Chapter 40
Juliana
“Juliana?” The voice repeats and I force myself to look up and away from the concrete sidewalk.
“What?” I look up and paste on a polite smile. “Oh, hi Callum.”
“Did you just come out of that bridal shop?” Callum repeats, his voice still confused and shocked. I sigh and tug my hair a bit, a headache is starting to grow and quickly at that.
“Yes,” I say but offer no further information. Callum nods and looks down at me.
“So I guess you guys are moving along with this wedding?” Callum rolls his eyes, clearly not amused by the development. When I don’t say anything, and he clocks the glare on my face, Callum smirks. “What? You don’t look happy to see me.”
“Callum, after your childish display at our house party, I would be happy to never see you again.” I stare up at him with a cold look, as hard as I can manage when my head starts pounding.
“Juliana,” Callum starts and I see his hand reaching for me but I take a step back, pressing my back against the wall. I decide I don’t want to be trapped, my back literally against the wall so I sidestep around him and feel freer out in the open. “Look, I wrote that song about you when I was mad at you. And it’s not like I lied about any of it.” Callum looks kind of smug, looking down at me with a smirk on his face.
“That’s not fair, and you know it,” I say, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. “I wasn’t ready.”
“Oh, you weren’t? But you are now?” Callum steps closer to me, his eyebrows raising and his smirk growing. A pit opens up in my stomach and I feel sick, my head is throbbing even more now.
“No. Please stop.” I put my hand up to keep him from advancing but he just leans into my hand until my hand is sandwiched between our chests. He leans down until his face is near mine. I turn my head away from him and stumble back a little because of his weight.
Callum maneuvers me again and my efforts to remain untrapped are rendered useless. He backs me up against the wall of the dress shop and I’m fighting back tears now. I know Callum has a temper and I don’t want to cause a scene by trying to push him off.
When I don’t make any moves, Callum huffs a little. “So, you are ready now but not with me? Hmm, I guess that new guy of yours is better than me, right? Of course, he is. Because I am always the bad guy.”
“Well, if the shoe fits,” I say. My voice wavers a little bit and the phrase is a bit cheesy but at least I was able to speak up for myself. I gesture to his intimidating posture with my free hand.
Callum laughs a little, but there is no humor in it. He stands up straight and takes a step back. He doesn”t move too far away but at least there is some distance between us now.
I am about to say something else when the door to the bridal shop opens and Tatyana comes hurdling out of it. Before either Callum or I can react, Tatyana, still dressed in a bridesmaid dress, launches herself at Callum with her knee up in front of her and nails him right in the sweet spot. Callum doubles over and then falls to the sidewalk, groaning and grabbing himself.
“What the hell are you doing here, you -” Tatyana starts to go on a long rant filled with curse words but I jump in and grab onto her arm as I see her launch towards him again.
“Heyyy, hey there. As much as I appreciate this, you probably shouldn’t do that with the company inside.” I make a face and Tatyana makes a ‘whoops’ expression.
“Stay away from her,” Tatyana says, then loops her arm through mine and we go back into the shop leaving Callum on the sidewalk groaning in pain. Once we are inside, Tatyana smiles at me. “See I refrained from calling him anything that last time.”
“Yes.” I laugh and smile appreciatively. “I am so proud of you. Thanks for coming out there and defending my honor.” I chuckle and squeeze her arm.
“Anytime.” Tatyana hip-bumps me and leads me back to the rest of the group. I look back for a second and see Callum getting off the ground and limping away. I smile, I have the most amazing best friend.
“Everything alright over here, ladies?” Mrs. Michaels walks over to us and I quickly step away from the window to meet her so she doesn”t see Callum disappearing down the street.
“Yes, I just needed some fresh air. I’m not used to all this attention and trying on so many gowns,” I trail off with a small smile. “Whew, a lot of them were quite warm.”
Mrs. Michaels laughs a joyous laugh and links her arm through mine, pulling me back toward the group. “That is completely understandable. Take as many breaks as you need.”
“Thank you,” I say but look back at Tatyana as Mrs. Michaels drags me away. “Help,” I mouth. Tatyana shakes her head but reluctantly follows behind us.
We settle back on the couch and watch as Merrin tries on a few more dress options. Instead of joining her, Tatyana taps out and after changing back into her own clothes, she comes to sit beside me. She has a glass of champagne in her hand as she leans into me.
“Are you okay?” She whispered, trying to keep her voice low.
I look around to make sure no one can see us before I respond to her. “I don’t know how I keep running into him. I don’t know why he won’t leave me alone.”
“I’m sorry, kid. We’ll figure it out.” Tatyana rubs my arm to comfort me.
When we are finally finished with the appointment at the shop, I’ve almost forgotten that this whole thing wasn’t real. Mrs. Michaels and Merrin made me feel so welcome and having my mom and grandmother with me had only brought all of us closer. Tatyana even looked like she was having fun.
“Thank you so much for such a wonderful day,” I say to Mrs. Michaels as we all head back to the cars. The others walk ahead of us while Tatyana trails behind.
“Oh, of course, dear. I am so glad we were able to spend some time together. Hopefully, we can get together soon,” Mrs. Michaels says and pulls me closer to her to give me a side hug.
“I would like that,” I admit and she nods then gives a little wave as she gets in her car with the rest of the group. Thankfully, I don’t have to travel back with them now that Tatyana is here.
I say a quick goodbye to everybody else before finding peace and quiet in Tatyana’s car. I close my eyes but I can feel her staring at me. I grunt and point to the road. She starts the car with a chuckle.
“Drinks?” Tatyana asks as she pulls out of the parking lot. When I don’t say anything, she looks over at me and I peek at her from under my eyelashes. “You just want to go home?”
“I’m sorry,” I say with a nod but Tatyana just waves the worry away.
“You’ve had a long day. Hey, since it’s basically dinner time, do you want to stop somewhere? We can just get things to go and you can bring something back for Kurt,” Tatyana suggests and I nod, realizing I am very hungry.
“Thanks for coming out today,” I finally speak.
“Of course, I love helping my best friend in all her schemes.” Tatyana is only teasing me but I groan. I feel bad. “Hey, do you think Kurt knew about this outing today?”
“I’m not sure, I doubt it. Oh, speaking of,” I say as I pull out my phone. I have a few missed calls and unopened messages from Kurt. It makes me smile seeing him reach out to me so much. I text him back saying I am on the way home and picking up dinner for both of us. He responds pretty quickly and gives me his order for the restaurant.
Tatyana and I chit-chat a bit while we wait in the drive-through. I make Tatyana let me pay for her dinner as a thank you for coming dress shopping today. She puts up a bit of a fight before she eventually gives in and hands over my credit card to the woman in the window.
When we get back to Kurt’s apartment, I hug Tatyana and thank her again. “Thank you so much for coming out and putting up with everything. I know you aren’t a huge fan of dress shopping but I am so glad you were there, especially when Callum showed up. You are literally a lifesaver. You are the best best friend I could ever ask for.”
“Oh, I know,” Tatyana comments, making both of us burst into giggles. After such a stressful day, it feels so good to laugh. “Okay, go bring dinner home for your man.”
“Thank you!” I blow her a kiss as I jump out of the car. She laughs and rolls her eyes at me but waits until I get inside the building before she drives off.
I greet the doorman, Marvin, and make my way up to the apartment. Knocking on the door as I push it open, I call out into the apartment.
“Hi, honey! I’m home!”
“Hey! There you are. What have you been up to?” Kurt smiles at me from the kitchen. He’s washing dishes and it looks like he had a few guests over. I come into the kitchen, kiss his cheek without hesitation, and then go set my purse down before setting the bag of food on the counter. I grab a few dishes and help him finish up, standing side by side as we work.
“Whew,” I breathe out. “That was a long day. Your mother surprised me with a girls’ trip to a dress shop. A wedding dress shop,” I add in case he didn’t see the big deal.
“Oh. Oh, wow.” Kurt hands me dishes to stack in the dishwasher when he finishes rinsing them. We work together as a team and finish in a few minutes.
“I know! It was quite shocking,” I admit when our focus shifts to the food I brought home for dinner. I pull out plates for us and set our food on the plates. Kurt watches me with a smile and waits patiently until I hand him his plate. “Although we spent most of the time on the bridesmaid dresses which Tatyana hated, Merrin loved.”
I chuckle but Kurt still hasn’t said anything as we bring our plates to the kitchen table to sit and eat together. I take a few bites and look at him nervously.
“Don’t worry, though. I know it isn’t real. We didn’t actually purchase anything. It was just fun going out with everyone and playing dress up,” I say with a giggle and Kurt offers another warm smile. “So, what did you get up to while we were all there?”
“Ah, football. Both of our dads and your grandpa came over to watch the game. That’s why I had so many dishes to wash,” Kurt explains and I nod. “It was a good day.”
“It was,” I agree with him.
We chat while we eat our food, mostly talking about our days. I tell him about dress shopping but I hesitate to tell him about the interaction with Callum. When I pause, Kurt narrows his eyes at me.
“What are you not telling me?”
“Well,” I start. Kurt raises his eyebrows at me and gestures for me to continue. I sigh. “Okay, so don’t freak out.”
“Why would I freak out?” Kurt asks, trying to hide the fact that he is starting to freak out.
“See, I can tell you’re starting to get worked up and worried about what I am about to say. But before you do, I will just let you know that I was fine. I handled the situation and then Tatyana pummeled the situation.” I look at him to see his reaction and now his eyes are narrowed at me.
“What does that mean, exactly?” Kurt tries to remain calm and arranges the features on his face to appear neutral. I stare at him for a few seconds, a touch weirded out about it but I can see how he would be an excellent lawyer, remaining calm under pressure in court.
“Okay, so… The dress situation was a bit stressful so I stepped outside,” I tell him and his eyebrows knit in concern but that isn’t even the part of the day I am worried about telling him. “And I ran into Callum. He was a little aggressive and kind of trapped me and I don’t think he would have done anything but he didn’t get a chance to because Tatyana came out and basically kicked his ass and saved me. So, yeah, that is all that happened. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner.”
I rush through the story, trying to tell it quickly and make it not as dramatic as possible without lying about what happened. Kurt sits back and looks at me for a few seconds, I wait patiently for him to say something.
“Wow,” Kurt finally says. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m okay. You know, I am used to him and his antics,” I admit and Kurt’s forehead pinches in frustration and further concern.
“That’s not good, Juliana. You shouldn’t be used to that. He shouldn’t be acting like that, around you or anyone else,” Kurt says but I think he can tell that I am not in the place for a lecture so he stops short. “I’m glad Tatyana was there when you needed her,” Kurt says, changing his concerns into appreciation.
“Yeah, me too. She is an amazing friend.”
Our conversation trails off and I ask him about the football game. I can tell he wants to say something more about the interaction with Callum but instead, he lets me change the subject and acts like a willing participant.
We finish the night by cuddling on the couch and watching TV. Well, we’re not exactly cuddling but we sit close to each other and Kurt has his arm over the back of the couch. I keep sneaking glances at him but he’s staring straight ahead at the TV.
I reach up and touch his chin lightly. Only then does he turn to look at me. “What’s going on in your head?” I ask quietly, worried he’s freaked out about the dress shopping.
Kurt stares down at me and I try to read his expression and the look in his eyes but I can’t tell what he is thinking. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Kurt answers my question with a question of his own.
I nod, snuggling into his side, pleased that he is worried about my safety and not freaked out. His arm drops from the couch to settle onto my back. We’re still looking at each other and I don’t want the connection to stop. I tilt my head back, opening up to him. His eyes flash as his emotions shift. A small smile appears on his face, indicating that he understood the implication of my movement.
“Are you sure?” Kurt asks as he slowly leans down, getting closer to my lips.
“I’m sure,” I whisper, almost breathless with anticipation.
Kurt’s lips touch mine lightly, barely brushing against mine. He’s waiting for me to let him know I’m okay. As a response, I slide my hand behind his head and push gently while pressing my lips firmer against his. Our mouths crash together and the kissing turns fervent. Kurt pulls me into his lap and I feel him against my thigh. I feel my cheeks heating up, turning red, and I am glad Kurt cannot see the innocent nerves.