JACK AND ROSE: TOGETHER FOREVER
Chapter Forty-Two
Rose stood on her tiptoes and looked over the
people in front of her. "Mmm," Rose moaned. She couldn't see Jack at
all. All she had done was gotten up to get some coffee and now people had moved
into her spot. Rose looked around to see if there was another space. She
spotted one to the left to her. She quickly moved over that direction.
"Made it," Rose whispered under her breath. She stood in place and
watched Jack. Right now he was talking to the press about his art models. "And
who is you're model you mostly use?" a man asked, a pad of paper in hand.
"Well," Jack said. "I the
model I usually use is here today. Rose, will you come up?"
Rose gasped, shook her head, and mouthed 'no'
to Jack.
"C'mon Rose, if you don't come up, I am gonna
have to come get you."
"I am gonna kill you Jack Dawson,"
Rose whispered before walking up. Everyone started clapping. She sat down next
to Jack and shook her head at him.
"Let's just be glad that these people
don't know you for your risqué sketches Rose," Jack whispered smiling at
her.
Rose smiled and had to admit he had a point.
Jack had promised her that he would never sell, or make public, the nude
drawings he sometimes did of her. All of the drawings here of Rose were of her
on the beach, or on the balcony. Or wherever Jack thought would make a good
picture. And he never did nude drawings anymore except for the occasional ones
of Rose.
"Everyone, this is Rose, my wife,"
Jack announced to the crowd of people. Rose said hello and people went about asking
both Rose and Jack questions. When question time was over, Jack walked around
and explained where some of the pieces were, who the people were, and what made
him decide to draw that picture. Stuff like that. Rose followed Jack along, but
didn't say anything or call attention to herself. This was Jack's thing. His
dream come true. And Rose wasn't about to steel the spotlight away from him.
*****
Hours later, the art show was done. Jack and
Rose were both glad. They were both exhausted. Jack and Rose said goodbye to
the gallery people and promised to be there tomorrow for the second, and final,
art show. As they walked hand in hand back to the hotel, Rose noticed Jack was
preoccupied. "Something the matter?" she asked as they walked passed
outdoor shops and cafes.
Jack shook his head, "I don't know. I am
excited about this whole thing. It's my dream come true to have people look at
my art and buy my art and talk about it and know me as an artist. But, I just
wish my parents could be here. They were so supportive of me in my art. They
paid extra money for me to have art lessons, they took me to Eau Claire about
one a mouth and let me roam around the galleries for hours, and they encouraged
me to keep going with my art. And now, here I am showing my work in a gallery
in Paris for God's sake, one of the most famous cities in the work, and they're
not here to see it."
Rose stayed quiet for a minute. Jack was very
fragile right now. "You know Jack, I get the same felling. About my dad.
He didn't like all that upper-class stuff. He hated everything about it. And he
always said to me, 'Rose, if you ever get a chance, break away from that
upper-class world, good things will come if you do Rosie. Good, loving things
that will make you realize some things are more important than social
standings, like love. And everything evens out in the end Rosie, just remember
that,'" Rose said quietly. "I wish he could be here now. To see that
I did break away, that I did find true love, that everything dose equal out."
Jack put his arm around Rose's shoulder and
she leaned her head on his shoulder. "They are watching you know, Rose,
your Father, my Parents. It's just hard to remember that sometimes," Jack
said quietly. Rose just nodded, Jack was right. They were watching. "Do you
ever miss your mother?" Jack asked suddenly.
Rose looked up at him. She had a shocked
expression on her face. "What makes you ask that?" she asked.
"Well, we were talking about our parents
and it just got me thinking."
Rose sighed, "Yes, no, I don't know.
Sometimes I wish I could talk to her, show her stuff. And it makes me sad to
think she will be our children's only living grandparent and she thinks I am
dead. But other times I am worried if she were here, she would try to ruin
everything. It's all so confusing. I mean, what are we going to tell our
children? 'Sorry, she thinks you're Mother is dead'. I mean, they would want to
see her. But am I wrong to tell them that she is dead? That would be lying to
our children."
Jack bit his lip and nodded, "You're
right, it would be lying. But I think that when the time comes, it would be
best to just tell them Ruth died a while ago. We don't have to give them any
explanations, just that she died."
Rose nodded, "You're probably right. I
just hate to lie to them, unless it was absolutely necessary that is."
"Well, Rose," Jack said. "We
don't even have children yet. I don't think we should worry until later."
Rose smiled, "You're right. We'll worry
about it when the time comes."
Jack smiled back at her and pulled her closer
to him. "You know Rose, despite all these things with our parents, we
still have a pretty lucky life. I know we talk about this a lot. But it never
gets old. I mean, we survived the sinking of the Titanic. We showed everyone
that two people can fall in love in only forty-eight hours. We were able to get
married. We are living in a more than big enough house. I mean, who knows, my
art thing could have been a bust and we wouldn't be here now. Look how successful
we've been. We must be the two most luckiest people in the world."
Rose nodded and smiled at Jack. "I know.
I fell the same way. I have thought about that a lot the past two years. About
how lucky we are. And about how thankful and glad I am to have you. I love you
Jack."
Jack stopped walking and looked at Rose. The
sun was down and the lights of Paris had just came on. In the distance the
Eiffel Tower was standing beautifully against the night. To Jack, Rose looked
beautiful with the moonlight lighting her face. "I am so thankful I have
you too. I can't imagine life without you, Rose. I don't want to. And I love
you too." With that Jack leaned down and kissed Rose. Rose eagerly kissed
him back and wrapped her arms around his waist.
When the kiss broke, Rose looked into Jack's
shining eyes. "Jack why don't we get a bite to eat and make some plans for
what we are going to do. And then Jack we can go back to the hotel and
maybe…" Rose trailed off, smiling brightly at Jack.
Jack laughed at kissed her on the check.
"Sounds great to me Rose. Now how about we go to this little café I heard
about. It's only a few blocks from here."
Rose nodded and smiled at Jack. "Sounds
good. Lead the way Jack Dawson," Rose said taking his hand as they started
off to take on Paris.