by J A Fielding
“I don’t know what to say,” Julie said in between bites. “I think that’s why I don’t want to talk.”
“You know, people fight in every relationship. It’s normal,” Tami said.
“You can say that, you are still in your honeymoon phase,” Julie said with a smile. Tami shrugged and smiled back.
“True that but still, I have had other relationships where we fought. It’s no big deal,” she said.
“So, all I heard was the last bit of it, right before Steven left. I don’t know much,” Meg admitted. “What the hell happened?”
“Melina happened,” Julie sighed.
“What the hell did the bitch do now?” Tami asked rolling her eyes.
“What didn’t she do?” Julie said before she took another bite of her pancakes. “She called me yesterday when I was leaving for work. She wanted to see me last night, but I told her I had plans,” she added.
“What did she want exactly?” Tami asked.
“She wanted me to invest in her new venture,” Julie said with a smile.
“Another one? How many businesses does she want to start and fail at before she dies?” Tami asked. Julie laughed.
“I have no idea,” she said. “Well, whatever it is that she had in mind, then, she may be well gone by now,” she added.
“What do you mean?” Tami asked. Meg was seated listening patiently, waiting for the parts of the story she didn’t know.
“Okay, so after I told her that I wasn’t going to be an investor in her…whatever you want to call the new business, she told me to ask Steven for the money,” Julie explained.
“What?” Tami gasped, surprised.
“I thought that’s a new low, even for her,” Meg said.
“I know,” Julie agreed before she took yet another bite. “What’s really annoying is the fact that she went ahead to ask him for cash anyway. And he gave it to her,” she added.
“Wait, what?” Meg asked surprised. “When?”
“It must have happened in the evening after I talked to her,” Julie said.
“But it was just a few minutes between then and the time when Steven came over,” Meg said.
“How long?” Tami asked.
“Maybe an hour,” Julie told her.
“Man, she works fast,” Meg said.
“You can say that again,” Tami said. “So how much did she get?” Julie took a long, deep breath.
“Twenty five grand,” she winced.
“Are you serious?” Tami asked in surprise.
“I know,” Julie said as she took one last bite.
“Wait, that’s way lower than what she initially wanted,” Meg observed, “What changed?”
“How much was she asking for?” Tami asked.
“A hundred and fifty grand,” Meg and Julie said in unison.
“What the fuck?” Tami exclaimed.
“I know,” Julie said nodding.
“So, what now?” Meg asked. Julie shook her head.
“I don’t know. I really, really don’t know,” she said. “And to make it worse is the fact that what she had initially mentioned to Steven as a business venture is not what she ended up getting funding for,” she added.
“What are you talking about?” Meg asked.
“She told Steven that she was thinking of having a hair boutique. But she told me that she wanted to get into fashion. So I don’t know what she told Steven to make him fish out twenty five thousand dollars,” Julie finished.
“Wait, a hair boutique, here? Wouldn’t it do better in some place like Atlanta or New Orleans?” Tami asked. Julie gave her a knowing look.
“Yeah, exactly. That’s what I thought. But that is not even the important thing. The way that she changed her mind about what kind of business she wanted to do…the timeline just doesn’t add up, like seriously, it doesn’t.”
“Okay. That’s enough about Melina. What happened between you and Steven last night?” Meg asked.
“I don’t know, I just blew up when he told me he wrote her a check,” she admitted.
“I would blow up too, but why exactly did you have to chuck him out?” Meg asked.
“Okay the words ‘chuck him out’ are a bit too… harsh. I mean, it’s not like I carried him and threw him out,” Julie said. Meg smiled and shrugged.
“You know what I mean,” she laughed. “So, what happened?”
“When he told me, I was really mad. I guess I thought that since I had told him not to trust her yet he went ahead and gave her all that money…I just felt betrayed,” Julie confessed.
“Betrayed,” Tami echoed.
“Okay, maybe I shouldn’t use that word, but you have to understand, I had told him about her. Maybe not in detail, but enough to make him realize that he should not trust her,” Julie defended herself.
“Did you ever think that maybe it is not him you are mad at?” Meg chided.
“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Tami agreed.
“Are you saying that I transferred the anger I feel for Melina on to Steven?” she asked.
“That is exactly what I’m saying,” Meg said. Julie shook her head.
“But I really feel like I want to punch him in the fucking face,” she said. Meg and Tami laughed.
“We all feel like that about our men from time to time,” Tami grinned.
“And does he know about that time you funded Melina’s business plan? I think it was the restaurant, right?” Meg asked. Julie shrugged and nodded.
“Yeah, it was. Ozone Lounge,” she told her.
“That was the name? That would have been hot,” Tami said with a smile.
“I know,” Julie said.
“So, did you tell him about it?” Meg asked. Julie looked at her and shook her head. “Why the hell not?” Julie knew that tone in Meg’s voice was saying one thing and one thing only. You should have told him.
“I don’t know…I guess, as much as I didn’t want him to have anything to do with Melina, I also didn’t want to plant a seed of discord. I wanted him to make the decision based on…you know, make up his mind about her rather than simply believe whatever the hell I say,” Julie explained.
“I hate to be the voice of reason right now. I know that’s the last thing you need, but you really should have told him. But what’s done is done,” Meg said.
“Yeah, the real thing is what to do about it now,” Tami said. Julie leaned back and closed her eyes. One thing was certain. She didn’t feel like she could talk to Steven, not after the way she had talked to him the previous night. “And like Meg said, Steven has been trying to reach you.”
“I know, I don’t know what to say to him,” Julie said. “And I am still kind of pissed,” she added.
“Well, I don’t know why you are still pissed. You need to let it go sweetie,” Meg suggested.
“I’m trying to, trust me I am. I just don’t know how I’m supposed to face him with a straight face and tell him that I am okay with what he did. I mean, I know that it is his money and that it was his financial decision to make. But still, you would think that after I made it clear that Melina is not the most honest person, he would have asked me…at least alerted me that he was going into business with my least favorite cousin,” Julie said. “Scratch that. She devil of a cousin,” she added. Meg and Tami looked at each other and laughed.
“Okay, we’ve already determined that he made a mistake. But you can’t let him wallow in self-loathing. Because I am pretty sure that’s what he is doing right now,” Meg said just as Julie’s phone vibrated violently on the couch. Meg picked it up and handed it to Julie. “At least look at the messages and maybe reply to one?” she pleaded as Julie took the phone from her. She looked at the screen and sighed as she read the first one.
Talk to me, honey. At some point we will have to talk about it.
Julie went to the next one.
I know what I did was wrong and I should have talked to you first. For what it’s worth, I cancelled the check.
<
br /> At this point, Julie was starting to feel guilty. So guilty that she was fighting back tears.
“Shit,” she muttered under her breath.
“What’s wrong?” Tami asked.
“He’s apologizing,” Julie said in a whisper.
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Meg asked.
“Yes but he is apologizing for my mistake,” Julie said in a quiet voice. Meg and Tami looked at each other and smiled. Just then, they heard a knock on the door. “Would you guys get that? I need to freshen up,” Julie said as she rose from the couch and walked to her bedroom. Once there, she looked at her reflection and then allowed the tears to flow freely. She took a few deep breaths and then looked at her reflection again before she splashed some cold water on her face. She then wiped her face and walked out of the bathroom. As she was walking down the hallway, she could hear the unmistakable annoying voice, the voice she hated at that moment more than anything: Melina’s voice. Without knowing it, she was walking faster towards the living room and sure enough, Melina was there. Meg and Tami were at the door talking to an overdressed Melina. As she walked to the door, Julie could feel her heart beating faster and harder.
“Julz. Thank God. These two don’t think it’s a good idea for me to talk to you…” Melina started before Julie practically ran to where she was. “…and they are right,” Julie said as she looked at her.
“Julz, what do you…” Melina started before Julie put her hand up.
“I don’t want to hear whatever it is that you have to say. All I know is that you are a fucked up bitch and that I never want to see you again, even though we are related,” Julie bellowed.
“What did I ever do to make you hate me so much?” Melina asked.
“Wow, where do I start,” Julie said with a cynical smile on her lips. “You are an annoyingly idiotic bourgeoisie bitch who’s never had to work a day in her life. Always going around like you are better than the rest of us. And that’s just the beginning,” she added. Melina smiled.
“You are jealous, that’s it,” she snarled.
“Jealous? Of what?” Julie asked. Melina laughed and shook her head. “You know what, get the hell out of my house before I do something I’ll regret,” she threatened as she crossed her arms on her chest. Melina took a deep breath before she took a piece of paper from her bag and handed it to Julie.
“I just came to return the check. It was wrong of me to talk to Steven behind your back,” she apologized. Julie smiled and then shook her head.
“The only reason you are here is because the check bounced because Steven told me that he cancelled it. So fuck you, Melina,” she hissed before she slammed the door in her face leaving Tami and Meg looking at her in both surprise and awe.
Chapter 7
After the incident with Melina, Julie knew that she had to see Steven. The biggest problem was that she knew she was in the wrong. She knew that it was up to her to make things right, but she didn’t know how to do it. She didn’t know how to start. But Tami had said something to her. Something that made a lot of sense to her.
“All you have to do is avail yourself,” Tami had told her.
It had been only a few hours since Tami and Meg left. All she had managed to do that day was brush her teeth. She had not showered, she had not eaten anything she had made. All she wanted was to take another pill and sleep. But she knew that with her heart that heavy, she couldn’t get any sleep. She slowly picked up her phone and dialed Steven. He answered on the second ring.
“Hey there, stranger,” he said when he picked up.
“Hi,” she said in a low voice.
“You okay?” Steven asked. She could hear the concern in his voice.
“I’m fine,” she whispered.
“You got me worried for a minute there, love,” he said. Julie smiled.
“I knew that I wasn’t going to get any sleep. So I took a pill. Totally knocked me out,” she said.
“So did you sleep okay? How are you feeling now?” he asked.
“Like a baby. And I’m okay now. I didn’t go to work though,” she said.
“Yeah, Dana called me. She was worried that you weren’t feeling very well. She said Meg called her?”
“Yeah, she did. I kind of have this routine. She didn’t think I’d be feeling up to going to the office,” Julie explained.
“What routine?” Steven asked.
“When I’m upset I don’t get any sleep. So I usually take a sleeping pill to help the process,” Julie said. “Even if she hadn’t called Dana there is no way I would have heard the alarm clock,” she added. There was a long silence before he finally spoke.
“Can I see you?” he asked. She smiled and then nodded, almost as if he could see her. “Julz?” Steven called out snapping her out of her trance.
“Yeah, sure. I can come over in an hour and a half,” she said.
“You’re sure you don’t want me to come over?” he asked. She smiled and shook her head.
“Let me come to you. I need to get out of the house anyway.”
“Alright. See you in an hour and a half,” he said before hanging up. She smiled and put her phone next to her before she walked to her bedroom and then got out of the bathrobe she had spent the day in. She then walked to the bathroom and turned on the water. She pulled the T-shirt she had on over her head and pushed her panties down before she got in the bathroom. She was replaying the conversation she was planning on having with Steven in her head over and over as the water trickled down her body. How she would begin, how she would talk it through but nothing seemed right. Nothing seemed good enough. The plain truth was that she had overreacted and now she had to lie in the bed she had made. When she got out of the bathroom, she dried and oiled herself before she walked to her closet. She did not know what she would wear. She didn’t know what was appropriate. On the one hand, she was looking to have some hot makeup sex, but then again, she didn’t want to seem like she was trying to use sex to escape the fact that she didn’t want to talk about the elephant in the room. She picked out a blue knee-high dress with a plunging neckline and a pair of red bottom black peep toe heels. She straightened her hair and let it down before wearing a pair of silver earrings. When she looked at her reflection, she smiled. It was not too much and it wasn’t like she was throwing herself out there either. She put on a white coat and grabbed her purse and keys before she left the house. She was trying to get her head straight as she drove to Steven’s place. She still hadn’t decided what she was going to say and as she approached the last street before getting to Steven’s, she realized that she couldn’t think of anything that would actually sound right. She was going to have to say what came to her head when she got to his place.
Her heart was beating hard and fast as she approached his driveway. By the time she pulled up in front of his house, Steven was already standing outside. She could not help but notice how handsome he looked in a pair of blue jeans and an ash gray muscle shirt.
“Hi,” he said when he opened the door for her.
“Hi,” she replied, as she got out of the car. Steven shut the door and then slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her close to him to kiss her. Somehow, the feeling of his lips on hers was enough to regulate her heartbeat, enough to make her feel relaxed. She looked into his eyes when he pulled away and smiled. “Hi,” she said again. A smile played on Steven’s lips.
“Hi,” he repeated. “I made dinner. I hope you don’t mind,” he said as he walked her into the house.
“Thanks. I think I need some food in me like really soon,” she said as they went up the stair leading to the huge mahogany door. She smiled again when he held the door open for her.
“Can I take your coat?” he asked. She smiled and put her purse and keys on the table next to the door and waited for him to slip off the coat off her shoulders. “Damn!” he said when he saw the dress.
“Too much?” she asked when she turned to look at him.
“No, it’s just right,” he sai
d with a smile as they walked down the hallway to the living room.
“Smells really good. What is it?” she asked as she looked at him.
“Pasta and beef stroganoff,” he told her.
“My beef stroganoff never smelled that good,” she joked as he led them to the kitchen. He smiled and then shook his head.
“Maybe you just need to tweak the recipe,” he said.
“I don’t have a recipe. I just throw stuff together and then eat it,” she said as she sat down at the kitchen table. He looked at her and laughed.
He raised an eyebrow before asking, “Really?”
“Yeah, as long as it has beef broth, mushrooms and sour cream, it qualifies to be called stroganoff,” she said.
“Quick question. When you call me over for dinner. Do you actually make the food or do you order in?” he asked. She smiled and shrugged.
“I have a few recipes tucked away somewhere safe. I’m not a complete animal, you know,” she teased. He laughed and then leaned forward to kiss her.
“Even if you were, you would be my animal,” he said in a low voice when he pulled away from her. She smiled and then shrugged again. He took two serving spoons from the cabinet and began serving the food onto two plates on the counter. “By the way, can I offer you something to drink?”
“Orange juice,” she said, making him look at her surprised.
“My offer was more on the red or white choice line,” he said. He’d never heard her ask for juice.
“I know. It’s just that I haven’t had anything all day. I don’t think alcohol would be a good choice,” she admitted. He smiled and nodded.
“Okay,” he said before walking to the refrigerator. He got a pitcher of juice and walked with it back to where she was. “Here, wash up and let’s eat,” he said after pouring her a glass.
“Yes, Dad,” Julie laughed. Steven looked at her and shook his head, smiling again. All through dinner, Julie was feeling a little awkward. She wanted to make her apology known, but to her, there was no proper time to do it. She looked at him and sighed. “Steven…I…” she started before her words trailed off.
“What?” Steven asked as he looked at her.
