"No one is good at everything." Tristan bit right into a large leg, and continued speaking around the food. "You're so skilled at archery, and…" He stared at her thoughtfully.
"Do I have something on me?" She looked herself over and started searching her hair.
"No, no, you're fine. I was thinking of some more of the things I like about you. Your spunk when you're not worrying, and your intelligence. You appreciate art and understand it, you absorb music, and you handle a bow and arrow superbly. And, I love your laugh, and the way you wrinkle your nose sometimes. How your eyes light up when you get excited about something, and how you bite your lip, like right now."
Juliette released her lip from between her teeth and licked it instead. "I’m so comfortable with you. It’s like you’ve been part of my life for years. Did you know I’m usually shy and scared of people? But not with you." She scooted closer to Tristan and laid her head against chest. “And your heartbeat-it’s so soothing.”
Despite knowing their intimacy should not be allowed to continue, Tristan wrapped his arms around Juliette and pulled her closer to him. For as long as he had her with him, she’d be safe and comfortable. Ignoring the growing fear and strange sense of dread, Tristan kissed her head before laying his own on hers and losing all sense of time. Bright stars in the inky darkness shifted across the sky dawn’s rays of golden light began to crest the horizon behind them.
Juliette raised her face to his, mere inches away. Her eyes widened and she trembled. Tristan’s heart skipped a beat at the panic painted across her features.
"Tristan! Oh my god, I shouldn’t have fallen asleep all night!" She stood fast enough his body fell over. "I should have been home hours ago!"
Slowly rising, Tristan swore to himself for his carelessness. "Can you get a hold of Libby to meet us somewhere?"
"No, waiting for her would take too long. Rush me to Nathaniel's house, and hopefully he'll still be asleep."
"I hate taking you back there. Could you say you stayed with Libby?"
"He never lets me stay out overnight. Oh god, he's going to be so mad!" She ran her hands through her hair and clenched at the roots.
Tristan threw the remnants of their meal into the basket and rolled the blanket around his arm. His free hand grabbed hers and waited until she stared at him. He spoke, his tone very serious. "Juliette, are you sure you must return to him at all?"
"We've been through this! Yes!" She walked to the car ahead of him and pulled on the still-locked handle. The doors unlocked remotely as Tristan neared. She hurried in while Tristan tossed the picnic items in the trunk.
Before his own belt had been fastened, she started chiding him. "Hurry, please! If I’m lucky he'll be asleep, but let's hurry. Hurry!" She fell into silence and bit her thumbnail. Tristan didn't know what to say that he hadn't already, and so said nothing. Nausea churned violently in his stomach.
Driving her closer to danger and potential harm tortured Tristan, but he had no other options that didn't involve abduction. He had to let her go back. Only once on the drive to Nathaniel's house did he dare to glance at her. Her body trembled like an overanxious chihuahua. She stared blankly through the window. After parking across the wide street, he told her again, "You don't have to do this. I wish you wouldn't. You can stay with me. My offer still stands."
Juliette kept her on the house and reached toward him blindly, feeling his hand, and clenching it in her own.
"Please quit asking. I'll be fine," she whispered. "Get out of here as quick as you can, and I'll catch up with you later."
Without further delay, she opened the door and lightly closed it. Tristan watched her steps, each as labored as if she had a weight strapped to her legs, but her movements were steady. She stopped only once, and he could make out her silhouette, her head bowed and taking a deep breath. She opened it, and a light flicked on inside, illuminating Juliette’s golden hair. Someone was awake, and Tristan didn't want to leave, nor did he trust himself to stay without harming Nathaniel. Unable to do her any good now, he stepped on the gas and headed home.
* * *
Nathaniel stood by the window and glowered at her. In a few bounds he was at the front door and had shoved Juliette against the wall with a hand around her neck. She clawed at his wrist, trying to free herself.
"What the hell were you doing with another guy? You belong to me!"
"Nathaniel, please! He's only a friend!" Her heart raced and her breaths became shallower.
His hand tightened. "You are going to see him tomorrow and tell him it's over. I'll be watching. You say nothing about me. You don't want to be around him anymore and whatever you’ve done has been a mistake. If you go anywhere near him again after that, I'm going to kill you."
Breathing had become difficult and Juliette’s head started swelling. When the deadly grip released her, she fell to the floor, inhaling as much as she could and coughing. "How did you…how did you find out?"
"I have you followed everywhere. I know you’ve been seeing him. Him bringing you here is the final straw. Now get upstairs, you filthy slut."
Juliette willed her tears to not in front of Nathaniel as she pulled herself to her feet, using the door handle for balance. Without looking back, she ascended the stairs, and walked into her room. As she collapsed onto her bed to let the tears flow, a key turned metal tumblers with a click, locking her in her own private prison.
7. Loss: Tristan
Tristan's phone rang. He scrunched his eyebrows and swallowed hard. A call so soon hadn’t been expected. "Hey, Juliette, what happened?" He winced at the roughness in his tone.
"We need to talk. Now. I’ll send you the address."
Juliette's voice was too carefully metered for Tristan to experience any relief. "Okay, but what's going on? Juliette?"
Instead of a reply, his phone beeped with the incoming text message. “Baise!” he swore in French under his breath, throwing the device on the couch.
"Ash! William! Sunil! Any of you here?" he called out.
"What?" William hollered back from somewhere upstairs.
"I need you! Urgent!"
William leapt from the top of the stairs and landed at the bottom, on all fours like a house cat. "What's up, Bro?"
"Listen, last night I got Juliette back to Nate's place late, and he was up waiting. I'm pretty sure he realizes she's been seeing me."
William raised a brow. “Seeing you? Are you two dating?”
Tristan shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets. “No. I mean as friends. She didn’t think he would approve, so we’ve had to sneak around.”
"Damn."
"Yeah, and she called and told me to meet her, but she hung up without even saying bye. I want you to go before I do and keep an eye on things. Stake a lookout until we've both left wherever it is. Is Ash or Sunil around?"
Roughly, William ran a hand through his dark hair and shook his head. "Sunil’s at the library and Ash went out. Jareth took a hike, said he was craving squirrel."
"Not like Jareth would care anyway," Tristan muttered with a scowl.
William headed toward the back door and grabbed his car keys off the peg. "Where to?"
Tristan picked up his phone and punched the address into his maps application. “Main library. Probably the same one Sunil went to. If you find him, tell him to keep out of the way.”
“Right. Catch you in a bit.”
Tristan sat at the table for a few minutes after William had gone, waiting to give enough time for William to arrive first. He cleared his thoughts as best he could, and followed his brother.
Juliette's hair shone like spun gold as she stood next to a tree, in bright contrast to her black blouse. He parked his car and got out. Eager to be near her, he reached to her. "Juliette, are you okay?"
She gazed at him with unshed tears in her widened eyes. Tristan moved to hug her, but she stepped back and put her hands up. "No. I am sorry. Tristan, we cannot be friends anymore."
She enunciated
each word. He immediately understood she’d been forced into this. Fear for her safety chilled his limbs. The sun’s heat seemed to shy away from him. "Is Nate forcing you to say this?"
Juliette avoided his question, though stared hard into his eyes as if trying to communicate a different message. "We cannot be friends anymore. I do not want to be. Tristan, leave me…" She bowed her head and swallowed.
Tristan’s chest tightened. Thoughts of anything aside from the two of them flew from his mind. He reached his hand out to wipe a falling tear and cup her face. His thumb stroked her cheek as she leaned toward his palm and sighed.
Her fingers touched his. Juliette’s head snapped up, her gaze avoiding his, and she brushed him aside. "No. You need to leave me alone now, and not call or talk to me. I do not exist to you, and you no longer exist to me. Goodbye, Tristan." Her words softened to a whisper, choked by a sob.
Without looking at him, she turned around. Softly Tristan touched her arm. She winced and pulled away.
Tristan froze, hurt. "Juliette, you don't mean this. You can't. Please come with me and leave from the hell he puts you though. Not a single reason exists in the world to stay there instead of walking away from him." He fought to keep the desperation out of his voice. “You can come with me right now, get in my car, and never be around him again. Get away from him. Please, Juliette, I beg you.”
She bit her lip and turned to gaze at him with a steely glint in her blue eyes. "I am getting away from you. Leave me alone." Without waiting for his reaction, she sprinted into the library.
Tristan shivered as if he had been doused with ice water, and a sharp pain emanated from his heart, spreading through his body down both arms. He hadn't been sure what to expect, but it wasn't Juliette running away. Winded, he fell to his knees and stared at the ground.
Footsteps grew louder, crunching bits of sand, and a large shadow eclipsed the sun. He looked up, expecting William. A different face met his, and his eyes widened upon recognition.
"She's mine." Nathaniel smirked.
"I was only a friend, not your replacement, Jensen," Tristan said, fury filling his stomach. "Why can't she have that?
Nathaniel squinted. "Who the hell are you?"
For a fleeting moment, Tristan considered lying. "I'm Tristan Larocque. Juliette and I are friends, nothing more."
"You were her friend, but I am her boyfriend. Keep away from her or I'll make you sorrier than you’ve ever been." He slightly inclined his head toward the library, where Juliette must’ve been waiting for him.
Tristan understood his intention. His stomach churned. He was bargaining with a real monster, one who would harm a woman as revenge for someone else’s actions. He dropped his forehead into his hands, barely able to whisper, "Fine, Jensen, I'll stay away. Whatever you do, please don't hurt her," as he slightly moving his knee off a small rock. He realized Nathaniel was enjoying the dominance.
“What was that, Larocque? I couldn’t hear you.”
Desperation mingled with anger. He splayed his fingers and pushed his palms into his thighs. His knuckles ached with desire to slam into flesh. Tristan snapped his eyes up to meet Nathaniel’s. “I said fine, Jensen. I will keep away from her. Please don’t hit her anymore, and I won’t contact her.”
Nathaniel clenched his fists and sneered. "You'd better butt out. She's mine. Don't forget."
Tristan watched Nathaniel walk through the library doors. Shaking, he stood and returned to his car. He leaned his head on the steering wheel to hide his tears and took several shuddering breaths. A long while passed before he calmed enough to start the ignition and safely drive home.
* * *
Tristan slouched in an armchair. Emma sat with Sunil on the leather couch. Ash did sit-ups on the floor and William paced around him.
"Nate was nuts, absolutely nuts. That freak is a maniac. I thought he was going to punch Tristan."
"Would calling the police help?" Emma laced her fingers through her husband’s and sighed.
"Nope, she's an adult,” William told her, “and speculating what might happen won’t have the cops swarming Nate’s place. She must be willing to cooperate, and I don't think she will. We can't do a single thing without her."
Sunil rested a hand on Emma’s. "This is a problem a lot of people go through, watching loved ones, which she is, get hurt. The best Tristan could do is to be support for her should a time come and she decides to leave. She'll need friends. Keep an eye on her when she’s around, Tristan. That is all you can do."
* * *
Tristan sat through two evening English classes, hoping in vain for Juliette to appear. Finally, she arrived to their class, but refused to acknowledge his existence. As soon as the lecture ended, she ran out the door to Nathaniel, who waited outside for her. Tristan almost expected Nathaniel to clip a leash on her. The new routine headed off any chance to talk to her.
One evening, a month later, he forgot to watch for her. Her arrival escaped his notice when she took her seat. The closeness they'd had was broken, and a distance had sprung up between them. He still wanted Juliette out of a bad home, but she'd shown no new bruises, so he hoped her life was improving. Still, he felt a pull to her he couldn’t shake.
Jareth and William dragged him out to a gentleman's club after his class. Most patrons shoved dollar bills down G-strings. Tristan’s brothers folded hundreds inside singles. One particularly skilled dancer paid them special attention and kept the larger denominations hidden from the other performers. Tristan was sure her tips would pay her rent for several months to come.
During brief interlude between the dancer and another patron, William leaned over and said, "It's kind of a relief having you back out doing something, even if you're moping. You have to loosen up and have some fun."
"This isn't my scene anymore, Will." He shrugged.
"It used to be."
"That was then. Over a year’s passed since I’ve been to one of these places."
William rolled his eyes. “You got boring.”
Crossing his arms, Tristan leaned back. “No, I just don’t want to use sex to get my way and hurt someone else the way I did Alex. She didn’t deserve heartbreak.”
William stared around for Jareth and, catching his eye across the dark club, crooked a finger. Jareth sauntered over as if he owned the joint.
"What? I'm busy." A corner of Jareth’s mouth lifted into a lopsided grin.
William snorted. "Yeah, busy. We’re heading out. You going to be able to get home, or do you want us to pick you up?"
"I can catch a cab. Later, guys." Waving, Jareth headed back to a table of dancers.
Tristan and William bowed out of the club and into the warm night air. For a weeknight, Sunset Boulevard was busy. Summer tourism was starting to pick up.
"Don't you ever worry about how many women in those clubs are only stripping because they don't have other viable options for paying for their homes, or feeding kids they have?" Tristan kicked at a straw on the sidewalk.
William stopped walking. "Where did this come from?"
"Just thinking. Juliette might leave Nathaniel someday, and she could end up there on that stage selling her body to scrape by." Tristan hung his head. "I don't think she'd want to, but you know how expensive rent is in this area, and getting out costs a lot too. Exploiting the women doing this out of desperation makes me sick."
"Well, first off, if they don't get good tips, they aren't paying for anything. That's the big reason I tip as much as I do and don't participate in hooting and hollering crap like those other animals. The ladies earn money, and I enjoy some dancing. So it's win-win."
"No, it's a win for you and a win-lose for the women who really don’t want to be there," Tristan corrected.
"I don't feel bad about paying them to do their job. Go to a restaurant. You're benefiting when waitresses serves you your food. You tip them."
"You don't realize the difference?" Tristan asked incredulously.
William ignored the
question. "What made you bring Juliette up?"
"She came to class tonight. I didn't even pay attention to her sitting a few feet away from me until the end. She shouldn't be forgotten and left to people like Nathaniel."
William began walking again. "What did you think would happen when we leave this summer? You can remember her. She'd still be stuck. Were you planning to tell her about us and hope she doesn’t run from you? Juliette can’t come with us. You know that."
"I wouldn’t tell her what we are, or anything about our plans. But if she gets away and finds someone who'll treat her right, I could happily leave her."
‘'Happily or contently?"
"She’d be safe. Does anything else matter?"
"What happened was brutal," William recalled as the neared a corner and turned. "Seeing her run to Nathaniel when she got back inside the library was hard. I wanted to punch him. She was crying and he didn't care. He called her a couple names I’m not even going to repeat, and went outside to approach you. I know we've been over this, but the whole situation was messed up. I want her out too. I can only imagine how hard this is for you. You’re the one in love with her."
"I love her very much, but not like you're thinking. It’s just platonic." Tristan pulled his keys from his pocket and tossed them up and toward his brother. William swiftly caught them.
"Sure. Continue lying to yourself while believing bears don't poop in the woods."
“Yeah. You know all about that one, right?” Tristan chuckled. “Hey, Will, how hot is the inside of a Taun-Taun?"
"Hundred and six degrees?"
"Luke-warm."
"Huh?"
"It kept Skywalker warm. Luke-dash-warm. Lukewarm."
William broke out in a laugh. "Aren't I supposed to be cheering you up, here?"
"She told me that one night after we finished some homework; so allow me to drag you back down."
"Well, thanks for cheering me down. I think you need to figure out a new hobby and go dive head first into it."
* * *
The following morning dawned bright and cool. A hint of heat under the breeze threatened to unleash an afternoon scorcher. To avoid rush hour, he left before anyone else woke up and drove straight to the Santa Monica pier. A snug-fitting workout outfit was folded in the duffel bag he had tossed in the passenger seat. Juliette's bow was still in his trunk too, a painful reminder. He parked and meandered onto the pier, in no rush to locate the trapeze school he had so often overlooked. His nerves were a welcome distraction of life.