Rome and Julie

“Thank gosh that’s done.” I said, pretending to wipe sweat off my forehead. We were leaving a mall, bags on each of our arms. I’d gotten Rome’s new wardrobe. He wasn’t exactly willing, but using my cunning and strength, I’d managed to convince him. Next was getting Max, which Rome was putting off, most likely in hopes that I’ll forget. As if.

After a few days Rome’s bruise faded and soon disappeared, and I was left with nothing else to laugh at Rome about. He was procrastinating getting me my German Shepherd, and he wasn’t wearing any of the clothes I’d picked out for him at the mall.

On our fifth day in the Caribbean, we were sitting at the grand dining table of our suite. I was reading The Raven and Rome was on his laptop—doing business even though I begged him not to. Somehow, we’d gotten on the subject of Pedro.

“I wouldn’t have even gotten a black eye if you weren’t flirting shamelessly with him.” My mouth dropped open at Rome’s harsh words, and I slammed my book closed.

“And the only reason I flirt with other guys is because you’re so obsessed with your damn business!” I said, gesturing to his laptop. Rome was silent a few moments, before his eyes softened.

“Julie, when you’re eighteen and start getting papers and emails and shit from the other companies, you’ll understand. Running a business isn’t a walk in the park. I’m sorry I can’t be as devoted to you as you like, but otherwise the company would fall through the cracks.” It was my turn to be quiet as I digested Rome’s words.

“Don’t your parents still partially own the company? Enough that they could take it away in a heartbeat?”

“Yes. It’s very complicated and stupid, because I don’t really finance everything. It’s my parents money, which somehow is also our company’s money, and—”

“You don’t have to explain it. I was just saying that they could help out.” The tension from moments before was softening, and finally we weren’t on a subject that could cause arguing.

After that conversation, Rome did put in an effort to pay attention to me, and I never saw his laptop again. Of course, downstairs, where he slept on the couch, he could have gotten on it, but the thought that he didn’t want to work in front of me was sweet.

The vacation continued on, and really, no romantic progress had occurred in our relationship. We still acted the same, we talked the same, and we felt the same. No amount of vacations in the Caribbean could change that. The Maddens just needed to realize that, and soon. Otherwise, we were in for it. Who know what they had up their sleeves?

“Rome, today. I’m putting my foot down, in effect, not letting you put it off.” I said on our next to last day in the Caribbean. “Don’t try to talk your way out of it. You said you were going to get him for me, and you will.” Rome cowered behind a newspaper. I leaned over in my chair to pull it down. “Today.” I repeated, giving him my most hard look.

“Okay, okay. Today, then, we’ll get your dog.” I grinned, returning my attention back to my cereal bowl where I was eating breakfast. Later that afternoon, I drug Rome from the beach to the street, where I’d called a taxi to pick us up and take us to a pet store. And, to my great delight, I’d convinced Rome to put on a pair of the jeans I’d gotten him and a button up flannel shirt. I’d rolled up the sleeves for him, so now, he looked like a normal twenty year old. Well, a model-like twenty year old.

“Why, hello again.” The taxi driver said. Confused, I looked up into the rear-view mirror, seeing the same face of our driver our first day in the Caribbean.

“Hi!” I said enthusiastically. After all, we were on our way to get my dog. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been great. I see you’ve been drinking in the sun.” I assumed he was referring to my fantastic tan, which I’d gotten through some harsh sunburns, leaving me red, then a brownish tint. The only thing that had changed since our being in the Caribbean was our skin tone.

“Yes I have.” I looked over at Rome, to find him, shaking his head. At what, I wasn’t exactly sure, but I was pretty sure it had something to do with me.

I made small talk with the taxi driver, and soon, we’d arrived at the pet shop. I couldn’t hide my excitement as I excited the cab, pausing momentarily to wait for Rome to pay to man. A bell tinkered as we walked in the door, and the fact that Rome held the door open for me didn’t even register. I was too close, so close, to getting my dog.

“How may I help you?” A man in a Rodney’s Pets apron said, approaching us with a grin. I returned the favor, glancing up at Rome to let him do the talking.

“I’m looking for a German Shepherd. Male, un-neutered.” Rome seemed to be completely bored with this whole idea, because his voice was monotone, and his eyes showed no excitement.

“I think I have what you’re looking for. Would you like a puppy, or an older dog?” The man asked. Rome glanced down at me, allowing the question to be mine.

“Puppy.” The man gave me another smile before turning and disappearing behind some door in the back of the store. “Don’t act too excited.” I said sarcastically to Rome.

“Maggie is going to kill me.”

“I did my schoolwork for her. The least she can do is let me keep this dog.” I paused, feeling like a real jerk. Maggie had done so much for me in her life, sacrificed a lot, and yet here I was, disobeying her. “Well…” I was at loss of words for a moment. “Do you think she’ll really be that mad?”

“I don’t know. Probably.” Rome said, making me feel even worse.

“Then maybe…” I really wanted this dog. I thought for a while. “Maybe I could keep it at your house.” Rome started laughing. “I’m serious, Rome. You’re all alone in that big house, anyways. Why not make life easier for me and Maggie?”

“Julie… what do you think my parents would say if they came over to find a dog running loose in my house?” I shook my head at him.

“Screw your parents.” Rome didn’t seem surprised at my rather harsh feelings towards them. After all, they were butting in a little too much. Rome didn’t get a chance to reply, because the man returned, except this time, holding the cutest little puppy I’d ever seen.

My mouth opened and the word ‘awww’ could not be held in. The man offered him to me, and I took him, cuddling him to my chest. I looked at his adorable face and nose and eyes. He had a black back and a brown body.

“Rome… please?” I whispered, looking up at him with what I hoped to be puppy dog eyes. Rome stared at me a few moments before nodding to the expectant Rodney’s Pet employee. I smiled, pushing my face into the puppy’s neck.

Walking over to the counter with Rome and the man, I leaned into Rome’s shoulder.

“Thank you.” My voice was soft, but I knew he’d heard me. My head continued to rest on Rome’s arm as the man calculated the cost, and even offered to give us discount on toys and food. Rome bought a bag of food, a collar, and a leash, and slipped out his credit card. As he handed it to the man, he looked down at Max and shook his head.

“He better not pee all over the place.” As everything got finalized, including papers and crap, I studied the rest of the store, finding it to be a cute looking place. There were animals of all kinds—cats, dogs, frogs, birds, rabbits—and they were all making noises, which added to the hominess of the place.

“Have a nice day, young lady.” The man said and nodded to me and Rome grabbed my arm to lead us out the door.

“Rome, I’ll never be able to thank you enough.” I said smiling up at him. He smiled back, although it wasn’t half as excited as mine. We decided to walk home, to give Max a feel for being outdoors. I held onto his leash with excited vigor, afraid that he might disappear if my grip loosened in the slightest.

“Julie, I want to make something clear.” I looked up at him to let him know he had my attention. “Just because the dog is—”

“Max, Rome. His name is Max.” Rome rolled his eyes at my interruption, adjusting the bag of food he was carrying.

“Just because Max is staying with me doesn’t mean I’m going to take care of him. You’ll have to come over and walk him and spend time with him and—”

“Rome, I completely understand. I’ll be over at your house more than you’ll ever wish to see me.” The rest of the walk home was pretty quiet, with the occasional comment on the scenery or weather. When we arrived home, I sat down with Max in the living room and played with him, letting him know who his mommy was.

When it was time to go to bed, I took a slobbery Max with me, and sat him right beside my chest. I couldn’t barely go to sleep with Max jumping around, but eventually, he got tired and curled into my side to sleep.

The next morning, Rome ordered room service, and I gave Max some food in a glass bowel. We ate at the table silently.

“Today’s our last day at the Caribbean.” Rome noted, breaking the long silence. I cleared my throat before muttering in agreement. “What do you want to do?”

“I think we should stay at the beach all day.” I said, sighing before adding on: “The private beach, though.” Ever since that first time, we hadn’t returned to that weird beach. But, with Max, I think some kind of excitement could turn up.

“Uh… okay.” Rome said, getting up to put his plate in the sink. After breakfast, we changed into our beachwear, and by now, from the numerous trips to the beach, I was used to Rome’s surprisingly built chest and stomach and arms…

When we got to the beach, I weirdly felt it really relaxing without all the people running around and children laughing and throwing sand in your hair. Plus, there were no cute drink shack boys to flirt with.

While we sat on the beach, Max freaking out and barking over absolutely nothing, there was a silence over us that wasn’t really awkward. We just sat and looked at the beautiful ocean’s never-ending movement. It was truly captivating.

“Rome!” I suddenly gasped. His head turning to me in alarm, and he looked ready to pounce over and give me CPR or whatever. “I didn’t get to swim with the dolphins!” Rome sighed in relief, rolled his eyes, and slumped back down on his towel.

“Go ahead. There’re dolphins out there.” He gestured to the ocean. I blanched at the mentioning of going way out into sea. I wish I could say I swam well and wasn’t afraid to go out into the ocean, but anything more than waist deep chilled me to my bones.

“Ha. Right.” I looked out at the ocean, realizing how beautiful it was, yet how so very dangerous.

“What? You’ve afraid of flying in airplanes, and now you’re afraid of the ocean, which you haven’t stopped staring at for the past hour?”

“Well… it’s really beautiful, but I know it can hurt me if I let it. And letting it is getting in far out enough to catch a dolphin.” I realized that I could be talking about Rome, too. He was beautiful, but very harmful if I allowed him to be.

“Well…” Rome paused, suddenly standing up. “You’re not going home unsatisfied with this trip. You’re going to ride a dolphin.” And he started towards the ocean shore.

“Rome! Don’t! You’ll die! Jaws is out there waiting to eat you up!” Rome continued walking, not even glancing back. “Rome Houston Madden! Get your ass back here!” He wasn’t listening.

Fearing for his life, I jumped up, tripping on my towel, doing a face plant into the sand in front of me. Too hurried to really notice the pain in my stomach, I got back up, running after Rome. When I caught up to him, I grabbed his arm, feebly pulling backwards, to no avail.

“Rome, I’m not joking. I don’t even want to ride with the damn dolphins. Please! Please don’t go out there.” I was moving with him, because I wasn’t letting go of his arm and he still continued forward. “No!” We were in the water now, and soon we were knee deep. The coldness of the water shocked me. “I will not let you die!” I said, using all my might to ram Rome in the side, causing him to stumble over and land in the water.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I looked down at him, soaked, staring shocked up at me. In a swift motion, Rome kicked my feet out from underneath me. I fell to my butt, the cold water surrounding me, causing goosebumps to rise on my arms and legs.

“Shit, Rome.” I muttered, my teeth chattering. He was now laughing at me, and for a while, I didn’t care that I was cold. I was too mesmerized by Rome’s hypnotic laugh. When he got back up and moved deeper into the ocean, I lunged for his feet, but he moved them too soon. I got saltwater in my eyes and mouth, and, disgusted, I struggled to free myself of the substance.

I got back up and waded out to Rome. The water was shoulder high.

“Rome… please. I’m scared.” I whispered, knowing what I baby I was being. What? I couldn’t help it. Knowing that sharks could come and eat me kinda frightened me for my life.

“Jules… come here.” Rome suddenly whispered, slowly turning around and beckoning to me. He was about three yards away. I took a deep breath and swam over to him. When I got there, he pointed to something in the distance. There were two dolphins, playing around with each other. I felt myself smiling. “I’ll see if I can get them to come here.”

Rome swam even deeper into the ocean, freaking me to the core, but managed to get over to the dolphins without a shark attack. They didn’t seem frightened, but when Rome tried to grab their dorsal fin, they turned and started splashing him with water. I laughed, watching Rome struggled to get them under control. Finally, as though by some miracle. Rome got a hold of their fins, and automatically they swam.

I watched Rome’s face as he smiled and laughed, obviously taken by what was happening. He looked so much at ease and peace. He continued to amaze me. Constantly, daily. There was something about Rome that I couldn’t my finger on that made me need him as a friend. I really didn’t know why.

“Here.” Rome said, as he and the dolphins approached. I couldn’t believe he’d actually gotten dolphins. Actually, I didn’t even feel like riding or swimming with them anymore. Watching Rome do it was proving to be so much more fun to watch.

But I took Rome’s spot anyways, giving him a big kiss on the cheek before the dolphins swam off. Their fins were slimy and slippery, but I managed to hold on while they shot through the water. I couldn’t help but laugh and smile, breathing in the cool ocean air and letting my worries loose.

When they’d nicely let me ride on them for a while, I could tell my fun was about to end, because they seemed to be getting edgy and restless. Giving them their break, I slid off, swimming nervously over to where Rome was wading in the water. When I reached him, I grabbed onto his arm, probably standing way too close in his personal space.

“Okay. Let’s get on the damn shore.” I muttered, letting Rome do all the work swimming us back to the comforting shore. When my feet were on solid sand, no water around me, it felt like a weight ceased to compress my chest into a tight little ball.

“You need to watch your language, missy.” I rolled my eyes at Rome’s chastising tone, wringing my hair out. I shook my body off a bit, knowing that was the most and will ever be the most I ever went out into the sea. “Well… you rode a dolphin…” I grinned. Yes. I did. My to do list was finished.

“Wait. Where’s Max?” I said, noticing how frantic my tone was. I spun around in a flurry, hysterical.

“Julie! Calm down. He’s up at the house.” Immediately, my gaze went to the back door of the suite, where my German shepherd puppy was, sniffing the flowers.

“Max!” I called. He looked up, and I couldn’t help but be surprised he either already knew his name or my voice. Excited, he starting running clumsily down the beach. The sight brought a smile to my face. “Good boy!” I sprinkled him with words of love and kisses, before plopping back down on my towel. I was already exhausted. “So what are we going to do when we get home?” I asked, subtly referring to our relationship change, which was 0.

“Go back to the normal. With the exception of Max, here.” Rome, to my great shock, leaned over to play around with Max a little, who was separating our towels. Max growled playfully, biting Rome’s hand with a fake grip.

“Uh oh. I think someone’s getting a little attached to my doggie.” I said in an equally chastising way. Rome rolled his eyes, and ceased playing with Max.

Then, for a while, we went back into the nicely quiet mode, with the exception of Max barking at nothing. We stared at the ocean, we said a few words, laughed a little, but mostly just sat in peace. It was a lovely few hours.

“Our flight leaves in about three hours. Do you want to get ready?” Rome’s words made me feel depressed suddenly. I didn’t want the vacation to be over, and for us to go back home, nothing changed, and do the same stuff that we always do.

“Uh… sure.” I muttered, standing up, getting together my things. Max had run up to the house to pee in a bush, so I hurried after him, leaving Rome by the beach. “What are you doing, baby?” I asked, leaning over to see what Max was digging at. Of course, it was nothing, so I stood back erect, and looked down at Rome, who was standing on the beach, staring out at the ocean.

I was mesmerized by him for however long he stood down there. I didn’t know how long that was because I lost track of time staring at Rome. When he started back up the beach, I jumped from my spot, quickly picked up Max, and went inside our suite.

Inside was cold, so I shivered, running upstairs to the bedroom. I took a quick shower and changed into a pair of low rise jeans and a t-shirt. I had just began to pack my bags when Rome entered the bedroom.

“Where’ve you been?” I asked.

“I was packing everything that we have scattered downstairs.” He answered, grabbing some jeans and a shirt from his drawer before going to the bathroom to take a shower.

I continued to throw all my clothes into the suitcases, grabbing a jacket, because it was going to be cold in Ohio; it was the end of November.

Rome came out of the bathroom about ten minutes later, dressed in his casual clothes.

“Rome… I’m so proud of you!” I squealed in mock joy, referring to his new wardrobe. He knew it, so he rolled his eyes and came to his dresser to unpack. I noticed how grossly organized it all was. The sight made bile rise up my throat.

Soon, I was finished, and Rome wasn’t, so I jumped onto the bed to order room service. After that was finished and dinner arrived, we ate, and I didn’t really feel like attempting to make conversation. My vacation in the Caribbean with Rome was nearly over, and even though we hadn’t reached our goal, I’d had a lot of fun.

After our last dinner in the Caribbean was over, I made Rome get our bags downstairs by the door while we waited for our taxi to the airport. When it arrived, I rolled my luggage outside, and helped put it all in the taxi trunk. To my disappointment, it wasn’t our reoccurring taxi driver.

“Can you go to the main building for this resort?” Rome asked the driver, who complied without a word. When we got there, Rome told me to wait in the cab so he could go return the key and pay for the expenses.

“That your boyfriend?” I heard the voice of the taxi driver, which wasn’t friendly or warm in the slightest.

“Um. Yeah.” I said, fidgeting in my seat. The man looked a little scruffy with an unshaved beard and really light blue eyes like ice. He was creepy.

When Max, who was previously sitting peacefully in my lap, started to growl, I got a little freaked. German shepherds, I thought, knew when there was danger.

“Whoa. You’ve got a dog there.” The man said. No shit, Sherlock. What’d he think it was? A breathing, panting, fur purse?

“Yeah.” I muttered, looking towards the main building, hoping and praying that Rome would walk out now. His presence was a huge comforter.

“Well, I hope your boyfriend treats you well.” I couldn’t help but stare incredulously at the back of his bald head. Was he serious?

“Sorry, sir, but that seems a bit too personal for you to discuss. So if you could, please stop.” I said, my voice showing how shocked I was.

“Oh. Right, ma’am. Of course.” Finally, with the accompaniment of hallelujah choruses, Rome walked out the door and approached the cab. When he got in and I held his upper arm with a vice-like grip, I’m sure he was confused, but I couldn’t explain at the time.

With Rome by my side and Max on my lap, I felt comforted. When we pulled up at the airport, I followed Rome out, muttering to him to not give a tip. Rome looked at me suspiciously, and paid that taxi driver, with the tip.

We rolled our luggage inside, and Rome told me to wait in the chairs while he went and ‘worked out our tickets.’ I sat in a chair, people on either side of me. One was a man, a young man, with business clothes on. He reminded me of Rome in a way, but really, not at all. He was completely engrossed in his phone, which I assumed he was working off of. On my other side was a women who looked frazzled, children to her right. She had red, frizzy hair and seemed to be looking around all the time.

When Rome returned, I got up, wanting to bid my not friends goodbye, but held it in. I heard over the PA that our flight was boarding, so I just followed Rome, trusting him to know where we were, because I sure didn’t.

We got in a line to board, and a woman checked our passports and tickets before telling us to have a nice flight to Centerville. I rolled my eyes. Right.

When we sat in our seats, my stomach rolled around in nervousness. I glanced at Rome’s hand, before smiling a little through my sickness.

Here we go again.