Chapter 35
CHAPTER 35
JULIETTE
I sleep through the entirety of the flight and don’t wake up until it’s time for landing. It’s close to evening by the time we land and I’m feeling jetlagged. Reece helps me with my bag, and instead of going home, I head to my mother's. Standard practice requires that I report to the agency to let them know I have returned so they can start processing my payment, but I’m not feeling up to it just yet, so I text Jenny to let her know I’m back. I say goodbye to the taxi and walk up to my mother’s door. I knock on the door and for a moment, I think she isn’t home as no reply comes. Just as I’m about to turn around and start looking for a new cab when the door opens, and my mother looks surprised to see me.
“Juliette!” My ma says and pulls me in for a hug. “You came straight to your mother.”
Yes, I did. I can’t afford to be at home on my own. I can’t afford to let myself wallow in too much sadness missing Hudson, even though my mother won’t let me catch a break unless I tell her all about my trip. It was the price to pay.
“Hey, Ma, how are you?”
“I was just about to start making dinner. Come on,” she says, helping me with one of my bags. Together, we walk into my old bedroom. “Get out of those clothes and into something more comfortable and then come help me out in the kitchen.”
“Mom, I just had a long flight. Can I just rest a while?”
She looks like she’ll argue.
“Mom,” I plead.
“Alright, I’ll make dinner all by myself.”
“Thank you,” I tell her and close the door after she leaves. Well, now, I’m alone, but it’s better knowing she’s here rather than being in the entire house on my own. I get out of my clothes to have a cool shower, something to cool me off, and as the water cascades down, calming my nerves and soothing me, I find myself thinking about Hudson. I wonder what he’s up to now. He said he has a plan to get his factories back up and working before the end of the day. Are those plans in play, and will he meet the target? After having my shower, I pick up my phone and almost dial his number, just to hear his voice, but I stop myself. He would be too busy to receive calls now. Besides, I just left him a couple of hours ago. I must learn how to tolerate being away from him.
I look at my bed and lie down on it to sleep, but it eludes me. Thoughts and images of Hudson flip through my head constantly, and to beat it, I finally get up and walk into the kitchen to join my mother.
“Look, it’s the big shot who doesn’t want to join me in the kitchen.”
“Ma! Don’t be insensitive. I was tired. I am still tired. I just can’t bring myself to sleep,” I say as I jump on the kitchen counter to sit. “What are you making?”
“Casserole.”
“Ma, did you know Benny came to Manhattan looking for me?”
My mother looks at me from the side of her eyes and returns to slicing her tomatoes.
“You knew!”
“I told him to go. I knew that man wasn’t a good man.”
“And you couldn’t call me to tell me he was coming or that a woman came to see him.”
“You sent the woman, didn’t you?”
“No, I didn’t!”
My mother frowns at me. “What do you mean you didn’t? What is going on here, Juliette? What happened in Manhattan?”
I tell my mom about everything that happened in Manhattan and even before I left Dallas. There was a lot of distraction, and she had so many questions, but by the time she dished the food onto our plates on the table, I finally finished my story. I don’t feel so lethargic anymore, and I find that I enjoy talking about Hudson.
“I don’t know what to say to that, Juliette!” my mother says.
“Nothing. You’ll say nothing to anyone. Not even Benny.”
“You said he said he’ll come for you?”
“Yes, he told me he loves me.”
“Why don’t you look so sure then?”
“It’s not that I’m not sure, Ma. It’s just that he is Hudson, and I am Juliette.”
“Stop that! Any man will be lucky to have you and will thank their stars you’re paying them any attention at all. Any man. I don’t care if he owns half the world.”
“Thanks, Ma. You’ve made me feel better. I know Hudson will come; he promised. But I still have that fear that he’ll get so caught up in business in Manhattan and decide that one is more important than the other and I won’t fault him for that. He’s sacrificed a lot for that company. I don’t want to come between him and the company.”
“You won’t do that,” my mother says. “If he wants you, he’ll make time. That’s what I have found out about men. Whatever it is that they really want, they will always make time for it. Always.”
We continue to eat in silence for a while.
“So, you have enough money for your bakery now?” my mother asks.
“Yes,” I answer in excitement. I’ll take tomorrow off to rest, but before the end of the week, I’ll be looking for a space. I pray I find something cheap and good.”
“You will, and I am proud of you, Juliette. I’m not proud that you ran off with a man, though.”
“Ma, don’t say it like that.”
“You didn’t call me before you got on the plane, and I had to contact Jenny when I couldn’t get to you.”
“You must have called when we were on the plane,” I tell her.
“You could have called when you landed.”
Now that I think of it, I don’t know why that didn’t cross my mind. From the moment I stepped foot in Hudson’s office, and till I returned, I had totally become engrossed in his life, in his demands, in his aura and wonder. Little wonder how it is that I fell in love with him when, for that week, he became the entirety of my life.
“I’m sorry about that, Ma.”
“You need to do better in the future!”
“Yes, I promise I’ll do better. Ma. We have to talk about Benny. I don’t want to have to deal with him again.”
“Don’t you worry about Benny? I know just what to say to him.”
“He’s feeling very guilty about what he did at the ranch.”
“Well, he should. We both should. We didn’t trust you to take care of yourself, and my bias was that you needed Benny. We both thought there’s no way you’d deny him a date or not consider him if he saved you.”
“You can’t help yourself Ma. You just have to dabble into everything.”
“I just want to see you happy.”
“I am happy now, Ma.”
“Yes, I can see that now. Why do you think I’ve not stated any objection I have towards the Hudson boy?”
“So, you do have objections?” I ask, chuckling.
“Of course, I do. I’m your mother.”