Rated PG
© 1999 Kari Raines @ JadedAmida@aol.com
based on some characters
and situations originated by James Cameron
She sat quietly in the back of the small cafe, her coffee for the
most part untouched and cooling by the second. She had chosen to sit in the
back for solitary reasons, wishing to remain unseen. But still, the piteous
glances she received from the cafe's few other occupants made her squirm
uncomfortably.
Five years had passed, but the past always seemed to come back to
haunt you.
She was further reminded of this when the beautiful, fiery redhead
bounded in the door, followed closely by her blonde friend--Jack's sister.
Every occupant in the room seemed to be staring at Rose. It was
understandable. Even if she weren't perfectly gorgeous with flowing, red
hair that would turn anyone's head, she was the latest news. In small but
growing communities like Chippewa Falls, everyone knew one another, and news
got around fast. It had not taken Samantha long to hear of a mysterious,
beautiful stranger showing up in town claiming to be the widow of the
much-loved Jack Dawson. And now the news was going around that she is with
child.
Not showing yet, Samantha observed as Rose and Lilly took their seats
next to a cheerful window, early afternoon sun reflecting through the glass
and onto the small but pretty bouquet that adorned their table. She watched
on as Rose lazily picked a small, purple flower from the bouquet. Rose gazed
at it momentarily, a strange, thoughtful look on her face--almost as if she
were remembering something . . .
And then the underlying sadness in Rose's eyes was revealed. It was
a deep, melancholy sadness that would recover with time, but never really
heal. It was the look of someone who had lost the most important thing in
her life.
She watched as Lilly gently placed a hand on Rose's shoulder. She
couldn't take it anymore. Rose wasn't the only person who carried a sadness
over losing Jack Dawson. She was about to stand up and quietly exit when---
"How does it make you feel?"
She looked up into blue eyes--eyes as blue as the sea. "John," she
said, slightly annoyed. "You startled me. I was just leaving---"
"You didn't answer my question." He indicated the redheaded woman on
the far side of the room who was now in deep conversation with his sister.
Samantha swallowed slightly, running her slender hands through her
dark hair. She looked from John to Rose, uncertain. "No, I don't like that
he fell in love with another girl, but he was happy. That's what matters."
"Listen to you. You still talk like you and Jack had something."
She glared murder at him. "I had more with him than I'll ever have
with you."
John flinched, visibly hurt by these words.
"It's your fault he left," she spat at him, attempting to keep her
voice low. "If you hadn't been so selfish and pushed him away, he would
probably still be alive right now."
He could see the look of pain in John's eyes that her words caused.
She felt no sympathy.
But this look passed, being replaced almost immediately by his
deep-rooted bitterness. "What about you, Samantha? If you had just left him
alone, Jack and I would never have fought. I'm the one who loved you. All
Jack did was hurt you. And look--he left and found himself some snotty
redheaded rich girl."
She shot him a puzzled look as he slid in the booth beside her. He
leaned closer to her as her eyes searched his questioningly. "I found proof
that Mrs. Rose Dawson over there isn't who she says she is." Each word he
poke was intentionally slow, allowing time for its meaning to sink in. "Rose
DeWitt Bukater is a first class girl who was traveling with her mother and
rich fiance on Titanic. I'm not exactly sure how Jack comes into the
picture."
Samantha's eyes had widened with each word that came from John's
mouth. She was now staring at Rose. "That means that her baby . . ."
He nodded. "Was conceived out of wedlock. Whether it is Jack's or
her fiance's, I don't know. That baby is illegitimate, either way."
She suddenly looked at him sharply. "So what? How is this any of
our concern?"
"I'm sure that her mother and fiance would like to know that their
precious Rose is alive and well . . . and a little pregnant. I think we
should telegram them."
"We? I'll have no part in this . . . this treachery."
He sighed, rolling his eyes in an exasperated manner. "Samantha, we
won't be harming her. I'm sure she'll have a better life with them than she
ever would here. Is it really that bad a thing? We'll actually be doing her
a favor. Besides, do you really want to see her stay here, where she can
constantly remind you that Jack gave her what he would never give you?"
Finally, Samantha did stand up. "This is low, even for you, John.
You will never get over the fact that I loved Jack and not you, and now
you're trying to use me as a pawn in one last attempt to get even with your
dead brother."
She stormed from the cafe and into the bright summer sunlight,
ignoring the feel of John's eyes burning into her back and the curious
glances that were undoubtedly being given her by Rose and Lilly.
* * *
He'd found it. It had to be her. Why he hadn't noticed it before,
he wasn't sure, but there it was; the name 'Rose Dawson' stood out from the
'steerage' section of the survivor list like a sore thumb. Cal had
referenced and cross-referenced, and had come across no other listings of a
Rose Dawson on the Titanic--not even on the passenger list.
It could have been entirely coincidental. There were probably a
thousand 'Rose Dawsons' in the world. But no other in connection with
Titanic. It had to be her. He felt it with every instinct and every ounce
of his being.
Rose was alive. He had known it all along, and he had been right.
Caledon Hockley's lips twisted up in a wry grin--something that had
not happened at all in the past two months.
"Caledon?"
Abruptly, Cal's grinned turned into a frown of annoyance. What could
she possibly want now? "What is it, Ruth?" he asked sweetly, pulling his
eyes from the stack of papers in front of him. Ruth was dressed in her robe
and slippers--something she had been adorning more often since the sinking
and Rose's disappearance. Her red hair was loose, delicate curls framing her
lined face.
Cal thought that years ago she might have been beautiful like Rose.
But time and the decisions she had been forced to make in life wore on her,
aging her prematurely, erasing her beauty with its cruelty.
"I wanted to tell you that a telegram has arrived for you from
Wisconsin."
He gazed at her curiously, rising from his desk. "Wisconsin, you
say?"
Ruth rolled her eyes slightly in a gesture of annoyance. "You know
perfectly well that is what I said. Will you come read it, or do you wish me
to?"
He glared at the back of her head as she turned and stormed from the
room, thinking how ungrateful the wench was. He had taken her in when she
had nowhere else to go. They both knew that her gambling husband had taken
the money with him to the grave, leaving nothing but gambling debts hidden by
the family name that went generations back in society.
* * *
A mere ten minutes later, and Cal was in action. "Smith, fetch the
car. We will leave immediately for the train station." He snapped this with
all his commanding exuberance that he possessed.
"Mr. Hockley, I demand to know where exactly you are going and what
you are doing."
Caledon turned impatiently towards her. "Ruth, I am leaving for
Wisconsin immediately. Please stay here. I will be back in a few days, and
I think you will be pleased with what I bring back with me."
Ignoring the startled expression on her face, he bolted out the door
without a glance back. It was time to recover some stolen property.
He rode in silence to the train station, trying to digest the
information he had just learned. Rose was alive. Alive and . . . pregnant.
A deep scowl set in his jaw as he considered this. Rose had never
let him touch her. There was only one other man whom that baby could
possibly belong to. A dark look settled on Cal's face.
Rose had a lot of explaining to do. The thought that she had
actually let that gutter rat touch her intimately . . . it disgusted him
beyond limits.
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