Love's Crazy Twists (20 page)

              “Well, Mom, it is a nice surprise.  Thanks.”  Julie walked into the living room and sat down with her mom following right behind her.

              “So, have you talked to Matt lately?”  Her mother asked.

              “I saw him last night, but I didn’t talk to him.”  She answered, remembering the events that happened the previous night.

              “How did he look?  Did he look good?”

              “Mom, why are you asking me about Matt, we broke up, remember?”  She said disgustedly.

              “Yes, Julie, I know that
you
broke up with
him
.  That doesn’t mean that you can’t get back together.  You know, before your father and I were married we broke up a few times, but we always got back together.  And look at us now...we are happily married.”

              “I know all about you and dad, you don’t have to tell me all the time.  But this is different.  And I didn’t just up and leave him.  I caught him in bed with another woman!  Do you remember that part, Mom?”

              “Can’t you forgive him and get on with it, Dear?”

              “No.  No, I can’t.  He was always accusing me of cheating on him when I never even gave him any reason to doubt me whatsoever.  And then I find him in the act, Mom.  I actually walked right into his bedroom and pulled this fat bitch off of his naked ass!  Do you understand?  They...were...having...sexual...intercourse...Mom.  SEX!!”

              “There is no need for you to talk to me like a baby, I am your mother!  Show me some respect.”

              “I’m not trying to be disrespectful.  Really.  I’m not.  It just seems like you don’t understand what I’m telling you.  You don’t seem to understand that I can’t go back to him after I saw him...with my own eyes having unprotected sex with Chelsea.  That’s all.  And besides, I’m with Shane now.  Remember?”

              “Oh, yeah, Shawn.”

              “No, Mom, his name is Shane.  Shane not Shawn.”

              “Yes, that guy that was always hanging around and trying to hit on you in front of your fiance.  I remember the home wrecker.”

              “Stop it, please.  I am with Shane now, and I love him.  A lot!  I used to love Matt, and in some ways I  probably always will.  But I can’t get the image of him and Chelsea out of my head.  It haunts my dreams and it still really pisses me off!  If he loved me so much, why would he cheat on me?  Huh, Mom, why?”

              “All I know is that he loved you and at one time you loved him.  And your dad and I both liked him.  You are engaged to be married.”

              “Let me just stop you right there!  We are NOT getting married.  Mom, you have to face it, and accept it.  I am not with Matt.  I am with Shane.  And I’m happy.”

              “You were happy with Matt.”

              “I was never this happy with Matt.  With Shane it is different.  He is so sweet and generous.  he loves me for me and not for whom he wants me to be.  He loves me so much and he would do anything in the world for me.  Anything.  All I’d have to do is ask.  No, no, I wouldn’t even have to ask, all I’d have to do would be to hint at it, and he’s do it for me or get it for me.  Anything.  Can’t you see how happy I am?  Doesn’t my happiness matter to you?”

              “Of course your happiness matters to me.  I didn’t mean to insinuate anything.  Honey, I love you and if you are happy, that is wonderful.  I’m just still a little sad that this marriage to Matt isn’t going to happen.”  She paused, “Are you absolutely sure that you are happier with Shane than you ever were with Matt?  Are you sure that there is no way for you to forget and forgive and get back together with Matt?”

              “Yes!  Yes.  For the one-millionth time, yes!  I am sure that there is no way I’m getting back with Matt.  Even if Shane called right now and broke up with me, I’d still not go back to Matt.  And yes, I am sure that I am happy.  This is the happiest I think I’ve ever been in a relationship.”  She looked at her mom, “Why can’t you just be happy for me?”

              “I guess I still don’t get it.  Matt cheated on you one time.  One time, that’s all.  You two got along so well together.  I just can’t see you not with him.”

              “Mom, I’m getting tired of repeating myself.  We didn’t get along that well.  He used to go out drinking all the time and then come home and fight with me.  He would slam me up against the wall and squeeze my arms until he left bruises.  He would throw things at me, Mom, heavy things that would have hurt me really bad had I not ducked out of the way of it.  I will give him this much...he never hit me in the face.  Other places...but not the face.  I think that subconsciously he knew that bruises on the face would be hard to explain and to cover up.  I suppose you believed me every time I said I fell on something, or tripped over something,or even fell out of bed, right?”

              Julie was pacing the room while she spoke and she finally stopped and looked at her mom who was sitting on the edge of the couch, her eyes were wet with tears.

              “Oh, Honey.”  Her mom started as she stood up, “I’m so sorry, I never knew.”  She began crying.  “You should have told me.”  She sobbed, “You should have told me.”

              “Mom, it’s OK.  I’m fine now.  I’m with someone who loves me and who is kind and caring and above all, gentle.  Even if I would have told you, there was nothing you could do about it.  I wasn’t ready to leave then.  I kept telling myself that it was the alcohol and that things would get better if I just stood by him and tried to help him.”  She hugged her mom.  “It just didn’t work.  I still loved him with all my heart and I wanted things to work out.  That’s why I couldn’t leave him, even after all of the physical pain he cause me.  Then when I caught him cheating on me, it was the last straw.  I knew right then that he didn’t love me.  I had always thought that we would be married, but I guess that plan just wasn’t in the stars.”

              “I’m sorry for not seeing the signs.  I should have seen that my daughter wasn’t happy.  I should have done something.”

              “Mom!  Stop it.”  She turned and started pacing again.  “There was nothing you could do.  Nothing.  I was the only one who knew what was going on in my relationship.  I didn’t even tell Jen.  I was the only one who cold have done anything, and I chose not too.”

              “Julie.  Why didn’t you tell me about the abuse?”  Her mother started, then the phone began to ring.

              RING! RING!

              “Hold on Mom, I have to get that.” She picked up the phone and answered, “Hello?”

              “Hey, Sweetie, how are you?”

              Julie’s whole face lit up as she realized it was Shane.  “Hi, Honey.  I’m all right.  How are you?  Where are you?  Is everything OK?”  She bombarded him with questions.

              “I’m good.  Everything is great!  That is now that I’ve got you on the line.”

              “Thanks.  So do you have any news for me yet?  Are you coming home?”

              “Julie, do you want me to go?”  Her mom asked.

              “No, Mom.  It’s Shane, it shouldn’t take too long.  Just wait a few minutes, OK?”  She said and her mom nodded in agreement.

              Back to the receiver she said, “Sorry, Hon, my mom is here.  So...where were we?”

              “I was just about to tell you some wonderful news.”  He started.

              “Let me guess...you’re almost home?”  She asked hopeful.

              “Well, I guess maybe it’s not that wonderful after all.  I am going to be away a while longer.”  Julie’s heart sunk as each word fell upon her ear.  “But, the good news is they want to pay for you to come with me, that way we can be together.”

              “That if pretty interesting.  When do I get to see you?”  She asked.

              “Well, if all goes as planned, you should be seeing me by tomorrow evening!”

              “YAH!!!”  Julie squealed with delight.

              “Wow!  If you’re that happy to hear that you’ll see me, I can’t wait to see what you do when you actually see me!”  He teased.

              “Well, I can’t tell you what I’d like to do...my mom’s still here, remember?”  She said, whispering the last part.

              “I can’t wait to see you either, Julie, to take you in my arms and gaze into your eyes and to kiss you.  And believe me, that’s what I’m going to do!  Over and over and over.”

              Julie laughed.  The first time she laughed all day.  It felt good to laugh.  “I hope that you do.  I can’t wait either.  I miss you so much.”

              “Me too, Baby.”  He said, “I love you.”

              “I love you more.”  She teased.

              “Doubtful.”  Was all he had to reply, and she knew that he meant it even though he laughed.

              “We’ll just have to see about that.”  She laughed back.

              “Well Baby, since your mom is there I’ll let you go and that way I can get started so that I
can
see you tomorrow.”

              “OK.  I can’t wait.  Be careful!  I love you.”

              “I love you, too and I’ll be extra careful.  Oh and think about what I said, don’t answer me now, you can tell me later.  Do you want to come along with me on the road?  Just think about it, OK?”

              “OK, I will.”

              “Good.  Bye.”

              “Bye.”  She said and then hung up the phone.

              “So?  That was the infamous Shane, I presume?”  Asked her mom.

              “Yeah, that was him.”  She said dreamily.

              “I can see that you really do love him, don’t you?”

              “Finally!  That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all day.”  She told her mom.

              “Yes, I know that’s what you’ve been telling me...I just now saw it when you were talking to him.  Your whole face lit up and I could see that you were happy.  And that makes me happy too.”

              “Thank you.  That means a lot to me.”  She said.  “I’ll try to bring him over to see you when he gets home over the next couple of days.”

              “Where is he?”

              “He drives truck across the country and he had truck trouble and got held up a few days longer then expected.  He should be here tomorrow evening.”  She explained.

              “Oh, I see.  Well, it’s been nice visiting, but I just noticed the time.  I have to get home and make dinner for your dad.  You know how he gets when his dinner isn’t on the table at 4:30.”  She laughed.

              “Yeah, I remember.”  She walked her mom to the door and then she hugged her.  “Bye.”  She watched her mom get in her car and leave.

PART 5

SHANE’S RETURN

              Julie spent the rest of the night thinking about Shane coming home the next evening.  And she kept thinking about what he had asked her.  Her heart was telling her to go.  Telling her that this is what she had been hoping for.  To get away from the rest of the world with the one man that she loved with all her heart and more.  But her head was saying different things to her.  Did she
really
want to travel with him?  She did, but could she really do it?  How long would she be gone?  What would happen to her job at the bank if they called her back while she was away?  She had so many questions that needed to be answered before she could decide to go with Shane.  Just thinking about it all made her head ache.

              After thinking so long and hard about it, she decided to just wait for Shane to return and talk it all over with him.

              The rest of the night felt like the longest night ever to Julie.  The anticipation of seeing Shane again was driving her crazy.  She missed him so much, she couldn’t wait to be in his arms and to hold him in hers.  She didn’t do much the rest of the evening and thought that it would be a good idea if she went to bed early.  Then when she would get up it would be morning and it would be a lot closer till the time that her sweetheart got home.

              The next morning when Julie got up she was filled to the brim with excitement and anticipation for the night to come.  And she hoped with all her heart that nothing would be stopping Shane from getting to her this time.  She started to look around the house to make sure it looked nice and clean.  She decided it looked good.  She thought that she should go to the store and buy groceries to make dinner for Shane as a surprise for when he got there.  She left her mind wonder and began to daydream.

             
The lights in the house are all off.  There are candles glowing all over the place casting their shadows on the ceiling and walls.  There is a bottle of wine chilling on the table in an ice bucket beside a dozen red roses.  In the bedroom the bed is covered with thousands of rose petals.  There is romantic music playing in the background.

              There was a knock on the door and she opened it wearing nothing but a black crotch-less Floral Lace Teddy with thong back and matching thigh highs and a pair of black strappy shoes with a 4-inch heel and a really big smile!