Saving the beautiful Wilted Flower
Chapter 1: No where else to go
A young woman ran down the street as fast as she could. Sprinting to the nearest bridge, which was CCS Bridge, about 5 blocks away from where she lived. He red curls whipped wildly in the wind, as the crisp air made her eyes tear up more than they already were. A man was close by, walking down the street, he heard sounds of crying and a quickened pace. He lifted his head toward the sound and saw the most beautiful creature on the planet, with ivory skin, flaming red hair, and bright green eyes that had so much sorrow in them, running down the street, oblivious to anyone around her. He noticed her obvious distress, and decided to follow her just to be sure she did nothing foolish to herself. Not running, for fear she would notice him, he quickly followed her to CCS Bridge. She went straight to it, but the man remained hidden in the bushes, not wanting to be seen just yet. The young woman started climbing over the bridge railing, tears falling freely from her eyes. She leaned out, facing the rushing icy water below. The man came from the bushes, knowing this was the time to act.
"Don't do it!" he told her.
She almost lost her grip on the rail, as she jumped slightly at his words.
"Go away," she yelled at him.
He had no intent of leaving this beautiful woman alone, about to jump off a bridge. She was so fragile, broken, and hurt; he had never seen anything like it.
"I can't do that, I'm too involved now," he said, as he walked closer to where she was.
"What do you mean you're too involved now? You can just turn around, walk away, and forget you ever saw me," she yelled at him, really wishing he didn't take her advice.
"Now what kind of a man would I be to walk away from a woman hanging off a bridge?" he asked her, "Now what I'm wondering is, why is this woman hanging from a bridge?"
"Oh, it's everything," she started, not caring that this was a stranger, "nobody understands me. I can't express myself without being punished for it, I feel as if nobody cares for me!"
By this time, she had more tears falling from her green eyes, now dark with sadness, anger, and hurt. He knew exactly what she was talking about, maybe not enough that would make him want to take his life, but to some extent.
"I know what you mean," he said, "I'm Jack Dawson, by the way."
"Rose Dewitt Bukater," she introduced herself to him.
"I'm gonna have to get you to write that one down." He chuckled trying to lighten the situation they were in.
A small giggle escaped Rose's lips, and that made Jack happy that she was started to at least smile.
"Come on, you don't really want to do this," Jack tried to convince her, extending his hand out for her to take.
Rose knew she didn't really want to do this, but it seemed like the only way out. Maybe this was a sign, she had never felt so cared for by someone, than she did right now. She took his hand and turned around to face Jack. He helped her over the railing and they both felt something light up deep down in their heart.
"I don't want to go back," Rose whispered, just staring at him.
"So don't. Take a walk with me," he offered.
"Alright."
Jack and Rose walked around the park for about the next hour, talking about everything from their childhood. He told her about growing up in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and how his parent died when he was a teenager. A house fire in the middle of the night had left him and his little sister orphans. His little sister was only 5, so he couldn't take her with when he left, so he made sure she had a good home before he left Wisconsin. Rose listened intensely to Jack, feeling his grief, but her father's death was at least expected. She was skeptical at first about telling him about her father, but she knew she could trust him; after all, he did save her life. She told him about her father dieing of cancer last year, and how her mother and her never got along. After her father's death, they were in real bad debt, and her mother figured the only way out was to marry her daughter off to some rich businessman, which is exactly what she did. Rose was engaged to Caledon Hockley, the richest man in Pennsylvania. They came to the swings in the middle of the park, and decided to sit down. They didn't say anything for a while, they both had a lot on their mind.
Jack's question broke the silence, "Do you love him?"
Rose just sat there, knowing how to answer the question, but wondering whether to answer truthfully.
"No," she answered, exposing herself completely to this stranger, "but I have no choice. I don't want to go back there, but I have nowhere else to go!"
Rose broke out in tears, and Jack got up and hugged her, in effort to soothe her.
"If you would like, you can stay at my place. My roommate won't mind, you can have the couch," he offered, looking down at her, still in his arms.
"Really?" Rose asked, she still couldn't believe this stranger was offering to take her in, "I don't want to impose."
"Oh no, you won't impose. I would be glad to help you out, if you want," he offered again.
"I would like that, thank you," she said to him, as she wiggled out of his embrace.
They walked to his apartment, which was only a couple blocks away. They went to the second floor, to room 105B, and Jack unlocked the door. They entered the apartment, into what seemed to be the living, dining room, and the kitchen. The walls were all tan, and the floor was hard wood, with a few rugs here and there. There was a brown pullout couch and a blue recliner in the living room, with a table and chairs a couple feet away.
"You can have the couch, it's a pullout, so it's a little more comfortable," he told her, pointing to the couch, "We get free cable and internet; the computer is in my room, because I use it more then my roommate, and I pay for it."
They walked down a hallway decorated with posters ranging from The Beatles to Scarface and the Godfather. The walls were still all tan, and the hard wood floor was covered with a navy blue rug. They stopped beside two doors; Jack knocked on the one to the left.
"Fabri!" Jack yelled threw the door.
The large wooden door swung open and there stood a dark haired, dark eyed man, about six foot, about the same height and built as Jack.
"Fabri, this is Rose, she's going to be staying with us for a while," Jack told him, "Rose, this is my roommate, Fabrizio de Rossi, everyone calls him Fabri."
"Nice to meet you, Fabri," she said, holding out her hand for him to shake. Fabrizio took her hand and kissed it like in the old romantic movies.
"The pleasures all mine, Miss Rosa," he said with a thick Italian accent.
"Easy Fabri," Jack cut in, "C'mon Rose, there's more to this wonderful apartment!"
Rose laughed and followed Jack. They turned to the door on the left, and opened it, to reveal a bathroom. It was clean, considering that two guys lived here.
"Okay, saving the best for last, my room!" Jack shouted, as he did a little dance in the middle of the hallway.
Rose giggled as she followed Jack to the room at the end of the hall. Jack opened an identical wooden door that lead to Fabrizio's room. They entered the room, and walked on lush navy blue carpet, with tan walls that were decorated with art of all kinds. The art was everything from Monet, Picasso, and Da Vinci to what seemed to be drawings of Jack's. The bed was made, and the room was clean with the exception of a messy desk and a few things scattered on the floor.
"Monet!" Rose exclaimed as she ran over to the painting on the wall that the bed leaned against.
"You like art?" Jack asked, thinking to himself that if she did, this was one amazing woman.
"Oh I love it, but I was never able to study it or even look at it for that matter. I used to go to the library and sit there for hours looking at art in books and on the computer. My mother and Cal never figured it out," Rose told him, looking back at him.
"Wow, they cut you off from art. How did you deal with it for this long?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, exactly."
Rose ventured over to where the drawings were pinned up at.
"These are amazing, did you draw them?" Rose asked, studying one of an older lady sitting with a bunch of jewelry.
"Yeah. We called her Madame Bijoux. She would sit at the bar every night, wearing every piece of jewelry she owned, just waiting for her long lost love," Jack told Rose, staring at her, realizing he had never seen such a beautiful woman in his whole life.
"You have talent Jack, you do. You see people; you can capture their soul on paper. It's amazing," she told him staring back at him.
"Thanks, no ones really ever thought much of it," he said to her, walking toward the bed and sitting down.
Rose went and sat next to Jack.
"I think I'm going to go break off the engagement with Cal tomorrow, but I don't want to go alone, will you go with me?" she asked him, praying that he would, she didn't think she would have the strength to do it herself.
"Sure, tomorrow is my day off and we can go when we get going. I think now, we should get to bed, its 11 o'clock. You can borrow some of my clothes for the night if you would like," he offered her.
"Yeah, thanks."
Jack went to his dresser and fished out the smallest pants her could find, and a t-shirt from his closet. Rose went to change, and went to the living room, where Jack was setting up the pullout bed. He got everything ready for Rose, and he started walking back to his room.
"Jack?" Rose said, catching Jack attention, making him walk back to the living room, "Thank you, for everything you've done for me. If only there were more people out there like you."
Jack smiled at her, "No problem. Well, I'll see you in the morning Rose, good night."
"Good night Jack."
