Chapter 18

Truth

August 15th 1923

"Nothing heard from her yet?" Lauren asked as he entered Cora's bedroom. She quickly shook her head before putting in her last earring. Looking at her reflection she noticed that Lauren had taken place on her bed.

"Not even a card, Laurie." She sighed. Then she turned around faced him, "How could she forget my birthday? Rose never forgets anything."

"I wish I could say something positive about it, but I really can't."

"You don't have to say anything, Laurie. Out of all the birthdays I've had in my life, this one feel like the most 'non-birthday' out of all of them."

"Just wait until tonight." Lauren said, trying to lighten Cora's mood. Standing up, she moved towards them, their eyes meeting once again. She could see his cheeks turning red and he quickly looked away. In the past few weeks there was no denying that something had started to blossom between them. Whenever he was around, Cora immediately started to feel warm and calm. And in those moments of warmheartedness she felt the strange urge to touch him and sometimes even kiss him. Nonetheless, Cora was utterly confused by all those emotions for she had no clue what to do with them. To ignore or to give in; how she wished someone could whisper the right answer in her ear. Now they were simply standing so close to each other, both of their heavy and nervous breathing filling the room. Then, Lauren gently took hold of her hand and caressed her palm. Was he the one who was going to answer her internal dilemma? Cora held her breath until a sound from downstairs forced her to breathe again.

"Cora!"

Lauren quickly stepped away and marched out of the room towards the staircase. "My mother is calling you." He informed Cora. She had already made her way to the corridor and tried to hide her disappointment. Looking over the handrail she quickly noticed Jack's silhouette. He turned around and smiled whilst watching her walk down the stairs.

"Happy birthday, Cora." He hugged her tightly.

"Thank you, Jack. I didn't expect you to come over this early."

"Yes.. About that. I have to go to San Diego for a couple of days for business which means that I have to leave tonight. So I was wondering if I could take you out for lunch for your birthday?"

Cora looked at Mrs. Taylor who quickly gave her an approving nod. "Lauren and I will start preparing for tonight. Off you go."

"Thank you," Cora smiled, "Let me fetch my purse."

Despite the heat of the summer, it was surprisingly cloudy outside. Jack was even holding an umbrella in one of his hands, waiting for the rain to fall down. Despite his messy hairstyle, Cora suddenly noticed that he was wearing a suit and he proudly nodded his head when she asked if he had done it for her birthday.

"I might have to start to give in to it, now that I am thirty one years of age."

"It does make you look very smart, Jack." Cora then moved her attention to the building around her. "Where is it that you are taking me exactly."

"That is still a secret," Jack said, "but I assure you that you will love it. A friend of mine used to work there before taking over the place."

It didn't take them long before entering a room what looked like pure luxury. In some ways it was true; the restaurant beheld the most delicious meals and drinks. Yet, on the weekends at night, all tables would be pushed to the sides to make enough room for who wanted to dance until there feet would hurt too much. On the right Cora could see a small stage and in the middle stood a grand piano. Before Cora could let out any form of excitement, they were welcomed by what had to be the friend Jack was talking about. His dark curls were neatly placed underneath his hat, his bright smile charming to the core.

"It's been too long, Jack." The man said before embracing his friend.

Jack nodded. "Too long, Frankie."

"And you must be the birthday girl." His already bright smile became even broader and Cora found herself turning into a nervous school girl. Being brought to their table, Jack started to tell the story of how the two met. Two poor men living on the streets finding solace in each other's dreams for the future. Now they had done it, both in their own way.

"You were right, Jack. It does look really nice." Cora eventually said as she had taken in the beauty of it all.

"He has really made something of it hasn't he?"

"And do you come here often?"

"Not as much as I would like, but maybe in the future when everything with the gallery is finished."

"Mrs. Taylor said you wanted to open it next week."

Jack suddenly started to laugh whilst shaking his head. "I might have gotten ahead of myself. I am still thriving for next week though, but there is still a lot of furniture that needs to be delivered and I also have to go to San Diego. I think waiting another week might be a good idea."

Cora continued to listen to his stories with such amazement and she quickly came to an understanding why she also liked him when she was so little. Jack was the person no one could ever dislike. His lightheartedness brightened every room he walked into. People were drawn to his positive energy. His stories left her in awe. She wanted to respond; say something about her own life, but that was almost impossible for almost her whole life had been spent with the one person she did not dare to mention. Therefore, Cora remained quiet and listened.

Munching on her chicken she noticed Jack had stopped talking and stared at her in silence for a couple of seconds.

"But enough about me," He then said, "How are you and Lauren getting along?"

Cora started blushing right away. "Why is it that you are asking me this?"

"Because I am curious. Not to forget I have seen you two together." Jack chuckled.

"That hardly means anything, Jack."

"I might not know a lot about love, Cora, but I do happen to know when people like each other."

Cora then dared to look at him. His expression had suddenly turned serious as well as her own. She knew whom he was thinking about. Carefully, she took a sip of her water before placing her glass back onto the table.

"I still think you should tell her." Cora bluntly spoke. She couldn't hold her tongue for a moment longer.

Jack let out a big sigh. "We've discussed this before, Cora."

"I know that Jack, but have you ever thought about how this might be for me? How horrible I will feel when I get home to have to keep this secret from her perhaps for the rest of my life?" She could feel the tears burn in her eyes, "I'm going home in two weeks. You can come with me."

He had been critical about his behaviour before, but in the moment Jack completely despised himself. He felt like a coward for not being able to tell the truth: that he was nothing but afraid to end up with a broken heart once again. Of course, he wanted nothing more in the world than to see her, to hear her and touch her. He longed for everything that she embodied only to realise that once again, he could not have her.

"I'm sorry." Jack then simply mumbled under his breath.

"Right." Cora nodded and quickly wiped away her tears, "Anyway, it's not the day to be sad." Yet, she did in fact feel the melancholy worsen within her. Her sadness was combined with disappointment in the people she cared about the most.

"Cora…" Jack said as he put his hands on the table to try to reach for hers.

Pulling away, Cora shook her head. "Jack, it's fine. I'm not going to change you mind and I have accepted it. Now shall we continue to eat before the food gets cold?"

Two hours later, Jack brought Cora back home in utter silence. The house had already been decorated for the party, the food prepared on the kitchen counters. Mrs. Taylor welcomed them before ordering Cora to inspect all the preparations.

"Really, Mrs. Taylor. It all looks perfect. Thank you."

"Great." She smiled before turning her attention back to Jack. "Are you certain you can't stay?"

"I'll be back in a few days." He smiled reassuringly before turning his attention back to Cora. She could see something in his eyes; as if he ordered her to follow him. So she did; towards the front door after he had bid his goodbyes to Mrs. Taylor and her son. Stepping outside, Jack turned around and looked at her for a moment. He was trying to find the courage within him. Cora was leaning against the doorframe whilst looking at her shoes which were soaked by the wet pavements she had walked on.

"I'll consider it all right?" She then heard him say. Raising her eyebrows, Cora dared to look up, "It's not that I don't want you to tell her. Unfortunately it's a lot more complicated, but I'll think about it."

"Thank you." Cora said whilst giving him a last embrace. Then she watched him walk away before closing the door and letting out a deep sigh of relief. Lauren showed up from the other room. He inspected her state of being before he managed to say something. But as he opened his mouth, ready to speak, the doorbell rang through the house.

"He might have forgotten something." Cora said to Lauren. As she opened the door, her stomach dropped.

"Surprise!" The two yelled in unison.

"Rose? Henry?" Cora gasped in utter surprise. She quickly looked over Rose's shoulder, but Jack was no longer anywhere to be found.

"Happy birthday, darling!" Rose smiled as she threw her arms around Cora's slightly trembling body.

"What are you two doing here?"

"Aren't you happy to see us?"

"Of course I am. I just wasn't expecting it." She laughed nervously before letting them in. Not only Cora, but both Lauren and Mrs. Taylor were beyond surprised by their sudden visit.

"And of course you must be miss Cartmell's fiancé?" Mrs. Taylor smiled brightly as she turned her attention to the man who was still a stranger.

Henry started to grin and nodded his head. "Henry Calvert. Pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure is mine."

Rose looked around the dining room and stared at all the decorations that had been put onto the table and hung up against the wall. "We are not interrupting something, are we?"

"No," Cora answered, "This is for tonight. Mrs. Taylor was kind enough to organise a small party for me."

"That is really thoughtful of you." Rose smiled. Then she turned towards Henry and asked him to hand her the paper bag. "Our plan was to stop by yesterday, but we've had such delay with trains that we only arrived two hours ago."

As Rose spoke the words, Cora could feel a sense of relief falling over her body. She could not express her happiness now that she was here and for a moment she wanted to turn into her childlike self again who could burry her face in Rose's chest. Taking the bag out of Rose's hands, Cora whispered a soft thank you before taking out a small box. Opening it, it revealed a golden bracelet with a small blue like stone in the middle.

"When I was seventeen, a dear friend of mine gave me a similar bracelet. You see the blue gemstone? It's an aquamarine. It's said to help one find inner courage." It then clicked for Cora at what time of being seventeen Rose must have received the bracelet. To find the courage to marry a man she didn't know had turned into finding courage to change her whole life; also, to take care of her. Rose helped her put on the bracelet before Cora jumped into her arms.

"Thank you." She said.

Rose placed a gentle kiss onto the cheek. "Happy birthday, darling."

Slowly but surely, the house started to fill with people from all over the city. During the time where Cora had to be the centre of the attention, she only felt like the observer. Their was a sense of duality in her way of feeling; both happiness and sadness at the same time. Right now the only thing she wanted was peace, but she could not feel it. She gazed at Rose, who was standing in the middle of the living room, her hands clenched around Henry's arms. They way they fitted each other so well despised her and she started to hate Henry for coming back. In her desired reality, Cora had a different outcome to the whole situation. She wanted to rush up the couple, release Rose's grip and scream at the top of her lungs that Jack was alive.

As Cora saw Henry take Rose's hand in his, she put her glass of wine onto the table next to her and made her way to the garden. She kept walking towards fence and pushed her body through the half-closed gate. It was slowly starting to get dark and to her right, a group of boys were playing soccer. Cora's feet carried her as far from the house as possible and for a moment she believed she could hear the ocean calling for her. It didn't take long for the first grains of sand to be stuck on her dress and she quickly took off her shoes. The sand crunched underneath her feet as she saw the water coming closer. There was something in the air that finally cleared her mind; the sound of crashing waves pushing away her never ending doubtful thoughts. She took a deep breath, followed by another one until a shadow appeared next to her.

"You are a very fast walker." Lauren said almost completely out of breath.

"Perhaps you are just slow." Cora's voice was thus serious that it had him even more worried. He stepped in front of her, blocking her way of the dark horizon.

"I am worried about you, Cora. You don't look in any way happy on your birthday."

"What I want for my birthday is for you not to worry about me. I was just hot and needed some fresh air."

Lauren crossed his arms. "So you come all the way to the beach?"

"Yes."

"For a second I thought you were going to jump into the sea and disappear from all of us."

Cora chose not to tell him that she had in fact considered for a fair second. Then there was that tension again. The tension between them which she had felt many times before. Could he read her mind, she thought. Was he thinking the same thing she was thinking right now? Without any form of hesitation, Henry then carefully placed his lips onto hers. She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of his lips travel through the rest of her body. Suddenly, Henry pulled away, his eyes widening.

"I'm so sorry." He said embarrassed, "I shouldn't have done that."

"No!" Cora quickly protested. "I— I liked it… I have never been kissed before."

"Me neither." Lauren admitted.

Cora dared to step towards him. Now it was her turn to initiate the previous action. His lips felt comfortable warm again. And as she continued to feel the comfort within her, all of her thoughts and doubts about anything that was now going on in her life did not seem to matter.

As the evening had transferred into the early hours of the night, Rose was impatiently waiting for her fiancé to keep her company.

"Did no one see you?" Rose chuckled as she let Henry into her room.

"No." He said before he kissed her, "I believe not being married is even more expensive than being married. To pay for two hotel rooms is insane." He shuffled towards the bed and dropped his body on to the soft duvet. Rose then pulled him up to let him unbutton the back of her dress. She let the fabric fall on the floor, caressing her almost naked body.

"Do you think Cora was happy to see us tonight?" Rose suddenly asked Henry as she stepped into her nightgown.

"You think she wasn't"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I am not completely sure. I mean I really believed that I would see a happy and radiant girl in front of me. That's what I was hoping for, but when she opened that door I could still see a certain sadness in her eyes as before she left home."

"I think you're too focused on every expression that girl has on her face, Rose. Cora looks fine to me and she carries herself through that house as if she had lived there for many years."

"Not to forget she suddenly left in the middle of her party." Rose interrupted him.

"Rose, believe me. Cora is fine. It's not good for you to worry so much about her. No please come in bed."

A sigh escaped her lips and she slowly walked towards her suitcase. "Have you seen my book anywhere?"

"You still want to read? It's two in the morning."

"Yes. I need to read something to get me tired enough to sleep."

Henry then looked at his nightstand and grabbed the newspaper. "Here." He handed it to her before crawling into the sheets.

Still standing, Rose curiously flipped through the pages. At first it looked boring enough for her to be able to quickly drift off into a deep slumber. All of a sudden, Rose truly believed her heart had stopped and her body had turned completely cold. She did not remember if she had made any sound. She only remembered his soft gaze staring directly back at her from out of the page. Barely anything had changed about him.

New art gallery to be opened in Downtown Los Angeles. Artist Jack Dawson has taken it upon him to renovate the old art gallery which was left discarded after the outbreak of the Spanish flue in 1919.

Rose blinked one last time before everything went black.