TRAPPED!
Chapter Six
"Where have you been?"
shouted Cal as loudly as he could. He had found Rose around noon and promptly
dragged her back home.
Rose sat stiffly in a chair; she
had been hoping that she would never be found, at least not by Cal or her
mother. But she had, and now she was going to pay.
"Well, answer me!"
yelled Cal.
Rose just stared back at him with
wide, frightened eyes.
Cal sighed. "Well, I think I
know the answer already, Rose," he said quietly. He put his hand in his
pocket and pulled out a picture.
Rose actually gasped. She had
hidden it so well! He must have turned her room upside down trying to find it.
"Well?" he asked, keeping
his voice deadly quiet. "Did you go and see him, Rose?"
She shook her head frantically.
"No," she managed to squeak.
Cal leaned right over her, his
face close to hers. "You are my fiancée!" he whispered furiously,
"and you will not make a fool of me, Rose!" He stood there, forcing
her to look into his cold eyes. "If you didn’t see him, then where did you
go?"
Rose was so frightened she could
hardly talk, but she decided to tell the truth. Cal could sense when she was
lying. "A bar," she said simply.
Cal actually stood back. "A
bar?" he asked quietly. "A bar?" He was yelling now. Picture
still in hand, he ripped it into tiny shreds in Rose’s face. "You will
never leave this house again without me or your mother accompanying you ever
again!" he shouted. "Do you understand?" Rose nodded her head.
"Good," he said, suddenly smug. He turned and threw the last
remaining bit of paper into the fire. Slowly, Rose watched as the words I
love you, Rose burned away into blackness.
*****
As Jack entered the bar, he
noticed it was more crowded than usual. Looking around, he spotted Mark.
"Hey, Mark. What’s going on
here?" he asked, glancing around.
Before Mark could answer, a young
woman came running up to him. "Jack!" she shouted happily. "Jack,
guess what? A society lady came here!"
"What?" asked Jack and
Mark at the same time. It was apparent that Mark had no idea what was going on.
The woman smiled. "It was
the debutante in your pictures." She grabbed Jack’s portfolio out of his
hands and opened it. "See?" she asked, showing Jack one of his many
pictures of Rose.
"Oh, shit!" Jack
couldn’t help himself. He turned to Mark. "Rose was here last night!"
Mark raised his eyebrows in
surprise. "Are you serious? She must have been looking for you..."
Jack turned quickly to the woman.
"Sarah, did you see where Rose--the society lady went?"
Sarah nodded her head. "Yes.
She went outside, and then a man with black hair took her away."
Once again, Cal had Rose.
*****
Two weeks slowly passed with
nothing but thoughts of Rose. Jack looked for her every day, but never once did
he find her, or even see Lucy Bernard, who must have known where Rose was
staying. Then, one sunny day, something caught his eye...picking up a discarded
newspaper, he gaped at what was front page news.
Caledon Hockley and Fiancée
Rose DeWitt Bukater to Wed
Rose stared up at him, just as
beautiful as ever, but the smile she wore was fake. Rose might be smiling, but
her eyes showed just how miserable she was. Beside her stood Cal, showing her
off like some grand item he had bought. Turning to page six, Jack quickly read
the article.
Caledon Hockley, the
wealthiest man in Philadelphia, will wed fiancée Rose DeWitt Bukater today at
1:30 PM at St. John of God Church...
The article went on to explain in
more detail the splendor of the occasion, but Jack couldn’t care less about
that...somehow he just couldn’t understand why Rose was going through with it.
His Rose was getting married--to Cal!
*****
Rose stood and stared at herself
in the mirror. She was dressed in the most beautiful wedding gown money could
buy, covered in jewels, the Heart of the Ocean weighing heavily on her neck.
Her hair was pinned up stylishly with a veil on top. She looked like a
princess, yet she felt like a prisoner. She didn’t love Cal. She couldn’t love
Cal, even when she tried. Yet here she was, being forced to marry him, but she
couldn’t. She couldn’t! How could she do this to Jack, to herself? Jack was the
only person in the world who she could ever love as a husband. She was going to
die without him. She couldn’t do this!
Suddenly, the door opened and the
wedding march sounded. As much as Rose wanted to run away, she felt her feet
dragging her towards Cal. Every step seemed like an eternity. Each breath of
air she took in seemed to make breathing even harder. Her stomach felt sick and
queasy, and the Heart of the Ocean seemed to be pulling her down.
Suddenly, a loud voice erupted,
breaking the silence.
"Rose!"
Rose didn’t need anyone to tell
her who that voice belonged to, who the person was who had come to save
her--she heard that voice every night in her dreams. Without hesitation, she
spun around and saw him.
Jack.
Running as fast as the stupid
gown would allow, she threw herself into Jack’s arms and he spun her around
joyfully.
"Jack! Oh, Jack!" She
sobbed with relief and happiness. "Oh, Jack, I love you. I love you so
much..."
She hugged him tighter and closer
than she had ever hugged anyone before.
"I love you, too,
Rose." She heard Jack’s muffled response.
All around her, she could hear
yelling, whispering, and gasps of surprise, but she didn’t care. All she wanted
to do was stand there, safe in Jack’s warm and loving embrace.
"No!" Rough hands
grabbed her, trying to pull her away from the love of her life.
"No! Jack!" Rose fought
Cal’s strong grip desperately.
"No! You’re marrying
me!"
Cal lost it. He was pulling at
her so hard he was bruising her arm. There were shouts of outrage, and Rose
heard one man yell, "Now, really!"
She felt Jack tense, ready for a
fight, but before either he or Cal could do anything, Rose spun around and spat
hard into Cal’s face. The room went deathly quiet. Cal staggered back, shocked
that she would do that again, in public, in front of five hundred guests, but
Rose didn’t care. She was with Jack, and that meant happiness and freedom. She
heard Jack laugh behind her. After all, who had expected her to do that? The
crowd was whispering in shock, but she heard at least one person laughing
loudly--Molly Brown.
"C’mon!" she yelled,
almost laughing as she grabbed Jack’s hand.
The two ran through the church
and its shocked occupants and out into the street.
*****
People stared as they ran, one a
beautiful society lady in jewels and a wedding gown, the other a poor man
dressed in simple clothes. Rose could hear Jack laughing behind her as they ran
wildly without purpose, and she found that she was laughing, too, so hard that
her stomach hurt. But nothing could spoil this moment, nothing could take away
the joy, happiness, and freedom she felt.