CHAPTER SEVENTEEN #2
“I heard you sigh,” she whispered. “I know I'm frustrating you. I’m frustrating myself, too. I shouldn't have reached out. I really shouldn't. I just... I really needed to hear your voice tonight, Rome.”
Rome. She’d called me Rome.
Not Romeo. Not Lover.
She’d called me Rome.
And just like that, the frustration vanished. Gone. Replaced by concern and a need to shelter this woman from whatever storm she was facing.
“Are you okay, baby?” I asked.
“I am. I just... didn't want to be alone tonight. I wanted to at least hear your voice. That’s selfish of me, huh?”
My chest tightened. There was something in her tone. Something sad, defeated. I’d never heard her sound like this before. Something happened in her life that made her feel low. And she’d come to me, needing me to make her feel better.
Needing to hear my voice to keep herself afloat. Without thinking about it, I reached over and turned off my voice modulator. The next words left my mouth in my real voice. No distortion. No disguise. No barrier. Just her Romeo. Her Rome.
“You can listen to my voice for as long as you need to, baby.”
Silence.
Then...
“Rome...” she whispered, and I could hear the tears in her voice.
“I'm here. I'm not going anywhere.”
Fuck. I wished I knew what had her sounding like that. What happened? Who'd upset her? Who was making her carry around whatever weight I heard in her voice? More importantly, who did I need to kill to put a smile back on her face and lessen her worries?
“What can I do to make you feel less stressed, baby?” I asked, starting to feel panicked.
I hated that she needed me, and I couldn’t be there for her. Her sniffle broke my heart.
“Talk to me, Juliet. Tell me what to do.”
Her chuckle drifted across the line.
“I feel stupid for calling you and crying over the chat like this,” she whispered. “I’m not even a freaking crybaby.”
“Don’t feel stupid. We all have days when we feel low. Tell me how to make you feel better, love.”
“I just need time,” she said with a sigh. “In time, I’ll feel better. But tonight, I was planning to watch an anime until I fell asleep. Would you... like to watch it with me? From your own place, of course.”
“Yeah. Let’s do that,” I told her, willing to agree to whatever she wanted.
“For real?”
“Yeah. Let’s watch an anime together. From our respective homes, of course.”
“Thank you, Rome,” she whispered.
Anything for you, Juliet.
“You’re welcome. Now, what anime are we watching, and where do I download it from?”
She told me the name of the anime and what site it was streaming on. I wasn't a member. That problem took all of three minutes to solve. I created an account, paid for a subscription, and logged in.
Then we started the first episode together. I was a grown man sitting in bed watching anime with a woman I’d never met, while talking on a private call. To some, that would sound ridiculous.
And yet it was one of the best parts of my week. Maybe my month. Was it better than our sex chats? It was close. I found myself paying less attention to the show and more attention to her reactions.
The way she laughed at certain scenes. The way she cursed at others. The way her voice became animated when she talked about characters she liked. For the first time, I felt like I was getting something she'd never given me before.
Access to her world.
A small piece of it.
A piece she was willingly sharing with me. I treasured this moment because it allowed me a glimpse into who she really was. The hours slipped by, and I got lost in discussing the characters with her.
To my surprise, we both felt the villain of the story was being treated too harshly. He had a reason for being so cruel. The world had been cruel to him first. The anime continued. And somewhere along the way, I realized quiet nights in with her were exactly what I was missing in my life.
I was amazed at how excited she got during the fight scenes. My little cyber-criminal had a vicious streak. And when the villain let someone live, she called him foolish and said that decision would come back to bite him in the ass later.
I’d been thinking the same thing. It seemed we thought alike. Her commentary was becoming my favorite part of the show. I found myself waiting for her reactions more than I waited for the next scene.
A smile tugged at my mouth when one of the characters did something reckless, and Juliet immediately groaned.
“Oh, come on,” she muttered. “That was the dumbest thing he could've done.”
And when the romance arc started, she even giggled, sounding fucking adorable. She called out how sweet the villain was when he brought roses for the woman he had a crush on.
“I didn’t see that coming,” I told her, barely believing the same character who’d destroyed a village had left one street standing because the woman he loved lived on it.
“I didn’t either,” Juliet said. “But, love has a funny way of sneaking up on you.”
She was right. So damn right.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror across from my bed. I was smiling. Just yesterday, Cas told me I needed to smile more. He called me a sourpuss. Now look at me, unable to wipe the grin off my face.
All thanks to Juliet With Curves. We watched three more episodes together. It was during the fourth episode that the conversation stopped. Soft snores drifted through my speakers.
My smile widened. This woman had fallen asleep. I stared at the dark laptop screen. What I wouldn't give to see her right now. Curled up in bed. Asleep. Peaceful. Instead, all I had was a black screen and snores. It would have to do... for now.
“Hey, Juliet,” I called, hating to wake her up.
The snores continued.
“Juliet, baby,” I said louder.
The snoring immediately stopped. A second later, her voice drifted through the speakers.
“I'm still watching it.”
I burst out laughing. A moment later, she laughed too.
“I was asleep, wasn't I?” she asked.
“Your snoring is cute. I recorded it so I can one day use it as your ringtone.”
A groan escaped her. “Please, no,” she said before yawning. “Sorry. It's been a long day.”
“I figured.”
For a second, neither of us spoke. I hated for this to end, but I knew she was tired.
“Go to sleep, baby. We can finish the series tomorrow,” I told her.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“Okay. I'll send you a link tomorrow night.”
A warmth settled in my chest. Tomorrow night. The words shouldn't have meant so much. But they did. It meant she planned to call. Planned to talk to me again. Planned to let me spend time with her.
“Goodnight, sweet Romeo. And thank you for staying up with me tonight.”
“You’re welcome.” I’d do anything for you if you’d just let me. “Goodnight, baby.”
Neither of us disconnected right away. I listened to her breathing for a few seconds. Then the call ended. The screen informed me she'd left the chat. Only then did I disconnect. Closing the laptop, I placed it on the nightstand.
The room suddenly felt quieter. Emptier. I settled deeper into bed and pulled the covers up to my chest. As I started to turn over, pain shot through my shoulder and upper chest.
“Fuck.”
I carefully adjusted my position until the discomfort eased. Then I stared up at the ceiling. I hadn’t put the tracking code on her computer. I hadn’t tracked her location. I was no closer to finding her than I was yesterday.
But at least I’d gotten to watch a show with her. Tonight, that was enough. My eyes drifted shut. For the first time in over a week, sleep came easily. It was the best sleep I'd had since... Well...
Since the last time I'd talked to my Juliet.