Chapter 14

Juliette shook the thought of having intercourse with Matt from her head. She began to wonder if she was just attracted to Matt or if she was in love with him. "Is Leighton right? Is there something she was missing? She did find him very attractive but she didn't know she could have actual thought of what she wanted him to do to her and her him. She also couldn't believe her mind was entertaining that kind of thought when she had a boyfriend.

Speaking of boyfriends, Nathan had not replied the text she sent to him last night. She was emotional from reading the messages that Skye sent to her and she wanted to talk to someone. She needed a listening ear so she texted Nathan but he didn't respond. She wondered if he was still upset from the call they had when she didn't tell him she loved him too when he said he loved her. The truth is, Juliette didn't know if she still loved Nathan. She knew she no longer trusted him and she felt like their relationship was being constrained and she didn't want to lie to Nathan. She couldn't lie about how she felt to anyone. She felt he was being sneaky lately because of the way he answered his phone calls in the bathroom and how he changed his passcode. She had access to it before but he just changed it sudden and if he ever gave her his phone, he'd stay there to make sure she did what she wanted to do and nothing more. He even disenabled his face ID so that she would not use it on him when he was asleep.

Juliette? Earth to Juliette!" Matt said as he frowned and snapped his fingers in front of her face.

He looked at her, she seemed very distracted, almost like she was day dreaming, and she was biting her lips. She came to his door and when he opened it he saw her like that. He didn't notice till he asked her a question and she didn't say anything to him. He wondered what must have gotten her distracted but he also didn't want her just standing in front of his room and staring at him while being lost in space.

"Juliette!" He snapped his fingers in front of her face again. It startled her and she jerked back to reality.

"What?"

"You've been staring at me for close to five minutes without saying anything. Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm good. Um, I wanted to find out if you wanted to have dinner with me."

"Bored already?" He teased her.

"Kinda." She was serious.

"Well, then, I'll order room service and we could eat in my room."

Her eyes widened and she remembered the imagination she just had. She immediately snapped and said, "No! We're are not eating together in your room, all alone."

He was confused so he said, "okay? Where should we eat?"

"There's a restaurant downstairs. I think their food will be nice."

"If you say so. Hang on, let me grab something." He went inside to get his wallet and his phone. When he back back out, he let her lead the way, as they walked to the elevator.

Nathan was coming out of Leighton's room when he saw Juliette and Matt walk out together. He almost called her name but he knew it will blow his cover. He couldn't believed she was with him. She told him that she was not into him but watching them walk side by side, he began to think she must have lied to him. He lowered his face hat to hide his face because he saw her look his way briefly, he hoped she didn't know it was him but he did not want to take chances with that so he turned back around and went back into Leighton's room.

"What's wrong?" Leighton asked him immediately she saw him hurry into the room. He just told her he forgot something. He went to the bathroom and when he checked his messages, he saw the messages Juliette had sent to him. He responded and then saw the post Leighton had made. It was a picture of both her and Juliette. Then suddenly remembered the "Juls" Leighton had been going on  about since yesterday was his Juliette. He remembered Juliette told him that she wanted to go for a conference but he didn't know it was the same conference Leighton invited on. He hoped she would stop hanging out with Juliette or else she might blow his cover.

"Nate? You've been in there for too long, what's going on?" Leighton asked from the room.

Nathan just flushed the toilet and sprinkled water on it and came out. She looked at him and he said, "My stomach. I think I ate something I was not supposed to."

"And you ate it? Wait, what was it? What did you eat?"

"I don't know."

She gave him a puzzled looked and asked, "You're telling me you don't know what you ate?"

"I'm telling you I don't know what is causing the upset. I didn't eat anything I was allergic to."

She didn't buy his story and he knew she didn't, so he told her it was not that serious which only made her worry and stress about it.

Juliette and Nathan got into the restaurant and he was a very gentleman who held doors for her and pulled chairs for her. They called the waiter and placed an order. 

"Julie, are you okay? You've been weird."

"I'm okay, you don't need to worry about me, I've just been tired and I've not exactly had the time to relax."

"Do you want to relax now?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you want to relax now? There's a 24 hours spa here."

"Really? I don't believe it. How did you know?"

"I've been here- checking the brochure. I've been checking the brochure of the hotel."

He almost gave himself away again. Luckily she didn't notice again but what he didn't know was that Juliette noticed everything. She just doesn't talk about all the things she notices.

She acted like she wasn't paying attention to help him relax but she knew he was definitely hiding something.

"It's no use, the trip is paid for. I don't think spa appointments are included."

"Don't worry, it is included in mine. You can use my appointment. You deserve a massage."

She smiled and looked him. That was one of the nicest things anyone has done for her in a very long time and she was grateful for the offer from Matt.

"You're the sweetest. Thank Matty."

"Come on, don't call me that. Only my Dad does."

"Oouuu, a daddy's boy." Juliette teased him. He had never spoken about his family and so it was surprising that he'd just say that, out of the blue.

He just laughed and she watched him laugh. It was a beautiful scene and she wanted it to be part of her long term memory so she looked at him, trying to keep that sight stored in her mind, she inhaled to keep the smell of the place in her olfactory sense, listened carefully to the sounds of classical music in restaurant and used her hands to play with the napkins on the table. Now that she had engaged all her senses, she knew she wouldn't forget this night.

"So what's next for you and Leighton?"

"What?" Matt asked with a frown. That was a weird question, an ambiguous one too.

"You know, she was one of the speakers, her lecture is over, are you guys still going to be here? Or will you be leaving tomorrow?"

"Aw, looks like someone wants us to stay."

"There's no shame in owning to it, I want y'all to stay, I'll be lonely if y'all leave."

"Don't worry, we're staying till the end. We would not want to make our Julie lonely."

The waiter brought the food and they ate while making small talks. They both enjoyed the meal and each other's company.

"Let's do this more." Matt announced.

"Do what?"

"Eat with each other like this for the rest of the trip."

"Conference." Juliette corrected.

"Yeah, conference." Matt agreed.

"You love my company, don't you? I know you do." Juliette teased him.

"No, Julie, I'm making do with what I have." He denied and then added, "I want to get a bottle of wine, do you want share that with me?"

"As long as it's strictly wine, then okay."

He looked surprised "What else would it be?"

"Liquor."

He raised a brow and said, "At dinner?"

"It can be served at dinners too."

"Yeah, upon request, I know. But, I would not ask for liquor except I'm trying to purposely forget something. Alcohol and edibles kind of mess with me and my memory. Like, some months ago, I attended a party with a friend and the next morning, I felt like something happened between me and someone there, but I can't remember what happened or who it was, I just know I was at a party and I got somehow bored and decided to hang out somewhere else but that was way after the edibles way had kicked in. I saw myself visibly trying to navigate through the party but it was useless."

"That sucks. Who gave you the edibles?"

"A friend. Well, technically, he didn't give them to me, I just took it when I saw it close to his cookie jar, and I had consumed it before I knew what it was. I thought I was eating a very nasty chocolate cake."

"I'm sorry about that. Why did he have it laying around?"

"He said something about wanting to use it himself."

"Do I know him? Has he come by the house before?"

"Nahh." Of course, Sam would not stop by the house, they're not close friends and also, Sam didn't want to use it, that was a lie. He lied to Juliette but just to prevent further questions. It was something Sam had seized from a minor so that another police officer will not find find it and get the kid in trouble. Also, Sam had told him what it was and when he found out it was a safe but laced brownie, he threw caution to the wind and consumed it. But he did not lie about not knowing what he did at the party, he did not know where the party held or the people at the party but the next day, when the effect of the brownie was wearing off, he felt that something must have happened at the party but he did not ask any questions, he just took a warm shower and called Carlos, the guy that was supposed to hand him the keys to his new apartment.

"Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Then realization hit him, she has been acting weird because she didn't want to drink liquor and get drunk or vulnerable around him. She probably doesn't trust him, he thought. But it was herself around him that she didn't trust.

"Do you want the wine, I'm about to ask for it."

"Sure."

Then he called the waiter and requested for a bottle of red wine.

They both downed the entire bottle of wine and she was beginning to feel relaxed and tipsy. So, he called the waiter and paid of their meal and when they stood up to leave, she was literally staggering, so he held her to the elevator door.

In the elevator, she held on to one of his hands and closed her eyes. Then when the elevator stopped on their floor, he guided her out and that was when she opened her eyes.

When they got in front of her room, he told her, "We're here Julie. You can let go now."

"Okay" Then she began to fumble with her bag and trying to get her keys. He stood behind her watching her struggle for what seemed like two minutes. Then she squatted on the floor and began to bring out everything in her bag, and drop them on the floor.

"Are you okay?" Matt finally asked.

"Yeah, I just can't find my keys."

"Hang on, let me help you." He squatted beside her and in less than a second, he found the key. It was in her hand. She was holding it and still looking for it. As he tried to remove it from her hand, she turned to look at him. He looked at her too. Their faces were less than an inch away from each other. She swallowed hard as she stared into his eyes. He had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Her heart was pounding fast and she was scared that he could hear it. He didn't look away or break the intense gaze. He couldn't stop. Then he saw her eyes move to his lips. He could tell that she wanted him to kiss her but he didn't.

He just held her hand and told her, "You're sitting on the floor. Come on, let me help you up."

"Thank you" She replied once they were up.

After he helped her open the door, he turned to leave but she held him back so he hugged her and kissed her lightly on her forehead. Then he said, "Goodnight Juliette. I'll see you tomorrow."