Interviews and surprises

I had hopes for getting this up Wednesday but the busy holiday got in the way. Hope everyone had a good thanksgiving!  Thanks for reading and commenting :)   Juliette 



July 2003


"Juliette, did you hear me?" I looked up to see Patrick standing beside my desk.

"Sorry,  I must have spaced, what's up?" It was Wednesday morning and I was kind of over this week already. I spent most of the week training with Don and sitting in on interviews.  It's amazing how many people show up to interviews unprepared.  One girl showed up in sweats, another one answered his phone in the middle of the interview. I was raised to put your best foot forward in an interview,  sell yourself, dress up, ask questions etc. But it seems like some people just don't care anymore. I'm not yet 20 and I sound like an old lady talking about the good ol' days.

"I said, Shelly called me yesterday. She doesn't sound so good, I think she may be moving back to Maryland." Patrick repeated.

"Really? I mean I guess I'm not surprised,  she is probably having a hard time finding work." A part of me felt sorry for her, it must suck loosing your insurance license and job, but she did bring it upon herself.

"Well I know she messed up but she seems like she really regrets it, you should call her." I was surprised at this, ever since Shelly was fired Patrick has done nothing but bad mouth her. My guess was she probably stopped their little side fling and he was butthurt about it.

"I don't know,  wait why did she call you?"

"Her and Gavin broke up, she's in a bad place, her lease is up this month. She needed someone to talk to." He nodded his head forward in my direction. Luckily the phone rang and I was saved from needing to respond. I picked it up quickly, rambling off my memorized greeting. He whispered for me to think about it before he headed back to his desk. The rest of the day dragged on without any mention of Shelly.

I was finishing up an application when Karen informed me the 4 o'clock interview was starting soon. I grabbed my notepad and followed her into Don's office. Don handed me a resume for Taylor Ashwell while Karen went to the front to grab Taylor. I was happy to see he or she had previous experience in insurance, about 3 years to be exact. The rest of the resume was looking promising, I was relaying my hopes to Don when Karen walked back in.

"Taylor, it's nice to meet you. You've met Karen our office manager, this is Juliette, our assistant manager." Don said standing to shake Taylor's hand. I got up also to greet Taylor.

"Nice to meet you, thank you for meeting with me today." Taylor said before taking the seat beside me. Karen sat in the chair on the side of Don's desk facing us.

Taylor was petite with blond hair cut in a short bob. What stuck out was her thick southern accent. Just then I remembered seeing on her resume she attended college in South Carolina. She was dressed to the nines in a fitted white jacket and skirt suit.

"Taylor, I see here you have previous experience working in the insurance world. Tell me a little bit about your day to day duties at your last company. " Don said leaning forward awaiting her response.

I couldn't help but notice the way he was listening to her, as if she was about to tell him the secret to everlasting youth. She went on to list the responsibilities she had at her job back in South Carolina. I was excited to hear the majority were the exact tasks we needed filled here. She seemed nice enough to me, I also appreciated she came dressed up and with extra resumes. Based on her graduation date and work experience I would guess she was 22 or 23.

Don surprised me by asking if I had any questions for Taylor, I looked at my notes and decided I knew enough about her job so I decided to get a little personal and asked what brought her to San Diego. Her smile faded and she lowered her head slightly.

"My father passed away about 4 months ago, my mother has some health issues and she wanted to come live near her sister and my grandmama.  I didn't like the idea of her out here without me, in case her health got worse. so I decided I would move here too."  She answered.

"I'm so sorry for your loss. Moving across country is hard enough as it is, let alone loosing a family member on top of that. "  Don said with sympathy.

"Yes, well I'm hoping to settle in, get a job and make some friends out here. I know that will help." Taylor said sitting up straight again and smiling. This perked Don back up and he began discussing salary and start dates.

"Well it was a pleasure meeting with you today Taylor.  We hope to make our decision by Friday.  If we have any other questions we will be in contact before then, otherwise expect to hear from me no later then Monday. " Don said standing up. "Please let me walk you out."

We all got up to leave and Taylor turned her attention to us, shaking our hands again  and telling us she enjoyed meeting us.

When I got back to my desk I watched Don escort Taylor out, I expected them to shake hands and part ways. Instead he kept walking until they were out of sight. I guess he wanted to walk her to her car. Shrugging I turned to my computer and got back to work.

Moments later I sensed a presence at my desk, looking up I was met with Patrick standing at my desk.

"Was she the new hire? She's hot!" I rolled my eyes, figures the only thing he would notice was her looks.


“Yes, well she has a great resume and experience.” I raised my hand to shoo him away, I wasn't in the mood to be around Patrick.

It had now been about fifteen minutes and still Don hadn't returned. I was just about to get up and peek out the giant glass window when I saw him approach. He opened the door and practically floated in, his happy mood was evident across his face.

“I have a good feeling about her.”

“Yeah, I really like that she has experience, and didn't wear sweatpants to the interview.” I stated. Don hit my desk startling me and started laughing way too hard at my comment. He shook his head still laughing as he left to get back to his office.

“Okaaay,” I mumbled under my breath before turning back to my work. The rest of the day went smoothly. When I walked past Don’s office on my way out I noticed he had already left. Usually he stayed about an hour later then I did but I guess he had plans tonight.

On the way home I called Jacob, we chatted about our 4th of July. From the sound of it he had an uneventful visit with his mom and sister. I hadn't talked to his sister in a while and made a mental note to call her. He made my heart flutter when he mentioned missing me and we made plans to meet up soon before hanging up.

I was happy to see Alicia there when I got home. After the graduation party she went to Dean’s and spent the rest of the week there. After changing out of my work clothes I plopped down next to her.

“So, you going to tell me about what happened when you went MIA for half of the party this weekend?” I raised my brows giving her my best ‘fess up’ face. She instantly lit up.

“Dean told me he loved me, and I said it back!” She sang.

“I assumed you guys were already passengers on the love boat. It took you this long to say it? The rest of the world knew, hell even the mailman knew it.” I teased her. She wasn't laughing along with me.

“It's not funny, you know how I feel about falling in love, I never wanted to. We never said it before we broke up and hadn't since we got back together. It's a big deal, act surprised and happy for me will ya?” I instantly felt bad for laughing.

“I'm sorry Alie, I guess I was surprised you guys hadn't said it yet. I know how you are about committed relationships, but I figured you were over that since getting back together with Dean. I'm excited for you though!" I smiled widely and nudged her for a reaction, hoping she would forgive my innocent face. She smiled back and agreed about being excited.

"Wait, I almost forgot, what was with Viviane hugging you all tightly? I thought she wasn't your biggest fan?"  I asked.

"Yeah, I ran into her at the party, she was crying,  alot.  Turns out she's just having a hard time grieving her husband. " I remember Alicia mentioning her husband had passed awhile back. She went on to tell me about their conversation and how she hoped the sudden change in attitude would stay.

"Looked like you and Dominic were sure enjoying yourself at the party, did his pretty blue eyes win you over? " Alicia said giving me a suspicious look.

"He was really nice, it was fun hearing some of his stories about Nicaragua. Doesn't hurt that he's freaking hot! Although I thought he had green eyes not blue?" I remember the resemblance to Dean was obvious but I guess I don't remember exactly what color his eyes were. They could be like Jacob and change between blue and green, apparently I have a thing for blue green eyes.

 We were busy laughing about something when the door opened wide. Dean stood beaming in the doorway but his smile quickly fell when he saw us sitting there.

"Babe, how many times do I have to tell you to lock the door. Any mad man could come in here!" He shut the door locking it behind him.

"Look a mad man made it through already!" She raised her voice and pointed at Dean with one hand and slapped the other across her chest playing dramatic.

"Real funny woman, I'm serious," he leaned down to kiss her hello.

"So, I opened all my gifts from the party. There was a total of 25 thousand dollars in checks and cash." Dean announced. Alicia and I looked at each other wide eyed.

"I've decided to invest most of it, but I also thought maybe I could use some for something fun." He glanced at Alicia before continuing.

"What do you think about taking a trip to my brothers surf camp? You mentioned wanting to go..." Alicia squealed and jumped into Dean's arms almost making him fall backwards.

"I'll take that as a yes?" He leaned down pressing his forehead to hers, smiling. I started sensing a moment here and got up quietly to give them privacy. As I tiptoed away Dean called out.

"You're coming too Juliette!"

The Unexpected

Sorry this post is a little long, couldn't find the right cut off-



July 2003 Alicia POV


"What are you doing here?" Viviane may have been glaring but her voice didn't match her expression. She barely uttered her words as tears fell down her cheeks. She looked away from me quickly and covered her face with her hands. I turned to go realizing she probably didn't want me here.

Instead of walking away like I should, I felt my feet carry me to Viviane. Sitting beside her I hesitantly raised my arm and stroked her back. I stiffened and prepared for her wrath when I felt her move. She turned towards me and laid her head in my lap and broke down, my hand still on her back, moved up and down with her sobs. I didn't know what to say so I decided silence was best. Gosh I really wish Dean would show up right now. We sat there for a few moments, when her breathing began to steady and she was no longer crying, she sat up. I expected her to come back to reality and  be angry at me for being there, I was surprised when she gave me a small smile.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cry on you like that." She reached in her bag next to her and pulled out some tissue to wipe her face.

"It's ok, are you ok?" I didn't want to push it,  the fact she actually apologized was huge, but curiosity won out and I had to ask.

"Yeah, I mean...no, no I'm not.  Today is mine and Drew's anniversary. We would have been together 6 years today." She swollowed and raised her head and blinked back the tears.  I'm guessing Drew is her late husband so I decided it was best not to ask.

"I'm sorry, it's difficult to loose someone you love." Gosh that sounded so cliché. Hopefully the sudden nice side of Viviane was here to say and she didn't get annoyed with me.

"Oh really, how would you know, right now you and Dean are in the honeymoon stage of your relationship." She snorted, guess my luck was fading.

"Well, I lost my dad, I was young so I don't remember much but I did watch my mother suffer." She looked at me quickly and I saw her face fall.

"I'm sorry, how did your mom get over loosing your dad?"  Two apologies, maybe she isn't so bad after all.

"I don't think you ever really get over someone. It took time for her, she took it really hard but one day it just didn't hurt as bad as the day before and each day after it got a little easier. Until she didn't cry at every little thing that reminded her of him." I didn't like talking about the past, my mother went into a deep depression after my father's death and I don't want to bring up the memories. I wasn't about to get into detail about the length of time it took my mother to start functioning normally, I don't think it would help any.

"I'm scared I'll forget him. I don't want to move on because whenever I start to I feel like I'm forgetting him.  The first time I laughed after his death, I felt so guilty, it was some stupid joke Dean made. It had only been a week, I couldn't believe I laughed when I should have been mourning Will." I saw the water form in her eyes and felt my own eyes begin to tear up.

"You will never forget him and you should never feel guilty about moving on. It doesn't mean you gave up on him. My mom always said she used to think she couldn't enjoy anything because she didn't want to think she was happy he wasn't here. Over time though she knew he would have wanted her to be happy and her time with him may have been cut short, but it wasn't her choice."

She nodded her head at this and before I knew it she enveloped me in a tight hug. When I stiffened she pulled away.

"I know I've been a real bitch to you. Since Will passed the thought of anyone else being in love makes my stomach churn. I see the way Dean looks at you and I see the way you look at him. It was how I used to look at Will. I know you're still young but I've had my share of guys before Will and let me tell you, when you fall in love you know. Somewhere in there I'm happy for you guys." She put her hand to her chest.

I'm not used to this much sappy talk, especially from her. Just fifteen minutes ago Dean told me he loved me and now his sister has poured her heart out at me. What's with these Lockwood's?

"Who said we were in love?" I tried to laugh it off.

"Oh come on you guys can't keep your hands off each other. And ever since you got together Dean won't shut up about you." I tried to force a smile but she must have seen right through me.

"What's the matter you look like you ate something spoiled?"

The last person I wanted to talk to about this was Dean's sister, but she did just do a 180 and I did want to talk to someone.

"I never wanted to fall in love, I don't even think I can." I felt guilty just saying this.

"When you wake up in the morning, what's the first thing you think about?" Viviane asked.

"Dean, if I'm not with him I wish I was, and if he's there I wake up happy." This made me smile just thinking about his arms wrapped around me as we lay there.

"What's the last thing you think about at night?"

"Dean..."

"First person you want to tell good news to?"

"Dean," I wanted to say Juliette but I knew I always talk to Dean first.

"Alicia, you may say you can't be in love but only you know how you really feel. Take it from my experience,  life's short, don't waste time being dramatic about it." Viviane stood up and smoothed her dress.

"I'm sure Dean will be wondering what happened to his date, let's get back to the party, I'm sorry for crying all over you." And with that she turned walking back toward the party. I sat there unable to move, I knew she was right it was obvious we were in love. Then why was it so hard for me to say it? I figured I would get up the courage to tell him how I feel as I walked back to the party, lucky for me the property was large and I had a good trek back.

I scanned the crowd in front of me until my eyes rested on him. Dean was standing next to his brother, he threw his head back and laughed at something. I felt my cheeks get hot as I made my way over to him.  Spotting me his eyes lit up. God those blue eyes got me every time. I wrapped my arms around him inhaling his scent. Dean lowered his head and gave me a soft kiss.

"You think we can sneak away for a little?" He nodded in agreement and grabbed my hand yanking me toward the house. We quickly walked through the house until we reached the staircase at the front entrance. Once upstairs Dean turned to the right and continued down a hall. We must have passed fifteen doors before the hallway ended and came to a set of french doors.

"Want to see my room?" He said with a mischievous grin. Nodding I followed him in. The size of the room was shocking,  it was easily twice the size of our apartment. There was a matching leather couch and chair on the left side of the room, they sat facing a large brick fireplace. Above the mantel was a large TV mounted. On the right was a large king size bed. Everything was decorated in a nautical theme with navy blue, white and red. A giant wooden ships wheel hung above the bed. There were a handful of ships in bottles on the dresser, I moved closer to take a look.

"Did you make all these?" There were at least a dozen in all different styles and sizes.

"Yes, a couple of the first ones I did with my dad but most were me." He gave me a look of triumph. I pointed to one in a bell shaped bottle and asked if it was a Spanish galleon replica,  little did he know that was the only type of ship I knew. He smiled in surprise and told me a little bit about it.

"I'm boring you now aren't I?" He closed the space between us and held me around the waist.

"No I think it's adorable,  your little hobby." I couldn't help the giggle that escaped.

"Hey, this collection has worked on impressing the ladies before." He tried to hide a smile.

"Oh really Mr. Lockwood, how many?"

"One, it worked on you. I'm pretty sure you like me more now that you've seen my childhood room." Leaning down he kissed me. I pulled away when something caught my eye.

"What is this?" I wasn't holding back the laughter this time. I picked up the picture frame and examined it closer. Dean must have been around ten, he was wearing a blue polo shirt and khakis, the funny part was his hair, his blonde curls were unruly on the top and trimmed short along the sides. His face was turned to the side so you got a clear view of his mullet!

"You did not have a mullet, oh my gosh." I was laughing so hard right now my side began to hurt.

"It was 1991 ok, didn't you ever see Lethal weapon? It was cool, stop laughing at me woman." Luckily he was grinning when he took the picture out of my hands and put it back face down this time. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the bed.

"I'm not going to show you the picture where I'm sporting some sick MC Hammer pants." Before I could laugh again his lips met mine. Putting my hand on the back of his head I pulled him closer. When his tongue brushed across mine I knew I needed to talk to him before this went to far. Pushing away I moved my hand to his cheek. Looking into those deep blue eyes I knew it was true,  I was head over heels in love with this man. Now I just needed the courage to say it out loud.

"I love you too," there it is I did it, and it felt great to say. So I said it again and again.  His face lit up before he kissed me hard on the mouth.

"I know." Was all he said before leaning me down on the bed.

Within seconds we were frantically ripping at each others clothes. After removing his belt and lowering his slacks he lifted the skirt of my dress up and moved my panties to the side. Lowering himself on top of me he thrust into me and we got into a quick rhythm. I lifted my head to kiss him forcing his mouth to open for me. It didn't take long before I was moaning into his mouth in pleasure. Shortly after he gently tugged the hair at my scalp and cried out as he climaxed.

We laid there catching our breath before deciding we had probably been away from the party suspiciously long. We adjusted our clothing and I tried running my hands through my long hair to calm it.

 When we felt presentable we made the journey back to the guests. Fortunately everyone seemed occupied in their own discussions they didn't seem to notice our absence.  I spotted Juliette who was busy giggling away at something Dominic was saying. I grabbed two glasses of champagne from a server walking by, handing one to Dean I pointed toward his brother and walked over. Juliette saw us approaching and her lips curled into a smile and gave me a knowing look.

"Nice of you guys to join the party," Juliette said her smile widened.

"Dean was just giving me a tour, that's all." I tried to sound convincing. Hell if Dominic weren't standing there I would have just said 'yep we had a quicky upstairs' and moved on.

"Oh yeah?  Did little bro here show you his ballroom dancing tropies?" Dominic said smacking Dean on the back. A look of embarrassment flashed across Dean's face.

"I'm not going to deny that. Mom made me take lessons, it's not my fault I apparently have a gift and went on to win multiple competitions." He tried to straighten up and say that with confidence,  it worked until we all burst out laughing.

"I think it's cute, I have to see a picture of you in those costumes!" I said wrappimg my arm in his.

"Oh there's pictures,  but even better, there's video evidence." Dominic revealed.

We continued laughing about old stories Dominic and Dean had. I didn't realize how late it had gotten until I noticed the sky was dark and half the guests had filtered out. Dean left my side for a few moments to say goodbye to the ones still here. Juliette and I grabbed our purses and met Dean at the front where he was thanking his parents for throwing this get together.

"Alicia I'm so happy you came,  my son talks very highly of you and I'm enjoying the chance to get to know you." Anna said enveloping me in a hug. I thanked her again and took Frank's out stretched hand, he surprised me by pulling me in for a hug also.  The butler,  Henry, appeared holding a large box.

"Oh yes Dean, here are your gifts.  There's a couple small wrapped gifts in there, but it looks like most everyone brought envelopes." Dean's father said taking the box away from Henry and passing it on to Dean. I peeked into the open box and was shocked at the amount of envelopes in there.

"Wait,  I forgot to give you my gift. " Viviane came up to us, panting like she just ran a few blocks. She handed him a shiny gold watch with a black leather strap.

"Sorry it's not wrapped.  It was Will's, he bought it after he graduated,  he said it was the first nice thing he ever bought for himself.  He engraved it. " She motioned for him to flip it,  revealing an inscription 'dream big, live bigger' on the back. Dean grabbed Viviane giving her a long hug. He whispered something to her and she nodded giving him a smile.

Turning her attention to me she leaned in to say "thank you," before giving me a hug. I saw Juliette's confused expression and reminded myself to talk to her later.

All our goodbyes were made and we headed back for home. Juliette sat rambling about something in the back seat, I half listened as I stared out the window.  Dean entwined his fingers with mine. Turning to face him he mouthed "I love you" making my heart beat a little bit faster I mouthed back, " I love you too."

Sorry everyone, there was a family emergency yesterday ended up at the hospital,  all is better now but I wasn't able to proof read yesterday's post. I will get to that and post tonight.


Thanks :)

Back

  Hey everyone, I'm back from my trip!  I'll work on some posts and hopefully have some up this week. Next post will be another Alicia POV.
Thanks for reading and commenting :)

-Juliette

Butlers and tears- Alicia's POV part 1

July 2003


"Coffee, need coffee," a very grumpy Juliette stumbled into the kitchen around 10:30am. I laughed at her smudged eye liner and her knotted hair.

"Don't you think you should be drinking water not coffee?" I'm not sure how much she had to drink, but based on how she stumbled to her room last night like a toddler learning to walk, I would say she must be hurting. Putting another waffle into the toaster I poured her a glass of water and set it in front of her.

"You know I'm still on edge about this party, it'd be great if you could get some life in you before we leave." I said handing her a plate. She shot me a dirty look then drank the water. After she demolished her food and the rest of the water she perked up some.

"Why are you so anxious, you've already met his family?" Juliette got up to make another waffle and coffee.

"I met his parents and sister,  his parents were nice enough but his sister, ugh she was such a snob." I sighed just remembering the night we met.

 It was at a fancy restaurant in a upscale hotel. I had been both excited and nervous to meet his family.  The entrance to the hotel was very grand and luxurious, walking through the lobby I had been dreaming about staying here one day with Dean when a tiny well dressed woman approached us. Dean instantly greeted her with a hug before introducing her. 

"Viviane I would like for you to meet my girlfriend Alicia." She turned her attention to me giving me a short tight smile before shaking my hand.

"Nice to meet you Viviane, I've heard so much about you," I shook her hand with a grin. 

"Really? Well hopefully only good things." She turned her attention back to Dean and asked about the status of his parents. He shrugged and said he wasn't sure. Rolling her eyes she impatiently told us we might as well get a table and wait over some drinks. 

"Alicia, Dean tells me you are attending UCSD also, what are you majoring in?" Viviane asked picking up her martini.

"Marine biology," I smiled widely, for as long as I remember I wanted to be a marine biologist, funny since Colorado was a landlocked state.

"What so you can work at SeaWorld and dance around with seals on stage?" She started laughing loudly at this. I frowned and looked to Dean, he gave me a sympathetic look before telling his sister to knock it off. Once his parents arrived we were distracted for awhile. Though she made her jabs frequently, the worst was after we finished dinner, Dean and his parents were chatting and Viviane turned to me and asked what it was like dating someone with so much money.  I was shocked and didn't respond so she carried on and on about how I won't need to feed dead fish to the whales if I married Dean. His mother, Anna, saved the moment by enveloping me in a hug saying goodbye. 

On the drive home I asked what her deal was and Dean apologized explaining how she has been pretty bitter since her husband died a little over a year ago. I decided to give her a break but hoped I wouldn't have to see her much.

"Earth to Alie!" Juliette said breaking my daze. Looking at the clock I panicked and ran to hop in the shower. By noon I was on my fifth outfit, a floral knee length dress, looking in the mirror behind my bedroom door. In the reflection Dean walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissed my neck.

"You look beautiful Alie, I don't want to share you today, can we just stay here?" He spun me around and began placing kisses along my neck.

"I'm sure your family would love that, it's your graduation baby. Now stop that I have to finish getting ready." I shoved him off before I let his touch convince me to stay.  Luckily I was mostly ready and Juliette was also so the three of us hopped into Deans Jeep and headed north. I was quiet during the drive,  only piping in when someone asked me a direct question. I know I was probably being dramatic and the party would go smoothly but I couldn't shake my nerves.

We pulled up to a large circular driveway with a grand fountain in the middle. The house was even bigger then I imagined. It was a brick colonial style mansion. Walking up the stairs I took in the beautiful white and purple flowers in pots taller them me that aligned the stone steps.  Dean took my hand in his before using the other to ring the doorbell. Almost immediately a short stocky man in a uniform opened the door.

"Mr. Lockwood very nice to see you sir, please come in." He opened the door wider and motioned for us to step in. I shot a glance to Juliette, she stared at me wide eyed and mouthed 'wow' before following us in. The front foyer was just as grand as the front of the house. The floor was a sparkly sort of cream and gold speckled stone with a dark diamond shape in the middle. There were two staircases with black iron railings one the left and right both curved until they connected at the top. Walking through the middle we continued to follow the man who greeted us, Juliette leaned in and asked if he was the butler, I just shook my head and a giggled escaped.

Once we reached the backyard I was taken back by the amount of guests. Dean was spotted quickly and the majority turned their attention to him yelling out words like "congratulations!" and "cheers!"  His parents hurried to greet us.

"Alicia I'm so glad you could join us," his mother Anna said giving me a kiss on the cheek. His father, Frank said hello with a handshake. Dean introduced them to Juliette before they filled us in on who was here and told us to go get some food. Getting some food didn't come easy as we were bombarded by several people along the way. After a dozen introductions we finally made it to the buffet tables.

"They're using China for a backyard party," Juliette said reaching for a plate.

"Yeah Dean this is not what I was expecting,  was that the butler?" I said placing a hand on his arm.

"It was, Henry, he's been with our family since I can remember.  It's a lot I know but I'm not the wealthy one my family is so I just don't like talking about it, feels like I'm bragging or something."

"Well, I don't think I would ever leave this place, I saw a tennis court a pool and some huge greenhouse already and I haven't even seen everything." Juliette said in amazement.

We, or should I say, several servers, piled our plates high with lobster, rice, shrimp, bread and root veggies. Finding a table with three empty seats we sat down to eat. A server in white came and placed three glasses of bubbly champagne in front of us. In the middle of a mouthful of bread a young attractive man sat down. He resembled Dean with his curly blonde curls and deep blue eyes. He smiled the same panty dropping grin that Dean was an expert at and I knew instantly they were related.

"You must be Alicia, Dean you told me she was beautiful but I think that doesn't do her justice. How'd you get her to stay with you little bro?" He said this while wrapping an arm around Dean's neck and playfully messing his hair up. Dean laughed and yanked away throwing a punch in the air toward his brother.

This must be Dominic, Dean's older and only brother. From what I've heard Dominic was quite the free spirited wanderer. After high school he went to Berkley, dropped out after his first year and had since traveled around the world. His parents funded his lifestyle for two years, thinking it was just a phase and that he would return to school. When they found he was down in Nicaragua surfing his days away with no intention of returning, they finally cut him off refusing to fund his 'bum' life as they called it.

 Dean was 6 years younger, when he graduated high school he hadn't seen Dominic in years so he boarded a plane and spent the summer with his brother. It turns out when he got there he discovered his brother had saved a large majority of the money his parents had been sending him and started a surf camp. His surf camp housed about ten people every three weeks, minus expenses he also set it up where most of the money went to preserving the wetlands in the area. Dean said it had been the best summer of his life, he worked along side his brother and met a lot of great people from all walks of life. When he came back he told his parents what his older brother was up to and the tension they once had when Dominic was brought up was gone. They were so proud he wasn't just wasting his life away down there, they donated a large chunk of money with the stipulation that he had to visit home twice a year at least. Dominic sounded like such a character I was excited to meet him.

"Dominic it's so great to meet you, how's life in Nicaragua?" His face lit up as he told me about the camp and all the work they were doing down there. It sounded like such an adventure, not sure I'd do the surfing part though, but helping out small rural communities develope and maintain safe clean drinking water sounded interesting.

"Wow that sounds amazing, maybe we could pay a visit this summer?" I said turning to Dean.

"Yeah that'd be great, I just got settled at work though so probably closer to the end of summer, maybe for a week. " I clasped my hands together and squealed. I've heard between Costa Rica and Nicaragua they have one of the highest concentration of sea turtles in the world, I would love to get in some research.

"Um hello, I'm so going with you!" Juliette piped in as she sat down next to me. She had left for a moment but must have returned somewhere at the end of our conversation.

"Juliette sorry I didn't introduce you, this is my brother Dominic, Dominic this is Juliette."  They exchanged greetings and I couldn't help but notice how the rest of our conversation Dominic couldn't keep his eyes off of Juliette. Our talk was interrupted by Frank he had tapped his glass to get everyone's attention. Making a beautiful speech about how proud he and Anna were of Dean, he raised his glass and asked us all to toast to Dean. As soon as the glass left my lips Dean surprised me with a kiss, it was a short sweet kiss but still made my knees weak. Breaking the kiss he leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"I love you Alicia," he turned away before I could respond and got up to hug his parents. I froze, this was the first time he's said that,  other then when he slipped in that he was falling in love with me, back when we got back together. My heart began racing like a horse at the Kentucky derby. I looked to Juliette who was busy talking with Dominic. I had to get up, I needed air, ha I was outside I had plenty of air, then why couldn't I breath?

I got up and started walking, I found a pathway away from the party and just kept walking. The path curved to the right and I saw a large ornate gazebo,  walking towards the gazebo I figured I would sit and do some thinking. When I approached the table I was startled to see Viviane curled up on a bench, what was more surprising was the tears running down her face. She looked up with fear etched across her face, when she noticed it was me she scrunched her brows and glared at me before speaking.

"What are you doing here?"






-hey guys, this is my last post for over a week. I'm going on Vacation!!!  Hoping to write some but not sure I can post. Thanks for reading and commenting!
Juliette

4th of July buzz

July 2003


I asked Alicia if I could speak with her alone. A look of concern flashed across her face before she quickly shoo'd Dean out. He didn't take it to heart and made a joke about girl talk. Once he shut the door behind him I sat in the chair across from Alicia.

"Jules, say something you're freaking me out." Alicia blurted, filling the uncomfortable silence that had filled the room.

"Did you sleep with Cal?" I asked searching her face, knowing she couldn't hide the truth from me. When she flinched and lowered her head I knew it was true.

"Jules it was a long time ago, before you two got together.  We were never a couple." She explained quickly.

"But you knew I had a crush on him our entire time in high school?"  A part of me knew it didn't really matter it's not like Cal and I are still together,  I guess what's really bugging me is how she never told me.

"Jules, you never told me you liked him until after homecoming.  We hooked up right after school started, it was at some junior's party." She leaned forward and reaching across the coffee table she grabbed my hands in hers. I didn't say anything but also didn't pull away so she continued.

"I promise you, I would have never done that to you. You know me."

"Yeah I do know you, and I know sleeping with someone isn't really that big a deal to you." I knew it was a low blow, I was still upset. I leaned back yanking my hands away folding them over my chest. She flinched and turned her face like she had just received a slap, I guess in a way it was.

"That was mean, I'm sorry. I'm not really mad you slept with him, I'm mad you never told me."  I had been waiting for her to apologize about the lying, when she didn't I decided to throw it out there.

"You're right I didn't tell you. Part of the reason was because...because I had feelings for him." I looked up instantly at this. She sighed, her attention was suddenly fixed to something in the corner behind me. Without looking at me she continued.

"As you know by high school I wasn't new to sex. The first time sucked and so did the couple of guys after. No one hurt me or anything, I just felt like they were using me, or maybe I was using them. Then I met Cal at a party. He was so nice to me, we talked for hours.   I told him about my mom, which is Not something I do."  It wasn't, if I hadn't known her for so long and hadn't personally witnessed the state that was her mom, I wouldn't have known either.

"Alicia, if I would have known you liked him,  especially since you slept with him, I would have never carried a torch for him for so long."  Great, this conversation started with me feeling hurt because of something I thought she did to me. Now I was hurting for her.

"Because I never let it go anywhere, after I slept with him I freaked. It was the first time I felt like this, all I did was think about him. I also felt horribly embarrassed, I didn't know how to be a 'girlfriend'. Even though my mom got better when I was 10, I was nervous she'd coil back, I couldn't bring a guy home. He called a few times and tried talking to me at school but I just blew him off." She sighed.

"And why didn't you tell me this." I said calmly, my anger had died down. Staying mad at each other was not something we practiced. I still needed to know though.

"The look on your face after the homecoming dance, " she smiled at the memory. "You went on and on about him, how hot he was, how nice he seemed. I knew how picky you were with guys, I didn't want to ruin that. Your my best friend Jules, I didn't want to hurt you. By the next semester I was over him so I figured no one ever needed to know."  She looked so crestfallen. I got up and joined her on the couch and wrapped my arms around her.

"Ok, I still wish you would have told me but I believe you. Let's forget it, we always promised we'd never let a boy get between us, we're not about to start. Remember Robert Lawson?" We broke the hug and tried to laugh off the heavy air looming over us. Back in 3rd grade Alicia and I were in opposite classes and hadn't met yet. We found out Robert was 'dating' both of us. I confronted her first on the playground,  I looked crazy shaking my love note in the air to prove he was with me. She also had the same note (do you like me circle yes or no.)  Once we found out he was playing the both of us we dumped Robert and have been best friends ever since.

"Sorry for breaking up your moment with Dean," I suddenly noticed the popcorn bowl in front of me, smiling I picked it up and started munching away.

"That's OK,  we've been a little on edge since he told me about the graduation party. I know my anxiousness is just coming off as bitchy."  We chatted awhile longer before heading off to bed. Tonight definitely didn't go as planned but I was glad I went out with Cal tonight. Despite the bomb he threw in I enjoyed catching up.


Friday was the 4th of July, it also happened to be the one year anniversary of Dean and Alicia's first date. Dean being the polite neighbor he is, had invited us to a big party at the beach, a handful of people rented out rooms at a seaside inn. The people we met were great and it was a way to break in our first 4th away from home, especially for Alicia.

The fireworks over the ocean were unreal, I was ecstatic when Dean invited us again to the same party this year. I had immediately called Jacob to invite him, unfortunately he already promised his mom he'd drive north to visit her. I was disappointed about going alone but sucked it up and went. We spent the night drinking, dancing and eating a lot of barbecue. Laying on my giant little mermaid beach towel I took in the majestic firework show. On my right Dean and Alicia were too busy groping each other to bother watching. If I wasn't buzzed from the fruity punch I had too many refills of, I would have felt alone. Luckily the combination of alcohol and the warm summer breeze kissed my skin and I felt nothing but bliss. After the grand finale the lovely sober Dean drove us home.

 Alicia reminded me about leaving around noon to make it to LA as I stumbled to my bed. Passing out in my swimsuit and sundress, I knew I would wake up feeling like a truck hit me, but nothing felt better in this moment.


Hoping to get another post in by the weekend. Next post will be Alicia's POV.
Thanks for reading and commenting! 
-Juliette 

Just toss that in there

July 2003


"OK Alie,  should I wear this or...this?" It was Wednesday night and I was skimming through my closet for the perfect outfit. I don't care if I didn't want to get back together with Cal, a girl had to look her best for an ex. I was deciding on a short pink form fitting in the waist sundress or the same black strapless I wore the first night we kissed.

"The pink one, makes your butt look good." Alicia said with little enthusiasm. She encouraged me to go out with him again yet ever since I asked her to help me get ready she has given me attitude. I sat down next to her on my bed and asked what was up.

"Nothing really, I think, I just, I don't know why all of a sudden you seem so anxious and excited about tonight.  I thought you were over him. I remember how much he hurt you and I feel like you forgot." She looked me in the eyes with concern.

"Ok listen, I do remember how much he hurt me and I'm not going to run back into his arms if that's what you're worried about. It's just, he was my high school crush you know. It's hard not to get a little nervous about going out with him again. If anything I just want to look good to show him what he's missing." I bumped her with my shoulder and smiled hoping she'd perk up.

"Well then let's show him," she jumped up and started helping me get ready. Once I put the final touch of lipstick on I looked in the mirror to inspect my reflection. Sexy, but not too much, I ran my hands through my hair to loosen the curls some. Don't want to look like I tried too hard.

There was a knock at the door and Alicia ran to beat me to it.

"Hello Cal," Alicia greeted him with a small grin, not even trying to hide her annoyance.

"Alicia, nice to see you again." Cal said sounding quite genuine.

"Juliette wow, you look amazing." He commented with his hands out for affect. He smiled, his dimples still got me, I wondered if they always would.

"Hey, I thought we were meeting there?"

"You don't think I'd let a hot girl like you walk there by herself do you?" That was kinda sweet, I looked at Alicia who was standing behind him rolling her eyes.

We said goodbye, and with a curt wave and fake smile Alicia shut the door behind us. I laughed to myself as I kept up with Cal, Alicia was never one to be subtle.

We ended up walking to the pub and I was grateful for opting to wear flat sandals as apposed to heels. We were seated in a dark booth and handed our menus. Within seconds a busty blonde appeared at our table.  I couldn't help but notice her gaze linger upon Cal. He was attractive in his fitted black top hugging him tightly along his upper arms. I also now noticed his once black wavy hair was trimmed very short. It almost made the rest of his head look to big, I thought.

 I realized I was still staring when the waitress asked me again what I would like to drink. I quickly turned my attention back to her and ordered a coke. She leaned in toward Cal, sticking her bust in his face and recommend the mozzarella sticks for an appetizer.  Not sure why she had to show him, wasn't like there was a picture but whatever. I was actually a little surprised at this, back when we were dating, the flirty attention of a waitress would have really bothered me. However right now I was finding it kinda funny how obvious she was being. Cal agreed and put an order in for the mozzarella sticks before turning back to me. We caught up some about the last semester of our first year. Turns out his team did really well and made it to the Mountain West Conference, I didn't really know what that meant but I just nodded along.

"So how was Rosarito?" I grabbed a piping hot mozzarella stick and dropped it quickly on my plate.

"Oh man, Mexico was awesome Jules, you gotta come with us next time." His eyes glossed over and he had a dreamy expression on his face.

"Well I doubt I'll get the invite from Shelly anytime soon." I said rolling my eyes. My cheese stick cooled some so I popped it in my mouth, greasy goodness, I was glad little miss flirt recommended them.

"Yeah, Gavin said something about her being thrown under the bus?" I almost choked on that statement.

"Hold up!? You do know why Shelly got fired don't you?" I knew I should probably shut my mouth but I was annoyed. When he just raised his brows and shook his head I continued.

"She was lying to customers and selling policies because of those lies." I felt the warmth creep to my cheeks.

"Wow, according to Gavin she got wrapped up in some selling practice the whole office did and got blamed for it?" I'm glad he seemed to be questioning this statement.

"No, she was the only one lying. Cal, listen I know Gavin is your friend but you should know I think Shelly is a pathological liar. Everything she's ever told me, well most everything has been a lie." Right then I paused, I knew I would regret what I said next but I couldn't stop.

"Shelly has been sleeping with her coworker, Patrick,  for almost a year." I flinched a little nervous for his reaction,  Gavin was his best friend. I opened my eyes and was surprised to see him so calm.

"Yeah, I know. Actually, I didn't know she was sleeping around at work. I suspected she was cheating with someone, I over heard her talking on the phone. It was obvious by what she was saying, that she was fooling around with whoever was on the other line."

"Wow, have you told Gavin?"

"Yeah, he's just so head over heals for her that he thinks I heard wrong." He shook his head and grabbed my hand.  "Listen I'll try and talked to him again but I didn't take you out to talk about their messed up relationship. " I agreed and we got back into a more uplifting topic. Busty came back and took our orders,  I noticed she never took her eyes off of Cal, even when she took my order. I was surprised how easily our conversation flowed, I would say even easier then when we were together.  Maybe the romantic tension wasn't there anymore.

"So Alicia seemed real happy to see me," he grinned.

"Ha, yeah, she's not your biggest fan." I laughed.

"Is she still with Dean?"

"Yeah,  they're pretty hot and heavy." My fish and chips arrived and I suddenly regretted all the fried choices I was making tonight.

"Alie was never one for relationships, she didn't even return my call after we slept together." He threw this in casually. I didn't respond I just stared at him with my mouth open wide. His laughter immediately stopped when he saw my face.

"Oh God Jules, I swear I thought you knew. It was back in high way before we got together." A look of worry spread across his face.

"No, I didn't know. Was it serious?" Why was this new information,  why didn't my best friend tell me this? I'd like Cal since the beginning of high school, she knew that. I was speechless, grabbing for my coke I started biting at my straw.

"No, like I said, it was once. It was freshman year we didn't even go out on a date. Listen I feel bad enough saying anything,  just don't be mad at Alicia." I wasn't sure why his sudden loyalty to Alicia but I wasn't in the mood to discuss this further.

"Alright alright, let's just talk about something else, please?" And that's exactly what we did for the next hour.  We talked about him going home for the summer and what our plans were for the 4th of July.  I tried to focus and enjoy myself but a part of me was dying to get home and talk to Alicia.  When the waitress brought our check I wasn't surprised to see a smiley face and number written boldly on pink ink. We argued a moment before I agreed he could pay then headed back toward the cottage.

"Juliette I really enjoyed tonight, aside from putting my foot in my mouth, I miss talking to you." He laughed a little testing the waters, I gave him a smile but didn't feel like laughing yet.

"Well who ever said we couldn't talk? No harm in talking right?" I believed that until he hit my lips with his. I wanted to pull back but the familiarity of his warm lips kept me there. Deeping the kiss I felt as if I was searching,  not sure for what. Pulling away I thanked him for dinner and hurried inside. Letting out the breath I was clinging to I opened my eyes to see Alicia and Dean cuddled up on the couch.

"How'd it go?" Alicia asked sitting up.

"There's something I need to ask you.."