by Jade Bitters
“And now you’re going to be away for so long,” whispered Juliet, pressing her head against his like she had so many times that night. “Or at least it feels that way. Please, send word, as much as you can, by any means possible. I feel like it’ll be forever until I see you again.”
“Goodbye,” said Romeo, kissing Juliet on her bowed forehead. He wasn’t looking forward to their first few hours apart, especially given that Ferdinand was sending him away to an old employee’s house via Uber...for planes. Ostensibly, the CEO had said it was because he wanted it to be quick and easy for Romeo, but Romeo had his suspicions it’d be so tech reporters didn’t ambush him on a regular flight. “If I have the chance to send you my thoughts, I will.”
“Will...will everything be okay?” asked Juliet. “Will we be together?”
“Of course,” said Romeo. “And we’ll look back on this moment and laugh.”
“I’m sorry I worry so much,” said Juliet. “You...you just look like you’re so far away. Like you’re never coming back, ever.”
“Trust me. I feel the same way,” said Romeo. “It’s because of the situation. Goodbye!” Romeo scaled down to the ground level, hopped off the wall and towards the exit he’d taken before: he knew how to climb the brick walls which he’d scaled before to get into her apartment that first night and this night past, and this time, it wasn’t going to be any different.
“Juliet! Juliet, are you up?” asked Miranda, knocking at the door.
Juliet sighed. “Who is it? Miranda? Why are you up so early...or so late? Why are you here?”
Miranda opened the unlocked door. “Why haven’t you been answering my texts, Juliet? Is something wrong?”
“I’m still not feeling so good,” said Juliet, sitting on her bed and hugging a pillow as her mentor awkwardly positioned herself against the doorframe.
“I’m going to need you to get over Ty,” said Miranda, brushing a stray blonde lock of hair out of her face. “Your tears won’t help him get better, so please, try and get a hold of yourself. Being sad is normal, but being this upset is ridiculous.”
“But it’s a big deal,” said Juliet, looking over Miranda. Prim and proper, in a tight black skirt and blazer, with a white blouse underneath, Miranda’s outfits were always the same, as was her neat blonde hair, pinned back in victory rolls. As far as she knew, Miranda wasn’t married, not even divorced, and the closest thing she had to a long-term relationship was her marriage to the job, which was a textbook unhealthy relationship.
“You’ll get over it,” said Miranda, looking at her watch. The cab’s meter was still running. Miranda was never going to take one of Thisbia’s bus’s to work, not after the protests. A rock had gone through the window of one of the buses last week. The last thing she needed was glass splinters on her Ann Taylor.
“It feels like I won’t ever get over it,” said Juliet.
“Well, you’re not upset about Ty, as much as you are about that thug who beat him, who is apparently still in the city,” said Miranda.
Juliet looked up. “What thug?”
“That thug, Romeo,” said Miranda.
Except he’s anything but, thought Juliet. “Well...hopefully, Escalus will forgive him. I already have. But nobody makes my heart hurt like Ty.”
“That’s because his assailant is still in the city,” said Miranda. How many times did she have to explain this to Juliet? Usually, Juliet was so smart, so efficient...why had she become so different recently?
“Yes, out of our reach,” said Juliet, trying her hardest to keep up the charade. She knew that Miranda had her suspicions...and she wasn’t about to verify them unless she had to. It was a game of intellectual chicken. “And he’s lucky, or else I’d punish him myself.”
“We’ll get our revenge, just you wait,” said Miranda. “But that’s really not your problem at all. Stratford and I’ll deal it with, personally. I’ll have someone sent to Austin: I’ve received word that’s where Romeo’s headed to. Well, if he thinks being blacklisted here is bad, wait until the entire industry knows what he’s done. I’ve contacted Valleywag, The Verge, TechCrunch, even BoingBoing...and once Romeo’s ruined, hopefully, you’ll be happy.”
“I’ll never be satisfied with him until I see him – see him ruined, that is – ruined, the way my heart feels when I think about Ty. Miranda, if you can find me the press releases to deliver, I’ll go to Austin for you and ruin him,” Juliet lied. “I hate how everyone’s talking about Romeo and nobody’s punishing him. I want to take the sadness I have for Ty and take it out on Romeo.”
“Find the time and I’ll bankroll it,” said Miranda, leaning back into the door frame, the bottom of the matte black clipboard nestled in her waist. “But that can wait: I have some good news, for once.”
“Thank goodness,” said Juliet, putting on a cardigan. Maybe nobody would notice she’d been wearing the same clothes for the past few days if she wore different sweaters. They didn’t smell bad at all, but to be fair, her clothing rarely did. “What’s up?”
“Well, be lucky that Stratford has an invested interest in you,” said Miranda. “He has arranged a special event for you, and that should cheer you up. You didn’t expect it and I didn’t ask for it.”
“What’s the event?” asked Juliet, confused. She hadn’t been briefed regarding any special events recently, other than the Thisbia company party, but things hadn’t exactly gone according to plan that night.
“At the Moscone Center, on Thursday morning, you’ll transfer to Paris’s company, and start working with him on Prospero Island,” said Miranda with a soft smile. This was the news she’d been waiting to give Juliet ever since she’d been told to by William and Paris. She had wanted this for Juliet ever since the incident at Tempest, ever since her young ward had gushed about the handsome young man who had taken her heart, who intel had shown was, to put it lightly, a less than ideal match for the pride of Thisbia, the intern that they would only part with under the most ideal of diplomatic circumstances. It wasn’t like Juliet would be miserable, though: wasn’t it every young girl’s dream to be whisked away to a magical tropical island just waiting to be explored?
Juliet’s eyes welled with tears. “No! I swear, on my Android SDK and on my iOS dev license, that can’t happen. This is all happening so suddenly...how can I move to, to, to some tropical island I’ve never even visited? I haven’t even talked to Paris more than a few times! Please, tell Mr. Stratford, I won’t transfer. And when I do leave, it’ll be to be with Romeo, who I know you hate, rather than to work for Paris! That’s actual news!”
Miranda looked over Juliet and resisted the urge to slap her or call her ungrateful. “You want to talk about news? William’s on his way. Tell him that to his face, rather than making him hear it from me, or God forbid, Secret, and see how he takes the news.”
William and Amy enter Juliet’s apartment. Amy was following after William, pestering him with small snippets of news about the Thisbia intern program to try and get his mind off of the matter at hand, but it was a useless effort: William only came to the apartments under the most dire of circumstances. Otherwise, he tried his best to stay out of the mission, and his damnedest to avoid leaving the confines of his office at Thisbia and his condo in Potrero Hill.
William looked over the intern. Her eyes weren’t red but there were water stains on her skin. These interns were all the same, the only difference was, every year there was at least one that was stupid enough to do something crazy for love...or was it one crazy enough to do something stupid for love? He usually didn’t care, but this year, of course, it had to be the one intern he couldn’t afford to lose to emotional folly, the one intern that actually mattered.
“It’s always foggy in the mornings...but of course, when Ty get hurts, it storms. The real question is, why are you crying, Juliet? You’re not a fountain, are you?” asked William. “You’re still sad...will you be sad forever? You’re the yacht, the sea, and the winds all at once...and of course,
in this case, your eyes are the sea, so full of salt water. The yacht...that’s your body, sailing on your flood of tears. The wind...your words. Your words and tears are uncontrollable. Unless you calm yourself down, tears and words will sink the ship. Miranda, what is your advice? Have you told her of the plan?”
“Yes, of course, sir, but...she has something else in mind,” said Miranda looking over Juliet and trying to figure out why her ward, the girl she’d created out of nothing, wasn’t operating as expected. “She says thanks, but no thanks. She’s useless to us, if she can’t be obedient.”
“Wait, what? Hold on, Miranda,” said William, brushing his navy blazer flat. “How can she refuse such a generous offer? Any other intern would kill for the opportunity to move to a tropical island, but to have a startup hosted on Prospero Island? That’s even better, doesn’t she get that? Doesn’t she get that she’s not even the best he could have, but he still has an interest in her?”
“I don’t care about the arrangements you’ve made for my future,” said Juliet, tears streaming down your face again. “I’m thankful for your mentorship, for your guidance, but you don’t own me! I’m not a toy, and I know I’m not perfect. I know I should want to go to the island with Paris, but I don’t, and I can’t change that. I’m thankful, believe me, but I can’t change what’s in my heart.”
“Did you teach her to use fuzzy logic...or any logic at all?” asked William facetiously, turning to Miranda. “What is this? I here you say you’re not ungrateful, that you’re thankful, and yet...you’re still refusing this amazing opportunity, an opportunity even more wondrous than what we can offer you at Thisbia. I can’t believe that after we built you up, you’re going to throw away the future we locked for you. I should tell Paris that you’re unworthy of his interest. I won’t, though. I’m a man of my word, and there’s a part of me that still cares about you, even after the events of this week, a part of me that, against my better judgment, is going to make sure that you’re at the Moscone Center on Thursday, even if I have to carry you there myself. You’re disgusting, you know that? You’re worthless, Juliet, if you can’t obey simple orders from the people that you do owe a life debt to. Get out of my face.”
Before Stratford could turn, Miranda put a hand on his shoulder and turned him back around to face her. “What’s your problem, William? She’s as much yours as she is mine, and you talk to her that way? For shame, Stratford!”
“Mr. Stratford, please,” begged Juliet, getting down on her knees, onto the dark green carpeted floor, and grabbing at the man’s khaki-clad calves. “Please, just...hear me out.”
“For once in your life, shut up, Juliet,” ordered William. “You’re disobedient and if you can’t obey orders, you aren’t good for anything. I can’t even look at you. Be at the Moscone Center on Thursday...or don’t come into work on Friday. Don’t speak. Don’t talk. Don’t argue.”
Juliet got up from the floor and hid her teary eyes behind her hand. “I could slap you right now,” said William. “I could, but I’m not going to. Miranda...we never thought that we were especially lucky to have Juliet at our company, but now, I wish we didn’t have her at all. She’s a burden, a virus, a worm, the little slut!”
“Leave her alone!” said Amy. “You can’t treat her that way, William.”
“And why not, you fool? Shut up, fattie,” said William. “Go back to the human resources department, where you can do your arts and crafts. It’s where you belong.”
“That was uncalled for,” said Amy, taking a mental note of every word that William had said. If she had a pink note on Monday, she’d be at her lawyer’s within the hour.
“It was?” said William. “Last time I checked, you’re my employee.”
“And that makes you my owner?” asked Amy. “You don’t own everyone, William.”
“Shut up, you dumb bitch!” said William, so close to Amy she could smell the last night’s whiskey on his breath. “Save your talk for the water cooler. Oh, sorry, the seltzer bar you asked for. Let the adults handle this.”
“You need to calm down, William,” said Miranda, laying a gentle hand on her C-level partner’s shoulder, but he turned and shrugged it off while facing her.
“Do I? Everything I do, I do for this company, which is the closest thing I have to a family. I thought you, of all people, would understand that, Miranda,” said William, getting too close to Miranda’s face. “All day, every day, I work my ass off for this company. I built this company from the bottom, while men like Ferdinand Caliban had Pyrymyn handed to them. All I’ve ever done has been for the benefit of the people working at Thisbia. I’ve arranged for one of my interns to be tutored by one of the top tech mentors the world has to offer, the world! An MIT educated billionaire, what more could she ask for? Oh, apparently, that’s not good enough for our Juliet, nothing’s good enough? She looks at this opportunity and thinks to herself, ‘I can’t transfer, I can’t leave SF, I’m too young, sorry, gotta go!’ Well, one thing’s right: don’t transfer, and she’s got to go. She’s leaving this city, either for the island or for good.”
“She’s got an opportunity handed to her, because of my hard work, that I would have done anything for at her age, and she’s giving it up for what, love? You know how many chances at love I’ve given up to get where I am today, to give her what I can today? Do what you want, but not while working at my company, while living in our company apartments. Think about what you’re giving up,” said William, walking over to Juliet, who was now in Amy’s arms, as Amy patted her back to try and stop her sobbing. “Do I joke about severance? Thursday’s coming. Listen to me, Juliet. If you’re a true Thisbia employee, you’ll transfer to Paris’s company. If you don’t, you can figure out what to do in San Francisco for the rest of the summer: where to live, what to do, and who to do it with, because if you leave Thisbia in disgrace, you will never see me again, and I will never do you another favor. I’m not fucking around. Think this over before you do anything stupid, because I’ve already thought it over. My mind is set. Set yours.”
“Why don’t any of you understand me? Miranda, please, don’t let them throw me out! Put the transfer off for a month, or a week...and if you don’t, maybe I’ll just move into the hospital, where Ty is,” said Juliet.
“Don’t talk to me anymore,” said Miranda, turning away so Juliet wouldn’t see her tears and turning her head downwards, resisting the urge to turn and shake and kick Juliet like a broken vending machine until she finally worked the way she was supposed, until she finally just listened and obeyed the order that Miranda was trying to give her. “I’m not going to advise you anymore. Do whatever you want. You’re not my project anymore.”
“Oh fuck, oh, Amy...how can the transfer be stopped? Romeo is okay, and I still love him and want to keep my promise of leaving this city with him. How can I follow through unless I leave in a body bag?” asked Juliet. “Give me words of comfort, or words of wisdom, because I’m totally and entirely lost. Fuck, fucking a, why is life so unfair? What’s your advice? Is there any good news at all from Romeo? Please, Amy...I need something.”
“You want my opinion, honest and true? Then here it is: Romeo’s been blacklisted. He’s probably long gone and not going to come back for you. If he did, he’d have to find supporters and blacklisting sort of makes that impossible. Right now, your options are limited, so...just do what Miranda and William want,” said Amy with a sigh, rubbing her temples the way she did after drinking her iced coffee too quickly, an iced coffee she needed desperately right now. She knew this wasn’t the answer that Juliet wanted. Juliet pulled out of Amy’s arms and leaned against the wall, her arms crossed and her head bowed.
“Just transfer. Paris isn’t a bad guy: he’s smart and kindly, and his guidance will help you grow. You’ll get to get out of San Francisco, like you’ve always wanted...since last week,” said Amy with a small smile, remembering how Juliet had lit up at the start of the summer upon first seeing her again. “You can always come
home to visit us. After all...Romeo can’t offer you all of that. He’s handsome, but would you give up a future as a millionaire or even a billionaire for a boy who will never be able to attend industry events with you? Think of what would happen to your reputation, if you were still cavorting with that boy. Love isn’t everything.”
Amy put a hand on Juliet’s shoulder and tipped her head up with “I care about you, and it hurts to have to say this, but...you need to move on. Go to the island, with Paris, and focus on yourself. Even if your love for Romeo lingers, you can still work on your app, and on making the most of your life without him. Put that adoration for Romeo into your work. Literally work it out of your system and channel the passion into something that can help you build your empire. Even if Romeo could give you all that...he’s not here. And Paris is.”
“And you say this as my friend?” asked Juliet. “Not as a Thisbia employee?”
“I speak to you as your friend and your companion,” promised Amy. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”
“You’re right,” said Juliet.
“I am?” said Amy, surprised Juliet had listened to her and wasn’t going to argue, the way she’d seen Romeo argue with Lawrence back at Wattage.
“You’re right, you’re entirely right, and...I feel a lot better. Please, go find Miranda and let her know that I’m going out. I’m upset about what happened with Mr. Stratford, and I’m going to Wattage for a latte, to calm down,” said Juliet.
Amy smiled. “That’s a great idea. I’ll let them know.” Amy left Juliet to compose herself as she went to deliver the good news.
Juliet listened for the sound of Amy’s hard-bottomed flats making their way down the stairs before she moved from her spot against the wall. You were supposed to be my friend, Amy, but you’re just one of them, thought Juliet as she packed her go-bag again. Is it worse that you want me to get over Romeo so quickly or that you turned against him after telling me how great he was? We’re so done, Amy. From now on...we’re not real friends. I’m going to Lawrence. If all else fails, well...I know what to do.