It's all in a nod

June 2003


Shelly- we need to talk!

Me- can it wait til tomorrow,  lil busy

 I didn't wait for her to respond I flipped my phone shut and hid it in the junk drawer. Slamming it shut, I told myself not to let her drama mess up my night.

Shelly was quickly forgotten as I sat down to dinner with Jacob. We chatted some before he got up to help me with dishes, he washed I dried. Somehow we got on the topic of movies. Sometime after the tenth movie quote I called him out.

"What's with guys and quoting movies?  You see a movie once and all of a sudden you have it memorized! "

"Yeah its in the guy handbook,  we get it during sex ed, remember when they split the guys and girls up?  Lot of great stuff in it, no talking at the urinal, never wear whitey tighty's, never date a friend's girl, there's also a whole language in head nodding."

"What do you mean language in a head nod?" I laughed as I handed him the last dish.

"You know, raise your head to acknowledge another dude or say hi, head down says thanks or is a way to show respect." His mouth curved upward before he tilted his head to the side and nodded upward.

"What's that one mean?" I asked even though I think I got that one.

He wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me toward him.

"It means, come here." He whispered in my ear sending shivers up my spine. I felt his warm breath move over my neck while he slowly placed gentle kisses on my sensitive skin. I pulled back grabbing his head and bringing his mouth to mine. We stayed that way, heavily making out before he finally pulled away.

"As much as I'd love to do this all night I have to be at work by 7 and I don't have my work clothes." He reluctantly let go of my waist and ran a hand through his dark blonde locks. I stuck my lower lip out before walking him to the door.

"Goodnight Jacob," I lifted up on my tiptoes to get one last kiss. He backed out of the doorway smiling with a little wave.  Once he was out of sight I shut the door and went to retrieve my phone. I sighed when I saw I had two missed calls and five texts, all from Shelly. I opened the texts first before I decided if I should call back.

Shelly- answer jules! I won't be at work tomorrow

Shelly- I was fired!

Shelly- did don say anything to u? U were in his office for a long time!

Shelly- your silence says it all

Shelly- sorry, I'm just upset, call me!

I snickered at the last two, how dare she try to say I had anything to do with it. Whether it's the truth or not she's the one who made her bed when she started lying. Ugh I was regretting ignoring the situation all night and not talking to Jacob about this. Not that he wanted to hear about my work drama but I wanted to talk to someone. I was heated and a part of me just wanted to call and chew her out. Another part wanted to salvage some sort of friendship, maybe if I talked to her she would fess up and be sorry?  I looked at the time on my phone 11:30, too late to call and too late to go to Vicky's. This was just going to have to wait until tomorrow.  I wasn't tired so I stayed up for another hour watching tv. When I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer I got ready for bed. I couldn't help myself I checked my phone again.  This time I had two messages, neither from Shelly.

Jacob - tonight was nice, wish I was falling asleep next to you, goodnight Jujie

This made me smile. Before responding I opened the other.

Cal- hey beautiful how about that dinner you owe me,  Wed good?

I frowned at this one, I didn't know how I felt about Cal anymore and I wasn't sure if going to dinner with him was a good idea. Curiosity won out and I agreed to meet him at a pub nearby Wednesday night.  Putting my phone away I finally drifted off to sleep.


The next morning I overslept and had about 10 minutes to shower and stuff a brown sugar pop tart in my mouth before speeding off to work. I pulled up just in time.  Patrick, Karen and surprisingly Don's cars were already parked out back. I had somehow forgotten about Shelly's text last night until I didn't see her car, bringing it all back to memory.

In order to get to my desk I had to walk past Don's office. Hurrying by I almost made it until I heard my name called out. Backing up I ducked my head in and greeted him with a smile. I was met with a curt hello but no smile. He asked me to step in for a moment. I swolled before stepping in slowly.

"I talked to Shelly yesterday,  she denied everything.  Said she was only giving them the usual life discount. When I brought up the differences in premium not matching what the clients were telling me she continued to deny she did anything.  It wasn't until I went into the severity of this, she could loose her license and of course her job, that she broke down." He paused then and looked up at me.

"She confessed?" I was crossing my fingers hoping it was finally out in the open.

"She did, apparently she was showing the client a quote with high mileage and higher driver level, then she would show them the real quote and say the difference was the life policy. "

"I wasn't sure exactly how she was doing it but that makes sense as to how we couldn't get any numbers to match."

"Yes, well I did let her go last night after our talk. I'm not telling you who to be friends with but I will let you know she told me Patrick and you both knew about it for a while and never told her to stop. In fact her exact words were, 'Jules was even thinking about doing it too'. "

"Don, that's completely a lie, I would never..." I began defending myself before he interrupted me.

"It's OK Juliette I know. I am working with corporate on the proper procedure for this issue. In the mean time let's get back to work, I'll call you in sometime this week to begin training. Thank you." With a nod he excused me, I guess Jacob was right, guys can say a lot with a nod.

I got back to my desk and was instantly confronted by Patrick.

"Shelly was terminated yesterday!"

"Yes, I just found out." I was going to be as vague as I could with him. He's slept with her and I don't know how loyal he may feel toward her.

"I can't believe she was lying like that to get a sale. And to think I actually had a relationship with her. " He shook his head and rolled his eyes. As much as I wanted to shoo him away, he perked my interest.

"Relationship? "

"Yeah,  sorta, we hook up occasionally. Mostly just sex but it has been going on for a year almost. I think she wants to make it official but she can't shake Gavin."

"You are still sleeping together!" I smacked my hand against my mouth when I realized how loud I was getting.

"Well yeah, once you've had Patrick you can never give him up." He smirked and winked before he headed back to his desk. Ugh my stomach churned. What the hell, some friend Shelly is, or should I say, was. I pushed all thoughts of her away before distracting myself with work. By five I was ready to run out of there.

Opening the door I was ecstatic to see Alicia sitting on the couch flipping through a magazine.  I plopped down beside her and spit out everything,  including the conversation with Patrick.

"She's cheating on Gavin! What a skank, Jules I don't know how we missed this. I thought she was so down to earth and sweet." Alicia looked at me shaking her head.

"I know, it's one thing she was lying it's another she tried to throw me under the bus. "  we chatted a while longer about it before I brought up tomorrow's dinner with Cal.

"Like a date?" She looked at me skeptically.

"No,  I Mean I don't think so. I don't know, I don't think I want to get back together.  Especially with how great I feel around Jacob. But...it's Cal." I really didn't know how I felt about Cal anymore.

"Well, I like Jacob better but it's your choice. You aren't technically with Jacob so there's nothing wrong with going to dinner.  Just go and find out what he wants, maybe he just misses your friendship? "

Yeah, I guess. He does remind me of home and I guess I've been missing that a little lately." It's been a year since I moved here and even though I had no desire to go back I did miss some of the familiarity.

"Speaking of home, Dean's family is throwing him a huge graduation party at their house. I've met them before but only his parents and sister,  you have to come with me. I'm nervous, I know his sister doesn't like me, what if the rest of the family doesn't either?" She grabbed my hand and gave me a pleading look.

"Of course I'll go, and relax they'll love you," I threw her hand off me and got up to find something for dinner.

"When is it?" I called out while sticking my head in the fridge.

"Saturday,  it's near LA." Wasn't too excited about going to LA but I've heard the house Dean grew up in was pretty amazing and I've been wanting to see it.

"Hungry? I didn't see anything and suddenly have a craving for Thai." I smiled knowing she would never pass it up. We ordered take out and spent the rest of the night watching TV and catching up. I know it sucked to have such a crappy friend in Shelly but I knew I'd always have Alie.





Quick note: next post will be about Wednesday's dinner. Then I was thinking about doing another Alicia POV for Dean's graduation, or would you rather just hear about it from Juliette's POV?

Hey everyone,

It's been a crazy busy week! Hoping to have a chance tomorrow to get some writing done.  Thanks for commenting and reading!!!

Juliette

No need to worry

June 2003


"Please Juliette, have a seat," Don waved his hand at the chair across from him. I was trying to read his face, was he upset? Why was I here? Karen sat in the empty seat next to me. Now I was getting nervous, why did she need to be here, I didn't do anything. I silently cursed and told myself to shut up, nothing has happened.

"Juliette, you've been here a year now, correct? " Don said, he was neither smiling nor frowning.

"Yes, that's correct, on the 24th." I swolled.

"Well I like to pride myself on staffing the most loyal, honest and hardworking individuals in the company." He paused then and his lips began to curl upward until he flashed that trademark grin. This eased my stomach,  slightly.

"You're probably wondering what I'm talking about, I'll get to the point. I have been very impressed with your work performance this last year. You've managed to juggle work and school and still come out on top with your numbers. I haven't had a customer complaint yet, and this is why I've decided to offer you a position, as assistant manager. This office has been doing very well lately and I was just informed by corporate that I can hire another 2 staff members. With the office growing, there is a need for additional responsibilities."

"Wow thank you, I'm flattered you would think of me for the position." I really was, considering Patrick and Shelly started around the same time last year.

"I can read people well Juliette and I have confidence in you to handle the workload. More importantly I trust you, some of your responsibilities will be submitting a payroll report and training new staff. I would also like for you to take over the employee schedule.  Of course I know this means less time for other tasks, I would like for Shelly to take over the beginning of day reports and Patrick to work on incoming email and voice mail. Depending on the experience the new hires will have, we can always change that." He paused again then asked if I had any questions or concerns.

"I would be working with the schedule, would everyone go through me for time off or would that still go through Karen?"

"You'll have access to everyone's file, you'll be the one who knows how many sick days or vacation days they have. Unless someone has an issue of having no paid time off, then yes, you would handle it."

"You can always come to me too if you have any concerns about it." Karen piped in, speaking for the first time in 15 minutes.

"Ok, I'm sure I may have some questions as I get settled. For now though, I don't." I said with a large grin.

After going over my new salary Don informed me I would be training with him. He would show me the payroll systems and scheduling. I inwardly squealed, definitely wouldn't mind spending some time with him. Hopefully I controlled myself and didn't stare like a school girl the entire time. I must of been beaming because he paused and gave me broad smile before continuing.  He let me know they also wanted me to sit in during the interviewing process. I wouldn't be hiring, however he wanted me to be involved and give my feedback.

"We start interviews next week, I'll put it on your calender."  He leaned back in his chair and asked Karen if there was anything else. Shaking her head she smiled and got up to leave, leaving just Don and I.

"Juliette there's also something I would like to talk to you about." Don leaned forward frowning.  Ok..I can't be in trouble they just promoted me. I felt like a bobblehead as I nodded for him to continue.

"It's come to my attention that there may be some unethical actions going on in my office. I'm not blind and I feel offended that someone thinks low enough of me to think I wouldn't notice. Is there anything you would like to inform me?"  Geez, way to make me feel guilty.  What do I say, Shelly is my friend. I know if I had really found out what's going on, I would have inevitably gone to Don. I guess I was hoping to prolong this. I swolled before telling him what I suspected.  It all came out like word vomit.  I tried to throw in the fact that I don't have any evidence, just speculation. After the client the other week I couldn't help but wonder what's going on.

"Patrick came to me also with a similar situation. He said no matter what he tried he couldn't get the 'free policy' the client was told about."  He exhaled loudly and dragged his palm across his forhead. Even angry Don was sexy. His scrunched up brows and sad expression made me want to hug him and tell him it would be ok. Wait..snap out of it Juliette! I lowered my head in defeat.

"Ok, well I've got what I need,  thank you for letting me know about the client. However in the future, I know she's your friend but even if it's just a suspicion, please don't hesitate to come to me." He raised his brows to emphasize his seriousness. I agreed and thanked him again for the promotion before heading back to my desk.

Passing by Shelly I saw her busy typing away on her phone. Pausing at her desk I considered saying something, my mouth opened with no words following.  Instead I smiled and hurried to my desk.  I was surprised at how relieved I felt. Relief that I wasn't holding anything back from my boss and relief that I wasn't the only one who was on to Shelly's selling practice.  Relief was quickly replaced with guilt when I realized I just threw my friend under a bus. Instead of dwelling on the matter I buried myself in work. As soon as the clock struck five I ran out before anyone could mutter anything other then 'bye'.


Opening my apartment door I scanned the place before seeing a message by the front door. Alicia and Dean went to a work happy hour and she was staying at his place. I stuck my bottom lip out and pouted, I wanted someone to talk to. Pulling my phone out I decided to call Jacob, he always brightened my mood and we actually haven't gotten much of a chance to be alone together. As the phone rang I repeated, "don't be busy, don't be busy, don't..."

"Hey Jujie!" Butterflies instantly danced in my stomach just hearing his voice.

"Wanna come over?" Straight to the point, for some reason I felt out of breath.

"Yeah, I was playing basketball, I'll run home to shower and change. Maybe be there by 7:30?"  I told him I'd make dinner before hanging up to get ready.

Looking through the almost bare cabinets I spotted some pasta and sauce. I frowned, it was better then nothing but kind of hard to show off your culinary skills with spaghetti.  Peeking in the fridge I saw bacon, eggs and heavy whipping cream. I got excited when I saw we still had parmesan cheese, I switched my plan to Penne a la Carbonara. It's one of my favorites, it's like a hyped up homemade mac n cheese, with bacon! I got to work on dinner and ran to change while the pasta boiled.  By the time the dish was just about done I heard a knock at the door. Checking myself in the mirror I fixed my hair a little before opening it.

Jacob stood in my doorway holding a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine. Blushing I thanked him and grabbed the flowers. Inhaling their smell I noticed they were white roses.

"They're beautiful, thanks Jacob."

"You said you always wanted a pure white bouquet of roses when you got married someday, so I figured I'd be safe with white roses." He gave a shy smile before bringing the wine to the kitchen.  I stood for a moment before following,  I do remember mentioning that about my wedding bouquet,  but the last time had to have been years ago, it was something I said as a kid. I also wanted to wear flip flops and have white lights strung Everywhere! I giggled remembering how detailed I was as a kid.

"Mmm it smells heavenly Jujie," Jacob said handing me a glass of wine.

"Well you better be hungry because I made enough for an army."

"Hahaha, sounds like your mom, she always cooked way too much food."

"She had five siblings can you blame her?"

"Wow,  five kids. Most of been a lot on her mom."

"Probably...wait, what's that look for?" I scrunched my face as he started laughing.

"Nothing it's just, I remember when Amanda and I came to stay with you guys, we were like 7 or 8. You told us to watch, then you screamed at the top of your lungs, 'daddy'!" He mimicked my apparent expression and whisper yelled the 'daddy' part.

"Your dad came running, you pouted to him that you couldn't find your shoe. He then hurried around looking for it. Once he found it and left you laughed and said, 'see I got him wrapped around my pinky.' "  Jacob continued to laugh. I was wasn't laughing with him, instead I was embarrassed,  I was always a daddy's girl and I know I abused it at times, but that just made me sound horrible.  Jacob saw my face and stopped smiling.

"Hey, I'm sorry Jujie, I thought it was funny, you mentioned your mom's five siblings then I remembered you as a kid." He grabbed my glass and set it on the counter before he put his arms around me.

"You're one of the nicest human beings I know," he softly kissed my forehead. "A bit of a daddy's princess but.." With that statement I pulled back and swatted his shoulder.  He tightened his grip around my waist and pulled me back. It didn't take long before we were heavily kissing. He slid both hands down and squeezed my butt. I moaned into his mouth as he lifted my thighs up and sat me on the counter. Reaching for his shirt I ripped it off and began kissing his neck. He was in the middle of unbuttoning my blouse when the buzzer went off.

"Breads done," I panted. He reluctantly released me. After turning off the oven and taking out the bread I asked if he'd rather have dessert now or later. His eyes darkened before he wrapped his hands around my thighs again and lifted me up. Somehow I removed my top and bra on the way to my room while he carried me. Dinner was quickly forgotten as we played around in the sheets. It didn't take me long to climax, we've had enough foreplay leading up to this in the past two months. It hit me suddenly and made my toes curl. It's safe to say this was my first one during sex, the first time we slept together was my first time and even though I enjoyed it, 'it' didn't happen. I wasn't surprised, a little nervous though, I remember a family friend who was in her thirties, married, two kids, she told me once that she'd never had one, ever! I remember, besides being weirded out she told me, hoping that would never be me. Luckily tonight my worrying was over.

"Food," Jacob muttered against my neck making me squirm. We got dressed before heading back to the kitchen. I began filling two bowls to reheat when I heard my phone buzz.

Shelly- we need to talk!

Crap...

Don or Patrick?

June 2003

Monday morning rolled around and I was happy to see Shelly's civic parked behind the office when I pulled up. I still don't know what I was going to say to her but I know I had to talk to her. I made my rounds of good morning hellos and settled into my usual morning routine of checking emails and voice mail. Not long after I was made aware Don was ready to start the meeting.

Walking into Don's office I noticed he and Shelly quietly discussing something. Shelly was standing next to his desk and leaning over it. I would have to be blind not to notice how her blouse flowed openly right in his face.  I could even see the lacy pink bra she wore and I'm not dumb enough to think Don wasn't looking.  I took my seat in the chair on the side of Don's desk and waited patiently until they acknowledged my presence. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long before Don greeted me happily. Patrick and Karen followed in seconds later and we all rumbled our numbers off. I found it interesting Shelly managed to get 3 life policies when she was only in the office for two days last week.

"Wow Shell were those ones you've been working on for a while?" I couldn't help asking.

"No, just a couple cold calls," she flashed a smile at Don. He then proceeded to praise her. Normally I would feel like I failed a little and I'm not going to lie a tiny bit of jealously.  I'm not the jealous type but it's hard not to get a little competitive in sales. However if my suspicion was correct it would be impossible to keep up unless I joined the unethical train.

Patrick was next and I noticed Shelly squeeze his leg while telling him 'good job' on his numbers. OK five minutes ago I made up my mind it was Don she slept with, now I'm confused again. I guess I've always known Shelly was a flirt but with this little greasy secret I had, I was noticing everything.

Don gave a small 'keep up the good work' speech before ending the meeting. I got back to my desk and asked Shelly if she wanted to grab lunch today. After accepting I spent the next hour trying to focus on work and not on what I was going to say.

We walked to a sushi place in the same strip mall as our office, it wasn't the best sushi but you couldn't beat the location.  After putting our order in for spicy tuna and caterpillar rolls I asked how she was feeling.

"Oh...I wasn't really sick. Gavin and I drove down to  Rosarito, it's in Mexico on the water. It was so much fun Jules you gotta go. The food and alcohol is super cheap. We stayed out dancing and drinking until 4 am every night and slept till noon every day."

"Yeah sounds fun. Was it just you two?" Not sure why she didn't just ask for the time off but whatever.

"No, half the baseball team and a bunch of girls came too." She said before grabbing at the edamame our waitress set down. A part of me was a little disappointed if Cal went, no one invited me. But I guess it would have been obvious if we both went missing from work.  Besides would I really want to go on a trip with Cal? I don't actually know the answer to that. We only have an hour lunch and I hadn't gotten anywhere, it's time to get to business.

"I was daydreaming in our meeting this morning, and thinking who would I rather sleep with if we were on a desert island, Patrick or Don? Who'd you pick?" I said as I broke up some wasabi into my soy sauce.

"What made you think of that?" She raised her brows in surprise.

"Oh come on,  don't tell me you've never thought about it?"  Cooperate with me here!

She turned around scanning the restaurant before leaning in and whispering.

"I've already slept with Patrick,  but I would choose Don to be on a desert island with.  If I wasn't with Gavin I probably would have already tried with Don. Actually I did try with Don but he kind of shot me down, that's why I slept with Patrick." She said this so easily,  like she hadn't been keeping it a secret for months.

"Um what! When did this happen, why didn't you tell me, was it just once?" I spat out.

"Last July, right after I started. Remember the company dinner cruise we went on? You left right after but some of the other agents and staff went to one of the agent's house for drinks. I don't remember whose house because I had a LOT of champagne. I flirted with Don and basically told him he had the green light but he shot me down.  I was feeling rejected and a little dizzy so I went out front to get some air. Patrick joined me, He said a couple things about being attracted to me and I was buzzed enough to enjoy it. One thing led to another and he started kissing me. We almost did it right there on the porch swing," she laughed. "But instead he drove us somewhere and we did it in the back of his truck." She sighed to catch her breath before continuing.  "It was only once, God he was awful, very greedy and tiny you know what." She cringed and shivered at the memory.

"What happened after, he didn't try again since then."

"Oh trust me he tried, still does but no  thank  you. I still tease him a little here and there to get him excited, it's a hoot." She smiled wickedly.  I had to process this for a moment before diving back in. I was glad she opened up some, maybe she would continue.

"When in July, weren't you still with Allen?"

"Uh..no I think it was right after he cheated." Her demeanor instantly changed, she stiffened and gone was her smile.

"Wait, the cruise was the second week in July, I remember you had only been at work maybe a week. You weren't in the hotel yet and you said Allen couldn't make the cruise because he was back east. It wasn't til the end of July that you moved out and told me he slept with the maid right after he got back. I remember because you said you came home early to surprise him the day he got back."  Just tell me the truth already! She's been a friend for a while and I had a pit in my stomach thinking how easily she could lie to me.

"Jules, calm down, maybe I got my dates mixed up or something. Not sure why you care so much but I didn't sleep with Patrick until after Allen cheated on me. Can we just drop it, you're bringing back a lot of old memories I'd like to forget." She looked at me, her eyes pleading me to stop.

"Yeah sorry I just got on a rampage there a little, " I laughed it off and shoved a tuna roll in my mouth to shut me up.

Luckily our hour was up and we headed back to the office. I was nervous Shelly would be upset and I wouldn't have a chance to figure out the other issue I had, too my surprise though she spent the short walk back to the office gushing about her time in Mexico.

I got back to work and decided I needed a little more evidence about what she was doing to sell so many policies before going to Don. If she could keep lying to me I figured she wasn't about to tell me about her awesome sales techniques, even if she did I would have to tell Don anyways, right?  I don't know how I would get the evidence but I know I needed to. My thoughts were interrupted when Karen met me at my desk asking if her and Don could see me in his office.  

Just call me Gidget

May 2003

"Is it supposed to be this hard to get on?" I said as I struggled to stretch the wetsuit over my thighs. I hopped up and down a couple times trying to tug it up.

"Yeah you want it to be tight, keeps you warmer then if it was baggy." Jacob explained as he helped me zip the suit up and gave me a devilish smile. I'm not sure at what, but I must look a little funny in this tight contraption. I better not look like a seal, the last thing I want is to resemble shark bait.

"Ok, safety first. You're going to fall, it's OK it's water. When you come up put your hand over your head like this." He then put his hand over his head and scrunched his shoulders.

"Why I'll look silly?" I said laughing.

"The last thing you want is to get hit by the board trust me." Well that stopped my laughing.

"Oh, am I going to get hit by other surfers?" I looked out noticing a lot of dots floating out past the shorebreak. I was a little nervous about this all of a sudden. I felt a tug on my arm and looked up into Jacob's eyes.

"Relax, I'll be right there with you and we won't go deep. We'll stay in the white water." he smiled deeply to ease my fears.

After a couple lessons in the sand, showing me how to stand up on the board, I learned I am apparently 'goofy' foot. I guess it means my natural reaction is to put my right foot first when standing on the board.

"I'm goofy footed too."

"Well then we can be a couple of goofballs together," I joked pointing at him giving him a look like I just made the funniest joke ever. He just shook his head and laughed. "Alright it was corny, shut up." I playfully hit him.

We walked down to the water, my bare feet hit the icy cold water and I shivered before jumping back.

"Too cold, too cold," I put my hands up in protest.

"It's hard on the feet and hands but you'll warm up. The water gets in your suit and warms up between your body and the fabric." With the hand not holding his board he yanked me in toward him. I tugged back from the shock when the water got to my waist.  This seemed to amuse Jacob so he set the board down resting a hand on top of it, with the hand still holding me he forcefully pulled me to him. I was now standing in front of him with my arms wrapped around his torso. My heart started beating faster, I suspected it was from the cold water, however the part of me in the water wasn't that cold anymore,  or maybe I was just numb.  I noticed Jacob had freckles,  a lot of freckles, the ones along his upper cheeks and nose were adorable.  I know I've thought of him as hot, sexy, handsome, but right now with his big grin and sparkling eyes I found him crazy adorable. He leaned down slowly, my heart was now racing anxiously waiting for his kiss. Instead he rested his forehead to mine.

"There's a well known secret... pee in your suit, it warms you." He said whispering and looking around to make sure no one heard. He couldn't hold a straight face and started cracking up. Guess I'm not the only one who thinks they're a comedian.

"Ok, lay down on the board." He directed. I did and he started pulling us away from the beach. He lifted the front of the board when a small wave would pass by. This isn't so bad I thought as we continued further.  I looked around and saw several swimmers playing around in the surf. I turned back facing forward when all of a sudden I saw a massive wave heading straight towards us. I panicked and held onto the board.

"Wait, this one is really big, should I jump off and swim over it? " I quickly asked Jacob.

"Yeah, you're right. This one is huge, hurry jump off."

I squealed and lept toward Jacob just before it got to us. I was flapping my arms around when a large hand grabbed my wrist yanking me up.

"Stand up." Jacob was laughing, I did as he said and stood, I was surprised to see the water I thought was easily ten feet deep only went to my waist.

"Your face was priceless," Jacob smiled at me. I couldn't help but laugh with him,  I could only imagine the sheer panic I had plastered across my face.

"Alright enough making fun of the newbie let's catch a wave, back on," he smacked the board. I hesitated before getting back on.

"You know it did look huge," I turned to him as he once again pulled me on the board.

"It always does when you are laying down."

Jacob stopped when the water got to his chest and turned the board around. He threw out a couple more safety tips then asked if I was ready. I had no idea so I just nodded. I felt a smack on my butt before I was suddenly moving forward. I remembered how he said to get up so I pushed my hands down hard while holding the rail. I tried lifting my right leg to swing in front of my body. I was still holding on with my left hand when I tried lifting myself higher. I started wobbling when I got to my knees so much that I lost balance and slipped sideways into the water.  I knew I wasn't in deep water so I stood quickly.  Looking back I saw Jacob pointing behind me so I turned to see what caught his eye, the only thing I saw was the beach. Oh and the board floating to the sand with speed. Oops I forgot to grab that. I started running toward shore to catch it. The nose of the board touched the sand just as I reached it. Turning around I set back toward Jacob, who had already headed my way.

"Good job, you fell into the water. I forgot to mention, don't fall on the board. Water is a softer landing. Want to try again?" He smiled down at me.

"Hell ya, I've got this, feel free to call me Gidget by the end of our lesson." And with a cocky smile I laid back on the board.

"Does that make me moondoggie?"

I whipped my head around and grinned, I love that he knew who moondoggie was.

"Only if you give me your class pin by the end of summer. " I turned my attention back to the water with a smile.


Jacob pushed me into wave after wave, each time I would get closer to standing and then loose my balance.  By the 10th time I was beginning to think I would have to eat my words about getting this down. With one hand lingering on my ass and the other on the board Jacob asked if I was ready. He gave me a push.

"Paddle paddle paddle," he called out. I paddled as fast as I could and felt the board dip forward. Instinctively I wanted to pull back but I remembered Jacob's words, 'if you lean back you'll slow down and miss the wave,' so I pushed down and pulled my knees toward my chest lifting up until my feet were on the board. I was standing, and I hadn't fallen!  I crouched down and put my arms out, mimicking what I was shown. I could hear Jacob cheering behind me and I felt a rush of excitement. I rode the wave until I was nervous the fin would hit the sand below.

Turning back to Jacob I was grinning from ear to ear as we closed the distance between us. I jumped up to high five him giggling when I missed.

"Great job Jujie, wanna try again?"

"Do I!" I said already laying back on the board and paddling out. We stayed in the surf for another hour or so until I was exhausted.

I pulled on the zipper and peeled the suit off my arms and let it hang on my waist. I was surprised at how warm I felt, the welcomed breeze on my skin gave me goosebumps. Jacob must have noticed and he raised a hand to my chest and softly rubbed above my breasts. I couldn't help the tightness in my chest. I raised my chest up and down slowly anticipating his next move.  He had this effect on me, I felt nervous and incredibly turned on at the same time. He closed his fist leaving just one finger out and raised it to his mouth.

"Salty," he said giving me a seductive grin. I was no longer hungry for food, the only thing I wanted in that moment was him. I grabbed the back of his neck and forced his head to mine. Once our lips touched I deepened the kiss. Before reluctantly pulling away I sucked on his top lip.

"It is salty," I said licking my lips. "I'm starving let's go get some food." I called out to him as I walked away. He stood still for a moment before picking up his board and following me.

Once we reached my place I hopped in the shower while he hosed the board and suits off. I slipped on a floral sundress and applied a little makeup before joining him in the living room.

Dean and Alicia were there chatting away about today's lesson.

"She did great, not everyone gets up their first time and she managed to at least five times." Jacob looked at me proudly. I told them it was the teacher.  This prompted Dean to ask for lessons, I was actually surprised he hadn't learned already, he grew up here.

"Not for me, for Alicia." He turned to her with a grin.

"Oh no no no, besides if I wanted to I would just have you teach me babe."

"Remember the last time I tried teaching you tennis? You pouted the whole time and I got way too annoyed. I can't teach you, too stressful."

"That's right you did turn into a grump, I was doing pretty well too, until you hit the ball right at my face!" She smiled, raised her brows and cocked her head to the side.

"That's how you play!" His voice was raising a little so I interrupted.

"Hey guys, why should you not fall in love with a tennis star?" They all looked at me puzzled.   "Because love means nothing to them."  I was cracking up at my jokes again, "Hahaha get it, love...the score." But thankfully this time everyone else joined in the laughter.

We all decided to walk to a diner a few blocks away. On the way Alicia slowed me down to ask about Shelly.

"She wasn't at work Tuesday or Wednesday and Thursday and Friday I was at training for our new software system. I keep trying to see if I can figure out who she slept with but I have no clue. I don't want to say anything to Don until I know.  I sent her a message to see how she's doing, she just said she's sick but will see me next week."

"Well I don't trust her,  be careful how you approach her, she could definitely twist your words around." Alicia held my shoulder and told me she was serious.

"Ladies you coming?" Jacob said as he held the door open for us. I just sighed and told Alicia not to worry before joining the boys.

Lies

May 2003


"Alie you home?" I called out as soon as I opened our front door. The chance she was here was slim, she generally stayed at Dean's seeing as he had his own place.

"She's taking a shower. How's it going Jules?" Dean greeted me standing in the kitchen doorway holding a bag of potato chips.

"I'm OK how are you? How's the internship going?" Dean started a paid internship recently. Alicia loved it, he wore a dress shirt and slacks everyday which I will admit complimented him nicely.

"Great actually, this morning I was offered a more permanent position after my 90 days are up." He smiled before digging in for another chip.  "We're going to grab food to celebrate,  you want to come?"

"No, no go have fun, and congrats!" I declined quickly. I didn't want to impose on their date.

"Yeah come Jules, I haven't seen you much lately." Alicia emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her.

"Fine, just keep the pda to a minimum, if you can." And with my statement Dean started laughing as he put the chip bag down  and walked to Alicia.

"Guess we should get all that touchy feely stuff out of the way first then huh." Dean wrapped an arm around Alicia and lightly lifted her off the ground heading towards her room. She squealed the whole way while I just shook my head.

"I'll be at Vicky's, come get me when you're done." I yelled out, I doubt they heard me so I scribbled a note on the messenger board by the door.

I was relieved when Vicky answered. She was sporting a short pixie cut with pink tips and dark roots. On anyone else I would say it didn't work but she pulled it off.

"Hey hon, I haven't seen you in forever.  How's my favorite neighbor?" Vicky walked towards the kitchen and asked if I wanted some tea. After fixing two cups she slid one in front of me at the table.

"Things are good, work is a little weird though. I think Shelly is up to something." I poured some golden honey in the hot mug, I love honey and Vicky always had local raw honey from Temecula that was so delish.

"What's she doing?"

"I'm not 100% sure but I think she's giving the client a fake higher quote and then showing them the real quote at a much lower price then telling them the difference is a life insurance discount.  I don't know what she's doing to the quote to make it so much higher though."

"That's not good she's flat out lying to the customer. Have you talked to her about it? "

"No, I just figured it out today when a client came in and argued about a free life policy she said he'd get. She's my friend though I don't know how to ask without her feeling accused. Plus what if she tells me, what would I do then?"  A part of me didn't want to know, I feel like I would have a hard time not telling Don.

"Listen kiddo, I know it's tough her being your friend and all but if she has no problem lying to a client to make a sale who knows what else she's capable of and the last thing you want, as a friend is to get stuck in the middle of something and be accused of being in on it." Vicky smiled kindly at me and squeezed my shoulder as she got up to answer the knock at the door.

"Dean and Alicia nice to see you two!" She gushed at them and pulled them into a group hug. They exchanged hellos and asked if I was ready.

"We're going out to eat, wanna join us Vicky?" I was thankful Dean offered, I'd feel less like a third wheel.

"No thanks hon, Frank is coming over for a night cap," a huge smile spread across her face before she added, "if you know what I mean."

"Thanks for the advice Vicky, we'll see you later." I stopped her from getting into details,  because she really would.


Dara greeted us happily at the hostess stand of their favorite Thai place. I'd only ever had their take out and was excited to finally dine in.

"So nice to finally meet you Dara, Alie always raves about you and this place." I introduced myself to Dara.

"This place is special for the special couple. Best customers hands up." She said with a thick accent.  She noticed our confused faces and like a light bulb went off she raised her brows and corrected herself, "hands down, best customers hands down. " She laughed as she showed us a table by the window.

After ordering some spring rolls Dean asked how my day was. I sighed as I relayed the info I told Vicky earlier.

"Oh my gosh Jules you have to tell the agent!" Alicia said when I finished talking and took a big bite of my spring roll. Yum this place is so good,  my stomach growled in agreement.

"I know but she is our friend Alie, I think I might ask her, maybe I can talk her into stopping, or maybe I'm wrong and just missed something when I quoted that guy."

"You know I thought Shelly was shady after I found out the whole story about Allen and the maid was probably fake." Dean piped in as he reached for the last roll. Alicia and I both turned our attention to him and stared in disbelief as we waited for him to elaborate.

"Wha?" He said with a mouthful.  "Wait you guys didn't know?"

"Babe," Alicia tilted his chin to face her. "By the look on our faces, no we didn't, now please tell us why you said that." She paused and before removing her hand she pulled him closer and gave him a quick kiss. "You're too cute." I heard her whisper.

"Guys,  focus!" I said snapping my fingers trying to break up this sudden distraction.

"OK, back when Alie and I were first dating and Shelly was sleeping on the couch I over heard her talking to someone on the phone.  It was the middle of the night and I was making myself a sandwich after working up an appetite. " He smiled looking at Alicia making her blush. I cleared my throat to get his attention when he wasn't continuing.

"Well she was talking low and telling someone she was sorry for sleeping with her coworker but that she was expecting a ring from whoever was on the phone and if she would have gotten it she never would have, as she put it 'screwed the loser'."  Dean's face brightened when our food arrived. I figured he was going to get quickly distracted so I slid his plate closer to me.

"Why didn't you tell me babe?" Alicia stuck out her bottom lip and pouted.

"Listen woman when I got back to the room all I remember was you being naked," he shrugged his shoulders. "Besides she moved out not long after and I figured she probably told you guys since she was hooking up with Gavin."

"The guy on the phone was probably Allen, wait you said she apologized about sleeping with a coworker!  Was it Don or Patrick? " I practically yelled at Dean. I felt bad for raising my voice so I slid his plate back in front of him.

"I don't know,  that's all I heard." He looked at Alicia then back to me. "Can I eat now?" He asked timidly, we just nodded. Alicia and I continued in between bites to figure out if there was anything else we thought Shelly might have lied about. By the end of dinner I was angry and confused. I always thought Shelly was such a good friend but I guess I was wrong.  Now I just needed to decide if I should go to Don about the life policies or ask Shelly. But then again if she slept with Don, would Don believe me or better yet, would he care?

When we got back home I got ready for bed, I was just about out when my computer sang out to notify me I had a message.

Jacob - surfing lesson on sat?

Me - yes! Water is too cold for swimsuits?

Jacob - I'll have a wetsuit for you

Jacob - but you should probably wear a bikini for under

Me - was going to wear my bday suit but a bikini would be better ;)

Jacob - your plan is better, meet your place at 6am

Me - 6am!! Fine but you better have coffee

We went back and forth a couple more times before my eyelids were too heavy and I drifted to sleep.

Discounts

Today's a shorter post but I'm hoping to get another one up this weekend if all goes as planned :) thanks for reading 

May 2003


It was another cloudy day in May and I was waiting in line to get coffee at the Starbucks by my work. There's a saying in San Diego that generally holds true, May gray June gloom. It was something I was getting used to, back home I would associate clouds with storms but here, if you lived by the beach you usually had cloud cover until noon around this time of year.

I was going over the conversation from brunch yesterday with Amanda, trying to see if there was any sign she had talked to Jacob about seeing Cal and I last week. The majority of our conversation was unfortunately about her affair with Miles. I was trying to point out the reasons she needed to break it off and I felt a little glimmer of hope when she mentioned I was right to a few things. She didn't bring up her brother once except to say Jacob loved the place we were going to. I think it was meant as an opening for me to talk, however I wasn't really ready to discuss the relationship that may or may not be with her brother. Plus, it's his sister, I doubt she wants to know how good he was in bed. The thought of him in bed perked me up more then the coffee I ordered was going to.

"Grande non fat no whip Carmel macchiato at the counter," I grabbed my drink pausing briefly to flash my best smile at the cute guy grinning at me while waiting for his drink. His eyes scanned over me, my smile instantly dropped when a bright flash of light bounced off his wedding band when he reached for his drink. Before he turned around I hurried out the door as fast as I could heading straight for work.

"Where's Shelly?" I asked Patrick when I noticed she wasn't at her desk.

"She left early, said she wasn't feeling good.  But if you ask me she didn't seem sick  at all this morning." He rolled his eyes before turning back to his computer screen. I had to agree with him she didn't seem ill but maybe it came on suddenly. I hadn't talked to her all weekend and had expected an apology or at least acknowledge the fact that Gavin was a dick at dinner the other night. However she didn't mention it, she acted like nothing happened.

I looked up from my desk when the bell sounded that someone had just walked through the door. I tried to keep my smile when I noticed it was the guy from the coffee shop, did he follow me here?

"Good afternoon can I help you?" I put on my work face and decided I would act like I'd never seen him before.

"Yes, is Shelly here? She was helping me add a car to my policy last week and I wanted to wrap that up."  He smiled. I was trying not to notice his lingering gaze at my chest.

"Shelly is out but I can help you finish it up, please have a seat. I'm Juliette," I introduced myself as I walked back to my seat.

"Thank you Juliette, the policy is under Johnson, Paul Johnson. I think I would have remembered seeing you here last week." He winked at me as he sat in the chair across from my desk.

I gave him a half smile as I pulled up his policies on my screen, Paul and Shawna Johnson. I was going to dodge any flirtatious remarks thrown at me from a married man. I looked in the quote seeing one for a 2003 Honda Accord.

"OK, looks like we've got the Honda as an add on vehicle at $365 per six months. Did you want matching coverage to the civic? "

"Yea, I was going back and forth on whether to have the 500 deductibles or 1000 but I think we will stick with the 500. Shelly also said we could get a free life policy? I want to go ahead with that too."  That was good news but I wasn't sure what he meant by free.

"OK great I do also see a quote in here for a 30 term life policy. Looks like it's...$225 per year. It would be in addition though. "

"No, she showed my the car was originally going to be somewhere over 500 and then she showed me how much I would save getting a life policy and it actually worked out that I'd save to get the life policy." His flirtatious smile was replaced by an annoyed smirk.

"Ok, let me see where we got those numbers." I tried searching for any policy notes but found nothing.  Next I removed the life discount, that only took off 30 dollars. I decided to change the deductibles to see if maybe that would show something closer to the numbers he was giving me. I couldn't get anything to read over 500. Paul asked if I was new, I guess the confusion must have shown across my face. After apologizing I told him I wasn't seeing any quotes over 500. The numbers read how he wanted them, under 500 per six months however he wanted to know exactly how much he was saving and that's where the confusion came in.

"Is Shelly going to be back later today?"

"I don't believe so, she left early because she wasn't feeling well."  I swolled and took a deep breath.  I know he was frustrated I just had to remind myself it wasn't my fault. "You bought the vehicle last week so you still have about a week of automatic coverage,  matching the civic. If you'd prefer I could have Shelly call you when she gets back to finish everything?"

"I guess, listen I'm sorry for getting snappy. I know it wasn't your fault hon. I couldn't help but notice you at Starbucks by the way." Gone was his condescending tone and back was the smooth talking guy who walked in. I stood up and started walking him to the door, wanting to end this quickly. Opening the door I thanked him for coming in and told him I'd have Shelly call as soon as she got in.

Going back the quote I tried a couple changes again but still couldn't figure how he would somehow get a free life policy. All of a sudden I felt nauseous and I knew it wasn't because I caught something like Shelly. I was luckily saved from my dark thoughts when the phone rang. The rest of the afternoon flew by and I didn't have a chance to worry about what Shelly may or may not be doing.

Subtle flutter

May 2003


"Hi Juliette."

"Cal, I didn't know I'd see you here. How are you?" I was still in work mode and wondered if I sounded too formal.  I looked him up and down, he looked just as handsome as always in a green button down and faded jeans. His hair was a little longer, a couple strands fell into his eyes when he leaned in for a hug. He also had a little five o clock shadow going, I tried to ignore how much I liked it. We exchanged the usual 'I'm good' and sat down.

I looked at Shelly to silently give her a 'what the!' but she wouldn't turn my way and kept her focus on something Gavin was saying. I decided I could do this and tried to relax and enjoy dinner. Every few minutes Cal would look my way giving me some awkward grin.

"So Jules, you seeing anyone?" Gavin asked me as he shoved a chip in his mouth, leaving a glob of white cheese sauce on his cheek, classy.

"Not technically Gavin." I said with a forced grin. I tried my best to not look at Cal's reaction but I did anyways. I couldn't make out the meaning behind his smile so I told myself I didn't really care and was surprised that a part of me didn't.

"Well then you should give my boy Cal here another chance." He said slapping Cal on the back making Cal choke on his chip. He coughed a couple times and reached for his soda. After several seconds he calmed down and gave me an apologetic look. For the first time I was grateful when he changed the subject to sports. I seized opportunity to ask Shelly to take a bathroom break with me.

"What the hell Shelly?" I shoved the swinging door open to the restroom.

"What?! I didn't know either but come on, is it so bad? You still like him don't you?" She said as she started fixing her makeup in the mirror.

I paused, for the longest time all I wanted was to get back together with Cal. It just didn't feel the same, at one time the sight of Cal gave me butterflies in my stomach. Though I couldn't help but be attracted to him, the pitter patter that once was didn't have the same effect on me. There was a subtle flutter still there, I don't know if that would go away.  And then there was Jacob, I know we weren't a couple but I can't ignore the feeling I get every time I think of him.

"I don't think I do anymore," I said out loud at my reflection. Shelly shrugged and said we should get back. We joined the boys just when our entrées appeared. I looked at my fish tacos and felt my stomach growl. We all must have been hungry because another word wasn't spoken until we were almost finished.

"So Cal l, how's it feel to know someone else popped Jules cherry before you." I was now the one choking on my food, I tried coughing and Cal handed me a soda while Shelly patted me on the back. I looked at Shelly expecting sympathy instead she just shrugged and raised her eyebrows as if she couldn't help what her boyfriend says. Cal was quiet and I didn't miss the sad look in his eyes. I felt bad he had to find out, especially this way. I didn't feel bad enough to finish this little surprise double date. I reached into my purse and stood.

"Here's cash for my meal, Shell I'll see you tomorrow. Gavin...grow up!" I threw a twenty on the table and gave an awkward wave to Cal before quickly heading to my car. I had just opened the driver side door when I heard my name. Turning around I was surprised to see Amanda.

"Hey, fancy seeing you here," I greeted, why is the the saying fancy seeing you here anyways, what's fancy about it?

"Just meeting Miles for a bite." She said grinning.

"Oh yeah, how's that going I haven't seen you in what 2 or 3 months?"

"It's going great, his wife is out of town this week so we've spent almost every hour together."  Ugh he's still married. I didn't know how to respond. I would say luckily I didn't have to respond, we were interrupted, however it was Cal interrupting.

"Jules, I'm glad you haven't left. Listen I'm sorry about Gavin, he's protective of his friends but he was being a dick." He spat out. He looked at me giving me his best 'I'm sorry' smile, oh those familiar dimples they were hard to get over. Our silence was cut short when Amanda coughed loudly. Cal noticed her standing right next to me for the first time and introduced himself.  She took his hand and gave him a small smile.

"Look, can we have dinner sometime, maybe catch up. Without Gavin and Shelly?" Cal turned his attention back to me.

"Yeah just call me." I was hoping to end this conversation as soon as possible. Amanda was Jacob's sister and I have no idea how much he's told her. Cal pulled me in for a hug and told Amanda it was nice meeting her before heading back into the restaurant.  

"So that's thee Cal, he is cute,  are you guys back together?" I didn't like the judgey tone in her voice,  she's in no position to judge.  I wasn't in the mood to discuss this, especially with Jacob's sister.

"No no, it was a group dinner, his buddy was being a jerk I think he just felt bad. "

"Oh, well I heard you've been hanging out with my little brother a lot lately," she smiled giving me a knowing look. If you could read her mind I swear she was threatening me. I didn't plan on playing her brother, I really hoped she didn't tell him about seeing me with Cal. I know I am not doing anything wrong but she was looking at me like I had. I changed the subject and talked about getting together sometime soon. We settled on brunch on Sunday before parting ways.

As I drove to my class I felt sick to my stomach, I wasn't sure if it was the food, company or seeing Jacob's sister, whatever it was bothered me through my entire class. Luckily it was just lectures this evening.

I walked into my empty apartment and fell upon my bed. I tend to loose sleep when I'm anxious. This time was thankfully different as I passed out almost immediately.