Chapter III: Rose and Cal talk, and It isn't pretty
Well, Jack sighed, his feelings were hurt. This time, it felt as though Cal had really hit deep and hard when he told Rose that Jack wasn't invited to their lunch date. Jack thought to himself, "I guess I had this coming, I mean Cal had wanted Rose to come on the date solo, and I'd really be interfering, but the moment I lay my eyes on that wonderful lady, something clicked in me, all of a sudden, I felt alone and empty, and I felt as though she was the one for me. For some reason, Cal wasn't just hurting me or my feelings when he told me I was worthless, he was trying to insult me, and it hurt!" Jack felt visibly confused. He had been around mean people all his life. He had never known his biological parents, and he had been shuffled around foster homes for almost all of his 17 years. He knew what it felt like to not be appreciated by others, and he had learned, by now to put up and shut up, to 'get over it' so to speak, but this time, he felt that Cal had gone a bit too far, he felt that Cal had hit where it hurt, and that he had gotten personal.
However, Cal did not see it that way. Cal was firmly holding Rose's arm, so firm that Rose swore that iron bands were gripping her right arm, instead of Cal's hand. Cal was walking so fast he was almost running. Then he plunked Rose down on the first visible bench so violently that her body bounced up. Rose's bones jangled, because the blow was so hard. She felt like she had just been punched, or handled roughly somehow. Rose felt very confused, 'why is a Don Juan treating me in this rough manner. I mean I've read romance novels, and I've heard about my friends' romances and romantic relationships, and it isn't supposed to be like this!' However, Rose forgot all of her confusion when she looked into Cal's deep eyes. Somehow, for all of his rough treatment and arrogance, Rose could sense a sort of warmth, and depth in Cal's seductive brown eyes. Their colour reminded her of a cappuccino, so deep, rich, warm, seductive, and sexy. She could feel a warmth rising within her body, and warming all of her organs. Her heart began to melt, and she felt a warm flush and glow come over her face. Her cheeks were blushing with the hues and colour of love. Her face automatically broke out into a smile, and she said quite huskily, "I love you, Cal." Cal leaned in toward her in a very romantic manner that made her heart melt, and made her quickly forget about the rotten way he had just treated her, "I love you too, my lady!" He told her in a very seductive voice, that had a sort of naughty undertone. Unfortunately, Rose was not old enough to differentiate between the tone that implied the benign and the evil sort of naughtiness, or else, she would have been able to sense that Cal was not up to any good.
Rose, however, decided to ask Cal for some clarification as to why he had shined off Jack. She could understand Cal's sentiment that since Cal had asked Rose out for a date, there was no place for Jack, but she could not understand why Cal had decided to shine Jack on. "Cal," she said, "I wonder why you told Jack what you did, I think it was very rude of you, and I could tell, by judging the look on his face, and the way that he was acting after you said what you did, that he was hurt. I think what you did was very mean, and not gentleman like!" Rose stopped at her last three words, did she say 'not gentleman like!' she was very surprised, because she had not had the concept of that, at least, not until now. Cal's eyes flashed with anger, that familiar ominous yellow light that flashes in peoples' eyes when they're miffed appeared in Cal's eyes. He retorted, "Oh, I see, so you think some low-class person who is rude enough to think he can tag along on a pre-established date should get higher priority over a lady. I tell you, there are some people who are absolutely vile, and have no dignity or compulsions. I thought that it was quite crass that Jack decided to 'crash' our date, and I decided to tell him so!' Rose immediately sat up straight, 'low-class person!' That was certainly not the impression of Jack that she had gotten. She was quite touched by him, especially when she saw the picture of her and him on the boat. She felt that he had real talent, and that he was full of emotion, and the ability to relate to others in very special and personal ways. He must, otherwise, he would never have been capable of painting a picture of them in the boat. Anyway, Mrs. Taggrt had mentioned that Jack had the ability to see, which was strange for Mrs. Taggrt, because she usually didn't talk about such things. Usually, it was Rose who did all of the daydreaming, much to Mrs. Taggrt's consternation. Rose said, "Cal, I think you're being a bit presumptious, I think that Jack is a very decent and distinguished man, with lots of class and talent." Cal's eyes flashed even more violently now, "Rose" he said, "please, trust me, Jack is a NO ONE, he comes from NO WHERE, I have met his type of people before, they are NOTHING, please DON"T delude yourself, Jack is a PERSON WHO SHOULD BE IGNORED, he is NOTHING AND HE WILL NEVER BE ANYTHING." Rose timidly muttered, "All-right, as you wish."
The waitress came by their table, and Rose was feeling quite hungry, so she got out her menu, and she began to order food. She said, in her quite non chalant way, "Well, I'd like to have a hamburger and fries." No sooner had she finished uttering these words than Cal interjected, Cal said, "What are you doing? That is not the fare for a lady." Then he looked at the waitress, and he said, "Pardon me, she'll have the French onion soup, and the filet mignion and the champagne." The waitress looked confused, she stepped back, and then she turned to Rose, and she said, "Is this what you want m'am?" Rose felt quite confused, and this reflected in her voice, as she muttered, "I guess." Then Cal said, "I'll have the prime steak well done, and some nice wine." The waitress took the orders, and then went back to the kitchen. Rose glared at Cal and said, "Cal, why did you interrupt me, why do you think you know what I like?" Cal replied, "You are a lady, and you must act like one, what you were ordering is not what a lady eats." Rose thought to herself, "Like I give a damn about what a lady eats, damnit, I want to be myself. I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable around this guy." But then Cal flashed one of his smiles at her, and she forgot all about her feelings and uncertainties about Cal, and she began to fall in love with Cal once more.
Well, the waitress came with the food, and they ate, and then Cal paid the check, and he motioned Rose to get up, but Rose said in a very determined voice, "No, I think I'll stay here for a while, I want to rest before I go back to class, I ate quite a lot." Cal said, "As you wish, my lady."
Now, Rose had time alone to herself, and a lot of thoughts began to rush into her mind. For the first time in her life, she felt very confused. This was a new feeling for her, it was a feeling that none of her friends had ever told her about. Her impressions about love from them was that love was just something that was wonderful that made you feel good all of the time, and that was synonymous to floating on a candy cloud. Well, she was definitely not feeling good, in fact she was feeling very confused. 'Where is this relationship going?' she thought to herself. She felt quite confused, on the one hand, she had been swept off her feet and mesmerized by Cal's mannerisms and by his smile, but on the other hand, she didn't like the way he treated Jack, and she found the way he had treated her a bit off putting as well. She cringed when she thought about the words he used, "low class person, lady." She had never heard these words used before, at least not in that derogatory way, and it made her feel quite uncomfortable to be hearing these words used in that way now. She was beginning to get the idea that Cal liked to put up a lot of pretenses. Anyway, she was beginning to wonder if Cal judged people on the social class they came from, and how much money they had, and not on what their personality was like, and who they really were. She thought that Jack was a very decent person, never mind the fact that he appeared to come from a low class background. 'To hell with it,' she thought to herself defiantly, 'I'd rather date a poor but decent person, than date a rich asshole!' She also didn't like the way that Cal tried to make up her mind for her, especially when she was ordering food. She thought it was pathetic that he justified all of his crass actions, including ordering food for her, without first consulting her with the fact that she was a lady, and should act like one, and should be treated like one. She didn't know much about what a lady should be like, but she did know that she didn't like rules. 'Boy,' she though to herself, 'if that's what a lady should act like, then I want no part of it.' But at the same time, she could feel her self becoming quite curious as to what a lady should be like. As for Cal, she was beginning to wonder if he wasn't really some sort of control freak. She was a very independent minded girl who liked her freedom, and believed in doing what a person thought and knew was right, and she was beginning to think, that far from doing what he thought was right in his heart, Cal did what he thought society thought he should do. This didn't sit well with Rose, because she never cared about what society thought she should do, in fact her favourite line was, 'to hell with society, I'll do as I please.' On the other hand, Jack appeared to be a man who did what he thought was right in his heart. Rose never had given art much thought, but it was that picture, that was so vivid, it looked like it was real that Jack had drawn that was catching Rose's mind now. Rose reflected back on the picture, and she realized that there had been a lot of emotion in the drawing. She had noticed something else in the drawing, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Rose did not realize it at the time, but she was beginning to get in touch with her emotions, and she was finding the experience to be very tumultuous and confusing, to say the least. Rose knew that she wanted to get to know more of Jack, because, to her, he seemed to be a very interesting person.
Well, Jack sighed, his feelings were hurt. This time, it felt as though Cal had really hit deep and hard when he told Rose that Jack wasn't invited to their lunch date. Jack thought to himself, "I guess I had this coming, I mean Cal had wanted Rose to come on the date solo, and I'd really be interfering, but the moment I lay my eyes on that wonderful lady, something clicked in me, all of a sudden, I felt alone and empty, and I felt as though she was the one for me. For some reason, Cal wasn't just hurting me or my feelings when he told me I was worthless, he was trying to insult me, and it hurt!" Jack felt visibly confused. He had been around mean people all his life. He had never known his biological parents, and he had been shuffled around foster homes for almost all of his 17 years. He knew what it felt like to not be appreciated by others, and he had learned, by now to put up and shut up, to 'get over it' so to speak, but this time, he felt that Cal had gone a bit too far, he felt that Cal had hit where it hurt, and that he had gotten personal.
However, Cal did not see it that way. Cal was firmly holding Rose's arm, so firm that Rose swore that iron bands were gripping her right arm, instead of Cal's hand. Cal was walking so fast he was almost running. Then he plunked Rose down on the first visible bench so violently that her body bounced up. Rose's bones jangled, because the blow was so hard. She felt like she had just been punched, or handled roughly somehow. Rose felt very confused, 'why is a Don Juan treating me in this rough manner. I mean I've read romance novels, and I've heard about my friends' romances and romantic relationships, and it isn't supposed to be like this!' However, Rose forgot all of her confusion when she looked into Cal's deep eyes. Somehow, for all of his rough treatment and arrogance, Rose could sense a sort of warmth, and depth in Cal's seductive brown eyes. Their colour reminded her of a cappuccino, so deep, rich, warm, seductive, and sexy. She could feel a warmth rising within her body, and warming all of her organs. Her heart began to melt, and she felt a warm flush and glow come over her face. Her cheeks were blushing with the hues and colour of love. Her face automatically broke out into a smile, and she said quite huskily, "I love you, Cal." Cal leaned in toward her in a very romantic manner that made her heart melt, and made her quickly forget about the rotten way he had just treated her, "I love you too, my lady!" He told her in a very seductive voice, that had a sort of naughty undertone. Unfortunately, Rose was not old enough to differentiate between the tone that implied the benign and the evil sort of naughtiness, or else, she would have been able to sense that Cal was not up to any good.
Rose, however, decided to ask Cal for some clarification as to why he had shined off Jack. She could understand Cal's sentiment that since Cal had asked Rose out for a date, there was no place for Jack, but she could not understand why Cal had decided to shine Jack on. "Cal," she said, "I wonder why you told Jack what you did, I think it was very rude of you, and I could tell, by judging the look on his face, and the way that he was acting after you said what you did, that he was hurt. I think what you did was very mean, and not gentleman like!" Rose stopped at her last three words, did she say 'not gentleman like!' she was very surprised, because she had not had the concept of that, at least, not until now. Cal's eyes flashed with anger, that familiar ominous yellow light that flashes in peoples' eyes when they're miffed appeared in Cal's eyes. He retorted, "Oh, I see, so you think some low-class person who is rude enough to think he can tag along on a pre-established date should get higher priority over a lady. I tell you, there are some people who are absolutely vile, and have no dignity or compulsions. I thought that it was quite crass that Jack decided to 'crash' our date, and I decided to tell him so!' Rose immediately sat up straight, 'low-class person!' That was certainly not the impression of Jack that she had gotten. She was quite touched by him, especially when she saw the picture of her and him on the boat. She felt that he had real talent, and that he was full of emotion, and the ability to relate to others in very special and personal ways. He must, otherwise, he would never have been capable of painting a picture of them in the boat. Anyway, Mrs. Taggrt had mentioned that Jack had the ability to see, which was strange for Mrs. Taggrt, because she usually didn't talk about such things. Usually, it was Rose who did all of the daydreaming, much to Mrs. Taggrt's consternation. Rose said, "Cal, I think you're being a bit presumptious, I think that Jack is a very decent and distinguished man, with lots of class and talent." Cal's eyes flashed even more violently now, "Rose" he said, "please, trust me, Jack is a NO ONE, he comes from NO WHERE, I have met his type of people before, they are NOTHING, please DON"T delude yourself, Jack is a PERSON WHO SHOULD BE IGNORED, he is NOTHING AND HE WILL NEVER BE ANYTHING." Rose timidly muttered, "All-right, as you wish."
The waitress came by their table, and Rose was feeling quite hungry, so she got out her menu, and she began to order food. She said, in her quite non chalant way, "Well, I'd like to have a hamburger and fries." No sooner had she finished uttering these words than Cal interjected, Cal said, "What are you doing? That is not the fare for a lady." Then he looked at the waitress, and he said, "Pardon me, she'll have the French onion soup, and the filet mignion and the champagne." The waitress looked confused, she stepped back, and then she turned to Rose, and she said, "Is this what you want m'am?" Rose felt quite confused, and this reflected in her voice, as she muttered, "I guess." Then Cal said, "I'll have the prime steak well done, and some nice wine." The waitress took the orders, and then went back to the kitchen. Rose glared at Cal and said, "Cal, why did you interrupt me, why do you think you know what I like?" Cal replied, "You are a lady, and you must act like one, what you were ordering is not what a lady eats." Rose thought to herself, "Like I give a damn about what a lady eats, damnit, I want to be myself. I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable around this guy." But then Cal flashed one of his smiles at her, and she forgot all about her feelings and uncertainties about Cal, and she began to fall in love with Cal once more.
Well, the waitress came with the food, and they ate, and then Cal paid the check, and he motioned Rose to get up, but Rose said in a very determined voice, "No, I think I'll stay here for a while, I want to rest before I go back to class, I ate quite a lot." Cal said, "As you wish, my lady."
Now, Rose had time alone to herself, and a lot of thoughts began to rush into her mind. For the first time in her life, she felt very confused. This was a new feeling for her, it was a feeling that none of her friends had ever told her about. Her impressions about love from them was that love was just something that was wonderful that made you feel good all of the time, and that was synonymous to floating on a candy cloud. Well, she was definitely not feeling good, in fact she was feeling very confused. 'Where is this relationship going?' she thought to herself. She felt quite confused, on the one hand, she had been swept off her feet and mesmerized by Cal's mannerisms and by his smile, but on the other hand, she didn't like the way he treated Jack, and she found the way he had treated her a bit off putting as well. She cringed when she thought about the words he used, "low class person, lady." She had never heard these words used before, at least not in that derogatory way, and it made her feel quite uncomfortable to be hearing these words used in that way now. She was beginning to get the idea that Cal liked to put up a lot of pretenses. Anyway, she was beginning to wonder if Cal judged people on the social class they came from, and how much money they had, and not on what their personality was like, and who they really were. She thought that Jack was a very decent person, never mind the fact that he appeared to come from a low class background. 'To hell with it,' she thought to herself defiantly, 'I'd rather date a poor but decent person, than date a rich asshole!' She also didn't like the way that Cal tried to make up her mind for her, especially when she was ordering food. She thought it was pathetic that he justified all of his crass actions, including ordering food for her, without first consulting her with the fact that she was a lady, and should act like one, and should be treated like one. She didn't know much about what a lady should be like, but she did know that she didn't like rules. 'Boy,' she though to herself, 'if that's what a lady should act like, then I want no part of it.' But at the same time, she could feel her self becoming quite curious as to what a lady should be like. As for Cal, she was beginning to wonder if he wasn't really some sort of control freak. She was a very independent minded girl who liked her freedom, and believed in doing what a person thought and knew was right, and she was beginning to think, that far from doing what he thought was right in his heart, Cal did what he thought society thought he should do. This didn't sit well with Rose, because she never cared about what society thought she should do, in fact her favourite line was, 'to hell with society, I'll do as I please.' On the other hand, Jack appeared to be a man who did what he thought was right in his heart. Rose never had given art much thought, but it was that picture, that was so vivid, it looked like it was real that Jack had drawn that was catching Rose's mind now. Rose reflected back on the picture, and she realized that there had been a lot of emotion in the drawing. She had noticed something else in the drawing, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Rose did not realize it at the time, but she was beginning to get in touch with her emotions, and she was finding the experience to be very tumultuous and confusing, to say the least. Rose knew that she wanted to get to know more of Jack, because, to her, he seemed to be a very interesting person.