Blurred Lines (Behind Closed Doors Book 2) (4 page)

The door slams behind us and the tears I've held on to burst. I can't believe I did this to my best friend. Wayne wraps his arms around me and whispers soothing words but I can hear her sobbing through the door and it only makes me cry harder. Why did I do this to her?

“It’s Julia.” I hear Ashleigh cry. “Wayne is sleeping with Julia.”

“C'mon, we should go,” Wayne says, taking my hand. “Before Sean gets here.”

“No!” I dig in my heels. “I want to see him,” I tell Wayne. “I... I need to...” I start to cry again. We hang around for near on thirty minutes after Ashleigh falls silent. I know my brother should be here by now but he isn't. When the door swings open, Ashleigh has a bag in one hand and Luca in the other. She glares at the two of us but doesn't speak as she makes sure the door is shut.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

“Not like it's any of your concern, but I'm going to Florida.” Florida? Why was she going to her dad's? “I'll make sure Sean lets you in to get your things.”

The memory of placing my keys on the counter as I came home this afternoon flashes through my mind as Wayne says, “Is that really necessary?”

The second he speaks she sends him a glare cold enough to freeze him out. Then she turns and walks away. I guess that she thought it was. I don't blame her for not wanting to trust us in her apartment alone.

“Ashleigh!” I cry as she walks away. “Please don't leave it like this!”

“Don't worry, Julia,” she tosses over her shoulder. “I won't expect an invite to the wedding.” She exits through the door to the stairwell.

“What wedding?” I shake my head. “What the hell is she talking about?”

My mind is so messed up. I'm homeless. Friendless. My brother is probably on the phone to my parents expressing his utter disappointment as we speak. So they'll be disappointed with me too. The only good things I have are the boyfriend I've stole from my friend, not a great start to our relationship, and my career which I'll have to give up if I want to keep said boyfriend. He is moving to Los Angeles after all. It's all or nothing for me and I don't even know if it's going to be worth it.

“She's talking about our wedding,” Wayne whispers as he leads me towards the elevator. “You did miss how I unofficially proposed to you.”

I gasp. My feet stop dead in their tracks along the hallway. This was all happening so fast. My world was spinning out of my control. A couple of hours ago I was fantasizing about the guy I couldn't have and now the earth had flipped its polar axis and that guy was saying he wanted forever. With me. Maybe I'm the one that's crazy.

“Stop thinking, precious.” Wayne laughs. It’s a deep guttural laugh that teases the butterflies in my stomach. He steps into the space between us. His free hand slips over my tear stained cheek as his eyes search mine. “I mean it, Jules.” He smiles. “Come to LA with me.” His smile widens. “Come to LA to be my wife.”

Chapter Four

Three years later...

My parents disowned me. My brother will only talk to me when his wife forces him to and my boss, she didn't believe me when I told her I was moving to Los Angeles with my future fiancé. She thought I'd been headhunted by a rival designer and was making up this so called boyfriend I didn't have three days before as an excuse. She screamed and shouted at me demanding I admitted I was going to a rival. When I didn't she had me escorted off the premises. So I added penniless to my list of woes before we came to LA.

Wayne was a darling; he asked me to stay with him until we moved to LA. It was only going to be a couple of weeks before we'd be living together anyway. He said he knew he'd ruined my life. He shouldn't have told me how he felt the way he did. Especially when he knew Ashleigh was going to come home, but he also said couldn't and wouldn't regret it. As far as mistakes went it was the best one of his life. He said it was only fair he took care of me. And here we are, three years later, and I have to agree with him. As far as mistakes go, it's the very best one I've ever made too.

Part of me still feels guilty for what we did and how we did it. I mean, Ashleigh has never spoken to me since, but I think we've moved on. Wayne and I are happier than ever and I love living in Los Angeles. Honestly, I don’t know why Ashleigh hates it so much. It's so beautiful and warm and my life with Wayne is amazing. It’s nothing like what I had with the ex who ran away with the model. I know now that was lust and not even a very powerful one because what I have with Wayne is so good. This is love.

We're not married yet and we're not planning the wedding either. There was just too much going on and at first we agreed we needed to settle into our lives in LA. But then I struggled to find work because I left my fashion portfolio with Ashleigh and I have nothing to show for years of education and employment. Without two salaries we're struggling to save up for the kind of celebration we want.

Sean was tetchy when I called about my portfolio. It contains my best work and all the designs I have for the couture label I want to launch one day. Sean says Ashleigh has no idea what I'm talking about. He believed her. I don't. Woman scorned and all that.

It means I've had to start all over again but I've to make up for years of lost work. I've tried to put together a new portfolio but I know it's not my best work. I love to go out and explore for inspiration. I take my camera and leave the apartment. I get so many ideas for designs but when I get home I can't seem to pull off the look I'd envisioned.

Besides, who wants to be locked up inside with all of this gorgeous coast to discover? I can't help myself. If Wayne's not home I have free reign to discover the west coast and find places I want to take him to on his day off. But we never make it. We're coming up for our third anniversary and his wandering hands won't leave me alone long enough to get out of the apartment. I love it.

We live in this beautiful cozy apartment. It's a little on the small side but I don't mind because we share a pool with our neighbors and I've met so many nice people. I was worried I'd sit inside alone while Wayne's at work but I'm never in the apartment and I never feel alone.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself to remember that this is my actual life and other times I get dragged down from the cloud I live on with a bump. I'm not delusional, I know our world is not perfect. Wayne can be a little moody after a particularly difficult shift. On these days, I know not to smother him with loving concern or pepper him with questions about his day. He can snipe at me and say hurtful things, like why haven't I found a job yet? He's sick of supporting my lazy ass, oh, and my personal favorite is he's sick of me. I used to fight back, but to be honest it's just not worth it. We used to argue. He would get angrier and angrier and then burst out of the apartment in a rage and go screeching off in our car. Eventually he'd return, but he wouldn't speak to me. This one time he didn't return until the end of his shift the following day, and another he didn't speak to me for three days. Three whole days!

So I've stopped arguing with him. I let him sulk in his chair in the corner of the room. Let him watch whatever he wants on television, and I try to ignore his bitter remarks about the food I cook or the designs I make. It's just not worth the hassle when I know tomorrow he'll be back to his usual charming self again.

Last night he drove us out to a quaint little town for dinner at a bistro. It was like any other night we went out for dinner except he said he was making up for being horrible when he came home from work the night before. He was loving, and charming, and kissed me until I almost melted to the floor and suggested we come home. And when we walked through the door upon our return home I swear he kissed the life out of me.

“Precious,” he whispered. I love that word. It started with a play on words; he used to call me his 'precious jewels' but now he simply calls me 'precious.' “You make me the happiest man alive.” Butterflies took flight in my belly. “You gave everything up for me. Your family, your friends, your career, and you came with me when you didn't know if what we had was real.” His hands clung to my cheeks. “And I've done nothing to prove your leap of faith was justified.”

“I—”

His thumb silenced my protest. “It's time I rectified that.”

Slowly, his palm trails the length of my arm as he goes down on ... one ...knee. Oh God, what is he doing? His other hand reaches into the breast pocket of his shirt and withdraws a yellow band that glitters beneath the sun setting outside our front room window. “Julia Anderson, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Oh....

Oh... wow!

I can't talk. My heart is thudding in my chest. I can't believe it. I never expected this. I mean, we've been heading down the aisle since we left New York. But a real proposal? This is ... I'm speechless.

“Julia?”

“Wayne, you know it's a yes. You romantic old fool, you.” I laugh as he tugs me onto his knee and momentum carries us over. We topple into a heap on the floor, giggling between the kisses and the whispers of love.

Now I have an ice rink on my left hand. Actually it's more like a frozen pond but it's a real diamond and I love it. It's late Saturday afternoon and I'm preparing dinner for when Wayne comes home from the precinct. He made a breakthrough on a big case and they arrested someone earlier in the week so he's putting in extra hours before their time runs out.

Actually, I'm surprised he took me out last night. He must have been planning it for a while to give me priority over the case. It's the same one he came to Los Angeles to help solve. The Homicide Highway Murderer has made the national news with his last few victims so I know more about him than Wayne is willing to share. His victims are all found along the highway between Los Angeles and Malibu. Their cars abandoned after a breakdown. The press say his calling card is a flat tire but the police haven't confirmed it.

I haven't bought the newspaper today. There were only two major stories in the last couple of days; the Homicide Highway Murderer's arrest and the e-fit of him is disturbing. He has these jaded dark eyes. So, of course to balance out his creepiness is the long awaited second wedding of Ashleigh's twin sister, Mimi, and her long term movie star boyfriend Justin Ramirez. Their first was cancelled when Ashleigh's stepfather died, and this is their second attempt so it’s all over the front pages because they've had a lot of press coverage recently, more than usual, and none of it has been good and all of it about Ashleigh's twin.

I really don't want to think about Ashleigh or her family, so I'm listening to the radio and designing my own wedding dress. I'm trying to keep her out of my head. But it isn't working. I know she's in LA. And I feel a little out of sorts because she hasn't made an effort to talk to me. I guess I've been pretending to myself that maybe she hasn't been here at all in the last three years. But deep down I know she has and I guess I'm just not that important to her. Which makes me wonder how many times she's come to LA since I moved here and if my brother and his family have ever visited the Valentina’s with her? Maybe he was in LA now. I wouldn't know and he wouldn't tell me.

I guess I have some residual guilt over the way things have turned out. I mean, I don't even get Christmas cards off my folks anymore. The crazy lady who stands on various New York corners warning of the second coming gets a Christmas card off my mom. So I find it hard that they chose Sean's best friend over me, their daughter. And I suppose Wayne proposing out if the blue like this has also brought up some unresolved issues for me. Things I thought I was okay with. So what if I slept with her boyfriend? And so what if he chose me over her? It's not like it was a one night stand and we caused all that heartache for nothing. I mean, we're getting married for Christ sake.

A breaking news bulletin interrupts my reverie. Justin Ramirez has jilted Katrina Valentina at the altar? My head almost does an owl-like full three sixty as I swing around and grab the television remote. “The wedding is definitely off. Justin has left LA,” the showbiz reporter outside the church says. “The Valentina family are yet to make a statement.”

I don't know what to make of it. Ashleigh and Mimi have been known as Krystal and Katrina Valentina for their entire lives. Ever since their mom, Angela, married casting director Roberto Valentina when they were nine years old. And Justin and Katrina have been one of LA’s golden couples ever since Ashleigh left LA at eighteen and the studio agreed they could announce they were an item. They’d been together for two years before that too. So to hear Justin had walked out on Mimi...and on their wedding day... and after ten years….well, that's a little unbelievable.

I hated it.
Ashleigh had said.
All of it. Why do you need to know I had my nails done? Or went shopping? Or had my first date ever and slept with the guy? Which I didn't by the way. It's my life. It's no one else's goddamn business.

My mind wonders to Ashleigh and her frustration of the press prying into her life. It's one of the biggest reasons she hides out in New York and only comes to LA when necessary... that and she hates being around her mother, who is perfect in every way imaginable. So I know the press attention of the last couple of months will have driven her mad, she'll have stayed away for as long as she could. But she can't get away from it today, can she?

I don't know why I care. But I do. So I pick up my cell phone. I don't know if she still has the same number. I guess she does because when I dial the number it goes straight to voicemail. She sounds all official and posh as she introduces herself from Worthington & Associates. For a moment I feel proud of her because all she’s ever wanted is to be a lawyer like her dad.

“Hey, it's me,” I say after the beep. “Jules,” I add, just in case she doesn't recognize my voice. “You probably won't be leaving LA for a while so if you need a place to hide from Mimi's crazy life, call me.”