by J A Fielding
“Like I said, this is different,” she said.
“And how do I play into all these?” Julie asked as she buckled herself in.
“I need an investor,” Melina said.
“Of course you do. God knows what you do with all your settlement money,” Julie thought. “How much?”
“A hundred and fifty grand,” Melina said. Julie let out a cynical laugh and shook her head almost as if Melina could see her.
“Maybe you could sell a few of your designer bags and shoes…and or your jewelry. That should definitely cover it,” Julie said. She heard Melina laugh uncomfortably.
“Listen, I know it’s a bit over the edge, but…” Julie laughed out loud cutting her short.
“A bit over the edge? A bit? Two grand is a bit over the edge. A hundred and fifty grand is a freaking fall into the Grand Canyon. I could get a condo or even a town house with that,” she said matter of factly. “Seriously, that is too much for me. Count me out,” she added.
“Well, I thought you might say that. But I was thinking that maybe you could talk to Steven for me. I don’t think that amount would be too much for him, especially given what is at stake,” Melina said. Julie could not believe she was hearing that. She took a long, deep breath and shook her head.
“Melina, I will say this only once and I want you to get through to you. I will not talk to Steven about some weird waste of money that you have come up with. I will not allow him to spend his money on some ploy you cooked up and if you ever mention this to me again, that will be the end of you and me. Understand?” she yelled before she hung up and tossed the phone over to the passenger side. She took another long, deep breath and shook her head. Was she actually serious thinking that she was going to fork out that much money without even thinking twice? The thought that she actually considered telling her to ask Steven for the money was even more appalling. As she drove home, all she wanted was to take a detour to Melina’s hotel and take some time bashing her head against the wall. She was just a few blocks from home when her phone rang. “Hello,” she said when she picked up.
“Wow, how bad was your day?” it was Meg.
“Oh, you have no idea,” she grimaced as she turned the corner for the final stretch to her building.
“I was wondering if maybe we could have some late night junk food. I brought the pizza,” Meg said.
“Where are you exactly?” Julie asked.
“At your place. I used the spare key,” Meg told her.
“Another fight with your Mum?” Julie asked.
“You know me so well. I brought a bottle of wine too,” Meg said. Julie laughed.
“Pizza and wine?” she asked.
“Hey, we are doing Italian tonight,” Meg said.
“Fine, Italian it is. I am a couple of minutes away.”
“See you soon,” Meg said before she hung up just as Julie pulled up in front of her building. Even after talking to Meg, the conversation she’d had with Melina was still fresh in her mind. She was still harboring homicidal thoughts as she replayed the conversation in her head over and over. When she got into the elevator, she was taking long, deep breaths to calm herself down. She was trying as hard as she could to forget about her cousin by the time she got to her place, but even after the half dozen deep breaths, she was still angry. And Meg knew almost immediately that something was up. She looked at her best friend when she walked into the condo and smiled. “You look like you are more deserving of a hug than me,” Meg said as she threw her arms around Julie.
“That’s exactly what I need,” Julie sighed as she hugged Meg back using one arm.
“What happened? Or don’t you want to talk about it?”
“Oh honey, mine’s a trilogy. Let’s start with you,” Julie said smiling as she walked in. Meg helped her with her laptop bag as she kicked off her shoes.
“Well, mother dearest thinks that I am not being a good enough mother. She thinks that I am working a little bit too much, that I need to be spending more time with my son,” Meg said. “And by the way, I don’t think she understands what joint custody means,” she added as Julie sat down.
“Really? She is still on that?” she asked.
“I don’t think she’ll ever get off that. It’s all she ever thinks about,” Meg admitted. Julie smiled as she watched Meg opening the bottle of wine. “But enough about me. What’s up with you?”
“Melina,” Julie said, rolling her eyes.
“Okay, what did she do this time?” Meg asked. “By the way, are you going to go wash up or should I give you a tidy wipe?”
“Tidy wipe,” Julie said as Meg rummaged through her bag and handed her a box of wipes.
“So, you were saying. What exactly did Melina do?” Meg asked as she and Julie wiped down.
“She wants a hundred and fifty thousand dollars from me,” Julie told her.
“A hundred and fifty grand? What for?” Meg gasped as she opened the bottle of wine and poured two glasses.
“New business venture, apparently,” Julie explained as she took a sip of her wine.
“Really? What is she into now?” Meg asked smiling broadly.
“Fashion,” Julie laughed.
“So, she is now a designer or what does that even mean?” Meg asked as she reached for a slice of pizza.
“I don’t really know how she plans on doing it. This is kind of bumming me out actually,” Julie complained before she bit into her pizza slice. “I already lost twenty grand thanks to her many business shenanigans,” she added.
“And I told you then that you were making the wrong choice,” Meg said smiling.
“Really, you are turning this into an ‘I told you so’ moment?” Julie asked, looking at Meg who was biting into yet another slice.
“Well, it’s never too late to say it. So, I told you so, dear friend,” Meg said smiling.
“Whatever,” Julie replied, rolling her eyes. “But I haven’t told you the worst part yet. She said that if I can’t afford it, I should talk to Steven and get him to give her the money,” she added. Meg almost choked on the bite she had in her mouth.
“I’m sorry, what?” she choked.
“You heard me. She is bent on getting money from us in one way or another,” Julie responded before she took another sip of her wine.
“Wow, the bitch sure is determined,” Meg said. Julie smiled and nodded.
“You can say that again,” she groaned.
“So, what are you going to do?” Meg asked. Julie shook her head and then shrugged.
“Right now, nothing at all. I have already warned Steven against her.”
“So there is no need for you to talk to him again, especially now that she has already talked about getting money from him?” Meg asked. Julie took a minute and then shrugged.
“I will talk to him. I have to, I mean that woman is as sly as they come. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had already taken the step and talked to him by now,” she confessed. Meg took her glass and leaned back.
“I knew she was up to something as soon as I saw her, I knew she was up to something,” she said before she took a sip of her wine. She paused and then downed the contents of her glass before refilling it.
“Maybe I should take your keys,” Julie said. Meg smiled and shook her head.
“I wasn’t planning on going back home. I hope you don’t mind,” she said. Julie smiled and shook her head. “Good, my son’s with his father and my mother has decided to make my place her new home. If I stay there a second longer, I might turn into the female version of Charles Manson,” she added. Julie smiled and nodded.
“I guess the women in our lives have some kind of ability to invoke our inner serial killer,” she sighed. Meg looked at her and smiled. Just then they heard a noise at the front door, keys jingling together and then the unmistakable sound of the door being unlocked. “Yeah, did I forget to mention that Steven was coming over?” Julie asked looking at Meg who shrugged.
“I was actually surprised tha
t I didn’t find him here,” Meg admitted.
“Hi ladies,” Steven said as he walked into the living room.
“Hey, babe,” Julie said, smiling up at him.
“Want some pizza?” Meg offered.
“Sure,” he said as he walked up to where they were. He planted a soft kiss on Julie’s cheek before he sat own next to her. “Wait, is this some kind of girl talk I shouldn’t be involved in?” he asked. Meg smiled and picked up the pizza box and wine bottle.
“Oh, it is so over now,” she said as she walked out into the hallway.
“Hey, what is he supposed to eat?” Julie called out.
“There’s another box in the kitchen,” Meg shouted back before she walked into the guest room.
“Remember that day I said that your country has unhealthy eating habits?” Steven asked as she walked to the kitchen. She picked up the pizza and walked back into the living room.
“Really? You still call it ‘my country’ yet you spend more time here than the president,” she said as she sat down next to her. “But if you want, there is some chili. I could heat it up for you.” He looked up at her and shook his head.
“Pizza sounds really good,” he said, opening the box. “Chicken, bacon barbecue…now this is a little more than just pizza.” He reached for the wipes Meg had left on the table.
“So, how was your day?” Steven asked. Julie leaned back and shrugged.
“Which part?” she asked smiling.
“Wow, it must have been eventful if you have to make that choice,” he said as he ate. She shook her head and took a long deep breath. “Alright. Out with it,” he demanded.
“Remember when I told you about my cousin?” she asked.
“The one who came to see me the other day? Yes, what about her?” he asked.
“She asked me to invest in her new business venture and I didn’t want to,” she said. He shrugged and looked at her.
“Why?”
“Well, let’s just say that she is a serial when it comes to business startups. She could actually be in parliament, what with all the lies in financing and shit,” Julie said.
“What do you mean?” he replied.
“She’s done this before. Getting people to finance her crazy business ideas and then she ups and walks away with the cash. And by the way, you can never really trace her. I tried after she walked with a pocketful of my cash,” she explained.
“Hmm,” Steven said.
“That’s all you are going to say?” she asked looking at him.
“Well, I could have said something else if I wasn’t in a…weird position, so to speak,” he said avoiding eye contact.
“What do you mean?” she asked turning to look at him, making sure he was looking into his eyes. She needed to know what it was he was hiding, or keeping from her.
“Well, she came to see me,” he confessed. Julie was shocked, but not surprised. She knew Melina was going to do something like this eventually.
“Wait, what? Again? What the hell is the deal with that woman?” she asked almost surprised.
“I don’t know, but she came to me distraught about her divorce,” he said.
“Her umpteenth divorce,” Julie informed him, annoyed.
“Okay, well I must say that I am impartial in this. But her story was really touching and I was, you know…I wanted to support her new life out of her much publicized divorce,” he said.
“Oh boy, what did you do?” Julie responded.
“I just wanted to help,” he said quickly. Julie gave him one of those looks that made him have a chill down his spine. “I wrote her a check.” Julie nodded and took a long deep breath.
“How much?” she asked.
“Twenty five grand.” All Julie could do was sit there silently.
Chapter 6
After talking to Steven, Julie was furious. What started out as a simple thing had become a fully blown out argument. As far as Steven was concerned, Julie was overreacting. But according to Julie, Steven was being unreasonable.
“I had told you about her. I had warned you that she would try something weird,” she had argued.
“Yes, but you never mentioned that she would be a serial…whatever you called her. I didn’t know she would ask me for money,” he’d said in his defense.
“Really? Even though I had mentioned it?”
“Jeez. Julie, would you relax?” he asked looking at her. She shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair.
“No! She knows you are a good person and she is trying to take advantage of your good nature…and you are letting her,” she affirmed.
“Okay, how exactly am I doing that?” he asked.
“By letting her get to your head,” she insisted.
“What the hell do you know about her getting to my head?” Steven asked getting pissed off.
“Oh I know plenty Steven Davenport. I have known her longer, remember?” she asked. Her voice had a hint of sarcasm.
“I don’t think you understand what is going on here. She came to me. After you said no. she came for my help,” he said. Julie looked at him, surprised.
“I don’t understand why you are defending her,” she said.
“I’m not. I’m defending myself because you seem really pissed off at me for reasons I can’t even understand,” Steven said.
“Oh, you are getting me wrong. I am not pissed for reasons, I am pissed for a reason. Just one. That she went over my head and took advantage of the man I love just to spite me and that you let her,” she said.
“That’s it?” he asked, looking at her surprised. “Just the fact that I helped her?”
“You didn’t help her. You allowed her to take advantage,” she argued.
“Why are you getting so pissed off anyway? It’s my money,” Steven said. Julie looked at him, surprised that he could even say that. “Julz, I’m sorry…I didn’t mean that,” he said, reaching for her hand but she pulled away almost immediately.
“You can show yourself out,” she said before walking to the bedroom, leaving a distraught Steven looking at her. And to prove that she meant business, she locked the door. She stood there with her head pressed against the door for a long minute before she finally heard the front door close. She unlocked the door and walked to the living room and sure enough, Steven was gone. She then walked to the door and locked it before she walked back to her bedroom. She was not sure whether she was angry or hurt. All she knew was that she needed to be out of her consciousness, to be out of reality. She walked into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. She then took a prescription bottle and opened it before she took one pill out. She knew that she was going to be out cold for the next several hours…but that was exactly what she wanted. She popped it into her mouth and then bent over the faucet for some water. Just as she swallowed, she heard a knock on her door.
“Hey, sweetie. I couldn’t help but hear the…you know. I just wanted to know if you were okay,” Meg said. Julie shook her head and then walked out of the bathroom.
“I’m fine Meg. I’ll see you in the morning,” Julie said.
“You sure?” Meg asked.
“I’m sure. Good night,” Julie said as she stripped down to her underwear.
“Good night,” Meg replied, before Julie heard the guest bedroom door open and close. Julie took a long, deep breath and then undid the clasp on her bra before she put on an old T-shirt and got into bed. She didn’t even care that she hadn’t showered or at least washed off her makeup. All she wanted to do was sleep…
When she woke up the next morning, it was almost ten. She jumped out of bed and started the shower before she walked out of the bedroom to find Tami and Meg out in the living room.
“Why didn’t you wake me? I’m late…and where is my phone?” Julie asked looking around.
“Good morning to you too. You know it’s not like I slept under the same roof as you,” Tami said.
“Oh Tami, I’m sorry. I’m just super late. That’s all,” Julie
apologized as she looked around for her phone.
“Your phone is on the table, next to the magazines,” Meg said, pointing at the all too obvious fact, Julie’s phone right behind her.
“Thanks, I guess,” Julie said before picking up the phone. She looked through her phone and then raised an eyebrow. “That’s weird. No messages, no missed calls from Dana,” she said.
“Oh yeah. I called her and told her you were not feeling so well,” Meg said.
“You what?” Julie asked, looking at Meg.
“You always take a sleeping pill when you’re upset and waking up early was not a priority,” Meg said. Julie looked at her and shrugged.
“What the hell are you talking about? I was not upset,” she said.
“Really? The screaming match between you and your boyfriend last night right before you kicked him out was not upsetting?” Meg asked. Julie looked at her and rolled her eyes.
“That is none of your business,” she spat.
“Really, even though you didn’t mention anything about the eighteen missed calls and eleven messages he left you?” Meg asked.
“Yeah, I was wondering why you weren’t mentioning it,” Tami said. Julie shook her head and tossed her phone over to the couch before she walked back to her bathroom and turned the water off before she brushed her teeth and walked back to the living room. Meg and Tami looked at her as she got some of the leftover pizza from the fridge. “We made pancakes,” Tami said and looked at her.
“What kind?” Julie asked, looking at Tami and then Meg.
“Banana,” Meg said.
“Fine, I’ll have some,” Julie said. Meg served two pancakes on a plate with a side of strawberries.
“Syrup?” Meg asked.
“Sure,” Julie said with a smile before Meg handed her the plate.
“So, are we not going to talk about the elephant in the room?” Tami asked when Meg and Julie walked back to the living room.
“I am willing to talk about it. I don’t know about her,” Meg said.