UNTIL I FOUND YOU
Chapter Nineteen
The next morning, Rose woke up to
an empty bed. Jack was nowhere to be found. Frowning, she slipped on her robe
and walked down to the kitchen to find Mrs. Gladys making scrambled eggs and
sausage.
"Have you seen Jack?"
Rose asked curiously.
"He had the early shift at
the factory this morning. They’re needing people bad at that factory. But it’s
such dangerous work. Why, just last month, Lewis Corvell lost two fingers in
one of the machines…hardly anyone wants to work there," Grace explained.
"My goodness. Is Jack safe
at that job?"
"I’m sure he’s quite all
right. Jack’s a cautious boy. He won’t get hurt," Mrs. Gladys reassured
the young woman. "You just relax and ready yourself for breakfast."
Rose did as she was told, but her
mind still worried about Jack. What if he got injured, or worse? Could it be
possible to survive the worst maritime disaster in history, just to lose your
life working in a factory? She was going to have a long talk with Jack about
changing jobs. She had no desire to see her beloved Jack missing a hand or
getting a report that he had died because of a machine malfunction.
"Now, Rose, stop worrying
about Jack getting hurt and tell me about your plans for the day." Mrs.
Gladys placed a steaming hot plate of food in front of Rose.
"Well…I don’t know. I
usually just read a book or take a walk around town when Jack’s working. Or I
go visit Cillie. But Cillie’s got that doctor’s appointment today, and it’s
raining, so I can’t possibly take a walk downtown, and I think I’ve read every
single book in this house."
Mrs. Gladys laughed. "You
poor dear. Small town life can be rather boring. Say, the community theater is
holding auditions for the annual play on the lake. Why don’t you go try out?
Jack said you’re have aspirations to be an actress."
"A play? Me? At this time? I
don’t know." Rose’s eyes widened. In all the excitement of the past few
months, her acting aspirations had been completely forgotten. But now was a
great time to make a move towards acting.
"It’ll be something to do,
and it’ll get you out of the house." Mrs. Gladys smiled. "And just
think, if you get a part, I can claim to know someone famous."
Rose laughed. "I think I
will go audition."
"Well, then, eat up and get
dressed. Auditions begin in two hours."
*****
The tiny theater was teaming with
people of all ages and both genders, ready to audition for a part in the play Romeo
and Juliet. Rose sat amongst the group of women trying out for Juliet. She
wasn’t really expecting to get the part, but she thought it’d be fun to try
out, at least. And imagine Jack’s surprise if she did get the part.
"Rose Dawson!" Her name
was called. Standing up and taking a deep breath, she headed for the stage.
"Read from before the
balcony scene, where Juliet is talking about Romeo while he listens."
"Oh, Romeo, Romeo…wherefore
art thou, Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name…" Rose began, and for
the next five minutes she became Juliet. Rose Dawson disappeared, and in her
place was a young girl about to meet her soulmate, the son of her enemy…a love
she’d later die for.
Rose came back to herself to see
the director writing something down on a piece of paper.
"Thank you, Mrs. Dawson. We
will contact you when a decision has been made." The lady smiled. Rose
just nodded and started for home, her adrenaline pumping from the excitement of
being onstage.
*****
Rose came home to find Jack
sitting on the couch with Mrs. Gladys, laughing at what seemed to be a joke.
His eyes widened even more with happiness as he saw Rose enter.
"Hey, how did it go?"
Jack stood up and kissed his wife in greeting.
"They said they’ll contact
me. Is that good or bad?" Rose asked.
"It all depends." Mrs.
Gladys shrugged. "But I am glad you went to audition, Rose. The fresh air
did you good, now, didn’t it?"
"It was marvelous."
Rose smiled. "And I barely had enough time on my hands to miss Jack."
"I’m glad you’ve found
something you like, Rose." Jack’s arms encircled Rose’s waist, pulling her
close. "Now I won’t have to worry about you sitting in this house all
alone, waiting for me."
"No, you won’t." Rose
grinned just as the telephone rang.
"Who can that be?" Mrs.
Gladys frowned, picking up the telephone. "Hello? Oh, yes, she’s here.
Rose, dear, it’s for you."
Rose frowned. Whoever could be
calling her at this hour? "Hello?"
"Mrs. Dawson? This is Mrs.
Strickland from the theater. I called to tell you that you’ve been chosen for
the role of Juliet. We’ll be starting rehearsals tomorrow morning. Be here at
eight."
"Yes, ma'am." Rose hung
up the telephone before turning to Jack and Gladys. "I got it! I’m
Juliet!" Rose squealed, rushing into Jack’s arms. "I’ve got the
part!"
"Wahoo!" Jack lifted
her off the floor and spun her around. "My wife is going to be famous!
First it’s the theater. Next it’s going to be the moving pictures."
"I can just see it now.
Looking at the screen and saying there’s the pretty young wife of Jack Dawson.
She made her start here." Mrs. Gladys grinned.
"Oh, I’m sure that I won’t
make it that big." Rose laughed.
"Oh, I don’t know, Rose. You
can be the next Dorothy Gibson." Jack grinned. "Only prettier."
"Oh, Jack, you’re such a
charmer." Rose kissed her husband. "Oh, Jack, do you really believe
that this can launch my acting career?"
"I believe it’s a good
start." Jack kissed her forehead. "Now, let’s go upstairs to take a
nap. Tomorrow’s going to be a big day for you."
"We’ll be back down for
dinner." Rose didn’t take her eyes away from Jack. His eyes had filled her
whole world, and for that one moment, nothing existed for her but Jack. At that
moment, she knew that as long as she had him standing behind her, she could
fall on her face and still be a success.
"Sleep well, you two."
Mrs. Gladys smiled as she watched the couple ascend the stairwell, totally
immersed in each other. It sure did warm her heart to see two young people in
love. Sighing happily, she disappeared into the kitchen to fix that evening’s
dinner.