The oxygen in the room seems to evaporate.
I can’t breathe.
What do I say to this man?
What do I say to someone who makes me feel seventeen again? The person who made me feel so beautiful on my darkest day, but then disappeared like a puff of smoke.
You say nothing, Juliette.
You go reheat the platter of crab puffs in the kitchen and forget about him.
“Excuse me, Chandler. I need to check on something for dinner.”
“Of course.”
I make a beeline for my bedroom instead, shut the door, and start hyperventilating. My first thought is to call Karen, because she knows all about Joseph. I had to tell her, because it was all anyone talked about for weeks when I got back to school.
Especially because every football player in school avoided eye contact with me. It was like having an invisible cloak of protection during my last days in that building. They were scared shitless of Joseph.
Unfortunately though, those carefree days of us sharing each other’s secrets are long gone. After graduation we fell out of touch. Karen enrolled in a conservatory program in New York for the violin, and I stayed in Pennsylvania and attended Villanova University for undergrad.
I guess I’m going to have to work through this chance meeting on my own doing what I do best–avoidance.
Of course I may be panicking for nothing and giving myself way too much credit. It was six years ago. What if he doesn’t remember me at all?
Juliette
Ihear a firm rap on my bedroom door, but I sit frozen on the edge of my bed. My gut is telling me that it’s him.
He knocks again. This time the knock is firmer.
“Juliette, open the door.”
Holy shit, it’s him. He does remember.
“Hi,” is all I say as I answer the door.
He lazily rakes his eyes up and down the length of my body. Settling them for a moment on my hips, then the curve of my waist, and then back to my face.
“Hi, can I come in?”
“Uh, sure.”
He enters my room and closes the door behind him.
“You look amazing.”
I look away and smile.
“Thank you.”
“Are you a lawyer now?” he asks.
“Not yet, I still have to take the bar examination.”
“I knew you’d do big things.”
“And what about you? What do you do that you’ve been invited to my parents’ Christmas party?”
