Being Chased

by Harper Bentley

  "Okay, skank."

  "Am not! I just really like guys is all." Claire smacked Julia's arm, scowling.

  "Lots of guys," Lily chimed in, rolling her eyes.

  "I can't help it if I have a healthy libido. Jeez!"

  Since Julia had known her, Claire had never been without a boyfriend. She was seeing a guy now, but typical of her, now that she’d made up her mind to hit on someone else, she'd dump that guy first thing. At least she didn't cheat on any of them.

  Fact was, Claire was gorgeous, guys being drawn to her long, blond hair and the seductive way she moved. When Julia and Lily had tried to imitate how she moved, sashayed really, and found they were majorly unsuccessful at it, they'd come to the conclusion that Claire had just been born that way.

  "What are you all talking about? Hm?" Jacob asked as he and Blake approached the table back from playing pool where they'd gone to escape the fight.

  "Claire's slutty ways and how she needs to buy new ammo at Agent Provocateur so she can screw a new guy," Julia rattled off, not realizing how pissy she sounded.

  Claire gasped. " God, Julia! You’re totally being the wicked bitch! You should be afraid a house is gonna fall on you!" She shot her friend a hurt look.

  Feeling like a total hag, Julia responded, "I'm sorry, Claire. Guess I'm just a mean drunk. Seriously. Sorry." She patted Claire’s hand looking apologetically at her. She knew where her anger was coming from. Stupid Chase distracting her. And the three shots she’d just downed certainly hadn’t helped her in the verbal filter department either.

  "Well, I think we're going to head out," Jacob said, taking Blake’s hand with a smile.

  "Us too, yeah?" Julia raised her eyebrows at her friends, knowing she’d better get home before her drunken state made her say something really bitchy and a house actually did fall on her. She called Sam asking if he’d come pick them up then they all walked outside and told the guys goodbye.

  "I'll call you tomorrow, okay, pumpkin?" Jacob told Julia, kissing her cheek, then waited until the girls left before he and Blake drove away.

  When they pulled up to Claire’s place she said, "Don’t forget about shopping, girls," Grinning wickedly back at them she exited the door Sam had opened for her. "Thanks, Sam." She batted her lashes at him, cupping his jaw with her palm before sashaying off. He grinned like an infatuated teenage boy back at her.

  Her charm is instant Viagra, Julia thought with a snort as Sam shut the door then walked around the car returning to the driver’s seat.

  At Lily’s apartment, she hopped out and thanked Sam. Leaning back inside the car she said, “See you soon, baboon!" to Julia. Julia just shook her head at her friend's little rhyming goodbyes.

  Back at the Tower, Julia thanked Sam and upon entering the lobby remembered that Ben had taken the night off to attend a Yankees game. Guess she'd have to save her "Ben-ism" for next time. Creeping into the apartment, she went straight to her room not wanting to chance a run-in with Allen knowing she was drunk enough that she’d probably start a fight with him.

  Inside her room, she plopped down belly first on her bed totally confused. What the hell was Chase's problem?

  “He’s like a damn woman with his ridiculous mood swings,” she said with a huff but then the thought of him being dressed in drag brought on a case of the drunken giggles with a few snorts thrown in. Funny how being drunk makes things more amusing than they really are, huh? After the giggles were gone, she started thinking about what had happened earlier between them, and the more she thought about things, the madder she got. From giggling to angry in two-point-one seconds. Mood-swing Queen in the house!

  Okay, this had to end before she went nuts. Mr. Hot and Cold was getting ready to get his. Rolling onto her back, she reached for her clutch and grabbed her phone out of it, scrolling to Chase’s number, er, rather attempting to scroll to it, but as she was seeing two phones, it was much easier said than done. Yep. Those last shots she’d had were definitely hitting now.

  "Whoops! Let's try this again," she said giggling once again, her words coming out just a teeny bit slurred.

  After several attempts, she finally got Chase’s number to come up, and by God she was going to call him and take care of this stupid situation now. Tell him exactly what she thought. Hell, she might even tell him where he could take his dumb ass. She sat up to sit cross-legged, ready to lay everything out to her bodyguard. Her thumb hovered over the button that would connect her phone to his but then she froze. She suddenly didn't really know what to say to him or what she really thought, and remembering how he’d treated her in the parking lot, she was kind of afraid to make the call. He’d pretty much let her know that he wanted nothing to do with her.

  Throwing her phone to the side, she groaned then ground the heels of hands into her eyes not knowing what to do. Then it hit her. She’d call Claire. Claire always knew how to deal with guys.

  “Yeah?” Claire answered sleepily.

  “Claire!” Julia practically screamed when she answered. “I need your help!”

  “Jules?”

  “Claire?”

  “Jules?”

  “Claire!”

  “Julia!”

  “Claire!”

  “Why can I just barely hear you?”

  Julia died laughing when she realized what was going on. She knew Claire was drunk too and probably had the wrong end of the phone to her ear. “Turn your phone around!” she yelled.

  “What?”

  “Turn your phone around!”

  “Burn my boner down? What the hell, Jules?”

  “No!” Julia snorted. “Turn! Your! Phone! Around!”

  She heard muffled sounds as Claire situated her phone. “’Kay, now what?” she said with a drunken grumble.

  “Need your help.”

  “With?”

  “Pfffttt! You should know!”

  “Jules. I was passed out up ‘til two minutes ago. The eighty Jagerbombs Blake bought me knocked me on my ass. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Duh. You asked me about him! Didn’t you? No, wait, that was Lily, wasn’t it? Oh, damn, my brain is freakin’ fried right now.” She giggled.

  “Start at the beginning. Clear your thoughts. Now, tell me what you’re talking about.”

  …

  “Jules?”

  …

  “Jules?”

  …

  “ Julia!”

  “Huh? Wha-? Oh! Yeah? What?”

  “What happened?”

  “I think I dozed off.”

  Claire laughed. “You’re such a drunk skank!”

  “Drunk, maybe. But skank? Well, okay, maybe.” She giggled.

  “Look, I’m losing precious beauty sleep here.”

  Julia rolled her eyes. Claire could stay awake for fifty years straight and still look good. “I need your help, C.”

  “Wait! I have to pee!”

  “Can you not talk to me while you pee?”

  “That’s just gross, J.”

  “We do it all the time at the bar.”

  “Oh. Yeah, you’re right. Okay, you talk, I’ll pee.”

  Julia giggled again. Being drunk was fun. She wondered why she didn’t do it more often. “Okay, well, tonight at Clancy’s I ran into Chase, right?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Well, we kinda made out in the hallway.”

  “See?”

  “See what?”

  “Skank.”

  “Me?”

  “You.”

  “Hm.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So noted. Anyway, then the fight started with that guy, Drake.”

  “Brock.”

  “Huh?”

  “Brock. His name is Brock.”

  “Oh yeah!” Julia laughed again. “Okay, so after the fight, Chase left and I followed him out to the parking lot. I thought things were good with us, but then he acted like he wanted nothing to do with me. So what do you think?”

  “Abou
t?”

  Julia heard the toilet flush. “About what I should do?”

  “What you should do about what?”

  “Oh my God, Claire! Have you not heard a word I’ve been saying?”

  “I’ve been trying, but I’m confused.”

  “All right. Listen closely. We made out.”

  “We did?”

  “No!” Julia groaned. “God, listen! Chase and I. We made out. Then after the fight, he left. I followed him out to the parking lot and then he acted like he wanted nothing to do with me. What should I do? I was going to call him, but I don’t know what to say. I’ve got to find out what’s going on before I go nuts! What should I do?”

  “Text. Totally.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay! I’m gonna do it. Thanks, Claire bear! You’re the best!”

  “Just promise to name your firstborn after me.”

  “What if it’s a boy?”

  “What if who’s a boy?”

  “My firstborn!”

  “You’re pregnant? Oh my God!”

  Julia giggled. “Hell no! Hanging up now.”

  “‘Kay, Love you, bye,” Claire said with a yawn and hung up.

  Well, that was… something. Julia took a deep breath then found Chase’s number to text him.

  "Steady, dudes," she said to her thumbs letting them go to work as she lay back down. “And a big, fat ‘whew’ for autocorrect too.” She chuckled. Okay, here went, well, a lot.

  --RU a schizo or something?

  Yeah, that was a great opener, she thought with a snicker.

  Chase was lying in bed, forearm thrown over his eyes, replaying the fight over in his head when his phone beeped. He sat up, checking it. Julia. Shit.

  "Am I a schizo? What the hell?" he grumbled after reading her text and lying back down.

  --Excuse me?

  --UR excused now answer my question

  --Don't think I've ever been diagnosed as one

  --So UR saying there's a possibility

  --Guess so

  --What’s UR tattoo?

  --Noticed that did you?

  --…

  --It’s a Celtic knot… my bros and I got one… for family

  --Aha!

  --Aha what?

  --U just admitted to being schizo

  Who was being schizo now? She’d moved from one topic to the next then back without a hitch.

  --What the hell are U talking about?

  --I'm saying UR so moody all the time there’s no other explanation what's up w/ that?

  He so didn't want to do this now. He already felt like an ass for what he'd done tonight and didn't want to get into this with her now. Besides, she’d been with her boyfriend, so why should he feel bad? Hm. He wondered why she wasn’t with her boyfriend at the moment. He ran a hand through his hair. God, his head hurt.

  --We can talk about it on Monday

  --No we can talk about it now

  God, she was stubborn.

  --What do U want me to say?

  Well, duh. She wanted answers.

  --I wanna know why

  --Why what?

  --Why UR so moody

  --I’m not

  --Yes U R

  --No I’m not

  --Yeah U R

  --Nope

  --Yep

  --ARRGH!

  --What?

  --Tell me Y

  --Y what?

  --OMG Y UR so moody?

  --I don't know what to tell U

  --C'mon, college boy I'm sure U can think up something

  Deflection. He was a master at it. Maybe if he kept avoiding everything, she'd give up.

  --I don't know what UR wanting to hear

  Oh, he was so frustrating! She wanted to junk punch him right now.

  --GOD UR even infuriating on the fucking phone

  He barked out a laugh. Her and that badass temper.

  --It's a hidden talent of mine

  --UR a jerk

  --I know this

  --I hate you

  --I know this too

  --ANSWER ME

  --What's the question

  "Oh, my God. I so hate him right now." Julia took a deep breath, wanting to get things back on track.

  --Chase please tell me what's going on

  He sighed. He knew he needed to be up front with her. It was only fair. And he fucking hated fair. He wanted to be with her. Take her out. Spend time with her. Maybe even fall in love with her. But it was too risky.

  --Look I know U think what I do is easy but it's not

  --Oh driving me around is so tough huh?

  With that attitude and smart mouth of yours, sometimes, yeah.

  --Julia I'm UR bodyguard if something happened to U, I'd be responsible don't U get that?

  --Yeah I get it so what?

  --U don't get it

  --What's there to get?

  Alright. Time to man up.

  --If I got involved with U it would be dangerous

  Huh? How in the world could their being involved be dangerous? Julia rolled her eyes. “He’s got to be kidding,” she murmured before texting him back.

  --I knew it U really are in the mob aren't U?

  He snorted. Such a smartass. Okay, Captain Inarticulate, time to cut to the damn chase.

  --Julia I gotta stay focused… I know UR safety hasn't been jeopardized but if it was I gotta be alert… emotions would get in the way of doing my job

  Emotions? Did he have feelings for her?

  --U saying U have feelings for me?

  Holy shit. Just great. After several minutes he answered her.

  --Y… do U have feelings for me?

  There. That wasn't junior high-ish at all. Not one bit.

  --Asked U first

  --Asked U second

  Julia rolled her eyes.

  --Y do U always have to be such an ass?

  --Another hidden talent

  --4 someone who acts so cocky and brave all the time U sure are a chickenshit

  --I'm also a dickhead a fucktard and an asshat what's UR point?

  --I give up all I can say is UR loss

  And she was so right.

  --I know

  Whatever. She tossed her phone on the nightstand. Okay, from here on, she was moving forward. No more thinking about Mr. Chase Murphy. No more!

  Chase ran a hand over his face tiredly, making sure to avoid his fucking swollen eye. Well, damn. He told himself he needed to let it go. Let her go.

  Ha. Easier said than done.

  Chapter 6

  "Dude, what the fuck?" Brock yelled. He looked at his clock. Seven? Who the hell would be calling this early? And on a goddamned Monday morning? Christ.

  Chase's phone had been ringing forever it seemed, and Brock was tired of hearing the opening riffs of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” playing over and over again. Great song, but hearing it on repeat for the past thirty minutes was getting old. He got out of bed looking into Chase's room to see why he hadn't answered the damned thing. Oh. He was in the shower. Brock knocked on the bathroom door.

  "Stop jacking off in there! I need to piss, damn it." He pounded on the door now.

  "Shit, hang on, man!" Chase yelled back. He finally came out dripping wet with a towel wrapped around himself.

  "Your fucking phone's been going off for thirty minutes now. Jesus." Brock went in the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

  Going to his room and picking up the phone, Chase saw that Allen had called him. Five times. Christ. He was going to be fired. He knew it. Allen had found out about him and Julia.

  Or maybe he was going to talk to him about the extra time. Chase had talked to his dad the day before who’d informed him that Sam’s mother was ill and he’d be leaving. He hoped that was it.

  But Chase knew messing around with the boss's daughter would lead to nothing but trouble yet his dumb ass had done it anyway. His mind raced thinking of what he'd say about it. Oh, this w
asn't good at all.

  Calling Allen back, Chase felt his face getting red and his stomach tying in knots.

  "Chase."

  "Hey, Allen. I see that you called?" Chase took a deep breath.

  "Yes, yes I did. Seems we have a problem."

  Chase's heart was about to jump out of his chest.

  "A problem, sir?"

  "Yes. You haven’t seen this morning's paper, have you?"

  What could’ve been in the paper? Oh, God, were there pictures of him kissing Julia on page six? Photographers, paparazzi, were always jumping out of places to snap pictures of her and there could’ve been someone at the bar Friday night. Shit!

  "No, sir, I haven't."

  "I need you to get to the apartment as soon as you can. You’ve got the code. Come in when you get here. We need to talk," Allen said then hung up.

  Chase sat down on the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees, his head hanging down as he ran a hand through his still wet hair. He knew this would happen. Knew it all along, but he’d kept pushing it, not caring that he was fucking away his future.

  "Son of a bitch!" he sat up and roared, tempted to throw his phone against the wall.

  From his room, Brock hollered, "What's wrong?"

  "Nothing! Just gonna go get my ass fired!"

  He dressed in jeans and a t-shirt leaving to go meet his doom.

  ****

  Allen had talked to Julia on Sunday letting her know what was going on. Julia had gotten mad as all get out, stomping off to her room and slamming the door, full-well knowing she was behaving like a three year old. Allen had told her he was going to talk to Chase about the situation also, which really threw her into a snit. After going to her room she’d screamed out, "This is so frickin’ stupid!” hoping her father heard her. Allen and his stupid paranoia. She was sick and tired of it.

  Monday morning before showering, Julia, still in a semi-bad mood, walked into the kitchen to get a muffin. The made-from-scratch muffins instantly changed her demeanor. Peggy had baked them Friday and Julia loved when she did because they were her favorites and would provide her breakfast for almost the entire week. She opened the tin on the bar, almost reverently taking a muffin out. Biting into it, she closed her eyes and let out a moan at how good it was, then picked up a piece that had fallen onto the bar, sucking it felicitously into her mouth from her thumb. She savored the entire roll, making several appreciative noises while she did. Finished, she turned around to go back to her room when her eyes landed on Chase and she let out a blood-curdling scream.