Behind Closet Doors (A Rome-ance)

Chapter 8: How Do You Get From Engaged to Murder in 48 Hours?

            Portia paced around her house, nervous. Brutus was supposed to tell her what he was going to, but he left early in the morning, before she woke up. Now he was gone, and she didn't know what he was doing. There was a knock on the door. Portia ran to the door. "Brutus," she yelled as she was opening the door. To Portia's surprise, it was not Brutus standing at the door, but Calphurnia.

"Sorry to disappoint," Calphurnia replied.

"No, you didn't disappoint me," Portia replied, and hugged her. "I'm just nervous about Brutus.

"Where is he?" Calphunia asked as she entered the house.

"That's just it, I don't know! He just left in the morning. I think he was doing something shady."

Calphurnia nodded. "Yeah, Caesar left this morning after I begged him not to go. I had a vision last night that something bad was going to happen to him."

Portia nodded. "How are those tarot cards going, anyway?"

"I really like them. Thank you."

"Of course. I knew they'd be just up your alley," Portia replied. "So, is there a specific reason why you came or just-"

"I was just nervous about Caesar," Calphurnia answered.

"Right, Caesar," Portia said bitterly, looking down.

Calphurnia caught on to her tone. "He's my best friend. We're married. I care about him."

"And Brutus is my best friend, but you don't see me constantly talking about him."

Calphurnia sighed, "I'm sorry. I guess I do talk about him a lot."

"Can we just forget about Caesar right now?" Portia asked, leaning in.

"Of course," Calphurnia replied and kissed Portia.

They stumbled into the living room and sat on the couch when they heard people yelling outside.

"Caesar is dead!" Yelled a voice that sounded like Mark Anotony.

Calphurnia looked at Portia with wide eyes and ran outside. Portia sighed and followed her. "I can't get one fucking minute alone," Portia mumbled under her breath.

Portia makes it outside to see Antony leading a group of people with Caesar, looking very bloody, lying on a cart being pulled by a car.

"I knew something bad would happen today," Calphurnia said with teary eyes.

Portia brought her in for a hug and started comforting her. She didn't like Caesar, but she didn't think he deserved to die. They joined the group of people following Mark Antony to the middle of town, keeping their distance so they wouldn't be noticed.

Cassius stayed to the side of town square, where Brutus was giving a speech. Half to town was watching him deliver a speech about why they killed Caesar and why it was best. Most of the people watching were also filming it, probably to upload it to some social media where Brutus would be scrutinized by most of the world. But no pressure, right?

Brutus, however, did extremely well under pressure. Everyone seemed to be on his side. That was good news. The only bad thing was Antony in the front row kneeling in front of Caesar's corpse and crying rather loudly. Well, one time, Brutus seemed to get distracted by something he saw, and stuttered a little, but was able to get back on track. When Brutus finished his speech, the crowd applauded. Some people in the crowd were crying. Brutus stepped down from the podium and stood next to Cassius.

"You did good," Cassius said.

"I just told them the truth," Brutus replied.

"Well, they're on our side, so we probably won't have to deal with a coup anytime soon."
"That's always good," Brutus said.

Cassius looked at Brutus and nodded. Impulsively, he leaned in and kissed Brutus. Brutus kissed him back for a second before pushing Cassius away.

"What the fuck," He asked.

"I-"

"No, don't say anything. I'm leaving," Brutus said, pushing past him.

When Brutus made it back to his house, Portia was there, looking pissed.

"Hey," Brutus said cautiously. "How are-"

"You killed Caesar!" Portia exclaimed, standing up from the couch.

"I saw you at the funeral," Brutus snapped. "With Calpurnia."

"Are you mad about that?" Portia asked, furiously. "So, you are allowed to kill the fucking head of state, but I'm not allowed to talk to his wife."

"It's Calphurnia isn't it?" Brutus asked. "That woman you're getting serious with?"

"Yes, and?" Portia crossed her arms.

"How did you get to be in a relationship with the wife of the man I just killed!"

"Why are you getting mad at me!" Portia yelled. "I didn't know you were going to kill him. You never tell me shit! Second, you were dating Caesar. How the hell do you go from getting engaged to murder in fourty-eight hours?"

"Stuff changes. My eyes were opened!"

"You mean Cassius manipulated you? Caesar was a decent leader!"

"You're just saying that 'cause you're fucking Calphurnia."

"Okay, so, he's not the best leader, but you shouldn't have killed him," Portia exclaimed.

"He was only going to get more power hungry. We had to stop him."

"By killing him? Why didn't you stage a coup like any normal person!"

"That was our coup!"

Portia sighs, "I can believe you let Cassius manipulate you into doing this."

"He didn't manipulate me! What is your problem with Cassius?"

"Let's see," Portia responds, sarcastically, "He's rude, selfish, and he has had a vendetta against Caesar since he broke his heart... What else? Oh, yeah, literally one hour after you helped him kill your lover, he kissed you!"

Brutus stared at Portia in silence. He didn't realize she saw that.

"So, what now? Are you going to start fucking Cassius?"

"Maybe, so what?"

"I just want you to consider your choices. Cassius is a bad person."

"Well, he's better than Caesar. He's better than Calphurnia!"

"Shut up!" Portia yelled, pushing Brutus.

"Calphurnia is a psycho, pawn for Caesar!"

"I told you to shut up! And you know what? I want you to leave!"

"What?"

"I want you to leave. Go stay with Cassius for all I care, but get the fuck away from me!"

Brutus throws his hands up in frustration, "Fine. I'll fucking leave!" He grabs his jacket and slams the front door shut as he leaves.

Brutus showed up at Cassius's house thirty minutes later.

"Brutus?" Cassius asked when he opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

Brutus doesn't reply. Instead, he walks up to Cassius and kisses him. Cassius kisses his back and they stumble into the house. Brutus kicked the door closed behind him.