Ready to Make Nice
Written by: adpi24
Disclaimer: Still don't own anything
AN: Just a reminder that this is an alternative universe fiction. I will be trying to keep the characters as much "in character" as I can, but I have specific goals for this fiction. I will try to keep the historical period as accurate as I can.
Thank you to hollister92, Angel of Beauty & JustplainLilly for the reviews. I am so thrilled that you guys are loving the story. I am having a blast writing it!!!!
Sunday June 23rd, 1912
Rose and Elizabeth reached uptown roughly fifteen minutes after their conversation in the park. The women began walking into the many shops, in hopes that they would overhear someone discussing Cal and therefore Rose could interrupt. As much as she wanted information, she knew it would be inappropriate for her to blatantly walk up to someone and ask "do you know Caledon Hockley? Where is he?"
After an hour of doing this, Rose was getting tired as was Elizabeth. They agreed to go to one more store and then just call it a day and try the following Sunday.
Rose and Elizabeth walked into an upscale ladies boutique, the bell rang as they walked in and they were immediately greeted.
"Hello" the sales lady stated
"Hello" Rose replied back and began to meander around the store, with Elizabeth following closely behind. She began to look at the clothing, fingering the fabrics, remembering the times she would go into shops like this with her mother. Her mother would insist that Rose had a new dress for practically every occasion. As much as Rose hated going and "showing off" their wealth, a part of her did enjoy the time she and her mother would get to spend together.
"I hear he hasn't been doing to well" a lady to her left, with blonde hair, said.
"I hear he hasn't been outside since it happened." The lady to the blonde's right, with brown hair, replied.
"I spoke to Mary Williams, who is friends with Margaret, and she told me that George is throwing a party for Cal."
Rose immediately perked her ears up. After an hour of hoping someone would talk about Cal, she finally found women who were gossiping about him.
Rose walked closer to them and cleared her throat, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I am a friend of Margaret's and I was wondering how Cal was doing?"
"Hello, I'm Anna Cunningham and this is Beatrice Willerton."
Rose shook the two ladies hands, "I'm Rose De..Dawson" Rose grimaced on the inside. She almost said her name of DeWitt-Bukater. She really hoped Anna and Beatrice wouldn't pay attention to her mistake.
"It's nice to meet you Ms. Dawson, so you are a friend of Margaret's?" Anna asked.
"Yes, I met her at finishing school" Rose said hoping that neither one actually went to finishing school with Margaret. "But we've lost touch over the years. When I read about the tragedy of the Titanic and saw Cal's name on the manifest of survivors, I've been curious to how the family has been doing."
The women smiled and Rose inwardly thanked god that they were buying her story.
"Well, he hasn't been doing to well" Beatrice answered.
"Really, might I ask why not?" Rose inquired.
"He lost his fiancée in the disaster" Anna answered.
"Oh my"
"Yes, and he has been heartbroken. I have been told that he has completely withdrawn himself from society and his family. That he spends most of days in the house, mourning the loss of her. I believe he has only gone out twice since the disaster, once to dinner with his sister and her husband and the second was to the ballet with his mother."
"Is he still here in New York City or has he gone back to Pittsburg?"
"No, I heard that he told his family that he wasn't ready to go back there yet, since that is where he met his fiancée in the first place." Beatrice said.
Rose thought about what Beatrice and Anna told her for a moment before stating, "Like I said, I didn't mean to interrupt or eavesdrop, but you said something about his father, George, throwing him party. Why…?"
"We have been asking ourselves that?" Anna said
"Obviously, the man is still grieving over the loss of his fiancée, forcing him to go to a party and forcing suitable young women down him isn't what is best right now for him." Beatrice said.
"Now, don't get me wrong, if I weren't married, I'd want to be one of those young women, but it's only been a little over two months since he lost her."
"But on the other hand, he does eventually need to move on." Beatrice pointed out.
"True, true." Anna said, "But the man does need some time. It has only been a couple of months and from what I've heard he truly loved her. He is just devastated by her passing."
"When is Mr. Hockley throwing the party for Cal?" Rose inquired.
"I believe it will be on July 27th at the Plaza hotel" Anna told her.
"It was nice talking to you Rose, but Anna and I must be going." Beatrice said.
"It was wonderful talking to you, thank you for answering all my questions." Rose said, smiling.
"You're very welcome." Anna replied as she and Beatrice exited the store.
Rose turned to Elizabeth, "You found him" Elizabeth said.
"Yeah, I did. Now what do I do?" Rose said.
"I'm not sure, but we should be heading back to the brownstone."
"Yes, we should be going."
Rose nodded and headed out of the store, thanking the sales lady as she left.
Just like in the morning, the two women walked in silence before Elizabeth, again, broke the silence.
"So how are you feeling about what you just found out?"
"I honestly don't know. Finding out how Cal is doing, makes me even more confused."
"Why?" Elizabeth asked.
"I don't know…I just never expected Cal to still be mourning my "death". He…" Rose trailed off.
"He rarely showed emotion to you."
"Yeah. I would beg him to tell me what he was thinking. To tell me how he was feeling. I would get nothing. I can only think of one time where he really, truly let his guard down."
"When was that?" Elizabeth asked.
Rose stopped walking and turned to face Elizabeth, and put her hands on her growing abdomen, "the night our baby was conceived. He knew I was giving him my virginity. He knew I was nervous. He was so gentle and loving. And then everything changed. He became cold and distant. And then he just got worse the closer it got to coming to the states for our wedding. Everything took its toll and the culmination was Titanic. Everything went awry then."
The women began walking again, "what do you mean took its toll?"
"Well, the wedding plans. I was difficult. My mother, who was with me and Cal in England, was coordinating with his mom, who is in Pittsburg, on a wedding that was to be held a month ago, in Pittsburg. I was picky, I wanted lavender bridesmaid dresses, which infuriated my mother because one, she hated the color and two; the color was hard to find. I wanted certain flowers, roses and lily of the valley. My mother really pushed me into marrying Cal, so I figured I was going to get the wedding I wanted. So Cal dealt with my bickering and whining. He dealt with my mother pitching a fit. Then his parents inserted their opinions, and most of the time they didn't agree with what I wanted."
Rose paused, "I'm not trying to make excuses for Cal's behavior, but all this time away from, all I can do is think about it. Think about what I did, what he did. Like I said earlier, we were horrible to each other."
"I'm not one to judge, but I really think if you do in fact decide to attend the party, you need to tell him all that you've told me. Remember, it's not about you and him anymore, it's about your child."
Friday July 27th, 1912
Rose was nervous as she waited for her ride to the Plaza hotel. She had asked Mrs. O'Rielly for a favor and she agreed to have her chauffer pick Rose up and take her to the hotel.
She had gone out the week prior with Elizabeth and found a dress for the evening. It was a deep forest green satin, empire waist dress. The dress had a scoop neck that wasn't to revealing. Imported forest green lace with gold embroidery flowed from the empire waist to the floor. The back of the dress had a slight train. While it was apparent she was pregnant, she had been covering by wearing Cal's jacket at all hours of the day when she was in public, mainly because the only person who knew of her condition was Elizabeth. Her long red hair, was flowing down her back, a couple of strands were pulled back with bobby pins. The only jewelry she had on was her engagement ring, which she actually hadn't taken off since the time a month ago when she had shown it to Elizabeth.
She heard the horn of a car honk, and went outside; the chauffer opened the back door up for her.
"Thank you"
"Your welcome Miss, I understand I will be taking you to the Plaza hotel."
"Yes, thank you."
The chauffer nodded, closed the door and went back to the driver's side. Rose wringed her hands the entire way to the hotel, she was incredibly nervous. She had practiced with Elizabeth what to say to Cal and to others when they asked what happened to her.
"We're here Ma'am" The chauffer said.
Rose had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that they were parked in front of the hotel.
"Thank you"
The chauffer nodded and exited the vehicle, walked around and opened the door for her. She took his hand and got out of the car.
"Will you need a way back to Mrs. O'Rielly's brownstone later on ma'am?" The chauffer asked.
"No, I won't, thank you though."
The chauffer nodded and left.
Rose stood in front of the hotel, willing herself to go in. She didn't expect to be as nervous as she was. She took a deep breath and headed inside.
"Welcome to the plaza hotel" a doorman greeted her as she entered. "How might I help you this evening ma'am?"
"I'm here for the Hockley gala." Rose replied.
"Yes ma'am, the Hockley party is being held in the Grand Ballroom, go to the back" the man said pointing straight ahead "and make a left, it will be the first ballroom to your right."
"Thank you"
The man nodded and Rose made her way to the back, following, what she assumed, were other guests for the party. At the entrance to the ballroom, were coat clerks, she handed her coat, well Cal's coat, over and gave her name.
She immediately began scanning the room. She found Cal rather quickly. He was at the far end, holding a glass of champagne. She counted about four socialites gathered around him. The women were attempting to keep him in conversation, but even from where she was standing she could tell he wasn't interested.
She began to walk over towards him and as she got closer she saw a blonde appear to be all over Cal. She was touching his arms and hands. A part of her got extremely upset about this women's behavior. She straightened her back and looked straight ahead.
She made sure to approach Cal from behind; she took his hand in hers and said to the group of women.
"Is there a reason why you are flirting with my fiancée?"
AN: I know I'm so mean leaving it right there, but this was just the perfect ending for the chapter.