Why Romeo Hates Juliet (49 page)

The lighting in the hotel bar was dim and intimate, affording its patrons privacy. Romeo and Juliet were seated opposite each other at one of the secluded tables in the corner, away from the other customers. They had just placed their order with the waitress and were waiting for her to return with their drinks.

Juliet studied Romeo’s stern countenance, which seemed to be focused on her face, his eyes not even blinking. “You look good,” she said softly, “Fatherhood agrees with you.”

“The answer is no,” he responded arrogantly.

Juliet’s eyebrows flew up in surprise. “I didn’t ask a question.”

“Come on, Juliet. We both know why you’re here and it’s not to make small talk about my appearance. You’re here to talk me into dropping my lawsuit against you and your book - and the answer is no - unless you pull it off the shelves immediately.”

“I’m not doing that, so I guess we have nothing further to discuss.” It was obvious that he still resented her and would not listen to reason, so why was she here wasting her time anyway?

Juliet went to stand up to leave, but as she did so, his hand snaked out and clamped onto her arm, preventing her. “Wait,” he stated bluntly.

“We’ve already ordered the drinks and good booze should never go to waste.”

He grinned, but there was also a silent plea in his eyes that Juliet caught for a split second before he lowered his eyelids, suddenly obscuring what had just been there a brief moment ago. Mesmerized by everything about him, she nodded and slowly sat back down. She sensed his mood shift to a more friendly one. “How is Sara doing?” he asked. It was obvious he was trying to curb his anger towards her.

“She’s fine, busy teaching school. How’s Carrie Ann?” Juliet just couldn’t help herself. She wanted so badly to know if the two of them were going to get married soon - all the tabloids seemed to think so.

“She’s fine,” he replied coyly, not volunteering any further information.

An awkward silence ensued between them. Juliet nervously began to twist the paper napkin in front of her. Here, sitting across from her was the man she loved, but all she was allowed to do was pretend that they were mere acquaintances, chatting about nothing in particular, when what she really wanted to do was put her arms around his neck and kiss the hell out of him. Sara had been right when she’d advised her not to come. This was turning out to be sheer agony.

Juliet cleared her throat. “Katie is such a wonderful, little girl. You both must be very proud parents.” Romeo shrugged his shoulders. “One of us is,” he mumbled.

Juliet’s eyes flew open with concern. “What do you mean?”

“Carrie Ann decided she didn’t like being a mom, so she hightailed it back to her Holl ywood lifestyle - a couple of million dollars richer and giving me full custody of Katie.”

Juliet’s mouth dropped open in shock as the blood drained from her face. “Wh - what?” she asked breathlessly.

“We’re not together, Juliet; we never were.”

“But everything I read this past year said you were going to get married and - and - when she came with you to Hungary, when you were filming your other movie there - and she was pregnant - you were together then, weren’t you? All the tabloids said so.” Romeo’s eyes narrowed in on her. “When have I ever given the tabloids the truth about what was happening in my life?”

“Well - I - I - thought….” The shock at what she was hearing caused Juliet’s words to lodge in her throat.

“You thought what?”

“I - I thought you were a family and Carrie Ann was your girlfriend and you were going to marry her and…”

“Carrie Ann had been traveling with me - yes, that’s true, but only because I wanted her close to me because of the pregnancy. I didn’t trust her to take care of herself properly - and although she wanted it to be more, I wasn’t interested. When Katie was born, she lived with me in Malibu for awhile, but it was strictly platonic, only for the baby’s sake. But she soon grew tired of the late night feedings and diaper duty and wanted out.

Hailey’s helping me raise Katie now - and anything you’ve read in any tabloid is pure bullshit.” Juliet stared wordlessly at him and her heart began pounding. Her eyes lowered to the table in front of her. “It was - all for nothing? I did it for nothing?” she whispered to herself, almost in a catatonic state.

His suspicious eyes zeroed in on her panic-stricken pale face. “What do you mean - you did it all for nothing? Did what?” he demanded.

Silently, she raised her amazed eyes back up to him. “It’s - it’s nothing,” she mumbled, as the enormity of what she’d done by leaving him suddenly hit her in full-force.

At that moment, the waitress came back with their drinks and Romeo went to reach for his wall et, but Juliet stopped him. “No - I asked you out, so I’ll pay…” she garbled, as she pulled out her own wall et from her purse. But her hands were shaking so badly at the news she’d just found out, that as she went to retrieve some dollar bills, some of her credit cards and receipts that she had tucked away in there fell to the floor. The waitress quickly bent down to collect the items as did Romeo and they both put them back on the table in front of her. “Sorry…” Juliet said as she handed the woman her money and tip.

As the waitress thanked her and walked away, Juliet turned back to Romeo who was suddenly sitting there motionless staring at a photograph he’d just picked up from the pile. “Who’s this with Sara?” he quietly asked her, as he flashed the picture at her.

“That’s her husband, Rob.” The words flew out of Juliet’s mouth before she even realized what she was confirming. She was still too distraught over what she’d found out about Romeo and Carrie Ann that she just wasn’t thinking about what she was saying.

Romeo suddenly gave her a withering stare. “So you’re telling me that the man you left me for was Sara’s husband?” he hissed.

Astonishment glazed across Juliet’s face. She’d forgotten all about the tabloid photo of her and Rob kissing last year and the news story accompanying it, labeling him as the ‘mystery man’ she’d left Romeo for. Obviously, Romeo hadn’t. “I - don’t know what you mean,” she stalled, trying not to sound as disconcerted as she was feeling.

“You don’t think his face is burned in my mind? That I didn’t think of you and him together every night; that I didn’t keep looking at that tabloid picture of you in his arms? And now you’re telling me that he’s Sara’s husband?” Suddenly, Romeo raised his voice even more. “Tell me. Is he the one you left me for?”

Confusion flashed in Juliet’s eyes. She was so discombobulated right now that she couldn’t think straight. The lies she had told were all jumbled up in her mind and he was staring at her demanding answers, making her even more nervous and suddenly, she felt weak and vulnerable and her words got stuck in her throat. “I - umm - no - there was somebody else and…” she stammered unconvincingly.

Romeo shook his head. “You’re lying to me. It’s written in your eyes. Don’t you think I see it?” Suddenly, all of the frustration he was feeling came out in a torrent of words. “Tell me the truth, Juliet; for God’s sake, tell me the truth,” he shouted. Some of the other patrons turned to see where the raised voices were coming from.

“I - I - she came to see me when you were working and - and she said she was going to have an abortion if I didn’t leave you. She said your baby deserved a family and I didn’t want to be the other woman like my step-mother was to me and…” Tears began to fall onto Juliet’s cheeks as the words endlessly streamed out of her like a raging river, flooding everything in its path. “And - and - I thought it was for the best - and we weren’t married anyway, so I - I…”

This whole time, Romeo had been silently staring at her, completely shocked to the very core of his being at what he was hearing. This entire past year had been a lie - everything he’d been told and believed had been a lie! “You what?” he quietly asked her, as he watched the tears spil from her beautiful, Madonna eyes.

Juliet’s heavy, wet lashes flew up to stare at him. “I - made up the story of another man because I knew that was the only way you’d let me go.” A dead silence was suspended between them before she heard him hiss, “Motherfuck!” between his tight lips.

Romeo shook his head in utter amazement at what he’d just heard and the anger he was feeling at how he’d been played by her hardened his features. “Do you have any idea what seeing that picture of you and your so-called lover did to me? Before I saw that, I didn’t believe that you were in love with somebody else. So I was prepared to finish my work detail on PEI and then fly out here to Vancouver and get down on my knees - on my knees, Juliet - and beg you to come back to me. That’s how much I loved you. But when I saw pictures of you in his arms, it all became real for me and I knew I’d lost you and I was in hell. And now you’re telling me it was all a lie?” Juliet wiped the wetness from her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I thought it was the best way for everybody.”

“That was my baby, Juliet; so that was my decision to make, not yours. When Carrie Ann came to you, you should have told me right away.

Instead, you took away my right to decide.” He shook his head, still unable to believe what he was just finding out. How could his heart have been ripped to shreds for no reason? There hadn’t been a day that had gone by since she’d walked out on him that he hadn’t ached for her. His icy eyes came back to rest on her beautiful but obviously distressed face and he made sure his next words were cold and exact. “You know what I think?

What we had was so real that it scared you, and you used the excuses of Carrie Ann and the baby and your asshole father to bail.” Juliet’s eyes flew open in indignation as she stared at him in shock. “What? How can you even say that to me?”

“Very easily. You know why? The truth is easy, Juliet. Maybe you should try it sometime.” He suddenly stood up from his chair and his eyes blazed down at her from his towering height. “I never hated you, even when you walked out on me, I never hated you. But today, I can honestly say -

that I hate you, Juliet, for what you did to us.” He paused for a second and she could see a lightning bolt of wild grief flash in his eyes. “I loved you and you blew it.” And with that, Romeo walked out of the bar.

Juliet sat there in lonely silence as she tried to swallow the lump wedged in her throat. Every word Romeo had just said to her had flayed her more powerfully than any whip could have, leaving behind a lingering pain which was squeezing her heart now. My God, what had she done?

~ ~ ~

Juliet walked into her apartment like a zombie and plopped down onto her couch. The shock of what she’d just discovered - that the sacrifice of what she’d done by giving Romeo up to Carrie Ann and his child had been for naught - had made her feel numb inside. “I can’t even cry. Why can’t I cry?” she mumbled to herself.

Tears would have been a blessed relief right now instead of having to carry this dull ache around in her heart. And he’d said some very harsh things to her which were still reverberating through her mind. He’d told her that she’d been too scared to believe that their love would last and that’s why she’d really left him. But was that true? Is that why she’d left?

She’d never thought about it like that before, but when he’d thrown those words at her in the bar, they had connected to the very deepest inner core of her being and even as she’d been refuting them out loud, she’d known that they were true.

Back in PEI, she had gotten scared, plain and simple. Deep down, she’d been afraid that Romeo’s love came with conditions and that one day, he would leave too, just like her father had, and if that was the case, then maybe it was better to leave on her own terms rather than be blindsided. Her financial problems had been strangling her at the time and she’d been so afraid to tell him about them, and then she’d found out about their marriage not being valid followed by Carrie Ann’s pregnancy news and her abortion threat and the fact that Juliet would be the other woman in that trio if she stayed; so she had panicked. At the time, it had felt as if her whole world was caving in on her and she couldn’t breathe anymore or even think straight. So what had she done? She’d run away. She hadn’t trusted that Romeo’s love for her was strong enough to overcome all of these obstacles and so she’d left, couching her motives inside an altruistic reason - that she was doing this for his baby.

But in reality, running away like that had been a very selfish thing for her to do because she’d hurt him so badly. And now that he knew the truth about why she’d left, he probably could never trust her again. In fact, he hated her. He’d told her those very words tonight and the contemptuous look he’d given her when he’d said them only added to their veracity.

It was obvious he would never forgive her and she couldn’t even blame him. She didn’t think she could ever forgive herself either. She had effectively killed the love he’d had for her and it had all been her fault. If she’d been honest with him at the time about everything that was going on, she knew now that they could have worked it out somehow. But she’d gotten scared and she’d run away - like a little girl. What had he said to her tonight? That she’d ‘bailed’ - and that’s exactly what she’d done.

What now? It was obvious he would never forgive her; after all, he hated her, as he’d told her tonight. But there was one thing she could do for him before he left her life for good, and that was to have her new book removed from the shelves as he’d wanted. Of course, her career would stal and her finances would dry up again, but she didn’t care. She needed to do this for him. She’d call her publishers tomorrow and tell them.

She’d also go see Romeo one last time and tell him of her decision. She’d tell him how sorry she was for what she’d done to him and she’d confess about her bankruptcy problems which he still didn’t know about. She needed to face him and tell him everything. She owed him that much at least.

~ ~ ~

Twenty-four hours had passed since Juliet had seen Romeo at the hotel bar, and those twenty-four hours had been the most painful she’d ever had to endure, even more painful than when she’d left him. She’d had to face some hard facts about herself and she’d had to grow up. She knew now that she couldn’t use her father abandoning her as a child as an excuse for any of her actions anymore, and she would have to face the consequences of what she’d done like a grownup. No one else was to blame for the choices she’d made in life. They had all been her decisions and now she’d have to own them.

And here she now was, poised at the closed doors outside Romeo’s hotel suite, ready to face him and tell him everything, including how sorry she was for what she’d done. Would he accept her apology or would he refuse to even speak to her? Taking a deep breath, she rapped softly on the wood.

Within seconds, the door opened and Romeo stood there, holding Katie in his arms. Surprise shot through his eyes at seeing her there before he lowered his lids to veil any further emotions. He remained mute, waiting for her to say something.

Juliet watched his every move, hungry for any signs of hope. “I know what you’re thinking,” she started. “You’re thinking, should I slam the door in her face or let her in and see what she wants?” When he remained silent, Juliet’s stomach fluttered nervously, but she was determined to say what she had come to say even if she had to do it here on his doorstep. “Let me in, Romeo -
please
.” Romeo heard the plea in her voice and he opened the door further. Even after everything she’d done to him and even though he was still furious with her, he could never refuse her anything. As she walked past him into the room, he suddenly felt, rather than saw her relief at being asked in. Did she really think he would have said no?

At that moment, Hailey walked out from one of the bedrooms. She stopped as she saw Juliet standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room. “Juliet, you’re back,” she enthused with a welcoming smile.

“Yes. I needed to speak to Romeo,” the other woman said with a proud tilt to her head.

Hailey’s curious gaze traveled from Juliet’s face to her brother’s and noticed how his hungry eyes were focused on the woman, drinking in everything about her. It was obvious he was still in love with her, anyone could see it. She walked up to him then and took Katie out of his arms. “I’m taking Katie-girl to the park across the street for some fresh air,” she announced, wanting to give the two of them some private time together. She plopped the little girl into a stroller near the closet and retrieved her purse. “Don’t kill each other while I’m gone,” she teased, as she headed for the door.

“Thanks, Hailey,” Juliet mumbled, as she watched Romeo’s sister leave with the baby. When the door closed behind them, she turned to him.

“You haven’t said a word since you opened that door to me.”

“I think we’ve said everything that needs to be said, don’t you?” he replied in a cool and aloof tone.

Romeo was being obstinate and Juliet couldn’t blame him. In fact, she was surprised he’d let her in at all. “No, we haven’t said everything - at least, I haven’t.” She lowered her eyes away from his because his intense stare was making her even more nervous than she already was. But she’d promised herself that she would face him and be honest with him, and so face him she must. Her stoic eyes flew back up to his frozen glare.

“I’m here to give you what you want,” she said.

She saw him draw in a quick breath. “Which is?” he drawled.

“My book removed from the stores. You won’t have to go ahead with your lawsuit.” Romeo took a step back in surprise, clearly not having anticipated this. “Just like that?” Juliet nodded. “Just like that. I’m not fighting you, Romeo - not anymore.”

“What about your publishers? What do they say about it?”

Juliet shrugged. “They’re refusing to do it, but they have no choice. I told them that if they didn’t, I’d go on every media outlet and tabloid that I could and tell them that the person in my book was you and then you’d have a case to sue us all.” He let out a short laugh. “They couldn’t have been too happy about that.”

“No, they threatened to blackbal me in the industry so that no other publisher would ever work with me again.” Romeo’s eyebrows drew sharply together in concern. “Your career would be over.” He stated it as fact.

“I guess, but there are more important things than a career.”

“Like what?”

“Like making things right.”

“And you would do this for me?”

Juliet noticed how his eyes had become sharp and assessing, as if he was debating within himself whether to believe her or not. “Yes,” she stated emphatically and without any guile. “I owe you that much. And I also owe you the complete truth about what happened last summer.” Suddenly, she sensed his remoteness veer sharply towards anger. “So what else did you lie about, Juliet?” he gritted between his teeth.

She lifted her head proudly. “I didn’t lie. I just didn’t tell you everything.” Romeo threw out a mocking laugh. “A subtle distinction, but the outcome’s the same. Avoidance of the truth.”

“I’m not here to defend my actions, Romeo. I just want to set the record straight and then I’ll go and you’ll never have to see me again.” She saw a small, telling muscle quivering at his jaw and she knew he wasn’t as blasé about their conversation as he was pretending to be.

Was there still hope for them? The brief, delicate thought flitted through her mind for an instant before her logical reasoning took over again and told her that the answer to that question was a definite no - not after what she’d done and after so much time had passed between them.

Juliet cleared her throat and continued with her prepared speech, forcing herself to stare directly into his eyes, which at the moment seemed to be impaling her with their burning intensity. “The reason I went to PEI last summer was not just for some sun and sand, but as a way for me to relax so that I could get over a debilitating bout of writer’s block that I’d developed. On top of that, I was under a deadline to deliver a completed manuscript to my publisher by September or I would have had to give back their advance. But I’d stupidly already spent the money, and what with everything that happened between us all summer, I wasn’t able to write very much. So, when September came around, I knew I was going to have to declare bankruptcy.” Her eyes dropped, as they shied away from his surprised ones.

“My God, why didn’t you tell me?” he exploded, as concern for what she’d gone through tinged his words. Romeo had had no idea what she was going to confess to just now, but financial problems had not been on his list. He was completely floored by this latest revelation.

He watched as Juliet innocently shrugged her shoulders. “It was humiliating. I certainly wasn’t going to tell you about it when we were fighting during the summer, and then after we got married, I wanted us to get to know each other better first before I said anything. It was just so embarrassing for me. And then I found out about our marriage not being valid and Carrie Ann and the baby and - I guess I panicked - and I ran, like you said.”

Romeo’s eyes flashed with anger. “You should have told me right away instead of keeping this from me,” he shouted. He was furious that something as trivial as money had come between them and the fact that she hadn’t trusted him enough to tell him. “How much did you owe?” he demanded to know.

“One hundred thousand dollars,” Juliet mumbled, still finding it difficult to admit this to him.

Romeo’s eyes grew large with astonishment. “That’s all? That’s all you owed?”

Her chin came up then, signaling her pride. “That’s a lot of money when you don’t have it.” He gawked at her words before exploding again. “I have it, Juliet! I have it, and you should have come to me, understand? Goddamn it!” He brushed his hair back in frustration with both hands and he began to pace around the large room. So now he understood everything. Her silly money problems had been the spark which had set her off and caused her to bolt from him. And then when she’d found out about the baby and the issues she’d had with her bastard father piled on top of that - it had all added to the raging fire she was being consumed by and she’d run. It was starting to finally all make sense.

For over a year, he’d believed that she’d left him for someone else and it had all been a damn lie. He remembered all the days he’d agonized over her and what could have been. He’d wondered where she was, what she was doing and whom she was doing it with, and it had driven him mad. The only thing that had kept him sane all these months was the arrival of his sweet Katie-girl. When Juliet had left him, his heart had literally shattered into pieces. He’d heard about people dying from a broken heart before, but he’d never believed that possible until now. And what had it all been about? Issues that she should have come to him with. What a waste! Romeo turned back to her then and he watched as she nervously chewed her bottom lip. The anger he was feeling dissipated and his voice softened towards her. “You should have told me,” he said, as he approached her again.

She nodded. “I know, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for what I did - by lying and leaving like that. I hope you can forgive me one day.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a hardback copy of her new book, ‘Why Romeo Hates Juliet’. “You left this at the book-signing,” she said, as she handed it to him.

He took it and Juliet sensed that he wanted to say more, but he didn’t; he remained silent. And when he didn’t say anything about accepting her pre-offered apology just now, she knew that he still couldn’t forgive her. Defeated, Juliet’s eyes filled with remorse and she knew that she must leave now before she started crying in front of him. “Good-bye, Romeo,” she whispered, before walking past him towards the door.

Romeo’s eyes instinctively lowered to the book in his hands and something inside him made him open it. Immediately, he saw something she’d written for him on the cover page and he began reading it aloud. “Romeo… Maybe one day we can believe in second chances… Juliet.” The minute he’d begun reading her words, Juliet had stopped her march towards the door and slowly turned back to face him. She watched as he lifted his glistening eyes from the page to rest on hers.

“With you, I don’t believe in second chances…” he suddenly uttered. A pause enveloped the both of them and Juliet’s heart began beating wildly. Did he really hate her that much that he couldn’t ever forgive her? But then she saw his mouth curve into an irresistible and devastating grin before he whispered, “I believe in a million chances.”

Juliet gasped, still unable to believe what she was hearing. “What are you saying?” she choked out.

“I’m saying I love you, Juliet and I want to try again, if you’ll have me.”

A cry of relief broke through her lips. “Of course, I’ll have you…” she cried, as she flew into his arms and planted both of her hands on either side of his face. “My God, I love you so much. I never stopped loving you…” The rest of her words were swallowed up by his hungry lips as they descended onto her soft ones. He pulled her body roughly into his and like a man starved for sustenance, he began to kiss her with savage intensity. She returned his fire, parting her lips and welcoming him in. Blood pounded in her brain and her knees began to tremble, but she was safely wrapped in his arms and he wasn’t letting her go.

Suddenly, Romeo tore his lips off of hers. “I’ve missed you so much,” he rasped, as his fevered eyes devoured her beautiful face and his arms tightened around her even more. “Don’t ever leave me again, Juliet,
please
.” A soft and loving curve touched Juliet’s lips. “I won’t - not ever.”

His whole body relaxed and his mouth spread into a boyish smile. “What do you think of my Katie-girl?”

“I love your Katie-girl. She’s as sweet as her daddy.”

“How would you feel about becoming a step-mommy?”

Juliet pretended to think about it. “Are you asking me in an official capacity?” He gave her a resounding kiss on her lips before pulling back again. “You know I am. Marry me--now, tomorrow, next week, I don’t care, just make it soon. We’ve wasted enough time as it is and I don’t want to live another second without you.” Laughter bubbled up in Juliet, as she wound her arms tighter around his strong shoulders. “And we’ll get the proper licenses this time?” He nodded. “Definitely! This marriage is going to be stamped, sealed and approved by every court in the land if it has to be.”

“And you’ll buy me a huge engagement ring and a real gold wedding band?” Juliet’s eyes twinkled mischievously.

Romeo laughed. “I’ll buy you the biggest diamond ring ever, whatever you want - and a gold band guaranteed to
not
turn your finger green.”

“Oh - I forgot about that,” she replied sheepishly.

“Well, I didn’t,” he stated. He released her and reached into his back pocket for his wall et. Pulling it out, he opened it, and there, sandwiched in a side compartment were both their original wedding bands. He slid them out and held them up to her. “I didn’t forget a thing.” Juliet was moved that after everything she’d put him through, he’d held onto those rings the entire time. Tears of joy welled up in her eyes. “I love you, Romeo Boyd,” she whispered softly, before reclaiming his lips with a gentle kiss laced with promises of greater love to come.