The first time was frenzied. It went by in a rush of passion that left both of them breathless. It had to be like that. They didn't have the luxury of time, and had either of them stopped to really think clearly, they would have realized how precarious a position they were getting into, but it didn't matter anymore because that night was over. They had made it through.
But Jack was determined to make this one last as long as he could.
Ruth never did get to have that discussion with Cal. He ducked out of the dining room when she wasn't looking, and although she could have found out what room he was in, she chose not to. What was the point? What could possibly be said that could tell her more clearly how things stood between them?
She went to bed early and slept through breakfast for the first time in her life. It was just as well, considering what she would have heard had she gone.
Cal went to breakfast—much to the chagrin of the other men there. Perhaps it wasn't entirely his fault that he couldn't understand why Rose had always been so disinterested in him, considering the number of women in the dining room who found him quite interesting.
As he sipped his coffee, he listened to the conversations going on around him. He was just beginning to start drifting off into his own thoughts when he heard women's voices whispering at the table behind him. Intrigued, he tilted his head back a bit, hoping to hear what was so scandalous.
"I tell you, I heard something last night. "
"You did not."
"I did!"
"What was it, then?"
"It was…it sounded like…"
"Like what?" The second woman was becoming impatient.
Cal was, too. I'd better not be listening to this for nothing.
Finally, the first woman spit it out or rather, tried to, "It sounded like—" She lowered her voice even more. "—that."
Cal's impatience was suddenly gone. Were these two perfectly respectable young women discussing the sexual activities of others?
"It did not!"
"It did!"
"Wait. I thought the room next to yours was empty."
"It was until yesterday morning. This couple checked into it."
"Do you know who they were?"
"No, but I think they had something to do with the Titanic."
"Why do you think that?"
"Something about the way they looked—like they just didn't belong in a hotel like this. Except, well, she could have passed for a lady, I think, had she been wearing fresher clothes."
Cal refused to jump to any conclusions. After all, there were lots of people who had survived the sinking running around this hotel, regardless of where they really belonged. One woman who might possibly pass for a lady under the right circumstances meant nothing. They were dead.
"What about the man?"
"Oh, no, he definitely didn't belong here, but…"
"Would you stop that!"
Cal silently agreed with the second woman.
"Well, he was just so—so handsome."
"Is that all?"
"You didn't see him. You can't understand. He had this blond hair that fell into his eyes—the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen!"
Cal couldn't believe his ears.