AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY
Chapter Twelve
A few minutes later, Rose was dressed. Her
long, red curls were no longer pulled up; they fell freely down her back. When
she went back into the sitting room, she was startled to hear the doorknob
start to turn. Grabbing Jack's hand, she led him through a couple of doors,
until they were out in the hall.
"That was a close one," Jack
whispered. She couldn’t keep from smiling.
A door behind them opened. They turned, and
saw Mr. Lovejoy walking after them. Rose looked at Jack, her eyes smiling.
"Run!" she yelled, before taking
his hand and running down the hall.
They ran like two children, completely carefree.
They were both laughing when they reached the lift behind the grand staircase.
Some people were just exiting the lift. Jack and Rose jumped into it; Mr.
Lovejoy wasn’t so fast. He watched as they went down. Rose smiled at him as she
gave him an obscene gesture with her middle finger. Jack looked at her, amused.
The lift attendant looked at her as if she were insane. That wasn’t something
that a well brought up lady did.
A few moments later, they got off at E Deck.
They ran down some stairs, then through a door. Stopping to catch their breath,
they both laughed.
"He’s a valet? He seems more like a
cop," Jack said. They were both laughing, and gasping for air.
"I think he was," Rose replied. She
watched Jack as he looked out the window of the door that they had just gone
through. His eyes opened wide in surprise.
"Oh, shit!" he said, before taking
Rose's hand and running down the hall.
Mr. Lovejoy had taken the stairs down. Now,
he was chasing after them again. Rose covered her ears when they went into a
room filled with loud noise. She could see the glow from one of the boiler
rooms. A ladder led down to it. Jack said something, but she couldn’t hear him.
Rose couldn’t believe how this day was
turning out. She had never had so much fun in her life! Jack started down the
ladder that led into the boiler room below them. When she looked down, he
motioned for her to follow. When she reached the bottom of the ladder, she had
to jump. He caught her in his arms. She wanted to stay in them forever.
She started to sweat; it was very hot down
there.
"Hey! You’re not supposed to be down
here. It can be dangerous," one of the workers yelled after them, but they
were already off and running.
*****
"Mr. Hockley, she’s with that Dawson kid
again. I tried to catch them, but they ran from me. They are somewhere below,
on G Deck, I believe," Mr. Lovejoy informed Cal, a few minutes later.
Cal was still in the smoking room. He gritted
his teeth. That’s it! It's time that I do something about that gutter rat,
Dawson. How dare he run off with my fiancée?
Cal turned to Mr. Lovejoy angrily. "Find
her, Mr. Lovejoy. I don’t care how you do it. Bring her to me, even if you have
to drag her by her hair."
Mr. Lovejoy nodded. "And what about
Dawson?"
Cal sighed. "We’ll deal with him later."
Mr. Lovejoy nodded before leaving.
*****
Rose smiled as Jack opened the door to the
Renault. After running through the boiler rooms, they eventually found the
cargo hold. Jack couldn’t help but take a look at the fancy car. He held out
his hand to her, helping her into the car.
"Thank you," she said in an
exaggeratedly proper voice.
Jack got in the front of the car and honked
the horn. "Where to, Miss?" he said in a snobbish voice, his nose in
the air. She leaned toward him. He could feel her breath on his neck.
"To the stars," she whispered in his
ear, before dragging him into the back with her.
He put his arms around her, smiling. She took
his hand into hers, lightly caressing his fingers. Both of their hearts were
beating wildly. Rose couldn’t believe how her life had changed so drastically
in only a day.
"Are you nervous?" he asked gently.
She shook her head. She wasn’t in the least
bit nervous. She knew just as well as he did what was about to happen between
them. She trusted him with her life, and she loved him with all her heart. She
knew that he felt the same way. She could see it in his eyes.
She kissed each one of his fingers. "Put
your hands on me, Jack."
The world started to spin as he kissed her.
They fell back onto the seat, the weight of his body pressing down on hers. She
could hear his breathing getting heavier, matching her own. As he kissed her
neck, she felt a shiver go down her spine.
I've never felt anything like this before
in my entire life, she thought. She
knew that from this moment on, there would be no one else for her. Just Jack.
He was all that she wanted or would ever need.
He gazed into her eyes. "Are you
okay?" he whispered passionately.
He could feel her shivering. He leaned back a
moment so he could get his coat off. He wrapped the coat around the both of
them.
She nodded. "Yes, it’s just that…I've
never been with anyone before."
He kissed her softly, then looked at her, his
eyes showing her how much he cared. "Neither have I," he said, his
breathing getting heavier.
They didn’t speak anymore. They completely
lost themselves in a world where only they existed.
*****
Jack looked at her, his body trembling. She
saw all of the emotion he was feeling in his eyes. Being with him had been the
most wonderful and special moment in her life.
"You’re trembling," she said.
He could feel his body tremble, and he knew
that it wasn’t from the cold. "Don’t worry. I’ll be all right," he
said with a smile.
He kissed her; his breathing was still heavy.
When he laid his head on her chest, he could hear her heartbeat; it was beating
just as fast as his was. He couldn’t believe that she felt this way about him.
Their passion was indescribable. He felt like he was the luckiest man in the
world.
Their silence was interrupted by the sound of
a door opening. Jack leaned up so he could see out the window. Two crewmen had
entered the cargo room; they were obviously looking for something…or someone.
They both held flashlights in their hands. He could just see them through a
space between some of the crates that surrounded the Renault.
"Oh, no. We have to move, Rose.
Someone’s come into the room," he whispered.
They got half-dressed before they left the
car. They crept behind some crates, barely making it out of sight. They quickly
put on the rest of their clothes. Jack looked at her, relief evident on his
face. They gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment.
A man's voice startled them. "Got
ya!" the voice said loudly.
At first, Jack and Rose thought that they had
been caught. But they soon realized that one of the crewmen had opened the door
to the Renault, thinking that they were still in there. Rose could see her hand
print on the fogged up window of the car. The expressions on their faces were
priceless. Jack and Rose could hardly keep from laughing as they quietly left
the cargo hold. When they reached the forecastle deck they both laughed
happily.
"Did you see their faces?" Jack
asked, laughing.
She nodded, then looked at him seriously.
"When this ship docks, I'm getting off with you."
He looked at her happily, but surprised at
her words. "This is crazy!" He was smiling when he said it.
"I know. It doesn’t make any sense.
That’s why I trust it," she said.
They started to kiss, getting lost in their
own world again. It was very cold out, but neither of them noticed. However,
they did notice when the ship jerked. They broke apart in shock. They couldn’t
believe what they saw. The ship was crashing into an iceberg. Pieces of it
spilled onto the deck. Jack pulled Rose away from the falling ice protectively.
As the ice fell onto the deck, so did their world. They knew that nothing would
ever be the same again.
*****
Cal was staring at the drawing in shock and
disgust. In his hands, he held the drawing of Rose’s nude body, along with her
note. He couldn’t believe that she had allowed that gutter rat to draw her like
that. He had never felt so angry before in his life. He almost tore up the
drawing, but for some reason, he couldn’t. He turned to Mr. Lovejoy.
"It’s time that we take care of that
filth once and for all. I have just the way. Follow me, Mr. Lovejoy."
They headed to the safe to get out the
diamond.