Part One: The First Truths

I remember it as if it had just occurred yesterday if it were happening right now, actually, this very moment. Gosh. Jack was the light of my world.

Every day of my life since that incident, I've thought of him. I always wallowed in self pity before I met him. I hated existence. The thought of being restricted all of my days as a wife, a servant to Cal. It just makes me cringe. sigh. Oh Jack… Jack.

Flashback

I had waited until after dinner, when it was dark and when no one was around. I would do this so quietly and so secretly, that no one would know. But even if someone did know, who would care? No one cares about me! Not Cal, not mother no one. I slowly climbed up and over the rail on the back of the ship, thinking of what I was just about to do. All of a sudden, I heard a voice …

"What are you doing? You're not thinking of jumping, are you?" said Jack with a concerned tone that I'd never heard before. I almost did let go.

"What do you care? Mind your own business!" I said in angry retort. I was so upset, I didn't think to even care what he thought of me.

"Well, I'm involved now, so please don't jump. Otherwise, I'll have to jump after you."

"You, you what?" I was completely caught off guard. Who was this man?

"I'll have to jump after you."

"Don't be absurd! The fall alone could kill you!"

"Yes, and the water's icy cold. Yes, I know. Say, have you ever been to Wisconsin?" he now said almost casually. "Yeah. Wisconsin. I grew up around there and used to go ice fishing with my father. You know what ice fishing is –"

"I know what ice fishing is!" I had snapped back without letting him finish.

"Yes, well. I simply thought that. Well, you seem like an indoor girl."

"That a first class lady like me wouldn't know what ice fishing was? Of course I know!" I was so depressed; I couldn't even cry anymore.

"Well. I once went ice fishing with my father on a lake and fell through some thin ice. It felt so cold - so cold that I didn't think that I'd ever be warm again. And well, the water down there's got to be at least that cold, if not colder…"

"How cold?" I said in a strange outburst of curiosity.

"Oh, probably about freezing. Maybe a few degrees higher. So, that's why I'm not looking forward to jumping in after you. Come on, get me off the hook, here."

What was this man thinking? I'd never seen a man with the likes of him before.

"Come on," he said sweetly and persuasively. "Come on, I'll pull you over."

Gosh, a complete stranger, and yet he wants to save me? I really wondered. I was captivated by his charm.

"You're crazy!" It was what I had really thought after all.

He pulled me over, swiftly and gently.

"Pardon me, but I'm not the one hanging out over the back of the ship here." He smiled such a sweet smile.

"My name is Jack, by the way, Jack Dawson."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dawson."

"No, please, call me Jack, I insist."

"Sure, Jack. I'm Rose, Rose DeWitt Bukateer."

"Wow, I've got to have you write that down sometime."

We smiled again.

"So … Rose."

"Yes?"

"Mind if I walk you back to your room? It'd be no trouble at all."

"Why, that would be lovely, Jack. Thank you."

End Flashback