Thanks for reviews! Glad you like it! Just so you know, this will have a bit of a soap-y edge to it.

About Four Weeks Later

"Jack!" Rose cried out. "Don't stop, please!" Rose couldn't control her actions and her nails dug sharply into his shoulders as he began to move his hips faster. He pressed his sweaty forehead to hers. A low moan began in her throat and grew rapidly into a scream as she was completely overpowered by the orgasm. Before Rose could recover, Jack wrapped his arms around her and flipped them in one swift motion so that she straddled him. She still wasn't fully recovered as another orgasm tore through her body. Jack felt himself let go with a loud moan and Rose collapsed on top of him.

They lay there, motionless except for their heavy breathing. After a minute or two, Jack kissed the top of Rose's head and she giggled softly. Slowly she slid off of him and snuggled up next to him. He propped himself up on his elbow to look at her and she let out a content sigh.

"What was that for?"

"Oh…nothing," she replied. "I just feel so safe and warm here with you." Rose laid her head on her chest. "I've never felt it before."

"You don't feel this with him," Jack said. Rose didn't know why, but he refused to say Cal's name.

"Maybe in the literal sense," Rose said, noting the edge in his voice. "The bed's warmer with him in it and he keeps a pistol in the nightstand drawer." Rose swallowed hard, realizing she was walking into dangerous territory. Suddenly feeling nervous, Rose climbed from the bed and gathered her clothes from the floor. "It doesn't matter," she muttered under her breath.

"What doesn't matter?" Jack watched as she dressed and felt his happiness fading. Rose pretended like she didn't hear him and pulled on her shoes. "Rose?"

"Nothing." She looked at the clock. "I have to go Jack," Rose told him firmly, hoping she had put an end to the conversation. Jack nodded and climbed from the bed. He began pulling his pants on and before he could stop them the words came right out of his mouth.

"Leave him." Rose swore her heart stopped beating. She was suddenly struggling to catch her breath. Slowly she turned to face him.

"What did you just say?"

Jack crossed the room and took her face in his hands. "Leave him." Rose couldn't speak; she was still having a hard time breathing. Jack kissed her softly. "Be with me."

Rose studied his eyes for a moment before opening her mouth to speak when suddenly there was a knock at the door. "What the hell?" Rose muttered.

"Miss Rose!" The voice on the other side of the door was Trudy. It was urgent but pleasant. Another knock followed. When Trudy called her a second time, Rose's eyes snapped open and Jack vanished, replaced by the canopy above her bed. It was a dream.

Sitting up in bed, Rose felt her blankets snare her legs. She looked down and quickly untangled the blankets. Another knock startled her and she called out. "Y-yes?"

Trudy opened the door and greeted Rose with a warm smile. "Good morning miss."

"Good morning," Rose managed. She still dwelled upon her dream; it had felt so real.

"I apologize for waking you earlier than usual, but your mother insisted on it." Rose look at the clock on the mantel above the fireplace in her room. She noticed it was just before seven and suddenly Rose longed for the extra hour of sleep she was accustomed to.

"Thank you Trudy," Rose said with a yawn. Trudy nodded and turned to go back downstairs. Rose began to wonder the reasons for being awoken this early. Then Jack's voice came back into her head. "Be with me." The dream had felt so real that Rose could feel the lingering of his hands on her cheeks. "What was I going to tell him?" Rose asked out loud. Her initial thought was that she was going to say yes. Maybe she wasn't going to say it right away; perhaps she was going to come up with an excuse for being unable to leave Cal. But Rose knew deep in her heart, that she would have said yes.

But could I do it? Could I leave Cal? I don't love him nor does he love me. Rose stood and stretched, her mind still spinning. It would be incredibly foolish to think I can just simply leave Cal. But to be with Jack…

"Rose!" Ruth called from the hallway. Startled from her thoughts, Rose turned to see her mother poke her head into the room. "Make yourself presentable and come down for breakfast."

"What's going on mother?" Rose tried to hold back a yawn but failed.

Ruth grimaced as Rose yawned loudly with her mouth wide open. "Rose, please don't be so uncouth. Just do as I ask please." With that Ruth turned and left.

That's odd, Rose thought to herself. She dressed in something simple and presentable for breakfast. The entire time her thoughts flipped back and forth between her mother's sense of urgency and her dream of Jack.

Rose descended the stairs, noticing the butterflies in her tummy wouldn't settle down. Her mother's urgency had been forgotten as she could not stop thinking about what a life with Jack would be like. Looking around the mansion, she knew it would be nowhere near glamorous. She knew that it would be quite the opposite in fact. Rose continued to ponder it all as she walked towards the kitchen. She hid a tiny smile on her lips when she thought of showing up at Jack's tonight with no intention of leaving.

But as Rose drew closer to the kitchen, the smile faded quickly when she heard the voices talking. The butterflies died off and their remains caused nausea to creep up her throat. Appearing in the doorway, she felt her joy vanish.

Cal smiled at her over his plate. "Good morning Sweetpea."

How Rose managed to keep her composure, find her voice and not betray her emotions was something she didn't think she'd ever figure out. "Cal!" she cried with fake enthusiasm. He stood to greet her as she walked to him, focusing on simply putting one foot in front of the other. Their kiss was chaste, over before Rose knew it. "What are you doing here?"

Cal frowned. "You sound disappointed that I'm here." He sat back down, motioning for Rose to sit next to him.

Rose let out a laugh. It was easy to do so, having become so accustomed to pretending to enjoy life with him. "No, that's not it at all darling." She spooned some sugar into her coffee and grimaced at the taste. She preferred her coffee black and strong, but her mother insisted that she at least put sugar in it because drinking black coffee was not ladylike. "I'm just surprised." She wanted to ask him how long he was going to be there but kept her mouth shut.

Cal smiled at her and speared his eggs with a fork. "The contract still isn't worked out." He took a bite. Rose realized he was looking across the table at Ruth rather than at her. "I have to be back Monday morning, and I was hoping the two of you would join me."

Rose almost choked on her coffee. Before she could think of a valid reason to object to Cal's proposal, Ruth spoke up.

"That would be lovely Cal. Don't you think Rose?"

Rose couldn't say why she didn't want to go with Cal, leaving her no choice but to agree. "When will we be leaving?" She had hoped it would be later rather than sooner, giving her a chance to figure out a way to go to Jack and never turn back.

"We'll be on the three o'clock train this afternoon," Cal told her.

…

Jack watched the children playing with their puppy excitedly. Their squeals and laughter echoed throughout the park and Jack couldn't help but smile at their joy. He continued to sketch the scene in front of him as his thoughts drifted to Rose.

He wondered if she'd visit him today in the park. She usually did, but she wasn't always able to get away or she chose to catch up on her sleep if she had stayed with him the previous night longer than either of them intended. Last night he had walked her home around two however, so after Rose didn't show after an hour of their usual meeting time, Jack felt safe assuming that she simply wasn't able to get away. After another hour Jack put his portfolio back together and tucked it under his arm as he headed home.

He couldn't believe he had been in Rome for such a long time. It was going on three months and over the past five years Jack hadn't stayed anywhere longer than a month or so. In truth, he knew that the only reason he hadn't left was because of Rose. Jack knew he was falling in love with her and he knew he was setting himself up for heartbreak. Sooner or later, he knew Rose would leave Rome and go off with her husband that she didn't love.

"Amore is not-a logical," Fabrizio had told him a week ago.

Jack opened the door to his apartment and tossed his coat and portfolio on the couch. Fabrizio was right and Jack knew it. There had been so many nights, lying with Rose in his arms that he wanted to tell her to leave Cal and be with him. Jack couldn't bring himself to say the words and he knew why; he was afraid of her answer. Even though she was miserable in her marriage, she was safe and secure. She'd never have to worry about sleeping under a bridge or eating stale bread. With Cal she'd sleep every night in a warm bed and have fresh baked bread with breakfast every morning.

But what if she said she would leave Cal? Jack thought to himself. You'll never know unless you say something to her. Tell her how you feel.

Jack plopped down on the couch and grabbed his book from the end table and opened it to the marked page. The words on the page just ran together and Jack closed the book with a sigh and tossed it back on the table. He glanced at the clock on the mantel and saw it was just a little after five. Rose wouldn't come by until at least ten.

He was usually able to pass the time easily, but he just wasn't able to this afternoon. He wanted Rose to be here. He wanted to tell her all of his feelings, confess to her that he'd been in love with her since the moment she plowed into him at the park. Jack didn't care how insane it may have sounded, he was going to ask her to stay with him.

The minutes ticked away into hours. Eventually those hours ticked away to the usual time of Rose's arrival. Ten o'clock came and Jack poured two glasses of cheap red wine like he did every night. Jack wasn't concerned that fifteen minutes had passed, sometimes Rose was a bit late. Ten thirty came and went. Jack began to feel a gnawing in the pit of his stomach. At eleven, the two glasses of wine sat untouched as Jack threw on his coat to leave.

Jack was afraid that something horrible had happened. He always walked her home, but now Jack was kicking himself in the ass for never meeting her on her way over. The closer he got to the house she was staying at, the more relieved he was that he hadn't seen her lying in a gutter somewhere. The relief was short lived however. The house was completely dark. The gate to the long driveway locked shut. No car rested in the carport.

She can't be...no…she's not…

Jack swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat.

Gone?

…

Rose stared at the ceiling. She had hoped the motion of the train would lull her to sleep, but after three hours of tossing around on the bed she was still wide awake. Silent tears stained her face. At first she had been wiping them away, but she grew tired of it. She stopped fighting and let the tears just fall where they may.

The beds in the sleeping car were tiny for which Rose was grateful. There was room for two people to a bed, but just barely. Cal slept in the bed above her while Ruth slept in the bed opposite her. They had been asleep for hours. Neither of them one iota of what was going on in Rose's mind, or that her heart felt close to shattering.

There had been no chance of getting away. After breakfast Rose was rushed to bathe and dress. From the moment she stepped from her room dressed, either Cal or her mother was constantly there. Rose's only chance would have been to go for a walk in the park. There was simply no time though. They left the house at noon to enjoy a lunch before boarding the train.

Now here she was hours later on a train that took her farther and farther away from Jack with every turn of its wheels and Jack didn't know where she was or where she was going. That's what broke her heart.