A LOVE NEVER FADING
Chapter Thirty-One
"What a glorious shot. That was in Santa
Monica?"
"It sure was. It's hard to believe that
was three months ago." Jack fondly stared at the picture of Rose. It was
one of the many they had from their honeymoon. In this one she was sitting on
the pier with the sun behind her and had a dazzling smile on her face. He liked
to keep photos of her at work with him. Erik had cleared out an old storage
room and turned it into an office for Jack. It had his sketches and photos of
Maggie, Brian, and Rose everywhere. Erik often came in to talk with him. Right
now he was sitting on the couch admiring the new photos from Santa Monica.
Jack started telling him about each photo.
The ones from horse back riding. The ones at the flying field. Ones from their
day at the pier. Erik was delighted with every one. He was glad to see his
money had been very well spent. Their conversation was interrupted by a knock
at the door.
"Come in," Jack said. He smiled
when he saw who there. "Hey, Tim. What can I do for you?"
Since Jack had been hired, he and Tim Calvert
had formed a close friendship. They never really spoke outside of work, but Tim
was a great guy. As well as they got along, though, Jack always felt like deep
down Tim resented him for some reason. Whenever those feelings came up, Jack
pushed them aside. He couldn't think of any reason Tim would envy him. Besides,
Tim was never anything but kind to him.
"Hey, Jack. Hi, Erik." Tim smiled.
"Well, I better be going. I have a
theater to run." Erik gave his farewells and left Jack's office.
"I hope I'm not interrupting," Tim
said as he sat down on the couch.
"No. Don't worry. I was just showing
Erik some of the photos from Rose and my trip."
"Oh, yeah. The one you took back in
September." Tim picked up one of the photos. He felt that familiar pinch
in his heart. It was the one he always got when he saw Jack and Rose together.
The photo didn't help much. It was Jack holding Rose tightly from behind. He
had his head resting on her shoulder. And she was smiling brightly. I'll
never be that close to her, he thought.
Since he first met Rose his feelings for her
had only gotten stronger. At first he thought it might just be a fleeting
infatuation. But in the five months he had known her, he knew the only thing he
felt for her was love. It wasn't unusual for Rose to come down to the theater.
He loved when she did. They would have conversations with each other, the best
conversations of his life. Everything came so naturally. He lived for those
days when she would visit. He would feel more alive then he ever had. But then
Jack would come greet her and he would die all over again. What was worse was
that he liked Jack so much. Against his better judgment, they had become
friends. Tim never even imagined his life could get so complicated. He put the
photo back before he completely lost himself in misery.
"I...um..." His voice shook. Tim
took a deep breath. "I just was dropping by. They don't need me in rehearsals
anymore, so I just thought I would say hi."
Jack smiled. "Yeah." He thought
about what to say. "So have you made plans for Christmas?"
"Erik's. He has a big party at his house
ever year. It's a combination of Christmas and New Year's." Tim looked down
at his hands. "Will you and Rose be joining us?"
"Yes. We'll probably bring our
roommates, too. It's the twenty-eighth, right?"
"Yes, it's a Saturday."
"We'll definitely be there." He
smiled. "I can't believe it. It's Rose and my first Christmas. This will
be wonderful."
Tim swallowed hard.
"Yes...wonderful." He barely heard anything Jack said after that. He
just stared at one of the photos of Rose. He would give anything to be the one
she was sharing Christmas with.
*****
Over the next year, not much would change for
Jack and Rose. Every day, he would go to work. Rose would be with Maggie. Erik
came over often, and the relationship between he and Rose was cemented. She
would go to him whenever she needed fatherly advice. Winter turned into spring.
When April fourteenth and fifteenth came, Jack took off work. He and Rose spent
the emotional days alone with each other. The paper was once again full of
stories. There were updates on survivors. Apparently Cal had given Ruth enough
money to live comfortably. He was still single. That surprised Rose. She
thought for sure he would have found some gold digging twit by now. Spring
melted into summer. Jack and Rose were amazed that they had been together a
year. They were still as in love as ever and probably closer. By the time their
first wedding anniversary rolled around, everything had been going wonderfully.
*****
"Where is that stupid pencil?" Jack
pushed all of the papers out of the way. "Ah, ha!" he picked up his
pencil box but was let down when he found it empty. "Damn it! Where is
everything?" He put his face in his hands and sighed with frustration. He
had been putting off buying art supplies for so long, and now he had absolutely
nothing to draw with. He had been using the same supplies Rose had bought him
the day they moved in with Maggie and Brian. Plus, there had been many art
supplies at the theater, but he had finally used the seemingly endless supply
up. "Well, I have to restock. I'll need to find out where an art store
is."
Jack went upstairs to Erik's office and asked
him if he knew of any art stores. Erik laughed. He was surprised to find out
that Jack didn't realize there was an art store just a few blocks from where he
lived. Erik gave Jack money to buy the supplies. At first he didn't want it, but
Erik told him he had always paid for the art supplies. He pointed out that if
Jack wanted his own art supplies, he needed to use his own money. Jack stepped
outside and headed towards the art store. He pulled his jacket tighter to
himself. November was a cold month. It was one of his favorites, though.
Probably because Rose's birthday was in November. She had just turned nineteen
two weeks ago. God, nineteen. She was a completely different person from the
seventeen-year-old he had encountered aboard Titanic. But he was now
twenty-two, and was nowhere near the tumbleweed blowing in the wind he used to
be. He was still adventurous and up for anything exciting, but the old Jack
never thought about settling down. He could never imagine his life now without
the presence of his wife and home.
He looked up and saw the art store was only a
few feet away. The sign simply read Art Supply Store. Jack smiled. It had been
a long time since he had been in one of these. He took a deep breath and
stepped inside. A young girl, who seemed to be a little older than Rose, looked
up from the desk and smiled brightly.
"Hello! Is there anything I can help you
with?" She walked over to him and smiled again.
"Um, yeah. I work down at the Courtyard
Playhouse. I'm the sketch artist." He smiled charmingly. "I seem to
be all out of supplies." Jack laughed.
"Well, that won't do at all," the
girl replied coolly. "Let me help you pick out everything you need."
She led him towards one of the aisles. "By the way, my name's
Chelsea."
"I'm Jack." He smiled at her and
started to look over the charcoals.
Chelsea watched Jack intently. He was the
most attractive man she had ever seen. His smile melted her. And he really
seemed to know about art. She was so tired of people coming in not knowing what
they wanted. She rarely got to talk about art with any of them. He looked like
an artist. Chelsea was very interested in getting closer to him.
"So you're a sketch artist." She
smiled. "I bet you're really good."
"People tell me I am. I've definitely
gotten better." He moved his hands across the products and picked out some
things.
Chelsea's eyes grew wide. She noticed the
wedding band on his left finger. A small inconvenience, she thought.
Just because he was married didn't mean he wasn't looking.
"Okay. Well, now I need some other
things. So I'll need your help." Jack smiled.
"I'll be glad to." Chelsea brushed
him as she passed by. I'll get to him, she thought.
Over the next hour, Chelsea took Jack all
around the store. She was glad that he needed a lot of things for work and
personal use, it gave her more time with him. He would bring up his wife every
so often, but she would try to avoid talking about her. Apparently her name was
Rose. That's a snobby girl's name, she thought. Chelsea would find
little ways to touch Jack and would casually laugh at everything he said. She
was upset when he finally had everything he needed. She led him to the
register.
"Thank you so much. I could never have
gotten it all without you." He smiled. "I feel like I should repay
you or like I owe you."
Here's my chance, she thought. "Well, if you really want to repay
me...you could take me out to dinner some time."
Jack smiled and laughed slightly. "Oh,
I'm sorry. I don't know if you realized it, but I'm married." He held up
his hand so she could see his ring. "So, unless you want to go out with me
and my wife, dinner is not an option."
Chelsea pouted. "Your wife doesn't have
to know."
Jack couldn't believe what had just come out
of her mouth. "I tell Rose everything. She's my wife, and I love her. I
would never betray her trust like that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get
home to her." He picked up his packages and walked out.
Chelsea smiled. "He'll be back. I know
he will."