poli poli ! ♡

Jack had just finished his first shift at Rinaldi’s - helping Elmer haul supplies from the delivery truck to the pantry – and he was sitting at the back of the dining room smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. A few performers had already come and gone as the curtains opened on the stage once again. The band was playing the beginning of a jazzy tune and the curtains revealed something Jack had not expected. Dorothea stood in the middle of the stage. She was adorned in a beautiful pale blue dress the bottom of it trailed a bit behind her and every inch of the dress sparkled in the stage lights. She sparkled in the stage lights. Jack was speechless. He set his drink down and leaned forward in his chair as Dorothea began singing. Her voice was rich and clear as it rang through the dining room. Jack hung on her every word.

     “Isn’t she a star,” Margarette sighed as she brought Jack his dinner – free of charge by request of Dorothea. “She’s such a rare talent, that girl.”

     “Yeah, she is. I didn’t know she sang,” He said.

     “She’s a shy girl. She’s been that way since she turned up on our doorstep,” Margarette chuckled and gave Jack a fond smile before going back to the kitchen.

     Jack fumbled for his sketchbook, desperate to capture this version of Dorothea on paper. He sketched quickly and loosely. He would return to the drawing later with details but for now, he mostly focused on actually looking at her. He knew that he would not soon forget her like this.

She had seen him in the crowd. How could she not have he was basically the only person there; well she certainly felt that way. As she hurried back to her dressing room to change back into her regular clothes, she was unaware that another man had watched her perform. The man from the café.

     “Dorothea, dear, you’re food will be ready in the kitchen when you’re done!” Margarette called through the door of the small dressing room.

     “Alright!” Dorothea responded. She carefully removed the gems that glittered in her hair and watched in the mirror as her hair fell over her shoulders and down her back.  

     “beautiful, is what I was gonna say.”

Jack’s compliments from the day of the party rang in her ears and caused warmth to bloom over her face and neck. A girlish smile stretched across her lips as she continued to undress. Just as she had managed to unlace the corset of her dress, someone knocked on the door. Dorothea thought nothing of it, believing it to be the old seamstress who usually helps her in and out of costumes - foolish

     “Come in!” The door slowly creaked open, “You’re a little too late, Inez, I’ve already got the corset off,” She laughed.

     “Then I suppose I have impeccable timing.”

     After quickly finishing his preliminary sketch, Jack rushed off to find out where he could see Dorothea. Finding his way back to the kitchen he met Elmer and Margarette chatting by the stove. Elmer was the first to notice the young man enter.

     “Jack, my boy! Come back for seconds?” Elmer’s deep voice broke into a rumbling chuckle. Jack smiled,

     “Not this time. I wanted to know where I could find Dorothea. I want to tell her how well she did tonight,” Jack sat his sketchbook on the kitchen counter before stuffing his hands in his pockets. Elmer and Margarette shared a look that can only be described as knowing.

     “Of course! I was just heading that way to fetch her for dinner. Come with me.” Elmer held an arm out to beckon Jack over. As they walked toward a hallway at the back of the room, the older man clapped Jack on the back. “Was this the first performance you’ve seen?”

     Jack nodded. “She never even told me she performed here.”

Elmer barked out a laugh and shook his head, “That doesn’t surprise me-“ He paused to say hello to one of the musicians as they entered the part of the hallway lined with dressing rooms, “That girl seems to be allergic to giving herself any praise.”

     “Well, I-“

A scream cut Jack off from down the hallway. His eyebrows furrowed and looked at Elmer who had a similar facial expression.

     “That sounded like it came from her dressing room-“

     “Help!”

Both men took off down the hallway. Jack was much faster than Elmer and quickly came to a wooden door with Dorothea’s name on it. He swung the door open and was temporarily stunned by the sight in front of him. It was him. The man from that one day in the café who had come looking for Dorothea. He had her with a harsh grip on her shoulders and was attempting to push her to the floor. Dorothea held one hand against the man’s chest, trying to push him off, while her other hand clawed at the loose fabric of her dress trying to keep it from falling. Dorothea’s wild, frightened eyes met Jack’s, and a fleeting look of relief flitted across her face.

     “Jack!” She shrieked out his name and that called him to action. He rushed forward and grasped the man by his collar yanking him backward. The man stumbled in surprise and let go of Dorothea, who dropped to the floor from the sudden loss of opposing force. Just as the man turned to face the new presence in the room, Jack met his face with one of the hardest punches he’s ever thrown. A fleshy smack sounded through the room before the man fell to the ground. However, he wasn’t down long before Jack hauled him up by his jacket and tossed him out through the open door where Elmer and a few of his men happened to be coming in. The man fell pathetically at their feet, dazed.

     “Haul ‘im up, boys, and get him outta here,” Elmer demanded. “I’ll be right back,” He told Jack before following his boys out of the hall. Jack whirled on his heel and knelt down beside Dorothea who had yet to get up from the floor.

     Dorothea had never felt so afraid in her life. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute and she couldn’t seem to catch her breath. The hand that wasn’t holding her in a sitting position felt paralyzed in its unwavering grip on her dress. Her gaze immediately went to Jack as he knelt down beside her. His eyes searched over her with a worried expression making sure she hadn’t been hurt.

     “Are you okay?” He asked as he just barely let his hand graze the skin of her arm. He quickly shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, “What a dumb question, Jack” he murmured to himself before opening his eyes again. This time his gaze was locked on Dorothea’s face. Even in this frazzled state, she fought the urge to right her appearance, knowing that she probably looked awful with her tear-stained face and mussed-up hair.  Her mouth opened and closed but the sound eluded her. Her breathing quickened as it started to feel like air wasn’t even passing through her lips.

     “Okay, okay, Dory, you need to take a deep breath, alright? Can you try that?” Jack asked. Dorothea blinked in surprise before shaking her head. She couldn’t do it.

     “Come on, yeah you can. Let me show you,” Jack took a gentle hold of the hand that was holding her up and pulled her to sit up further. He supported her back with his other hand while placing her hand on his chest. He knew she could feel his own racing heart just as she knew he could feel her shoulders rising up and down from her rapid breaths. Jack took a deep breath and Dorothea watched as her hand rose and fell with him. She struggled for a moment to copy his breaths and squeezed her eyes shut in concentration.

     Elmer made his way back down the hallway, adjusting the rings on his hand as he walked. As he came upon Dorothea’s dressing room he paused. Jack and Dorothea were still on the floor and Jack was still helping Dorothea with her breathing. Elmer watched as Dorothea’s breathing slowly became more even to match Jack’s and watched as Jack’s eyes watched Dorothea as if she’d disappear. The older man smiled with a twinkle in his eye as he decided to go straight to the kitchen to inform his wife of the incident but - more importantly - to leave the two alone for a while longer.

     Dorothea opened her eyes and was caught off guard by immediately meeting Jack’s gaze. Even though her breathing had evened out several moments ago, they were still in the same place: Jack holding Dorothea’s hand to his chest while also supporting her seated position. She sniffed and mustered up a weak smile. He returned it with a crooked one of his own.

     “You-“ She paused to clear her throat, “You called me Dory.”

     “Huh?” Jack couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. That’s what she chooses to talk about?  

     Dorothea swallowed hard, “Just a few minutes ago. You called me Dory. Only Angeline calls me that.”

     “Oh,” Jack frowned, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know I wasn’t-“

     “I liked it.”

     Jack gave another small smile before moving to stand. Dorothea’s hand quickly tightened, grabbing a fistful of Jack’s shirt to stop him from moving. “What are you doing?” The wild look in her eye from before was resurfacing but Jack was quick to reassure her.

     “We gotta get you standing so you can change, right?”

     “Oh, yes.” Dorothea’s hand relaxed and Jack grasped it to help her stand up, still keeping his other hand on her back. Dorothea looks at Jack’s hand and her eyes widen. “Jack! Your hand, it’s bleeding!”

     “Yeah, that usually happens after punching someone in the face.” He laughed when Dorothea sent him a disapproving glare.

     “We have to get this cleaned up before it gets infected!”

     “No, you have to get dressed.”

Dorothea suddenly became very aware that her dress had barely stayed up this entire time, still only held by her hand. This time there was no way to hide the redness in her cheeks.

     “Right.” Dorothea let go of Jack’s hand to further cover herself even though nothing was actually exposed. Jack took a step back to give her some space. He vaguely gestured toward the door,

     “I’ll be right outside.”

     As Dorothea dressed, she caught glimpses of herself in the mirror. The man had left bruises. His handprints were seared into the skin of her arm in the form of yellowish outlines. She almost started to cry again. The idea that those handprints would remain there for days after he touched her made her feel sick to the stomach. She didn’t know if she could stand to even look at food right now. Luckily, her blouse sleeves covered up the bruises and she wouldn’t have to look at them – at least for now. She felt too tired to bother putting her hair up again and decided to let the curls have their way and fall around her shoulders and face. She finally opened the door and poked her head out, only fully emerging when her eyes landed on Jack who was leaning against the opposite was with an unlit cigarette in his mouth. His head snapped up at the sound of the door opening and he gave Dorothea a smile.

     “Come on, I’m sure Elmer and Margarette are waiting for you.” He said. He held his hand out for her to take but she declined by hugging herself tightly. She did not want to be touched right now. She felt disgusting. If Jack was offended by her rejection, Dorothea noted that he didn’t show it and instead put his hand in his pocket and smiled once again. Dorothea appreciated that more than he would ever know. She kept her arms wrapped around herself even as they walked silently down the hallway toward the kitchen. Everyone had left at this point so the only sound heard was their footsteps against the stone floor.

     Elmer and Margarette ceased their conversation at the sound of footsteps coming toward the kitchen. Margarette quickly removed her apron and rushed to meet Dorothea at the door before ushering her toward the table in the middle of the room.

     “Sit, miei cari, sit.”

     “Margarette, I-I’m fine, really I am. You needn’t fuss over me,” Dorothea’s voice was soft as if she had lost it.

     “I won’t hear any of that! You sit down and let me take care of you.” Margarette’s voice broke a little at the end of her sentence. She knew what Dorothea was feeling. She had never wanted Dorothea to feel that way.

     Elmer turned to Jack who had stayed in the doorway and gestured for him to come closer. When Jack was close enough, Elmer laid a heavy hand on his shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze.

     “You did good, boy. You did good. Now, let’s see that hand.”

     “Oh, no, sir I don’t need-“

     “That was a mean hook you laid on him and I know a thing or two about splittin’ knuckles. Let’s see ‘em.” Elmer left no room for argument. Jack raised his right hand so that Elmer could see. His knuckles were red and swollen – they’d be bruised tomorrow – and there was dried blood on the webbing of his fingers. “Not too bad. Go wash your hands and I’ll show you how to bandage them up nice and tight.”

     After the two adults had sufficiently fixed up Jack and Dorothea, they sent them off. Margarette, Elmer, and Jack insisted that Jack walk Dorothea back to the lodging house despite her protests that it wasn’t necessary.

     “Miei cari, He could be waiting for you to leave.”

And that was all it took for Dorothea to agree. The pair walked for a long time in silence. As they walked, Dorothea kept her arms firmly wrapped around herself. She stared down at the ground and chewed on the inside of her cheek. Jack split his time between looking at Dorothea and looking around to make sure that guy wasn’t lurking around anywhere. He was worried about Dorothea and even more about having to leave her alone.

     “Will you be alright once you get home?” He asked.

     “Yes.”

     “What about tomorrow morning? Don’t you work?”

     “Yes. I’m sure it will be fine.” Dorothea looked up at Jack and smiled. She was flattered that Jack was worrying this much about her. She had been thinking about how quickly he had come into the dressing room to help her. Dorothea had never been so grateful for anyone in her whole life. She furrowed her eyebrows,

     “How did you know I needed help?”

     “I heard you scream from down the hall. I was coming with Elmer to tell you how great you were tonight but I never got the chance.”

Dorothea hummed in understanding as she returned her gaze to the ground.

     “You did great tonight, by the way.” He said with a grin. Dorothea couldn’t help the watery laugh that escaped her lips. She didn’t even realize she had started to cry again.

     “Thank you, Jack.” She said just as they neared the steps of the house. They stopped on the landing and turned to face each other.

     “Of course! I mean why didn’t you ever tell me you could sing like that-“

     “I meant for saving me, you daft boy!” She rolled her eyes and smiled lightly.

     “Oh, yeah, that,” Jack scratched the back of his neck with his bandaged hand and tried to suppress the warmth climbing his neck. “I just did what anyone would have done.”

     “But anybody didn’t. You did.” Dorothea said in a very serious tone. “For that, I owe you more than you could possibly imagine. You were my hero tonight.” Dorothea smiled, this time a real one as if she had no control.

     Jack couldn’t stop his face from flushing so he quickly looked away. “You don’t owe me anything, Dory.” He said, finally looking back down at her. She nodded, though they both knew she didn’t believe him, before turning to head inside. “But if you wanted to keep calling me that,” She paused to look back at him and he swallowed, “I, um, I wouldn’t complain.” He shrugged his shoulders, trying to be casual as he pointedly looked everywhere but at Dorothea.

     Dorothea hummed again. Just before she closed the door she said, “My hero.”

Jack Dawson has been your boyfriend for 7 months now. You two met in a cafe in Paris and hit it off, got to where you are now, living together happily.

Well, not really.

Since you were 15, you've sliced your wrists and upper thighs to relieve some of the pain from the bullying you received on the daily.

Worthless, ugly, unattractive and stupid are just a few of the slurs you were called everyday back in school.

No one knew about what you did, you were very good at hiding it as you had been doing it for years.

Okay well, back to the present now.

"What for? I got you a couple a few weeks back?" Jack asked as he walked into your shared bedroom.

The truth was that your razors were all either covered in your blood, and the ones that weren't, were too blunt to shave or to hurt.

"They're too blunt, they don't take any hair off." You answered, sitting down on the bed.

Jack nodded, he looked a bit out of it. "Huh, I use the same brand though and it works like a dream? I'll go check if i accidentally bought a different brand for you."

You were about to nod but then you remembered that your old and bloody razors were in the bathroom bin, along with the bloody tissues you used.

"Wait-" Jack turned back around. "I- uh- left some of my feminine products on the counter!"

You ran past him into the bathroom. You were thinking on what to do.

If you took the bin bag out and changed it, that would look kind of weird, since Jack changed it this morning, but you couldn't risk Jack finding out. He would think you're crazy!

Jack obviously got impatient as you had been in there for 10 minutes, so he started banging on the bathroom door. "I'm coming in in five seconds."

"5"

'Think think what do I do???' you thought.

"4"

'AHH WHAT DO I DO"

"3"

"2"

You eventually just accepted defeat and realised that Jack was going to find the razors. You could say you cut yourself shaving maybe?

"1, I'm coming in!"

Jack opened the door and saw you sitting down on the floor of the bathroom, leaning against the bathtub.

"Are you alright, angel?" He said, crouching down and pushing some hair away from your face.

'Should I just tell him. I'm going to just show him.'

You pulled up your sleeve and showed Jack your wrist. His eyes widened immensely, and you saw his face go through a series of emotions, finally ending on sadness.

Tears brimmed in his eyes as he ran his finger up and down the various scars and scabs.

Jack looked up to meet you eyes. "Was it me?"

Your eyes widened. "NO! No, it's more of a habit now."

"How long?"

"Since I was 15. I was, uh bullied, and it was kind of like a relief from, well, everything. Over the years it just became a habit, and an escape from everything." You explained, playing with Jack's fingers.

Jack sighed and stood up. He pulled you up with him, cautious of your wrists and thighs.

"We're going to fix this, okay?" He spoke, rubbing the back of your hands. "We're going to stop with the razors okay?"

You nodded tearfully.

"You're also going to come to me if you ever, EVER, feel this bad again, alright?"

You smiled at him in appreciation. "Okay" You whispered.

"You deserve the world! You're gorgeous, funny, a genius and you're better than this. We're going to fight this together, right?"