Chapter One - part III

[thestrangeaeons]

“So,” said Valerie Kaufman around a mouthful of pizza, “tell me exactly what the problem is again?”

Juliet sighed and forked a bite of the terrible chili into her mouth. Affection for Walt hadn’t permitted her to dispose of all of it. “Meaning?”

“Meaning you call me maybe once every three weeks to say hi and chat for ten minutes and that’s generally the most we ever talk. I don’t think you’ve ever invited me to lunch before. I must assume something’s up. So spill.”



Valerie had a point, but Juliet didn’t like being reminded of her social ineptness.

Slouched in one of the beige faux-leather booths that lined one wall of Marcy’s, Juliet reconsidered her original plan, which had been to tell her best friend everything. Despite her best intentions to do so, it seemed she couldn’t let go of her unease long enough to confide in Valerie. No matter how badly she wanted to spill all the details.

    She clamped her hands around her cup of soda and avoided Valerie’s gaze, instead examining her surroundings. Nearly every inch was familiar to her. White walls, dropped ceiling, a plethora of windows. A few booths were tucked to one side, each reached by a short flight of steps and mostly hidden from view by an abstract glass fence. Juliet preferred to sit in one of the booths, out of sight from the majority of the other customers.

“You pregnant?” asked Valerie in between sips of her soda.

Juliet recoiled. “God, no!” Even the thought of motherhood terrified her. She could only imagine how a child would turn out with her as a mother. With all of her emotional fuck-alls, maladjusted was the best she could hope for.



“Well jeez, relax. I figured something big had to be wrong for you to call me.”

“Am I really that bad a friend?” Juliet said. Valerie’s comment stung.

“Nah, but you’re one of the most hermity people I know. When you call, I know something’s gotta be up. So what is it?”



There really wasn’t anything, truth be told. She’d been lonely and wanted the company of her best friend. Valerie’s reaction was why Juliet rarely indulged her loneliness. Walt, at least, didn’t make a big deal out of it when she went to him for companionship, but things were too weird with Walt right now.

“I just thought you might like to have lunch, that’s all.”

“You thought right,” Valerie said, relenting. “Okay, if nothing’s bothering you, how’ve you been? How’s Walt?”

“Walt?” Just what she wanted to talk about. Thanks, Valerie. “Walt’s fine. I’m fine. We’re both . . . fine.” There was an awkward pause as she cast about for something to talk about. Even with Valerie kibitzing was difficult as hell. “Your hair looks nice,” she settled on. “Why blue this time?”

“They were out of orange, so I thought I’d go the opposite direction. When are you going to do something interesting with yours?”

“When you dye yours a color someone could conceivably be born with,” said Juliet.

“People are born with orange hair all the time. They just call it red.” Valerie took a bite of pizza, serene.

“Yeah, but that’s not Day-Glo orange, Val.” She forced down another bite of dreadful chili. Valerie’s hair had, in the time Juliet had known her, been just about every color in the neon rainbow. Orange had been the longest-running, green the shortest. Valerie’s bob was currently a dark indigo, which was a bit of a departure from the parade of eye-searing shades, but admittedly not an unwelcome one. Juliet had for some time been considering purchasing a pair of sunglasses expressly for wearing in Valerie’s company.



“So,” said Valerie, stirring the ice in her glass with her straw, “tell me more about being ‘fine’. Because as you well know, ‘fine’ is just another way of saying ‘everything sucks and I don’t want to talk about it’.”

“Well, if that’s what it means, then why are you asking? Obviously I don’t want to talk about it,” Juliet replied.

“Because I’m not known for avoiding subjects just because you want me to, am I? Come on, tell me. What’s bugging you?”



A lot of things were bugging her. To be perfectly honest, at the moment what was bugging her most was Valerie’s refusal to let the subject drop, but she couldn’t blame Val for that. After all, whose idea had it been to meet for lunch? Why, Juliet’s, of course. Valerie had gone along with it, but Juliet had been the one to suggest it.

She sighed and pushed the chili to one side. “I’m dying for something sweet. Want to split a slice of cake?”

“I’m in a pie sort of mood, myself, so I’ll get a slice of that and we can feel guilty together. Now stop changing the subject, you’re no good at it.”

“All right, all right!” Juliet snapped, and immediately regretted it. Her shoulders slumped; to hide it, she reached up to push some nonexistent strands of hair out of her face. “I’m sorry, Val, I’m so damn testy lately.”



“Like I haven’t noticed,” said Valerie. “Is it Walt?”

“When is it not Walt?” Saying it felt awful, but also true. “I love him, Valerie, but it’s like that isn’t good enough for him. Nothing is, short of living together or getting married. And of course the former is just practice for the latter. I . . .” She looked out the window to the right, hoping to see the right words scrawled on the glass.

She didn’t. What she did see did not immediately catch her attention, so she disregarded it, turning back to Valerie. “I don’t feel comfortable around him anymore. I’m always holding my breath, hoping we can get through dinner or whatever we’re doing without him bringing it up. So even when he doesn’t, I can’t relax enough to have fun.”

Valerie stayed quiet for a few minutes, chin propped on her fist. Grown uncomfortable again after confessing her burden, Juliet fidgeted, wishing she had a hangnail to pick at or something.

“Have you mentioned this to him?” Valerie asked.

“Have you met Walt?” said Juliet. “I’ll never hear the end of it if I bring it up. Even if we manage to get things resolved so that we’re both happy, it’ll still never go away. We could get married, live happily together for fifteen years, then fight about one little thing and he’ll be saying ‘But in college, you didn’t want to be around me!’ He can’t let anything go.”



“That’s a roundabout way to say ‘No, Valerie, I haven’t.’”

“Hah. I suppose it is.” Juliet turned to gaze out the window again, but this time actually noticed what was going on outside. She sat up straighter, frowning a little. “Val?”

“Yuh.”

“What’s that crowd doing over by the hedges?”



Quite a few people had gathered in Marcy’s parking lot. Near the edge of the property was a row of hedges, Marcy’s defense against the weathered and rather unsightly building to its rear, and it was here that the crowd had clustered.

Valerie glanced out the window as well. “Fuck if I know. Maybe there’s a cat hiding in there or something.”

“No, something’s wrong. That many people wouldn’t be standing around watching a cat, unless it was hurt. And even then I don’t think they’d look so panicked.” Juliet had already risen from her side of the booth and was heading for the door. Behind her Valerie uttered a frustrated grunt and, presumably, got up to follow her. It was immaterial to Juliet whether her friend did so or not, though. She was already halfway through the front doors.

Comments

[chickpeagreen.livejournal.com]

Ooh, cliffhanger. I'm so curious now!

[thestrangeaeons.livejournal.com]

Excellent, I have succeeded. :D

[rustedinkwell.livejournal.com]

What is it?! What is it what is it what is it?! *antsy.

[thestrangeaeons.livejournal.com]

You'll see in a week or two (hopefully).

[builderjen.livejournal.com]

Argh! *tries to see past Juliet into the parking lot* ;P

[thestrangeaeons.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't do you any good, I didn't actually set it up xD;

[xjoelbabix.livejournal.com]

what that's it ahhh...
your characters are gorgeous, i especially love Valerie

[thestrangeaeons.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much. Valerie's really grown on me, too. :)

[beescratch.livejournal.com]

! I have to leave town more often, if when I come back there is Enna!write to read! And it's stuff I haven't read yet! WHAT ARE THEY GATHERED FOR?!?

Wait...I think I know. Do I know? I'm pretty sure I do.

Also: Do I see Clara and Selfsim outside?

[thestrangeaeons.livejournal.com]

Ain't sayin'.

Yep, that's Clara and Simenna.

[crushthecamera.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, this is really neat. I love your style. Is it okay if I add you?

[thestrangeaeons.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! And thank you, I feel the same way about your story. :)

[eshuff.livejournal.com]

One of the things I really like about this is the sense of place. Love how you open with a shot of where they are. What it looks like. The same way you did with the apartment building.

Great interaction between Valerie and Juliet, down to the detail about the hair color and the preference for pie instead of cake. and the everpresent "Walt" issue that Juliet keeps trying to avoid.

Love the cliffhanger!

[thestrangeaeons.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad it adds to the feel of it. It just made sense to do with the constant and somewhat at-random changes of scenery. I'm also glad to see that the interaction comes off realistically, I worry about that.