Julie sipped at her tea and stared out the kitchen window.  It was Monday evening and she had spent the entire day wandering around her house and staring at her phone.  She had come close to texting Court numerous times but had stopped herself.

You can’t have a relationship with him.  He’s an escort.  He sleeps with women for money.  Do you really think you can have a relationship with a guy who sleeps with other women?

She sighed and stared morosely out the window.  She was being a hypocrite.  It was fine for her to hire Court to sleep with her but not fine for him to do the same for other women?  She took another sip of tea.  She didn’t want to share him – it was that simple.  If that made her a horrible person, so be it.

She reached for her phone and scrolled to Court’s number.  Her finger hovered over the delete button before she put her phone down and rubbed her forehead wearily.  If she knew she couldn’t have a relationship with him, why couldn’t she delete his number?  She stared at her phone and reached again for it.  She needed to talk to Mary. 

 

* * *

 

Court checked his cell phone as he opened the door to his apartment.  He had checked it compulsively all day and he ignored the wave of disappointment that went through him.

It’s only been a day, Court.  Just relax.  She’ll call.

He blew out his breath and tossed his keys on the side table before going to the kitchen.

“Where have you been?”

He jumped and flicked on the light.  Cal was sitting at the table and he stared at Court as he bit at his nails.

“Christ, Cal!  You scared the hell out of me!  Why are you sitting here in the dark?”

“Where have you been, Court?”

“I’ve been at work.  Where do you think I’ve been?”  He frowned as he opened the fridge and pulled out a beer.

“Where were you on the weekend?  I came by Saturday and Sunday,” Cal said accusingly.

“I was with a friend.”

“Who?”

“Why all the questions?”  Court scowled at him.

“Why are you avoiding my question?”

“I’m not.”

“You are.  Who have you been with?”

Court sighed.  “Julie, all right?  I was with Julie.”

“Jesus Christ, Court!”  Cal jumped up and paced nervously through the kitchen.  “What the hell are you doing?”

“Cal, I - ”

“You can’t see a client outside of working hours.  I told you that!”

“She’s not just a goddamn client, Cal!  You have no idea what she’s like.  She’s sweet and kind and I like her.  Do you hear me?  I like her.  I’m going to tell her the truth.”

“You like her?”  Cal shook his head in disbelief.  “Court, this is crazy.  You’re going to get me fired.  You can’t tell her the truth!”

“I can and I will,” he said.

“And what do you think she’ll say when she finds out you’ve been lying to her?  Do you think she’ll forgive you and tell you everything’s fine?”  Cal asked.

“I’m willing to take that chance.”

“Is it because she’s a goddamn millionaire?”

“How do you know that?”

Cal sighed.  “Meagan told me that Julie had called last week and wanted to book me for another appointment.  I wondered how she could afford me so I did some research.  It didn’t take long to figure out who she was.”

“It has nothing to do with her money, Cal,” Court said tightly.

“Of course it doesn’t.”  Cal laughed bitterly.  “You’ve never cared about money.  You’ve never had to.”

“What’s going on with you, Cal?”  Court asked.  “There’s something wrong, I know there is.”

“I’m fine.”  Cal rubbed his hand through his hair.  “It’s – I…”

“What?”

“Never mind.  It doesn’t matter.”  He stared silently at Court for a moment.  “Listen, I gotta go.  I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Cal, wait.  Tell me what’s going on?  Does it have something to do with that investment thing?  Did you get turned down?”  Court followed him out of the kitchen and down the hallway.

“It didn’t work out.  I gotta go, Court,” Cal said.

He slipped out of the apartment before Court could reply.

 

* * *

 

“Mary?  Are you busy?”  Julie could hardly hear Mary’s reply over the loud music blaring through her cell phone.

“Hold on, Jules!”  Mary shouted.

The music was turned down and she heard Mary giggle brightly before she came back on the phone.  She sounded slightly out of breath and Julie frowned.

“Mary?  Where are you?”

“I’m um, well, I’m with Mark.”

“Mark?”

“From the bar.  Court’s friend.”

“Really?”  Julie dropped into a kitchen chair and stared blankly at the table.  “Did you go to work today?”

Mary laughed.  “Yes.  Mark came by after work and we’re having dinner.”

“Did you spend the weekend with him?”

“I might have.”

“Wow.”  Julie was silent for a moment.

Mary cleared her throat and when she spoke, her voice was hushed.  “I kinda like him, Jules.  He’s funny and good looking, and he’s got a steady job.  When was the last time I met someone who had a goddamn job?”

“Good for you, Mary.”  Julie could feel her stomach turning.  Things always worked out for Mary and she tried not to let her bitterness show.  She really was happy for Mary but it only reminded her of her own loss.

“Jules?  Is there something wrong?”

“No.  I just wanted to hear your voice,” she sighed.

“How did it go with Court?”  Mary asked quietly.

“Fine.  He uh, he spent the weekend with me.  He gave me his cell phone but I don’t think I’m going to call him again.  What’s the point, you know?  We can’t have a relationship.” 

“Oh, Jules,” Mary said.  “I’ll be right over.”

“No!  Don’t, Mary.  I’m fine, honestly.  Enjoy your dinner with Mark and you can come over tomorrow night and we’ll talk, okay?”

Mary hesitated.  “Jules, listen to me.  There’s something strange about Court.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Mark’s his best friend and he hasn’t said a word to me about Court being a, you know, escort.  I mean, he talks about working with him in construction but that’s it.  Did you know that Court owns his own construction company?”

“I – well, I knew he worked in construction,” Julie stuttered.  “I didn’t know he owned his own company.”

“Well, he does.  Why would a man who owns his own company be working as an escort?  And from what I can tell he’s never spoken a word to Mark about it.”

“Why would he?  I doubt he wants many people to know,” Julie replied.  She stood up and moved into the living room, staring sightlessly out the large bay window.

“Yeah, I guess.  Still, something doesn’t seem right.  Promise me you won’t call him or see him until we find out more about him, okay?” 

Lights flashed in her driveway and she squinted at the strange car that had pulled in.  Her heart skipped a beat when Court unfolded his long legs from the car and walked toward her front door.

“Julie?  Do you hear me?”

“Yeah.  I need to go, Mary.  I’ll call you tomorrow.”  She hung up before Mary could reply and hurried to the front door.  She pulled it open before Court could knock, unable to stop the smile from crossing her face.

“Hi!”

“Hi, Julie.”  Court gave her a nervous smile.  “Can I come in?”

“Of course.”  She glanced at the car.  “Where’s your truck?”

“Oh, uh, it’s at the garage.  This is a rental.”  He stood nervously in the hallway and she gave him a tentative smile.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes.  Well, not really.  Can we talk?”

“Sure.  Come in the kitchen.”

He followed her down the hallway and sat down at the table.

“Would you like some tea?  Or a beer?  I think there might be one or two in the back of the fridge.” 

“No, thanks,” he replied.

She sat down and studied him carefully.  There was something off about him, a jittery nervousness that he couldn’t hide, and she gave him a curious look.

“What’s wrong, Court?”

“I’m,” he hesitated and then plunged forward, “I’m in trouble, Julie.  I owe some money to some pretty bad people and if I don’t pay them by the end of this week....”

He trailed off and raked his hand through his hair.  “I hate to ask you this but I wondered if I could borrow the cash from you.  I’ll pay you back, I swear.”

She stared quietly at him for a moment.  “Is this why you work as an escort when you own your own company?”

“What?”  He stared blankly at her before nodding.  “Yeah, that’s the reason.”

He gave her a pleading look.  “What do you say, Julie?  Could you help me out?  I’m desperate here.”

She nodded.  “Of course I will.  How much do you need?”

He took a deep breath.  “Fifty thousand.”

“I can get you the money by tomorrow.  Does that work for you?”

“Yeah, it does.  Thanks, Julie.  I swear to God I’ll pay you back.”

“I know.”  She smiled at him and he reached out and took her hand, squeezing it.

“You’re the best, Julie.  I can’t tell you how much I - ”

He stopped.  Julie’s face had paled and she was staring at his hands.

“What’s wrong?”

“Your hands,” she whispered. 

He blinked and stared at his hands.  They looked normal to him but she yanked her hands away and stood up when he tried to take her hand again.

“Julie?  Honey, everything’s fine.  There’s nothing wrong with my hands.”

She barked harsh laughter.  “I don’t know who you are but I want you to get the hell out of my house.  Do you hear me?”

She backed out of the kitchen as he stood and followed her down the hallway.  “Julie, just relax.  It’s me, Court.”

“No, you’re not.”  There was a heavy statue on a side table in the hallway and she picked it up, holding it like a weapon as she reached for the door handle.  “I want you to leave.  Now.”

She opened the door and shrieked with surprise when she heard Court’s deep voice.

“Jules?  What’s going on?”

She turned, her face paling as the statue fell from her hand and landed with a thud on the floor.  She stared wide-eyed at him before turning to look behind her.  Court followed her gaze.  Cal gave him a nervous look.

“Hey, Court.”

“What the fuck?”  Julie whispered.  She pressed up against the wall and stared at the two of them.

“What the hell are you doing here, Cal?”  Court ground out.

“Court, listen to me.  I’m in trouble, okay?  That investment thing, it wasn’t what I said it was.  I gave a bunch of money to this guy who – who said he had a sure deal.  I was going to make back my money and then some.  Only, the deal went wrong and he lost it all.  I borrowed the money from Jimmy Golden and he wants it back.”

“Jimmy Golden?  You borrowed the money from a goddamn crime lord?”  Court’s voice was rising and Julie cringed back against the wall.

“He’s not a crime lord.  He’s a businessman,” Cal said defensively.

“A businessman who breaks his client’s legs when they don’t pay up!  Jesus, Cal!  What were you thinking?”  Court shouted.

Julie made a soft, whispering moan and closed her eyes.  Court touched her arm gently and she flinched and pulled away from him.  “Don’t touch me.”

“I’m sorry, darlin’.  I can explain everything,” he said pleadingly.

“Can you?”  The look of betrayal in her eyes made his stomach turn.

“I can.  I promise you.  This is Cal, my twin brother.”

“Yeah, I figured that part out,” she whispered. 

“Cal needed my help.  He’s the escort but he couldn’t make your initial appointment so I pretended to be him.  Only, I really liked you, Jules and so when you called again, I made Cal let me take his place.”

“You lied to me,” she whispered.

“I was going to tell you the truth.  I swear it.  That’s why I’m here.”

“I paid you to have sex with me and you’re not – not even an escort?”  She swallowed thickly. 

“I never took the money,” he said.  “It went to Cal.”

She studied Cal for a moment before turning back to Court.  “Why?  Why would you do this?  I trusted you, Court.  Did you and your brother have some – some sort of plan to con the lonely, rich spinster out of her money?”

“What?  No!  I swear, Julie!  I had no idea that Cal was in trouble.  I’m so sorry, Jules.  I didn’t know how to tell you, and you were so sweet and you made me want you so badly that I - ”

“So this is my fault?”  She glared at him.  “Is that what you’re saying?”

“No!  Darlin’, give me a minute with my brother and then we’ll talk.  I’ll make you understand why I - ”

“No.  Get out, Court.  Both of you get out, right now.”

“Jules, please. Let me explain.”

“I want you to leave.  Take your brother and go, or I swear I’ll call the police.”

Cal stepped forward.  “Julie, you can’t tell the agency about this.  If they find out that I let Court take my place, they’ll fire me and I need the money.  I can’t - ’

“Shut up, Cal!”  Court roared.

Julie cringed again and Court reached out to touch her.  “Don’t be afraid, Jules.  I won’t hurt you.  Please, let me - ”

“Get out!”  She shrieked at him.  “Get out of my house right now!”  She pounded on his chest as tears poured down her cheeks.  “Do you hear me?  Get out!”

Cal was standing beside him and he took Court’s arm and yanked him out of the house. 

“Let go of me, Cal!”

“Court, it’s over.  Walk away, man!”  Cal shouted as Julie slammed the door in their faces.

Court, his body shaking with anger, punched Cal in the face.  Cal fell to the ground and touched his face, staring with shock at the blood that was dripping out of his nose.

“You hit me.”

“I’ll never forgive you for this!  Do you hear me, Cal?  Stay away from me, you goddamn bastard!”  Court shouted before turning and stalking over to his truck.  He climbed in and tore out of the driveway, tires squealing, as Cal slowly staggered to his feet.

He stood in front of the door for a moment before leaning closer to it.  “Julie?”

Julie bit her lip and rested her head against the door as Cal’s voice came through the door.

“I’m sorry, Julie.  For what it’s worth – Court doesn’t care about your money.  He didn’t want to take my place that first night.  I begged him to because I would have lost my job if he didn’t and well, I need the money.”

He laughed bitterly.  “Court’s a good guy, Julie.  He’s a better man than I’ll ever be and I swear to you that he never meant to hurt you.  He – he cares about you.  I’ve never seen him act this way over a woman before.”

She stuffed her hand into her mouth to stifle the sobs as tears zig-zagged their way down her cheeks. 

“He’s worth forgiving.  He really is,” Cal said loudly.  She heard him walk away and the faint sound of his car starting.  She sank to the floor and buried her face in her hands as she sobbed bitterly.