Jennifer and Rocket (The Princesses of Silicon Valley Book 6) (20 page)

Caroline enters the conversation. “Different how?”

Closing my eyes, I visualize Stephan last year as I tell her, “California Stephan was fun, nice, friendly, interesting, smart, and worldly. He was always ready for an adventure. He got along well with my friends. My parents liked him.”

Hita interjects, “He also had a devastatingly sexy accent.”

With a dreamy smile, I add, “That, along with his rakish quality, is what made him so irresistible.”

Hita nods in agreement as she tells Caroline, “Yeah, he kind of looks like Captain Hook from the TV show
Once Upon a Time
.”

Caroline gives me a second look and nods her head in appreciation. Then she prods, “So, what happened to your sexy Brit?”

“Everything was great with us when we were in the US. In London, he wanted to go to the pub and hang out with his boarding school buddies. He was really caught up in what his friends and family thought” I add, thinking about how different his London lifestyle was from the one that we shared in California. As I contemplate what I’m going to say, I remember where we broke down. “I was fine in California—
we
were fine in California. In London, I didn’t fit in, we didn’t make sense. None of the women in his group liked me. I was completely ignored by his guy friends. His family was polite but I could tell they didn’t approve of me.”

“Oh like when the daughter in
Downtown Abbey
married the limo driver,” Kami interjects.

Uncomfortably I nod. “Yeah, I guess, something like that.”

Taking a deep breath I explained what feels like the crux of my issue, “Once I showed up, he never attempted to support or help me fit in. Our relationship felt like a mistake. We stopped doing fun things, he was always too busy, and whenever I attempted to talk to him it usually turned into an argument. Every day there were a number of little things that didn’t work.” Thinking about this summer makes me feel sad. 

Hita reaches across the table and supportively puts her hand over mine.

While Caroline leans forward and asks, “Did the sex change?”

“Really?” I scoff.

Kami adds, “No, it’s a good question. Was California Stephan…you know all fun and games while London Stephan was all stogy and cold?”

“Are you even talking about sex?” Caroline asks.

I ignore them and continue with my story. “He begged me to move to London. Once I was there, he acted like he didn’t want me around. Even when we were alone, it didn’t work.” Recalling how lonely I felt this past summer in London, I add, “I moved for a guy. When that didn’t work out, and my visa was up for renewal, I didn’t see any point in staying. As I said, not much of a story.”

Caroline comments, “You seem cool with it.”

“If ‘cool with it’ means not being heartbroken. Yeah, I guess I am ‘cool with it.’ All I remember is standing around, with a fake smile on my face, feeling awkward as everyone ignored me. That was my London experience.”

Kami asks, “Do you think he was too polite to break up with you?”

“What?” I’m dumbfounded by this comment.

Kami adds, “You know the British, they’re so polite.”

“I think their accent sounds polite to the American ear. Frankly, I found them to be much more direct than Californians.”

Hita then adds, “We were roommates the first year you dated him. He did have impeccable manners.” Then with a perfect imitation of Stephan she adds, “Juliette, darling, would you mind terribly if I came? It’s been five minutes; I wouldn’t want to miss the polo match.”

Everybody starts cracking up.

“Come on, he never watched polo,”

We laugh some more.

Then Hita looks at me with caring eyes. “Hey, I’m so sorry. We all thought you were having this romantic summer in London. You never said anything.”

“It’s over. I’m back. I’m lucky that three months later the position I applied for was still open and they still wanted me.” While my insides twist remembering how disappointed I was when I told Stephan I might not renew my visa and his reaction was, relieved.

Hita adds with a cocky look, “Analytics is where it’s at; engineers get a lot of job offers.”

We all nod our heads in agreement.

“The only thing I really lost out on was my summer. The weather sucks over there. Next time I follow a guy to another country, he’ll be an Australian.”

Caroline then adds, “I hear they love going down under.”

“Ew! Worst pun ever!” we all say in perfect unison as we stand up to head back to our desks to spend the rest of our day programming.

I’m jarred awake by Cassie’s fancy new speaker system. Ugh. My roommate was out partying and brought some guy home. My eyes are closed, but I’m awake in bed. My sister, Leigh, warned me not to move in with Cassie. She said Cassie would make a terrible roommate since right after a divorce many women go through a promiscuous, wild period. My sister can never say anything nice, so I disregarded her advice. Now I’m regretting that decision since I really need my sleep. It’s 2:17 a.m. I don’t want to be dragging tomorrow.
Should I go into the living room and ask her to turn the music down?
The low rumble of a man’s voice—alongside her higher-pitched laughing—reverberates through the walls into my room.

Not wanting to go out there since I look a mess in my oversized T-shirt and pajama pants—not to mention the bedhead I’m sporting—I close my eyes as I contemplate my next move. Our upstairs neighbor, Charlie, will complain; that way I don’t have to be the shrew.
Maybe I could fall back asleep with all the noise.
Not having to wonder for long, I hear heavy banging on our front door.

Charlie yells, “It’s two o’clock in the morning, turn that thing down!”

Even though I’m not able to make out the words, I know my roommate is grumbling, but the music stops. One less conflict for me to deal with.
Phew.

The party moves from the living room to her bedroom, which is right next to mine. I spoke too soon.
Ugh, do I really need to hear them having sex?
All I want to do is sleep.

All too soon, my alarm rings. It’s 5:50 a.m. I’m meeting Meredith for a run. It’s time to get dressed and get moving. Throwing off my pajamas and the oversized T-shirt, I pull on my running shorts, sports bra, and top, and head into the bathroom. While leaning over the sink to spit out my toothpaste, the door opens. Turning my head, I get an eyeful of a naked man—as in full frontal nudity. Yes—a cock shot.

A gravelly voice says, “oh, sorry,” as he recloses the door.

For about a minute, I’m paralyzed. That was a rather shocking wake-me-up visual. Cassie has the master bedroom, so I never remember to lock my bathroom door. Once I finish brushing my teeth, I grab my sneakers, maneuver through our dark condo, and run outside so I can meet up with Meredith.

Meredith was another college princess. She was Cinderella, which makes sense due to her blond hair and real life step monster. Meredith and her boyfriend, Sam, recently moved only a block away from Cassie and me.

We meet up about halfway between our apartments, and head out on the five-mile loop. We run down the middle of the road because every fourth lot of this tree-lined street has construction—the downside of living in a booming town.

About a mile in, I tell Meredith, “Cassie came home at 2 a.m. with some guy. I sort of got to meet him this morning.”

“Yeah? How’d that go?”

“It was eye-opening.”

She gives me the ‘there’s a story here, are you going to share?’ look and says, “So, is he cute?”

“Well, um, he has dark hair….”

“Juliette, to what are you alluding?”

“He walked into the bathroom when I was bent over the sink. I got a perfect, full frontal. It kind of freaked me out.”

She gives a quick chuckle before asking, “So...is he well-endowed?”

“That’s your question?” I respond in horror.

“Well, it’s not like I can ask if he has nice eyes.”

“Ah, I really have no interest in looking at strange guy’s private parts.”

“You and Cassie were high school friends, right?”

“Yeah, friends since kindergarten.”

“Besides the little morning wake up visual, how’s Cassie as a roommate?”

“Actually it was a rather large wake up visual,” I add. Then follow up with, “She’s good…and strange at the same time. The last six years of our lives have been so different. I guess the jury’s still out if living with Cassie is one of my better decisions.” As I realize that I couldn’t pass up living with Cassie since I find her shockingly fascinating.

After my run, I grab my work clothes and head into the bathroom for a shower, making sure I lock the door. Pulling on my favorite clothes, I dress in skinny jeans, a girly, long sleeve T-shirt, and a new pair of black knee-high riding style boots. I’m relieved that there are no additional full frontal nudity surprises. By 7:30 a.m., I’m at the office.

At lunch time, as Hita and I walk down the hall towards the cafeteria, Hita starts laughing and says, “I understand you had a very erect—I mean direct—encounter with Cassie’s midnight rendezvous.”

“Really? Please tell me you haven’t spent the morning working on that pun.” She chuckles and shrugs. I continue with, “I hope Meredith didn’t blast that little bit of information across Facebook. I don’t need some future employer seeing stuff like that.”

“No, no, she texted me. She knew I would be seeing you at work.” Hita laughs, then adds, “You don’t like having to look at some strange guy’s private parts when you’re brushing your teeth?”

Grimacing from the thought of this morning’s visual that’s now burned into my brain, I tell Hita, “You know, it was kind of disturbing.”

Hita nods before saying, “Especially since you hadn’t even had your first cup of coffee.”

I nod in agreement. “And I don’t even drink coffee.”

Since I was five I’ve played soccer. At first it was AYSO, then I was on a club team, in high school I was on the JV and varsity team. My college was too competitive, so I played on a fun club team instead.

After pulling my car into a spot right near the field, I lace up my cleats and look around for Isabelle. She’s already warming up, dribbling the ball up and down the field. Isabelle was princess Belle, in college. Her dad is white and her mom is Chinese. She’s a combination of the two, with her brown hair streaked with natural gold highlights and light brown eyes. At barely five feet tall and weighing maybe one hundred pounds, she surprises our opponents with her speed and how aggressively she goes after the ball.

After joining Isabelle she says, “I hear you got an eyeful this morning.”

“God, what is it with Meredith? Did she blast it to everyone?”

“No, Hita texted me.”

“I work ten feet from Hita. When did she have time to gossip?”

“You know us Princesses; we always find time to share…everything.”

We run toward our coach and the other players as he gathers us up so we can start on our drills. As we head to our cars after practice, Isabelle says, “Hey, don’t I get to hear about Abs Guy?”

“Hita can’t keep her mouth shut.”

“I hear he’s hot, and that’s without having any idea what his face looks like. Anyway, what else do we talk about?”

“Jobs, clothes, parents, vacations,” I list off.

Giving me an annoyed look, she asks, “What fun things do we talk about?”

“Guys, sex…sex, guys, yeah, I get your point.”

“So?” Isabelle says with a tone of impatience.

“So, what?”

“So, what’s next on your agenda for Abs Guy?” she asks.

Giving her my own annoyed look, I respond, “I’m hoping he shows up at workout tomorrow. Now the next big challenge is to find out his name and to make sure he’s on the eligible players list.”

Isabelle nods, finally saying, “Finding out his name is the first step.” Then giving me a little smile she continues, “Don’t forget to flirt. You need to make sure he knows you’re interested.”

Nodding my head in agreement, I think back to how quickly Cassie snared Beau Bradly in high school. For her, it only took direct eye contact, a flirty smile, and a giggle for guys to think they had a chance. Then again, it’s always helped that she looks like a supermodel. But I figure it wouldn’t hurt to emulate a few of her behaviors.

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