Chapter 10

August 1 1912 – Philadelphia

"I still refuse to believe she's gone."

The thin red haired woman walked paced the luxurious sitting room. She stopped several times to stare out of the large window.

"There's nowhere else I can think to look. If she's alive, it's as though she's disappeared off the face of the earth."

The woman turned to face the tall gentleman who was sat in a large green leather armchair. He had a cigarette in between the fingers of his left hand and held a brandy glass in the other. He knocked back the remains of his drink before standing and walking towards her.

"Ruth, if I could find her, I would." He promised. "She wouldn't have come back here; it would be too easy for us to find her. She's smarter than that. But she's also not very streetwise. I wouldn't have expected her to leave New York after the Carpathia docked. It's a big city, it was always going to take time to find her. I'll go back in a few days."

"Very well Mr Hockley." She nodded and with that, excused herself from the room leaving him still standing next to the window.

He took another drag of his cigarette before walking back towards the arm chair and sitting down. He stubbed it out in the ashtray sitting on the small table beside him and then allowed himself to relax into the chair, closing his eyes. His mind was racing, trying to think of all the places she could be. He knew she had every opportunity to be living the high life. She had her engagement ring and the necklace he had given her. Mentally, Cal kicked himself for putting that coat on her. It had completely slipped his mind through all the confusion and panic that he had put the necklace in the coat pocket. He knew though that if she still had the necklace after the sinking then she hadn't sold it. A necklace like that would have resulted in major interest from local media and there would be no doubt that word would have got back to Cal that someone had sold it. However, he wouldn't have been surprised if she'd have sold her ring. He had left some amount of money in the pocket but there would only be so long that it would last. Cal stood up and fastened the button of his suit jacket before making his way to his bedroom, knowing that he would need to get his things together for another trip to New York. He was determined to find her and bring her home.

...

New York

Meanwhile, another night was drawing to a close and Jack was waiting at the bar to walk Rose home.

"Another good shift tonight Dawson." Costello said as he walked up next to Jack,

"Thank you Sir." He smiled, taking a drink from his glass.

"You've been doing well here. Breaking up fights, knocking out some lowlifes." Costello laughed, his bold laugh coming from deep within his stomach. "I've actually got a new job coming up. Might be of interest to you."

Jack turned to face him, interested in what Costello was telling him. "Yeah? What kind of job?"

"Well, it's a bit different from what you're doing. I need to speak to you in private about it though. Come in early tomorrow and we'll discuss it." He stated, walking away as he finished talking, making clear that the conversation was at an end.

Jack frowned until he heard the sound of heels behind him. He turned and smiled as he saw Rose appear from backstage, realising that Costello hadn't wanted her to hear.

"Hi Jack. Have you been waiting long?" she asked.

Jack shook his head before finishing off his drink. "Ready to go?"

Rose smiled and nodded. She slipped her arm through Jack's and allowed him to lead her out of the club and down the long street towards their boarding house.

"So Jack..." Rose finally broke the silence between them. "How are things going with the memories?"

She hadn't wanted to push him over the last few days since they had last spoken about it but curiosity was getting the better of her.

"Nothing just yet Rose." He admitted. Jack suddenly felt deflated. He had tried as hard as he could to remember anything that Rose had told him but it was still no use. He had considered going back to see the doctor to check if this was normal that he still didn't have his memory back. The doctor had told him that everyone was different when it came to amnesia and that memories could come back by Jack reading up on the tragedy or they could come back by themselves. When Jack had left the hospital, he felt just as lost as he did when he had woken up. He felt no further forward despite being given the advice from the doctor.

"Oh well, if you don't have your old memories, we'll need to help you build up some new ones." Rose looked up at him, catching his eye and smiled.

He looked down at her. For the first time since they had met again, Jack could fully appreciate her beauty. He had always accepted she was attractive but seeing her, up close to him like this, telling him that she wanted to make some memories with him made something boil up inside of him. It was then that he realised just how close they had become in such a short space of time. He unhooked his arm from hers and wrapped it around her shoulder, pulling her tight to him.

"I'd like that Rose." He said, rubbing her arm.

Rose allowed herself to be taken in close to him. She had longed to feel him next to her for months and she knew that if it meant restarting their whole relationship, then she was happy to do that. She knew that she had to have him in her life somehow.

Finally, they arrived back at the boarding house and Jack walked Rose to her room. She opened up the door and stood against it, turning back to face Jack.

Well, goodnight then Jack." She whispered.

Jack hesitated for a second before reaching over and taking Rose's hand. He bent over and gently kissed her knuckles. Looking up at her, he smirked. "I saw that in a nickelodeon once and I always wanted to do it."

He then stood up and walked away from her, leaving her completely gobsmacked.