Disclaimer: The following story is mostly true. Names have been changed to protect the stupid, and the heartbroken. Contains drinking, adult themes and may contain physical scenes between both hetero and homosexual couples (all consensual). If this offends you or is illegal where you live, find something else to read.
Chapter 6
“What do you mean she’s back with Luke?” Julie asked as she cradled the cell phone between her ear and her shoulder, attempting to fold laundry as she talked. “I thought you said she was moving out there to be with you?”
A tearful Carrie sniffed into the phone “I don’t fucking know anymore. Maybe I should just make the decision for her and be done with it.”
Julie sighed. I can’t believe I’m doing this. WHY am I doing this? She sat on the end of the bed and took the phone in her hand properly, ignoring the waiting clothes for the moment. “Maybe she doesn’t know what she wants. But if you keep running away and don’t give anyone a chance then you’ll never know what it’s like. Remember, you closing off and running and not communicating is the thing you said you regretted with us…” she let the statement hang, hoping it would have the desired impact.
Carrie sighed on the other end of the phone “I know. Being three-thousand miles away just makes it hard, y’know? I’m sure if I were there it would be different.”
Julie was starting to lose her temper. Morgan had been toying with Carrie for months now, one minute professing love, the other making excuses for Luke, and Julie was getting very close to driving up to Connecticut and doing exactly what she had once promised Morgan she would… and make it look like an accident. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe she’s telling both of you what you want to hear, because she doesn’t know what to do?” she asked, with bit more of an edge to her voice.
“I wish she’d make up her fucking mind. It’s just… ah I’m sorry Jules, I shouldn’t be telling you all this while you’re still trying to heal” she said, switching gears again. If not for the fact that Carrie was the worst liar in the world, Julie would have sworn it was some sort of game. “I just don’t have anybody else I can really talk to…”
“It’s fine Car, really” Julie offered, reassuring herself just as much as she was Carrie. “Like I’ve told you a million times, I’m still your friend, and I still care.”
“I know, and it’s appreciated.” she sniffled again. “I’m going to try to get some rest – and you probably should too, it’s after midnight where you are.”
“Yeah, I was too wound up to sleep so I started doing housework, but you’re right, I should try to get some rest” Julie admitted. “You know how to find me if you need me.”
“Yep. Thanks Jules. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight Carrie” Julie touched the screen on her phone and hung up the call. Flopping backward onto the bed she let out an exasperated breath. It wasn’t so much that she minded that Carrie called her – she was actually glad of that. No, it was the fact that Morgan was throwing away the one thing in the world Julie wished she could get back, but far from being that altruistic, she just couldn’t bring herself to tell Morgan that.
Chapter 7
It seemed like all Julie had to do was blink and suddenly she was smack in the middle of the holidays. She looked at the pictures her mother had posted on Facebook and chuckled ruefully… somehow it always worked out that out of herself and her two siblings, one of them was always single in the Christmas photos. Apparently this year was her turn.
As she flipped through the photos, her brother, and sister-in-law smiled, looking nauseatingly cute holding her newborn niece. Her sister and her new beau still had that lovey-dovey look all over them. And there she was holding the family dog, staring back at herself from the screen. Both the Julie in the picture and the Julie looking at it were trying not to cry.
She didn’t begrudge her siblings their happiness though. Of all the guys her sister had dated, Julie really liked Ben, and was actually hoping he’d ask Rachel to marry him (though not nearly as much as Rachel hoped the same thing). Tim and Annie’s little bundle – in addition to being adorable – had actually taken some of the pressure off of her where that whole “next generation” thing was concerned. Julie had just hoped that for once there would actually be a Christmas picture with six people in it, not five, and she had planned on Carrie being that sixth for a long time. Instead, at least her mother had been kind enough to not take a five-person picture this year.
New year’s wasn’t promising to be any better. In fact, Julie had pretty much planned on spending the evening at home, watching the hour tick depressingly by. Travis and Kathrine had invited her (and about a hundred of their other closest friends) to their house for New Year’s. When she saw him just before Christmas she had been about to decline, but she hadn’t planned on Travis’s little surprise. He’d pulled her aside and managed to twist her arm with one of the few things she couldn’t say no to – just before midnight, he was planning to propose. So despite the tears leaving trails down her cheeks, Julie found herself packing up her Jetta for yet another road trip, this time to New York.
As she pulled up to the house, the long driveway was already full, and a line of cars extended down the road past several houses. Pulling into the first available spot she put her city-honed parallel parking skills to use, neatly fitting into the tight space. She cut the engine and hit the trunk release button. Loading herself up with her overnight bag, sleeping bag and case of beer she made her way up to the front door. The glass storm door was closed but the inner door was open, revealing the party inside. She could hear music, muffled conversations and laughter as she approached. Swallowing the knot in her throat she pushed down her depression and anxiety and put on the best face she could before carefully kicking the door. “Hey, open up, lady with booze!” she called, her arms full.
Her friend Mike looked up from his drink toward the door as a smile of recognition split his features. He strode over to the door and pushed it open. “Hey thanks!” he said, grabbing the beer and then starting to pull the door shut. He didn’t make it halfway through his joke however before Julie whacked him soundly on the arm. “OW! Ok, you can come in too. Sheesh!” he said with a smile.
Julie allowed him to take the case of beer so that she could grab him in a one armed hug. “Love you too man, where’re Travis and Kathrine?”
“Floating around here somewhere, being the gracious hosts that they always are.” he noted the sleeping bag tucked under her arm. “Most folks are crashing in the basement, so you might want to toss your stuff down there. The steps are down the hall” he offered, pointing the way.
“Thanks Mike, I’ll do that.” she nodded, heading in the indicated direction. Along the way she greeted several more friends. There were a handful of people throughout the house she didn’t know, but the vast majority were good friends or at the very least acquaintances, and it took her the better part of half an hour to actually make it to the basement area where guests were depositing their belongings for the eventual crash. She divested herself of her bags and winter coat, revealing the plain white v-neck t-shirt underneath. Her friends didn’t seem to know how to throw a party without a theme – this year’s was “graffiti,” and included not only huge pieces of paper on the walls begging for decoration, but all guests had been instructed to wear a shirt that could be drawn on as well.
As she stood bent over arranging her things a smart slap in the ass made her whirl around. “I was wondering where the hell you were.” Travis was behind her smiling a goofy grin, a bottle of beer in his the hand while the other still rested on her ass. Julie could tell however that he was still mostly sober – she figured he wanted to be lucid for what he planned later in the evening. “I was starting to wonder if we’d be watching the ball drop without you.”
“Nah,” she sighed, swatting his arm away playfully. “Traffic from Jersey was a bitch – I’m not the only one heading somewhere tonight y’know. But I promised you I’d be here, and you know I don’t break promises.” She winked at him conspiratorially.
“Good. I’m glad you’re here” he offered, pulling her into a tight hug. “I want everybody I care about to be here for this.”
“Wouldn’t miss it man” she smiled at him. “But I am far too sober for a New Year’s party, so I need to fix this. Show me to the bar.”
Travis bowed, and in his best English accent “With pleasure my lady” and offered her his arm. Julie was impressed when he lead her over to the other side of the basement, which hosted a full wet bar. Bottles of top shelf liquor lined the shelves behind it, and racks of wine and martini glasses hung from the ceiling. Upon arrival he loudly proclaimed what had become his tag line over the years: “NOBODY DRINKS ALONE!” as he scooted behind the bar, gently shoving the bartender aside, and grabbing a bottle of X-Rated, which he knew was Julie’s favorite from the shelf. Reaching under the bar he began pulling out shot glasses and lining them up in front of him. “Who’s having a shot?” he called. Several people made their way over, hands outstretched as Travis doled out shot after shot, including one to Julie. Everyone stood, shot in hand awaiting the toast (there always was one). When Travis was satisfied that there were enough people with shots in hand, he held his own aloft. “To good times, with good people” he offered simply, raising his glass and looking at the friends assembled in front of him.
“I’ll drink to that” Julie replied, as everyone knocked back their glasses. As the cool liquid slid down her throat Julie noticed Valerie out of the corner of her eye, having also just downed her own shot. She could feel the redhead’s eyes on her as she turned around. “Hey stranger, haven’t seen you in a while” she said with a smile, placing her now empty glass on the bar.
“Yeah, long time no see” Valerie replied, arms outstretched for a hug, which Julie graciously accepted. She was glad to see it was a genuine hug as Valerie pulled her in tightly, not one of those polite hugs that some people give. “I hate to drink and run, but Samantha and I are doing a dance performance just before Travis’s toast tonight, so I need to go change.”
Julie was mildly disappointed but knew the party was nowhere near winding down. “Oh, no sweat I’ll catch up with you later.”
Valerie looked Julie up and down for a second. “You don’t have any graffiti on you” she noted.
Julie shrugged. “I literally just got here when Travis dragged me over for that shot. I haven’t had the chance to be tagged yet.”
Valerie’s expression turned playful – bordering on sultry as she grabbed a marker off the bar. “We’ll have to fix that then. Turn around” she ordered.
Julie quirked an eyebrow and quipped “Yes ma’am” before complying. Valerie smoothed out the fabric of the shirt before starting her work. Julie couldn’t quite tell what Valerie was drawing, but she was taking her time with long, broad strokes of the marker down her back, her left hand sliding gently as she drew with her right, keeping the fabric taught. Julie hoped Valerie couldn’t feel her reaction to the gentle touch – she still wasn’t quite sure which team Valerie was on, and didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
A few more flicks between her shoulder blades and Julie could hear the cap snap back onto the marker. Valerie grabbed her shoulders and turned her human canvas left and right, appraising her work. “That oughta do it” she said, giggling. “See you at the show!” and she bounded off to get ready.
Julie craned her neck to try to see the new decoration but was only able to see a few swirls on either of her shoulders. Shrugging, she grabbed a bottle from a bucket of ice on the bar – some sort of fruity malt drink. Shrugging she twisted off the cap and took a long swig – a bit sweet but not bad. Looking toward the room where her graffiti artist had disappeared, she could see people starting to gather on the floor in anticipation. A couple of familiar faces waved as she made her way over to join them.
Jen and Liz stood up from their spots lounging on the floor to greet her. “Glad you made it” Liz offered as she gave Julie a hearty squeeze. “We were getting worried.”
“The usual holiday traffic” she shrugged, taking another long draw on the bottle in her hand “and I got waylaid via the bar… and a very talented artist,” She twisted around displaying the drawing on her back. “At least, I hope she’s talented.”
“Oooh, nice one” Jen commented, grabbing Julie’s shoulders and turning her around fully. “You don’t even know what it is do you?”
“Not a friggin’ clue” Julie laughed, “but it felt nice. What the hell is it anyway?”
“Some sort of swirly, tribal-looking design. Kinda looks like it’d normally be drawn with henna or something” Liz observed. “So who’s the artist?”
“Valerie” Julie smiled, turning back around. The comment had her two friends raising their eyebrows and looking at each other. In her peripheral view she caught sight of Valerie, Samantha and Travis making their entrance. “Speaking of…” she motioned to the dancers “looks like we’re about to get started.” The three took up their seats on the floor and settled in for the show.
From the moment they walked in Julie couldn’t take her eyes off Valerie. Her dance outfit consisted of a wrap top that cut off at the midriff, exposing a trim, muscular stomach, and flared-leg pants, trimmed with long blue fringe that accented her hips .
“Ladies and gentlemen today for your viewing pleasure these two lovely ladies have graciously agreed to honor us with a performance, after which we will have a toast, so everyone please make sure you have a drink in hand.” At Travis’s words a few people scrambled up and ran back to the main room, returning moments later with assorted beverages.
Once everyone had settled back down, the lights were dimmed, and somebody started up the music from the side of the room, and the dancers began. Julie watched along with the others in silent, rapt fascination as they moved gracefully and sensually across the floor, their hips moving with the rhythm of the music.
The performance completed to raucous applause and the lights came back up as Travis again took the floor and thanked the performers. Valerie and Samantha retrieved their drinks and stood to the side as Travis called Katherine up to join him and began his toast.
“I can’t think of a a group of people I’d rather have here in my house tonight as we ring in the new year, so if everyone would raise their glass…” but as he raised his cup he dropped it – revealing it was empty. As he leaned over to retrieve it, he deftly pulled a small box out of his pocket, and dropped to a knee, facing a thoroughly shocked Katherine as the room erupted in cheers. A gasp and a nod from Katherine had the group hooting and hollering again as Travis stood and placed the ring on her finger.
Julie was touched and very happy for her friends, but after the toast she quietly slipped outside and paced around the snow covered yard, trying to collect the emotions that were quickly getting out of her control. There was a time when she’d pictured a similar scene in her head with Carrie and herself – though she had to admit she was never sure which one of them would have been down on one knee.
The sound of the door opening caught her attention, and she looked up to see her friend Ryan closing it behind him. When it had been time to collect the last of her own things from the house it had been Ryan that helped her, and Ryan that had stayed the night with her, curled protectively around her as she cried herself to sleep. He’d gone through his own breakup with Erin not long before, and the two had spent many a night crying on each other’s shoulders. He stuck his hands in his pockets as he approached, hunching his shoulders a bit in deference to the chill in the night air.
“You okay kiddo?” he extracted a hand from its warm pocket and wrapped it around Julie’s shoulder pulling her close. His height advantage over Julie found her with her face in his chest, and she was glad for the comfort it brought – both physically and emotionally.
“No, and it annoys me that I’m not.” she admitted, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying herself further in his comforting warmth.
“I know hon, I know.” He pulled his other hand out of his pocket and returned the embrace. “Give yourself some time, huh? Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
“I’m really glad you’re here” she offered with a gentle squeeze. He held her for a moment, stroking her back lightly in a very comforting motion.
He kissed the top of her head “Me too.”
“You’re not here with anybody… right?” she asked hopefully
He pulled back from the embrace slightly, looking her in the eyes “No why?”
“Whaddya say we steal each other at midnight? I want my new year’s kiss.” she asked, with an eyebrow raised.
“It’d be an honor” he replied smiling. He took a quick look at his watch “But that means we need to get inside. It’s three minutes till.” Julie nodded. “C’mon I’ll grab us some champagne.”
Silver Tides 