by Suzan Battah
“I hope everyone is enjoying their meal and thank you all for coming today. On behalf of Julia, Boric, and I, we are all so grateful to share your company tonight.”
Boric, beaming brightly, reached out and touched Randy’s hand lovingly. Julia rolled her eyes, rubbing Randy’s back for the kind words. Boric shot her a look of mock outrage.
“After all we’ve been through this year, let us go around the table and say what we are thankful for. Julia,” he said, turning to her on his right.
Julia took a long sip of her wine, smiling to the expectant faces staring back. But when her eyes connected with Chris’, she felt the sadness between them and wanted to take it away.
“For the strength and support of my friends and family after the accident, I am thankful. I’m thankful for being fortunate enough to have been loved and be in love again.”
When she said those last words, Chris looked up at her sharply. Randy pulled her in for a hug. Julia blurted out rapidly, “Now you, Dreena.”
Andreena took her turn. “I am thankful for my beautiful husband, Cole, and the new family around me.”
Cole took her hand, planting a kiss on her knuckles. “I am thankful for my beautiful wife, and the prosperity in my business.”
Glenda took her turn, giving Hilda a big hug, expressing thanks for her neighbor’s kindness in her life.
“Oh, Glenda, and I am just as thankful for your company as well. I am also thankful for my daughter’s chance at a new life,” Hilda said, holding Glenda’s hand in hers.
It was Chris’ turn and everyone waited expectantly. He took a sip of his beer and looked directly at Julia. “I am thankful for… things going well at work. Sorry, that’s it.”
Julia tried not to show her hurt at this. As they continued to go around the table, Chris’ cell phone started to ring. He excused himself to answer the call, talking low. He finally came back, approaching Julia.
“I have to go,” he said. “Thanks for the dinner,”
She couldn’t hide the disappointment. “Really, so soon? Stay for dessert.”
“I can’t. Karen has flown in from New York and is waiting for me at the Augustine.”
“I’ll see you out.” Julia pushed back a little to get up, but he stopped her.
“No, stay. I’ll see myself out.” He leaned down, kissing her cheek, lingering for a just a moment. “Happy Thanksgiving.”
Everyone watched as Chris left. The silence stretched a little too long for Julia’s liking. She rubbed her forehead as they all stared back at her. She knew they were wondering who this Karen was who had summoned him away from dinner.
“Don’t ask,” she groaned. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Julia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You are keeping Chris under surveillance? Is this a prank, Randy? Because if it is, I’m not in the mood,” she grumbled, putting the call on speaker so she could finish sketching the design in front of her.
Randy was silent for a moment. “Do you want to know what she looks like?” When he received no answer, he went on. “She is almost as tall as Chris. She’s blonde, and her hair is really short like those funky cuts. But I doubt that she’s American. Maybe she’s from Sweden. Wow, and her legs are so long, I bet they would wrap around his waist. Did I tell you how long her legs are?”
“I don’t care how long her legs are,” she snapped. “Don’t you have work to do?”
Randy started whistling on the other end of the phone. Silence except for the rustling of drop sheets and his footsteps.
“Randy?”
“One second, Jules. They’re coming!” He burst out in a hushed whisper, she could hear him moving around and put his phone down. Her pulse raced as Randy muttered something to her. “Chris…”
Beep. Beep. Beep. Slamming her pencil down, she switched the speaker phone off. She couldn’t believe her idiot friend hung up. She would have listened quietly. She folded her arms. Several annoying moments passed. Her phone instantly buzzed, Randy’s named flashing.
“What happened?”
“Julia, oh my god, Julia, that woman was all over him. I don’t even think he likes her. He kept trying to brush her off. He actually asked if he could catch up with her later, he’s taking Dylan to the zoo. Man, she wasn’t impressed. But she is really tall. Like a model or something.”
“Randy! Did you really see her?” She threw down her pencil in sudden frustration. “Chris loves long hair, so what is he doing with this woman?”
“I’m serious, Jules. Maybe it’s her long, long, long… long legs he’s got a thing for. They’re going to the Monkey Jungle with Dylan about twelve. I couldn’t help but overhear. Now, I’m calling Boric and he’ll take you over there. You can have a look at this new woman and see if you can knock her out of the running.”
An hour later, Boric arrived in full army gear with a matching outfit for her, saying they were going on a mission. Soon they were wearing camouflage army wear, heading for Monkey Jungle. She had to admit she was definitely curious to see Chris’ new woman. But she didn’t want to be seen. She knew she looked like a nutcase. She had only agreed to go in the ridiculous army pants and top because Boric had insisted he wasn’t going spying unless they were able to wear camouflage. They headed off, ready for some good old-fashioned spying.
When they walked through the admissions at the zoo, Julia got one of her crutches stuck in a gap on the wood-planked bridge they were crossing, so she halted to pull it off. “I’m a stalker,” she said to Boric as they headed into the Amazonian Forest. “On crutches. This was your idea, not mine, if he sees me. I’m just coming along for the ride.”
“Whatever, don’t be a spoil-sport. You know you want to see him.” Boric ignored her reservations. “We’re on a mission. Remember that. Everything we do is for the greater good.”
“Don’t you think it a bit odd that he would bring this woman to the Monkey Jungle?”
“He came for Dylan, Randy said, not her. If she’s a tag-a-long, we get to have a peek.” Boric, who was dramatically peering through binoculars and tip-toeing over the planked bridge, stopped and pressed a finger to her lips. “I can hear people. They must be…” Boric turned from left to right, sucked on his finger and stuck it high in the air, then pointed in the only direction they could go. “That way.”
Julia smiled at his interpretation of spying. She wondered again if Randy and Boric were playing a prank on her, trying to cheer her up. Since Thanksgiving, she had been feeling lost, knowing she had ruined her chances with Chris. She had hoped, after the funeral, that they would find their way back to each other. But now she knew better.
Her suspicions about Randy and Boric’s intentions were proved right when there was no sight of Chris with this woman at the Monkey Jungle. After spending a good hour enjoying the park and Boric’s theatrics, she hobbled over to the gift shop and snack bar. She was glad for the afternoon’s diversion, because working at home was becoming stale. She wanted to get back into the office, where she wouldn’t spend all her time regretting the past.
A few groups of children attending with their schools had a good chuckle at the camo gear. Boric started to pose until their teacher got a bit irate, snapping at the children to be quiet. Boric rolled his eyes and made a face behind the teacher’s back. That started another round of giggles and led to the teacher turning back to give Boric and Julia a dirty look.
“Okay you, let’s go,” Julia muttered in a stern voice to Boric, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him into the gift shop to prevent him from disrupting the group further.
“Hey, isn’t this adorable?” Boric put on his cute voice as he grabbed a fluffy toy, holding it close against his face. “I love monkeys. I wish we could have one at home. Do you think Randy would mind if we stole one of the real ones? They are so beautiful.”
Julia laughed at the suggestion. With Boric’s help, it was shaping up to be an entertaining day, even if she hadn’t gotten the chan
ce to see Chris. She was deciding between the black hat and the white hat, while Boric cooed over the fluffy toys, picking up one after the other to hug them.
Then she froze on the spot. In the reflection of the glass on the counter, she saw Chris entering the gift shop. He was holding a distressed Dylan in his arms.
Quickly, she picked up the large army hat and pulled it low over her face. In the background, Boric continued to adore the toys and she tried to get his attention with no luck.
Chris said to the cashier, “Excuse me, but my brother has left his favorite hat somewhere. Has anyone handed it in? It would have Dylan Augustine sewn on the inside.”
The counter assistant headed over to a plastic box full of lost property and began to sift through it. Julia was frozen to the spot and remained still.
Please don’t look this way, please don’t see me in this ridiculous get up.
The plan had been to spot Chris with his new girlfriend from a distance. But circumstances suddenly had her within a few yards of him, with his girlfriend nowhere in sight. All she wanted to do was be swallowed up into the floor, but luck was rarely on her side.
“Julia!” Dylan cried out. With a few sniffs, he pointed over to where she was standing next to the rack of hats. She couldn’t hide now.
Chris looked over in her direction, straining to see her face beneath the hat. The recognition was there in an instant and he put Dylan down, who rushed over to give her an enthusiastic hug.
“I lost my hat,” Dylan cried, looking up at her with teary eyes.
Julia gave up trying to hide. “I heard. I’m sure they’ll find it for you. Hey, do you want to wear my floppy army hat. You can keep it if you like.”
“Yeah! Yeah!” Dylan jumped up and down, taking the hat from her and yanking it on. It flopped over his eyes. “When are you coming back over, Julia? I miss you.”
Julia missed him too and her heart went out to the young boy. But she couldn’t answer him.
Boric sauntered over, a mischievous look in his eyes. He put his arm around her shoulders, leaning casually toward Chris.
“Hi, Chris, how are you? We’re about to have some lunch after all this hard work spying. Would you like to join us?” Boric linked arms with Julia and pressed his advantage further by suggesting some food while Dylan stared back wide-eyed. “I think they’ve got burgers and hotdogs.”
“Oh, please, Chris, lunch?” Dylan begged, locking his arms around his brother’s legs. The counter assistant came over with the hat from lost and found, but Dylan refused to take off Julia’s oversized hat.
From the moment he spotted her, Chris hadn’t been able to take his eyes off Julia. “Okay, let’s get some food,” Chris said mildly.
Dylan took Julia’s hand and they walked slowly toward the snack bar. He started chatting about everything, as young children do when overly excited.
“This girl came to Monkey Jungle with us. She is boring, boring, boring. Julia, she is so annoying. She went home. Boring, boring, boring. I wanted to see the monkeys but she didn’t. I don’t like her,” Dylan muttered, a little annoyed.
“Dylan,” Chris reproached gently.
“Boring.” Dylan continued. “Come back, Julia. You’re more fun. And why are you dressed like that?” Dylan struggled to climb up onto the seat, until Chris lifted him up and plonked him down.
“We wanted to blend in,” she answered, her face flaming with guilt at the lie. “You know, jungle clothes.”
“Why do you walk funny?”
“Dylan!” Chris gave Julia an apologetic look.
“No, it’s okay. I had an accident, Dylan. I’m getting better though. I’ll probably walk funny now forever, but at least I’m the only one who can walk like this. But I don’t always walk around with the crutches, it depends how strong I feel.”
Dylan frowned. “Get better quicker so you can come back over. Why are you wearing jungle clothes?”
Boric waved his hands in the air. “No, no, we were spying, but we missed out on seeing what we were after.”
Dylan nodded with a young schemer’s wide-eyed innocence, as if he completely understood everything Boric had just said.
Chris was smiling and looking at Julia with a thoughtful gleam in his eye. “Who were you spying on?” Chris folded his arms across his chest, his curiosity clearly laced with a deep understanding.
“The blonde monkey,” Boric responded, straight-faced.
Julia whacked Boric hard under the table with one of her crutches. Chris burst out laughing.
Dylan, looking confused, muttered, “I didn’t see any blonde monkeys. Oh, maybe the white one at the end was what you were spying on?”
Boric glanced at her face before whispering, “A different kind of blonde monkey, but close enough. Come on, Dylan. Let’s go place the order.”
Chris and Julia remained silent after they had been left alone. Julia wanted to know so much more about Chris’ new woman, but she was a little apprehensive about prying into his life. So she determined it better to keep her mouth shut.
“Karen isn’t used to children,” he said suddenly. “She doesn’t understand that Dylan is a main priority for me.”
“How is Dylan coping with his mother gone just after he lost his father?” she asked, looking over her shoulder to make sure Dylan wasn’t within hearing distance.
“He’s been so upset. Everything makes him cry. He never used to be like that. I don’t know how to make him feel better. But then he saw you and you just lit up his world,” he murmured.
She sensed the double meaning and perked up considerably, until he dropped a bombshell on her. “I’ve got some tickets to see Cirque Du Soleil- Corteo on the fifteenth of December. Would you like to come? I’ve got three tickets to spare.”
Julia nearly jumped out of her seat. “I’d love to come. Randy and Boric love theatre, so I’ll bring them. Thanks for that.”
“It’ll be fun,” he said. “You can meet Karen.”
An ice-cold bucket of water would have been more pleasant than hearing that. She smiled, feeling that her face would crack into a million pieces. But just then, Boric arrived with Dylan, a tray full of food in his hands, and in the confusion of sorting out who got what sandwich, Julia’s pain went unnoticed. She wasn’t going to let that get in the way.
***
With Randy and Boric, she waited in the foyer of the theatre for the showing of Cirque Du Soleil- Corteo. She didn’t want to meet this Karen. But she had to admit that the excitement of seeing Chris again was making her giddy. She thought she might pass out at one point, her head was buzzing with scenarios of what might happen. But she tried to tell herself it was just wishful thinking on her part that he would leave Karen behind and come alone.
But as the start time approached, people came and went and still no sign of Chris. At first, she imagined Chris would walk in, immaculate as ever, ignore all the patrons to grab her around the waist and kiss her soundly. Of course, nothing was ever that simple. She realized that half an hour later, when there was no appearance of the one person she wanted to see.
Fidgeting nervously, she waited as patiently as possible for Chris to show. She wanted to have the better advantage arriving before him, but now with her levels of anxiety so high, she wished she had waited till now to arrive.
Boric and Randy were perusing the framed posters of recent shows played. Two theatre employees were carrying a large framed poster carefully, watching their steps as they maneuvered their way around the growing crowd. The vibrant red flash of fire and the word Tango splashed across the massive picture caught her attention. Her eyes darted in the direction they were slowly moving.
“Tango Fire!” she cried out. She glanced around. She didn’t want to lose her vantage point here near the door. But the box office was off to the side. “He loves the tango. Boric, Randy, could one of you quickly go find out how much tickets to Tango Fire are and when it’s playing.”
“I’ll go. That looks like a hot show. Ooohhh, Tango
Fire,” Boric squealed, dancing his way over to the box office.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Chris at the entrance. Actually, she didn’t need to see him. She could feel his presence immediately. She smiled, holding her hand up to wave, but stopped herself. Her insides felt like they had been ripped out from her belly.
A woman was next to him, clutching onto his arm, flashing a beaming smile of perfect white teeth. Chris patted her hand and that was when his gaze locked with Julia’s, his brows lifted in welcome. He said something to the woman and headed over.
Julia quickly smiled, knocking Randy on the arm to get his attention. “Chris, thanks again for the tickets,” she said as he came closer.
“You’re welcome. This is Karen.” He indicated the woman on his arm.
Karen was almost as tall as Chris, with the leanest longest legs Julia had ever seen, her blonde hair cropped into a fashionable bob hairstyle, wisps of hair flicking out. The complete opposite of Julia, she was elegant, streamlined, and glossy.
Chris had always told her how much he loved her long hair. Now he was with this excessively tall, short-haired fashion icon. Julia wanted to scream. His new girlfriend was clinging tight onto his arm, as if she would topple over on those long legs without him.
Karen gave her a tight smile, “Nice to meet you, Juliette.”
“It’s Julia,” Chris corrected Karen, frowning.
“Of course, Julia… I apologize.” She tilted her head, in all sweetness, placating him by rubbing his arm with a pout. “Chris speaks very highly of you. So have you been to seen Cirque Du Soleil before?”
Julia didn’t know what to make of this woman. She turned to Randy for support, but all she got was a shrug. Is she being fake?
Recovering, Julia looked between Chris and Karen before she could answer. “No…no… I… I haven’t. I hear the performance is very good though.”