Chapter 29
Kurt
I try to tamp down my fury as I walk back to the community room, but I grow angrier with each step. I walk up to Callum and grab him by the collar of his shirt. I lean in close to him and practically growl, “Get off this property, right now. Or I will not hesitate to call the police.” He genuinely looks frightened for a second then he smirks.
“You invited me.” His smirk grows, as he throws my own stupidity back in my face. “What? You didn’t like the music?” With this last question, I lose it before I can stop myself, I step up and shove him. He stumbles backward, losing his balance, and falling directly into the pool. The room full of people gasps as some rush to see Callum climbing out of the pool, drenched. I take a step back, taking a few seconds to calm myself then I turn to face everyone.
“Thank you all for coming. I am so glad you all were able to finally meet Juliana, but I believe the party is over. You are all more than welcome to stay and enjoy the pool but I must excuse myself now. Thank you all for coming out,” I add for good measure and my co-worker and friend Dave, nods at me and begins to usher people out of the community room. He leads the group by jumping into the pool fully clothed. This seems to lighten the mood and everyone gets back to having fun.
While Dave handles everyone else, I turn back to Callum who is being checked over by one of his bandmates, the same one who helped him the last time I hit him. Besides a bruised ego, he seems to be fine, but I notice he still has a bruise on his jaw from where I hit him last time. I smile a bit and admire my handy work for a second and am grateful none of the band equipment fell in the pool. That would have been messy and possibly a lawsuit.
“Get out. If I ever see you near my building again, I will tell my doorman to call the police officers, immediately.” I threaten as I walk over to them, feeling my need to protect Juliana takeover. Callum sneers at me but his bandmates seem to think wiser of it and they scurry to pack up and leave the building. Callum and I stand about a foot from each other, glaring.
“You’re not fooling me.” I narrow my eyes even more at him when he opens his smug mouth, daring me to hit him again. “I know this isn’t real. And I don’t plan on keeping it to myself much longer.” He threatens and I just roll my eyes.
”Good luck trying to prove your ridiculous idea,” I say then my doorman, Marvin, appears, one of my neighbors having called him about the disturbance, and he escorts Callum out of the building.
”You alright, man?” Dave asks, looking at me from the community room kitchen where he has begun the cleanup. He’s still dripping from the pool but has a towel around his waist.
”Yeah...” I stop a moment to calm down then join him, taking the trash bag away from him. ”Thank you for your help, I”ve got it from here.”
”Okay, let me know if you need anything. Hell of a party.” He grins at me before making a swift exit. It gets a chuckle out of me then I sigh a breath of relief. Most of the guests are out at the pool so I finish cleaning up the community room and say a few goodbyes before heading back to my apartment, realizing that I’d left Juliana alone for quite a while.
When I make my way back to the bedroom, where I last saw Juliana, I find her packing up her things.
”Where are you going?” I ask and she jumps, not having heard me enter the apartment. I walk over to the bed where her suitcase is laying, half full.
She stops folding her things and looks at me, her eyes puffy from all her crying. ”I can”t stay. We can”t keep doing this. I heard what happened out there. Your neighbors and co-workers probably think I”m a horrible influence on you, bringing such drama into your life...” She trails off, looking sadly out the window before she continues folding her things.
”Juliana, it”s okay. They will understand. Everyone has had a crazy ex before. Besides, they’re all out enjoying the pool right now, so it’s not as if anyone’s night has been ruined.” I laugh airily, trying to lighten the mood and she smiles, grateful for the attempt. ”You don”t have to give up. If anything, tonight’s disaster has made me realize that you were right for telling him we were engaged. He isn’t going to leave you alone easily and I want to make sure when he does, he leaves for good.” I stand up and put my hand over hers to make her stop her folding. ”I know this has been hard for you, trust me, it isn”t all that easy for me either,” I say then instantly regret it when her eyes fill with tears again. ”No, no don”t cry. I didn”t mean it like that. It certainly hasn”t been easy but it”s been fun. Hasn”t it?”
She shrugs her shoulders. I sit on the bed and watch as she continues to fold her things. We remain in silence, the only noise being the ceiling fan and her bracelet jingling as she folds. I don”t stop her at first then when she goes back to her dresser to get more clothing, I get up and take things out of her suitcase and go to put them away. She turns around and sees me and I think I see a small smile on her face.
”What are you doing?” I smile at her.
”Helping you unpack.”
”Why? I shouldn”t stay here anymore. Today was a disaster,” she trails off but I”ve gotten her attention and she sits down on the bed, clutching a shirt in her hand. She looks so vulnerable right now. I walk over towards her and kneel down in front of her, lifting her chin to make her look at me.
”Juliana, look at me.” I see a spark in her eyes and I hold back a smile knowing she is about to sass me.
”Well, I kind of have to look at you when you”re grabbing my chin, don”t I?” She blurts out without even thinking which makes me chuckle. She bites her lip blushing. ”Sorry.”
”Don”t be. It”s good to see you”ve still got some fight left in you. Even if it was directed at me.” I let go of her chin and she smiles up at me but just slightly. ”I don”t entirely know what happened just now but I”m here if you want to talk about it... I don”t like seeing you cry.”
”I”m not a fan of crying, especially in front of other people.” She stands up, calmer now, and wipes her face with the back of her hand. ”Okay, I”m okay.” She says, more to convince herself than me but I nod and take the shirt she has in her grasp. She releases it reluctantly then turns to grab more clothes out of her bag and replace them into the drawers.
It only takes a few minutes to unpack everything. Once we are finished, I take her bag, look her in the eyes, and place the bag on the very top shelf of the closet where she very much cannot reach it. She watches, her mouth hanging open a little and the edges curling up into a smile. She shakes her head in disbelief and rolls her eyes.
”Wow, that”s cool. Sure, okay, okay. Mhm.” She rambles on and I can tell she”s enjoying herself and that she appreciates the gesture. I smile and shut the closet door.
”Do you want to go out and grab something to eat? I couldn”t help noticing that you didn”t eat anything at the party?” Once I mention food, her stomach makes a soft growling sound, she lets out a huff like she is upset at her stomach for betraying her. I know she was looking forward to the deli sandwiches but she never had a chance to grab one.
”Yes, I guess I am hungry. Can”t deny that.”
”I”ve heard worse,” I joke, winking at her before grabbing my wallet off of my dresser. ”I”ll leave the room in case you need to do anything to get ready. I’ll meet you out front?” I ask. She nods and smiles as a thank you so I exit and shut the door behind me, going out front to give her some space.
”Did you clean up already? I didn”t think I took that long.” Juliana says as she finds me near the community room. Looking over my shoulder, I take in the outfit change, a bright yellow T-shirt and flared jeans that look like something my mom would wear. Oddly, the look on her brings a smile to my face.
”Ah, no,” I say, bringing myself back to looking at the community room. ”Our guests were pretty clean. Dave, from my work, also helped clean up a little before he left.”
”Oh, well that”s nice of him.”
”Yeah, he”s a good guy.” I offer my hand and Juliana takes it and we head out to my car.