AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rose was getting tired and hungry. It was getting
close to lunchtime. She still hadn't gotten used to the labor of working; it
was taking a toll on her both emotionally and physically. But to her it was
well worth her freedom. She turned her attention to the door; someone had just
come in.
Bryan smiled at her when he saw her.
"Hello. How’s the business today?" he asked as he entered the
boutique.
Rose gave him a tired smile. "Business
has been pretty good. I've been busy."
He ran his hand through his brown hair.
"It’s almost lunchtime. Can I talk you into coming out for a picnic with
me?"
Rose felt a lump form in her throat. I
can’t deal with this now; I just lost the only man that I’ll ever truly love, she
thought. "Thank you for offering, but…" She paused, not knowing what
to say. How could she explain? "I can't. I'm sorry, Bryan." He looked
disappointed. "It’s not you, Bryan. I–I just lost someone that I loved
deeply. I'm just not ready yet."
He smiled sheepishly. "I understand,
Rose. I’m sorry for your loss. Whoever he was, he was a lucky man."
She watched as he left. No, Bryan, I was
the lucky one. Being able to know Jack was the best thing that ever happened to
me. He gave me his love; he gave his life for me. She felt the tears
come to her eyes, but she held them in. She couldn’t bear to shed them in
public. Pity was the last thing she wanted from people.
She continued her work until it was time for
her to get lunch. She left the boutique alone, wondering how her life could be
full without Jack. She was certain that it wasn’t possible. After buying a
sandwich from a nearby store, she ended up at a park not too far from her work.
It was a beautiful spring day. Rose ate her lunch in silence, watching as
people went about their day.
*****
Cal couldn’t believe what he saw. There, on
the park bench, sat his precious Rose. He smiled to himself smugly. He had
found her, and she didn’t even know it! After failing to find her on the
Carpathia, he had checked the survivor list to see if Jack had lived. And
there he was, that stupid gutter rat, right on the list next to a Rose Dawson.
I can’t believe she took that gutter rat’s name, he thought disgustedly.
But where was Jack? He didn’t see any sign of him anywhere.
He stared at Rose, watching as she quietly
ate on the bench. He had been searching for her ever since he had found her
name on the survivor list. He hated having to come into the lower class areas
of New York, but he hadn't hired another manservant to replace Mr. Lovejoy yet,
and he wasn’t about to let Rose get away from him. The diamond belonged to him,
and so did she. But finally his searching had paid off. He had found her, and
it was purely by chance. I certainly hadn't expected to find her here in the
park! But now that I found her, what do I do with her? he wondered. Should
I tell her mother? And where is that gutter rat? The questions plagued his
mind.
He was startled to see her get up from the
bench. Without knowing exactly what he was doing, he started to follow her. A
few blocks away, he saw her enter a shabby looking clothing boutique. What
in the hell are you doing in there, Rose? he thought in disgust. His Rose
was going into a low class clothing shop? He was shocked when she stood behind
the counter, assisting customers. This is preposterous! Why is she working?
My fiancée doesn’t work! Suddenly, he knew what he had to do. It was
obvious that she had no intention of coming back to him. She was working, for
goodness sakes! There was only one thing left to do…he’d simply take both of
his possessions back. He’d kidnap her and make her marry him. He would not
be disgraced in front of Philadelphia society; Caledon Hockley simply wasn’t
disgraced. He just had to work out the perfect plan first.
*****
Jack slammed the empty beer glass down on the
bar. His vision was starting to blur and his head was starting to spin, but he
didn’t care. He just wanted to numb the pain. It was well into the early
morning hours. After dinner he had left to go get a drink. Unfortunately, he’d
had more than one. Now he was a little more than drunk. He knew his family
wasn’t going to be happy when he came staggering in the door in the wee hours
of the morning. But he couldn’t help it. He just wanted to forget her face for
a few hours. Her face haunted him. But even the alcohol couldn’t keep the image
of Rose out of his mind; it just lessened the pain a little. Jack looked around
the near empty bar. There were only two other men in the bar, obviously just as
drunk as he was.
Jack sighed before leaving. He knew that he
had to get home and get some sleep. He had to go into work the next day. He was
sure that he wouldn’t be feeling very good the next morning. He had a lot of
trouble walking back to his house. By the time he got home he had sobered up a
little, but only slightly.
When he opened the door, he found his older brother
in the sitting room, reading a book.
"It’s about time that you got back,
Jack. We have been worried sick about you," David said, as he put the book
down.
Jack stared at his brother, his vision
blurring. "I’m sorry, David," he said, barely able to get the words
out of his mouth in his drunken state.
"Jack, what’s gotten into you? You
haven’t been yourself since you got back. What’s going on?" David asked.
He was very concerned for his younger brother.
"I don’t wanna talk `bout it," Jack
said, trying to stand up straight. He was having trouble staying on his feet.
David stood up to help his drunken brother over to the couch.
"Jack, come on. What’s going on?"
Jack shook his head stubbornly. "Just
leave me alone!" Jack yelled as he fell to the couch.
David was taken back by his brother’s sudden
anger. "What’s gotten into you, Jack? You’ve been acting like a stranger
ever since you got back."
Jack stared at his brother with his blurry
vision. "Just drop it, David. You wouldn’t understand. You have everything…I
have nothing," he said sadly.
David could see the sadness in his eyes. He
was obviously thinking about something that pained him deeply. He only wished
that Jack would open up to his family. David left the sitting room, feeling
helpless.
Jack fell asleep soon after. The last thing
he remembered was Rose’s face; his mind wouldn’t let her go no matter how drunk
he got. There was no way he could escape her haunting face.