The Beginning Of Hurt
"Did you let her drink too much Aaron?! She looks like she has gone to the moon!"
When Julie broke out of her trance, she saw Camila doing her absolute best to remove one of his ears and though he was in pain, he had a cheeky smile on his face.
"Wait…" she whispered to herself, and she was still in her outfit, what were they doing here? What happened to the love they were making a few moments ago? Her expression was normal but after a while, her eye twitched, realization coming over her that it was nothing more than a blissful imagination.
"Cam she is not a kid, she knows she is not meant to be drinking that much." Julie watched them talk in hushed tones and cocked her head to the side just a little bit. Her brows furrowed when she said that, and she felt like giving him another punch, but Camila did so on her behalf, a bit of satisfaction washed over her.
"But you are her trainer!" she retorted.
"Not today! I am just regular Aaron Evans." he chided, not wanting to be associated with the word 'trainer' while he was having a party even though he had told Christopher a few hours ago, but that was different. He did it to mark territory.
"Are you guys talking about me?" she crossed her arm and broke the cartoonish engagement they were having a few moments before, "I am fine, and i didnt drink too much." She tried to defend herself, but her eyes gave her away. Camila moved closer to her with a motherly smile on her face.
"Oh Julie, if you wanted a trainer I would have given you to anyone else. Aaron is an idiot, he doesn't know anything, and he is very unprofessional." the first thing she did was paint him black before giving her friend a big hug before pulling back while Aaron stared at them with his mouth wide opened at how she had washed him down, she did exactly the opposite of what he had expected her to do and a part of him wasn't surprised really, "I am so glad you could make it, and you look so beautiful darling." she cupped her cheeks before her smile dulled, "did you… Christopher?" she knew that there was no way they wouldn't have crossed a few times.
Julie shrugged her shoulders, she felt bad but the more she thought about it, the worse she would feel, "yes but he doesnt matter, can't let him ruin my evening." she managed a small smile before Aaron deposited himself into the conversation, sliding beside Julie and taking a hold of her hand. Camila raised her brows to the heavens, wondering what her good for nothing friend was up to.
"Cam, it has been a very long night and as you know, Julie is very tired, and I would like to take her home." he feigned a smile.
"Chill coach, it has been ages since I last saw her, just an extra 30 minutes." and that was enough to wipe the smile off his face, even though it was fake, and it wasn't meant to last long. Camila blew raspberries at him and took Julie to a different side of the party, almost like a private lounge where she hung out with her boyfriend and the rest of his friends.
She introduced her to them, her fiancé, Shawn, and his two best friends, Big G and flashy J. Julie saw them as very interesting personalities and always knew Camila would end up with a black boy but to her Shawn was the sweetest she had ever seen. He was very respectful and smiled a lot, they were all generally calm until Aaron found the lounge and at his arrival, they became loud and began to misbehave.
Cam and Julie shook their heads in disapproval, boys will be boys.
In a small section of the lounge, "Julie, that reminds me." Cam dug into her purse to bring out a white envelope, it was not the first time she was seeing the white envelope, and immediately she pushed it back, "oh come on, you don't even know what it is yet."
"I already do, and you have been kind to me enough, I can't take it." knowing Cam, the last thing she wanted to feel is indebtedness as a result of her inability to earn more. Cam was a natural giver, but she just couldn't take it.
"Chill baby! It isn't money." she laughed at her friend before her tone came down lower, and she was now closer, "I have a friend that owns a supplement company, and they are working on a new product but need some research done on some blah blah blah I don't understand. You are the best scientist I know so…" with a smile, she handed her the white envelope, "it is an invitation letter, I put your name forward."
Julie was on the brink of tears, she kept patting her eyes with a handkerchief to make sure she didn't ruin her makeup. She engulfed Camila in a massive hug, the hug so strong that she was slowly losing consciousness as her air supply was being cut off. Funny thing is that she didn't struggle, she didn't mind.
It was finally time to go home, Julie didn't want to, it meant she would return to her lonely apartment. She had forgotten what it felt like to enjoy social interactions after being indicted a very long time ago, she became a loner till Christopher came and stole her heart. And then he broke it. Aaron had left his phone charging in the lounge and told her to wait for him. She stood there, by a table and began to pick some food since she was very hungry.
It was her off day, she could eat anything she wanted and as much as she wanted so she took a lot, so much that the whole plate was stacked. She challenged herself to see how much she could eat before her coach came back. She was so engrossed with the food that she didn't notice when Christopher, with some other guys cornered her.
"Fatty likes the food, probably because she is too poor to buy some real food."
Julie closed her eyes and swallowed slowly, glaring daggers at Christopher. She felt a deep rage, one that was quickly overtaking her common sense.
"Leave me alone." common sense isn't common, Christopher grabbed her again, without her consent, something he knew she hated. Her face contorted in rage, "I said leave me alone." she had dropped the plate to get herself free, struggling with him before Aaron came into the scene.
"Are you deaf?" He pushed him away from her and his 'company' backed off the moment they saw him, "what part of leaving her alone do you not understand?" each word was becoming a growl, they were attracting attention.
"Ah I see what is going on here? You guys have fucked already havent you?" He had a caustic smile on his face. Julie couldn't believe her ears when he said that, his words only made Aaron angrier, but she had to pull him back, or he would get his licence suspended. She pulled him out of the hall, "you will be back Julie! You always come back." Christopher watched them exit, knowing she wouldn't last long with him because he also had his issues.
They got into his car and he was venting, hitting his steering wheel and cursing. She watched the display in silence, reminding herself that she was once like that. Or rather, that part of her was still alive.
"What the fuck were you doing with him? Why didn't you come with me? Why do you have to be so stubborn Julie? What if I wasn't there?!" so many questions, but she had no answer to give him, only her silence. He growled again and revved to life their ride home; one of his exotic sports cars. And with the pedal being pressed they were off.
The drive was very silent, and the energy was suffocating. Julie faced the window, the cool breeze giving her a sense of peace and relief as the food she ate made her stomach knot. Aaron was focusing on the road, and doing his best not to get them killed by overspeeding, but he wished to get her as far away as possible from Christopher.
Christopher was a jerk, Aaron hated jerks. Always had and always will. And he most especially hated the fact that he always bullied Julie, and hated the most that no one did anything. He cast a secret eye at her, she had fallen asleep, seeing her breathing softly in slumber gave him some calm, and now he was less angry but rarely did you see Aaron's anger vanish in a day. It took at least three days for him to be in a completely calm state.
The ride was long, but finally they had arrived home, his home. Julie was deep in the sleep, he guessed it was the alcohol that had knocked her out. He got out of his seat, opened the door to hers and carried her inside. She was very heavy, but he would do this any day anytime if it meant he got to be this close to her. He got to his room and placed her gently on the bed, watching her moan and adjust to the comfort of the sheets.
"That guy…" he muttered to himself as he yanked his tie off and threw his jacket to one side, hearing another moan from her, he grumbled quietly, making sure not to wake her up. In nothing but boxers, he turned off the lights and laid down at the other side of the bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking of how he would dismember her ex and make it look like an accident.
He closed his eyes once and when he was awake, it was morning. He groaned gently, the blinds blocked out the sun. His attempt to get up failed when he realized Julie had wrapped herself around him in her sleep. She pressed her body to his, he gave her comfort and she gave him wood. His face grew hot with embarrassment and though he wanted to hold her back and kiss her till she woke up, he knew he couldn't.
She slipped out and with a bath and some coffee, he was off to train. And not long after he decided to train, she woke up. Rubbing sleep away from her eyes, she took off her party dress and walked into his bathroom, to come out with a towel around her body, her hair still dripping wet, "where is he?" training. The logical answer that came to her mind, she searched his wardrobe for some clothes and managed to find something that fit and went to look for him.
She got distracted by the kitchen, cooked up something quick and then continued her search. She found him in the private gym, and he was beating up the punching bag really badly, sweat had formed a thin sheet around his body and his focus was laser sharp. She felt pity, she knew why he was going this hard.
"Coach." She called out to him, but he didn't answer her, she was not willing to play this game so she decided to help him by holding the punching bag, then he was forced to notice him, "coach." still no answer, "Aaron…"
"Damn it Julie! I don't want to talk." he ended the conversation she was trying to start.
"But why are you mad at me? I didn't do anything!"
"Maybe next time you actually let me talk to that dumb ass ex of yours!"
"And get suspended?"
He stopped midway, his strike hanging in the air, she had got him there. He let out a gruff sigh and slowly began to take off his gloves.
"I understand you care about me, but Christopher is not your problem. If at all he does come to me, he is my responsibility to deal with. You were about to be reckless, and you expect me to stay by the side and watch you end your career?" she scolded him, he turned his back on her, not able to concentrate, not able to understand why she was sounding like this. Hell she sounded like Kim, always nagging.
She huffed and moved to his front, "I don't think you get it, do you?"
"I don't want to talk about it." he was fighting himself, why did he feel the way he felt? She was right. He was becoming reckless, but that was only because of the way she made him feel. She made him happy. And anything that tried to take her away from him brought up his anger issues.
"I want to talk about it." she grabbed his arm as he turned to leave. He took a deep breath.
"Julie let go of me." every word was laced with anger.
"No, until you listen to me!"
"Damn it Julie!" he threw a hand at her, a mistake he was never going to be able to rectify.