of use to somebody. "You see, this is
where Maggie and I used to live. Maggie's father lived downstairs. When he
died, we moved down there. And we thought about it and decided that downstairs
is big enough for the two of us. So we came to the agreement that the room
could be of some use to someone else. And it looks like you two are the someone
else."
Jack and Rose were ecstatic. Not in their
wildest dreams did they think that they would find themselves in such a perfect
situation. With such wonderful people. But then the smile dropped from their
faces, when at the same time, they remembered that they had no money.
Jack took Rose's hand and sadly stated,
"We're sorry, but we cannot accept this room. You see, we recently lost
all of our possessions in a terrible tragedy. Therefore, we are unable to pay
you for your generous offer." Jack was ashamed at having to say that. He
held his head down and began to walk out.
Brian stuck out his hand to stop Rose and
Jack from leaving. "We aren't going to charge for staying here,"
Maggie said.
"Oh, no. We can't just let you do
that," answered Rose.
"Please. We want you to stay here with
us. We have been looking for the perfect boarders, and you two are they. We can
tell." Maggie looked at them with pleading eyes.
"But this is a mansion. We owe you
something." Jack felt like he was robbing them.
"This is a shoebox compared to
downstairs." Brian thought for a moment. "All right. You think you
owe us something? Then here is what you can give us. Promise us you'll be great
friends with us, and when you move out let us come visit you as often as we like,
and when Maggie has children baby-sit for us. Those things would mean more to
us, and are worth more, than all the money in the world."
Jack and Rose looked into each other's eyes,
which said it all. "All right. We'll stay," Jack answered. Brian
replied to that with a strong handshake for Jack and a quick peck on the cheek
for Rose. Maggie gave hugs to everyone.
"We'll leave you two alone to get
settled. If you need anything, we will be downstairs," Maggie said as she
and Brian began to shut the door. "Oh, I forgot one thing." She
opened the door wide again. "Here is your key, and at the moment there is
no food in the kitchen, so we would like you to join us for meals downstairs.
For the time being, that is." Maggie smiled and shut the door.
When they were finally alone, Jack took Rose
into his arms. "Oh Jack, this is wonderful."
"I told you we would be all right."
"I love you, Jack."
"I love you, Rose."
Jack began kissing Rose. The one and only
thought in their minds at that very moment was How perfect things have
turned out to be.