Five

                                    

                                          

Looking out onto the cheering audience, Rose Bukater took a final bow, a smile lighting up her face. Tonight was the first night she was playing Ophelia in Hamlet. She became a regular actress at the Hippodrome in August 1917. There, she met her fiancé, Robert Calvert.
Robert was a tall man with dark hair and dark eyes, opposite Jack. He was caring, sweet, and very loyal to Rose. He loved every inch of her and had also taken on her children. He had started as an admirer of Rose's work, but after six months of dating, he proposed to Rose, who surprisingly said yes. Robert knew of Rose's marriage to Caledon Hockley and that she was once an upper-class lady, but he was never bothered. He loved her for who she was. "Agreeing to become Robert's wife is the right decision for me," Rose thought. She would have some sort of a family for her children, some stability. Olivia was just a baby when she met Robert, and he had become a father figure to her. Lizzy, however, had never quite taken a shine to him like she had Jack.
Robert Calvert clapped as hard as he could as he sat in the audience, proud of his fiancée. Her smiling face was enough to light up the entire Hippodrome. There had been a good turnout tonight, and the cheers were loud. His attention had been on Rose throughout the play; she was enormously talented and recited her lines perfectly. The only slight distraction had been the slightly scruffy-looking man perched beside him through the play. He had not said one word nor taken his eyes away from Rose.
*****
His heart beat faster than ever in his life as he settled into the seat at the Hippodrome. It was her on the stage. Physically, she had changed. Her figure was more curvy. Her hair was now light blonde, but it was still her. He would know her a mile away with her beautiful face. The way she spoke her lines was poetic and flowing. He had no idea she had this talent. Jack Dawson's eyes never left Rose Bukater as she was on the stage; she lit the entire room and once again melted his heart. After almost two years in France, fighting in the war, Jack had returned to New York the day before. How he had survived, he didn't know. He had thought his life would end out there in the damned trenches. He had no reason to live, he had thought, but now, as he sat, knowing Rose was in the same room, he thanked God for sparing his life so he could live to see Rose once again. He had been suspiciously stared at through the production by the man beside him, and he knew why. His hair hadn't been cut in months, and he wore three months of growth in his beard on his chin.
Removing the pins from her hair, Rose Bukater gazed at her reflection in her dressing room mirror. Tonight, she had been a success. She felt she had performed to the best of her ability, and the Hippodrome had been packed. A smile appeared on her face. Outwardly, she had changed a little. Her hair was now dyed blonde and had been cut to shoulder length, which Rose had found a drastic but necessary action as she became an actress. Removing Ophelia's clothing, Rose dressed herself in a red evening gown. She discovered her pearl necklace and earrings and applied a layer of dark red lipstick. She was meeting the cast for drinks downtown in a little while to celebrate the production's success. Glancing at her appearance, Rose felt satisfied.
A slight knock on her dressing room door startled Rose, and she called them to enter. Finding her perfume, she squeezed a small amount onto her wrists before turning to see who was at the door. Her heart dropped, and her mouth fell slightly ajar when she saw who it was.
"Jack," she stuttered. "Is that you?" If it was, he was almost unrecognisable.
"Yeah, it is." His voice was familiar, and Rose remembered the last words he had spoken to her. I love you. That was over two years ago now.
"Jack, what on earth are you doing here?" Rose appeared startled.
Jack took in the length of Rose, her clothing, her face. Everything he had missed for the last two years stood before him. All he wanted to do was reach out to her, but he knew he couldn't. "I saw your play, Rose. You were wonderful."