by Sam Mariano
Shaking her head, Julie said, "No, I'm not going anywhere. I can give you a ride home later if you want."
Nodding noncommittally, Aaron said, "Have fun."
Julie nodded and offered a smile, wondering exactly how much longer she would be having fun around a bunch of drunk people when she couldn’t partake.
Over the next couple hours Julie moved around the room a little bit, but no one really talked to her except for a few drunk people—one was a nurse she had just met named Michelle, and she hugged Julie and started singing "You Are the Wind Beneath My Wings!" at Julie while Julie tried not to flinch away from the smell of alcohol on the overly friendly girl's breath.
Julie had surmised that apparently the party had been going on prior to her being invited, and she got that confirmed when Leigh came over and said a little apologetically, "I invited you later than I did the other guests, sorry."
Julie was a little surprised at being told, and uncertain as to why, but she just nodded and said, "It's fine."
"Well, I don't want you to think it was anything personal. Actually, I was trying to help you. I know you think Aaron hates you, and I just thought if I invited you once I got a good amount of alcohol in his system you might be able to enjoy the party more."
Smiling, Julie said, "At least there was a method to your madness. I think it worked—he already spoke to me, and he even initiated the conversation, so… progress."
"He really is a good guy," Leigh told her, smiling as she lost her balance just slightly and then regained it. "He's just a little grumpy sometimes until you get to know him."
Julie thought that was an understatement, but she let Leigh return to the party and she sat down on the couch, feeling a little neglected, but it was okay. As promised, Leigh had managed to hand off her camera at one point, so Julie took it upon herself to be the official party photographer, and she took pictures of everyone at the party. Aaron, she noticed, didn't seem enthusiastic about getting his picture taken, but she even managed to get a couple of him.
Impulsively, she also gave the camera to Leigh long enough for her to get a snapshot of Aaron and Julie, and Aaron draped his arm over her shoulder, leaning in much closer than she had expected when the idea struck her.
By the time the countdown began, Danielle was looking ill, Leigh was less-than-sympathetic, Aaron was drunk, and most of the other guests were either drunk or on their way there. Danielle had been drinking the longest, so she was the most obnoxious, but there were a couple other people becoming obnoxiously drunk, too.
That was one thing Julie had never cared for—being the only sober person in a room full of drunk people. Drunk people—Aaron excluded—were only amusing when you were drunk yourself.
Julie forgot to pay attention to the television, and she didn't realize that the ball had actually fallen until she heard a bunch of people say, "Happy New Year!"
Without thinking, she scanned for Aaron again to see if he was partaking in the "New Year's kiss" like some of the other apparent-couples were, but when she caught sight of him he was grimacing as he and some other guy were finishing taking a shot of some sort.
"Disgusting," he stated.
Leigh was right at his elbow, and she pecked him on the shoulder saying, "Happy New Year!"
"That was gross," he said, handing her the shot glass accusingly.
Grinning, she said, "I didn't talk you into that one, Rob did."
"Don't ever let me drink whatever that thing was again."
She shook her head. "I knew you wouldn't like it. It's more of a frat boy thing—it's gross, but it gets you hammered kind of fast."
"Like I need that," he said, shaking his head. "I'm already beginning to lose my balance if I stand still for too long."
Leigh smiled at him and winked, "That's okay, wait another 20 minutes and then tell me how you feel."
Twenty minutes later, Aaron was sitting on the couch with Julie. He had given up on walking around when Drunken Danielle bumped into him and his reflexes weren't sharp enough to catch her, so she ended up falling into him and then falling horizontally into his lap on the loveseat.
He had neatly shoved her off his lap as she giggled and asked him what was wrong, and then he had moved over to the couch to sit next to the only sober person in the room.
"I wish she would go to bed," Aaron stated as he watched Danielle walk unsteadily across the room and grab a bottle of wine, pouring some in a glass.
"I'm surprised she hasn't tried to sit in my lap yet," Julie remarked. "I think I'm about the only one."
He smirked at her. "Don't worry, you're next."
Julie shook her head. "No, thank you. I don't sit in laps, and I do not expect anyone to sit in mine—even in a drunken state."
"She likes attention; being drunk just gives her an excuse to act like that."
"Aw, I'm telling Leigh what you said about her sister," Julie teased.
"She knows," he said, shrugging. "Leigh is the responsible older sister and Danielle is the stereotypical baby sister."
"Nice," Julie remarked.
Leaning back into the couch, Aaron said, "Fuck, I can't even sit up straight."
"You lightweight," Julie said laughingly.
Aaron flashed her a smile and said, "I'm not a lightweight, I just… don't drink all that often. And in my defense, I have been fed shot after shot—it will be a miracle if I don't die of alcohol poisoning tomorrow."
"You won't," she assured him.
"Promise?" he asked, his expression jokingly solemn.
He looked adorable, all relaxed and playful.
Smiling a little, she said, "I promise.”
"All right. But if I die from alcohol poisoning now I'm kicking your ass," he informed her.
"You're not going to die from alcohol poisoning, you will probably just have a really bad hangover."
Shrugging, he said, "Oh well, at least it's only New Year's Eve once a year."
She smiled because his sentence was mostly redundant, but she nodded anyway.
"You look nice, by the way," he told her, glancing over at her.
Trying to hide her surprise, she managed a smile and said, "Thank you."
"You never went to Jack's party," he remarked.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I pretty much told him he should party with his girlfriend."
"How'd he like that?" Aaron asked, smiling.
"He didn't." She paused briefly, not sure how much to share, but she decided to add a little more. "He tried to pull the 'I love you' card."
"Maybe he does," Aaron said open-mindedly.
She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. He just misses the convenience of having me around, not really me. I'm not sure he even knew me, not really anyway. I wouldn't be at all surprised if you asked him and he couldn't even tell you what I'm going to school for."
"That's stupid," Aaron said, missing a beat, then he said, "What are you going to school for?"
Laughing lightly, she said, "I'm going to major in English, but my end goal is actually to become a college professor, so I'm going to be in school forever."
Aaron shook his head. "I didn't like school enough to be there forever. I stayed as long as I needed to just to get my associate's degree and then I was gone."
Frowning, she said, "Your associate's degree?"
He nodded. "For business."
"I thought you got a bachelor's degree for some reason," she said, shaking her head.
Aaron shook his head, saying, "Nope, wrong brother."
Grimacing, she wished she would have picked a topic that wouldn't have led them back to Matt. Even in his drunken state, she was concerned that topic would make him turn on her like it always did when she would get a shred of hope that he didn't hate her.
"Now, Matt got a bachelor's degree. He went to the four-year school in Pennsylvania—that's where he met his perfect little wife—but all I could afford was the local community college. We aren't like Leigh and Danielle, we're flipped around," he said, making a rotation gestur
e with his hand.
Unsure of how to proceed, she cautiously said, "How do you mean?"
"I'm the younger brother, but I'm the responsible one. Did Matt ever tell you anything about college?" Before she had time to answer he shook his head and went on, "Probably not, huh? Well, Matt got a scholarship out of high school, a full-ride; all he had to do was maintain his grades and play football. He lost the scholarship—they were going to kick him out, but he had met Emma by that point and he knew he had found a prize, so he wasn't letting go. He managed to get academic probation, but he lost all his money for school, so our parents had to give him the money so he could stay, which, of course, left none for me."
Frowning, Julie thought that didn't make sense. Didn't they come from a wealthy family? She was, after all, wearing Nanette Lapore on her back on the dollar of his family.
"I thought… You mean they didn't have enough for both of you?"
Making a dismissive face, he shook his head. "We never had money. My dad was a plumber, my mom worked part-time as a bank teller—there was barely any money for college. I worked my ass off at a community college and worked a full-time job, 48 hours a week as a manager at Arby's. Very glamorous."
Grimacing, she said, "Eew, that's a rough schedule."
He nodded. "Yep. Not Matt though, no. He worked like 10 hours a week or some shit like that, he was an employee at his college. But he had to court Emma, so he didn't have time for that. Our mom was completely supportive of it, which is why they helped him out financially even though his tuition was literally 10 times what mine cost." Then he shrugged. "Oh well, I guess that's what made us different people. God only knows how I might have turned out if I would have been the one to go off to school." Then, smiling, he said, "Who knows? I could be the one married to Emma right now."
Julie gave an exaggerated grimace, and Aaron laughed, also making a face.
"A fate worse than death," he stated.
She chuckled, gaining just a little confidence that he wasn't going to abruptly turn on her. "So, I take it you're not fond of Emma?"
He shook his head. "Not really. She's a manipulative bitch, if you ask me."
"I can attest to that," Julie stated. "But wait, I don't know why I assumed your family had money, I guess just because Matt does. Does that mean he's completely a self-made man, so to speak?"
Scoffing derisively, Aaron said, "If that's what you call it."
"Well, I mean, his success is his own, right? Because he worked for it, not because it's just always been a part of his life."
Shaking his head, Aaron said, "You didn't figure it out yet, huh? Matt has nothing, Julie. Emma has money—Emma's dad owns the company Matt works for. If he left Emma, Matt would be left penniless sitting in some gutter in an alley somewhere. Matt got where he is by hooking Emma—her family is like super-rich, and they're all stuck up assholes just like her, I don't know how anyone can stand to live with them, but I guess if the price is right…"
Suddenly, more pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. "So it was Emma's money," she said almost to herself.
"What?" he asked, frowning slightly.
Only then did she realize he didn't know that she knew anything about his "debt" to Matt, and she swallowed, hoping he wouldn't get mad.
"Oh… well, I was curious about… the café, and I had asked Matt about it and he said that he had let you borrow the money to open it up and get it going…."
"Oh, that," he said, nodding, and –much to her relief—not looking at all mad. "Yeah, technically I probably borrowed Emma's money, but it's all paid back now, so…"
Julie allowed herself a moment then to wonder if Emma also bought her new Nanette Lapore dress. Strangely, that made her feel less guilty about accepting it.
When she looked back up at Aaron with a casual smile, it dropped right off her face—he was scowling at her again, and she felt a deep sense of disappointment.
"I should stop drinking for the night," he said a little quietly.
"Why?" she asked, still watching him as he watched her almost uncertainly.
"Because," he said.
"That's not a reason," she said, cracking a smile.
"I'm starting to not think clearly," he said.
Then, without warning, his hand came toward her face and she sat frozen in confusion as he brushed her hair back behind her ears.
"You're not wearing your earrings," he remarked.
"No," she verified. Then, tentatively, she added, "I knew you wouldn't…like if I did."
His lips curved up just slightly. "Why do you care what I like?"
There was something in the way he was looking at her that made her not want to meet his gaze, but also unable to look away. She was afraid once she broke eye contact it would go away forever—that softness she was so unaccustomed to.
In her lap, she could hear the chime of her phone, but she ignored it, still not looking away from Aaron.
"You aren't answering me," he said, a playful glint in his warm brown eyes.
"I don't know why," she admitted quietly.
His gaze did drop to her purse then, and he nodded slightly, asking, "Who was that?"
"I don't know," she answered honestly.
He glanced at her phone before meeting her gaze again. She was sure she saw a challenging glint in his eyes. "May I?" he asked.
Careful to keep the surprise off her face, she knew she had every right to tell him no, he absolutely may not, but she felt like he was trying to prove something—he expected her to say no, but part of him was pulling for her to say yes.
She didn't know how she knew that, but it was like she could read it in his eyes.
Without breaking eye contact, she reached into her purse and pulled it out, holding it out on her palm.
He held eye contact, raising his eyebrow just slightly as he slowly reached for the phone, giving her plenty of time to change her mind.
She stayed where she was, and despite the urge to look at the phone to see who the text was from, she patiently waited for him to take it.
Finally, he took the phone and said, "I'm going to see who it's from," as if he still half-expected her to back out and take the phone back.
Shrugging, she forced herself to seem nonchalant. "I can't help who texts me."
He opened her phone and held her gaze for just a second longer, then he dropped his gaze to the phone and he pushed a couple buttons, opening up the text message.
A smirk slowly spread across his face. "It's from the other brother."
Swallowing, she forced herself to give the impression of casual as she said, "Oh yeah?"
"You're dying to know what he said, aren't you?"
She was curious, but she sure as hell wasn't going to admit it. "Not really."
He raised his eyebrows, and she could tell he didn't buy it. "Oh, really?"
"Really," she said, nodding.
"You don't care at all?"
"Not unless it's… important, or about the baby or something, no."
His smirk returned, and he said, "Then you won't mind if I just delete it?"
Inwardly she had to fight the nearly rabid instinct to snatch her phone out of his hand, but she knew she was being tested—and she didn't want to fail.
Did she want to pass the test more than she wanted to read the text message?
"You're hesitating," he stated.
"I'm not hesitating—I don't care if you delete it," she stated spontaneously.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
No.
"Yes."
"I'm not going to tell you what it says," he said. "I know what it says, but I'm going to erase the message and not even tell you what it says since you claim you don't care. Are you saying I can do that?"
It was hard, but she forced herself to shrug and say, "Go for it."
He "tsk tsked" her and said, "You're being a bad little mistress, letting the brother interfere. Matt won't be pleased."
Feeling a little rebellious with Aaron eggin
g her on, Julie stated, "I am not his mistress."
"Does he know you're here with me?" Aaron asked, although she didn't know quite how that was relevant, nor did she understand why he said "here with me" as if they had come to the party together.
"I…don't know," she said a little awkwardly.
He stared at her for a couple long seconds, then he narrowed his eyes and said, "Why are you letting me delete this message? I know you want to read it, I can see it in your face."
"I'm a curious person by nature, in case you haven't noticed," she defended. "I've never deleted a message without opening it. But it doesn't matter, if it's not important…"
"It's only important if you care who it's from," Aaron said. "It's from Matt, are you sure you want to let me delete it? Once I push this button it's gone forever."
She smiled slightly. "It's just a text message, Aaron."
With that, his finger found the button and he pushed it, smiling a little as he handed the phone back to her.
"Thank you," she said, sliding the phone back into her purse.
He nodded slightly, his eyes trained on her face, and he smiled a little. "You surprised me."
"Did I?" she asked, secretly feeling rather pleased with herself.
He nodded. "I didn't think you would let me delete a message from him, especially not before you read it. That message could have said anything. He could have proposed marriage for all you know."
She just hoped it didn't say anything about the dress, because then she would have to hide it away in shame like the poor earrings.
"It required a response," he informed her, not letting it rest. "He's going to wonder why you don't text back."
"Oh well," she said, shrugging her shoulders a little.
A little smile played around his lips as he leaned back into the couch, still looking at her. "Julie, why aren't you wearing your earrings?"
Hadn't he already asked that?
"I already told you," she said, raising her eyebrows. "You are officially drunk."
"No, I just want you to tell me again."
That surprised her, and she tried to dissect his tone, the soft look in his eyes as he gazed at her sleepily, an almost hooded look to his beautiful brown eyes.
She felt uncomfortable, but a pleasant kind of uncomfortable that she wasn’t prepared to identify.
