“Don’t break her heart again,” Julian finished while nodding as he wiggled his eyebrows at me. He reached for the knob on the door but then turned to look at me again. “You know it doesn’t really matter if you finish your makeup or not.”
I waited for the punchline but Julian didn’t add anything. “I’m not sure if that’s meant to be a compliment because you’re leaving it at that. I mean, you could always mean that no matter how much makeup I put, I’ll still look like a monster.”
Julian laughed but didn’t nod in agreement. “Violet said you were pretty. My niece doesn’t really lie and for the record, that one time I saw you without your makeup on, all I could think of was my god, she’s even more beautiful without it.”
I stood there, rooted in my spot as I watched Julian leave, my heart racing erratically that I felt like it could cause a stroke. I took in deep calming breaths until I was capable of finishing my makeup. Damn Julian, for having this kind of effect on me. I liked it better when he made me shake with anger because he was an asshole, not shake with feelings because he was too sweet.
Once I was done, I quickly grabbed my purse and stuffed my iPad in it because it had the list of things I was meant to do for Julian today. When I was halfway down the stairs, I could hear Julian and Amber’s conversation. They weren’t in the living room anymore.
“Oh god, I always knew you had it in you to finally pull it off!” Amber said and when I reached the kitchen, she had her hand against Julian’s chest and she was smiling at him so genuinely. “I’m sure your Grandpa is smiling at you in heaven.”
Julian looked down on the ground and when he looked at Amber again, the softness in his eyes were evident. “I never really mentioned it to people, especially to the public. I always felt like the first person outside of my family to know this should be you.”
The sincerity of his words along with the way he looked at Amber and the small smile playing on his lips was all it took to pierce at my heart. For the second time, since Julian came into my house, I felt like an intruder to the second chance the universe seemed to be giving the both of them. I hated Julian for breaking Amber’s heart once and ripped him out of her life to protect her.
Now here they were, in my own home and staring at each other with such intensity that I was waiting for them to lean in and kiss each other senseless the way they used to, as if the five years never happened. They say that when two people are meant to be together, they find their way back to each other. Maybe this was their homecoming.
But why did it feel like my nightmare come alive?
“Audrey!” Amber was the one who noticed me and moved away from Julian and wrapped her hands around mine, pulling me in their little bubble. “God, you have no idea what Julian has done or maybe you already do since you’ve been his assistant.”
“Actually,” Julian drawled, looking at me with that familiar Hudson smirk plastered on his face. “She doesn’t. I never told her and I didn’t make it as a part of her list. As I said, I’ve always done this on my own.”
Amber cooed. “You really did tell me first before anyone else knew.”
She looked so touch and I was so confused and had no clue what they were talking about. With Amber’s statement, Julian shifted to another foot, looking slightly uncomfortable and a little embarrassed. “Actually, I wanted to tell Audrey all about it today since I’m meant to move them in the later this afternoon. I meant to do it as a surprise.”
Something flashed in Amber’s eyes that I couldn’t quite understand what it meant but she bit her bottom lip and nodded at the two of us. “I see.”
I wasn’t sure if she meant the two words to sound cold but I felt the chill in them. I swallowed and nervously looked at Julian. I wasn’t sure why I even felt anxious in the first place but the look on Amber’s face bothered me and yet Julian didn’t even seem fazed with what he said. Instead, he was looking at me with soft eyes.
I licked my bottom lip and tried to act cool and nonchalant despite the nervousness I felt at the growing tension between the three of us. “What are you talking about, Julian?”
For the first time since I met him, I wanted Julian to tease me or say something that would annoy me because right now would be the most acceptable moment for me to be annoyed by him. But instead, he took a step closer to me and reached to tuck a stray hair behind my ear and then had that silly endearing smile on his face again, the one that would make any heart melt. Even mine.
Especially mine.
“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I tell you now, would it?” Julian said, looking at me with his gray and blue eyes and making it seem like we were the only ones in the room when my best friend- who also happened to be his ex-girlfriend- was with us too. “So let’s get going because I don’t want them to wait anymore.”
17
Julian
Amber was literally glued to my side all day long. I had originally planned to pick up Audrey and bring her to the house that I finally bought. I wanted her to help me with the furniture before the family got there before dinner and this time, I actually took my car with me. I didn’t know that Amber would be at her house and she didn’t mention it when I called her.
So we took Audrey’s car- because mine could only carry two people- and Amber sat in the passenger seat while I was stuck in the back. When we arrived in the neighbourhood, Amber then pulled me to her and laced her arm with mine while Audrey trailed behind us.
I didn’t really mind talking to Amber because it was fun to catch up and she didn’t seem to harbour any kind of resentment towards me for what had happened between us. I wanted to apologize to her but I wanted to do it privately and I didn’t want Audrey to think that I did so because she was around.
“So how did you choose the family?” Amber asked in a low and quiet voice. Audrey still had no clue where we were going. About two weeks ago, she also didn’t have a clue why I suddenly needed a storage place when I technically did not even live in LA.
It took us a while to get to the southern part of Los Angeles. There was a homeless shelter located there that I’d talked to because I wanted to provide an actual home for a family. That was why I chose a neighbourhood not too far from the shelter and bought a bungalow house for the family I’d chosen to help this year.
“The kid found me,” I said quietly, glancing at Audrey who followed behind us. She wasn’t even looking at us since her head was down and she seemed to be watching her feet. “Sometimes I come to these parts just to walk around and observe the people, especially the ones without homes and there was this kid at the park. He was helping out in a food truck and then offered me food.”
Amber tilted her head to the side. “He offered you food?”
The corner of my mouth twitched into a small smile as I remembered the memory. “He thought I was homeless. A thirteen-year old kid who worked at a food truck during lunch time so he could get a free meal offered me half of his food. I started to visit him regularly after that.”
“I didn’t think you’d be touched that easily, Jules,” Amber teased, leaning close to me so that I could smell her mild perfume that tickled my nose. It wasn’t that the scent bothered me, it was more like I preferred the lighter and sweeter scent that Audrey wore.