Julien's Book (18 page)

She typed in Julien St. James, and she blinked at what she saw on the screen. Most of the photos w
ere smoking hot guys with Photoshopped Port-wine stains similar to Julien's. At least ten of the images that came up, however, were of a guy who looked like he was throwing an elbow into a punching bag. His hands were wrapped, and he was shirtless. The words
Julien's Book
were printed in white on the image, and Nadine assumed this had something to do with the mysterious book everybody kept referring to.

It was no wonder Julien was so sensitive about it. The guy on the cover looked
exactly
like him. The picture was heavily shaded, but Jesus, it could have been his twin. She squinted at it on the screen until she got the eerie, unsettling feeling that it
was
him. She quit the screen and closed the laptop like it might spontaneously combust if she had it open another second. She had a nagging feeling there was more to the book than he was letting on, but she trusted him and knew if he didn't want her to look at it, there must be a good reason.

Chapter 19

Julien had a fight coming up in late February, which was convenient because his training schedule served as a distraction from worrying about Nadine. It was Monday, January 6
th.
Nadine was scheduled to leave Paris on the 9
th
, and her arrival back into the states couldn't come soon enough.

They'd been emailing almost every day just to check in, and in their last email, Nadine asked if she could Skype Julien from her sister's
flat so her sister and brother-in-law could speak with him. She said she'd been telling them about him, and wanted them to meet, or at least talk to him and see his face. Julien downloaded Skype and waited for her to call.

She called at the exact time they specified in the email, and he smiled when he saw her beautiful face.
There was a little delay with the audio and the picture was slightly jerky, but it was obvious by their expressions that they were excited to see each other. Nadine was so taken by him that she forgot her sister and Eric were standing over her shoulder looking at Julien.

Julien couldn't see them, so it surprised him when he heard a girl's voice but didn't see Nadine's lips move. "
Oh my God, he's so handsome." Emile said.

Julien's eyes shifted as if he was looking around for where the voice came from.

"It's my sister. She's standing where you can't see her."

"That doesn't seem
quite fair," Julien said.

Emile shifted to stand directly behind Nadine, and bent to put her face right next to her sister's.

"You guys look just alike," Julien said.

"Tell me about it," Eric said, leaning in and giving Julien a little wave. "They act just alike too. It's scary."

"I'm glad you speak English," Julien said. "I guess I just sort of expected Nadine to have to translate."

"The school we all went to taught English," Emile said. "That's where I met Eric."

"Hey, congratulations on the baby," Julien said. "You're the sister who just had one, right?"

"Yes, and thank you," Emile said. "I'm not quite getting the
right amount of sleep yet, but he's so cute, I just forget all about how tired I am."

"He
is
cute," Julien said. "Nadine sent me a couple of pictures."

"Thanks," Emile said.
"Nadine said you fight and you coach other fighters."

"Yep. I'm trying to coach Nadine, but she won't come to my class."

"Tell the truth," she said. "We weren't exactly on friendly terms at first." She stuck her tongue out at Julien and then smiled. "I won't try to ignore you anymore when I get home, I promise."

Julien noticed that she called Louisiana
home, but he didn't comment on it. Instead, he asked, "Do you have a lot going on between now and the time you leave?"

"Don’t remind me she's leaaaaving!" Emile interjected.
"It seems like she's only been here like
one day
. It's terrible how quickly the trip goes."

"We're doing Nadine's birthday party," Eric said, trying to keep the girls focused on the original question.

"What?" Julien said. "What was that Eric said just now?"

Eric leaned in, closer to the computer screen. "You were asking what we had planned and I said we still had Nadine's birthday party."

Julien gave him a confused look as if he must have said the wrong name by accident. "I thought Nadine's birthday was in February."

"It is," Nadine said, roll
ing her eyes. "My mother's just like that. She thinks I need her to throw an early party since I won't be here for my birthday."

Julien sat up and stared at their
faces on the screen with an earnest expression. "Where's the party? Why are you just now mentioning a party?" he asked. Nadine was taken aback by his intensity, and thought it was a peculiar thing for him to be concerned about. It seemed a bit extreme for Julien's laid-back personality.

"It's at the Jenner Room. My mom uses any excuse in the book to
go to that place."

"No lie," Eric said. "She wants to have
everything
there. She wanted Emile and I to get married there."

Julien racked his brain for any mention of a place called the
Jenner Room
in the book. It didn't ring any bells. In the book, her party was in an indoor garden.

"The Jenner Room is a
conservatory in the middle of downtown Paris. They do a different theme every year. It's awesome. It's open to the public during the day, but you have to pay to get in, and you just walk through it with all the other customers. Anyway, you can rent it for private functions at night. Andre Jenner, the guy who owns it, is a friend of our family, and he lets us use it."

"What's a conservatory?" Julien asked, staring intently at the screen. "A school?"

Nadine looked at him a little confused. He didn't seem mad or anything, but something was definitely bothering him. Even his posture had changed. He had been sitting back looking casual and relaxed, and now he was sitting up in his chair and had a nervousness to his demeanor.

"Is it a
school
?" he pressed. "When did you plan this?"

Julien was on the very verge of telling her
everything
. He had to force himself to hold his tongue because he knew nothing good could come from making her panic when there was no way to tell what the outcome would be.

"It's just something mom wanted to do," Emile said. "She doesn't see Nadine on her birthday since she's in school. It's not
gonna be a big deal, really. Mostly just family."

"I'm glad she's getting to do that with you guys," Julien said. He tried to act unaffected. "I just didn't know why you'd want to have your birthday party at a school."

The girls laughed. "I was talking about plants. You know, like a garden."

"An indoor garden?" Julien asked.

"Oui," Nadine said, still a little confused by his intensity.

"When exactly is the party?" he asked.

"
We're doing it on the eighth since I leave on the ninth." She smiled and looked a little embarrassed. "It's more than a month early."

"But good luck talking mom out of it," Emile said.

From that point forward, Julien was on conversational autopilot. He tried to remember to smile and to speak at the appropriate time, but he was totally preoccupied during the five minutes of chitchat that followed. The whole situation seemed too unbelievable for him to even feel comfortable telling them what was going on.

Julien ended the call and immediately
searched flights to Paris. It was the evening of the sixth, and he figured he needed a few hours sleep, so he booked a flight for 6AM the next morning. He'd need the rest of the night to make arrangements. Leaving at 6AM on the 7
th
would put him in Paris at 7AM on the 8
th
. Obviously, that was cutting it close, but it was really the only choice he had since he needed a little time to get organized for his trip.

The first thing he did after he made his flight reservation was driv
e up to the gym to talk to Tim. There was nothing Tim could say or do to talk him out of going, but he wanted to touch base about where he was going and what the possible outcomes could be.

"Who's
gonna coach your classes?" was the first thing Tim asked. As far as he was concerned, the whole thing was ludicrous.

"I don't really give a shit. He's gonna try to kill her in two days
, Tim."

Tim gave Julien that smirk that said maybe he should relax a little bit.

"I don’t care if you believe me. Everything's lining up with the book, and if I don't go to help her and something happens, I'll never forgive myself."

"What's the hype about the book, anyway? I heard Shea talking about it with John David the other day. She said they hired an investigator."

"Did you read the book she wrote?" Julien asked.

Tim laughed. "I work like 150 hours a week. I don't really h
ave time for romance novels."

"W
ell let me put it like this… The words she wrote in her little book are coming true in front of our eyes, I'm freaking living them out, and the
whole story ends
with the girl getting shot in the chest by her ex."

"And you swoop in and rescue her?"

"Not in the book."

"What happens in the book?"

"The guy who tried to kill her gets off with a slap on the wrist and she spends five years in a coma."

"That's fucked up," Tim said. "Shea wrote that?"

"Yeah, they end up together when she wakes up and there's ultimately a happy ending I guess, but not before the whole tragedy and everything."

"You mean they let that mother fucker off with just a slap on the wrist?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, in the book she said he pleads insanity and only has to do some sort of rehab."

Tim stared straight ahead with an unreadable expression on his face. Julien had no idea what was going to come out of his mouth.

"Well, you have to go kill him then," Tim said as if it were the only logical choice. "You have to check your pistol, and it can't be loaded or anything."

"I know. I already looked into all tha
t when I made my reservations. Thank God I had a passport from that tournament in the Dominican Republic."

"I'm sure we have gym affiliates in Paris if you need a
ny of them for anything," Tim said.

"I don't think I will, but I'll keep that in mind if I get in trouble."

"I don't see how you're gonna avoid it since killing a guy is the basis of your plan, Julien."

Julien couldn't let himself consider the
repercussions of his actions. He didn't really care, actually. He was going to the party armed, and whatever happened happened. Julien looked at his watch. "I've gotta be going. My flight leaves in less than eleven hours."

"I'm gonna send an email or two letting the guys in Paris know
you're over there."

"Thanks Boss."

Tim reached up and ruffed up Julien's hair. "Use your brain. No Limbic System."

"I know."

"And don't worry, I won't tell anybody you went crazy and went to go rescue a fictional character from certain death."

Julien laughed as he walked out, knowing how freaking absurd the whole thing must seem. The next eleven hours (which included four and a half hours of sleep) passed in a blur. He tossed and turned during the very little sleep he got, and was exhausted to the point of delirium when he boarded his first flight. He knew he'd have time to sleep during the flights, and hoped it'd be enough to help him feel rested. He had a layover in Atlanta, and he sat down with a cup of coffee and a sandwich. He checked his email. There was something from Tim. He clicked on it stared down at his phone reading the words his coach wrote.

"
Hey J, I stayed up last night reading that book. I can't see how any of that shit would come true, but I think it's just freaky enough to feel compelled to help you. I've been in contact with Paul and Thomas at the Paris location and they said one of their blue belts is a cop or whatever they call it over there. I didn't tell them any details because I wanted to leave it up to you, but I think you should give it some thought. Having a cop there with you may simplify things. I know you'll want to take care of it yourself, since that's what I'd want to do too, but you might be in trouble for carrying. Anyway, just wanted you to know you had options. Let me know if you need me to put you in touch with them."

Julien put the phone down as he contemplated options and outcomes. He emailed Tim back asking for the contact information, but making sure to add the disclaimer that he might not use it.

It was 7AM in Paris France when his flight landed. He picked up his rental car and drove straight to the hotel he reserved. Nadine didn't even know he was there, and as he looked at his travel-weary reflection in the mirror, he wondered if she'd even be happy to see him.

The place he was staying wasn't far from her parents' home. He'd gotten the address the night before from her roommate Lindsay, who asked him about fifty questions before giving it to him. He
made up fake answers to all of them, and left there with Lindsay thinking he wanted to send her flowers. His plan was to show up unannounced at her parents' house, but he didn't necessarily think 7AM was an appropriate time to do that, so he took his time showering and getting his thoughts straight. By the time he knocked on their door, it was 10AM.