AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY
Chapter Eleven
"It seems to be getting colder
out," Jack commented as they entered the grand staircase.
"Yes, it is getting quite cold,"
she replied. They headed down the staircase to B Deck. "When we were
taking a tour of the ship earlier today, the captain received an ice warning,
but he said that there is nothing to worry about," Rose said as they came
upon her suite.
"Is it considered suitable for me to be
coming in here with you?" he asked, as she was about to open the door.
She smiled. "It is quite proper, I
assure you," she said as they entered the room. "This is the sitting
room."
He was in awe at the beauty of the room. The
rich may have no fun, but they sure do live in luxury, he thought as he
looked around the room.
"Will this light do?" Rose
interrupted his thoughts.
"What?" he asked, distractedly.
"Well, don’t artists need good
light?" she asked.
He smiled. "Zat is true, but I'm not
used to working in such elegant conditions," he said in a French accent.
He noticed that she smiled. He loved it when he could make her smile.
He noticed a painting leaning against a
chair. "Monet!" he exclaimed. He rushed over to the painting.
"You know of him?" she asked.
"Of course. Look at his use of
color," he said.
She looked at the painting from over his
shoulder. "I know. It’s extraordinary!" she exclaimed.
It made him happy to know that she shared his
passion for art. She left to go into another room. He followed her.
"Cal insists on carting this hideous
thing everywhere," she said, as she pulled something out of an ugly, green
safe.
"Should we be expecting him anytime
soon?" Jack asked, thinking how disastrous it would be for Cal to walk in
and find him with Rose.
"Not as long as the cigars and brandy
hold out," she said, before showing him the necklace that Cal had given
her. She handed it to Jack so he could inspect it.
"That’s nice. What is it, a
sapphire?" he asked, as he looked at the deep blue color of the enormous
stone that was shaped as a heart.
"A diamond. A very rare diamond."
The way she said it implied to him that she could care less about the necklace.
"Jack, I want you to draw me like one of your French girls."
He was still looking at the necklace.
"All right."
She looked at him, wondering what his
reaction would be when she told him that she wanted him to draw her wearing the
necklace. "Wearing this," she said, her eyes on the necklace.
He nodded, still mesmerized by the beauty and
enormity of the priceless piece of jewelry that he held in his hands. She
realized that he didn’t understand.
"Wearing only this."
He looked at her in shock. He could feel his
face getting hot. "Okay. If that’s what you want," he said nervously.
She went into the other room to get ready.
His mind was a whirlpool of thoughts. How am I going to keep my emotions
under control? he thought as he moved the divan into the middle of the room
and situated a couple of pillows. He sat down in a chair and started to get his
art supplies ready. He was in the middle of sharpening his charcoal pencil when
Rose came back out into the sitting room. What she was wearing left little to
the imagination. She teased him with her smile. He smiled in spite of his
nerves. She walked over to him, reaching her hand out to him.
"I have enough portraits of me looking
like a porcelain doll, and as a paying customer, I expect to get what I
want," she said as she gave him a dime.
He smiled, slightly amused. But when she
backed up and dropped her near see-through robe, he wasn’t amused anymore. He
took a deep breath, trying to calm down his heart, which was beating
erratically. She had the most perfect body that he had ever seen. Looking at
her filled his mind with forbidden thoughts.
"Okay, um…over there on the bed--the
couch." He could have kicked himself for his slip of the tongue.
She lay down on the divan, asking him if her pose
looked right.
"Yeah, just move your hand back up by
your face…like that." He took another deep breath, then started to sketch
the outline of her body.
She was also trying to calm her racing
heartbeat. She looked at him as he worked. Every few seconds he would look at
her, studying her body with his intense blue eyes. Surprisingly, she didn’t
feel self-conscious. She watched as his blue eyes transferred what he saw onto
paper. He had such talent! She smiled as she noticed him blushing.
"Why, Mr. Big Artiste, I do believe you
are blushing." He looked at her, and smiled that adorable smile that she
had come to love. "I can’t see Monsieur Monet blushing," she teased
him.
He paused from his drawing for a second, an
amused expression on his face. "He does landscapes," he stated, a
smile on his face. "Now, no more smiling, stay still," he instructed
as he continued with his drawing.
She stared at him, watching his eyes as he
took in her form. It all became crystal clear to her then. I've fallen in
love with him. She didn’t know how it had happened, but she knew the truth.
She only wondered if he felt the same way.
Finally, he finished the drawing. She got up
and put her robe back on. When she saw the drawing, she was astonished. It was
beautiful. Is that really me? she wondered. It looked like her, but it
was more than that. He had captured her soul in the drawing.
"Thank you," she said. She was
leaning over his shoulder. He kissed her then, a long, teasing kiss. They were
both laughing in happiness. She finally broke away and went into the other
room. She wrote a note to Cal.
Darling, now you can keep both of us
locked up in your safe, she
wrote. She stuck the note in with the drawing.
"Will you put this back into the safe
for me?"
She handed the necklace to Jack, the necklace
safely tucked away in its blue velvet box. He nodded, before going into the
other room.