A FIRE IN THE WIND
Chapter Thirty-Nine
"What are we going to do when we get
there?" asked Jack, concerned.
It was Wednesday night. Jack and Rose had
spent the entire day clearing out the apartment and packing everything. They
sat exhaustedly on a rug by the fireplace.
"Jack, I'm surprised with you!"
Rose teased. "Mr. Adventure is scared about the future!"
Jack shrugged. "I'm just worried, that's
all. I don't know about you, but I don't know anyone who lives in Southern
California."
"I don't either, but Jack, we don't need
anyone else. We're going to be just fine on our own," Rose replied.
"You're right as usual." Jack
laughed. "Do we have everything packed up? I don't want to leave anything
behind."
He took a quick glance around the room to
where their possessions were packed away.
Rose nodded. "I'm quite sure we do. We
packed for hours and I believe that we almost tore your whole flat apart!"
"Yes, we did!" Jack laughed.
"I've only lived here for three weeks and I still had a huge pile of junk
in my closet!"
"There were mainly just wrinkled up
drawings in the closet. I never knew you were so picky when you drew!"
Rose exclaimed, pointing to the trashcan with a bunch of paper in it.
"I lost my inspiration to draw for a
couple of weeks," Jack said, casually.
Rose looked down, sadly.
"Don't worry," Jack replied,
comforting Rose. "It's back now."
Rose smiled and came in closer to Jack.
"So, what about you Jack?" she asked. "Are you going to be
drawing portraits on the pier when we get there?"
Jack shrugged. "I don't know. I might.
Drawing portraits has its charms, but I don't know if I'll go back to that. I
may get a real job."
Rose laughed inappropriately. "Oh, come
on, Jack. Don't stop the adventure now that you're getting married!"
"All right," Jack agreed. "But
what about you, Rose? I'm positive that you don't want to sit around all day
doing nothing. Are you going to launch that acting career?"
Rose nodded, happily. "You know, Jack, I
think I will. There doesn't seem to be anything to lose. What could possibly
happen?"
"Cal or your mother seeing you in a
movie, and coming over to Santa Monica, beseeching you to go back to
Philadelphia," Jack said childishly.
Rose giggled. "I don't think the chances
of that happening are too likely, Jack."
Jack nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Cal
doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would sit through an afternoon
nickelodeon with a group of twelve-year-old boys."
There was a brief moment of silence as Rose
walked over to the table where a few of Jack's drawings lay.
"What are these?" inquired Rose.
Jack came over to the table and picked up the
finished pictures. "Oh, they're just some pictures I drew yesterday.
They're not my best work. I was counting down the minutes until you would
arrive home and I lost my focus."
Rose picked up the pictures and studied both
of them diligently. One was of a girl buying fruits at the market outside of
the window, and the other was of an elderly couple on a bench that seemed
undoubtedly in love with one another, despite their old age and wrinkled
appearance.
Rose shook her head and smiled. "I don't
know how you do it, Jack. I just don't know. You seem to capture your subject's
souls perfectly. You can tell just by looking at the picture what they were
thinking, how they were feeling, and maybe even some of their deepest secrets
and ambitions."
Rose just looked down at the pictures in awe
and then looked up at Jack. "You are going to be a famous artist someday.
You know that. Jack, this picture is beautiful enough to be hung next to the
Mona Lisa! It's incredible!"
"Well, you do have an eye for art,"
Jack teased.
"Of course I do!" Rose said, and
turned to Jack. "And I am looking at a masterpiece right now!"
Jack leaned in and kissed Rose passionately
on the lips. They kissed for minutes, neither one of them wanting to let go of
the other. They embraced each other, thanking God that that had found each
other.