Why Romeo Hates Juliet (3 page)

The girls flew into Charlottetown Airport the first week in July. While in-flight, Juliet gazed transfixed out the airplane window, taking in the lush agricultural fields and rolling green hills of Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province, which was situated in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on that nation’s east coast.

PEI, as it was commonly referred to, was a little over 2000 square miles. An important claim to fame held by the tiny province was that it was where author Lucy Maud Montgomery had written her series of novels about a little orphan girl named ‘Anne of Green Gables’, first published in 1908.

Juliet sighed, as the plane wheels touched down on the tarmac. If only she could be as prolific a writer as Lucy Maud Montgomery had been, then she wouldn’t be in the mess she was in now. Oh well, maybe Prince Edward Island would create the same writer’s magic for her as it had for Ms. Montgomery all those years ago.

After retrieving their luggage, the girls rented a car and then drove about twenty-five miles northwards to the Green Gables Shore area of the tiny island. They marveled at the beautiful expansive ocean views they were witnessing as the highway snaked along the shoreline.

The beach house was situated near a small community called Cavendish, where the Anne of Green Gables novels had been set. It sat on a large but very secluded expanse of beachfront property. When the girls finally turned onto the private Hemlock Road leading up to the house, they had to drive for a full minute before the cottage came into view and when it did, they oohed and ahhed in amazement at what they saw.

“Oh my God, this is beautiful,” Juliet gushed, as she stepped out of the car.

Before her, sat the most beautiful house she had ever seen. It was a two-story, white beach house designed with very clean, geometric lines of architecture. It had massive windows everywhere, top to bottom, to allow the privileged occupants uninterrupted views of the majestic, vibrant blue ocean, which gently pounded the golden, sandy shoreline about fifty feet from the residence.

The only drawback to the house was that right beside it, only forty feet away, sat an identical white, two-story structure. It was, in fact, an identical copy of their house except that it had a pool in its backyard facing the ocean and theirs didn’t.

Sara followed her sister out of the car and came to stand beside her. “This is incredible, isn’t it? My in-laws bought the place five years ago but they rarely come here.”

“Who lives next door?” Concern furrowed Juliet’s brow. She’d thought they were going to have a private vacation with no noisy neighbors. After all, she was banking on having quiet time to work on her book.

“My in-laws don’t know, only that some rich American bought it years ago. He’s never here though and they’ve never met him.”

“Why are these houses so close together? I mean with all this beachfront property, they could have easily built this one a mile away.”

“Apparently, they were both originally owned by a Canadian Olympic skeet shooter in the 50’s. He built our house for him and his wife, and he built the other one for his daughter and her family so that they could have vacations together. That’s why they sit so close to each other.”

“Skeet? Isn’t that where they shoot clay targets with a shotgun?”

“Yup, that’s it. If you look over there, you’ll see a skeet machine.” Sara pointed to a mechanical contraption with a metal arm, wedged upright in the sand about 200 feet away from their house. “That launches the clay discs into the air and then you point your gun and shoot them down.

Apparently, the former owner won a bronze Olympic medal in the 50’s for Canada. He was a big celebrity at the time and he used to come down here and practice.”

“Isn’t that kind of close to the house? I mean you are shooting a gun, aren’t you?”

“I guess it is, but he was a ‘big shot’ at the time, no pun intended, and the local government allowed him that privilege, and when the house was sold by his heirs to my in-laws, that privilege was sold along with it. That’s what Rob’s dad told me.” Sara opened the car trunk, and with each grabbing a suitcase, both sisters trudged to the front door. “So why is there a pool in the other house when we’re right on the ocean anyway?” Juliet exhaled, as she dropped Sara’s heavy bag onto the flagstone patio.

“Rob’s dad said that the skeet shooter had it built for his grandkids when they were little so that they could swim in a safer environment rather than the ocean.”

Flashback memories of her near-drowning accident all those years ago raced through Juliet’s mind and she shivered as a trickle of fear ran down her spine. “There’s no such thing as a ‘safe environment’ when it comes to water.” Sara gave her big sister a full-on glare. “Maybe if you learned how to swim, Juliet, you could finally get over that once and for all.”

“No thanks, little sis. I’ll just admire the water from a distance, if you don’t mind.” She walked up to the locked door and rattled the doorknob.

“Let’s see what’s inside.”

Sara fished in her pockets for the keys. She unlocked the door and the girls stepped inside. They were delighted to find themselves in the middle of a Great Room with soaring twenty foot ceilings leading all the way up to the second floor.

“Wow, this is really nice,” Juliet exclaimed, as she walked around the all-white large room, admiring the setup.

The interior of the house looked like it was painted with pure white snow. The Great Room was one massive room which was the size of the home from front to back and it housed a fireplace, navy and white striped couches and a plasma TV setup. To their right, against the south wall was a white, oak staircase which snaked to the second floor, all in plain view. Against the back east wall, were two sets of double French doors which Juliet could see led to the kitchen area, and the bedrooms were probably upstairs. The west wall of the Great Room was a huge expanse of windows and in a very secluded corner, overlooking a breathtaking ocean view, Juliet spotted a writing desk and chair which she thought would be perfect for her to write from.

She approached the desk and lovingly caressed the oak wood frame. Maybe this had been a good idea, coming to Prince Edward Island with Sara. The serenity this place exuded could definitely help her get over her writer’s block and if she did that, she could finish her book and not have to pay back the money. Yes, maybe this place was the answer to all of her prayers after all.

~ ~ ~

Over the next couple of days, the sisters used that time to relax and soak up the sun. Sara was an excellent swimmer and usually spent her mornings and late afternoons in the ocean. On the other hand, Juliet‘s fear of the water was always uppermost in her mind and she took great care to stay away from the surf, agreeing only to walk the length of the sandy beach away from the tide.

By the third day, Juliet felt like a boulder had been lifted from her shoulders. She was refreshed, relaxed and was starting to get a healthy rosy glow back into her previously pale cheeks. Maybe she should try sitting at her laptop and see if she could work on her book? Would the ideas come? Or was she doomed to a life of being a one-hit wonder, never to write another word again?

With her heart pounding in her chest, she sat down at the writing desk and booted up her computer. As she opened up her book file document, her previously written words popped into view and her racing heart skipped a beat. Positioning her shaking fingers over the keyboard, she paused.

“Okay God, give me one idea to get started, please?”

Suddenly, an idea popped into her mind - and then another-and then another… and before she knew it, her fingers were flying across the keyboard, trying to keep pace with her racing thoughts. Her writer’s block had finally been broken and Juliet let out a whoop of delight.

~ ~ ~

Disaster struck on Day 5. Juliet should have known it was too good to last.

She had spent a very fruitful morning at her desk, when suddenly, she was startled out of her writer’s reverie by a loud blast of rock music blaring from outside. Stunned by the deafening intrusion into her peaceful world, her fingers froze over the keyboard as did her breath. What the hell was that?

Sara, who’d been sunbathing on the beach, came racing inside. “I think we’ve got new neighbors!” she yelled, as her voice tried to compete with the din coming from next door.

Frowning, Juliet stood up and looked out the window. She spotted three men and three women, all in their mid-to-late twenties clustered around the pool, drinking beers. One of the guys, a tall, lanky type with a well-toned body, long hair and full beard, suddenly let out a “whoop” and jumped into the pool with all of his clothes on while still clutching his bottle. Two of the women, also fully clothed, followed suit while the others all broke out in laughter as the heavy metal music continued to blast. This was clearly the beginnings of a wild party.

“Who are they?” Juliet moaned, as frustration and worry marred her pretty features.

Sara came to stand beside her. “I saw them come up the drive about ten minutes ago in two black Escalade SUVs. I tried to get to you in time to warn you, but the music started too fast.”

“How am I going to work on my book with all this going on, Sara?”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions, okay? They’ve only just arrived. Maybe they’re just letting off steam and soon, things will calm down.” Juliet nervously bit her lip. “You think?” she mumbled uneasily. She so desperately wanted to believe what her little sister was saying. After all, these past few days she’d been able to finally break through her writer’s block and make some progress on her book.

Sara put a comforting arm around her. “Of course. Just give it a couple of hours.” She began to steer Juliet towards the kitchen, hoping to take her sister’s mind off of this new intrusion. “Let’s go make some lunch.”

Juliet nodded and tried to stay positive as she sat down on one of the counter stools. Suddenly, there was a knock at the kitchen door and Sara went over to open it. Twenty-eight year old Faith Simpson stood there holding three full bags of groceries.

Faith, along with her husband Brad, owned The Cavendish General Store, a quaint, old-fashioned establishment where they sold everything from hardware to groceries. The girls had struck up a friendship with the PEI islander and had liked her immediately on meeting her. She was friendly and genuinely nice, and both Sara and Juliet had made an instant friend.

“Hey girls,” she greeted, as she walked in. “I’ve got your order here.”

“Thanks, Faith. I’ll go get your money,” Sara said, walking out to get her purse.

“What’s with the commotion next door?” Faith asked Juliet, as she plunked the bags down on the kitchen counter.

“New neighbors. Aren’t we lucky?”

Faith giggled, “Sounds like they like having a good time.”

Another feeling of uneasiness swept over Juliet. “Faith, you’ve lived here for awhile. Have you ever met these people?”

“Brad and I have been here for about five years now and as far as I know, that house has always stayed empty. If the owners ever came to the island, they never shopped at my store.”

Just as Sara walked back into the kitchen with Faith’s money, the rock music next door was cranked to an all-time high decibel and the walls of the girls’ cottage began to pulsate in rhythm to the hard-driving, metal beat.

“Oh - my - God!” Juliet shouted, covering her ears with her hands. “That’s so rude and inconsiderate. Didn’t they see our car in the driveway when they pulled up? They’ve got to know that there are people living next door.” Furious, she got up and barreled into the living room to stand at the large expanse of windows which afforded her a view of her neighbor’s back yard. She glowered at the pool party still going on in full force. Both Sara and Faith sprinted after her and they too clustered at the glass window.

Sara let out a shocked gasp. “Wow - I think they’re all naked in the pool.” She ran to the hall closet and retrieved a pair of binoculars. Racing back, she brought them up to her eyes and adjusted the lens. Through them, she could clearly see the three men and three women all topless while frolicking in the water together.

Faith squinted her eyes, trying to get a better view from her vantage point. “Maybe the women are only topless and the men have bathing suits on.”

The words had barely left her lips when one of the women, a tall leggy blonde with hair down to her waist, jumped out of the pool, completely naked, and laughing, ran to the ocean to dive in. One of the men, the tall, lanky one with scruffy hair and beard, jumped out of the water and ran after her. He was naked too.

Sara and Faith both gasped at his ripped, gorgeous male physique and Faith mumbled a quick, “Oh, come to mama” as her eyes hungrily followed the man’s racing body.

Juliet wasn’t paying attention. All she could think about was how knee deep in financial manure she’d be if she didn’t finish her book on time, and how in the world was she going to do that if the noise next door continued? Was Sara right? Would this all die down soon? Or was this just the beginning of one long, continuous, never-ending party?

“Let me see,” Juliet mumbled, as she grabbed the binoculars out of her sister’s hands and put them up to her own eyes. She watched as Mr.

Perfect Naked Body, whoever he was, ran into the ocean, chasing after Ms. Blonde Naked Bimbo.

Sara pouted. “Juliet - Faith and I are old married women now and we never get to see hunky, naked men anymore, so don’t spoil our fun.” She tried grabbing the binoculars back out of her sister’s hands but Juliet squirmed out of the way.

Faith giggled, as she continued ogling the party from her spot at the window. “I think I’ll be accepting some lunch dates with you two girls while Brad stays home with the kids.”

Juliet thrust the binoculars back into Sara’s grasping hands. “Go to town, ladies. Enjoy the scenery all you want, but if that music doesn’t stop by tonight, I’m on the warpath.” Annoyed, she plopped down on the couch.

Both Sara and Faith exchanged a quick giggle before they each started fighting over the binoculars to see who could get the better view of the naked pool party still going on at warp speed next door.

~ ~ ~