Chances

Chances Ch. 21

Months Later

"Emma, we've got new shipments of books coming in the Children's section. Can you make some space for me on one of those shelves?" Daniel orders.
"Yes, sir."
I begin organizing the shelves, when my phone rings. Yes, my phone. It's a funny looking flip phone with a large antenna sticking out of the top. It was a Christmas present from Jules, so that we could contact each other when we needed to. It was 4:00, an odd time to recieve a call from Julian.
"Hello?" I whisper.
I wait around for a reply, but I just hear a bunch of different voices. I hold the phone closer to my ear, and hear Julian's voice. It's not directly to me though.
"Yeah, man." He says, laughing. He must have butt dialed me. I hang up the phone and turn the ringer off, sliding it back into my pocket. I finish doing the shelves and go back to the cash register with Derek.
"I have to go home. My allergies are so bad right now." Derek says.
"Go on then. I'm sure Mr. Andrews will understand." I say.
Derek says goodbye to me and leaves me alone with Jenny.
"How come we haven't ever talked?" She asks me as her customer leaves.
"I don't know, I haven't really thought about that." I say, checking out my customer.
"We should hang out." She says, looking over at me.
"We should. Maybe next weekend?" I say.
"Yeah. Why don't we all just hangout at my place?" She asks.
"Sure!" I say.

After work, I pick up some food to fix for dinner tonight. I decide to make lasagna, so once I've picked up the ingredients, I head home. When I arrive home, Julian is nowhere to be seen. He's probably with the band. I haven't seen him as often since they started recording. The worst part is, he comes home drunk after every time he's been with them.
I finish making the lasagna, so I stick it in the oven while I watch TV. The only thing that's on is some show called Spongebob, which annoys the hell out of me.

It's now 7:00, and Julian is still not home. I let the lasagna cool and call his phone.
Ring
Ring
Ring
"Hello?"
"Julian, when are you coming home?" I ask.
"When I want to." He says, while people in the background laugh.
It makes me so angry, I just hang up. I mean, really? I make him dinner after a long day, and he can't even show up to eat with me? I don't know how long I can take this. I deserve someone who's sober at least 75% of the time, which he's not. No, he's intoxicated 75% of the time, and sometimes I question if he's high.
I go ahead and eat without him, and cover up the rest so it stays hot. I turn off the annoying TV and go upstairs. After I'm changed into pajamas, I get into bed and fall asleep.

"Baby."
I rub my eyes and look up, seeing Julian. He has dark circles under his eyes and smells of cigarrettes and alcohol, as always.
"It's 7 in the morning." He says.
I look at the clock and get out of bed, walking to the bathroom to take a shower.
"You're just going to ignore me?" He says. I look back at him just before I close the bathroom door and take off my clothes.
After my shower, I go through my regular routine. For some reason, I've had a bad hair day, so I put it up in a messy bun. Outside, it's warm, yet humid, since it's Spring. I put on my Led Zeppelin tank top with some shorts and as always, white converse. I walk out of the bathroom and am immediately greeted by Julian, whose arms are blocking my exit.
"I can't be late, Julian." I say, slightly nudging him.
He kisses my forehead and allows me to leave.
"Your lasagna was great by the way." He says, while I walk out the door smiling.

"Goodmorning, Emma." Daniel says while I walk over to Derek at the cash registers. "Happy Friday." I say to the both of them, with a smile.
"Oh, I just remembered something. Jenny and Josh are going to a funeral tomorrow, so you two need to come in. Sorry." Daniel says apologetically.
Derek gives me a funny look, then points his finger at his head in the shape of a gun. I laugh, then we get to working.

Work travels fast, and I leave early since I have to work tomorrow. When I make it home, the door is already unlocked. I walk in on Albert, Fab, Nikolai, Nick, and Julian sitting on the couch talking. Albert and Nick are playing a guitar, and Nikolai is playing a bass, while Fab is drumming on the couch with his fingers. "Sorry to interrupt, guys." I say, awkwardly shutting the door behind me.
"It's all good." Fab says. The rest of them nod their heads in agreement.
I walk into the kitchen and find a frozen pizza in the freezer.
"Have you eaten yet?" I ask them.
After they say no, I take out the pizza and pre-heat the oven.
"Emma, can you play an instrument?" Albert asks.
"I can play the piano." I say.
"Can you play something for us?" Fab asks, looking at Julian's piano.
I nod my head and walk over to it, then start playing a little melody from Titanic. It's quite beautiful, yet interrupted by the beeping of the oven. I get up from the chair and slide the pizza into the oven, then sit on the bar stool. "Shit, you're good." Julian says.
"Why didn't you tell me you could play?"

"I don't know. It just never came up." I laugh.

While the pizza cooks, I listen to them come up with songs. Julian's voice is really great. I could listen to it all day. He's sort of tipsy, but they are too, so it's sort of camouflaged. The only one who's really quiet is Nikolai. I feel sort of bad for him, like he's left out or something. After a while, the pizza is done, and we all eat it with beer. It's like a big sleepover, really. Once it hits about 10:00, I give up.
"I'm going to sleep guys, see you later. I'm working tomorrow, Julian." I say, throwing my trash away. "Alright. Goodnight." He says and kisses me. The rest of them say goodnight, then I go upstairs and take off my clothes. I end up falling asleep in one of Julian's shirts and a pair of my underwear.

I wake up to my alarm and go into the bathroom to shower. Once I'm finished getting ready, I go downstairs and find all the guys passed out on the floor. Well they're going to be hungover. I walk outside with my purse and get into my car, only it won't start. This car is such a piece of shit. I go back inside and wake up Julian. "Julian, my car won't start. Can I take yours?" I ask. He's still half asleep when he answers me.
"Let me take you." He says, getting up and taking his keys outside with me.