Every move Jack made, Rose followed. That is, until Emma blocked Jack from view by sitting next to him. Curiosity got the better of her, so she moved behind the bench so she could hear them. She stood behind the place Emma sat, listening to their conversation.
“Jack, dear, must you go?”
“Well, no, but New York has gotten extremely boring—“
“What about Miss DeWitt Bukater? What will she do?” Emma asked, knowing that the girl was right behind her. Jack froze at the name; he stared blankly at the sheet of paper in front of him as if nothing were on it.
“Rose is strong. She can live without me. I’ll be gone only for a little while.”
“My dear son, Miss DeWitt Bukater and Mr. Hockley are to be wed this Friday. You surely won’t be back in time.”
“I can’t save her. She has to do this on her own. Besides, I’m not allowed within a hundred miles of her.”
“Would this be the reason you are leaving?”
“No. As I said before, New York has gotten boring. It’s about time I left. I—“
“There you are, sweet pea. I—“
“Am I not allowed a few moments of peace?”
Jack turned to see Cal walking up to them. Jack turned his head a little bit more, having caught a glimpse of red and recognizing the voice. He saw Rose, her hair blowing in the wind, glaring at Cal.
“I can’t believe this. She was right there this whole time,” Jack whispered to himself as Cal spotted him and a wicked smile came upon his lips.
“Rose, darling, I would never keep you from doing what you wish, but you never said where you were going and why you were taking this particular maid.” Rose opened her mouth to reply, but Cal’s wicked smile seemed to grow as Jack placed his hand on top of Rose’s, moving his thumb across her fingers gently to stop her from saying anything. “This maid just so happens to be related to him,” Cal said, pointing at Jack. “I suppose that is why I have no choice but to fire her…unless, of course, Jack is willing to leave.” Jack watched as Emma and Rose’s faces turned to shock.
“My son is not leaving—“
“My dear Emma, do you really want your son to go to jail? Do you want to lose your job and have no money to bail him out?” Cal moved his gaze from Emma’s shocked face to Jack’s relaxed one. His smile faded a little bit. Jack noticed how much of his smile seemed to disappear.
“You don’t seem as confident as you were just a few seconds ago, Cal,” Jack said, watching Cal’s smile disappear. Cal turned on his heel and walked out of the park. Rose was watching Cal leave when she heard Emma speak.
“Jack, you must go! Leave the city! You must promise me that you won’t come back to New York!”
Jack didn’t say a word; it wasn’t much of a shock to him, but the fact that he had to leave on Cal’s order just made him want to stay. Jack glanced up at Rose, who met his gaze, her eyes filled with worry. She has too much to worry about, Jack thought, looking away from Rose to look at his mother once again.
“Go now! Before Mr. Hockley comes back with the police!”
“I’m not leaving unless I really have to,” Jack told his mother without really looking at her.
“Did I ever mention anything about how stubborn he is?” Emma asked Rose, who smiled and shook her head.
“It does not matter. There is really no need,” Rose replied, looking at Jack, who noticed she was looking, so he looked up himself. “Jack, you should really listen to your mother and leave. I wouldn’t want you getting into anymore trouble over me!”
Jack was about to reply to that, but Rose put her finger against his lips. He kissed it gently before removing it, and said, “All right. I’ll go.”
*****
“You’re leaving? Have you gone mad?” Jack’s new friend Johnny asked as Jack packed up the few things he had.
“If I haven’t yet, I must be getting close,” Jack replied, packing the rest of his clothes and grabbing his art supplies.
“Okay. Let me get this straight. You fell in love with a girl that you met on the Titanic, correct?”
“Yes.”
“You met her three days before the ship sank, right?”
“Right.”
“The two of you survived. She thought you were dead until about an hour ago.”
“Yep. That about covers it.”
“You know what’s wrong with this relationship?”
“What?”
“She’s first class and she’s getting married to the bloody rich man!”
“It’s complicated, Johnny.”
“What’s so complicated about it? She’s marrying Caledon Hockley, not Jack Dawson.”
“Obviously, but still, it’s really hard to leave her here with Cal.”
Johnny rolled his eyes. “So, when are you leaving?”
“Right I after I meet Rose at the park.”
“You’re joking. She wants you to leave, but wants you to say good-bye first?”
“She’ll have my mother with her.”
“Oh, okay. Never mind, then.”
“You want to meet her, don’t you?”
“Well, if you insist,” Johnny said, walking out the door. Jack followed, throwing his bag over his shoulder and rolling his eyes.
*****
Rose sat on a bench in one of New York’s many parks with Emma as they waited for Jack.
“How are you holding up, dear?” Emma asked, noticing how upset Rose looked.
“I don’t want him to leave! I just found out that he really is alive. I can’t bear losing him again!”
“I know how you feel, Rose, darling. My, my. This is all my fault. I should have come and told him that you wanted to see him instead of letting you come out to him…I can’t believe I’m losing my boy again.”
“Don’t blame yourself—” Rose was cut off by the sound of someone approaching and talking.
“Are you sure this is a good idea, Jack? If you really think about it—”
“Shut up, Johnny! She’s right there!” Jack said, motioning toward the bench.
“So, it’s good for her to hear. Maybe it will let her know how much pain she’s caused!” Jack stopped walking, causing Johnny to stop.
“She thought I died on the Titanic. What was she supposed to do about that?”
“I don’t know!”
“Then leave her alone!”
“All right. All right.”
Rose closed her eyes for a moment; memories of the Titanic engulfed her. She opened them again. The voices had stopped. She looked towards the place where she last heard the voices, but they were gone! Rose looked around; Emma was still beside her, shaking her head as tears fell down her cheeks. Rose looked around in confusion. What’s going on? Where did Jack go?
“Emma?”
“Yes, Miss?”
“What happened?”
“I’m afraid…Jack is on the run!” Emma replied to Rose’s stream of questions. Rose’s eyes widened. “Come, dear, let’s get you back home now.” Rose let Emma lead the way back to Cal’s home. When they arrived, Rose went straight up the stairs and into the room she was supposed to share with Cal. She lay down on the bed and stared out the window. Many thoughts occurred to her throughout the night, but there was one thought that wouldn’t leave her alone.
*****
It was three o’clock AM. Rose sneaked through the lovely door of Cal’s beautiful house. Closing it gently, she began to run to the closest train station she could think of. Tonight she would start her journey!