Julien's Book

by Casey McMillin

  "Ray's the investigator?"

  "Yeah, I'll just let him go ahead as planned. He's looking into her background, and I'm sure that information could only help."

  "You still don't believe her."

  "Not a hundred percent, Julien, I'm not gonna lie. It's much easier for me to believe she's scamming you than it is to believe she's real."

  "I know. I can't say as I blame you," he said.

  "But you still believe her?" she asked.

  "You've already asked me that exact same question earlier in this conversation. My answer isn't changing. She's never read the book, and she's not lying about who she is."

  Shea gave him a sweet, thoughtful smile as if to tell him she hoped that were true. Really, either way, they were screwed. If Nadine was real, that meant they really needed to worry about Pierre.

  "We'll find out more here soon. Ray assured us he'd get on it as soon as possible."

  "I'm starting to doubt my decision not to tell her about the book. What if something happens in France that could have been prevented if I would have told her?"

  "That's your call. I honestly don't know what I would do if I were in your shoes."

  Julien ultimately decided to keep the secret for the time being. If there was something specific he could warn her about or the tragedy in the book had happened in France, he would have reconsidered. He'd already told her to be wary of Pierre, and aside from that, there was nothing else he could do. He tried not to worry about things that were beyond his control.

  Julien spent Christmas at his mom's. He was sitting on the couch in the middle of the afternoon when he heard the phone vibrate. He thought it was a text, but he picked up his phone to see that it was an email. It was from Nadine, and there was a photo attached. It was a picture of Nadine holding her baby nephew. She looked happy, and Julien smiled just looking at it. It was the second email he'd received from her since she'd been gone, but the other one didn't have a picture attached. He stared at it, feeling like he'd never wanted a girl like he wanted that one. His thoughts roamed to the book and he thought about the way Julien in the book had fallen head over heels for Nadine. He was just freaking like that guy. He couldn't wait for her to get home.

  Christmas came and went, and in a flash, it was New Years Day. It didn't surprise Julien when everything Shea's investigator came up with was consistent with who Nadine claimed to be, and he wished Shea would have asked him to focus more on the ex-boyfriend. At least nobody could doubt Nadine's honesty anymore.

  ****

  Meanwhile, Nadine was having a ball in Paris, seeing her family and catching up with them. Her new nephew, Tristan, was so adorable, and she spent hours holding him and cooing over him in French.

  Nadine's oldest sister, Pascal, had inherited two stepchildren when she married her filthy rich investment banker of a husband. The romance was fast and their wedding was fairly recent, so Nadine had only met the kids a couple of times. They were really sweet and everything, but this new baby instantly had a special place in Nadine's heart. It belonged to her middle sister, Emile, who married her long time boyfriend a year before. Nadine loved Eric like he was her own brother, and thought Tristan was the luckiest baby in the world to have Emile and Eric as parents.

  The whole family had eaten a big New Year's lunch but Pascal and her crew had long since gone home. At that very moment, Nadine's mom and her sister Emile were in the kitchen warming up leftovers for dinner, and Nadine was sitting in the front family room with Eric, watching Tristan sleep in a bassinette.

  "You seem well," Eric said.

  "I'm doing well," Nadine agreed.

  "Emile said you were getting into fighting. Did you see that fight where that guy broke his leg?"

  "I wouldn't say I'm into fighting, but I'm going to this really great gym, and I'm sort of seeing, I, well, not really seeing, but, there's a guy. He's a fighter."

  "Do you have a beau?" Eric asked with a teasing grin. "Emile didn't tell me."

  "I didn't mention it to her." Nadine said. "I guess it still felt too new."

  "I won't say anything if you don't want me to, but she'd want to hear all about it, I'm sure."

  "I know," Nadine said. "I'll probably tell her before I head back to the states."

  "Oh, and speaking of boyfriends, you'll never believe who Emile and I ran into the other day," Eric said.

  Nadine knew before he told her the answer that he was going to say Pierre.

  "Who?" she asked.

  "Pierre Bellard."

  She sighed. "He still writes."

  "I'm not surprised," Eric said. "He's still crazy about you."

  "Crazy how?"

  Eric laughed. "I don't know. He was just sort of dying to hear how you were doing. He kept asking like a thousand questions. Finally Emile told him we had to be going."

  "Did he seem dangerous or anything?" Nadine asked, thinking of Juilien's warning that she should be watchful of Pierre if she came across him while in France.

  Eric laughed again. "Pierre?" I think he might be the least threatening person I've ever seen." His amusement made Nadine feel better.

  She let out a laugh. "I know, right?"

  "You might as well tell your sister you have a boyfriend because she's going to figure it out."

  "He's not my, I mean not that I wouldn't, because I definitely would, but he and I aren't, there's nothing official at least…"

  Eric's eyebrows rose at her ramblings, and she know she was digging herself deeper with every word, but couldn't make herself shut up.

  "What's his name?" Eric asked.

  "Julien."

  "Is he French?"

  "He's Cajun French by blood, but he doesn't speak the language or anything."

  "What's his last name?"

  "Breaux."

  "French for sure. Your papa would be proud."

  "Don't tell them," Nadine said. "I'm not sure if I'll tell them about it on this trip. You know how they worry."

  Just then, Emile called Eric into the kitchen to tell their parents a story.

  "I'll stay in here with Tristan. I want to check my email anyway." Nadine said.

  "Expecting something from Julien?" Eric said with that teasing grin.

  "Noooo," Nadine said, even though that's exactly who she was hoping to hear from.

  He turned to walk to the kitchen, and Nadine found herself alone with a sleeping baby in a quiet room. Her laptop had been lying on the floor charging, and she unplugged it and sat on the couch with it. There was no email from Julien, which made her feel a little disappointed. Talking about Julien's last name made Nadine remember something. When they were in that bar after the fights that night a guy asked him if he thought he was Julien something or other. He mentioned a last name that was Saint-something. St. John, St. James? She typed Julien St. John into Google images, and pictures of several different random guys came up, none of which looked like they pertained to Julien.

  She typed in Julien St. James, and she blinked at what she saw on the screen. Most of the photos were smoking hot guys with Photoshopped Port-wine stains similar to Julien's. At least ten of the images that came up, however, were of a guy who looked like he was throwing an elbow into a punching bag. His hands were wrapped, and he was shirtless. The words Julien's Book were printed in white on the image, and Nadine assumed this had something to do with the mysterious book everybody kept referring to.

  It was no wonder Julien was so sensitive about it. The guy on the cover looked exactly like him. The picture was heavily shaded, but Jesus, it could have been his twin. She squinted at it on the screen until she got the eerie, unsettling feeling that it was him. She quit the screen and closed the laptop like it might spontaneously combust if she had it open another second. She had a nagging feeling there was more to the book than he was letting on, but she trusted him and knew if he didn't want her to look at it, there must be a good reason.

  Chapter 19

  Julien had a fight coming up in late February, which was conve
nient because his training schedule served as a distraction from worrying about Nadine. It was Monday, January 6th. Nadine was scheduled to leave Paris on the 9th, and her arrival back into the states couldn't come soon enough.

  They'd been emailing almost every day just to check in, and in their last email, Nadine asked if she could Skype Julien from her sister's flat so her sister and brother-in-law could speak with him. She said she'd been telling them about him, and wanted them to meet, or at least talk to him and see his face. Julien downloaded Skype and waited for her to call.

  She called at the exact time they specified in the email, and he smiled when he saw her beautiful face. There was a little delay with the audio and the picture was slightly jerky, but it was obvious by their expressions that they were excited to see each other. Nadine was so taken by him that she forgot her sister and Eric were standing over her shoulder looking at Julien.

  Julien couldn't see them, so it surprised him when he heard a girl's voice but didn't see Nadine's lips move. "Oh my God, he's so handsome." Emile said.

  Julien's eyes shifted as if he was looking around for where the voice came from.

  "It's my sister. She's standing where you can't see her."

  "That doesn't seem quite fair," Julien said.

  Emile shifted to stand directly behind Nadine, and bent to put her face right next to her sister's.

  "You guys look just alike," Julien said.

  "Tell me about it," Eric said, leaning in and giving Julien a little wave. "They act just alike too. It's scary."

  "I'm glad you speak English," Julien said. "I guess I just sort of expected Nadine to have to translate."

  "The school we all went to taught English," Emile said. "That's where I met Eric."

  "Hey, congratulations on the baby," Julien said. "You're the sister who just had one, right?"

  "Yes, and thank you," Emile said. "I'm not quite getting the right amount of sleep yet, but he's so cute, I just forget all about how tired I am."

  "He is cute," Julien said. "Nadine sent me a couple of pictures."

  "Thanks," Emile said. "Nadine said you fight and you coach other fighters."

  "Yep. I'm trying to coach Nadine, but she won't come to my class."

  "Tell the truth," she said. "We weren't exactly on friendly terms at first." She stuck her tongue out at Julien and then smiled. "I won't try to ignore you anymore when I get home, I promise."

  Julien noticed that she called Louisiana home, but he didn't comment on it. Instead, he asked, "Do you have a lot going on between now and the time you leave?"

  "Don’t remind me she's leaaaaving!" Emile interjected. "It seems like she's only been here like one day. It's terrible how quickly the trip goes."

  "We're doing Nadine's birthday party," Eric said, trying to keep the girls focused on the original question.

  "What?" Julien said. "What was that Eric said just now?"

  Eric leaned in, closer to the computer screen. "You were asking what we had planned and I said we still had Nadine's birthday party."

  Julien gave him a confused look as if he must have said the wrong name by accident. "I thought Nadine's birthday was in February."

  "It is," Nadine said, rolling her eyes. "My mother's just like that. She thinks I need her to throw an early party since I won't be here for my birthday."

  Julien sat up and stared at their faces on the screen with an earnest expression. "Where's the party? Why are you just now mentioning a party?" he asked. Nadine was taken aback by his intensity, and thought it was a peculiar thing for him to be concerned about. It seemed a bit extreme for Julien's laid-back personality.

  "It's at the Jenner Room. My mom uses any excuse in the book to go to that place."

  "No lie," Eric said. "She wants to have everything there. She wanted Emile and I to get married there."

  Julien racked his brain for any mention of a place called the Jenner Room in the book. It didn't ring any bells. In the book, her party was in an indoor garden.

  "The Jenner Room is a conservatory in the middle of downtown Paris. They do a different theme every year. It's awesome. It's open to the public during the day, but you have to pay to get in, and you just walk through it with all the other customers. Anyway, you can rent it for private functions at night. Andre Jenner, the guy who owns it, is a friend of our family, and he lets us use it."

  "What's a conservatory?" Julien asked, staring intently at the screen. "A school?"

  Nadine looked at him a little confused. He didn't seem mad or anything, but something was definitely bothering him. Even his posture had changed. He had been sitting back looking casual and relaxed, and now he was sitting up in his chair and had a nervousness to his demeanor.

  "Is it a school?" he pressed. "When did you plan this?"

  Julien was on the very verge of telling her everything. He had to force himself to hold his tongue because he knew nothing good could come from making her panic when there was no way to tell what the outcome would be.

  "It's just something mom wanted to do," Emile said. "She doesn't see Nadine on her birthday since she's in school. It's not gonna be a big deal, really. Mostly just family."

  "I'm glad she's getting to do that with you guys," Julien said. He tried to act unaffected. "I just didn't know why you'd want to have your birthday party at a school."

  The girls laughed. "I was talking about plants. You know, like a garden."

  "An indoor garden?" Julien asked.

  "Oui," Nadine said, still a little confused by his intensity.

  "When exactly is the party?" he asked.

  "We're doing it on the eighth since I leave on the ninth." She smiled and looked a little embarrassed. "It's more than a month early."

  "But good luck talking mom out of it," Emile said.

  From that point forward, Julien was on conversational autopilot. He tried to remember to smile and to speak at the appropriate time, but he was totally preoccupied during the five minutes of chitchat that followed. The whole situation seemed too unbelievable for him to even feel comfortable telling them what was going on.

  Julien ended the call and immediately searched flights to Paris. It was the evening of the sixth, and he figured he needed a few hours sleep, so he booked a flight for 6AM the next morning. He'd need the rest of the night to make arrangements. Leaving at 6AM on the 7th would put him in Paris at 7AM on the 8th. Obviously, that was cutting it close, but it was really the only choice he had since he needed a little time to get organized for his trip.

  The first thing he did after he made his flight reservation was drive up to the gym to talk to Tim. There was nothing Tim could say or do to talk him out of going, but he wanted to touch base about where he was going and what the possible outcomes could be.

  "Who's gonna coach your classes?" was the first thing Tim asked. As far as he was concerned, the whole thing was ludicrous.

  "I don't really give a shit. He's gonna try to kill her in two days, Tim."

  Tim gave Julien that smirk that said maybe he should relax a little bit.

  "I don’t care if you believe me. Everything's lining up with the book, and if I don't go to help her and something happens, I'll never forgive myself."

  "What's the hype about the book, anyway? I heard Shea talking about it with John David the other day. She said they hired an investigator."

  "Did you read the book she wrote?" Julien asked.

  Tim laughed. "I work like 150 hours a week. I don't really have time for romance novels."

  "Well let me put it like this… The words she wrote in her little book are coming true in front of our eyes, I'm freaking living them out, and the whole story ends with the girl getting shot in the chest by her ex."

  "And you swoop in and rescue her?"

  "Not in the book."

  "What happens in the book?"

  "The guy who tried to kill her gets off with a slap on the wrist and she spends five years in a coma."

  "That's fucked up," Tim said. "Shea wrote that?"

/>   "Yeah, they end up together when she wakes up and there's ultimately a happy ending I guess, but not before the whole tragedy and everything."

  "You mean they let that mother fucker off with just a slap on the wrist?" Tim asked.

  "Yeah, in the book she said he pleads insanity and only has to do some sort of rehab."

  Tim stared straight ahead with an unreadable expression on his face. Julien had no idea what was going to come out of his mouth.

  "Well, you have to go kill him then," Tim said as if it were the only logical choice. "You have to check your pistol, and it can't be loaded or anything."

  "I know. I already looked into all that when I made my reservations. Thank God I had a passport from that tournament in the Dominican Republic."

  "I'm sure we have gym affiliates in Paris if you need any of them for anything," Tim said.

  "I don't think I will, but I'll keep that in mind if I get in trouble."

  "I don't see how you're gonna avoid it since killing a guy is the basis of your plan, Julien."

  Julien couldn't let himself consider the repercussions of his actions. He didn't really care, actually. He was going to the party armed, and whatever happened happened. Julien looked at his watch. "I've gotta be going. My flight leaves in less than eleven hours."

  "I'm gonna send an email or two letting the guys in Paris know you're over there."

  "Thanks Boss."

  Tim reached up and ruffed up Julien's hair. "Use your brain. No Limbic System."

  "I know."

  "And don't worry, I won't tell anybody you went crazy and went to go rescue a fictional character from certain death."

  Julien laughed as he walked out, knowing how freaking absurd the whole thing must seem. The next eleven hours (which included four and a half hours of sleep) passed in a blur. He tossed and turned during the very little sleep he got, and was exhausted to the point of delirium when he boarded his first flight. He knew he'd have time to sleep during the flights, and hoped it'd be enough to help him feel rested. He had a layover in Atlanta, and he sat down with a cup of coffee and a sandwich. He checked his email. There was something from Tim. He clicked on it stared down at his phone reading the words his coach wrote.