The tickets and passes arrived that morning addressed specifically to Rose, so even if Ruth wanted to send them back, she couldn't. Once she had the tickets in her hands, Rose immediately met her friends Helga and Trudy at the high end boutique that Helga worked in and showed them the tickets. Needless to say, the girls were speechless with excitement.

"How did you manage it? I mean...do you even know Jack Dawson or the members of his band?" Trudy questioned, examining the tickets and passes.

"Don't tell my mother, but we met at the music awards. I was upset and...well he helped me feel better. He's nice and sweet and handsome. Anyway, he was at the studio when we arrived and he had these sent to me. The concert is sold out, and I knew how much you two like his music..."

"We love it! That guitarist of his, Fabrizio? He is a real cutie," Helga grinned, trembling with excitement. "And I am going to get to meet him! I feel like such a lucky duck!"

Trudy just laughed. "Forget the guitarist...his drummer is rather easy on the eyes..."

Rose just rolled her eyes and laughed. "Well dress in your best girls. You are going to get to meet them Friday night."

…

Cal showed up just as Rose returned from giving Helga and Trudy the exciting news. She sighed as she felt all excitement for the concert die. That was just typical. She'd find something to look forward to and now here Cal was to ruin it.

"Sweetpea, there you are. Your mother had said that you were out," Cal smiled indulgently. He walked over to her and took her hand, giving her cheek a chaste kiss.

"You didn't have to wait up," Rose forced herself to smile and be her most gracious. If she showed even a hint of annoyance, there was a chance that her mother would cancel the concert. She was probably already trying to find a way to use Cal to ruin her plans.

Cal just chuckled, as if him not waiting up was even a possibility. "I didn't mind. What's this your mother tells me about a concert? Backstage passes?"

Rose looked into the sitting room to see her smiling mother sitting there, smiling like the Cheshire cat.

"Yes, Rose. Tell Caledon about your plans for Friday evening."

"Oh, the girls and I got invited to a concert. Trudy and Helga are fans and I thought it'd be nice outing for a girl's night out."

"Oh, so no men allowed, huh?" Cal chuckled, the displeasure at this shining in his eyes. It was obvious that he didn't want Rose to go.

"Sorry, darling," Rose forced a smile. "We'll do something the next day." She didn't want to make that promise, but she felt that she had to. Anything to keep Cal from interfering with her plans to attend that concert.

"Well, I suppose. A nice road trip Saturday would be nice."

"Oh of course! Antiquing in that one little town would be such fun," Ruth clasped her hands happily. "I always wanted Rose to get into antiquing."

"A noble cause indeed," Cal agreed, causing Rose to roll her eyes.

Cal would find something as boring as antiquing interesting. Honestly, Rose could think of something better to do with her day, but she didn't want to give her mother and Cal an excuse to disrupt her plans. So she'll go along.

"That will be nice," Rose forced a smiled and moved away from her fiancee. A part of her felt guilty. She was being rather unfair to Cal. She wasn't really giving him a chance. But how could she when he was always taking her mother's side against her or coming up with boring ideas like antiquing. She'd be more open to Cal if he for once acted like he was her fiancee. Not her mother's.

"Rose, you look tired. You should go upstairs and get some rest. Cal and I have some things to talk over about the wedding," Ruth instructed, taking a sip of tea, not noticing her daughter's frown.

"Mother...isn't it my wedding? Shouldn't I have a say?" Rose asked, annoyed. She wasn't planning to go forward with any wedding, but still. She should have a say in her own wedding. Not just her mother and fiancee.

"Now, now sweetpea. We are just trying to take some of the weight off of your shoulders. We know that you have been melancholy. Perhaps us dealing with some of the more mundane tasks of wedding planning will help raise your spirits some.

Rose wanted to scream. She wanted to tell her mother that her melancholy had nothing to do with wedding planning, but with her and her control over her life. But she didn't want to give her mother a chance to revoke the concert, so she just forced a smile and nodded. "Of course. I'll just go upstairs now."

"Of course," Cal kissed her one more time before releasing her.

Rose slipped upstairs to her room and sighed, wondering if she really could wait a few more months or will she explode from frustration before she even reached her eighteenth birthday.