Unraveling Juliet

Thirteen { Part 1}

When Juliet had finally managed to fall asleep, I left the apartment. It was probably the most ridiculous thing I have done in the past two years but I couldn't afford going out and telling her where or with who I was going. Alex had somehow gotten hold of my telephone number and he kept on texting me it was substantial for us to meet tonight. I wasn't going to let anything that brat told me lure me into giving into his pressure but due to the fact that he said it would be convinient for everyone's well being I reluctantly agreed to meet him. 

It was best not to tell Juliet about any of this, so as soon as I felt her respiration even out I carefully climbed out of bed, put jeans and a hoodie on and headed out. Alex told me to meet him at the local starbucks, which was the one where I met Juliet at. Memories started to appear which  made me grin. 

What would a guy have to do to ask you on a date?

Well, I'd have to get to know a little about him, I don't know perhaps his name? I'm Juliet.

"Really? It's such a beautiful name, I'm Romeo and I think the odds of us dating are in my favour.

There wasn't plenty of time to reminisce since the New York streets weren't that crowded at four in the morning. Alex better have something good to tell me to get me out of the house at this time, and with the fifty five degrees outside. I parked myself in front of the store despite it saying tow away zone, it wasn't like they'd tow my car at this time and I quickly made my way inside. 

When I looked around I found Alex sitting down on the left corner, sipping on a cup of coffee and scrolling on his galaxy phone. I ordered a hot chocolate and sat across from him.

"What do you want from me at four in the morning ?" I hissed at him.

"Someone's not a morning person" He joked, which made me clench my fists and tense my jaw.

"Can you get straight to the point so I can go home and rest. I have a flight to get to in a few hours." I said as calmly as possible.

"I called you here to talk about Juliet." He said.

"What about her?" I defensively asked.

"Despite the fact that she seems happy with you, you're not what she deserves, and we all know  that." He said

"And we all know I've known her for longer, I've helped her through difficult times and I have offered her a future." He added.

"Get to the damn point." I hissed at him

"What would it take for you to leave her? I've been thinking and I can pay you. Any amount of money you want."

"None. I rather have her than all the money in the world."

"We can make this easy, Caleb. I can give you money, you can do whatever the hell you want with it. Juliet can come back to Florida and get with me, I'll get her books published and she can be happy."

I gave him a dry laugh. "You can't buy her happiness. You're just a rich brat, who's had everything easy in life, well guess what? You're not getting her. She was never yours. If she was she wouldn't have gotten with me, perhaps she would have waited for you but she didn't so you know what? Piss off because I'm not giving up on her." 

I didn't wait further to leave. I stormed out of the shop and got into my car. The ignition roared and just as I was leaving Alex came out and started knocking on my window. After a few minutes I opened the window and asked what ended up infuriating me more.

"I'll give you a million dollars for her, think about it." He said with his emerald orbs staring into my blue ones.

"No. She's already my shag." I said smirking.

With that I pressed on the gas and headed back home. Luckily for me Juliet was asleep, so I was able to climb to bed next to her and simply get a little bit of sleep for the long day ahead of us.

**

Exhausted and utterly annoyed is what I was. I didn’t know traveling with women was such a hassle. Juliet made me carry her bags while she just walked around the airport with her pretty face showing people the tickets. After a few hours of long lines of showing tickets, taking shoes off and putting everything back in place we were able to continue with our journey. I’ve never been quite this upset in a while now but it was hard not to be.

Alex’s words kept coming into mind and some part of me knew he was right; I didn’t deserve a person like Juliet. How could I? I was just a stupid mechanic from Jersey that ran away from home after beating up someone to near death that went through a very dark period of time drinking, doing drugs and trying to forget about my bittersweet reality by enveloping myself under the veil of evil. When people do all these things and claim it’s because they have swag they are lying to you. Don’t ever fall into the concept of believing that. They do it because they happen to be stuck in the past, they keep mourning, they’re filled with sorrow and they dream about the future, yet the future is just an empty promise to them because they are stuck. That’s how our brains work, unfortunately, and sometimes (if we are lucky enough) we find the light at the end of the tunnel. A few things that I have realized are that it doesn’t have to be a person or a place, you know? The light can be a book, a television show, something so small, yet so meaningful that makes you want to keep holding on the thread of life you have. And if you are lucky enough to find that you must never let it go because it may not be absolute happiness, but things will definitely surpass.

When I met Juliet I was truly getting better. I had partially stopped getting stoned, or drinking excessively to the point where I’d had hangovers every day. I got my shit together (for the lack of a better phrase) and I held onto my job in hopes of something good to come. I was four years deep into paying mortgage for my apartment, I couldn’t just stop paying and lose all my money, besides I didn’t work my ass off in high school to get a scholarship and not be someone in life; and so I looked for something better than what I had. I really did and I found it.

"Caleb are you asleep? " Julieth softly whispered in my ear which made me come back to reality.

"Mhm? What happened babe?"

"Whe're going to land soon, you seem tired though. Maybe we should go straight to the hotel so you can rest." She suggested.

"Alright." I said pecking her lips.

Her cheeks turned red and she sheepishly buried her face on my chest. "What did I do now?" 

"I'm not used to us kissing in public" She admitted. "I mean last time when that old lady said something about how young I looked and your tattoos made me really uncomfortable."

My eyebrows seized into a frown. I remember this day perfectly. We were out having a nice walk around central park and we ended up kissing in public, an old lady with a big mouth was passing by and she said something about how she wasn't in her senses when she chose me because of my appearance. Juliet and I didn't say anything but we both were upset, I mean who the hell was that lady to tell us anything about our relationship. 

"I ruined the mood, I'm sorry." Juliet said interrupting my thoughts again. I couldn't even say anything because she manouvered to plant a kiss on my mouth and then sit back down.

"Much better." I chuckled.

"Ladies and gentlemen to your left you'll be able to see the city of Orlando, Florida. The local time is six forty p.m. we hope you enjoy your stay here and thank you for flying with JetBleu, this is Pilot Joe Garcia and it was a pleasure to be with ya'll this afternoon." A masculine voice said through the intercome. 

"Prepare yourself for the best week of your life." I joked.

"That's kinda hard considering I always have a good time around you." 

Yeah, nothing could help and I felt like an asshole . Alex was probably right in one thing; Juliet deserved someone better than both of us together. Guilt washed over me for all the things that I've done in the past. Maybe I should give this ring to Juliet to see if she loves me as much as I  love her because for the looks of it she is acting way too normal about my past, something that amazes me somehow.