NOBODY SAID LOVE WAS GONNA BE EASY
Chapter Six
Rose groaned, trying to shield her eyes
against the little bit of light that lit the dim room. Disoriented, she
wondered what had happened. Why had she passed out? Where was her mother? Where
was Jack? Jack. Oh, God, he had no clue as to where she was or of her
condition. She must get back home as soon as possible. She had to tell Jack of
the pregnancy so they could go to the doctor and see what this fainting spell
was all about. The snap hiss of a lit match brought Rose out of her
disorientation and to the awareness that she wasn't alone.
"Mother?" she asked, her voice
husky from the lack of use.
"Why, good morning, Sweetpea. It's good
to see you awake," a familiar voice answered, a voice that wasn't her
mother’s, nor Jack’s.
"Cal?" She looked up from the floor
to find Cal lighting a cigar as he read what looked to be the morning
newspaper. What the hell? What was he doing here in Chippewa Falls?
"The one and only." He smiled,
taking his eyes away from the paper only for a second and then going back to
his reading. He frowned as he took a long puff of his cigar. "Hmm…seems
like the Supreme Court is having it. Hmm…too bad Guggenheim perished on that
damned ship. He would have been disappointed."
"Wh-what are you doing here?"
Cal looked at her, the expression in his dark
eyes unreadable. He looked back at the cigar as if he was studying it,
wondering about its many uses. A secretive smile stretching his lips, he got up
and loomed over Rose, who still knelt on the cold wooden floor she had woken up
on. "Lesson number one. Do not speak unless spoken to." He leaned
down and pressed the lit cigar to her skin, causing Rose to scream in pain. She
scooted away from him, knowing that this wasn't good. Where was she? Where was
her mother? Why was Cal here?
"Now, Sweetpea, we have a lot to
discuss. Now let me warn you, if you even snort while I'm talking and without
permission, you will receive another burn and this time, the cigar will remain
on your beautiful skin for far longer than last time. I will keep doing this
until you learn your lesson. Is this clear?" Cal grinned, enjoying the
trace of fear he saw in his ex-fiancée’s eyes. She only glared at him, not
saying a word. Irritated, Cal sighed. "You may answer the question. Yes or
no. Now, do you understand me?"
"Go to hell," Rose hissed, just to
receive a backhand from Cal. He lowered the cigar to her shoulder, ignoring her
scream of pain. The torture lasted for five seconds this time.
"Now, I'm going to ask you again, Rose.
Do you understand? You speak without permission, you get burned. Bad." Cal
grabbed her by her red tresses. He was done playing games with her. Games were
before and during the sinking. Now the time for those games were over. He was going
to teach Rose some respect, even if he no longer had any interest in marrying
her. No woman made a fool out of him and got away with it. She should be glad
that he was leaving her precious gutter rat out of it. "Answer me, Rose.
Yes or no."
Rose simply nodded, not trusting herself to
speak. Hatred burned in her gaze. What did Cal want? Why was he here to hurt
her and the baby? What had he done with her mother? Where was Jack? She wanted
to ask all these questions, but knew that the only answer would be another burn
from that damned cigar.
"Thought you were smart, didn't you,
Sweetpea? Allowing your poor, dear mother and I to believe you had perished on
that ship, along with your gutter rat? Thank goodness for good, decent folks
like the O’Connors. They recognized you from a picture in the paper and called
me promptly. I sent dear Ruth down there to Wisconsin to retrieve you, knowing
that you'd only run if I came myself. Now, wasn't that smart of me,
Sweetpea?"
Rose stared at Cal, the realization of her
mother's duplicity dawning on her. Ruth had never meant any of the things she
had said about wanting to change and accepting Jack. All of it was just lies.
Lies to bring her back to Cal, back to the hell her life had been before she
had met Jack. Angry and hurt, she looked away from Cal, not daring to cry.
Crying would mean he had broken her, and as long as Jack still lived and she
carried his child, she would never be broken. Not completely.
"Oh, and I know about the pregnancy.
Your mother told me. I must say, I'm not surprised. I'm sure you let that
gutter rat defile you even before the sinking. Which is fine, because I don't
plan to marry you now. But you might as well know you will not be keeping the
brat. I plan to enter it into the orphanage system here in Philadelphia as soon
as it's born. No need to thank me, Rose. Surely a child would just be an added
burden that you don't need."
Rose felt like the world was shaking apart
around her. Her mother…her own mother, who had begged for forgiveness…who had
taken her shopping and given her marriage advice, knew about Cal's plan…was
even a part of it. She had betrayed both Rose and the unborn child she
carried…for money. The hurt she felt at that moment was indescribable. There
was absolutely no way that she could ever forgive Ruth now. No way at all, and
as soon as she got out of here, she was going to make sure that her oh-so-loving
mother would pay for deceiving her like she had. And the O’Connors…she wasn't
at all surprised that they had had a hand in this. Matt O'Connor must really
hate Jack in order to help Cal get his hands on her again.
But the one thing she couldn't understand was
if Cal had no interest in marrying her anymore…why did he bring her here? Why
didn't he just leave her alone, and what did he mean by here in Philadelphia?
"Hmm…I guess I can allow you some
questions. I'm sure you have them. But keep them respectful, Sweetpea. I don't
like punishing you, but I will if I have to." Cal walked over to the
single chair in the room and took a seat. He glared at her with cold hatred. He
had loved her once, but now all of that was gone. She had destroyed that when
she had run off with Dawson and led him to believe her dead. She was just a
possession now. A beautiful toy for him to play with in all kind of ways. No
one need know that she had survived. She wanted to be dead to high society?
Well, so be it.
"Wh-where are we?" Rose asked, sure
to keep any hint of sarcasm out of her voice. She needed these answers. She
needed to know how far away from home she really was in order to escape.
Cal grinned, his satisfaction in his
accomplishment complete. "Philadelphia. The basement of my mansion, of
course. How did you get here? You mother drugged you, my dear, and kept you
drugged until we got you here."
"Where is she?"
"Resting upstairs in her suite. I had it
set up just for her. Now she will never have to worry about becoming a
seamstress again. Ruth will probably be down to see you in a few days. She does
worry about you. But she can't let that interfere with what needs to be done to
keep her comfortable."
"And my child and I? Are we just…pawns
to her?"
Cal only smiled, a bit of pity in his eyes.
The pity was soon replaced with cruelty. "Of course, Rose. That's all you
ever were to her. I'm surprised you expected anymore from the old harridan."
"Jack will come for me, you know. He
will. He loves me." Rose tried to sound confident as she remembered the
incident that pushed her into her mother's trap. Of course, she'd already
forgiven Jack for slapping her, but did he still love her? Or was he so fed up
with her inexperience at keeping house that he didn't care where she had
disappeared off to, just as long as she was away from him?
Cal smirked, his eyes glinting in evil glee.
"Dawson already knows you're here. Your mother sent him a telegram, and he
has already returned it. Want to see what the gutter rat said?" Cal held
out a card with rushed handwriting.
Frowning, Rose took it and read.
Dear Ruth,
Thank you for letting me know that your
worthless daughter is back where she belongs, in the lap of luxury. Obviously,
that's the only thing she knows and will ever know. She was a horrible
housewife and I'm well rid of her. Now I can marry my childhood sweetheart,
Anna. Tell Rose that I had cared for her and tried to teach her, but she's
hopeless and is better off with Cal.
Jack Dawson
Hot tears streaked her face as she glared up
at her ex-fiancé. "This is a lie! Jack would never say any of this! He
loves me! And he will come for me, Cal, and when he does, he'll make both you
and my so-called mother pay for doing this to me!" Anger heated her voice
and fear quaked her shoulders as uncertainty crept into her mind. What if this
note was real? What if Jack didn't want her anymore? He was so angry with
her…so frustrated…maybe he had given up on her.
"Believe what you will, Sweetpea, but
Dawson is out of your life for good. He won't come for you. You're stuck here
with us, and it's here you'll stay." Cal loomed over her, his voice
growing harsher, his eyes burning with hatred, all directed towards her.
"And for raising your voice…" He lit another cigar, since the one he
had had was gone now, and pressed the lit end to Rose's skin, holding it there
for seven seconds. "Why must you make me hurt you, Rose?" he asked as
she screamed and sobbed, frightened for herself and the baby. "Why must
you make me teach you these lessons?"
"Please," she whimpered as he
finally lifted the cigar from her skin. She stumbled away from him into the
nearest corner, her arms wrapped tightly around her abdomen. "Please let
me go, Cal. I won't tell anyone of this. I'll disappear. I won't even go back
to Jack. Just let us go."
"Why, Rose, if I let you go, your mother
will have to become a seamstress, and you wouldn't want that, would you? And I
have no way of knowing if you're telling the truth. Plus, I like this. You're
fully in my possession now. So why would I let you go? Listen, just relax and
get some rest. Tomorrow night will be quite interesting for you. Good night, my
lovely Rose. Dream that your Jack still wants you if you want." Cal
disappeared through the door.
As the click of the lock engaging echoed
through the barely furnished room, Rose broke down in sobs. She wanted to go home
to Jack. She wanted to go back in time and throw her mother and her fake
apologies out of her life for good. She wanted to stay and talk things over
with Jack instead of running off like she had. She just wanted things to be
different. Looking at the blank walls, Rose sank into daydreams of an idyllic
life with Jack. No Cal and no mother to ruin anything.
Back in Chippewa Falls
Jack closed the door after the doctor, his
face pale with shock. Why hadn't she told him? She was out there alone right
now, pregnant with his child, and where was he? In the house waiting for her
return. It had been a week since Rose had left and still no word from her, and
now the surprise visit from her worried doctor made finding Rose the most
important thing in Jack's life.
Grabbing his coat, Jack left the house in
search of his missing wife. They were going to sit down and talk things out,
even if it meant Jack groveling.
Three Hours Later
Jack left the hotel, dejected. The clerk had
said that Ruth had checked out last week and hadn't been back since. The clerk
also confirmed that his wife had been with the woman, looking rather out of it.
Frowning, Jack thanked the clerk and rushed to the train station. Sure enough,
Ruth had boarded the train back to Philadelphia with a passenger in tow. It was
recorded that the O’Connors had helped her with loading the mysterious
passenger.
Angrily, Jack's hand balled up in a fist. He
had a bad feeling about this. Rose would never leave without saying good-bye,
and the hotel clerk had said that she looked rather out of it, and why did Ruth
need the O'Connors’ help? He wasn't even aware that she knew them. His fists
tightening, he decided to investigate, but he would need the help of his best
friend. Silently, Jack left the station. He was determined now. He was going to
find Rose and bring her home if it was the last thing he ever did. Little did
Jack know that it might just be the last thing he'd ever do.