SAFEHOUSE - Page 15
He laughed loudly at me, throwing his hands up. “It seems that way, yes.”
I frowned, but let him in anyway.
Julien staggered over to the tall bureau where I had finally put away my clothes for the extended stay. He leaned up against it, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“This day is not a good day,” he mumbled.
“Care to elaborate?” I didn’t care for him trying to beat around the bush at the moment.
Julien shrugged his shoulders, clearly not wanting to. I huffed and went to sit back on my bed. I didn’t know what his problem was, but I certainly didn’t feel like babysitting him either.
“Look, if you’re just gonna stand there and pout all night than we have nothing else to say. I was trying to go to bed and I’m sure —“
“Wait. I just need to talk to you. I need some friends to talk to, I never have anyone to talk to anymore,” he slurred,
wiping his mouth.
I took in the way he was slumped against the bureau, slowly shaking my head to myself. What would have possessed him to possibly get this messed up? I remembered earlier when Gervaise mentioned something about the date. At least I think that’s what he said. I had to wonder if it had something to do with the way Julien was acting tonight.
“Okay. Just come over here and tell me what’s going on.”
I watched him make his way over to me, cursing to himself as he continually tripped over his own two feet. Even though I found myself completely agitated, it was kind of hard not to laugh at him.
He plopped face-down on the bed, a few feet away from me. Now that he was closer I could definitely smell the whiskey on him. It threw me off — I pictured him drinking some vintage wine.
Julien rolled over and turning to face me. “I never told you the story. I’ve such bad timing.”
I pursed my lips, still not in the mood for his riddles. “What story are you talking about, Julien?”
He sighed dramatically, pulling himself up onto his elbows. “It’s a sad one, I’ll admit it. It started with Danica...”
“Who is Danica?” I asked quietly.
“My fiancée.”
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Chapter 12
My muscles stiffened. His fiancée?!? And I’m just now learning about this
“Okay, what about her? Where is she now?”
“She’s gone.”
Out of the corner of my eye I could already tell he was crying, his tears staining the dark blue satin. Wow. Whatever had happened with her and him must have been bad. Maybe I was being too hard on him…
Gone…
It suddenly dawned on me that his fiancée hadn’t just run down to the corner store. Gone… As in gone forever… Gone, as in passed away.
“You asked me why I opened this halfway house to those people who need it. I told you the truth, but it wasn’t all true. It was Danica. I did it because of her,” he began, as he sloppily wiped his face. “I couldn’t help her, so I help others.”
This sounded like it was about to get really serious, really fast. I braced myself.
“We were together for almost two years. I never knew her family had abysmal ties with the Italian Mafia. Her brother was a thug, one of their favorites I think. He ended up being used by the police to lure one a higher-up into a trap. They decided to take it out on his family. Danica went to visit home, and she never came back...”
Jesus. How could I even respond to that?
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