Seven Days (7 page)

Never one to show weakness, she pressed past Rhys, who
was perched on the arm of the sofa where Cera was curled up, to reach Julian.
He was standing in between Carolyn and Luke. She lightly rested her free hand
on his shoulder and tipped her face up for a quick kiss, “Hi babe.”

He looked down at her, registering a new presence in his
sphere. With her eyes she dared him to leave her hanging in front of a roomful
of people. It was only when she felt the brief brush of Julian's lips at the
corner of her mouth that she realized she’d been holding her breath.

* * *

“Where is it that we're going?” Luke asked, breaking the
uncomfortable silence. He was in Cera's black Pathfinder with Julian and Milan.
Rhys and Carolyn were following in Carolyn's car.

“You'll see,” Cera said.

They pulled up in front of a two-story brick building on
Chestnut Hill’s main drag. Cera jumped out of her SUV and waited for Carolyn
and Rhys to join them.

“We're here,” she said waving her arm toward the building
like a game-show hostess, “Welcome.”

“Cera's Place,” Milan read the sign above the door.
“Cera's Place? I don't understand.”

Cera held the door and ushered them inside, “Please come
in. I'd like to welcome you all to my place. My piano bar slash restaurant.”

“Oh, my God!” Carolyn cried out, “Cera! You bought a
bar!”

“Yep, it's more of a club, really, for artistic souls
like me—and like your brother, who plays a mean piano!” Cera went over and
bumped shoulders with Rhys.

“This is great, I love it,” Julian left Milan’s side to
hug Cera, lifting her off her feet and spinning her around. “When did you do
this? Why didn't you tell me? I would have helped.”

“Me too, this place is fantastic,” Luke leaned in and
kissed her cheek, “Congratulations.”

“Thank you, guys. I was so nervous. I didn't want to tell
anyone until it was really done. Didn't want to jinx myself, I guess. It's
something I wanted to do since forever and when my grandmother left me some
money, I finally decided to get myself together and actually do it.”

“It's lovely, Cera,” Milan added. Of the whole group,
Cera was the one person Milan knew the least. She felt odd being here,
witnessing this monumental occasion among this tight group of friends and
feeling like such an outsider at the moment, but God help her if she'd let
anyone know it.

“Thanks. I've reserved a table for us over here by the
piano and I've got a special menu prepared for us tonight. All of our
favorites!” Cera led them to their table. “So please come on over here and sit
down, and let's cross our fingers that Cera's Place will be a great success on
its grand opening!”

Cera’s mood matched the flowing blue and white dress she
wore. To look at her you could see she was floating among fluffy white clouds
in a bright blue sky. Who knew when her feet would touch the ground again.

Things had worked out. Her friends loved the place; she
had customers; Julian, the professional chef, had complimented her food. Cera's
Place was a working, living, successful club. She was sharing her grand opening
with her oldest friends and she could not be happier.

The six of them ate a full meal and closed the place
down. As she turned the lock against her last patron, Cera was almost overcome
with emotion.

“Thank you guys so much for being here with me tonight. I
can hardly express how much it means to me to share this dream with you. To see
my efforts come to life like this and to have your support means—you'll never
know how much.” She raised a glass, “To my friends.”

She carefully touched her glass to each of the five
raised in salute and they all drank together, reaffirming the bonds that held
them so close.

Carolyn's cell phone rang and broke the spell. Clearly
embarrassed, she held the device to her ear and the tone of her voice let
everyone know it was Mark calling from Japan, where he’d gone for work. She
excused herself and went to stand in the shadows of the room to hold her
conversation.

Luke, who was never without his camera, had taken candid
shots of the grand opening throughout the night. Now while Carolyn was on the
phone, he directed the group into random poses and snapped away. They were
having fun acting silly for the camera. Cera draped herself on the piano while
Rhys pretended to bang on the keys like a mad pianist. Julian and Milan swayed
back and forth on the small stage practicing their first dance as husband and
wife. They stumbled and Julian pointed out that Milan had the steps wrong.

“All that money we spent on lessons!” he chuckled and
spun her around again.

“Mmm hmm,” Milan agreed, “and it still hasn’t helped your
sense of rhythm.”

He laughed and dipped her low. She squealed at the
unexpected move.

“You can’t blame my rhythm when there’s no music, hon.
Rhys,” Julian called out, “play us something!”

Rhys dragged his fingers along the keys, then launched
into something appropriate for a reception. Cera left the stage and went to sit
with Carolyn, who’d finished her call and was watching her friends from their
table.

“They look happy, don’t they?” Carolyn asked.

Cera looked over at Julian and Milan for a moment and
nodded her head. Luke snapped a picture of her and Carolyn, so she stuck her
tongue out at him. He snapped again before she pulled it back in.

“What about you? Was that Mark?” Cera asked.

“Yes, and he’s not going to make it back in time for the
wedding.”

“I’m sorry.”

Carolyn shook her head and slipped her phone into her
purse.  “I’m actually fine with it. I half expected it and honestly, I’m not
quite sure I was ready for him to come back yet.”

“You guys having trouble?”

Carolyn let out a puff of air, half laughter, half sigh.
“No?” she answered with a question. “There’s a chance he may be transferred to
Japan for a few years. He asked me if I’d go with him if that happened...and I
just don’t have an answer for him. Which makes me think that that answer is,
‘no’.”

Cera made an understanding sound. “And if he stayed?”

“If he stays then we keep doing what we’re doing. Maybe
somewhere down the line when I'll know if this is—” she stopped and looked at
the dancers on the stage. “When I know if he’s the one, then sure, Japan sounds
great. But right now, my job, my family—walking away from those things is an
unsettling thought.”

Onstage, Milan and Julian posed for Luke. She looked
happy and Julian looked relaxed.

“Maybe I’m overthinking,” Carolyn continued and looked
toward stage, “They look so happy now, but there’ve been some jitters. Yet
they’re moving forward. Milan’s fitting is tomorrow, the rehearsal dinner is
Friday and Saturday they become man and wife. Japan would be a great adventure,
right?”

Cera put her arm around Carolyn’s shoulder and pulled her
in for a half-hug. “It would be, but traveling with people is hard. You’ve got
be sure you pick the right companion or it’s going to be a disastrous trip.”

They jumped at Rhys’ sharp whistle.

“Finally got your attention. Come on over, we’re going to
do a group shot.”

Rhys, Cera, Carolyn, Julian and Milan lined up at the
piano while Luke set the camera on the tripod. He dashed up onto the stage to
get into place next to Milan before the camera tripped the shutter release.
They were all smiling when the flash went off.

“Luke, please make me a copy of that photo, I'd like to
hang it in the club,” Cera requested, “It will be like my good luck charm.”

“Sure thing. I might even have time to develop it
tomorrow.” Cera's eyes twinkled, “Speedy! I like it!” She pulled him into a
hug. She’d been handing them out all evening. Milan was the first to break out
of the line.

“Well, it's late and I have an early appointment
tomorrow—”

Julian interrupted Milan with a stage whisper, “It’s her
final fitting!”

She elbowed him gently and continued, “And Julian's
signing the final papers on his new restaurant. It’s a big day.” Milan grabbed
hold of Julian's hand,” I think we should probably get going, don't you?”

Cera needed a few more minutes to lock up before she'd be
ready to leave, so Julian was grateful for Carolyn’s offer to take her car back
to the house. She would ride back later with the others. He helped Luke carry
his camera equipment to the car and seated Milan in Carolyn’s Camry. He tapped
on the glass and Milan lowered the window.

“I’ll be right back,” he said and went back into the bar.

Carolyn was alone at the piano absently tapping Middle C.
He slid onto the bench next to her.

“Jules, I thought you guys left already.”

“We're just about to. I came back because I forgot to
tell you ‘thanks.’”

She looked and him with a question in her eyes.

“For the Rubik’s Cube,” he held up the little
multicolored puzzle.

“You brought it with you!”

He heard the smile in her voice. “Of course! I cherish
it,” he teased.

“I'm glad you like it.”

“I love it. Thank you.”

He leaned down to kiss her on the cheek, but she turned her head
at the same moment and he brushed her lips with his. The touch was soft, an
unexpected but long-awaited invitation. He hesitated, then leaned forward and
she did the same.

The pull between them was invisible yet hard to ignore.
Carolyn stiffened slightly, no doubt as surprised as he by the contact. Then
she relaxed into him and he knew that she was allowing herself to experience
whatever this was. She touched him lightly on his neck and he deepened their
kiss, feeling an urgent burst of excitement travel between them. He didn’t know
how long it lasted—it was forever and a day. It was a split second.

On the periphery of his mind Julian heard others
approaching but the pieces of information that his senses were trying to
assemble couldn’t form a complete picture in time. He couldn’t react fast
enough. He couldn’t make his muscles move him away from Carolyn before they
entered the room. Rhys, however, had no problem. Julian felt his best friend
roughly pull him off the bench and drag him across the small stage.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Julian felt the wall against his back as Rhys closed in
on him. They were eye to eye with Rhys’ hand pressing into his chest. His
friend looked at him with wild eyes as if he'd suddenly lost his mind.

Julian saw every thought Rhys had cross his face: the
unspoken acknowledgement of Julian's feelings for Carolyn—a topic neither of
them had ever addressed; the reminder that Milan was outside in the car waiting
for him; the fact that the wedding was days away; and the threat that Rhys
would kill him if he hurt Carolyn.

“What are you doing with my sister?” Rhys asked again in
a heated whisper.

“I'm sorry, Rhys. I don't—”

“Get out of here. Now!” Rhys had never looked at him like
this before, no matter what had happened.

“Rhys, please stop,” Carolyn implored. She was hovering
by the piano with Cera.

Julian strained to see her over Rhys’ shoulder, “Carolyn,
I'm sorry—” he started but Rhys moved to block his view.

“I said, now,” Rhys growled.

They stared each other until that moment of mutual
understanding when they both knew that Rhys had won this battle. Rhys loosened
his hold on Julian and stepped back, keeping himself between Julian and
Carolyn. This was wrong. He’d never been on the opposite side of a fight with
Rhys before. It didn’t feel good.

Luke entered the front door and immediately sensing
tension, sidled up and positioned himself between the two men. “What's going
on?”

Julian licked his lips and backed away, “Nothing.”
Carolyn stepped forward and his eyes snapped to hers. She looked confused,
upset and embarrassed at the same time. He had done that to her and he wouldn’t
forgive himself. “I’m sorry,” he said and left the club.

Cera dropped the Jameses off at their door and they
entered the house in silence. In the family room they stood like statues
looking at each other, no one knowing what to say or where even to start.

There was so much going on in Carolyn's head that she
needed to get away from her brothers’ questioning looks and sort things out
herself. She made an exaggerated yawn and excused herself. Sadly, closing the
bedroom door did not keep the confusion out of her mind.

Her room was hot and she cursed their lack of air
conditioning. She stripped off her clothes, put on a loose tank top and shorts
and went to sit in the window seat, hoping that a cool breeze would clear her
mind.

Just last night she’d looked up into the same sky with
Julian, but there was no moon tonight and the drifting clouds were playing
peekaboo with the stars. She folded her arms over her knees and tried to make
sense of all that had happened.

Rhys had come home a few days ago and she’d expected him
to bring her some clarity. Instead things had turned upside-down. Mark was
offering her a chance to completely change her life and now, after that kiss,
she was thinking of Julian in a way she’d never allowed herself to think of him
before. And Rhys—she’d never seen him so angry. It was because of her. How had
she let herself come between them?

She sat there for hours trying to make sense of it all
until, finally, she fell asleep.

“Let me get this straight, you came out from the kitchen
and saw him kissing her? Like, really kissing her?”

Rhys nodded again at the question Luke had posed several
times already.

“And what brought this on? I mean, how does he go from
dancing with his fiancée to kissing our sister? What about Milan?”

Rhys had no answers. They were still in the family room,
where they had been all night. Max was nosing around, hungry and antsy since Carolyn
hadn't come down this morning for their usual run.

Finally Rhys spoke, “Look, we both know that Julian's
always had special feelings for Carolyn. Geez, I don't even know for how long.”

“Since we were kids.”

“But he's never acted on them, never even brought it up,”
Rhys continued, “I swear, he's probably never even admitted it to himself.”

“Or to Carolyn.”

“You think not?” Rhys interrupted, “Then, what was that
last night?”

“I don't know,” Luke got up to feed the dog but continued
speaking from the kitchen. “Do you think she has feelings for him? I mean, I
suppose it's possible. Even so, I don't like the way Jules is going about this.
He's gonna walk down the aisle in four days. Why choose now to act on his
feelings? Though I guess I just answered my own question. Still, it's not fair
to Carolyn and it's most definitely not fair to Milan. Rhys...you there?” Luke
walked back into the family room when he didn't get a response and saw Carolyn
leaning against the doorway to the hall. “Oh. I didn't see you there.”

Silence filled the room until Carolyn ended the awkward
moment with the most benign of subjects.

“You fed the dog?”

“Yeah, I just...I just gave him his bowl.”

She crossed into the kitchen, “Good, I think I'll have a
bowl of cereal myself.” Carolyn set about busying herself with breakfast as he
and Rhys followed her into the kitchen and watched her. She prepared three
bowls.

“What did you mean, 'Why choose now to act on his
feelings?' What does that mean?” she turned around and faced them. Luke looked
at Rhys; his brother could handle this one. He had said enough.

“What does it mean?” she asked again, a little more
forcefully.

Rhys answered, “Nothing.”

His answer surprised Luke. It was a cop out—and not a
particularly good one—because the issue wasn’t nothing, was it? There were more
people involved than just Julian, and Luke was not going to let Julian play
around with the women in his life.

“No Rhys, it's not ‘nothing’. Carolyn, I meant that it's
not fair for Julian to play with people's emotions like he is. He's getting
married on Saturday. Milan is picking up her dress today. Why was he kissing
you?”

Saying the words, he realized how upset he was by the
whole situation. He could not just let it go and hope for the best. He needed
answers because too much was at stake.

Luke was upset and it surprised Carolyn. He hardly ever
got rattled and it was unsettling to see him raise his voice. It looked like
she would have to be the reasonable one if she wanted to get any answers.

“Luke,” she said as evenhandedly as possible, “this is
Julian we’re talking about, why are you acting like he’s some jerk who's out to
sow his oats before he ties the knot?”

“What are you saying? You're not an oat? You are
more
than an oat? Are you involved with–” he broke off at her giggle, “why are you
laughing? You think this is funny? This is people's lives! Do you think Milan
would think it's funny that Julian is kissing other women?”

“Luke, please, calm down,” she waited for her breathing
to get back to almost normal. “Look, I'm sorry I laughed. It was the oat
comment,” she snickered again. “But that's not important. I'm actually very
surprised by this whole conversation. I'm surprised at both of you. Rhys, I
think you need to apologize to Julian. You practically slammed him against the
wall for crying out loud!”

“Apologize? Right!” Rhys scoffed, “Let me go do that
right now.”

So he was still mad. That’s two brothers against their
friend. She had to put a stop to this now. “First of all this is Julian we're
talking about.
Joo-lee-anne
. Remember him? Your best friend. The guy
who's been like a brother to all of us?”

“Not like me! I don't go around smooching my sister!”
Luke objected and was promptly hushed.

“Both of you are completely off base here. This is a
misunderstanding. It was an accident. He was thanking me for the Rubik’s Cube.
He leaned in to kiss my cheek; I didn't know he was going to do that. I turned
my head and he planted one on me accidentally.”

...and then I kissed him back. Carolyn shoveled a
spoonful of cereal into her mouth to make sure she kept that detail to herself.

“It was all quite innocent actually—” she swallowed,
“until Muhammad Ali over here went ballistic. I thought you were going to hit
him. What was that about, Rhys? I'd like to know. I've never seen you act like
that.”

Rhys just looked at her as if he had no inkling how to
respond to her.

“Luke? Would you care to explain his actions to me
because they seem a little extreme?”

“Look Carolyn,” Luke started, “I have to ask, is there
something going on between you two?”

She could hardly believe what she was hearing. Was Luke
seriously asking her if Julian was cheating on his fiancée with her?

Luke continued, “I saw you on the porch with him the
other night. The two of you looked pretty close. You were huddled in the dark,
holding hands. I didn't say anything before, but now that this has happened I
feel like I have to ask.”

They’d gone running the other night and then had come
back here to cool down. Julian had been so...lost was the only way to describe
it.
Sometimes, I just want this
he had said to her. She’d thought that
he meant a calmer life. Had he meant that he wanted her? Her heart started to
pound in her chest. Her brothers were watching her, waiting for her to say
something but she could barely admit to herself how the thought of a
relationship with Julian made her feel. He was a great guy. Smart, handsome,
funny, ambitious. A girl could do worse.

When she remained quiet, Luke continued to press, “It's
for your own protection. We care about you. We don't want you to get hurt.
Believe me, it kills me to think that Julian could treat you like this, but if
he is then we can't allow that to happen.”

Finally, Carolyn found her voice, “You have no idea how
wrong you both are. I appreciate your concern, but I've got this under control.

“Listen to me, Julian was going through some basic
pre-wedding jitters. What you were spying on, Luke, was me helping him through
that. Last night's accidental kiss was completely a separate thing. Do you
understand?” She looked pointedly at Rhys. “Now please, I think that Jules can
really use a friend now. I think he's scared about taking this big step and now
his best man has flipped out on him. Plus, you almost ruined Cera's big night!
You should apologize to her, too. Will you please call him and fix this thing
before it ruins everything? Please?”

Rhys relented, “Alright, if you say so. I feel bad about
this happening on Cera’s opening. Maybe I did overreact. I will talk to Julian
and see what he has to say.”

“Rhys! He deserves an apology.”

“Carolyn,” he was using his authoritative don't push me
voice and she couldn’t help but back down, “I said I'll talk to him.” She could
tell that he was immediately sorry for his harsh tone. He softened it and
changed the subject. “You better get ready; you're going to be late for work.”