A LOVE NEVER FADING
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jack and Erik both looked up when the door
opened. Jack smiled when he saw Rose. Erik smiled at Jack's reaction to seeing
her. Every other man in the room turned to look at the vision that had just
come into their presence.
Rose spotted Jack, and her face lit up. She
quickly walked over to the booth which held him and Erik. Tim followed her and
they both slid into the seat. "I was worried you weren't going to
come," Jack said.
Rose smiled. "You wouldn't believe it. I
was sitting out at the counter for fifteen minutes. I didn't know there was
another room back here. Thank goodness Tim here started to talk to me. He was
the one who told me where everyone was."
Tim watched the scene unfolding in front of
him. "Did they already know each other?" he thought to himself.
Jack smiled at Tim. "Well, thank you for
finding her for me."
"Sure, no problem." Tim still had
no idea what was going on between the two of them. Then, suddenly, he watched
in horror as Jack and Rose gently kissed one another. It wasn't a long kiss,
but it was enough for Tim's heart to rip in two. Much to his dismay, Jack took
Rose's hand in his own. Then Tim saw something he hadn't noticed before. Rose
lifted her left hand to brush a curl from her eye. On her finger was a
beautiful diamond ring. "Oh, God. Dawson! That's his last name! They're
married."
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you,
Rose. I was admiring Jack's drawing of you this morning. But I must say you are
far more beautiful in person." Erik smiled.
Rose blushed. "Thank you."
Tim felt like he was about to die. He needed
to get everything straight. "So you two are married?"
Rose looked over and smiled gently.
"Yes, we are." She twitched a little. It was beginning to bother her,
telling everyone that she and Jack were married. It wasn't exactly a lie. They
might as well have been married. She knew they couldn't say that they weren't
married, because the fact that they were living together would cause a huge
uproar. But Jack had promised her that very soon they would be officially
married.
"Oh," Tim said quietly.
Suddenly, music started to play. Erik looked
over to the band that always played at the restaurant. They had started up a
familiar tune. "Say, Rose. Care to dance with an old man like me?"
"Why, certainly." She smiled. Tim
stood up to let Rose out. He felt a wave of heat spread through his body when
she brushed against him. Erik took her hand and led her to the middle of the
room. A few other couples had gathered there, too. It was basically just friends
dancing for fun.
Tim and Jack looked on. "You better
watch out. Erik is quite the lady killer." He was trying to make light of
the situation that was slowly and very painfully killing him.
"I can tell. It seems that if Rose ever
had to choose between me and Erik I would be left out in the cold." Jack
laughed. Tim smiled, but he was still extremely unhappy.
"If I were you, I would guard a women
like Rose with my life. She sure is something. I hope you know how lucky you
are." Tim looked at Jack very seriously.
Jack was puzzled. Tim seemed almost angry at
him. "Believe me, I am fully aware of how lucky I am. I would never let
anyone get between me and Rose." He looked over at her. She was laughing
as Erik spun her around.
"You know something, Rose? You are the
second most beautiful woman I have ever seen." Erik smiled at the young
girl.
"Thank you. Would you mind me asking who
the first is?"
"That would be my wife, Betsy."
"You're married? I would love to meet
her."
"And I would love for you to meet her,
but sadly she passed away three years ago."
"Oh, Erik, I'm so sorry. I didn't
know."
"It's all right, dear. I had
thirty-seven wonderful years with her."
"Thirty-seven years! You don't even look
forty-five."
"Rose, I'm beginning to love you more
and more. I am actually fifty-eight years old. We married when we were
eighteen. You and Jack remind me very much of us at that age. When did you and
he marry?"
"We...um..." Rose had always feared
this would happen. What would she say? Luckily, the music stopped. "Look at
that. The music's stopped. Why don't we get back to our seats?" She
quickly walked back to their corner and slid in next to Jack. Tim frowned. He
had hoped she would return to her old position next to him.
Erik stood on the dance floor. He wondered
why Rose had avoided his question. That wasn't that only thing that bothered
him. Rose carried herself so regally. She just seemed like she belonged on the
society page of The New York Times. Jack was obviously a poor fellow.
And one major red flag was the fact that Rose wore only an engagement ring, no
wedding band. He shook away his worries and returned to the table.
The four ate dinner together. Nobody seemed
to notice Tim's frowning. Erik never tried to bring up the couple's past. They
were obviously keeping a secret. He felt if they wanted to share it, they
would. There was no need to pry. During the meal, person after person came up
to introduce themselves to Rose and Jack. After a few hours, the conversations
began to end. "Well, I think I better go pay the bill." Erik stood up
and walked into the main restaurant.
"He's not paying for the whole thing, is
he?" Jack asked, dumbfounded.
Tim looked over at the door. "He sure
is. He does every time. Erik has a lot of money. He doesn't like to say it, but
he's rich. He shares the wealth."
"What a sweet man." Rose smiled.
"Well, if you will excuse me, I need to freshen up before we go
home." She left to find the bathroom.
Jack decided to go wait for her. "It was
nice meeting you, Tim. I'll see you at work." He stood up and shook Tim's
hand. "Good-bye." Jack also walked out of the room.
Tim sat at the table and sighed. He had just
met the woman of his dreams. And she slipped through his fingers. It would be a
long walk home tonight.
*****
Rose looked at herself in the mirror. She
splashed some water on her face and fixed her hair. "There, that looks
good." She smiled approvingly at her reflection. As she pushed open the
door, she felt a hand go around her wrist and pull her out into the hallway. In
one action she was up against the wall.
"Boo!"
"Jack! You scared me to death." She
couldn't help but smile as he kissed her neck.
"I didn't hurt you, did I?" He
frowned.
"No." She kissed the top of his
head as he ran his mouth behind her ear. "But you did almost give me a
heart attack."
He stopped kissing her and gazed into her
eyes. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to kiss you so badly all through dinner,
and I knew it would be inappropriate. So when you said you were going to the
bathroom, I knew it was down the hallway, and no one would see if I kissed you
here." He gave her puppy dog eyes. "You can't be angry about
that." She smiled. But Jack saw that something was bothering her.
"Rose, what's the matter?" He rested his hand on her cheek.
"I'm afraid of getting caught." She
looked down.
"Rose, we were just kissing. Nobody saw
us anyway, and even if they did, I don't think they would mind..." He was
interrupted by her light giggle.
"That's not what I meant. When I was
dancing with Erik, he asked me when you and I were married. I'm afraid somebody
will find out we're not married. You know what people will say about us living
together."
"Oh." Jack moved his hand to the
back of her head, so that it was sandwiched in between her hair and the wall.
"I've been thinking about that. How do you feel about September?"
Her eyes lit up. "Oh, Jack. Really, you
mean it?"
"Of course I mean it, but I want you to
be happy with the time." He smiled at her.
"September is perfect." She wrapped
her arms around his neck. "I love you so much. I can't wait to be the real
Rose Dawson."
"You've been the real Rose Dawson since
April." He looked at her and saw that she had tears in her eyes. "Why
are you crying?"
"Because I'm so happy." She smiled
at him. Then his lips captured hers in a passionate embrace.
"Let's go home." Jack whispered in
her ear. "I know you're just itching to tell Maggie about the
wedding."
"Jack Dawson, you know me all too
well." She laughed, and they walked down the hallway. As they turned, they
ran smack into Erik. "Excuse us." Rose blushed in embarrassment.
"It's all right. I should have watched
where I was going. Good-bye. I'll see you tomorrow, Jack." Erik walked right
past them.
Jack and Rose looked at each other with
question. Erik seemed very distracted. They didn't let it spoil their happy
mood. And they walked out into the night.
Erik sighed in the bathroom mirror. He
couldn't believe what he just heard. So Jack and Rose weren't married after
all. He wasn't angry. He was sympathetic. They were obviously very much in
love. They were more in love than any two people he had ever known. But it was
sad that they were so frightened that people would find out about them not
being married. He really wanted to help them out, but he decided to wait for
Jack to tell him.
*****
Tim watched the two figures embrace under the
street lamp. The man gingerly brushed hair from the woman's face. He moved his
mouth to her ear and whispered something to her. A silver laughed escaped her
lips, but it was stopped when the man pressed his mouth against hers. His
caressed her neck and back. Then, he ran his hands up and down her arms. Even
in the heat, she had goosebumps in every place he touched. They fit together
perfectly. Tim could feel the lump in his throat. He turned and walked in the
opposite direction. He couldn't watch Rose any longer. It was too painful. He
never thought it possible to find and lose love so quickly.