Chapter 8

Dolly's was the name of the restaurant. It was a popular place among the townsfolk known for its delicious hot dogs and delectable breakfast platters. The four of them had found a nice cozy spot in a four seated leather booth with a big square window with dark green drapes at its top corners that were pinched in the middle and arced in a decorative fashion. Outside they had a lovely view of the busy streets of the town starting to come alive again from the start of a new day. People slowly started occupying the streets. Cars drove by, some coughed and sputtered making sounds like gunfire spewing from their engines. Others were quiet and sped along with a gentle hum. Children playfully ran in an out the streets sometimes rudely bumping into adults. Out on one of the far street corners Jack saw a paperboy with a stack of papers tucked under one arm and holding out another announcing the latest news.

The restaurant carried the clinking sounds of plates and silverware mingling with the sound of idle chatter coming from the other customers that filled the diner. Inside their booth the morning sunlight reflected of the top of the long oak table and through their tall water glasses. Jack sat near the window with Rose's shoulder leaning against his and her left hand clutching his right. Rose, Nancy, and Charlie shared laughs and stories that Jack hadn't a clue about. He just sat there politely watching, throwing in a smile or a chuckle every now and then. Not because he had found anything funny but simply to alleviate the awkwardness. He took a sip from his glass so as to give himself something to do. Jack couldn't deny feeling like an intruder on a private party. The only thing that made the outing tolerable was being with Rose. He loved watching her smile and laugh.

He did find the Mitchells to be rather nice people—well Charlie at least. Jack had been wrong in his assumption about Nancy. She was a small woman that reminded Jack of a little pixie. Outside of Rose's room Nancy had sounded like an upbeat woman with a bubbly personality. Now it seemed like she had nothing but daggers for him. In between the laughs and every time she took a drink of water he felt her eyes watching him.

It took him back to the time when he had been invited to dinner in the first class dining room after saving Rose's life. He remembered the atmosphere of first class being rather stuffy and uptight, people walking with their noses in the air and their chests poked out. Women walked like moving statues. Jack thought it rather silly he could see why Rose wanted out. He had purposely arrived early to catch a few tips before dinner, taking mental notes on how to walk and talk, the proper way to greet and escort a lady. Jack had wanted to make a good impression. Rose seemed to be the only one appreciative of his efforts. With her arm hooked into his Jack felt like the luckiest guy in the world escorting the most beautiful girl in the room. It may not have showed but on the inside Jack had the biggest grin. In a way he had wanted to vex his competition as a possible suitor. Cal had only been fascinated in his little experiment of inviting a steerage rat into what Molly referred to as a snake pit. Ruth would look at him as though she had this sour taste in her mouth and shoot him the same evil stares that Nancy was giving him now. Jack knew Ruth had perceived him as potential threat to Rose's marriage. He'd be lying to himself if he said that wasn't true. He was falling for her daughter and Jack knew Rose didn't love her fiancée. He doubted even if Rose wasn't engaged to be married Ruth would ever offer her blessing for him to pursue her daughter.

Now here in the diner Jack felt as if he were back in that same situation and Jonathan Calvert was going to have to work his charm to win over her friends. Charlie, he didn't think would be so difficult but Nancy might take a little time. Every time she looked at him with those big suspicious eyes he just smiled his nicest most genuine smile and he knew that only irritated her more. It made him laugh a little. Nancy took another gulp of water, "So I guess I'm going to have to be the one to bring up the question everyone has been wondering."

Rose and Jack both shot a quick look at each other and then back to Nancy. "What question is that dear?" Charlie asked. "Oh just the one regarding Mr. Calvert here and how he came to be among us." She took another sip of water. Jack looked at Rose and could almost see her inward groan, she had been anticipating this. He gently squeezed her hand in reassurance.

"What would you like to know?" Nancy's attention went to Jack clearly not expecting him to answer. The explanation she had wanted to come from Rose. "Well," she said. "I just would like to know how this strange man who comes seemingly out of nowhere plaguing Rose with his persistent visits somehow ends up in her bedroom this morning." Charlie choked on a cracker and Jack could see Rose's face beginning to turn red. Nancy was obviously not one to beat around the bush; she went right for the jugular. Jack just hadn't expected her to do it so soon.

"Mrs. Mitchell," he said calmly keeping the smile on his face. "I assure you…"

"Nancy," Charlie cut in, "Maybe we should talk about something else, it's really none of our business."

"No, no, no" Nancy continued on before Charlie could get the last word out, "I want to hear what Mr. Calvert has to say. Jonathan right? That is your name isn't it? Or did you forget? Rose tells me that you were referring to yourself as Jack Dawson? Are you some sort of con artist out to steal Rose's money?"

"Nancy, that's enough." Jack could hear the heat in Rose's voice.

"Mrs. Mitchell, may I call you Nancy?"

"If it pleases you to do so."

"Nancy let me say that I am sorry if I have given you the wrong impression about me. It was brought to my attention that I may have suffered head injuries from my accident and for moment I did forget who I was. My memories are slowly starting to come back. Yes, my name is Jonathan Calvert; you can call me John if you like. I am 25 years old and I used to work at the….at the…."

"Hercules Steel Mill" Charlie added

"Hercules Steel Mill, that's right. Thanks Charlie."

"Don't mention it." Nancy shot Charlie a look.

"So how is it that you know our Rose?"

"Oh, well I'm glad you asked." Jack paused for a moment and looked to see Rose smiling at him. Clearing his throat he said, "We met a long time ago actually, when we were younger."

"Yes. That's right." Rose said adding to the story.

Nancy turned to Rose with obvious skepticism. "But Rose when I asked you a couple days ago you said never met him before in your life."

"Right, that was before we had the opportunity to sit down and talk to each other and John here," she said nodding over to him, "was able to jog my memory."

Jack and Rose looked to each other and smiled seeming to read the other's thoughts. They were like a couple of tennis players hitting the ball back and forth playing off the story they were trying to build together. Jack went on "You see Nancy when I first met Rose many years ago she hadn't even been fully aware of my existence I saw her from afar and I thought her to be the most beautiful girl in the world."

"I guess you can say from that moment I was crazy about her but at the same time I knew she was out of my league. There was another fella who had his eye on her." Jack was going off the top of his head trying to formulate his story without giving much away, he told partial truths and thought of ways to retell certain events in their history so that it would sound believable. Rose looked at him also wondering where he was going with this and possibly looking for a place to chime in.

"That still doesn't explain how you know her."

"I'm getting to that, you see…"

"I was out on a stroll one night." Rose jumped in

"At night? What in the world were you doing out in the middle of the night?"

"I wanted to get some air." She said with a shrug and a tight lipped smile. Jack had to cover his mouth to stifle a laugh.

"You wanted to get some air?"

"Yes of course, it was quite refreshing."

"But in the middle of the night?"

"Is everybody ready to order?" Charlie spoke up trying to divert the conversation. "Where's the waitress it's been well over 15 minutes."

"I was out for a stroll and I came across this wooden bridge right above this beautiful river. Feeling adventurous I decided to get a better look at it. Ja—I—I mean John just so happened to be out at the time and had caught sight of me looking over the bridge."

Jack nodded "That's right and I guess I must've scared you or something?" Jack said with a rising inflection in his voice. He squinted his eyes at Rose making a face at her as if he couldn't quite remember. Rose's face started to contort in laughter she nodded in agreement to Jack and hid her face by taking another drink from her glass.

"Yes…yes that's exactly it" she said trying to regain her composure "In fact you frightened me so much that I fell over the side of the bridge."

Nancy leaned in "Good heavens just how far over were you leaning?"

"Oh I was leaning pretty damn far." Rose flashed a knowing look to Jack, both trying to stifle their laughter at their private joke.

Jack wanted to fall out laughing. "Luckily John was there to rescue me. He pulled me back just in time before I could start swimming with the fish."

"There. You see honey," Charlie said hitting a hand on the table and gesturing out to Jack, "A good guy. He saved Rose's life. I told you there was nothing to worry about."

Nancy looked at her husband who clearly wanted her to drop the subject. "Wait a minute Charlie." She adjusted herself in her seat and leaned in slightly closer "Okay tell me something…..where did this happen?"

At the same time both Jack and Rose spoke without thinking. Jack blurted out Wisconsin while Rose blurted Southampton. They froze and looked at each other as though they had blown their cover. To fix their mistake Jack switched his answer to Southampton and Rose simultaneously changed hers to Wisconsin. Finally Jack quickly corrected their mistake and said "Southampton, Wisconsin."

"Southampton, Wisconsin?" She asked raising an eyebrow. "I've never heard of it."

Jack gave a fleeting gesture with his hand to say he wasn't surprised. "Not many people have it's a really small town."

Rose nodded as he spoke. "That's right; you probably couldn't even spot it on the map."

Nancy sat there speechless. Looking at the two of them as though they were completely daft. She shook her head trying to take in everything that she was hearing. Jack felt the tension lift a little when Nancy's tone softened; she was probably feeling overwhelmed and confused by everything that she was hearing.

"So what happened there?" she said pointing to the bandage on Jack's forehead.

Jack felt the bandage "Oh this? A battle scar, got it the other night from a couple o' thugs that tried to take advantage of Miss Rose." He hadn't meant for his voice to take on such a hard edge, it almost sounded threatening. He couldn't help it the thought of what those men almost did to her made his blood boil.

"Oh my God." Nancy said covering her mouth "Rose, they didn't hurt you did they?"

Even Charlie looked concerned. The bear of a man suddenly looked as if he had gotten bigger and his muscles were tense. He looked hostile and ready to knock the teeth in of those same thugs should they ever decide to come in to the restaurant.

"No they didn't hurt her," Jack said easing everyone's concerns "But I made them sorry the thought ever crossed their minds. After I was done with them I'm sure they understood the severity of their crime."

Charlie's muscles relaxed as he let out a deep breath and nodded. "Thank God for you John." Even Nancy added her thanks.

Jack had only just realized that his hand was balled into fist trembling on top of the table. He relaxed when Rose gently smoothed her hand over his and gripped it in hers. It was a signal for him to calm down. Looking into her soft green eyes he found that he could.

"Afterward Rose took me back to her home and treated the cut on my forehead. It was storming outside and practically raining cats and dogs so she offered to let me stay for the night."

Jack lowered his eyes to Nancy making sure he had her attention. "That's why I was in Rose's room this morning."

Nancy said nothing. She almost appeared sorry for judging but Jack knew he would only be let off the hook for the moment. Nancy was still wary of him.

Thankfully the waitress finally showed up. "Ah there she is! At last! I am starving. For a moment there I thought I was going to have to start eating my own foot." Charlie joked.

The others laughed and the waitress joined in enjoying Charlie's childlike enthusiasm. "Sorry to have kept you all waiting. Are we all ready to order?" she asked whipping out her pen and paper.

Jack and Rose released the other's hand and adjusted themselves in their seats. Jack looked up at the waitress for a fleeting moment and then did a quick double take at what he saw. His jaw dropped as recognition shot straight through him like a bolt of lightning. He felt frozen in place and suddenly felt more aware of his heart beating against his rib cage. The blond hair, the blue eyes it all hit him like a slap in the face. She looked different though, instead of her long blond curls traveling down the length of her back, it was pulled up into a messy ponytail. And instead of her black dress she wore a long sleeved tan buttoned up shirt and a black knee high skirt covered by a white apron. Above the pocket on the left side of her shirt she wore a name tag. "Amanda" is what it read but Jack knew that was not her name. It was Morana. Morana was acting as their waitress.