Rose watched, tears streaming down her face, as Jack’s lifeless body slowly sunk beneath the murky waves. An object floated past, obscuring her view and as she leaned over to pick it up, she realized that it was Jack’s portfolio. Inside were all the drawings and paintings he’d ever done, over 300 in total. Clutching the folio to her breast, Rose decided that even though Jack was dead, his art would live on.
One year later…
Rose sat in the small shop surrounded by Jack’s art. When she’d arrived in New York, her family disowned her and she had no money of her own, nor did she have any skills that she could use to make money. She’d been forced to survive off the sales of Jack’s art and, needless to say, a year of poverty had left her broke and demoralized. When she once ate escargot and monkey brains at the slightest whim, she now considered herself lucky to catch a fat, juicy rat once a week. Truly, life was tragic for Rose. Until the stranger walked in…
He was devilishly handsome, his hair carefully disheveled, his brown eyes flashing with mischief and his rakish smile promising an adventure around every corner. Most people who saw the man, even at a distance, found themselves returning his smile but Rose did not. She was too busy trying not to faint, for the man who just walked into her shop was none other than Jack himself.
"J-j-jack!" she stammered, unable to believe that the man was her former lover, but unwilling to believe that he wasn't.
"Sorry ma'am, but I think you're mistaken. The name's Russ."
"No! We travelled together! We slept together! You drew me naked! I thought you were dead, but here you are!"
The smile faded off the man's face. "Did we? Did we really travel together?" he asked breathlessly.
Rose nodded eagerly. "We did, Jack! But when the Titanic went down, I saw you go down too. I thought you were dead, Jack, I thought you were gone forever!"
"So did I, but it looks like you saved me. Sit down, I'll tell you what I can remember of what happened. But I must warn you, this is a very short story..."
When he came to, he was lying on a cot on another ship. There was a man standing beside him, and when the man noticed that Jack was awake, he smiled broadly.
With no clues to his identity, Jack was forced to take on a new one. Dr. Kamille decided to call him Russ. When the Gargantuan docked at the port in New York, he gave Russ/Jack some money and wished him good luck. Russ/Jack, slightly disoriented, wandered around the city, from odd job to odd job, until the fateful day, one year later, that he wandered into Rose's shop...
Jack watched as Rose struggled onto the door, floating in the freezing waters of the Atlantic Ocean. He knew that there was no way the door would save both of them, but he needed to know that his lover might have a chance to be saved. At last she made it safely onto the door, and Jack, content in the knowledge that there was nothing more he could do, let go and slowly slipped below the surface of the water. The last thing he felt as he slipped out of consciouness was a pair of strong hand grabbing onto his arms and pulling up.
Rose gasped. "Russ! Jack! I know everything about you! We met on the H.M.S. Titanic, the unsinkable ship, until it sank. We met when you saved me from killing myself, and as you held me in you manly hands, I knew I was in love with you. But it was a forbidden love. My family is very, very, very exceedingly wealthy. You were a street urchin who won your ticket aboard the Titanic in a poker game. But our love prevailed!"
"Good morning!" he said brightly. "How do you feel?"
Jack moaned. "Like shit. Where am I? Who are you?"
"You're in the medical ward of the H.M.S. Gargantuan and my name is Doctor Kamille. We saw you going down and managed to haul your waterlogged ass out of the ocean just in time."
"Huh? Ocean? What are you talking about?"
At this, the doctor frowned. "Oh dear," he muttered. "What can you tell me about yourself, man? What's your name?"
Jack frowned. "My name? It's, uh, ummm... I can't remember my name! I can't remember who I am! I can't remember anything! I'm a man without a past!!!"
With that, Jack, the man without a past, fainted.
Russ/Jack wiped a tear. "Yes," he whispered, pointing to a still-life he'd drawn, "I remember this. I drew this! And this painting! I did these! I remember, Rose, I remember everything!!!"
Rose grabbed Jack and kissed him passionately on the lips.
Jack pushed Rose away and wiped the back of his hand across his lips, a disgusted look marring his delicate features. "Ew!" he sqealed. "What are you doing?!"
"What am I doing? I'm kissing you! We're in love! We had hot, passionate animal sex aboard the Titanic! I'm trying to rekindle that passion!"
"I'm sorry, Rose, but there's something you don't know. I--" he paused, "I'm gay, Rose. I like men."
"GAY!!??!? How can you be gay??? WE HAD SEX!!!"
Jack shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, Rose," he whispered and walked out of the store.
The next day Rose went for a long walk around the city to think about things and to clear her head. As she passed central park, she saw none other than Jack! He was holding hands with another woman, and as she moved in for a closer look, she saw that it was Molly Brown! As she watched the happy couple, Rose realized that she and Jack would never reclaim their love. But she was okay with this. Her heart would go on.