“A friend of mine suggested that I stop by and check on you.”
“What friend?”
“Doesn’t matter, the point is, it looks like he was right, you could use a little cheering up. Why don’t we go out tonight and see what kind of trouble we can get into?”
“I’ll pass.”
“My friend told me that there’s a very interesting party on Embassy row this evening.”
“Maybe next time.”
“Okay, how about a little gala at the Treasury Department?” J.T. shook his head no as Trey continued with his suggestions. “Let’s see, there’s a party at the main post office, a soiree at the Department of the Interior and a fundraiser at the Department of Justice?”
“I’m really not in a partying mood.”
“They’re a lot of lovely ladies just waiting to meet the CEO of E-Corp.”
“No thanks.”
“So, do I have to see you moping around the rest of your life feeling sorry for yourself or are you going to get up and do something about this mess you’ve created?”
J.T. looked at Trey with annoyance as he tossed the playbill on the glass coffee table. The answer to his question was obvious, J.T. intended to mope. “You could just go and leave me alone,” he said.
Trey casually picked up the playbill and scanned it. “Nah, not exactly the answer I was looking for so let’s try again.” He opened his mouth to continue.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Which part, the Senator who’s really Juliet’s half-brother, the definitive turn down, or the marriage proposal?”
“You knew about Randolph and Juliet?”
“I just found out. Kind of puts a different slant on things, don’t you think.”
“Don’t you have stock options to buy or an investor to annoy or something else constructive to do?”
Trey looked at his watch confirming the time. “Actually no, at least not at the moment, however, now that you mention it, I do have a theory about all of this.”
“No,” J.T. said warning him.
“But it’s a good one,” Trey assured him.
“No. I’m not in the mood to listen to any of your
page from a player handbook,
theories.”
“You’re gonna kick yourself for not listening to me.”
“In what world does the word no, disappear from your vocabulary?”
“Good, I’d be delighted to share.” J.T. looked at him with murderous intent. The last thing he was in the mood for was Trey’s ridiculous quips and pearls of wisdom. “In the nutshell, old habits die hard so it’s time for some new ones.” The look from J.T. continued as the sincerity of Trey’s expression revealed that he was completely serious.
“Like what, she doesn’t want to see or hear from me.”
“Well then,” Trey added, “as far as I can see there’s only one way out of this.”
J.T. looked to him with interest. He had racked his brains for the past two days searching for an answer to his problem. How was he going to get Juliet back in his life permanently?”
“You know what you have to do,” Trey said.
J.T. looked at him lazily. “What?”
“Go to her, she’s the only one who can help you now.”
“Juliet won’t see me, I’ve tried. She’s been in some kind of intense rehearsal for the performance tomorrow night.”
“That’s not the, who, to which I’m referring.”
J.T. looked at him in wonder having absolutely no idea who Trey was talking about. Then it hit him, Mamma Lou.
“Sorry it took so long to get here,” Patricia said as Juliet opened the door and greeted her warmly. “I’ve sort of been under the weather lately.”
“How do you forget a man who was never yours in the first place?”
“Awe, sweetie,” Patricia consoled Juliet as she opened her arms to take her in. They hugged for a long time until Juliet slowly backed away and they walked into the living room.
Patricia immediately stopped short. “Nice chair.”
“Thanks, don’t ask,” Juliet said seeing her questioning expression.
Juliet took a deep breath and sighed as she walked over to the oversized lounge chair. “It’s the old feelings all over again. I thought I’d finally gotten through it. But here it is again, with happiness comes pain.”
“No, Juliet, it doesn’t have to be like that.”
“Who was I kidding?” She plopped down heavily on the seat. “What was I thinking? Dad left me, mom left me and the first time I stand up and refuse to walk away I got left anyway. The Bridges’ curse once again has reared its ugly head.”
“That’s it,” Patricia began as she stamped her foot on the wooden floor getting Juliet’s attention. “There is no such thing as the Bridges’ curse. There’s only you, scared to death of leaving your cozy little world. You have gone way beyond the passive aggressive tendencies and abandonment issues and you’re seriously heading for clinically nutzo young lady.
“You finally get over leaving the stage and changing careers and now this.” Patricia shook her head, crossed her arms and tapped her toe parentally. “Psychologically speaking, you have just invented your own Julietphobic phobia, fear of finding love, falling in love, being in love and lovingly living happily ever after.” She breathed finally.
Juliet opened her mouth in awe. She looked at her friend with a mixture of shock and annoyance then a crack of humor chipped her sternness as they both instantly broke with laughter. Patricia collapsed down on the roomy chair beside Juliet and they hugged in misery again.
“Clinically nutzo? Julietphobic phobia? I can’t believe that the medical board actually gave you a license to practice psychology with that line,” Juliet said. They laughed again until the moment still again.
“Juliet, I still can’t believe you turned J.T. down. He asked to marry you for goodness sakes and you said no.”
“Seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“He loves you, you love him. Get over the Bridges curse and marry the man. Please, for me? I’m getting emotional roller coaster burnout.”
“Another medical term I presume?” Juliet teased jokingly then turned serious. “I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I was a fool. I can’t go back and change my mind now.”
“Girl, go get your man.”
“He’s not my man, he never was. Don’t you get it, it was all a sham, a scheme to fool a nice old lady, and it worked. Unfortunately too well, ‘cause I got scammed too.”
“I have hope.”
“You always do.” They smiled in a brief moment of tranquility. “Okay,” Juliet took a deep breath. “Enough of this pity party, I don’t have time for this. I have a performance in two days, my last performance as a principal ballerina for CBC.”
“Are you ready?”
Juliet thought a moment then nodded her head assuredly. “Yes, I’m ready. So, what did you want to talk to me about? Your call sounded important.”
Patricia smiled and instinctively held her stomach. “I’m pregnant.”
The idea was pure insanity and even though his mother had suggested it first, only Trey could have come up with it and actually talked him into going. On an impulsive whim he decided to go to her, the only woman in the world who could help him. He got in the car and headed south, his destination, Crescent Island.
When he took the ferry over hours earlier, he had no idea what he was going to say. All he knew was that he needed Mamma Lou’s help to win Juliet’s heart again.
J.T. stood at the rail and watched as the Virginia mainland shoreline slowly came in to view as Mamma Lou’s words played in his heart.
He had confessed that his relationship with Juliet had been a fraud and his only intention was to prevent her from matching him up with someone.
“It doesn’t matter how it started,” her voice gently echoed with wisdom, “what matter is how it ends. Follow your heart it will always lead you to love.”
She fed him lunch, gave him a tour of her prized begonia gardens then sent him on his way. J.T. smiled and shook his head. His respect and love for Mamma Lou had grown but now he realized that, just as Tony, Raymond and Dennis had said, she had wisdom for love beyond most.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Juliet sat at her dressing table the lights dimmed and candles lit. She looked up at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was down with a large red silk flower pinning it back on the side. She reached over and dropped a CD into the player. A slow smooth tranquil tone played through sending a relaxing rhythm through the room.
She closed her eyes experiencing her usual ritual. This was her time of meditation. She used the few moments before a performance to get into character and let the ballet flow through her. She let go of her anxiety to find peace and let the music wash over her.
Unfortunately the only thing she saw when she closed her eyes was J.T. She cupped her face in her hands and focused until the sound of light knocking on her door caught her attention. “Come,” she called out to the umpteenth interruption as she turned in her seat.
Dressed in her costume Vanya peeked around the open the door. She smiled genuinely. “Hi, I just wanted to stop by before stage to wish you a good performance and break a leg.”
“Thanks,” Juliet said, “I’ll see you on stage.”
Vanya nodded and closed the door behind her.
Juliet turned and picked up a make-up brush and brushed it across her cheeks. She dotted the bristles into the powder and prepared to brush her face again when another knock on the door got her attention. The constant parade of well-wishers had made her more nervous. “Come.”
“You look wonderful,” Lena said as soon as she closed the door behind her.
“Thanks,” Juliet said. “This is it, the final stage.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, you’ll be on stage again.”
“As a guest dancer maybe, possibly, probably. But never again as the principal dancer for a company.”
“Regrets?”
Juliet smiled brightly and answered from the heart, “No, not a one. I had a fantastic career.”
“Yes you did, and the best is yet to come.”
Juliet nodded, too emotional to speak. She picked up a tissue and blotted the corner of her eyes. This was the fifth time she had to refresh her makeup.
“Juliet, I wanted to talk to you about J.T. Evans.”
“What about him?” She looked up tossing the smudged tissues in the trash can.
“Juliet, I know all about your relationship with him. Having a private liaison with a patron is one thing, but your public displays are quite another. The cocktail parties, the dinners and the gallery openings, I know it all.”
“Apparently,” Juliet said realizing of course that in the large scope of everything that had happened in the past few weeks, Lena knew absolutely nothing.
“What happened to discretion?”
Juliet remained quiet.
“You are literally moments away from a graceful retirement and you initiate a relationship with one of the company’s biggest patrons. What exactly were you thinking?”
“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?”
“This is serious Juliet. Something like this could ruin your reputation in the dance world. This could be a major scandal, and for what, an infatuation, a few laughs and a good time? Is it worth it? Honestly, if you were at least serious about this relationship, then maybe it would spin differently. But you’ve always played this dangerous kind of game when it comes to relationships.”