by Emma Vikes
And it didn’t make any sense.
Just then, my phone began to ring, I pulled it out of my pocket and sighed in relief when I saw that it was Leo calling on FaceTime. I quickly swiped to answer. “Hello, brother.”
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes when he did it the same way Damon Salvatore said it in Vampire Diaries. We used to watch it just to get references because girls were once obsessed over the Salvatore brothers and Leo and I made it work for us too. “Hello, Leo.”
He grinned and then Max popped in the frame and I couldn’t help but smile and wave. “Hi, Uncle Jules!”
“Hey, Maximillian! Did you keep on practicing the bike I gave you for Christmas?”
He nodded his little curly head excitedly. “Yes! Daddy and I are going to remove the trainer wheels soon!”
“Okay, not too soon or your Mom will kill me, kid,” Leo said, pulling the phone away from Max. When we had found out that Max was actually Leo’s son, it was hard for us to wrap our head around the fact that Leo was a father. He was an even bigger ladies’ man that I ever was, even before the entire situation with Amber.
“What’s up with the call?” I said, sitting down on one of the lounge chairs. From my view, I could see Audrey teaching Violet how to play the kalimba and I couldn’t help but adore the look on her face as she patiently explained everything to my niece.
“Well, apparently Milo’s phone is dead and so is his power bank, but he managed to send a text to Megan before his phone died that he had his flight changed and would be departing San Francisco in an hour and you need to get your ass to LAX,” Leo sounded so casual as he told me all of this and I listened intently.
“Why didn’t he just call or message me?” I asked with a sigh because now I had to rush Violet and Audrey so we could get on the road before we got stuck in traffic.
“You’re not his wife,” Leo drawled and chuckled, “oh and Ellie relayed everything to me. She was talking to Megan on the phone when Megan got the message and so she told me to call you because they’re still talking.”
“Alright. I better get Violet ready and tell Audrey…”
“Oy! I almost forgot!” Leo was grinning when I looked back at him on the screen and his grin was so big that it almost scared me. Out of my brothers, Leo was the one brimming with energy. Sometimes, I wondered how Eleanor dealt with him. “A little birdie told me that you had this pretty lady under your wing. First, Everett finally getting himself a girl and now you’re finally taking things seriously?”
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “That pretty lady is hired as my assistant so whoever that little birdie of yours was, the information wasn’t complete and you know full well that taking things seriously aren’t my thing.”
“Julian, I got married,” Leo said it in a way that echoed his own disbelief at the fact that he had committed himself to one girl for all of his life, “and I wanted to. You’re going to find that kind of girl that will make you reconsider everything you’ve thought about that part of life, Jules.”
I glanced at Audrey who was laughing at something Violet had said and then leaned to give Julio a kiss on the head. I remembered how her lips felt against mine, soft and a little chapped, and how her heated skin thawed my entire being. But then I also remembered how her eyes would flash with fury, brown turning into burning flames that could swallow me whole any time.
“Maybe you did but I don’t think I’ll be the same.”
Leo clucked his tongue and shook his head. “Don’t speak unless it’s finished, Julian. You better head over to the airport or else our older brother will skin you alive for being late.”
I bid goodbye to Leo and then went inside to tell Audrey and Violet that had to leave for the airport now because the flight from San Francisco would probably take the same amount of time we would take to go to the airport. Violet was excited and was telling Audrey all about her Dad, probably for the fifth time since Audrey got to the house this morning.
Audrey didn’t meet Mio when he had come to drop off Violet here. But Violet had made sure to show her a picture of the entire family. “On a scale of 1-10, Vi, who’s more handsome? Your Dad or Uncle Julian?”
I shot Audrey a narrowed look from my seat. We were near the airport and I glanced back at Violet. She got asked that question a lot since she was younger, and although I already knew her answer, it still wounded my ego. “My Dad, of course. Uncle Jules has pretty eyes but you have to see my Dad first to know why he’s so handsome. I wouldn’t be as pretty as I am if he wasn’t my Dad.”
Jesus, the way this kid spoke of her Dad, you would commend Milo for training her well. “Also, Mom said that personality is everything and Daddy is the sweetest!”
At that, Audrey smirked and slowed the car to a stop right outside the exit gate. “Personality is everything, huh? Then are you saying that your uncle isn’t as good or as sweet as your Dad?”
Violet was between us in a moment and was staring at me with her big blue eyes, and then she kissed me on the cheek. “Uncle Jules is okay but I heard he likes to break hearts so he can’t be up to par with Daddy yet.”
Audrey was biting down on her bottom lip to keep herself from laughing outright on my face and I grimaced, unsure of how I was meant to react. I didn’t want to argue because Violet was right but the way Audrey was looking at me made me feel conscious even if it was something that she had always known.
But Violet wasn’t finished talking yet and added something else to her statement. “Uncle Leo was a lot like him too until he met Aunt Ellie again and he became as good as Daddy. When Uncle Jules meets the right girl for him, I know he’ll be different too!”
I was surprised by her understanding of people but then she added, “And I hope it’s you, Audrey! I’d love for you to be my aunt!”
If Audrey was drinking something, she would’ve choked but then again, she just started coughing uncontrollably and I couldn’t help but smirk. In her seat, Violet cheered. “Look, it’s Daddy!”
She got out of the car and rushed to meet Milo but I get out of my seat before. But before I stepped out of the car, I turned to look at Audrey and winked. “It’s not funny when the tables turn and you’re the one in the hot seat.”
She ignored me and got out of the car to meet Milo and help him with his bags. But just she stood a shy away from him with wide eyes, staring at Milo who was wrapped in a hug from Violet. I stood right next to her and she leaned over to me to whisper, “He is the good-looking Hudson.”
I wasn’t sure if she said it teasingly but she did seem a little awestruck by Milo and I couldn’t help but scoff and nudge her with my shoulder, completely ignoring her and giving Milo a hug. I opened the back of Audrey’s car while Violet made the introductions between Audrey and her Dad. “Vi, told me a lot about you.”
“Isn’t she pretty, Daddy? I want her to be my aunt!” Violet announced, clinging to her Dad. I pursed my lips. She never really said this over the weekend and the way she casually dropped it now made me feel uncomfortable.
Audrey let out an awkward laugh and jutted her thumb to the car, and then without a word, went back to the driver’s seat. The drive back home was filled with conversation about Milo’s flight from San Francisco and why he had it changed. Apparently, the meeting he was meant to have this morning happened yesterday and he didn’t have anything left to do and he missed his daughter.
He also kept asking Audrey questions about herself. It seemed like Audrey didn’t mind the conversation though so I remained quiet until I fell asleep. After a while, I felt someone nudging me gently. When I opened my eyes, Audrey was peering at me closely, her face so close that I could see the specks of gold in her brown eyes.
“Hi,” I whispered, caught in the trance of brown.
She smiled. She smiled more after that argument we had and even more after Violet arrived. Sure, she broke down when her Dad was rushed into the hospital but now that she was assured that her Dad was fine, it seemed like she was back to her normal sel
f. The kind of normal-Audrey that I liked because the feisty one may have been amusing but that version didn’t make my heart race like the one smiling at me now.
Audrey chuckled and then slapped me lightly on the cheek. “You have a little drool on your mouth.”
I rolled my eyes but wiped it off with the back of my hand and sat up to see that the backseat was empty. “They already went in?”
She nodded. “Yea. I had to wake you up so you could leave too. I won’t come in. I have to get to Dad.”
There wasn’t any tone of worry in her voice so I didn’t worry either. “Okay. Text me when you get home.”
Audrey’s eyebrows lifted up in surprise as she looked at me. “That’s not part of the contract.”
I couldn’t help but smile and shrug casually. “Well, from now on we add it to the list.”
I got out of the car after saying that and when I glanced back at Audrey, she was staring at me with soft eyes that warmed my insides. I waved her goodbye when she started the car again and began to drive off the driveway, giving me one honk as her sign of goodbye. I walked into the house with my hands buried in my pockets and a warm feeling in my heart. I felt good, maybe it was the nap.
“She puts you in a good mood, doesn’t she?” Milo asked me the moment I walked in. Violet was asleep on the sofa, Julio curled next to him. My dog wagged his tail at me as a greeting but didn’t move.
I made a face. “Who? Audrey? Jesus, you have no idea how much I wanted to rip my hair out of my scalp because of her. One thing that Audrey does best is irritate me to no end.”
“Yet you miss her when she’s not around and you wonder when you could see her again. You say that she’s nothing close to the kind of girl you would want to be with but you can’t help but wonder what it would be like to kiss her and hug her. She makes you feel overwhelmed with emotion that you can’t explain and when you see her…”
“When I see her it’s like being basked in warm sunlight,” I whispered, “and her smile thaws the Casanova’s heart.”
I wasn’t sure why I said that but everything that Milo said was true and I was still in a daze after being that up close with Audrey in the car. Even just being near her intoxicated me and it didn’t make any sense because she was Audrey Finch.
And I was supposed to hate her.
Milo chuckled and then slowly moved to stand up and placed a pillow by Vi’s head. He approached me and then slapped me gently on the cheek. “You don’t realize as soon as you’d like. It happens to everyone. Good luck, Jules.”
16
Audrey
It had been almost a week since Violet and Milo went back to Chicago and I honestly didn’t expect to say this but I missed Violet. It was also nice getting to know Julian’s oldest brother and through him, I learned a lot more about Julian that he shied away from other people to know. It was cute though, to see the brothers banter and for Julian to be shut up so easily was insanely amusing to witness.
But after Violet left, there wasn’t a buffer between Julian and I anymore. We did get along better now but things were lighter and easier between us ever since Julian found out why I had been so desperate to have them sign with us. He understood my desperation and respected the attempt that I was making to salvage my right as the chairman of what was rightfully mine.
More than that, there was something going on between Julian and I that I couldn’t really quite explain but was something that I was allowing to happen even when I clearly shouldn’t.
I think I…
Oh, don’t even go there, Audrey.
I was in the middle of applying makeup when my phone rang on my bed. I quickly picked it up to see that Julian was calling via FaceTime. I was in the middle of applying cream on my face when he called. “Did you fall face flat on a pie or something?”
“Is there anything you want before I go there? I’ll leave after ten minutes,” I said, ignoring his question and spreading the cream all over my face. The first time Julian told me to call him when I arrived home, the conversation felt a little awkward until it sort of became a thing. I would call him the moment I arrived home from his place and he would call me when he wakes up, and we talked about absolutely nothing of importance.
“I’ll pick you up,” Julian said, fixing his hair. He had keratin treatment yesterday and gone were his curls. To be honest, I preferred the curly version of Julian. He looked more of an ass with straight hair that was cut the way fuckboys wore their hair.
My eyebrows furrowed as I patted my face so it would absorb the moisturizer I was applying. “You know I have a car and I can pay for my gas.”
He rolled his eyes and then all I could see were the shade gray and blue as he put the screen up too close his face. “One, I actually pay for your gas because apparently, that was part of the contract that I signed without reading because you’re my assistant for a month and you want the perks, as you’ve stated. Two, we’re going somewhere and I’m not really telling you where it is.”
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion but before I could ask anything, the doorbell rang, echoing throughout the house. Julian and I looked at each other and he raised his right eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’re cheating on me and this is how I find out.”
He meant it as a joke and I was meant to laugh but there was something about the teasing that crossed an imaginary line that we’d been tethering in for a while. He cleared his throat and let out an awkward chuckle. “But whoever it is, it’s not me because I’m still at home. I’ll see you in a while.”
“Jesus Christ,” I whispered, closing my eyes and resting my forehead against my vanity as I tried to steady my erratic heartbeat. I wasn’t entirely sure why the comment affected me but the idea of being with Julian in a certain way where cheating was a possibility, that I did not want to happen. God, even thinking of cheating on Julian broke my heart and I’m the one in the wrong in that possibility.
But why was I even thinking about what could happen if I cheated on Julian when Julian and I weren’t even in any kind of relationship?
Jesus, my thoughts and feelings are so scattered that I couldn’t even understand any of them anymore.
Downstairs, the doorbell kept ringing and I inhaled deeply before rushing out to see who it was. I didn’t get the chance to check the camera I had installed to see the visitor and blindly opened the door thinking about Julian. It was only when my mystery visitor launched himself at me that I snapped back into reality.
The scent of expensive perfume hit my nose, the kind that was too strong that made me dizzy all the time but I’d learned to tolerate. A fleeting glimpse of blonde hair cut into a bob and curled and oversized sunglasses that I knew covered bright green eyes. My heart somersaulted and without any hesitation, I wrapped my arms around her as tightly as I could and I felt the lump growing in my throat because I hadn’t seen this girl for so long.
Amber. When Christina Yang said that Meredith Grey was her person, I absolutely knew what she meant because Amber was mine. “Surprise!”
Even she was crying at our reunion and when we pulled away from each other, I wiped the tears from her face, uncaring of my own. “When did you arrive? Why didn’t you call me? Amber! You were supposed to call me! Is this why you didn’t call last night and why you never answered mine?”
I was firing question after question and Amber huffed, rolled her eyes and then rolled in her huge purple suitcase into my living and plopped on my couch. “Louis and I broke up.”
My heart dropped at that statement, and the fear and worry surged. Ever since Amber’s incident, I’d grown to be cautious of her breakups. “Sweetie…”
She raised her eyebrow and then rolled her eyes because she knew the tone of voice I was using. “I broke up with him. It didn’t…it didn’t really work out between us and he wasn’t really understanding and supportive of my craft so to hell with him. Bella, ciao.”
Knowing that she was the one who instigated the breakup gave me some sense of relief. I sat next to her
and rested my head on her shoulder, closing my eyes. I could feel her pat me on the head gently. “Aww, I’ve missed you too, buttercup.”
I went to Paris about eight months ago to visit her. She hadn’t met Louis by then but had been busy establishing herself in the fashion world. We called each other every day after I left the way we always did but I still missed her like crazy and having her beside me again felt like all was right in the world. My soulmate was back.
“And I love the silence and comfortability of our position and all but you are going to finish that makeup of yours, right?” Amber said, making me sit upright and narrow my eyes at her playfully. She grinned, shrugging. “And help me carry my luggage to the room.”
Before we could get the move on, the door suddenly swung open. “You know your passcode is kind of obvious for people who know you.”
Julian Hudson sauntered in, all in his keratin treated hair glory. He dressed up in black jeans that didn’t have holes in them or any rips, an actual button down shirt that was pressed and I could smell the Old Spice mixing with Calvin Klein cologne. He even wore an earring on his right ear to complete the outfit.
“My, my, Julian Hudson, it has been a while.”
Suddenly, the right axis that my world had been spinning on, tilted once again when I realized that Amber was here in my house and so was Julian. Julian, who I had blamed for Amber’s suicide attempt. Julian, who I had hated because I thought he was the reason why I almost lost my best friend. Julian, who I had erased from Amber’s life without her permission and without him knowing that I was the one who did so.
“Amber Shaw,” his voice had dropped an octave when he said her name and it was as if I was Amber because I felt the chills when he spoke, “I’d never thought I’d see you again.”
Both Julian and I were surprised when Amber launched herself at him in a big hug. Julian reacted quickly, wrapping his arms around her waist and it was a good thing he was steady on his feet otherwise they would have toppled over. But the way Julian held her, the way he smiled when Amber buried her face on his shoulder and inhaled deeply and sighing almost contentedly.
