LET’S LEAVE THE PAST BEHIND
Chapter Nine
On the way home that night, Rose
had refused to say one word to Jack or anyone else. No matter what Jack said to
her, or pleaded with her to say at lease one word to him, she remained silent.
He had finally given up. Seeing that it was useless trying to communicate that
night, he went to bed. Rose had finally drifted off to sleep into a horrible
nightmare. Her and Jack were aboard the Titanic along with Cal, her mother, and
Kimberly. Rose was in a wedding dress beside Jack. The captain was about to
pronounce them man and wife when Cal and her mother came in, along with
Kimberly. Jack looked up, and his beautiful eyes lit up in a way Rose had never
seen them light up before. Kimberly only held out her hand, and Jack went with
her. Looking back once at Rose, he left with Kimberly, applause thundering all
around.
"Jack, no! Come back!"
Rose cried, but Cal grabbed her.
"Where are you going? To
him? To be a whore to a gutter rat?"
Rose tried to get away, but it
was no use. She cried and screamed for Jack but he never came. She soon bolted
awake and looked down at a peacefully sleeping Jack, his arms tucked safely
around her. She wondered if he thought he was holding Kimberly.
Jack kept his eyes closed,
knowing that Rose had woken up. Not wanting to disturb her, or make her anymore
mad than she already was, he remained quiet. Pretending to be asleep. He was
surprised to hear her sobbing as she lay back down. He opened his eyes and sat
up, looking down at her.
"Won't you tell me what's
wrong? Why you're so sad?" Jack asked one last time. This only made her
cry even harder. "Oh, Rose." He tightened his embrace and hugged her
closely. They remained like that for the rest of the night, Rose miserable and
Jack wondering what he had done wrong to make her so.
The next morning, the house woke
up at five o'clock, much to Rose's chagrin. Rose opened her eyes from a
troubled sleep and stared at Jack buttoning his shirt. She didn't mean for the
question to slip out, but it did.
"Are you going to see
her?"
Jack turned around.
"Who?"
"Kimberly Smith. Are you
going to see her? Surely she must be up waiting for you to meet her."
Jack stared at Rose in shock. So
that was what was wrong with her. But why would she think he was going to meet
Kimberly? Or that anything was going on with Kimberly at all? Then he
remembered the hug. Rose must have caught on to the vibes between Kimberly and
him.
"No, Rose. I'm not going to
meet Kimberly. Everyone wakes up at this hour around here. It'll take some
getting used to," Jack said.
"Who was she to you, Jack?
Did you love her terribly? Is she the reason why you left?" Rose quickly
asked, afraid of the answer to each question. "Do you wish it was her you
were married to, not me?"
Jack stared at Rose, his mouth
open. He had no idea Rose was thinking along those lines. So that was her
problem all last night.
"Rose, of course not. I love
you. I love you more than anything in the world. You're the only woman I want
to be with, ever."
"But there was something
between you two, wasn't there? She was important to you."
Jack sighed and sat down on the
bed. He took Rose's trembling hands in his own and looked deeply into her
tear-filled eyes. He gently stroked her cheek. "Okay, Rose. Kimberly and I
do have history. But that's what it is. History. She was the first girl I ever
loved…and lost. And I guess a part of me will always love her. But that doesn't
compare to how I feel about you, Rose. You're the only woman I want to be with,
now and forever. What I had with Kimberly was puppy love, but what you and I
have…that's the real thing. I love you, Rose. With everything I am…everything I
ever will be. You're the only woman for me."
"Are you sure, Jack? Because
if you do want to be with her…it'll kill me, but I'll step aside. Your
happiness is so important to me."
Jack smiled, touched by her
confession. "Oh, Rose…I've never been more sure in my life about anything.
You're the one I want. Not Kimberly. I'm sorry if I did anything to make you
think otherwise. I'm sorry." Jack pulled her into a comforting hug as Rose
burst into tears of joy. "I love you so much, Rose. I thought you knew
that."
"I guess I do now."
Rose smiled, burying her face in Jack's chest, inhaling his scent. "I'm
sorry for being such a brat last night. I should have discussed this with you
then."
"It's okay, Rose. At least
we've discussed it, and we both know where we stand." Jack smiled, pulling
away from the hug to stroke her face. "I love you. Only you."
Rose smiled and kissed him
passionately. They leaned back onto the bed when there was a knock on the door.
"Ready, Jack? There's work
to be done out there!" Charles knocked on the door.
"Coming, Dad." Jack
groaned, pulling out of Rose's embrace. "I gotta go. Guess I'll see you at
seven."
"All right." Rose
kissed him. The kiss threatened to become passionate again, but Jack tore
himself away.
"We have to stop doing this.
A trip to the stars will be inevitable if we don't," Jack ruggedly
whispered.
"Love you." Rose smiled,
leaning her face closer to Jack's.
"Love you more." Jack
smiled, pulling away from Rose.
"Jack!" Charles knocked
on the door a little harder.
"Coming!" Jack hollered
back. And went to the door. He turned one more time to look at Rose. "I'll
see you later."
"Can't wait." Rose
waved, watching her husband walk out the door. She sighed contently and leaned
back into bed. She was now more secure in Jack's love for her. In fact, she
felt silly for ever doubting it. But she was still curious about his past relationship
with Kimberly Smith. Maybe tonight he'd tell her what had really happened
between the two of them, and if Kimberly was the reason for his leaving home.