by Sam Mariano
To Julie's surprised delight, Leigh averted her gaze for a split second—in a way that could only mean she had doubts herself—and she said, "You don't know how I feel about him."
Seizing upon that little crumb, Julie said, "No, but I really hope that I'm right, because if you're just confused about how you feel about him and you love him in a different way, that means that you'll be able to move past this and we can all be friends. If he has just been your comfort zone, you're actually free now because of this, and you'll be able to meet someone you'll actually love, and who will love you back, and then you’ll be happy. You and I can be friends, you can be Aunt Leigh to little Alyssa, and everything will work out."
"Yes, with all the men lining up down my street, I think that's definitely bound to happen," Leigh said dryly.
"Leigh, this is none of my business and you don't have to answer me, but at least answer the question to yourself. How many men have you turned down because you were holding out for Aaron?"
Pressing her lips together, Leigh gave a slight nod. "Okay, I have… pretty much rejected every guy who has ever tried because they weren't him."
"And now that he's taken, will you have any reason to do that?"
"Well…no," Leigh said, not looking like she necessarily liked where the conversation was going.
"So the next time some hot guy at Starbucks asks you out—”
Cracking a smile, Leigh said, "Hot guys at Starbucks don't ask me out."
"Well, you've been unapproachable. Now they will. Now when some Johnny Depp look alike with the chai latte in front of you asks you out, you don't have to turn him down to wait for someone who won't notice you. I mean, if I was a guy, I would totally want to date you," Julie stated.
Giving her a dry but reluctantly amused look, Leigh said, "You would not—and neither will Johnny Depp's look alike."
"Leigh, you're beautiful. You're loyal. You're funny. You're sweet. You have so much to offer someone that it isn't even funny."
Sighing in not-quite-sincere irritation, Leigh said, "You're making it very difficult to hate you."
Smiling, Julie said, "Good. There's no reason for us to not get along, Leigh. I mean, we can totally ignore the whole Aaron situation if that will help, I just thought before we could move past it we should talk about it. But we don't have to mention him. I want to be your friend. I genuinely like you, and I would hate to lose your friendship over a guy. It's just so… unnecessary."
Sighing, Leigh said, "I did like you, I just don't think I can do it right now."
"But I'm your second favorite flavor of Lifesaver," Julie stated solemnly.
"And Aaron is my first," Leigh reminded her.
"I can deal with that," Julie said easily. "I just want us to be past this awkward, tense kind of thing that we've been doing. I can move slowly, but I really want to move past this, Leigh. I really like you."
"Well… maybe one day," Leigh allowed.
"Excellent—as long as you're open to the idea I have faith that this will happen."
Laughing a little, Leigh said, "You have high hopes."
"I do," Julie agreed.
Frowning a little, Leigh said, "I don't think, in your position, I would be so eager to befriend someone who admits to being in love with my boyfriend."
"Eh, I think you'll recover from that," Julie said dismissively. "Anyway, let's not talk about that."
"Yeah, I've got tables anyway," Leigh stated.
Feeling a little better about life, Julie smiled and watched Leigh walk away.
---
Later that evening, Aaron left work and picked her up at the apartment so they could go look at the place he seemed to be in love with.
On the way there Julie carefully approached the subject and told Aaron that she thought he should put her and Leigh on overlapping for an hour or so once in a while when he wouldn't be there, just to give them some time to talk if they wanted to.
Aaron looked doubtful, but more in the "It's your funeral" kind of way, and told her if that's what she wanted then he would arrange it.
When they got to the brick building that apparently housed the condo Aaron wanted to buy, he finally told her, "Now, if you don't like it, tell me. Don't do the Julie thing where if I like it you'll keep your mouth shut. I want this to be our house, not my house."
"Noted," Julie verified. "I promise to be as big a pain in the ass as I feel necessary."
"I think you'll like it though," he told her.
Twining her fingers with his, she said, "I'm sure I will. I'm not so hard to please."
He quirked his eyebrow at her and smirked a little, but Julie elbowed him before he could remark.
"Dirty mind."
"I didn't say a word," he pointed out.
"You thought it."
"You can hear my thoughts now?" he asked, his tone impressed.
"Yep," she stated smugly. "Be afraid, be very afraid."
"Well, it's only fair that I get to hear yours too then," he said reasonably.
"Life's not fair," she told him. "I'm the pregnant one, only I get to hear the thoughts."
Frowning, Aaron looked down at his coat pocket and patted it, then he withdrew his cell phone, looking at the screen and answering it.
"Hey," he greeted.
While he was on the phone, Julie took the opportunity to walk around and glimpse the courtyard area. It wasn't a big courtyard, but it was fenced in, and it had a little playground for the kids with a green bench presumably for the parents who wanted to sit and watch. Smiling a little, she rubbed her belly as she imagined sitting there reading a Bronte novel while Alyssa was playing, waiting for Aaron to get home from work.
Sighing in contentment at the thought, she walked back over to Aaron's side.
"All right, yeah, that'll be fine. Just stop by whenever, I'll be there until about dinner time tomorrow…. Yep. Thanks. Bye."
Putting his cell phone away, he said, "Sorry."
"Business call?" she surmised.
"Sorta. It was that buddy I told you about that was going through the messy divorce, the one that sold me the property. He still technically has a bunch of the papers, and he's bringing them to me at the café tomorrow."
"When am I going to get to see this apartment building?" she asked curiously.
"Whenever you want," he told her. "We can stop by after we finish up here if you really want to."
Nodding, she said, "I like this plan."
Leading her into the brick building through the white front door that must be theirs, Aaron opened it and ducked inside.
A middle aged man with salt and pepper hair stood just inside the door, smiling at them. "Hello, Aaron. You must be Julie," he said, offering her hand.
"Yes, I am."
"I'm Ted, nice to meet you."
Allowing them to step inside the little room that seemed to be a foyer, Julie imagined how she would decorate it—with a little oak end table in the corner, maybe some flowers on it and a family photo. Glancing down at the cream carpet, she thought an area rug would make a nice added touch.
Smiling up at Aaron, she said, "I've never had a foyer before. So far, I'm a fan."
Chuckling, he draped his arm across her shoulder and followed Ted through the archway and into the kitchen.
Where the foyer had been decorated in deeper colors like brown and burgundy, the kitchen was a sunny breath of fresh air—the walls were ocean blue to match the drawers and cabinets, which had butter yellow trim. The counter top was a pretty marble, and there were three high stools at the kitchen island. The floors were tiled beige, and off to the left was a big empty space where the kitchen table would go, right in front of a big window that let it plenty of light.
"This is a very happy kitchen," Julie stated.
"Definitely," the realtor agreed. "It's bright and fun, but also calm and classy for Mom."
Smiling, she imagined Alyssa sitting in the corner with a little Easy Bake Oven as she helped Mommy or Daddy cook dinner.
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Squeezing Aaron's hand a little, she wondered to herself why she had been so freaked out that he wanted to get a bigger, more permanent place. There was nothing scary about it, she realized—it was exciting.
There were two archways off the kitchen, one straight ahead and one off to the right—he showed them the one straight ahead of them first, and the door to the right was a breezy, sea shell themed bathroom. Opposite the bathroom behind the other door was a nice sized pantry for groceries, which Julie definitely liked.
Then he took them back through the other kitchen arch, which led them to a beige and white colored living room.
The carpet was shaggy, cream colors with specks of tan in it. The walls were a creamy white with thick wooden molding at the tops and bottoms of the walls. The room was empty, but it wasn't hard to imagine what it would look like with a grandfather clock in the corner, maybe a big potted plant. There would be a big comfy couch in the center, perfect for cuddling.
"What do you think so far?" Aaron asked her.
"So far I love it," she told him. "Unless there's a gaping hole in the floor of the bedroom, I'm thinking I approve."
"Oh, I didn't tell you about the hole? Ted says it gives the room dimension."
Giving him a dry look, she said, "Very funny."
After finishing up the tour with the other bathroom and the bedrooms upstairs, Julie was completely happy with the house. Ted rattled off some more nice things about the neighborhood and what a great deal it was, but Julie didn't need to hear anything else, she already knew she liked it.
Not wanting to put her on the spot, Aaron told Ted that he would get back to him, and then Aaron and Julie left. As soon as they were in the car, Aaron said, "So, overall, what did you think?"
"I really like it," she said with a nod. "It's absolutely great."
"Great enough to live there?"
"Without a doubt," she stated.
"Good," he said. "You already know I like it, so I'll tell Ted and we can get the process started."
"Are you sure we can do this?" Julie asked. "I mean, with the new restaurant and the apartments and everything?"
Nodding, he said, "We're completely capable."
"'Cause, I know I'm not capable of buying anything right now—in terms of money, it's totally out of the question."
"Well, it's a good thing you have me then, isn't it?" he teased.
"I just want to make sure. I mean, really, I don't even have an inkling of your financial position, and that's fine when it's none of my business, but I don't want you to think that you have to get a bigger place if that's going to be stretching our budget too thin. There is no reason that we can't fit where we are for a while, at least until you make sure everything—”
"Julie," he said, interrupting. "I assure you, I can afford it. I wouldn't try to buy it if I couldn't."
"Don’t forget I'm going to have to go on maternity leave eventually—”
"Julie, when have I ever let you give me any part of your income?"
"Well, you haven't. But I'm just saying, if things got tight—”
"They won't," he assured her. "Look, if it will make you feel better, when we get home we can go over my finances—since they’re more or less our finances—so that you’re not in the dark anymore. Now, do you want to go see the apartments first, or would you rather go home?"
"Apartments," she answered, feeling a little relieved.
Nodding, he put the car in reverse and backed out.
---
The following day Debbie had some urgent matter she needed to deal with and she needed someone to cover for her, and since Aaron had promised to let Julie work with Leigh at some point, he told Julie she could cover Debbie's 11 to 4 even though Leigh would be there until 2.
Julie hoped that things with Leigh would be more normal, but that didn't seem to be the case. As their shifts overlapped, Leigh merely avoided Julie—not rudely, she just didn't speak to her more than she had to.
When Julie was making a batch of tartar sauce at 1:30 to prepare for dinner, her general feeling of optimism in restoring her friendship with Leigh began to waver.
Glancing over, Julie saw that Leigh was running out of things to do, but she still refused to come over and put the lids on the tartar sauce containers as Julie filled them like she used to do.
Aaron made a stop at the table where Julie was filling the tartar sauce containers and asked, "How are you feeling?"
Offering a little smile, she said, "Fine."
"You know, if you want to you can leave when you get done with those," he said, nodding at the big silver bowl of tartar sauce. "We're not very busy."
Slanting him a look, she said, "Aaron, I have practically no hours as it is. I am not overworking myself."
Giving her a dirty look for not buying his "we're not busy" excuse, he said, "I feel bad that you’re here working. You're pregnant, you should be at home relaxing or doing homework—something that you can do on the couch or something."
"Honey, I'm fine," she assured him, offering a little smile to appease him. "Poppy Seed and I appreciate your concern, but I want to work."
"You have worked," he stated. "I don't mind you working the hours that I schedule you, because I make sure I don't overwork you, but I had you off today."
Laughing a little, she said, "Aaron, it's only a five hour shift."
Walking up beside them, Leigh briskly said, "If you want someone to leave because we're busy, I'd be happy to go."
Looking a little shocked, he said, "You want to leave?"
Nodding, she said, "Absolutely. I have an interview later anyway, it would give me more time to get ready."
If he had looked shocked before, he looked like she had slapped him that time. "An interview?"
Despite her new protective hardness, Julie watched her soften, her eyes lower a little in defeat, and her voice was softer as she said, "I'm not quitting or anything, it's just… a part-time weekend job. That way I don't have to work here as much. I don't want to be full-time anymore. I'll still close whenever you need me to, and when Julie has her baby I'll work as much as you need me to, but… it's time for me to try something new."
Aaron didn't appear to like the news at all, but he said, "Well… what days are you going to need off? Just Saturdays and Sundays?"
"If I get the job, I'll work Saturday and Sunday 10 to 6. If you'd like, I can still come in and open up on Sunday mornings, but someone will have to be here by 9:30 so that I can get to my other job."
He nodded slowly, saying, "Okay." At first it seemed like he wasn't going to say anything, but as Leigh pulled out her singles and started counting them to see what she had made for the day, he said, "Are you sure this is necessary, Leigh?"
Glancing up, she replied, "I'm not quitting, Aaron. We’ll see how it goes in time. But this is what I need to do for right now. Now, am I leaving?"
"I guess," he replied, glancing around at the tables.
Nodding toward the corner, she said, "Those two ladies have been sitting there forever and I'm not waiting, so you can just keep the tip."
Shaking his head, he said, "I can wrap it up for you and leave it in the office."
"All right," she agreed. "I'm going to go change out some of these singles so I don't look like a stripper and then I'll leave."
Julie glanced up at Aaron, but he wasn't looking at her, he was watching after Leigh. Then he scowled and suddenly walked over to the register.
Leigh was untying her apron and shoving some money in her purse when he approached her behind the counter and said, "Leigh, I don't like this."
Giving him a dry look, she said, "Odd, because this is like my dream come true."
"Why are you leaving?"
Not looking at him, she said, "I'm not leaving, Aaron. I'm still going to work here, I just don't want to be here as often as I am now, and I don't want to work with these people and their gossip anymore."
"What gossip?"
Shooting him a rather disgusted
look, she said, "You're not serious."
"About Julie being pregnant?" he guessed.
"Among other things," she said, once more returning her attention to folding up her apron and getting ready to leave.
"Well, who's gossiping? I can fire whoever is making you uncomfortable. Or… instead of moving Julie over to Flavor, I can move you. Just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it."
Although he was obviously trying to placate her, she actually looked hurt when she looked up at him. "You just don't get it, do you? I have been the one here for you all this time, I have been the one on your side, waiting for you to get over what that whore who ruined you did to destroy you—me. I have not bitched or complained about you being moody, I have never tried to rush you into getting over it or pressured you in any way. I have waited patiently; I didn't even date, because God forbid you think I liked someone else."
Now it was Aaron's turn to get uncomfortable, and he averted his own gaze.
That seemed to spark her irritation, and she said, "And then some new, random girl who has missed all of it just pops up on the scene pregnant, and you're ready to take her under your wing and play house. I really wish I had known all it took was getting knocked up—I could have gone out and gotten knocked up by any number of the guys who have expressed interest in me over the years while I was waiting around on you."
"It isn't like that," Aaron stated lowly.
"Really? It isn't? That's funny. See, it makes sense to me now—I guess I have to wonder why I never thought of it. I always knew that you wanted a family and that was something you had regretted, but I always thought maybe you would just adopt—I had actually given up my own dreams and expectations of ever having any kids of my own, because I knew it wouldn't be possible if we got together."
Sighing, Aaron said a little miserably, "Leigh, I never knew that you felt that way. You have to know that I didn't… mean to… do whatever I did to…"
"You didn't do anything," she said, shaking her head. "It isn't your fault. You just… you don't understand how wonderful you are, and…" Her voice trailed off, then she seemed to pull herself up a little and she said more strongly, "It doesn't matter. Now that you've decided to move on, you picked someone else to do it with, so obviously I just always wanted something that was out of the question."
