"I already told you we can talk about this later. I have to go."
"Come home," he said in a more conciliatory tone.
"I will when I feel like it," she returned stubbornly.
He scoffed. "Whatever, Julie."
"Bye, Jack," she said, flipping her phone shut.
When she looked up she saw Matt with a slight grimace on his face. "Good talk?" he asked rhetorically.
She smiled sardonically. "Without a doubt. I better go. You get yourself some sleep," she advised.
"Yes, ma'am."
Julie smiled. "I'll see you later."
The whole way home Julie dreaded getting back to the apartment, and she took her time, thinking about things she had to do for school, what she might do with Anna next time she watched her. Then her thoughts drifted to that family, to Matt and Emma.
What kind of marriage did they really have? Why would such a young couple be so…unhappy? Why would they stay in such a seemingly dissatisfying relationship?
She promptly ended any such questioning shortly before she got to her apartment door, reasoning that it was really none of her business a
nyway.
Julie had been prepared to enter her apartment and find Jack sulking inside.
However, when she got inside, she was the only person in the apartment.
At first she was angry, livid even, wanting to call him and bitch him out.
It only took a few seconds for her anger to leave, in its place a vague sense of relief that she could just go to sleep without having to worry about their fight or anything else.
So that's exactly what she did.
Chapter Five-
Julie was gone by the time Jack got home the next day, and she left a little early just to make sure that happened.
At about 5:30 she got a phone call from Matt, telling her he was really sorry, but he was running late.
"Oh, don't worry about it," she said, shifting Anna on her hip. "I was just going to stop and pick up a movie I need for class on my way home. I'll just take Anna with me, it's no big deal."
"A movie for class, huh?" he asked. "Sounds like a blast."
Julie smiled. "Well, it's for my humanities class. Girl with a Pearl Earring, it's based on the painting by Jan Vermeer. We watched a video in class about Vermeer, but my professor said we should check out the movie if we got the chance, he said it was really good, so…"
"I remember hearing of it, but I never watched it. Isn't that Scarlett Johansson?"
Julie rolled her eyes, chuckling. "Of course you know that it's Scarlett Johansson. What a typical guy."
"And Colin Firth," Matt added. "He's really sexy."
She let out a giggle at the unexpected comment. "Well, yes. I guess it's kind of a story about the painting, probably not historically accurate, but it still makes it more fun whether it's true or not."
"So it's not just a guy painting a picture?"
"I sure hope not. I don't exactly know what the plot is, but… my humanities professor told me I should watch it and so far Vermeer is boring me to tears with his domestic pictures and reclusiveness. Just last week I got to study Da Vinci with his peculiar interest in dissecting corpses and taking school-aged children as lovers, and this week I have to watch a dumb video about this Vermeer guy living in this little town in Holland and never leaving, just painting pictures of servants and family members."