HOPE
Chapter Seven
An Unexpected Visitor
"Rose! Where have you been? I searched
everywhere for you."
"If you turn around and let me put
something on, we’ll talk."
"All right, sweetpea," Cal replied.
Rose had hated that name from the very beginning. Where had he come up with it,
anyway? He turned his back, and she put on a bathrobe.
"You can turn around. Why are you
here?" she asked coldly.
"Please, just sit down." He said
this with a calm and almost loving sound in his voice. He saw the confusion in
her eyes and asked again, "Please?" Rose said nothing as she sat.
"Rose...I owe you more than any apology can offer. I wanted to
say..."
"Cal, don’t do this. I no
longer..."
"Before you say anything, just hear me
out."
"All right," she said calmly.
"Look, I know that you don’t want to be
my wife anymore, and I accept that. I know you loved Jack, and there is nothing
I could have or can do to change that." He looked at her, and she could
actually see pain in his eyes. "I just want to make it up to you. Before
you go to Colorado with Molly." What he said next, Rose would have never
expected. "I would like to take you out to dinner. No games, no strings
attached, just a dinner." During their courtship, they had never really
gone out on anything that could be classified as a date. And now here he was,
asking the woman whom he’d called a whore and a slut out to dinner.
"Cal, I..."
"Just tell me that you’ll think it over.
If you say no, then I’ll just walk silently out of your life. Forever."
"I’ll think about it. By the end of
tonight, I’ll send a note to your room. But whatever that note says, yes or no,
you must promise to respect my decision, and to not breathe a word about this
to my mother."
"All right. It’s the least I can do
after the way I treated you." He stood up and was about to leave.
"Oh, Cal?"
"Yes?"
"What room are you staying in?"
"117, right down the hall." With
that said, he left. Rose stayed there on the bed for a couple of minutes,
thinking about what had just happened. Her train of thought was broken when
Molly came rushing in the door.
"Rose, I just saw Cal coming out of the
room. Are you all right? Did he hurt you?"
"No, no. Actually, he wanted to
apologize."
"Well, I can’t tell you how to run your
life. So I’ll just keep my nose out of where it doesn’t belong," she said,
without any real emotion.
Rose immediately took out her Dear Jack
journal. She was so confused. She needed to talk to him, even if he couldn’t
answer back to her. She wrote down a bunch of thoughts that she didn’t think
made any sense.
Dear Jack,
I know you’re watching over me, so you
know what just happened with Cal. I don’t know whether to trust him or not. I
know I shouldn’t, but something deep inside tells me that I can. Maybe the
thought of losing me shocked him enough to have a change of heart.
Maybe I should go to dinner with him. Even
if his apology isn’t sincere, he wouldn’t make a scene in public. I could use
this to my advantage, too—to make it absolutely clear that he is to never come
near me again. Yes. That’s what I’ll do. Thank you for listening to me babble,
Jack.
I love you,
Rose
Rose looked around the room. Molly was nowhere
in sight. Maybe she had gone for a walk. It was only 9:30. The day was still
young. Rose decided to go out and get some fresh air. She put on a dark navy
blue dress. It had always been her favorite color. It was a bit chilly outside,
and the dress was thin. So she put on the oversized dinner jacket that she had
ended up with. A bit heavy, but better than nothing.
She was just about to leave when she realized
that it would be best to let Molly know where she would be. She opened the desk
drawer, looking for some stationery. "Perfect," she said, while
picking up a plain white piece of paper. She wrote a short note saying:
Molly,
I decided to take in some fresh air to
clear my thoughts. Don’t worry, I won’t be out long enough to make myself sick.
I’ll be back shortly.
Rose
As Rose leant over to place the note on
Molly’s pillow, she felt something heavy in one of the breast pockets of the
jacket. She had put the necklace in the nightstand. What could it possibly be?
Rose reached into the pocket to discover a large roll of bills. Darling,
you’re so predictable. She quickly put the money back into the pocket, not
wanting to lose it.
Not wanting to spend another moment cooped up
in the hotel room, she left. Once outside, she walked straight for a couple of
blocks. She saw a small clothing shop with a display in the window. It was a
beautiful evening dress. All of the dresses that Molly had bought for her were
beautiful, no doubt. But she couldn’t wear them to a restaurant. So Rose
decided that the least Cal could do for her was buy her a new dress.
Rose walked into the store, and there was a
short man standing in front of the sales counter, sorting through some papers.
He politely asked, "Can I help you with something, miss?"
"I hope so," she replied. "I
was admiring the dress in the display window. I have a rather important dinner
to attend tonight and not a thing to wear." Oh, God. This was the Rose
that even got on her nerves.
"Yes. That dress is beautiful. Would you
like to try it on?" He smiled.
"If it wouldn’t be too much
trouble."
"Of course not. That’s what I’m here
for." The man had a hint of an Irish accent, and it made Rose think of
Tommy Ryan. "What size are you now?"
Oh, damn. Rose had forgotten about that. Her
mother always insisted that all of her clothes be custom made for her. Rose had
no idea what her standard size was. "Actually, I’m not sure," she
replied honestly. The man walked over to a rack in the corner of the store. He
pulled out the dress that she had been admiring.
"Why don’t you try this one on?" he
asked, while gesturing to a dressing room in the back of the store.
"Thank you." Rose walked into the
small room with the dress in her hand. She tried it on, halfway expecting it to
not fit or to look horrible on her. What she saw was not at all what she had
expected. It fit beautifully and it looked wonderful. It was made of a fine,
lightweight, dark blue velvet. The neckline was scooped, with light blue lace
on the edge of the scoop. Just below the bust line there was a thin strip of
the same blue lace.
"Well, are you going to come out and
show me or not?" Rose heard the man ask.
"Oh. All right." Feeling a bit
self-conscious, she walked out of the dressing room.
"Well, whoever you’re trying to impress
will certainly be impressed!" he said with a grin. Rose blushed at the
comment. "Wait, I have the perfect thing to go with it." He walked to
a rack that had some wraps on it. He picked out one that was a silky light
blue, the same color as the lace. "Here we go." Rose wrapped it around
her shoulders. It felt soft against her skin.
"I’ll take it," Rose said without
hesitation.
"Okay, then. I’ll go add up your
bill."
"Thank you." Rose got redressed and
came out of the dressing room.
"All right, miss...?"
"Dawson. Rose Dawson. And it’s Mrs.,"
she said kindly. That name still sounded strange to her.
"Okay, Mrs. Dawson. Your total comes to fifteen
dollars even." She paid the man, and he told her she was welcome back
anytime. Luckily, Molly had bought Rose a pair of navy blue shoes, so she didn’t
have to buy new ones. She had something that she could use to put her hair up
with. As for jewelry, Rose was off to make use of the money that Cal had left
her.
