“So what are the rules?” I asked, fully knowing I was missing something in this too good to be true offer.
“Rules? Like what? Don’t feed the gremlin?”
“Like no friends allowed over or that you have a weird habit of coming to the kitchen naked for midnight snacks? So I should probably watch out for that?”
“Ha!” He laughed at me, “Sweet girl, if I come downstairs naked looking for a snack, you better have your guard up!”
Julian turned and went into the living room and sat on the couch gesturing for me to do the same.
“I’m looking for someone who won’t drive me crazy. Somebody who’ll let me be and not come upstairs unless invited. I need a housemate who’s laid back and doesn’t need a lot of attention or try to create a relationship with me.”
“Oh, I see. Has that happened before?”
Julian just stared at me, the same way I stared at him in the coffee shop.
“This was a mistake, I’m sorry. I can already tell this isn’t going to work,” he said and started to get up. “Let me just take you back to the coffee shop.”
“No, no, no, just hang on a second,” I held out my hands and pleaded with him. He actually sat back down and listened to me, which surprised me a little bit.
“What you just said is exactly what I’m looking for… truthfully, I need a place to hide out for a while.”
“Why? What did you do?” His voice seemed concerned.
I took a deep breath still mesmerized by this creature and told him all about my past with Vinny, my first attempted escape from his clutches and how the last few days had unfolded. I had no idea why I trusted him so immediately or so completely for that matter, but I felt this pull toward him. Nothing I had ever felt with another person before. Not even in the beginning of the relationship when I actually liked Vinny. I chalked it up to chemistry and hoped he didn’t take advantage of me and my situation.
He sat there and listened to me until I was completely done talking without saying a word. When I finished, I was almost afraid it was all for nothing and he would just dump me back off at the coffee shop. But he didn’t.
“Do you have any luggage or anything?” He asked.
“No, I left everything except what’s in my bag behind. I wanted it to look like I had just disappeared.”
“That was smart,” he said and paused. “Although, I might have to be leery of you running around naked at night…”
“Ha, oh no you won’t, I’ll be shopping as soon as I get settled somewhere and have a chance to go pick up a few things,” I told him wondering if that would be in his home or somewhere else. Why I trusted this guy so wholeheartedly, I had no idea, but he had me.
“Then let’s go shopping.”
4
Julian didn’t actually come forth and say he wanted me to be his housemate, but I assumed by the impromptu shopping trip meant he was at least going to try me out, see if it worked between us. On the way to Lexington, we discussed all sorts of things. I weaseled his age out of him by asking where he went to high school and I found out he was in his early thirties, though he didn’t appear to be older than me. I admitted my 26th birthday was soon coming up. Julian told me he went to Pleasant Valley High School in Spring City and then went on to New York University where he pursued a medical degree and completed his residency. He spent most mornings he had off drinking coffee at The Wishing Well (hence his chair) and the rest of his time he was at the hospital.
“Why did you come back to Spring City after going away to a place like New York,” I asked, genuinely curious.
“My father was ailing at the end of my medical residency and I knew the doctors in the small hospital in Spring City could find a place for me. It's not a big hospital and we still have to send big emergencies on to Lexington, but it's a job where I get to help people,” he told me. “I'll work in the ER when they need me to fill in, but I mostly make rounds with the patients that are currently in admitted and do a few surgeries now and then.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your father,” I said quietly, not sure where to take the conversation next.
“Such is life,” he said and we arrived at the mall in Lexington, changing the scenery and the topic.
“I’m not so sure I can afford a whole new wardrobe,” I told him as we entered the large department store.
“You probably can’t, Vale,” he said and grabbed my hand, “But I can.”
“I'm not going to let you buy me clothes, Julian,” I protested as we walked past the smoothie bar. “You just met me a few hours ago, you know. I had full intentions of getting a few things myself and once I got settled and found a job, I’d buy myself some more things. Plus, I have to pay you for rent and utilities and whatnot for bills, which we still need to discuss.”
“Silly girl,” he said, stopping me in my tracks. He pulled his sunglasses off and propped them up on his head which I noticed he did a lot. He looked me dead in the eye and stared for a second like he was trying to silently convince me or something. “There is much to discuss, and we will get there, but the first lesson that you shall learn about me is that I get what I want when I want it, and I'll spend my money however I want. I'm a big boy, you know, and can make my own choices.”
I wasn’t going to argue, but I hoped his control issues weren’t going to be a problem. I had just run away from Mr. Control Issues himself.
After trying several things on and modeling some outfits for him, I put a few things back on the racks. Once he figured out my sizes though, he started bringing things directly to the dressing room for me to try on. I ended up with a few nicer outfits to use for job hunting and to wear once I started working, two spring dresses that I could dress up or down, a few comfortable t-shirts and two pairs of jeans. I went over to find some shoes that could work for multiple occasions and Julian seemed to disappear in the department store for a little bit.
My hands were full as I carried the items to the nearest register. I thought I might get away with buying the purchases myself if I could do it before he got back. He, of course, returned as she was ringing up my items.
“Get everything you need?” He asked and I shook my head. “I’m sure not, but we can go shopping again. Today is not the only day the stores are open.” And there was that smile again.
I laughed at him and noticed he had two other shopping bags in his hand when he pulled out his wallet to pay for my clothes.
“I really have prepared for this, I can buy some clothes, Julian,” I pleaded and the cashier looked at me like I was crazy.
“Honey, when a man offers to buy you some clothes, especially an order this size, you take him up on it!”
We both laughed at her as she swiped his card and bagged up the clothes.
Back to his car we went and stopped at a full-service grocery store in Lexington prior to heading back to Spring City.
“I need groceries,” he said, “There’s hardly anything at the house and you’ll need to pick up toiletries and things too, I’d say?”
“Yep, you're right,” I said and he got a grocery cart and followed me up and down the aisles as I grabbed bath items, face wash, and some new makeup.
“I didn't think about you needing to get makeup, we could have gone to another store instead of you having to buy the cheap stuff,” he said as if he was well versed in brands of makeup.
“This will do for now,” I smiled and reached out squeezing his cold hand. We made small talk as we both put things in the cart. He called the cart a “buggy” and I laughed, making him explain to me that’s just what he’d always called it and what everyone in town said too.
“Must be a regional thing,” I said.
“Oh, there are a lot of regional things that you will learn as time passes… at least you're from Florida, so you know about sweet tea?”
“Yep, the only way to drink tea is sweet,” I cheesed, finding a commonality between the two of us. Every once in a while I would catch him pulling his sunglasses on
inside the store. I finally asked him about that and he said his eyes were really sensitive to light. He didn’t have his contacts in apparently and that helped his sensitivity. I tried to hurry after realizing he was uncomfortable, but he stopped me and told me to take my time.
“I don’t do much fancy cooking,” he said, “Nor am I home much to eat with my hectic schedule. Most of the time I just get something out because it’s just me, soooo if you want to cook, you can, or we can go out or we cannot eat together at all…” I wasn’t sure which of those options he was leaning toward so I told him I didn’t mind cooking; I actually liked to but would check with him to see if he'd be home at night before going to the trouble. I also didn't mind a simple sandwich and not having to do dishes either.
We checked out and he paid for the bill, yet again before I had the opportunity.
The car ride back to Spring City felt like it flew by. Julian and I got along very well and made each other laugh. It was the first time I felt like an equal in a conversation in a long time. Groceries were unloaded and put away in no time. He was right about the fact that he had very little food at his house. The fridge looked like it had just been delivered from the appliance store, it was so clean inside. The only real proof that anyone ate anything at all in the house was Julian's French press coffee maker, grinder, and fancy coffees. He was apparently a fan.
“On days I work, I’m often up earlier than the places in town open and I like to have a good cup of coffee in the morning,” he said showing me the different beans he had in the cabinet. “I’ll try not to wake you in the mornings when I leave though.”
It was late afternoon and I was getting hungry. The big breakfast held me over most of the day, but it was almost dinner time and we had skipped lunch. Aside from the coffee, I saw him consume earlier in the day, I didn't think Julian had eaten either.
“Okay, so I’m starving and you must be hungry since we skipped lunch. Would you show me around town and let me buy you dinner? I need to get my bearings and figure out where I might be able to get a job,” I told him, hoping for a yes.
“If you insist on buying, then I’ll let you,” he said, “And I don’t mind driving you around to show you Spring City... it’ll take us all of five minutes.” Julian chuckled.
“Oh and I also want to go ahead and pay you a down payment or deposit or something, so you know I’m serious about staying here,” I told him, heading to the couch get my bag.
“That can wait, Vale, I have a good sense about people and I can tell that you’re going to work out just fine,” he said. “As for the money, this was my parent’s place and now it’s mine. It’s paid for, so we just can split the bills that come in for utilities and stuff and we’ll call it even.”
“But… that's not fair at all,” I pleaded with him as if I just had money I could hand over to him for rent. “It wouldn't be fair for me to live here rent free.”
“Who said it wasn’t fair?” He asked. “In the advertisement I put out, I specifically stated that we would split the bills… what you didn’t know until I told you just now is that the rent is zero, so we are still officially splitting it.”
“I feel like that’s taking advantage of you,” I said. He whipped around and was in my face with his arms on my hips faster than I could get the words out.
“You’re not taking advantage of me,” he said, “But you might want to be leery of me taking advantage of you. I don’t like how you were treated prior to coming to Spring City. In fact, I don’t like it so much that I want to go down to Florida and tell that ex-boyfriend of yours how wrong he was to treat you the way he did.”
Julian was quite sexy when he was in protective mode. I think he realized his hands were on my hips and that caused him to step back.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get in your space, sometimes I move faster than I think,” he said, and hung his head.
“No worries,” I said. “And I appreciate your protectiveness; I haven’t had normal contact with another human being in quite some time.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m that,” he turned and walked into the other room and I followed.
“Normal? Heck, you’re very normal! You’re just the kind of normal I need in my life.”
“Oh Vale, you might change your mind about me eventually, but for now, let’s go get some dinner,” he grabbed his keys and we headed out to the Audi.
After I got buckled, I sent a quick text message to Finn thanking him again for bringing me to Spring City and to thank his mom for the hospitality at her hotel. He responded back almost instantly just to make sure I had a place to stay and I told him everything had worked out. I secretly hoped I could be friends with Finn and his sister after I got settled. He had mentioned his girlfriend and her brother on the car ride the night before and they all sounded like good people.
Julian drove around town starting at The Wishing Well so I could get my bearings.
“So this is where you get your coffee,” he said pointing, “It’s probably the most important place in town.”
“Excellent starting point, sir, please continue the tour,” I said and he told me about each business as we passed. The Enchanted Florist was the local flower shop. We passed by the Verboden Mansion that I stayed in the first night. The veterinarian's office was on the left and to my right was a Griffin Gas Station. That one, in particular, caught my eye because it was a bright sunny afternoon and there were shirtless men filling up customer’s cars. Almost broke my neck as that business passed us by.
“I used to work there,” Julian said with a big smirk on his face, obviously noticing my neck bend.
“You used to work where, the mansion?” I felt like I floated to the surface and got back to our conversation.
“No, I used to work for Raleigh Griffin at the Griffin Gas Company back when I was in high school,” he told me.
“You did?” I was trying not to sound surprised or shocked, but now that he mentioned it, I could totally see Julian working there. Underneath his designer clothes, he was probably a well-built machine!
“Ha, don’t think I’d fit in there?”
“Just surprised I guess! If I ever get a vehicle, you’ll have to service it for me,” I jabbed him in the side with my elbow and we both enjoyed a good giggle.
“That I can do... that I can do.”
We passed by the small town grocery store, the hardware store, another Griffin Gas Station (how many did this town need?) and the town’s chamber of commerce. A large church sat up on a hill overlooking Spring City and a sign on the side of the road listed their Easter services.
“Do you go to church there, Julian?” I asked, not knowing whether he was religious or not.
“Err, I did until I went off to college, then when I came back and my Pop was sick, I just never got back into the routine of going.”
“Do you want to go for the Easter services? We could go together if you’d like...”
“Oh, no, I don't think so, they probably wouldn't let me in any way, heh,” he made a weird laugh and I wasn't sure how to take his response, so I just let it drop at that. I didn't need to go into any further detail. I didn't want to pry.
We pulled into a packed Trixie’s Tavern parking lot and he found a space around back. Julian said Trixie’s was one of the only restaurants in town, but that it was a good place to eat. We walked in and surprisingly got a booth without having to wait.
“Hey Trixie!” Julian said to the lady at the bar as we sat down.
“Hey Jules! Good to see you!” She waved and came over to talk to us after she finished with her customers.
She introduced herself, obviously the owner of said establishment, but also as Julian’s neighbor. She lived in the condo next door.
“Trixie, this is Vale,” he introduced me. “She’s new to Spring City and she’s my new housemate.”
“I saw you had put up something on the bulletin board at the coffee shop. I’m glad you found a good one!” She smiled at me and I knew I was g
oing to like her.
“How’s the kitten doing, Trix?” Julian asked her.
“He’s doing great! My Lucky cat has adopted him as her own and they just adore one another! I’m glad you brought him over to us when you found him,” she said, squeezing Julian’s had. They were obviously good friends.
“I had no idea what to do with a kitten when I heard its little mews underneath the stoop out back. I was happy you were home that day!” Julian explained, probably for my benefit since I had no idea what was going on.
“I’ll send over a round of drinks on me and you tell your new housemate what’s good on the menu — that would be everything, of course, but Julian has his favorites.” She whispered the last part and headed back to the bar.
The menu had a lot of options and I ordered the burger he recommended. Beer cheese was a new one on me. Oddly enough, he ordered the beer cheese appetizer, which was the strange sounding dip with cut vegetables and freshly made tortilla chips.
“So, she calls you Jules, eh?” This roused a big grin from my new friend.
“You may call me Jules too if you like,” he smiled and I could tell he enjoyed the nickname.
I noticed that Finn and his sister Fiona were sitting at the booth across from us. He caught my stare and came over to say hello and introduce me to his girlfriend, Rory and her brother Mal.
“Hey Julian!” Finn said shaking his hand and turning to me. “So you’ve met Vale! Showing her around our little town?”
“Yep, met her at the coffee shop this morning, she’s going to be staying with me for a little while,” Julian said. And the words “little while” made me feel uneasy, as if this arrangement was just a temporary thing.
“Please thank your mom again for all her hospitality,” I told Finn, “And thank you again for bringing me here, I love your little town.”
A Paranormal Easter: 14 Paranormal & Fantasy Romance Novellas Page 3