Valentine's Day

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Filler chapter, I'm so sorry but this has to get out of the way before the drama can begin. Finally, Juliet is doing something constructive. 

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: 

  Have you ever gotten an itch that felt almost imaginary? You just cannot pinpoint its location so it’s there, hovering at the back of your mind and you just cannot get rid of it. It drives you insane, I swear, because it’s like this passive aggressive punishment your body is going through and you don’t even have a legitimate reason to explode from annoyance.

  Yep, that was the feeling that coursed through my entire being as I watched Richard and Chelsea suck each others’ faces.

  Okay, look, I wasn’t jealous. Why would I be jealous? What Richard and I had was a partnership that was previously founded on mutual goals, although I don’t really know what it is anymore. But there was that nagging itch because that scene ticked me off and I have no idea why.

  Chelsea gave a shriek when she heard me, scuttling away from Richard immediately.

  “What the hell?” She exclaimed.

  Richard didn’t even look bothered by my unexpected entrance. He simply leaned back against the wall and studied me with a bored expression.

  “Oh yeah, I need to talk to you,” He said offhandedly.

  I wasn’t sure who looked more incredulous, but my mouth wasn’t opened as wide as Chelsea’s.

  “You have got to be joking,” I told him.

  “No, not really,” He got up and made his way over to me, slinging his arm around my shoulders again. “I’ll see you around,” He called back.

  What the hell. I wasn’t exactly the best person to judge anything because I had been striving to do that to Thomas for the last few weeks but that was a complete dick move. It never hit me until that moment that Richard could be as bad as Thomas was.

  “That was complete shit,” I pulled away from him. “Why did you have to do that?”

  “To remind you, Grace. I’m taking him down, with or without you.”

  “In this manner?” I shook my head in disbelief. “You’re no better than Thomas if you’re going to manipulate people with your mind games. Why did it have to be Chelsea?” I sounded completely hysterical, my voice bouncing off the empty corridor. “Hasn’t she been through enough?”

  Richard’s face was completely impassive and I realized that he had changed something.

  “You…you dyed your hair back?” I noticed.

  A tiny smirk tugged at his lips.

  “I did,” He said dryly. “The brown wasn’t suiting me.”

  We lapsed into silence as he steered me back into the cafeteria. I noticed Sophie’s head pop up with interest.

  Oh great.

  “How does she do that?” I heard someone whisper. “String two guys along as if she isn’t afraid of retribution.”

  Retribution? I wanted to find that person and yell in her face, ‘Honey, I’m getting what I deserve now.’ If I hadn’t been stupid enough to get myself messed up with everything, I could possibly be leading a quaint, normal life without any drama.

  “You said that you needed to talk to me,” I said irritably.

  “I did,” He acknowledged. “Some place quieter.”