Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
C ora couldn’t believe she stood in Julian’s apartment, holding a glass of wine and feeling her upper lip buzz from his five o’clock shadow. Why had she kissed him? What was she thinking about leaving working and not even telling Brandon before she just took off? But the better question was, what was she doing back with Julian?
She stared out at the million-dollar view of Boston. And for a guy in his late twenties, it seemed unbelievable, but everything with Julian seemed unbelievable. She knew Julian’s family was made of money, but he had Kennedy kind of money. The kind of money that’s annual interest earned more than her yearly pay.
It’s maybe time for a new job , she thought to herself as she took another sip.
She could work at a clothing store…
A single heavy laugh left her chest.
“What?” Julian asked, coming out of the kitchen with a bottle of wine. The wine he’d probably planned on offering when he brought his date back to his apartment.
“What was her name?” she asked, hoping the sting would hit him as hard as it had her.
“Cynthia,” he said. “She’s in business.”
Smart and beautiful.
“Your apartment looks great,” she said, remembering his line for getting her to come over. “Did you end up with a designer?”
He shook his head. “No, my mother helped.”
She walked over to the painting hanging over the fireplace. The abstract piece had mostly dark grays, browns, and blacks. The image felt cold and sterile, just like his apartment. Nothing like the Julian she knew. The guy who’d shown up at her apartment with flowers, telling her he couldn’t stop thinking about her. The guy who’d told her how beautiful she looked every time they were together. The guy who’d whisked her away to Martha’s Vineyard on a whim brought her to a Celtics game and sat at home with her watching a rom-com on a rainy Sunday.
“Do you ever stay here?” she asked, looking around the apartment. There were no photographs or personal touches in the room. Everything was either black leather or steel. Nothing showed that he even had a family. He could be Batman for all she knew.
“I’m barely here,” he answered, watching her from the other side of the room. The room fell silent.
“How’s work?” she asked, not knowing what else to say.
“How’s work?” He smiled as he poured himself a glass of wine. “Why is it that you never called me back?” Ouch, he was going to go straight to the punch.
“I think you stopped calling me first.” She tried very hard to formulate her sentence carefully and politically, but there was no other way to say it. “Besides, weren’t you seeing other women?”
His forehead wrinkled. “I didn’t realize we were exclusive.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, well, I don’t want to date someone who’s seeing other people.”
“Didn’t you say you were dating someone?”
The right side of his mouth perked up as her cheeks warmed. She wanted to smack herself for lying earlier.
“I’m not serious with him.” Then she added, “I haven’t told him I love him or anything.”
He smiled at that one, biting his bottom lip. Did he remember that night on the beach in Blueberry Bay? When he told her he’d never been happier than with her at that moment? “Then it’s not too late to pick it up where we left off.”
It was all she could do not to jump into his lap and start kissing him all over again as he dragged his fingers through his hair.
“I missed you like crazy,” he said.
Every cell in her body rose at his words. “Really?”
She wasn’t sure if she should believe it. What was the saying her grandmother always used? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
She stared into his endless blue eyes, wishing she could read inside them, hoping he’d meant what he said.
“I missed you, too,” she said, her heart pounding again in her chest. She almost told Julian she’d made up the boyfriend, but he stood from the couch and walked over to her.
He placed one hand under her chin, holding her eyes with his. “I’ve really missed you.”
Then he leaned in and kissed her, long and tenderly, and her stomach swirled as she held on to his arms and kissed him back.
“Wow,” he said as they separated.
Cora couldn’t even find her breath after their kiss.
“So, tell me about the textile business these days?” he asked, moving her toward the couch.
Did he really remember her dreams and aspirations in fabric design, or was he like her father, who thought she worked at a place like JOANN Fabrics? Not that there was anything wrong with the store, but what she did was different. She designed the prints with silkscreens and natural elements. For each piece of fabric, she handpicked the natural fibers. She designed, carved, and cut out wood and linoleum for her screenprints. She created her own water-based inks. She bled for those textiles.
“There’s a show this week,” she said. “I have a couple of pieces in it. You should come.”
This made him smile, showing off his pearly whites. “I’d like that.”
He sat down next to her and got closer and then even closer. She wondered if he could hear the beating of her heart. He got so close that she could feel the heat from his breath on her neck.
“You should stay the night…” he whispered into her ear.
And her stomach sank.
“I think I should go,” she said, immediately getting off the couch. She walked toward the front door and swept her purse onto her shoulder.
“Cora!” He rushed over to her. “Stay and hang out, that’s all. Like that night we sat around the bonfire.”
It had been one of the best nights of her life. She had fallen head over heels for Julian, confident he, too, had felt that instantaneous love that only came around once in a lifetime. How wrong she had been?
The first time she’d seen him with another woman was at a bar he had taken her to. She’d walked right up to him and told him off. He had acted as though she was being ridiculous. As though he hadn’t led her to think she was the only one for him. Telling her it was love at first sight. Telling her she was so different than the other women he’d dated. Telling her every line under the sun.
She almost reminded him of those things he said, but instead, she just watched as he picked up the now-empty bottle of wine and tried to coax out the last few drops.
Sober Julian was the one she’d fallen in love with.
Drunk Julian was a jerk.
“I really should be going,” she said.
“The wedding,” he said. “We should be each other’s dates.”
An image of the beautiful blonde he’d sat with at dinner flashed in her head. She shook her head. “I told you. I already have a date.”
This made him frown. “I thought you said you weren’t serious.”
“We’re not,” she said, playing as though she could be as carefree about things. “But I might want to take him to the wedding.”
“Oh,” he said, wrinkling his nose at that. “Well, I guess I should’ve stayed with Cynthia.”
The comment hit below the belt, and she felt it. He picked up his glass of wine, completely unaware of how the mood had changed.
“Yes, I guess you should’ve,” she said, turning on her heels and walking toward the door.
As she pounded down the hallway, she took out her phone, checking to see if Brandon had left her any texts. He was going to be so mad. If Anthony found out, she might even get fired.
What had she been thinking?
“Cora!” Julian yelled out from behind. “I’m sorry. Come back.”
But she didn’t go back.
Not at first. She took a second to compose herself, something she’d learned from all the recitals and concerts she’d had to perform in as a kid. She pulled her shoulders back, held up her chin, pushed back any emotions, and turned around to face Julian.
“You realize your actions have consequences you can’t take back.” She wanted to sound like her grandmother, Jacqueline, who had always sounded wise and absolute, but Cora probably sounded childish and insecure. Something about Julian did that to her.
His mouth dropped as though he wanted to say something, but he shut it back up, which spoke volumes.
“Right,” Cora said. She wanted to scream at him for coming into Giovanni’s tonight with another woman, encouraging her to leave because of how much he missed her, and turning into a big, fat jerk who she wanted nothing to do with. “I guess I’ll see you at the wedding.”
And she was darn well not going alone.
She slammed the door shut as she left Julian’s apartment.
One bad night wouldn’t change her feelings, but she would use her head next time and not start making out with him the second he said something sweet to her.
“I miss you,” she grumbled as she pounded on the elevator button. “Yeah, right.”