“I was hoping you weren’t such a douche,” she sneered as she followed Julie out.
When they got to the car, Julie was breathing hard. Meg looked at her and waited for her to calm down.
“Are you okay?” she asked as Julie leaned over the hood of her car. She nodded. “Or maybe I should drive?” she asked. Julie nodded and handed her the keys. Meg took the keys from her and then walked over to where she was. She threw her arms around her. Julie was breathing hard and fast. Meg pulled away and looked at her.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know he would get to me that much,” Julie apologized.
“I would be this worked up as well if I had to deal with that douche. So, I totally get it,” she smiled. “I’ve had my fair share of sorry excuses for human beings.”Julie looked at her and then walked to the passenger door. “So, where to?” Meg asked when they were both strapped in.
“Depends,” Julie said.
“On what?” Meg asked.
“Are you in a hurry?” Meg shrugged and then shook her head.
“Why?”
“Then we’re going to the offices of Hardman Pierce,” Julie commanded. “That’s where we get the most kick ass lawyer who will drain every ounce of energy from this fucking douche.”. Meg smiled and started the engine. This was going to be an interesting afternoon.
****************************************************
“Oh ,you should have seen her. She was on fire!” Meg grinned as she sipped on a glass of red wine at Dana's house. Dana smiled and looked at Julie.
“I would have loved to be there,” she admitted. Julie smiled and shook her head.
“I am not exactly proud of that moment,” she grimaced.
“Why the hell not? The way Meg tells it, you could have very well been giving the ‘I have a dream’ speech,” Dana joked.
“Yeah, with a lot of vulgarity,” Meg laughed. Julie reached for her glass and took a sip before she looked up at Dana.
“We both know Meg has a tendency to exaggerate things,” she said. Dana shrugged.
“Well, I believe her,” she said as her six year old ran into the living room. “What’s wrong honey? Why aren’t you in bed?” Dana asked as she tucked a few strands of loose blonde hair behind her ear.
“Someone’s up late,” Julie smiled.
“Max is telling scary stories, mummy. Can I stay here with you and aunt Juelz and aunt Meg?” she pleaded. A smile played on Julie’s lips. Dana’s daughter was precious. Dana smiled and shook her head.
“Mummy and her friends are having grown up talk. And you have school tomorrow.”
“But Max…” the beautiful blonde started again before Dana held her small head in her hands.
“Tell you what, why don’t you go and lie down on my bed and I will give Max a good smacking,” Dana suggested. Her daughter’s blue eyes lit up.
“Okay mummy. Good night. Goodnight aunt Meg. Goodnight aunt Julie,” the girl said before she ran out. Dana smiled at the two.
“I’ll be right back. I need to go get my son straightened out,” she said before she stood up and walked out of the room and down the hall. Meg looked at Julie and smiled.
“You have that look in your eyes. Are you mooning?” Meg asked. Julie looked at her and shook her head.
“What the hell does that even mean? What is mooning?”
“It’s when women have that motherly instinct kick in. You know that stage when you feel like you want babies. When you want to kiss every little thing in blue or pink,” Meg explained. Julie looked at her and shook her head.
“I am not mooning…or whatever the hell it is. I just like kids,” she claimed.
“Yeah, whatever. You should see yourself right now,” Meg winked. Julie shrugged.
“Okay I have to say that I love children. They are cute and just fan to play with. You can’t tell me you don’t feel the same way,” she said. Meg raised an eyebrow at her.
“I don’t know what you are trying to insinuate. I have a child remember?” she asked. Julie smiled.
“Then you understand what I am talking about don’t you?”
“Of course I do. But seriously, this mooning thing can be pretty damn permanent. That’s how I got my son,” Meg smiled. Julie shrugged.
“Shut up,” she mused.
“No, seriously. I just thought why the hell not just get this baby and get it over with? And plus there is the simple fact that I was not getting any younger,” she admitted. Julie smiled. “Yeah, I know what you’re thinking and the answer is yes,” she said. Julie raised an eyebrow.
“How could you possibly know what I’m thinking?” she asked.
“It has something to do with whether I think you are going to make a good mother,” Meg said. A flush came to Julie’s cheeks. It was as if Meg had read her mind. “And I think you will be the best, of course second to me,” Meg added. Julie shook her head and smiled just as Dana walked back in.
“I swear boys are a 24 hour job,” she sighed as she sat back down.
“Tell me about it,” Meg said.
“I know right? I have told him a million times not to tell those weird stories to Michelle but he doesn’t listen,” Dana said as she reached for a glass. She took a long sip. “Without my daily dose, I would probably be a gone case.”“So, where were we?” she asked as she looked at Meg and then at Julie.
“The husband issue,” Meg reminded her. Julie rolled her eyes and buried her face in her hands.
“Please don’t remind me about that. I had a perfect ten minutes of bliss,” she groaned. Dana gave her a sympathetic smile.
“So, what are you going to do about it?”
“Technically, I already have the advantage because I was intoxicated. Not being of sound mind is a good enough ground for annulment,” Julie explained.
“Yeah I thought so too. What I don’t get is why he is insisting on a divorce. If you ask me he had knowledge of the marriage and chose to stay silent,” Dana commented.
“That’s what I said,” Meg agreed before she took a long sip.
“But I did go ahead and hire Hardman Pierce. I don’t think I should be the one to deal with this shit,” Julie said. Dana raised an eyebrow over the other.
“Hardman Pierce? Those guys are sharks.”
Julie smiled.
“Why do you think I did it?” she laughed.
“Smart move,” Dana winked just as Julie’s phone rang.
“It’s the lawyer,” Julie mouthed.
“This could be good news. Go ahead. Answer it,” Meg insisted.
“Hello, this is Julie,” Julie said, her heart beating hard in her chest.
“Julie, hi. This is Jonathan Pierce from Hardman Pierce.” Julie almost froze. “I’m handling you annulment,” he explained.
“Hello, Mr. Pierce.”
“Oh please, call me Jonathan.”
“Alright Jonathan. I didn’t know a name partner was handling my case,” Julie said as Meg and Dana exchanged impressed glances.
“Steven Davenport is a good friend of mine. I thought I would do him a favor,” Jonathan said.
“Okay,” Julie said. “So, how is everything going? Any hopes?” .
“Actually, I am calling you with good news,” Jonathan said. Julie smiled and mouthed ‘good news’ to Meg and Dana.
“I took your case to a judge and given the circumstances, there is no reason why he couldn’t grant you an annulment,” Jonathan explained. Julie raked her fingers through her hair and sighed loudly.
“Thank you so much,” she gasped.
“Evan Lockwood has 72 hours to comply with the ruling. So, in three days you should have your slate wiped clean,” Jonathan said.
“Thank you so much Mr. Pierce…um, Jonathan,” Julie stammered before she hung up. Dana and Meg looked at her.
“So, what happened? Did the sharks work?” Dana asked.
“The sharks bit right into the jugular. Evan has three days to comply,” Julie squealed. There was a big smile on
her face. “Another drink for me please.”
“Oh, definitely. We need to celebrate!” Dana cheered as she reached for the bottle. She topped up the three glasses and smiled. “I need to get you guys cabs,” she said smiling.
“Oh honey. We are not in any hurry,” Julie said smiling. “I mean I am drinking in my boss’ house and Meg is pretty much her own boss.”
“Yeah life is good,” Meg winked. She raised her glass and looked at Julie.
“To a new wedding,” she toasted.
“Yeah one you will remember this time,” Dana joked. Julie smiled and raised her glass.
“I’ll drink to that,” she replied happily.
Chapter Seven
When Steven and Julie arrived at Michael’s house, the cake Julie had baked for dessert was a mess. She looked at Steven and shook her head.
“What?” he asked.
“We need to get another one. This one is a disaster,” she groaned. Steven looked at the cake and frowned. It had a big smudge caused by the way he had been forced to swerve when a SUV got right in his lane from the wrong side of the road. Julie loved perfection. There was no way he was going to convince her to just let it slide.
“It doesn’t look so bad,” he frowned. She shook her head and looked down at what was once her beautiful chocolate cake. Steven looked into her eyes and smiled.
“Hey Juelz, listen to me,” he started as he looked into her eyes. “I know you love perfection and I know you maybe feel like everything has to go perfectly given the week you’ve had but the truth is no one cares. So long as you are fine and single again.” Julie smiled. “Plus, all I can think of right now is getting you out of that dress.” She smiled and shook her head.
“We’re at my dad’s place,” she protested as she felt her cheeks flush.
“Well, we did it at my dad’s place. What’s so wrong about that?” Julie smiled and shook her head.
“My Nan is going to get holy water all over you so fast you won’t know what hit you,” she chuckled. She looked at the cake again. “Are you sure this is fine?” Steven unbuckled his seat belt.
“We are going in, right now,” he said. Julie closed her eyes and shrugged as Steven walked round to her side and opened the door for her. “Besides, all we have to do is slice it up and leave the smudged part in the box. Trust me, when your father wakes up hungry and sits down to enjoy it, the smudge will be the last thing on his mind.” She smiled and climbed out of the car. She could feel Steven’s eyes on her as she walked to the door. That was actually one of the reasons she had chosen to wear the white cut out bandage dress. It had a special effect on Steven and she knew it…and she loved it. She had straightened her hair and worn it in a side sweep showing off the silver dangling earrings she had on. She smiled and walked towards the door with his hand on her hip. She knew he could have given anything at that moment to slide that hand lower to her ass but then again, self-control was a virtue he was going to have to master that night. The two had been invited over to Michael’s place for a dinner party to celebrate Julie’ annulment. If there was anyone who took this annulment seriously, it was her father. If he could afford it, she was sure he would have declared a national holiday just so he could brag to the world that her daughter was no longer married to that asshole (as he called him) Evan Lockwood. When Julie first got the invite, she thought she was going to a small dinner with her father and her Nan and maybe Meg. But when she got there, there were more people than she had anticipated. There were her dad’s friends, a couple of women from her Nan’s bible study group along with Meg, Dana and surprisingly Andy. When they got into the house, Julie’s jaw almost dropped. She looked at Dana and raised an eyebrow.
“My assistant is here,” Julie gasped to Steven.
“Christine? No that’s not right. Caroline?” She looked at him and shook her head.
“The temp,” she corrected. “Even though I wish he would be permanent,” she added as Dana walked towards her.
“Hi honey. I’ll take that,” her Nan offered as she showed up out of nowhere and kissed Julie’s cheek before she took the cake. Julie smiled.
“It got a bit smudged. Maybe you could like, not serve the damaged part?” Julie’s Nan smiled.
“No one cares about what it looks like. What it tastes like is what really matters,” she assured her. Steven leaned in.
“I told her the same thing,” Steven grinned Julie shrugged as Dana approached them. “You know what, you two catch up. I’ll go shoot a few hoops with your dad,” he said before he gave her hip a light squeeze.
“Feels good to have just one man in your life huh?” Dana asked. Michael called out Julie’s name and she looked up and smiled before giving him a little wave.
“Try two men…but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she admitted. “So,” she started as she turned to look at Dana. “Andy’s here,” she said. Dana smiled and shrugged.
“Yes he is,” she said.
“Anything you want to tell me?” Julie said.
“He was dropping something for me and your dad asked him to stay. I didn’t have a problem with it, so I didn’t mind,” Dana explained. Julie nodded. “Besides, gay guys really know how to party.” Julie turned to her surprised.
“He’s gay?” she whispered.
“Come on, you have to be blind not to see it. The perfect slim suits, always vocal about anything color co-ordination and planning is his strong suit?”
“Maybe he is just really keen on detail,” Julie suggested as the two walked towards the kitchen.
“No man is that keen on detail. If anything planning is the one thing men can’t do right,” Dana laughed. Julie shrugged.
“Oh come on, you are being an ass. You are stereotyping,” she said.
“I am not. Plus, I have proof,” Dana replied. They took two of the punch glasses laid out and Julie looked at her.
“What proof? He has a tattoo branding him as a gay person?”
“No. Some time back he came to me when you weren’t in the office and asked if he could take off an hour early. It wasn’t one of the busy days so I didn’t mind,” Dana told her. Julie took a sip of her punch and shook her head.
“That doesn’t prove anything,” she objected.
“Well, I did ask him why he needed to leave early and he said and I quote, he was going to make dinner for his boyfriend,” Dana said. Julie’s eyes grew wide. She smiled and then took another sip of her punch.
“Wow, I wouldn’t have ever guessed that,” she gasped. “But I really love his work. Sometimes I wish I could have him permanently.” Dana looked at her and smiled.
“Actually, Caroline has extended her leave by a few days and I thought I would assign her to another realtor when she got back because right now, you need every bit of help you can get.” A broad smile played on Julie’s lips. That was the best news she had ever had.
“Oh my God! I was always hoping for that to happen,” she shrieked. “This is officially the best day of my life. Don’t tell Steven I said that,” she whispered. Dana smiled.
“I’m just happy you like the idea I came up with,” she said
“I could hug you right now, but these mini chicken nuggets are freaking awesome,” Julie commented as she bit into a crispy nugget.
“Don’t finish all the starters now. We still need them,” Meg scolded as she walked in. “So this is where you two are hiding out.” She walked towards them with a smile and helped herself to a nugget.
“We thought of making a small rendezvous in the kitchen, no big deal,” Julie said. “So interesting fact. Andy is my new assistant and he is, drum roll please…gay.” Meg raised an eyebrow.
“What?” she gasped, surprised.
“I know, right? I mean who could have guessed?” Julie asked. Dana rolled her eyes.
“Everyone! No man is that good with color co-ordination,” she pointed out.
“So is he Mitch or Cam in the relationship?” Meg queried
“Who are Mitch and Ca
m?” Julie asked.
“You know, from Modern Family? Mitchell Pritchett and Cameron Tucker? Two gays who adopt an Asian kid?” Julie smiled.
“Lily,” she said.
“Yeah, that’s a good question,” Dana agreed.
“I think he is Mitchell,” Julie mused.. “You know, the laid back one. The one without all the drama,” she added.
“Yeah, I guess so too,” Meg said. “So, we are definitely dressed a little sexy today. Are we planning on getting our groove back?” she asked. Julie smiled and shook her head.
“I am not Stella and that said, I never lost my groove,” she insisted just as her Nan came into the kitchen.
“Come on everyone. Get your spot at the table. We’re ready to eat,” she announced before she carried the starters out into the dining room. The three walked out of the kitchen into the dining room. Julie took her seat next to Steven.
“Shoot enough hoops?” He looked at her and nodded. “Did you wipe the floor with my dad?” He smiled and put his hand on her knee under her table. She looked at him. “What are you doing?” she squealed.
“Talking about floors gets me in the mood for something else,” he replied in a whisper. She shrugged. “Maybe we can sneak out in between courses.” She smiled and shrugged. Their brief sex talk was cut short when Michael repeatedly tapped his glass with his fork. Everyone turned their attention to him.
“Hey everyone. It is great to have you here. I just want to say that it means a lot to have you all here and it means the world to me and my Julie,” he toasted as he raised his glass. Everyone at the table raised their glasses.
“Actually, I would like to say something,” Julie requested. Everyone at the table turned their attention to her. “A few days ago I learned that I got married while still in college and honestly, it was devastating because the man in the picture was…everything everyone at this table isn’t. I just want to say to everyone that standing by me in one way or the other through it all…I am the luckiest person in the world,” she said before she raised her glass. “Here, here,” she smiled.
A Billionaire BWWM Romance 5: The Other Man Page 6
