Chapter 20
Sitting across from this loser makes me realize that Juliana was like Carmen in the sense of dating someone that couldn’t reach my level until they met me.
Juliana and I aren’t dating but we’re married.
She couldn’t find a husband better than me anyway because unlike Carmen, I wouldn’t let Juliana enjoy life so easily with someone else.
The thought of Juliana even considering someone other than me makes me shift my eyes to find her in the damn diner.
She’s behind the counter, taking twice as long to bring a damn cup of coffee. She’s stalling because of Edwin. I’m not jealous of anything that has to do with him because if Edwin knew better, he wouldn’t have come out here to look for her, but he did.
Edwin is sizing me up as if he could ever fight me to begin with. I watch him as he does so with a smirk on his face. Maybe because he’s bigger in stature and I’m not, he thinks he cannot get put down.
Or it could be my status. The suit and the last name Crowne has people believing that I’m nice or I watch what I do. They’re not wrong but they are when they think I won’t do something about being wronged.
Swinging first was always the way I solved problems growing up and my father hated it but after I got old enough to tell him to fight me, he stopped.
“So you married the woman who killed your wife?” he asks.
“And you’re sitting across from me talking shit about my wife like I won’t reach over and choke you to death.” I shrug my shoulders. “Next time, say hi when Alaric Dean Crowne sits across from you.”
Edwin scoffs and his eyes go to my wife.
My wife?
No. Juliana.
Juliana’s hand shakes a little as she softly places the coffee mug right in front of me. “Ca-, ca-,” she clears her throat. “Can I get you anything else?” she asks.
I can feel her damn eyes on me and when I turn to face her, her eyes widen as if I said something crazy.
“Ask me again.”
This isn’t a show of power, this is what Juliana needs to pay attention to.
“Can I get you anything?” she asks again with a weird expression plastered all over her face.
“Mrs. Crowne.” I call for her attention.
Edwin releases some sound that makes Juliana jump back but I do nothing else. Juliana looks down to her feet like a woman who cowers for some loser like Edwin and it angers me.
There’s this new type of rage that starts from my skull and travels all the way to my fist that I form without any added effort. My eyes deadpan to Edwin and he isn’t looking at me, he’s looking at Juliana waiting for her to say something, or rather do something yet she does nothing.
I can see from my peripheral that she’s just standing there, staring at her work shoes as if they’ll do something like will her to walk the fuck away.
There was something about Juliana in this moment that made me turn to her.
I'm not sure if it’s the fact that she was calling my name more than once yet I couldn’t hear her because staring into Edwin’s cranium was much more enticing in a way that made me want to crack it open or the fact that I even heard her over the fog that my rage was becoming.
“Alaric.”
She calls my name again once I look her way. I tilt my head as the way to answer her and she takes another step back.
“What?” I ask her. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting the rest of my order, Mrs. Crowne?”
Juliana blinks as if I’ve grown a second head but she recovers quickly.
“You haven’t said what you wanted.”
“You know what I want.”
“I don–.” she lies.
“Order up, table 5!” The cook yells out and Juliana turns to the little window that shows us the kitchen. The cook is staring right at her and the guilt is all over her face.
“Like I said, you know what I want.”
This prompts Juliana to pivot and go straight to collect the food. I watch her every step as she fills up water in those plastic glassware that they have at all these diners then she walks over back to us.
Does she know, she sashays when she walks?
No. Focus, Alaric. That doesn’t even matter.
Juliana places a cheeseburger and fries in front of me then she reaches over grabbing the ketchup passing it to me and the salt. My brows crease wondering when she found out about my intake of salt but I let it go chalking it up to the fries needing extra salt.
“Thank you, Juju.” The nickname slips out before I can even tell myself to stop.
It doesn’t make sense but it’s out there now.
“You’re welcome.” she says.
“Are you two pretending I’m not here or something? I also want to eat!” Edwin cries out like a little fucking baby.
“Shut up.” I tell him. “If you want to eat, go back to the fucking hole you dug up out of and eat the fucking vermin in there. It might feel odd or weird for you because it’s basically you eating your own kind but fuck it, but my wife isn’t going to serve you or take your fucking order.”
“Your wife?” Edwin laughs and reaches out for Juliana.
Without causing a commotion, I reach out and grab Edwin’s wrist twisting it. He cries out in pain but I don’t care. I keep twisting until the sound of his bones snaps.
“The next time you reach out to touch what you’re not supposed to touch, I’ll fucking gut you. My wife doesn’t service you or anyone else in this fucking place. Take your shit and go, vermin.”
I let his wrist go and he yelps, holding it close to his chest. The tears fall down his face and that’s when I see the embarrassment click in his eyes. He stands causing Juliana to move back several steps, I hear him call her a fucking bitch but I keep eating.
I hear as Juliana takes a step in the same direction as Edwin.
“You take one more fucking step, Juju...” That’s all the warning I give her before I hear her huff her way to where the manager is calling for her attention.
Juliana needs to give him the same fucking attitude she gives me instead of standing there mute as hell but I’ll get down to the bottom of it. There was something there, something I missed and I can admit that it piqued my interest to dig deeper so I can discover what it is that I’m missing.