Why Romeo Hates Juliet (21 page)

“Sorry about that Sara, but you should have knocked,” he proudly smirked.

“I did!” Sara gritted through her teeth as she angrily glared back at him.

“There’s nothing wrong with a little lovin’ between a husband and wife is there?” He gave her an innocent, wide-eyed expression, as any true amnesiac would have who believed that Juliet was indeed his wife.

Sara ignored his question but came forward to grab Juliet’s arm. “We’re going home right now,” she announced and started marching her sister towards the door as if she was a naughty child who’d just been caught by her mommy.

Mortified beyond anything she’d ever experienced, Juliet let herself be led away. Suddenly feeling Romeo’s intense hungry eyes on her, she turned back to him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Juliet, when you pick me up,” he stated softly, his voice sounding strained.

Within that one simple sentence, Juliet knew he was saying that he was sorry it had ended like this.

She paused, not knowing how to respond. What was happening between them was crazy and not real. Tonight had been a fantasy, spurred on by heated passion that she had let get out of control. Thinking back to what she had allowed him to do and what she had been going to allow him to do next, she cringed inside. She’d been completely out of control, as had he, but the fault had been all hers. After all, he believed her to be his wife.

But she knew the real truth and she should have put a stop to things before they’d spiraled into insanity.

She looked up at Romeo again and saw that he was studying her closely. “I’ll be here,” she mumbled, suddenly feeling shy under his intense scrutiny.

Sara gave Juliet’s arm a hard yank then and pulled her sister out the door, marching her away to the elevators.

~ ~ ~

“Are you out of your fucking mind??!!”

Sara was pacing up and down the length of their living room, throwing her hands up in the air, yelling at her sister who was sitting quietly on the couch. “What were you thinking? Or should I say - why did you stop thinking? Has your brain turned to mush?”

“I know,” Juliet mumbled, as she continued to watch her little sister having a hissy fit over her behavior with Romeo.

“God, Juliet, he’s got amnesia and he thinks you’re his wife. Of course, he’s going to try and make a move on you, but you’re supposed to know better. You should have stopped him.”

“I did try.”

“Not hard enough from what I saw!”

Juliet blushed again. What could she say? Everything her sister was saying was spot on and nothing she hadn’t said to herself on the deathly silent car ride home.

Suddenly, she sprung off the couch. “Okay, Sara, what do you want to hear from me? That I lost control with him? Yes! That I’m a big slut who was going to have sex with Romeo Boyd in a hospital bed where anybody could have walked in on us and obviously they did…” she pointed to her sister. “Yes! That I didn’t even have any protection on me and I didn’t care, because it wasn’t going to stop me anyway? Yes!” Totally spent from her outburst, she plopped back down on the couch and covered her face in her hands. “I’ve never acted like this before and I’m in trouble here. Please don’t be mad at me,” she whimpered.

Sara immediately calmed down and came to sit down beside her sister, putting her arms around her in a supportive hug. She sighed, “Juliet, I’m not mad at you, I’m scared for you. I just don’t want to see you getting hurt when he remembers who you are. And it can’t be good for him either.

He’s confused right now and he thinks you’re his wife. I’m not a doctor, but a sexual relationship with someone who he thinks he’s married to may have damaging effects on his psyche if he’s trying to remember who he really is.” A little light bulb suddenly clicked on in Juliet’s brain on hearing Sara’s words. Her sister was right and she hadn’t thought of it quite like that before although she should have. But the traumatic events of the past few days after she’d shot him, coupled with the guilt she’d felt for what she’d done and with the physical attraction she felt for him, had clouded her judgment. Romeo wasn’t the only one who was confused in this situation. She had been too. But she wasn’t just some silly teenager who was controlled by her hormones and ignoring the consequences. She was a grown woman who was made of stronger stuff than that and she certainly had more control over her own sexuality than feeling like she was some small rowboat being tossed around on the open seas.

“You’re absolutely right, Sara. I just haven’t been myself these past few days.” Her sister nodded. “Of course not, after what you’ve been through? Romeo wasn’t the only one who got hurt by the shooting. You were too, and it confused things for everybody.”

“I know; I’ve been pretty screwy lately, haven’t I?”

Sara sighed. “If something happened between you two now, it would all be based on a lie and lies eventually explode, creating casualties. I don’t want you to be a casualty.”

That hit home with Juliet. “I’ve never been a casualty and I won’t become one now,” she uttered defiantly.

“That’s the Juliet I know,” Sara gave her sister’s shoulders a quick, comforting squeeze. “Promise me you’ll stay away from him - in that way?” Juliet nodded. “I promise.” Silently, she vowed to herself that no matter how tempted she’d be, she would not sleep with ‘her husband’ Romeo Boyd, the used car salesman; and she certainly wasn’t interested in sleeping with Romeo Boyd, the movie star, so as soon as his memory came back, that would take care of itself - or so she hoped. She stood up then and gave Sara a quick smile. “Let’s make some tea and forget all about him for tonight.”

“Amen to that!” Sara mumbled, as she watched her big sister disappearing into the kitchen. But her woman’s intuition was telling her not to believe Juliet so quickly.

~ ~ ~

The next morning, Tommy and soap actor, Nick Mathison walked into Romeo’s hospital room. Romeo sat up in bed, surprised to see them there so early. “What are you two doing here already? I wasn’t expecting you until this afternoon.” Tommy gave Romeo a fist bump and smiled, “The jet was gassed up, so we thought we’d do the overnighter. That way we could see you before they released you today. How you feeling, man?”

“Couldn’t be better. My shoulder’s healing and I can’t wait to get the fuck outta here. I’m going stir-crazy.” Thirty-five year old Nick Mathison came forward and gave Romeo a brief hug before pulling back. “Hey Romeo, I’ve been reading about your troubles in the gossip mags. I’m glad you’re okay.” Nick was a tall, lanky, 6’4”, gorgeous male specimen who had such a perfect body shape that he’d gotten his start by modeling men’s underwear in catalogues.

Romeo nodded, “Thanks, Nick. How’s Viv?” Vivian was Nick’s wife whom Romeo had introduced him to a couple of years back.

Nick shrugged. “She left me.”

“Oh no, dude, what happened?”

“I kinda poached inside family territory - I slept with her cousin,” Nick sheepishly replied.

Romeo rolled his eyes, obviously disappointed in him. “Shit, Nick - Vivian was the best thing that ever happened to you. How could you be so dumb?”

“I know, I know. I fucked up. Man, was she mad when she found out. She burned all my clothes, took my dog and had me served with divorce papers just last week.” He shook his head as he remembered the bad scene. “And then she went after the cousin with a fork at their church picnic.” He sighed. “It wasn’t pretty, let me tell you.”

Romeo shook his head at him. “You’re such an asshole!”

“I know.”

Tommy burst out laughing, as he plopped down into a chair by the window. “Sounds like you got the perfect man for the job, Romeo.”

“I know I do,” Romeo agreed. “When it comes to lying, cheating and scamming, you’re the best at it, Nick.” Nick smiled proudly at his friend. “Tommy gave me the heads up on what you want me to do for you and I gotta say, I could do that shit sleepwalking.”

“Well, I want you wide awake for this one. Juliet’s a canny one and you’re going to need all of your smarts to pull this off. If she so much as gets a whiff that we’re pulling one over on her, there’s no telling what she’ll do. I survived the first shooting. I may not survive the second.” Tommy burst out laughing again, “You can stop now, Romeo. All you have to do is say your memory came back in a flash and we can put all of this behind us.”

Romeo’s glance sharpened on his best friend. “No, Tommy, she needs to pay for what she’s done and I’m not going to make it easy for her.” He turned back to Nick, “Have you guys checked into the Charlottetown Hotel yet?” Nick nodded. “First thing before we came here.”

“Good, because of course, I need the beach house for me and my lovely wife only.” Tommy let out a long sigh, “What are you going to do to her?”

“There are certain things that are private between a husband and wife,” Romeo smirked before turning back to Nick. “And I need you…” he pointed to the soap actor, “… to act like the all-knowing, good doctor, egging her on to do everything in her power to help me recover my memory.

It’ll probably be about a couple of week’s work for you, so I’ll pay you twenty-five grand with all expenses on PEI taken care of and I’ll ask Knox to get you some sort of acting gig to tide you over when you get back to ll.A. How does that sound?” Nick threw him a smarmy smile. “Wow, that’s some serious coin, man! For those kinds of terms, I’d throw in my mother and my sister too.”

“I’m sure you would.” Romeo shook his head, knowing of his friend’s low scruples.

“Doctor Zack Burrell, famed amnesia expert at your service,” Nick laughed, as he gave the boys a low bow.

“You do know that impersonating a medical professional is against the law, don’t you? We both can go to hell and back for this,” Romeo stipulated.

Nick shrugged again. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

“So you think you can pull this off, dude?” Tommy chimed in.

Nick cleared his throat and molded his facial features into a very serious professional pose. “On studying this case, I’ve come to the conclusion that Mr. Boyd is suffering from post-traumatic amnesia of the retrograde type due to a head injury. This has created an inability to remember events that occurred before the trauma. In addition, he also has a mild case of disassociative fugue which has caused him to create a new identity for himself. The prognosis is good, but it’ll take work, a lot of work, on the part of those around him if he is to regain his complete memory, especially on the part of his imagined wife. Because any shocks that he may suffer to his system due to new incoming information that does not agree with his current perception of reality may injure him further by cementing his newly formed identity instead of allowing his true self to emerge. We must all be patient and treat him with gentle hands, humoring him and his present state of mind. Can you do that, Juliet? Can you be there for him and do what it takes to help him regain his total and complete memory?”

Romeo’s eyebrows rose in amazement. “You’re such an amazing bullshitter, Nick. Viv didn’t stand a chance, did she?”

“No, not ‘Nick’. It’s Dr. Zack Burrel to you, Mr. Boyd.”

In the background, Tommy shook his head at this crazy plan that was hatching before his very eyes. Sure, he’d promised Romeo he would do what he could to help him out, but he had a bad feeling that this was all going to somehow blow up on his friend and cause him some serious damage that he wasn’t planning on. Only time would tell.

~ ~ ~

“Dis - dis - what did you say, doctor?” Juliet asked Nick who was sitting across from her on the living room couch at the girls’ beach house.

“Disassociative fugue, Miss Soma. It means he’s created a new identity to compensate for the empty spaces in his memory. He thinks he’s an everyday used car salesman with a wife.” Nick nodded a thank you, as he accepted the coffee cup from Sara who had just brought a tray in from the kitchen. She handed another cup to Tommy, who was sitting beside Dr. Burrell, one to Juliet and then filled her own.

“But Dr. Burrell, how long do you think Romeo’s going to be like this?” Sara asked, as she sat back down in her wingchair.

“Speaking as a professional who has dealt with many of these cases, I can honestly tell you - I don’t know. It could all come back in an instant.

He sees something or hears something that triggers his memory and then poof, it’s all back. But I’ve had patients that have been like this for years too, so only God knows.” He shrugged his shoulders.

Juliet frowned. “What about the paparazzi? He’s going to want to know why they’re stalking him if he’s just an everyday, regular guy. Maybe we should just tell him the truth?”

Nick shook his head. “No, we can’t. We have to allow him to regain his memories on his own. If we tell him who he is, it can have very damaging repercussions.” Suddenly, his eyes twinkled mischievously. “The truth, in this instance, Miss Soma, will not give us the outcome we’re looking for.”

“So what do we tell him then?” Juliet nervously bit her lip, too preoccupied with thoughts about Romeo’s recovery to notice the humor twitching on Nick’s lips.

“Well, I understand from Tommy here that you’re a best-selling author?” Juliet nodded and Nick continued. “Wonderful! We’ll say that they’re here for you. That should take care of things for now and allow him the time to remember on his own. We must always, always go along with whatever Mr. Boyd says. This is imperative, and we must not push him or confuse him. He’s in a very delicate condition right now. He must be treated with the softest of kid gloves.”

Juliet lowered her troubled eyes as a wave of overwhelming guilt at what she’d done to Romeo washed over her. He was being released this afternoon and Tommy had asked her and Sara to come with him to pick him up at the hospital later on, which they’d both readily agreed to. Doctor Burrel had apparently just come from examining his new patient and had insisted on dropping by to speak to them about this case and how they could help.

Juliet turned back to him. “But Doctor Burrell, he thinks I’m his wife. Shouldn’t we tell him the truth about that, at least?”

“Absolutely not! It would create a greater confusion in his mind and that could have even more disastrous consequences.”

“So what do we do? How can I help him?” Juliet turned to Tommy. “I do want to help him, Tommy; you have to believe that.” Tommy nodded, “I know you do.”

Juliet turned back to Nick. “Tell me what to do, doctor, and I’ll do it. Tell me to jump from the highest bridge and I’ll do it. Tell me to leave the island and I’ll do it. Tell me to stay away from him and I’ll do it.”

“Miss Soma, there’s only one thing you can do. You must move in with him and act like his wife.” Indignant, Sara jumped up out of her chair, “No, she’s not doing it!” she shouted.

Juliet put a restraining hand on her sister’s arm. “It’s okay, Sara, let’s hear what Dr. Burrel has to say.”

“No way, Juliet! You’re not moving in there with him!” Furious, Sara started pacing the room. Sure, Juliet had vowed not to have an affair with Romeo Boyd the car salesman, but that had been before, when there was a physical distance between them. If her sister moved in there with him, acting like his wife, of course he would put the moves on her; it was only natural on his part. In his own warped mind, she was his wife. And being with him - alone - in such close proximity 24/7, things were bound to happen and even a saint would have a hard time resisting him, especially if an intense attraction was there for him from the get-go, which Sara knew her sister felt. No, there was no way Juliet was moving in there with him - NO

WAY! It would only happen over Sara’s dead body!! “Juliet, no, you’re not doing that!”

“Sara, calm down, please,” Juliet turned back to the psychiatrist. “Doctor, what would I have to do, if I did move in with him and act like his wife?”

“Just be there for him, act like a wife would, cook and clean for him - help with his shoulder injury, that sort of thing. You were the person who shot him, weren’t you?” Nick turned questioning eyes at her, as he threw what she’d done to Romeo out in the open.

Juliet felt her stomach turn over with guilt again and she nodded. “Yes, it was my fault,” she whispered.

“Well, for some reason, he’s glommed onto you and you’re the only one he recognizes. He knew your name was Juliet when he regained consciousness, didn’t he?” Juliet nodded again and Nick continued, “See, that’s a good sign. The memories are there for him. He just needs time and patience to recover them. Will you help him, Juliet?”

“No way, doctor. My sister is not going to play nursemaid/wife for him, so forget it,” Sara affirmed again, even more forcefully this time.

“Why don’t we let Juliet speak for herself, Sara,” Tommy said.

“Screw you, Tommy. My sister is not going to sacrifice herself and her time for Romeo Boyd. What happened was an accident. Even the police said so and she’s done enough already,” she shouted back.

“Sara, as Tommy said, let me make the decision, okay?” Juliet gently intoned.

“Juliet, no!”

Juliet ignored Sara’s outburst and turned back to Nick. “Doctor, can I speak to you in private for a moment, please?” Nick nodded and got up. Juliet led him to the kitchen as Sara threw dirty looks at both of their retreating backs.

On reaching the other room, Juliet approached closer and whispered, so that their conversation wouldn’t be heard by the others. “Doctor Burrell, if I pretend to be Romeo’s wife, he’s going to expect me to perform - certain intimate wifely duties, which of course are out of the question. Is it going to be harmful to him if I reject him, if you know what I mean?”

Nick gave her a comforting pat on her shoulder. “Miss Soma, you must do what you think is best. If you don’t want to have a physical relationship with Mr. Boyd, then that’s up to you. I’ll be here to help with any problems that could arise from that.”

“Problems? What kind of problems?” Juliet’s ears had immediately perked up at the word.

“Well, he could then be dealing with feelings of rejection and abandonment, in addition to his confusion over his memory loss, but of course, that’s up to you.”

Nick smirked to himself. Yes - he was certainly pulling out all the stops when it came to making Juliet Soma feel guilty and make her do what Romeo wanted her to do, which was to probably sleep with him. Nick knew that no man, especially one as wealthy and famous as Romeo Boyd, would go to all this trouble with someone as gorgeous as Juliet if it was only for revenge. No - Nick had already figured out that his buddy wanted her in his bed and who could blame him? She was absolutely devastating with an air of sweetness and freshness about her that he himself hadn’t breathed in years in that poll uted smog of phoniness known as Holl ywood. Hell, if Romeo didn’t want her, he’d take her. Juliet Soma was one hot, delicious piece of ass.

Nick molded his features back into a look of concern, as he re-focused on Juliet. “I hope you understand, Juliet.” Juliet nodded, “I understand. Thank you for being honest with me.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Nick smiled and Juliet led him back to the living room where Tommy and Sara were waiting.

“I’ve made my decision,” Juliet announced to everyone. “I will move in with Romeo and pretend to be his wife,” she noticed a triumphant glimmer shining from both Tommy’s and Doctor Burrel ’s eyes, and a scowl from Sara’s. Juliet continued, “And Sara will be moving in with us too.

After all, she is the ‘sister-in-law’ and can help me out.”

A triumphant grin beamed from Sara’s lips as she looked over at the men. “Great idea, Juliet.” Nick jumped up off the couch, “Oh but - but - that might not be such a good idea. It might make things worse. He doesn’t remember Sara, only you.”

“With all due respect, doctor, I really don’t see the harm and I have to listen to my instincts. Sara’s moving in, or no deal,” Juliet waited for his response, as Sara happily nodded her approval.

Juliet wanted to help Romeo regain his memory and if her moving in with him was going to do it, then she was willing to go along with the plan, but she was no dummy. She knew she had a physical attraction to him and although she was strong enough to resist it, or so she hoped, there was no reason to not bring along a little insurance policy named Sara. Sara would help her stay strong and fight the temptation that Romeo Boyd, loving husband and used car salesman spelled for her. She turned to Dr. Burrel and waited for his response.

“Well, yes, of course, if you think it best,” Nick begrudgingly answered, as Sara led him and Tommy to the back door.

Tommy smiled, “Ladies, I’ll be picking up Romeo from the hospital in a couple of hours if you want to come with me?”

“Of course, we’ll be ready,” Juliet nodded.

Tommy reached into his pocket, fished out some keys and handed them to Juliet. “And I guess you’ll be needing these? I’ve got to run Dr.

Burrel back to the hotel, but you two can move your stuff in before I get back.”

“Thanks, Tommy. Sara and I will just pack a few things. Hopefully this won’t be for too long and Romeo will regain his memory soon,” Juliet affirmed, before turning to Nick. “And thank you for coming, Doctor Burrell.” She shook his hand.

“I’ll be treating Mr. Boyd further while he’s still on the island. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again, Miss Soma.” Nick then nodded a goodbye to Sara, and both he and Tommy walked out.

As the door closed behind them and they walked back to Romeo’s house, Nick turned to Tommy, “I’m not fucking telling him that the sister is moving in too. You tell him.”

Tommy sighed, as he reached for his cell phone and dialed Romeo’s room at the hospital.

Romeo answered and recognized his friend’s voice. “Hey Tommy, are you on your way to pick me up?”

“Soon. We just got back from seeing Juliet.”

“And?”

“She cock-blocked you, man!”

“What?”

“She’s insisting on having Sara move in with you two, otherwise she’s not doing it and she’s adamant about it.”

“Shit!” Romeo exploded, not having thought of that possible wrinkle. “Do you think she caught on that Nick was a fake?”

“I don’t think so, but I can’t be sure. Nick was very convincing. Hell, he even had me believing him.”

“Okay, get Nick back to the hotel and pick me up as soon as you can. Is she coming too?”

“She said she would.”

Romeo nodded to himself, “Good. See you soon, bro.” He clicked his cell phone shut and cursed under his breath. How was he going to get Juliet into his bed with Sara skulking around every corner? This was going to be more difficult than he’d thought.

~ ~ ~