Why Romeo Hates Juliet (47 page)

It was after seven the next night and Juliet had fall en asleep on her couch. Listless and sad, she hadn’t slept a wink all night and now her fatigue had finally caught up with her. Suddenly, she was awakened by an insistent knocking on her front door.

“Juliet, are you in there?” Sara excitedly yelled.

Juliet quickly went to open the door and her sister rushed in. “Have you seen the news?” she gushed impatiently.

Fear immediately gripped Juliet’s throat. “What’s happened to him?” she choked out.

“Last night, he showed up at some club in Charlottetown and went on a major bender. He got piss drunk and never showed up for work this morning. The judge issued a warrant and they’ve arrested him. He’s in jail for failing to comply with the court and they’re saying he has to stay in there to finish out his sentence. It’s all over the internet.” The words had poured out of Sara like a river and after her speech had ended, she’d quickly moved to Juliet’s open laptop computer on the dining room table. “I’ll show you.” On hearing every one of Sara’s revelations, the blood had immediately drained from Juliet’s already pale face. “Oh my God,” she mouthed before turning her frightened eyes back up to her sister. “Sara, I’ve made such a huge mistake; I should never have left him. I should have told him about Carrie Ann and the baby.” Panicking, she put her hands in her hair and looked around her apartment. “I’ve got to go to him. I’ll - I’ll book a flight and leave as soon as possible. I need to pack…” Her confused eyes took another turn around the room, not knowing where to start first.

“Juliet, I think you should come see this,” Sara said. She was hunched over the computer, intently staring at something.

Juliet quickly came forward and as her sight alighted on the screen, all the fight in her evaporated once again. There, before her eyes, was a photo of Carrie Ann entering the police station on her way to see Romeo and the caption below read that rumors had been swirling that the actress was pregnant with the A-lister’s child. Suddenly defeated, Juliet plopped down in the nearest chair and her eyes began to water.

Sara took in her sister’s dejected appearance and her heart broke. “You can still go. Just tell him everything and that you love him. He can make this work between himself, you and Carrie Ann; lots of people do it.”

But Juliet sadly shook her head. “They’re a family now and he has to think about his baby first. I’m not coming between them,” she whispered, finally conceding that she and Romeo Boyd were over for good.

~ ~ ~

Six Months Later…

Sara let herself into Juliet’s apartment with her spare key. She didn’t want to barge in like this, but she felt she had no choice. Her sister wasn’t answering her phone again, not since Romeo’s baby had been born the week before.

Sara let her curious eyes wander around the disheveled living room and sighed. There was a mountain of dirty laundry on the couch, empty pizza boxes on the coffee table and tabloid magazines strewn everywhere. She picked up one and stared at the cover. It was a picture of Romeo, Carrie Ann and their baby girl leaving the Los Angeles hospital where the actress had given birth. She seemed healthy, as did the baby cocooned in her arms and the matching article stated that the happy ‘family’ were heading home to Romeo’s Malibu mansion. Romeo appeared attentive in the photos, but his eyes were hidden by dark sunglasses and Sara couldn’t read his expression very well. Rumors had been swirling of an impending marriage between the two, but nothing official had yet been announced. The baby girl had been named Catherine - Katie for short - after Romeo’s mother.

Sara put down the magazine and picked up several others. They were tabloids dating back through the previous six months, depicting all the stages of Carrie Ann’s pregnancy and others detailing Romeo’s film shoot in Hungary where he’d been filming a civil war drama during the fall months, the same movie that Juliet had picked out for him to do from the stack of scripts his agent had sent them back in PEI.

After Romeo had completed his jail sentence on the tiny Canadian island province, he’d been released and with a pregnant Carrie Ann in tow, had flown back to Los Angeles. A few weeks after that, the couple had left for the Eastern European country where filming on the period piece movie was to begin. Carrie Ann had been by his side throughout the entire shoot and the paparazzi had followed their every move like a pack of rabid wolves, taking picture after picture of the actress’ growing baby bump.

The photographers had pretty much left Juliet alone after that, which had been a blessing. Her sister had had to pick up the pieces of her life again and had been forced to declare bankruptcy. Strapped for cash, she’d been able to sell a few magazine articles she’d written, bringing in some much needed money to pay for food and rent. But beyond that, she still hadn’t been able to write anything else - certainly nothing for a new novel. Slowly, Juliet had forced herself to go through the motions of life, but deep down she was still devastated over losing her Romeo.

As Sara took another look around the messy apartment, she could see the anguish that her sister was still going through. What little determination she had had to get back on her feet after leaving him had evaporated again on hearing of Romeo’s baby being born. From the sad state of this place, it was obvious that the news had sent Juliet into another spiral of sadness and hopelessness. It was all around the room for anyone who had eyes to see.

“Juliet?” Sara called, but she knew her sister wouldn’t answer her.

Quietly, she walked to the closed bedroom door and jarred it open. Her eyes focused on the lump in the bed and her heart sank at seeing her strong sister so dejected. Sara approached the bed and looked down at Juliet, who was under the covers and had her head sandwiched protectively by two pillows.

“Juliet, you can’t keep going on like this,” she whispered.

“He had a baby girl, Sara,” her sister choked out, as sobs began to rack her body.

“Oh Juliet…” Sara said, as she sat down on the bed beside her.

Juliet rose up then and suddenly hugged her sister, as she continued crying. “We - we were going to have a baby girl…” Sara hugged her sister tightly and let her spil her tears onto her shoulder. “Juliet, you have to move forward with your life. You can’t keep thinking about him.”

“I can’t help it. Everywhere I turn, he’s there. He’s in the tabloids and on TV and on the internet. I see him everywhere. I can’t even go to the grocery store to buy milk without seeing his face and hers on some magazine cover at the checkout.” Juliet pulled out of her sister’s arms and brushed the wetness from her cheeks. “I just - can’t seem to do anything else but think about him and what could have been. I don’t
want
to do anything else.”

Sara looked at the dejected slump in her sister’s shoulders and she knew that all of Juliet’s fighting spirit had left her. What had happened to the strong willed scrapper her sister had been? The one who’d been there for Sara when their Nana had died and when their mom had died, and the one who’d told her that they’d be okay when their dad had left them because they had each other? Or how about the spitfire who’d wanted to glue Romeo’s hand to his penis because he’d insulted her or the one who had come up with scheme after scheme to get back at the annoying movie star? What had happened to that girl?

Suddenly, something in Sara snapped and anger roiled through her system. She stood up from the bed. “Juliet, get the fuck up from this bed, now!” she yelled.

Taken aback by her sister’s booming voice, Juliet flinched and stared silently back with her mouth open.

Sara continued, “Did you hear me? I said get up, now!”

“Why are you yelling at me? I need a shoulder to cry on, not a drill sergeant.”

“You need a kick in the ass, that’s what you need!”

Juliet was shocked at Sara’s boldness. “You just don’t understand. You have Rob. I have no one.”

“Oh, I understand all right, I understand that I should have told you off months ago instead of coddling you and letting you waste away into this.” She grabbed Juliet’s arm and fiercely pulled her off the bed.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Juliet yelled, as her sister dragged her across the room to the full-length mirror against the wall.

“Look at yourself; look at what you’ve become. Is this the woman Romeo Boyd fell in love with?” Sara grabbed Juliet’s face and made her stare at her own reflection.

Forced to do just that, Juliet’s eyes slowly traveled the length of her body and what she saw disgusted her. Her hair was unwashed and a mess; she had on a pair of rumpled track pants and an oversized sweatshirt which covered up her tall, model physique, and the dark circles underneath her eyes attested to her many sleepless nights.

“Look at you! When was the last time you had a shower?”

Juliet lowered her eyes at the pathetic image she had become. “Friday,” she mumbled quietly.

“Today is Friday. You’re telling me you had a shower today?”

Juliet’s eyes lowered even still to stare at her bare feet as she shook her head no. “Last Friday…” she whispered softly.

Some of Sara’s anger dissipated and her voice softened. “You made the decision to leave him, and now you have to hold your head up and deal with the consequences. The deed is done, understand? He’s moved on with Carrie Ann and the baby, and now you have to move on with the rest of your life too. Acting like this is not going to help you.”

Juliet turned her red-rimmed, swol en eyes back up to stare at her sister. “I don’t know how to do that, Sara,” she squeaked.

“Whenever anything bad happened to us, what did you always tell me? That writing was your saving grace.”

“I can’t write. I’ve tried, but nothing comes. I’m still blocked.”

“Well, did you ever think about putting all of your feelings about Romeo down on paper?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean going to your computer and starting to write whatever pours out of you about your feelings for him. Or how about writing about some of the funny stuff you did to him, like with the superglue?”

A sudden giggle escaped Juliet’s lips. “Like when I glued myself to his hand and we ended up in the hospital?” Sara laughed. “Exactly. Or how about when you pushed him into the TV and he hurt his back?” Juliet gave her an indignant look. “Excuse me, but I never pushed him; it was an accident.”

“Pushed, accident, whatever - but then I walked in on the two of you on the couch and I thought he was trying to rape you and I jumped on his back? I got in quite a few good punches, you know. I aimed for his kidneys.”

Juliet burst out laughing. “And then the stripper walked in on all three of us and wanted to charge him more for the extra women?” Sara looked at her sister’s suddenly happy face and smiled. “It’s good to see you laughing again.”

“I guess I haven’t been any fun lately, have I?”

“No, but we can change that. Why don’t you write a book about all of your adventures with Romeo Boyd? You can change his name and thinly disguise who he really is, but write it all out. Now that’s an idea, isn’t it?” Excited and her eyes shining brightly with new hope, Juliet nodded. “I think I have the perfect title for it too.”

“What?”

“Why Romeo Hates Juliet.”

The sisters looked at each other and suddenly burst out laughing in unison, the first time that had happened in months.

~ ~ ~

Seven Months Later…

There were over two hundred people lined up outside the Vancouver bookstore waiting to get in to meet and get their books signed by bestselling author, Juliet Soma. Her new novel, ‘Why Romeo Hates Juliet’ had just been released last month and was already climbing the charts at an incredible pace. It was a funny story about feuding neighbors and all of the pranks they pulled on each other, and rumor had it that it was based on her relationship with movie star, Romeo Boyd, although she’d never confirmed it. The writing was clever and the novel seemed to have piqued the public’s interest.

Juliet looked over the crowd from her vantage point inside the store. She turned to the manager standing beside her. “I can’t believe all of these people are here to see me,” she said excitedly.

The manager nodded. “They’ve been lining up since 7 a.m. Ready to open the doors?” Juliet smiled. “Ready!” she instructed, before taking her seat behind a long table and picking up her pen, ready to sign the books and take photos with her fans.

It had been seven months since that fateful day that Sara had literally dragged her out of bed and forced her to take a good, hard look at herself. The downward spiral of depression she’d been on hadn’t been an easy thing for her to face, and she’d had to admit that the time to indulge in her pity party had come to an end. Romeo was gone because she had given him up and it was time to get back on her feet.

When Juliet had started writing her new book about her many adventures with the movie star, something magical had happened. Instead of wall owing in the past and causing her more sadness, the mere act of writing about him had caused her heart to give up the pain it had been carrying, and little by little, day by day her mood had started to lighten up. Her misery lifted and she’d felt herself returning to normal. Yes - she still did love him very much, but they were not meant to be and Juliet had accepted that. Sara had been right - it was time to move on with her life and it had felt so good to be writing again.

Months had passed and her new novel had begun to come to life. Never having written anything so quickly before, Juliet finished the book with little effort and her publishers, realizing that they had a hit on their hands, had rushed it to print. There was even talk about having the story optioned into a Holl ywood movie. Today was to be her first book-signing event and judging by the incredible lineup of people snaking outside, it looked like it was going to be a big success.

* * *

Juliet’s hand was beginning to cramp. Over three hundred people had finally shown up for her book-signing and she’d been signing her name to all of the copies of her novel that her fans had brought with them. As she handed the book back to the woman standing in front of her, she snuck a quick peek at the people left in line. There were two more women and one man left, and then her first official book-signing event would be over.

Taking the book from the next woman, Juliet quickly opened the book and asked for the woman’s name. Smiling, she autographed the copy and then graciously posed for a photo with the fan and chatted with her for a few minutes before she left. The procedure was repeated with the next fan and finally, Juliet was down to the last person, who happened to be a man.

Seated at the table and not looking up, she accepted the copy of her novel that he handed to her and she smiled, asking him, “Who would you like me to make this out to?”

“Romeo,” the deep, male voice responded.

Juliet gasped, immediately recognizing his voice. Shocked, her eyes flew up to his face and her mouth dropped open. There, standing before her was Romeo Boyd. He was wearing dark sunglasses to shade his eyes, a baseball cap pulled low and his jacket collar was up to help disguise him even further. He was clean shaven, his hair was longer than the army crew cut he’d worn when she’d last seen him in PEI and he looked leaner and more buff in build. His charismatic presence took her breath away. He looked amazing, except for his mouth which was clamped tight, as anger emanated from his body.

Tongue-tied, Juliet could only stare back at him - and in a flash, all the memories of them together hit her like a tornado - all the laughter they’d shared and the happiness and the dreams, and all the times they’d made love and the closeness they’d felt afterwards. She remembered how his hair had felt through her fingers, how his hungry lips had tasted against hers and how his strong body had felt wrapped in her arms. The time they’d spent together had been special and filled with love. She had loved him - and still did - and she knew that he had loved her too - at that time at least, which seemed so long ago. It was a good thing she was already sitting down, Juliet thought to herself, because if she’d been standing she’d have fainted with the unexpected shock at seeing him here in the flesh, standing before her very eyes.

Romeo slowly removed his sunglasses and glared down at her with burning blue eyes. “hello, Juliet,” he mumbled through tight lips.

“Ro - Romeo, what are you doing here?” she stammered breathlessly, captivated by the intense, magnetic aura he was giving off and which her hungry heart was already leaping at.

“I’ve read your book and I’m not happy. Everybody knows that’s me in those pages and I don’t want my story out there for public consumption.” Juliet raised an eyebrow at him, prepared to stand her ground when it came to defending her work. “It’s my story too, you know. And I haven’t identified you as being the character in my book.”

“Come on, don’t give me that; that’s me in there. I know it, you know it and so do my lawyers. That’s why I’m suing you.”

“What?” Stunned, Juliet finally jerked up out of her chair and faced him. “You can’t do that.”

“Watch me!”

“My publishers already had their own lawyers pore over everything and they said it was fine.”

“They can say whatever they want; I don’t give a shit. You either pull your book from the shelves now or I’m suing your ass and forcing you to do it, and that’ll cost you big bucks, baby.” He put his fists on the table and leaned into her face. “I’ve got clout and lots of money. In fact, the paperwork to bring this to court is being drawn up right now as we speak.”

His blue eyes fiercely bore into hers and Juliet felt trapped within them. His face inched closer to hers and she watched as his gaze dropped to her full lips for a split second before they came back up to her own frightened stare. A frosty, black silence lengthened between them and it was obvious he was waiting for her response.

“Why are you doing this?” she whispered, her breath fanning his cheeks.

She watched as he drew in a deep breath and instinctively moved an inch closer to her, and as if realizing how close he was to a precipice, suddenly straightened up and put distance between their bodies again. “Because I can,” he muttered in a chilly voice.

Juliet lifted her chin defiantly and met his icy gaze with one of her own. It was obvious he was trying to intimidate her and he probably still hated her guts for what she’d done to him by leaving him like that. Yes - she loved him still - but she wasn’t going to be cowed by him and she certainly wasn’t going to beg him to not sue her. She was made of stronger stuff than that.

She boldly met his eyes. “Do what you must, but I’m not pulling my book.”

He glared at her for a hard second before his lips broke into an amused grin. “still the same wildcat, aren’t you, Juliet? Okay, my lawyers will be contacting your lawyers, so get ready for a fight.” He pulled out a business card and scribbled something on the back before handing it to her. “I’m in town for another month shooting a movie here, and I’m staying at that hotel and room number. Your legal team can reach me there.” He turned then and walked out the front doors of the bookstore without so much as a good-bye.

Juliet lowered her eyes to the card he’d given her when her gaze was caught by his copy of her book lying on the table in front of her. That had been the one he’d handed to her to sign when he’d walked up to her. He hadn’t even taken it back just now when he’d left, that’s how much he hated it - and how much he probably still hated her, too.

~ ~ ~