Chapter 10

That evening, Rose drove to the airport to pick Cal up. He hadn't sounded in a great mood when he had called her earlier on in the day before he boarded his flight. She had hoped that he had lightened up a bit since then as Rose knew there was no way she could do this is he was in a foul mood.

Sitting outside the airport, Rose watched for Cal appearing from the arrivals hall. She spotted him and flashed her lights so he could see her. Cal walked across the road to meet the car.

Just take your time Cal, I'm not in a hurry or anything. Rose cursed.

Cal opened the door and sat on the seat, putting his bag down at his feet. He reached over and gave Rose a quick peck on the cheek.

Rose could suddenly feel the nerves building up inside her. She had butterflies in her stomach and conversations flashed through her head as she thought about how to broach the subject of her leaving Cal.

"Good day sweet pea?" Cal finally broke the silence.

Rose glanced at him. "Yes thank you. How was your trip?"

"Oh it was dull, pointless and a complete waste of time. Much the same as these trips always are." Cal stated bluntly.

They sat in silence for the rest of the journey. The guilt started to build up inside of Rose and she started to think that Cal was being silent because he suspected.

Don't be ridiculous. She told herself. There's no way he could know.

They finally arrived home and Cal got out and made his way through the front door. Rose followed him and sat down on the large leather sofa. She put her feet up and turned on the TV.

"I'm going upstairs to take a shower." Cal disappeared up the stairs without waiting on any response from Rose.

He wasn't interested in talking. Rose knew this wasn't going to happen tonight. She picked up her phone and quickly sent a message to Jack telling him she would try and do it tomorrow.

Jack picked up his phone when he heard it beeping, hoping that it was Rose telling him he could go through. His face dropped when he read it. It's not fair. He thought. She shouldn't be afraid of him. It's not right.

He put the phone back on the table after texting her back. Feeling extremely frustrated, Jack lifted the phone again and called his best friend Fabrizio to see if he wanted to go for a beer. He couldn't just sit in the house thinking about Rose.

Life continued like that for days afterwards. Cal was constantly in a mood and Rose couldn't find the right time to tell him. At the back of her mind, she had hoped that things would become so bad between them that Cal would eventually call it a day. They hadn't slept together since before Rose went to New York. Even kissing seemed to become a strain. Rose couldn't bring herself to allow him to kiss her properly. What's worse was that he didn't seem to care. She wondered how long he would put up with this and hoped he would suddenly declare he had had enough. She knew it was the coward's way out but she was scared about how he would react. She also worried about how long Jack would wait on her. He had split up with Laura a couple of weeks before and was desperate to be with Rose.

Jack sat in his office messing around on the internet and sending emails. He couldn't concentrate. What was going on? He knew that this wouldn't be easy but he felt as though Rose had been stringing him along. Was she just using him? They hadn't seen each other since he had left her house the day she was due to pick Cal up from the airport. They had text and emailed but Rose just kept telling him that she was working on it. Jack was honestly beginning to think he had wasted his time. He didn't regret dumping Laura, that had to be done regardless of what happened with Rose but he was getting impatient waiting around for her.

A week later, Rose had finally had enough. She decided that regardless what was going on with Cal she was telling him tonight that it was over. She would tell him that she would go and stay with Caroline to give him some peace to get his things together. Rose had had enough trying to find the right time. Tonight was the night.

She walked into the living room after getting home from work and found Cal sitting on the couch with his head in his hands.

"Cal?" She asked quietly. He didn't respond.

"Cal?" She repeated, louder this time.

Cal lifted his head and looked at her. He smiled and beckoned her to come to him. "Sit down Rose, we need to talk."

Rose wasn't sure what was going on. She knew she didn't like it though. Cal wasn't normally one for sitting having conversations.

Rose walked over to him and sat next to him. He took her hands and looked her in the eye. "This isn't working is it?"

Rose was completely taken aback. She wasn't sure if he was being serious or not. "What do you mean?" She finally asked.

"I mean us. We haven't been happy for some time, have we?" Cal stated abruptly as if there was no other answer than the one that agrees with him.

Rose shook her head. This was better than I hoped for. Rose kept her face looking solemn. If she could let Cal go with his dignity intact then she would. She knew she never loved him and that he was a bit moody and shouted at her a lot but he never caused her any real pain. He would make someone happy but she wasn't that girl.

The two sat talking for the next hour about where their relationship had gone wrong. Rose never mentioned Jack at all.

"I'm going to get my things together tonight. I might need to come by tomorrow though for the rest." Cal rubbed her hand.

"That's fine Cal, take as long as you need. I can go to Caroline's tonight if you want." Rose offered.

"No, that's not necessary Rose, it shouldn't take me too long. I've been getting some things together while you were at work." Cal smiled.

"What?" Rose was surprised. "You knew you were going before we had even talked?"

"Well yes, I knew we couldn't stay together, there was no point dragging it out. Anyway, I should get going." Cal stood up and offered his hand to Rose, pulling her to her feet. He put his arms out to hug her and Rose fell into them, taking one last smell of his cologne.

She watched as Cal loaded his bags into the car. He kissed her on the cheek as he said goodbye and drove off.

Well at least my mother won't blame me for finishing with him.

Rose walked back inside, closing the door behind her. She went straight for her phone and rang Jack.

"Fancy staying over tonight?" She asked when he answered.

A/N – I decided that I didn't want to paint Cal as the ogre that he normally is in these stories. I thought that would be really predictable if he went mental if Rose had finished with him. I hope that you all don't mind me doing that!