Jack's POV
Neither Nathan nor I noticed the silhouette of the tall man tailing us as we walked down the street, He noticed us long before we realised he was right behind us. Well, he didn't notice Nathan. It was me he had his infuriated eyes on.
"You!" he yelled angrily, swinging his fist at me. At the sound of his voice I automatically turned round, and his punch hit me right in the face, causing me to stagger sideways. I barely had time to wipe my face with my hand to examine the smear of blood coming from my nose before the man had shoved Nathan out of the way and pushed me against the wall of a shop. I could smell alcohol on his breath and grimaced at the smell.
"Where is she?" he yelled in my face. It was a voice I hadn't known for long but would recognise anywhere. Cal had come back to find us.
His face was full of fury, his usually sleeked back hair tousled and greasy, his suit, though expensive, was crumpled and stained. And that breath. God, he stank like a whiskey looked like a wasp that had been shaken up in a jar - deadly angry.
"Tell me where she is!" he demanded, grabbing me by the shirt to thrust me against the wall painfully.
I decided to use the skillful lying that had made me a success at poker.
"Cal, Rose didn't survive," I told him as calmly as I could.
The shock of my words loosened his grip on me for just the tiniest amount for me to throw him off of me. I pushed him away and then shoved him further onto the pavement with a foot to his chest. Cal staggered around pathetically for a moment, breathing heavily like a bull about to charge
"I don't believe you" he growled under his breath, his bloodshot eyes staring at me with pure hate. "You're lying! Trying to protect the little whore!"
Now it was my turn to punch him in the face. He barely attempted a defence as I lunged forward to plunge my fist painfully into the side of his jaw. He yelled out in pained rage and staggered further backwards. In his clearly drunken state it was almost an unfair fight. Almost.
"Don't you ever call Rose a whore again, you bastard!" I yelled. "And she is dead. She died in the water. It was too cold for her, she couldn't hold on"
Cal looked like he wanted nothing more in the world than to murder me on the spot. The slight hint of distress in his gaze at the thought of Rose having died was suddenly drowned out by yet more anger.
"Oh, really? Well, you obviously saved yourself instead of her. Exactly what I'd expect from a gutter rat." He almost spat his words. Although I was lying, and Rose was alive and well, his accusations still stung. I aimed another punch at him, but he dodged out of the way, and my fist slammed into the wall behind him. I gasped as the bricks scraped my knuckles, drawing blood.
Cal just laughed, the manic laugh of a crazed lunatic, not the sophisticated chortle of a millionaire tycoon. Then his laughs tailed off, as a thought had clearly gone through his crazed mind.
"Or maybe…maybe she's not dead... Maybe you're just lying to keep her safe. Ha! Of course!" his raving words sounded like nothing more than the words of a drunk, not to be taken seriously, but there was danger in his thoughts.
"Oh for God's sake, can you even hear yourself? Just fuck off, Cal. Go back to where no one's got the nerve to tell you what a bastard you are"
"Ha! Don't think your lies can fool me, Dawson! I know she's alive. I know it! Well, I'll find her. Mark my words. One way or another, I'll have her back for myself!" And he staggered off down the busy street, laughing to himself like a maniac, pausing only once to throw up against the side of a wall. His was pitiful. Pitiful and disgusting. He might be drunk, but he was serious. Cal had strong connections and could bribe the police into launching a city-wide search if he wanted to.
My heart pounded in my chest. I could feel panic setting in fact. I had to get Rose out of New York, and soon.
"Jesus Christ! Who the hell was that?"
Nathan, who had wisely stayed out of Cal's firing line the whole time, looked visibly shocked by what he had seen.
"That was Caledon Hockley."
His usually so cheerful face darkened with worry and an almost sick expression.
"We'd better get home" he said. "The others will be back by now."
The walk home was silent, both of us lost in our own thoughts. I knew I had to get Rose out of the city as soon as possible. There wasn't time to wait for money or proper arrangements, as we'd hoped. It had to happen soon.
I could feel the blood from my bruised nose drying on my face, but I couldn't have cared less about how I looked, or how bad the throbbing from Cal's punch was. It was all I could do to contain the panicked thoughts swimming through my mind about how we were going to get away.
We walked fast along the street towards the house, our stony expressions and serious faces in stark contrast to the sounds of the happily playing neighbourhood children. We heard a call from Lucy as she spotted her father, but as Nathan forced himself to smile and return her wave, I turned my head away to hide the evidence of the fight. She didn't need to see that.
As we walked into the house, we were attacked by a mob of pups, but I didn't crouch down and stroke them. I picked my way past them over to Rose, who was sitting on the sofa, the yellow pup sleeping in her arms. She looked concerned as she saw the dark bruise that had formed on the side of my face.
"Jack, what happened?" she asked in a worried voice, touching the bruise.
I winced in pain. "Rose, we have to leave now. We're in danger"
She looked even more worried.
"Why? What happened?"
"Cal's here. He knows we're alive."
I hated having to tell her this. It was awful seeing how scared she looked at the mention of her ex fiance's name. I explained how he had followed Nathan and I, how he drunk he was, and about the fight.
"Jack told him you were dead" said Nathan. "He's a pretty quick liar actually"
Even in this time of turmoil he attempted to sound light-hearted and jokey, but it's spark caught no one.
"It didn't seem to fool him much though" I replied grimly. "He was drunk, but he'll remember his doubts when he's sober"
"We can't stay in the city" said Rose, her voice shaking like a leaf. "He'll track us down somehow. He'll have the police after us, I know he will"
I pulled her into my arms as frightened tears began to form in her eyes. I held her tight, trying to silently assure her that I would never let Cal get to her as long as I lived.
"Where will you go?" asked Selina, her gentle face etched with a depth of worry that simply did not belong on such usually happy features.
Rose and I looked at each other. Neither of us knew the answer to that question. Where could we go? Rose had never travelled anywhere unguarded before and I had never stayed in one place long enough to put down any roots or develop relationships that would help us while we got back onto our feet. There was only one place I knew of that I knew enough about to feel safe enough to bring Rose there.
"To be honest, the only place I know we can go is Chippewa Falls," I said finally. I
was reluctant about returning. I always had been. It held bad memories. But we had very few options, and at least I knew people there who would welcome us. Dispute it's painful past, Chippewa Falls was a small countryside town; the last place anyone would look for a missing socialite.
She smiled. "That sounds great. It sounds like a nice place, from what you've told me."
"Where is this place?" asked Nathan.
"In Wisconsin" I answered. "Where I'm from. It's the only place I can think of that I know anyone who would help us. Plus it's pretty far out, not exactly the first place Cal would look"
"It sounds safe" Nathan agreed.
"Then it's settled. We'll leave for Chippewa Falls as soon as possible."
"I can get you tickets on a train to Canada tomorrow morning. It stops off there along the way," Nathan offered.
"That would be great," said Rose with a fond smile at her friend. "Thank you so much for all you've done for us, Nathan."
"Hey, what else could I do? I wouldn't just turn away one my closest friends, would I? I'll go down the train station now and get the tickets."
I took some money out of my pocket. "Here's the money for them," I offered, but Nathan refused to take it.
"Nah, don't worry about it. Call it a present from us. You save your money. I reckon you'll need it for other things pretty soon" He winked as he left, leaving Rose looking amused, but puzzled.
"Other things?" she asked, looking up at me.
"Never you mind" I told her, giving her a kiss on the tip of her nose.
Rose smiled, but still looked worried. I pulled her tighter against me.
"It's okay, Rose," I said, trying to comfort her. "I won't let him find us. In a couple of days, we'll be in Wisconsin, far away from him."
"Such an awful man..." said Selina, shaking her head angrily. "He needs to be locked up!"
"He's too rich to be locked up" said Rose gloomily, which was sadly rather true.
"Madonna..." Selina sighed, before turning her attention to me. "Jack, do you need any ice for that bruise?"
"Huh?"
I had been so caught up in the emotions of the event that I had almost forgotten my face was currently bruised and caked in blood.
"No, thanks, I think it'll be fine. I should go wash this off though"
I gave Rose another kiss on the forehead before heading upstairs to make myself look somewhat decent again.
Nathan came back a little while later with the two train tickets to Chippewa Falls. Trailing behind him, looking tired and red-cheeked from her day out in the cool spring air, was Lucy. She didn't look amazingly pleased at being called back inside by her father.
Nathan also carried a paper bag that suggested he hadn't just bought train tickets while he was out.
"Speaking of presents" said Nathan, continuing where he had left off. "Rose, since I'm probably not going to see you for your birthday next month, I should probably give you this now"
He handed the brown paper bag to Rose, who looked curiously confused.
"Sorry I didn't have time to wrap it, but I think you're going to like it," he said with another wink.
Rose's hand delved inside the paper bag. She looked a little puzzled at first, but then a huge smile spread across her face as she pulled out the contents. From the bag, she pulled out a red dog collar and a matching leash. Both of them were puppy-sized. I realised what the present was.
Rose lept up and threw her arms around Nathan excitedly.
"Oh, Nathan, thank you!" she practically squealed like a little girl no older than Lucy. "I've always wanted a puppy!"
Nathan hugged her back.
"I know, I had to listen to you whinging about your mother not letting you have one for long enough!" he laughed. It was so lovely to see how instantly happy Rose had become.
Nathan gestured towards where the pups were playing over in the corner.
"Well, take your pick," he said.
Rose walked over to the pups and beckoned me over. "Jack, come and help me choose," she said excitedly. I joined her by the pups, pretty darn happy myself at being given the chance to adopt one of the pups. My family had had a dog at one point during my childhood; a mongrel named Max whom I'd begged my parents to let me keep after finding him wandering the fields one day, but sadly he was no puppy when we took him in, and he died several years before my parents. Now, for Rose and I to begin our lives together with a new family member was a wonderful thought.
Rose and I watched the pups carefully, wondering which of the black bundled of energy would be ours, but both our eyes kept wandering towards one in particular. A little yellow speck that sat shyly on the sidelines before slowly creeping towards our now slightly more familiar selves. She looked up at us with her big hazel eyes and I felt my heart melt. I looked at Rose and she looked at me. That was it. The pup was sold.
I gently scooped her up in my arms and said, "How d'you fancy living with us?"
She licked my nose happily, her little yellow tail giving a timid but happy wag. I handed her to Rose and she happily cuddled her close. After seeing her look so frightened and upset earlier on, it was wonderful to watch her so blissfully happy with our new puppy.
We carried her over to the sofa and she happily settled down to doze on Rose's lap.
"Now all she needs is a name," said Selina, smiling at the sight of the puppy nuzzling Rose's hand as she stroked her, and probably also the thought that one pup was down, the rest would follow soon!
"We didn't name them because we thought it would be harder to part with them if we did. So, what are you going to call her?" she asked again.
Rose looked the puppy in her lap. "Hmm...maybe something to represent her fur? Goldie, maybe? What do you think, Jack?"
"Um…it sounds like the sort of thing you'd call a goldfish. Hazel, for her eyes?"
"She doesn't really look like a Hazel to me. She's such a sweet puppy. And her fur is a gorgeous honey colour. Honey? How about that? Honey."
I tried it out in my head, looking at the puppy. It sounded perfect. It represented her fur colour and her sweet nature. Honey was our newest family member.
"I think it's a perfect name." I smiled, running my own hand along the dozing puppy's back.
Rose smiled and picked up the red puppy collar. "Welcome to the family, Honey," she said, fastening the collar around her golden neck. Un-phased by her undergoing adoption, Honey merely sighed in her contented snooze.
An awful afternoon had been transformed into a happy event. We had adopted a puppy, and begun our new family. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect timing...
"Rose" I said, dropping my hand from Honey to grasp her hand. "What you just said, welcoming Honey to the family? Well, I was wondering..."
I reached into my pocket to retrieve the small, square jewellery case hidden within.
"How about we properly formalise that?"
Rose gasped as I showed her the box.
"Rose, there's no one else in the world I'd rather make a family with than you. Will you marry me?"
Rose covered her face to hide the tears of happiness falling from her eyes as I opened the lid to show her the ring inside.
"Yes!" she gasped through her tears, with the most intensely happy smile I think I'd ever seen on her. "Yes, yes, I will!" she threw her arms around me and grasped me in a tight hug, disturbing the startled puppy in her lap, who scooted off of her and onto the limited sofa space between us.
I held Rose tight to me, kissing her forehead, her hair, over and over. I couldn't believe how happy I was. Rose and I knew we loved each other more than anything, but now, we were truly going to prove our love to the world, officially.
When Rose finally pulled away, I slid the slender ring onto her trembling hand. It suited her perfectly.
"Jack, it's just perfect" she breathed, staring in awe at the design.
"The second I saw it, it made me think of you" I told her, to which she laughed through another happy sob.
"I think this calls for a celebration!" came Nathan's happy shout. He was practically bouncing with enthusiasm at the joyous occasion. "Selina, where did we put that wine? The one your father sent us from Spain for Christmas"
"It's in the top cupboard where it's always been, you silly old fool" Selina laughed, wiping a couple of happy tears of her own.
"Oh, congratulations, both of you!" she gushed, getting up to give Rose a hug.
Nathan returned from the kitchen with a tray of glasses of Spanish red wine, and raised a toast "to the happy couple". The wine, strong and fruity, soon made us all feel happily warm inside. With her parents so brimming with happiness, Lucy even persuaded her father to let her have a sip of the wine, and gave us all a bit of a laugh when her enthusiasm to try it was disappointed by the taste.
That night, I lay awake in the darkness, just able to make out the form of my future wife from the faint glow of the gaslight outside, laying next to me, a content smile on her face as she slept, our new puppy cuddled up against her. I thought back to the unhappy circumstances that had led us to this moment. Dark as our short history together had been, the only forecast I could see for our future together was one of happiness. Although it had taken a world's worth of pain and hardship to get us here, I wouldn't have traded that moment for the world.
Placing a gentle kiss on Rose's forehead, I cuddled up to her as close as I could, wrapped a protective arm around her, and finally drifted off to sleep.