Hello loyal readers! Back with another chapter. I want to thank those of you who are reviewing this story, it means so much to me. So I hope you enjoy this chapter, its nice and long! And please leave a review for me, it really really makes my day and motivates me to write. Happy reading! :)
Rose sat at the edge of her window, overlooking the deserted streets below her. She had almost killed herself just barely an hour earlier, but she was numb to any emotion. As many times as her mother had told her to 'move on from it' since she'd been home, the only thing she was able to do was glance up towards the starry sky every now and then, and wonder if her father was looking down on her.
There was a soft knock on her door, breaking her from her trance. She heard the door open, even though she hadn't allowed any permission for them to enter. She glanced behind her and saw Cal standing in the doorway, leaning casually against the wall. Once she noticed it was him, she turned her attention back towards the window, not wanting anything to do with him or her mother at this point.
"I know you've been melancholy all day," he says softly. "And I do understand why." He stepped fully into the room and closed the door behind him. "I was going to wait to present you with this until the engagement party in a few days, but I thought that tonight would be best," he said as he sat next to her.
She glanced down at the velvet blue box that he held in his hand. She immediately knew it was a necklace of some sort form the shape and size of the box. Great, she thought, another meaningless piece of jewelry. She watched as he opened the box to reveal the biggest, most extravagant diamond she had ever seen lying innocently on top of soft satin material.
"Oh my God," she said in amazement as her eyes took in the blindingly beautiful, rich blue color of the…
"Is it a-"
"Diamond? Yes," he said with a satisfied smile as he took it from its casing. He threw it around her neck and clicked it closed so that it sat delicately along her collarbone. She felt the icy coldness of the chain suffocating her neck and the weight of the diamond press down against her chest. She struggled to breathe. She tried to reach up to touch it, but as soon as she felt how cold it was, she pulled her hand away.
"Its overwhelming," she said lamely.
"Well its for royalty," he said as he looked down at her. "We are royalty, Rose."
She felt her stomach churn at these words. We are not royalty, we are simple human beings, she thought to herself. What the hell makes you think you're so damn special?
"You know there's nothing I couldn't give you," he said as he sat back down next to her. "There's nothing I'd deny you; if you would not deny me. Open your heart to me, Rose."
She looked into his eyes and tried to find any sort of sincerity or kindness, but she couldn't. His eyes were just as cold as the diamond that sat upon her chest, making it hard for her to breathe. She felt the grip he had on her arm become tighter and tighter the longer she was silent.
"I'm very tired, Cal," she said with a shaky voice. "Please, let me rest."
….
Rose had arrived to campus promptly with her school books tucked tightly into her very large Coach purse. She waved goodbye to Ralph and waved as the car grew further and further away in the distance. Once she decided it safe, she hailed a yellow cab and hopped into the back seat.
"Hello, Miss," the cab driver said in a thick accent. "Where can I take you?"
"To the festival on fourth avenue, please," she said with a polite smile.
Rose had never in her life skipped school before. Sure, she had wanted to many times, but she was always so focused on being more than just a pretty face and actually doing well in school. But now that she was in college, and studying something completely irrelevant to her life, her passion was starting to dwindle. And there was something, or more so, someone that was plaguing her mind.
….
"Another day another dollar," Jack said to a very sleepy Fabrizio as he set up his drawings.
"Yeah, but I still don't know why you insisted on coming so damn early today," Fabrizio said as he sipped from his cheap cup of black coffee.
"I thought we went through this, Fabri. If we're here twice as long as yesterday, then we make twice as much money. And I promised that if you helped me today I'd split the profit with you."
"Yeah yeah, whatever you say," he responded as he pulled his hat lower to shield his droopy eyes.
"Hey there, boy-o," Tommy said as he approached them. "I knew I could find you fellas here."
"Morning Tommy," Jack said with a smile. "You're just in time for breakfast," he said as he lit up his cigarette.
"Way ahead of you," Tommy replied as he showed him his half smoked cigarette dangling from his thin lips. He pulled up a chair and sat next to Fabrizio, who was trying his best to keep his eyes open. "You guys do anything interesting last night?"
"Uh, no, not really," Jack said casually, never taking his focus off of what he was doing. "Just same old stuff. What about you?"
"You'll never believe it," Tommy said as he leaned forward into his chair and stubbed out his cigarette on the pavement. "I met the hottest girl last night at that bar down the street. She was somethin' else, let me tell ya-"
"Hello, mister Dawson."
Jack immediately broke his focus from Tommy when he heard the familiar voice. He whipped his head around and came face to face with the girl from last night. Rose.
"Oh, uh, hey. Hello again," he stuttered. "Its nice to see you."
"You too," she said shyly. She looked over his shoulder and saw that his companions were eyeing her quite suspiciously. "Hello," she said politely nodding towards them.
"Oh uh, these are my friends, Tommy and Fabrizio," he said, trying his best to ignore his friend's curious and desiring gazes towards Rose. "Guys, this is Rose."
They looked at her in awe, not believe that this was really the girl that Jack was so hypnotized by yesterday. She was even more beautiful close up.
"Nice to meet you," Tommy said with a lopsided grin.
"Mister Dawson could I speak with you for a moment in private?" She asked in a hushed voice.
"Sure, of course," he said eagerly as he glanced around him, trying to find a decent place. He spotted a bench beneath a tree off in the distance and decided to guide her over there. As they walked, she decided to be the first to speak up.
"Mister Dawson I-"
"Jack. I've never had anyone address me as Mister," he said with an easy smile.
"My apologies. Jack, I wanted to thank you for what you did. Not just for helping me back over but, for actually giving a damn to stop me."
"You're welcome," he said as they took their seats on the wooden bench. He watched as she nervously played with the handles of her leather purse.
"Look, I know what you must be thinking," she said timidly, "poor little rich girl, what does she know about misery?"
"No, that's not what I was thinking," he said as he leaned back against the bench. "What I was thinking was – what could've happened to this girl to make her think she had no way out?"
She glanced at him quickly, but the intensity in this blue eyes made her blush and immediately look away.
"Well I – it was everything. It was my whole world and all the people in it. And the direction of my life, just plunging ahead and I have no power or say over it."
He glanced down at her hands and noticed the enormous diamond that adorned her left hand. That's when he realized that the guy from last night must've been her husband. Husband? But she's so damn young, he thought. She noticed him looking at her engagement ring and self consciously hid it beneath her other hand. He must think I'm some money hungry, selfish, materialistic bimbo.
"The engagement party is tomorrow night," she said aloud as she got lost in thought. "I'll probably only know five people there, and all the others will be stuck up old steel tycoons that know nothing about me. My cotillion is next month," she said as she glanced over at him, and realized that he had no idea what that was. "I have to be confined to some ridiculous ball gown with jewels thrown on any part of exposed area of skin like I'm some kind of fucking clothes hanger just to announce that I'm of marrying age. Its so ridiculous, its like we're living in the nineteen hundreds or something. And then the wedding is a month after that," she said quietly as tears came to her eyes. "Five hundred invitations have gone out. All of New York society will be there. And all the while I feel like I'm standing in the middle of a crowded room screaming at the top of my lungs and no one even looks up."
He was completely speechless by everything she just said. If he was in her shoes, he would want to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, too.
"Ugh I sound so ridiculous," she said. "Just rambling on about complete nonsense when you don't even know me."
"No, its alright. Its good to talk and get your feelings out. I have a feeling that you don't do that enough."
"No," she said quietly.
"Do you even love this guy?" Jack asked candidly.
"Excuse me?"
"Do you love him? It seems to me like you don't."
She was taken aback by his brashness and her defense mechanisms immediately went up.
"Well that was very rude. You don't know if I do or not, and you definitely shouldn't be asking me."
"It's a simple question," he said with a smirk. "Do you love the guy or not?"
"This is not a normal conversation that strangers have. Its none of your business."
"Why can't you just answer the question?"
"Because! You don't know me and I don't know you and we are not having this conversation at all."
"Uh-"
"Listen, Jack, I just came here to thank you, and I have, so I should go now." She said this, yet she didn't move from her spot on the bench. She was just being difficult for the sake of being difficult, and somehow, he knew this.
"Thought you were leaving," he said as he grinned at her.
"Ugh, I am. You are so annoying," she said as she stood up to leave. He laughed at her and watched as she began to walk away, but she quickly turned back around.
"Wipe that damn smile off of your face like you're so proud of yourself. You think you've gotten to me, but you haven't!"
Even through the aggression in her words, he could still see the playfulness shining in her emerald green eyes. He knew she wasn't actually leaving. He didn't know how he knew; he just did.
"I think I may have," he said back.
He watched in satisfaction as she grunted in frustration and smiled in spite of herself. She's adorable.
"What is this stupid thing you're carrying around," she said as she reached for his portfolio that sat next to him on the bench. She opened it and was unable to hide her shock as she saw a beautiful drawing. She glanced back behind her towards where him and his friends were standing and realized that he was selling his art. Her heart skipped a beat. "So you're an artist."
He simply nodded. She continued to flip through his portfolio and sat back down on the bench next to him.
"Well, these are pretty good. There very good actually. Jack, this is excellent work!"
"Thanks," he said casually. "But they didn't think much of them in Paris."
"Paris? You've been to Paris?"
"Mmhm."
"Wow."
…..
Hours had gone by since Jack and Rose had first started up their conversation. They had strolled through the streets of New York, looking at all of the other artists creations. They shared stories of their lives as they walked along, and both of them had more laughs together than they could even remember.
Rose glanced down at her watch and noticed that she had to be getting back to campus in time for Ralph to pick her up.
"I should really be going," she said, her voice soft with disappointment.
"Oh…alright." He was also unable to hide his displeasure with this.
She nervously glanced down at her shoes before looking back up into his crystal blue eyes.
"Listen, um, my engagement party is tomorrow night. Would you like to come? You can bring one of your friends if you'd like. I know it probably sounds really boring and you most likely don't want to come and be stuck around so many awful-"
"Rose," he said, cutting her off. "I'd love to come. If it meant getting another chance to see you, I'd go anywhere."
She felt her delicate white cheeks become flushed and red. She tried her best to keep her smile small, but she failed and she broke into a full on grin.
"Great! Here, let me write down the address for you," she said as she reached into her purse and grabbed a pen and paper. She scribbled down the address and the time and handed the paper to him. He smiled gratefully and put it into his pocket.
"So I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked shyly.
"Count on it."