Chapter Three
Julia
The next day I was back at the job search, looking for jobs on my laptop. I had started bright and early in the morning, and by six in the evening I was feeling done with the whole thing.
I’d put in six applications at various jobs online, but the only job that really interested me was the one at WOLF.
I hated how I could get so single-minded sometimes. Just like with Columbia, I knew what I wanted and never gave a thought to any other possibility. And that’s what was happening now with the position at WOLF.
I had no idea why that was happening in my brain. I didn’t think I had a chance at all of getting even a second interview, much less the job. But still, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Mr. Wolfe had said to give it three days, and if I hadn’t heard anything by then, it meant he’d picked someone else. Well, it had only been one day, but at six o’clock I knew the office was closed.
One day down, two more to go.
My roommate came in, rushing to get to the bathroom as usual. She refused to use public restrooms. “Hey, Bethey.”
“Hey, Julia,” came her breathless reply before the bathroom door slammed shut, followed by a great sigh of relief as she finally got to pee.
Thankfully I didn’t have as shy a bladder as she did. I couldn’t imagine holding it in all day long.
Closing my laptop, I began to think about what I’d make for dinner when my cell rang. Picking it off the coffee table, I gasped, “It’s WOLF!” Swiping the screen, I answered the call, “Hello!”
“Can I speak to Julia Bengal, please?” came a woman’s voice.
“This is she.” I bit my pinky fingernail as I waited to hear what she had to say. I couldn’t believe this was happening.
“This is Tanya, with the human resources department at WOLF. Mr. Wolfe has made his choice for the position as his assistant. He’d like you to start on Monday. I’m going to need you to come in tomorrow to sign all the new hire paperwork, after I explain the job to you and you accept it, of course.”
“Of course!” I put my hand over my mouth to silence the scream of happiness that was dying to escape. “Any specific time, Tanya?”
“No, just before five in the evening. I’ll need about two hours of your time. See you tomorrow then. Have a nice evening and congratulations, Miss Bengal.”
With the call over, I began to jump around my apartment, finally able to let out my excited screams. Bethey came out of the bathroom with a puzzled look on her face. “And what’s this about, Julia?”
“This is about,” I grabbed her hands and made her jump in a circle with me, “me getting my first job! I got the assistant job at that new network, WOLF!”
“No way!” She shook her head in disbelief. “You’ve been on one interview, and you’ve landed your dream job in less than two days. Julia, do you have any idea how rare that is?”
“I totally do.” My head was spinning, so I stopped jumping.
Bethey pulled me in for a hug. “This needs to be celebrated. I say let’s go out and get our dance on, girl.”
I agreed, feeling ready to celebrate. We got ourselves dressed up and decked out, then headed out to one of her favorite clubs. I was never one to go out a lot. School came before anything else, and that had hampered my clubbing.
Whenever I had gone, I did enjoy it. The only drawback was that I’d met my ex-boyfriend at one of the bars that were popular with Columbia students—and that relationship hadn’t turned out to be so great. But we weren’t going to one that he frequented, just to be on the safe side.
Bethey didn’t know the whole story behind our breakup. No one did. I preferred to keep that to myself. I wasn’t particularly proud of myself for what had happened with the guy.
Bethey bought my first and only drink, as I’d never been a huge drinker either. I was a seasoned pro at making one drink last for hours. When you put your head into the books, alcohol proved to be your enemy.
We danced like no one was watching, as the saying goes. I loved to dance. I had no idea if I was any good at it, but I loved to do it. Bethey and I were dancing our little hearts out, and I felt like I was on cloud nine.
The music was rocking. The crowd was electric, and the night was going fabulously.
Until I felt someone grinding on me from behind and turned around to let the fucker know that that was not okay. And that’s when I spotted my ex, smiling right at me, his face only inches apart from mine.
His soft blond curls bounced over his broad shoulders as he moved his hips in a sexy gesture. Bright blue eyes and boy-next-door good looks made him seem like the exact opposite of what he was—a great guy.
“What do you think you’re doing, Price Stone?” I asked him as I stopped moving and crossed my arms in front of my chest. I’d worn a short romper that revealed a ton of cleavage and I didn’t want him looking at it.
He had the nerve to put his hands on my hips. “Come on, baby. I’ve said I’m sorry more than I’ve ever said it in my entire life. Can’t you cut a guy a break?”
“No.” I pushed his hands off me. “Leave me alone.” Turning around, I tapped Bethey on the shoulder, as she’d turned away to dance with someone else. “I’m going to the bathroom.”
She waved me on, and I left the crowded dancefloor. My great mood had been blown to smithereens by the man. We’d only dated for six months, and it had been a month since I had broken up with him—it defied my imagination why he thought I’d ever change my mind and want to start seeing him again.
How can a person keep seeing someone they don’t trust?
It wasn’t as if we were in love or anything like that. So why did he keep on showing up, calling and texting me, and telling me over and over again how sorry he was for doing something he claimed he didn’t remember doing?
Just when I thought I’d effectively ditched they guy, I felt a hand on my arm, pulling me back. “You and I need to talk, Julia. This is the first time I’ve seen you in a month.” There he was again, the asshole.
I glared at him. “Price, you don’t even come to this club. Are you stalking me or something?”
He smiled that smile that had first attracted me to him. But now it made me kind of sick. “Stalking is an ugly word, baby. I just wanted to see you. I’ve missed you. Haven’t you missed me at all?” His fingers tightened around my arm, reminding me again why I dumped his sorry ass.
“No, I haven’t missed you at all.” That was the truth. How could anyone miss a person who’d done something so wrong to them?
The way he looked into my eyes stupefied me. “Don’t lie, baby. I know you’ve had to miss me. How many times do I have to tell you I’m sorry before you’ll believe me?”
“You can’t say it enough,” I let him know as I jerked my arm out of his grip. “So stop doing it. If you’ll notice, your apologies haven’t done one bit of good. Frankly, I don’t understand you, Price. You’re a reporter for The New York Times. You’ve got your good looks and can be charming. So, what’s stopping you from moving on and finding yourself another victim? I mean, girlfriend.”
His expression changed to one of hurt. As if my words really had an effect on him. “Victim?” He shook his head sadly. “Julia, I don’t remember what I did. I have to take your word for it. And I have. I was the one who woke up with a large bump on the side of my head, and I didn’t see a mark on you. But I believed you and apologized to you and swore it would never happen again. Why can’t you accept the fact that people make mistakes, baby? I am only human. And I don’t want anyone else. I only want you.”
He couldn’t seem to recall that I had shown him the bruises he’d left on me. In the month since we’d broken up, I’d started to think that he only wanted me because of my status as a virgin. He’d nearly come on himself when I’d told him that the first time we’d made out and he’d wanted to take it all the way home.
My ideas about sex were different from most peoples. I’d always thought that sex was a lot deeper than most let it be. I wasn’t religious, just deeply spiritual. I knew that sex with the right person could be a spiritual experience. One that made a connection between two people that would last forever—like eternally.
I knew most people didn’t think the way I did. But I wasn’t about to change my beliefs because of what other people thought. And I knew that Price Stone wasn’t the man that I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. So he wasn’t ever going to get into my pants and take my virginity the way he likely hoped he would.
It wasn’t in me to be mean to anyone, but I had to stand up for myself. If I hurt the man in the process, that couldn’t be helped. “Price, I don’t want you. There is nothing you can do to make me want you. If you want to know the truth, I had no plans to ever have sex with you. Maybe that’ll help you get over me. There would never have been any sex, Price. Do you understand that completely now?”
He shook his head. “You don’t know that, baby. We were getting close. Hell, I’d finally gotten you to come over to my apartment. That told me you were getting comfortable with me. And that night would’ve led to more nights where you and I could be all alone in the comfort of my place. More nights where we could really get to know one another. I knew it would take a lot of time with you. I was ready for that. I was in it for the long haul, just the way you told me you would be.”
He was taking my words out of context, which was something he excelled at. “I wasn’t telling you that I wanted that with you, Price. I was just telling you that to let you know how I felt about sex. I’m sorry if you understood it differently than how I meant it. Yes, I was getting more comfortable with you, that’s true. And just when I gave you more of a chance, you went and blew it.” I gave him a good look over for a moment, thinking about my next words. “And it doesn’t look like you learned anything from the experience anyways. You need to stop drinking, for one.”
And just as those words left my mouth, the expression on his face jumped from sad and misunderstood, to one of elation. “I’ll quit drinking. For you, I’ll do that. I’ll do anything for you, baby. You’ve got to believe me. Give me one more chance, please. I’m begging you.”
A few people around us had become invested in our argument. I couldn’t help but notice the women who looked ready to pounce on the good-looking, well-built man who was pleading with me for one more chance.
If I had real feelings for the man, then it would’ve bothered me that those women were waiting for me to walk away and leave him to them. There had been a part of me which had liked Price in the beginning—I never would’ve started dating him if there hadn’t been. But a larger part of me had always felt that he couldn’t be trusted. And that part of me had turned out to be right.
Looking into his blue eyes, I stuck to my guns. “Price, this is over, and it’s going to stay over. Leave. Me. Alone.” And then I walked away without looking back. Because when someone hurts you, you’ve got to have the backbone to not give them another chance to do it again.