November 1st-November 7th, 2002
+o-----------------------o+
Follows a couple of weeks after the last chapter. In case you haven't caught on, I make up a lot of names of people, especially co-workers of Ron, George, and Julianna. (I also do not know the names of Julianna's two nieces, so those are made up).
+o-----------------------o+
Julianna slid her arms around Ron's neck and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lovingly in return.
"Mmm." She murmured under his breath and then she suddenly caught a whiff of perfume. She wrinkled her nose. "You smell." She said. He pulled away.
"Like what?" He asked.
"Women's perfume." She replied. He paused for just a quick instant before he chuckled.
"Yeah, at work Mariane was spraying perfume all over herself. We were all gagging." He said. Julianna just nodded and smiled.
+o-----------------------o+
"Jules!" George yelled from his seat alone an outdoor cafe. He had glanced up from his newspaper for just a second and saw Julianna walking on the sidewalk, carrying a bag. She turned quickly and grinned at him. He was trying his best to be disguised with a baseball cap and sunglasses.
"Hey." She called back and walked toward him. She walked to his table and took a seat across from him, tucking her bag firmly between her feet so no one could take it. "What are you doing?" She asked.
"Just having a sandwich and reading the paper." He said. "What about you?"
"I was just out shopping."
"For what?" He asked.
"Shoes." She said and sighed. "I had a bad night last night, so I decided to treat myself to a pair of shoes."
"What happened?" He asked. She shrugged. He tilted his head and leaned forward. "Alright, you have my full attention." He said after placing the newspaper down. She sighed.
"Last night Ron came home smelling of perfume." She said quite simply.
"What?" George asked.
"He claimed it was a co-star spraying it, but she must have sprayed it all over him because he reeked of it, like he had been right up close to her when she sprayed."
"And you don't believe him?" George asked softly. She shrugged.
"I don't know what to believe. Do you think I should believe him?" She asked.
"I can't really give you an opinion on that, Jules." She sighed and nodded.
"I know, I'm sorry. I just..I'm paranoid now, ya know, after everything that happened." George nodded.
"I know. If you ask me, he was probably just standing beside her when she sprayed it. I doubt anything is going on. He loves you, Jules." George said although what he wanted to do was drag Julianna into his arms and comfort her and tell her what an ass her boyfriend was, but he knew he couldn't. So once more he let her torture him.
"Yeah." She said and fiddled with her fingers. "You're right."
"Of course I am. Now you better order something to eat or I'll do it for you." He said. She laughed.
"Alright, alright." She said and opened a menu.
+o-----------------------o+
"You're late." Julianna said as Ron walked into the house at one o'clock in the morning. She was sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of tea in her hand and just waiting for him to come home.
"Yeah, I know. We were late wrapping up." He said. She nodded and took a sip of her tea.
"You should have called." She said.
"We were really busy." He said. "I was in the middle of filming a scene."
"Hmm." She said. He swallowed.
"I'm tired." He replied. She nodded.
"Don't let me keep you." She said.
"Is something wrong?" He asked. She shook her head. "I am sorry I didn't call. I just got tied up in work and I forgot." She nodded.
"That's fine." He sighed.
"I'm going to get a shower. Are you coming up to bed?" He asked.
"In a few. I want to finish my tea." She said. He nodded.
"Okay." He turned and headed up the stairs. She placed her mug onto the table and lowered her head into her hands. He's telling the truth, she thought. You know he is, forget your imagination. He was working, not out sleeping with some other woman. Get over yourself, Jules.
She lifted her head and stood, dumping her extra tea out into the sink and then rinsing it out. She took a deep breath and then turned and headed for the stairs after flipping the light out.
Julianna curled herself up under the covers of their bed and turned onto her side, away from Ron's side of the bed. Then she began to devise a plan.
+o-----------------------o+
Julianna knocked on the door of her sister Rachel's house. A few minutes later Rachel's 11-year-old daughter, Delaney, answered the door.
"Aunt Jules!" She said.
"Hey Dee, what's goin' on?" Julianna asked. Delaney shrugged.
"Nothing much. What are you doin' here?"
"Just coming to hang out." Julianna said and placed her head on Delaney's shoulder. Delaney nodded.
"Who is it?" A little girl's voice called out.
"Aunt Jules." Rachel called back.
"Aunt Jules!" Ellie, the 7-year-old, came running around the corner and launched herself at Julianna. Julianna laughed and hauled the little girl up into her arms.
"Hey Squirt."
"Hi." Ellie said and wrapped her arms around Julianna's neck.
"Goodness child, you're getting heavy."
"Nuh-uh." Ellie responded as Julianna followed Delaney into the kitchen where Rachel was.
"Hey Rach." Julianna said.
"Jules, hey. What's up?" She asked. Julianna shrugged.
"Nothing." She replied as Ellie slid off of her hip. Rachel tilted her head slightly for a few seconds before she turned to her oldest daughter.
"Dee, could you please take Ellie to the living room and keep her occupied for a few minutes. I need to talk to Julianna." Delaney sighed for a moment, somewhat upset that she was once again being kicked out. She was just becoming old enough to recognize when people were excluding her. But she turned and headed toward the living, telling her sister to follow her. Ellie did so.
"You pissed her off." Julianna said. Rachel laughed a bit.
"Yeah, I did. God she reminds me of us." Rachel said. Julianna nodded.
"Oh yeah. I remember being that age and realizing that your parents, hell, my older sisters were excluding me and it pissed me off." Rachel laughed again.
"Yeah. Alex and I had a good laugh over you sometimes." Rachel grinned and Julianna only grinned back.
"And I had several good laughs over being Dad's favorite." Julianna replied. Rachel laughed.
"Yeah, I suppose you did." She paused and became serious. "So, what is on my baby sister's mind?" Julianna sighed.
"Revenge." She muttered. Rachel smiled a bit.
"Against who?"
"Ron." Julianna replied softly.
"What?" Rachel paused. "Why?"
"I think he may be cheating on me. Again." She said and looked up.
"Oh, honey, are you sure?" Julianna shook her head.
"No, but I...I smelled perfume on him once, and he claimed it was just a co-worker spraying it around. And then he was two hours late getting home. Normally he calls if he is going to be late, no matter how busy he is. I waited up for him and when he got home he said that he had to work late and that they were just really busy."
"Maybe they were late." Rachel said.
"Maybe. But I just have this feeling, Rach, like...I don't know. It's just there. I can't get this out of my head." She said.
"So why don't you talk to him about it?" Rachel asked. Julianna looked up and tears filled her eyes a bit.
"Because I don't have the courage." She said. She swallowed the lump in her throat as tears balanced in her eyes, on the verge of falling. "If he is cheating, I don't want to find out. I love him." She whispered the last part and then blinked. A tear from each eye raced down her cheeks but she quickly wiped them away, in case the girls came back into the room.
"Oh, Jules." Rachel sighed. "You're probably just jumping to conclusions." Julianna nodded vigorously, hoping she was. She swallowed.
"But I, uh, I was wondering if I could stay here for a little while. He expects me to be home when he gets off at 7 and so I was going to stay here until like 10 or 11 and see what he does when I get home late, if you don't mind." Julianna said. Rachel grinned.
"Of course not. You can stay all night if you want to. The girls would love it." Julianna nodded.
"I won't stay overnight, but thanks, Rach."
"No problem."
+o-----------------------o+
At 11:06 that night, Julianna pulled the car into her spot in the garage and turned it off. She climbed out and made her way into the house. She slipped her shoes off and left them in the closet by the door before making her way down the hallway. She heard the soft noise from the television and she walked into the living room to find Ron on the couch.
"Hey." He said.
"Hi." She replied.
"Where have you been?" He asked.
"Out." She said, being very vague.
"Where?" He asked.
"A party." She lied.
"With who?" He asked.
"George and some friends." She said, lying some more. He nodded.
"Oh." He replied.
"How long have you been home?" She asked, her heart sinking a little.
"A few hours." He replied. She nodded. Why didn't he act like he cared? Normally he would at least look pissed, if not tell her he was pissed that she went out with George and some other people without telling him. Normally he was jealous of George and didn't hide it much.
"I'm going to go take a shower." She mumbled.
"Mm." He replied, as his eyes stayed glued to the television. She turned and headed up the stairs as tears started to form in her eyes. She walked into the bathroom, locked the door, started the water and undressed. Then the tears came in a flood.
+o-----------------------o+
Over the next few days, Julianna sunk into a bit of a depression. Signs were becoming more clear every day that Ron was starting to care less about her and that he may be cheating on her.
She stood in her laundry room, methodically picking white clothes out of the laundry basket to put into the washing machine. She reached down and picked up a sock and threw it into the machine. A pair of underwear followed. She reached down for a white button up shirt of Ron's and was about to throw it into the washing machine when she saw something red on the collar. She lifted the shirt closer to her face and rubbed her thumb across the mark. Then she froze. Lipstick, she thought. He has lipstick in a color that I do not own on his collar. She dropped the shirt like it was burning her and she backed up. Finally she turned and walked out of the room, her thoughts frozen. Lipstick was the only thing she could think of. Over and over..Lipstick. She made her way into her bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the floor. Then she lifted her fingers to her lips as they started to tremble.
There really was only one explanation for a woman's lipstick being on a man's collar, Julianna knew. A strange, animal-like sound escaped from her mouth and suddenly she couldn't control them. Sobs escaped and tears poured down her face. It was almost for certain, she knew. All she needed now was a confession or to catch him in the act. She turned and buried her face into her pillow, trying desperately to block out her own sounds of pain.
She lay there, sobbing and crying for a good while before she fell into an exhausted sleep.
+o-----------------------o+
She was woken later by the sound of a ringing telephone. She pushed herself up and swallowed. Her throat was sore. She licked her lips. Her lips were dry. She swallowed again and reached for the phone. She cleared her throat and clicked it on.
"Hello?" She asked, her throat still a little croaky.
"Jules?"
"Oh, hey George."
"Are you okay? You sound sick." He said. She nodded.
"I'm okay." She replied. He nodded.
"I was wondering if you were going to the party on Saturday." He said.
"What party?" She asked.
"Eriq's party, at his lake house." George replied. "You did get invited, right?"
"Oh, yeah. I did. I'm going as far as I know." She said.
"Good." He replied. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked. "You sound really bad."
"I'm sure." She said. He nodded.
"Okay. Well..I better go, then." He said. He could tell she wasn't in the mood to talk.
"Okay. Bye."
"Bye." He replied and hung up. He stared down at the phone. Okay, he thought. He wondered if something had happened with Ron. Only he figured she would have told him. He shrugged. He'd see her Saturday and he would know then if everything was okay.
+o-----------------------o+
Julianna was laying on the couch, taking a break from the book she was reading to pet one of her and Ron's cats, Mitzi. Mitzi rubbed her face against Julianna's cheek and Julianna grinned and scratched the cat behind the ears as Mitzi purred her heart out.
The phone rang and Mitzi tilted her head at Julianna as if saying 'aren't I more important than the ringing of that pesky thing?'. Julianna sighed.
"Sorry, Mitz." She said and the cat jumped off of her. Julianna turned and reached behind her for the telephone that was behind her on the stand.
"Hello?" She asked.
"Hey Jules."
"Oh, hey Ron." Julianna replied and leaned back against the couch. "What's up?"
"Well I just wanted to call and let you know that we will probably have to work an extra hour or two tonight, so I won't be home for a few hours longer."
"Oh. That's fine." Julianna said and realized that he was patronizing her somewhat. He was trying to make it a major point that he was calling tonight to let her know he would be late when she had blamed in for it the other night.
"You don't need to wait up for me this time." He said. She swallowed.
"Alright. I won't." She said.
"Good. I'll see you later then."
"Yeah."
"Bye." He said.
"Bye." She replied and hung up. She placed the phone behind her and then leaned back into the pillows. For some reason Julianna did not believe Ron. There had been so many things adding up lately to convince her that he was cheating on her. Lipstick on his collar was a major factor and so she wasn't convinced that he was going to be home late because of work. In her mind she figured that one to two hours was a good time frame for a rendezvous with one's secret lover. So she made the decision in her mind to go to the studio where Ron was filming and see if he left at the normal time. If he did, she would follow him. Simple as that, Julianna said and picked up her book. Only now she couldn't concentrate on the words.
+o-----------------------o+
At 11 o'clock that night Julianna sat in the parking lot of the studio where Ron worked with one eye focused on his car and the other on the exit of the studio. At promptly 11:04 he walked out of the building and she watched him walk to his car, all the while feeling her heart sinking in her chest.
When he got into the car, she turned her own car on but left the lights on. She waited until he pulled out of the parking lot before she turned her lights on and began to follow him. Right off the bat he turned his car the opposite way of their house, so she knew he wasn't going home to surprise her or something. Julianna swallowed and her stomach churned nervously inside her. She knew what she was about to witness and she could feel the tears starting to develop but she told herself to just wait until she was for sure.
She followed Ron for about five minutes, staying a safe enough distance away that she knew he probably wouldn't even notice her. And if he did, he wouldn't think it was her. Finally, when nausea also began to churn in Julianna's stomach, Ron turned his car into a driveway. Julianna slowed down. She gulped as she came closer and closer to the house. Finally, as she was slowly passing, she saw a leggy blonde come jogging out of the house. She wrapped her arms around Ron and kissed him passionately. He wrapped his arm around her and laughed against her lips. Julianna sped up and passed them without looking back.
She had known it all along. Her fears were only confirmed. Although she had felt like crying earlier the tears wouldn't come now. She was frozen. Her heart was damaged, broken. She was numb and could not even cry. She turned around in someone's random driveway and drove the 15 minutes back home, all the while imagining Ron in bed with the long legs of the blonde wrapped around him. Julianna parked her car in the garage and turned everything off. She sat in the dark for a few minutes before reaching for her cell phone. She dialed George's number.
"Hello?" He asked.
"George, it's Jules."
"Oh, hey Jules. What's going on?"
"Are you alone?" She asked.
"Yes." Thank God, Julianna thought.
"I'm having some problems," She said calmly, "and I was wondering if you would mind if I came over at about 1 in the morning and then stayed the night?" She asked.
"No, of course I wouldn't mind. Are you okay, Jules?"
"I'll be fine. Wait up for me, ple-," Her voice cracked, but she toughened up, "please George."
"Do you want me to come over?"
"No, no..I'll be over."
"Okay." He replied. "I'll be up and waiting."
"Thank you. I have to go now."
"I'll see you, Jules."
"Bye." She replied and they hung up. She knew that he was probably worried to death, but she knew she might break down completely if talked to her for much longer. For now she was going to gather her strength and do what she needed to do. She climbed out of her car and walked into the house. She turned on a light downstairs and then headed up to their bedroom. She slowly began to pack herself a few day's worth of clothes for George's house. She walked downstairs and placed her bag by the door that led to the garage. Then she walked back up the stairs, got down some suitcases and bags from the top of the closet and methodically began to pack Ron's clothes into them.
+o-----------------------o+
A little over an hour later she heard the door to the downstairs close as Ron came into the house. A few seconds later she heard his footsteps on the stairs. She continued packing, even as he walked into the room. She knew he must have seen the bag by the stairs and she wondered what he would say.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ron asked. Julianna caught a whiff of perfume and she nearly choked on it and the rising tears.
"I'm packing your things." She said.
"What?" He asked.
"I'm not a genius, Ron, but I'm not stupid either. Staying out late, perfume, lipstick." She stopped and looking at him. He was beginning to pale. "Things kept building and building and then you called and told me you were going to be late. I knew something was up, so I went to the studio and I sat in the parking lot." Ron paled even more. "Then I followed you to Blondie Number Two's house. By the way, what IS it with you and blondes?" She asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh the FUCK you don't!" She yelled. "I saw her wrap those long, thin arms around you and I saw you fucking kiss her. Don't you dare deny anything to me!"
"Fine. So I had sex with her, so what?"
"SO WHAT?" Julianna screamed. "This is so what!" She yelled and threw a shirt at him. "You are fucking getting out of my house, you bastard!" Tears began to fall. "I loved you! I fucking loved you and you went behind my back God knows how many times just playing around with those blonde bimbos. I mean, seriously Ron, what was the POINT of staying with me?" She wiped at her tears, frustrated with herself for letting them fall. "We aren't married. We don't have any children. Why the HELL would you stay with me for 11, 11 years, if you didn't even love me? If you weren't satisfied?"
"I did love you!" He exclaimed.
"Then why?" Her shoulders sagged. "I thought I understood why you did it six years ago, but why did you do it again? Why didn't you just tell me when I found out about the first one that you weren't satisfied anymore?" He didn't answer. She balled her hands into fists. "You fucking broke my heart. And for what? YOU don't even know!" She paused. "I want you out of this house." She said more calmly. "I will give you three days to get your shit out of my house and I don't want to see you ever again." She said. He swallowed and just stared at her. "Do you hear me?" She asked. He nodded. She stared at him for just a few more seconds and then she walked past him briskly.
She went calmly down the stairs, but then she began to run. She grabbed her bag and she ran to her car. She jumped in and zoomed out of the garage as quickly as she could. She'd save the tears for George's house because she had to get their first. She punched and gas and focused on the speed instead of her pain.
Within a few minutes she was at George's house. He must have seen her arrive because he opened the front door before she had even closed her car door.
"Jules." He said. She walked to him with her bag in her hand. "Are you okay?" He asked. She nodded. He ushered her quickly into the house and closed the door behind them. He took her bag from her and placed it on the floor. He turned her toward him and cupped her shoulders in his hands. "What happened?"
"Ron cheated on me again. I followed him after he got off work and he went to some woman's house and they kissed outside. I saw everything, George." Tears filled her eyes but she blinked them away, frustrated with herself. Her hands balled into fists again, as they had earlier that night. She pulled out of George's grip because she was afraid she might start to beat up on him the way she wanted to beat up on Ron.
"I'm sorry Jules." George said softly.
"Bastard!" Julianna spit out. She looked at George and met his eyes. "He broke my heart." She murmured quietly. The pain and hurt in Julianna's eyes was nearly enough to bring George to do anything. He hated seeing her this way. He racked his brain for something, anything to take it all away.
"I know it, baby." George said softly and went to wrap his arms around her but she put her hands up to stop him.
"Don't George, I can't..." She stopped. "I can't let you touch me right now. I feel like hurting something. I feel like killing someone!" She said and dropped her head. Finally something occurred to George.
"I have just what you need." He said. She looked up at him.
"What?" She asked.
"An exercise room. C'mon," George turned and walked to her bag, "take your stuff and go change into something else and we'll go beat the shit out of some equipment." He said. She paused for a moment and then reached for the bag.
"Okay." She said and turned and headed toward the bathroom. When she came out a few minutes later with different clothes on and her hair up, George was dressed himself and ready to go down and be beside her when her resolve finally broke.
"Let's go." He said. They walked to the room George had set up with exercise and weight equipment. "What first?" He asked. She looked around and then pointed to the red punching bag. George had somehow known she was going to pick that. He walked toward it and gathered up the red gloves. "Put these on." He said. She shook her head.
"I don't want them." He handed them to her.
"Put them on, Julianna." He said firmly. She stared at him for a moment and then put them on. He sighed. Thank God, he thought. The last thing he needed was her ripping the hell out of her hands. He walked around to the other side of the punching bag and he took hold of it. "Let it rip." He said quietly. She stared at him for a moment and then she stared at the punching bag. He could almost see her visualizing the bag as Ron's face. Then she raised her arms in front of her and tensed.
She took one quick jab at the bag and he felt the bag surge against him with more force than he had expected. For such a skinny woman, she had a lot of power, he thought. Then she punched the bag some more. George watched her face as she began to punch the bag harder and harder. With every punch George could feel the anger building up. She kept hitting and hitting, until she was pummeling the bag as hard and as fast as she could. She made small noises with her mouth that George was sure she was unaware of but that he felt clear to his core. Even subconsciously her body was expressing her need to break down. A whimper ripped from her throat and George's stomach lurched. Sweat glistened on her forehead. He watched in amazement as she punched the bag even harder. She threw one more really strong punch with her left hand before a sob escaped from her and George pulled the bag away. He let it swing away from him as he reached over and grabbed Julianna. He couldn't stand to let her do it anymore.
Julianna's arms felt like fire. She could barely lift them now that she had stopped. George reached down and yanked the gloves off of her hands just as her face started to crumple. He threw the gloves down and took her face into his hands as she started to cry. She had beaten her anger into the punching bag and all that was left now was a hole, an ache. A part of herself was gone and she felt so empty.
The sobs started from way down deep inside her and George thought it was quite possibly the saddest thing he had ever heard. He crushed her against his chest and held her as tightly as he could. She was scaring him. He hadn't realized how much Ron meant to her. He knew she loved him, but he hadn't realized just how much. Then it dawned on him that if he ever lost Julianna he would act the same. He would be nearly inconsolable. So this is what it's like to lose somebody you love either to death or just having them leave you, George thought.
"Shh, shh.." He murmured quietly as she clung to him and buried her face into his neck. "You'll be okay, you'll be okay." He crooned quietly. "I promise. I'll take care of you." He whispered. "You're not alone. You'll never be alone." He continued on. What he was saying was completely true and he knew that right now they would be comfort words to her but later she would just believe him to be saying all of these things because they were best friends. It would probably never occur to her that he loved her and he truly meant every word he was saying.
"Oh God." She moaned. Her cradled the back of her head in his hand and brushed a kiss across her forehead.
"Shh, Jules, it's going to be alright. You're going to be okay. Ron's just a bastard." He said. "He doesn't deserve you."
"That's just it." She moaned. "It's not even him so much that I'm upset over. Well, it is, but I," She sobbed, "Am I not good enough?"
"Oh, Jules. You're perfect. Don't let him do this to you." George said and he pulled her away. Her eyes and cheeks were red and her face was wet. He brushed his thumbs across her damp cheeks. "Do not let that bastard get you all messed up this way."
"But why?" She sobbed. "Why did he do this to me? What did I do wrong?"
"It wasn't you!" George exclaimed fiercely.
"Why, George, why?" She moaned and leaned her forehead against his shoulder.
"Fuck him!" George exclaimed. Julianna moaned and clenched her fingers in his shirt.
"I hate him." She whispered.
"Good." George said firmly. "I hate seeing you like this, Julianna. You don't deserve to be treated like that. I could kill him for doing this to you." George whispered fiercely. Julianna placed her hands on either side of George's neck and she rubbed her cheek against his. He sighed gruffly and then she turned her head quickly and pressed her lips to his. George froze for a moment, shocked and surprised. He hadn't been expecting that.
It only took him a few seconds to respond to her lips on his. Soon enough he was kissing her back, trying to console her with his lips since his words didn't seem to be doing a very good job. Julianna wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and pressed closer to him. George shivered and wanted to draw her even closer, but he knew they had to stop. He knew she didn't want this and he knew she would regret it. He knew she was just looking for something to help her forget her pain. He pulled away and she leaned her forehead against his.
"Jules.."
"I know. I'm sorry." She said. He struggled not to scoop her off her feet and cart her into his bedroom and make her forget Ron.
"Forget it." He said and pulled her away. He smiled at her. "We'll chalk it up to emotions." He said. She nodded and tears filled her eyes again. "Don't you cry again." He said and smiled at her as he rubbed his thumbs across her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, I just..George, I don't know how I am going to get through this." She said and one tear slid down her cheek. He caught it on his thumb and wiped it away.
"You will. You are going to stay here, with me, for as long as you need. I am going to play mother duck and take you under my wing. Before you know it you will be good as new. I'll treat you like a queen. Before you know it you won't even remember his name because you'll only be used to hearing your own name." Julianna laughed a little bit and he grinned. "There's the beautiful sound I love." She smiled and sniffled a bit.
"I'm tired." She said.
"I bet you are. Damn, if that had been Ron you were hitting he'd be dead."
"I wish." She said. George laughed.
"There ya go, that's the attitude we need. Off with his head, Queen Julianna said!" George exclaimed. Julianna grinned and he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Alright, let's get you into bed." Julianna looked up at him.
"Stay." She said softly. He nodded.
"Okay." He said and began to prepare himself for a night of torture of sleeping in the same bed as her.
+o-----------------------o+