Before You Say I Do

I got back to the apartment safe and sound. Not that I really had any reason to go back there or go anywhere really. All I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry. But that would just mean I made the wrong decision when I know that it was right.

“Where were you Julie?” Finn asks as I walk into the room. I go straight past him and into my room, closing the door behind me. As far as I could tell, Finn was the only person home.

After a couple of minutes there was a knock on my door and then it opened. I had my face in my pillow, still trying not to cry. Finn sat beside me, rubbing my back. “what happened?”

I shake my head, not wanting to speak. “Juliana Skye Richards, why the hell did you not come home last night.” he asks, sounding more like Dakota than ever before. This actually made me laugh and I decided that I should probably tell someone.

“well, I went to Rose's vineyard yesterday, this woman I met the first time I came to Italy. And I ran into...well, you can probably guess who I ran into.”

“so you met the wonderful Stephanie?”

I chuckle, “my car wasn't starting and Stephanie had to go pick some friends up so she had Adam stay to fix my car. By the way, she didn't know about Adam and I. So anyways, Adam yelled at me, I yelled at him, he called me white trash and I slapped him.”

“Adam Edwin DiGerlando called you white trash?”

I smile, “his middle name is Edwin?” I ask.

“focus Julie. He called you white trash.”

“oh, yeah. So I slapped him and then rose came out and took us both by the ear and dragged us inside.”

“sounds like a nice lady.”

“definitely. She made us explain everything because she knew us when we were dating, the first time around. That took about five hours. Then she, you're going to laugh, she locked us in a room together.”

“you and Adam?”

“yes. In one very tiny room with only one bed. I didn't feel like sleeping in my jeans so I found a shirt that was too big on me and wore that. After a small fight about it, it was decided that we were both going to sleep in the bed.”

“I have a feeling this ends badly.”

“I woke up with Adams arms around me and he was kissing my shoulder. Then he moved up to my neck and...” I trail off.

Finn looked like he was going to faint, “you didn't?”

“no, we didn't. His hands were trailing up my thighs and I stopped anything from happening. He blamed me for not wanting to have sex with him and I told him I wasn't going to be his mistress. One thing led to another and I finally, officially, broke it off with him. So, Juliana and Adam are over and Skye and Adam are over. It's all over. We're not talking anymore. And in exchange for that, he gets Katie every summer. Starting this summer.”

“you think that's a good idea?”

“I want Katie to know her dad.”

“Dakota told me about Jon. I'm sorry that had to happen.”

I laugh one of those forced laughs. “when has my life ever been simple Finn? Since the day I met you I've been a complete mess. I finally thought my life was settling down but then this had to happen.”

“want to watch an Italian version of TMZ?” he asks, changing the subject.

“always.” we sit back on the bed and turn on the t.v. The first couple of actors I hadn't recognized but didn't really know.

I was dozing off when something caught my attention.

“penso che lei è in vacanza. E in essere in vacanza ha il diritto di uscire con altri ragazzi. (I think she's on vacation. And in being on vacation she has the right to hang out with other guys.”

“sure. Juliana può appendere fuori con gli altri. Ma per quanto riguarda Adam. È quello di sposarsi (sure. Juliana can hang out with others. But what about Adam. He's the one getting married.)”

“stai dicendo che I ragazzi non possono uscire con le ragazze? (are you saying that guys can't hang out with girls?)”

“quando ti sposi non si dovrebbe essere in giro con un'altra donna e sua figlia. (when you're getting married you shouldn't be hanging out with another woman and her daughter.)”

“aspetta un secondon. Juliana non ha detto ch il padre di Katie era italiano? (wait a second. Didn't Juliana say that Katie's father was Italian?)”

“leiè inItalia, portrebbe essere uno qualsiasi di loro. (She's in Italy, it could be any of them.)”

“ma perché è lei essere così amichevole con Adam poi? (but why is she being so friendly with Adam then?)”

“Ogni ragazzo ricco ha bisogno del suo amante. Adam trovato la sua. (every rich guy needs his mistress. Adam found his)”


And then they moved onto another famous person. Just like that. It only took a matter of minutes to destroy my life and my career.

I wasn't surprised when my phone started ringing. I wasn't surprised when I saw it was Jacqueline calling. What I was surprised about was her question, “he doesn't know, does he?”

“know about what?” I ask, confused and still dazed from the report.

“about the cake.”

“not at all.”

“okay good.” I knew she was about to hang up but I stop her.

“aren't you worried about everything?”

“why? Stephanie cheats on him constantly.” and with that the line went dead. I laugh nervously. That's all I could do at the moment. My life was beyond screwed up. It was practically tossed in a blender on puree, then put into a bottle and set on the road for it to be ran over by the cars. My life didn't exist anymore. Everything I worked for, everything I did, was gone.

“Juliana?” Finn asks. I didn't know if he was still in the room or not, but now I know.

“what?!” I ask rudely.

“um, I don't know how to put this but...well, there's someone at the door for you and she doesn't look too happy.” I didn't have time to respond because she had come into the room. “whoa. I did not say you could come in here!” Finn tells her.

It was Stephanie, standing there with her hands on her hips. “this is my fiances apartment. And, if I remember correctly, I told him to stay here last night.” Her English had improved a lot since I had talked to her on the phone. I laugh some as I see her standing there, “something funny?”

“you just said this was your fiances apartment.” I tell her.

She glares at me, “well it is.”

I shake my head, “actually, it's not. It's Jacqueline's apartment. She lived here before Adam was even born actually. She met Adam's dad down in the courtyard and they decided to keep the apartment for the memories. After he died, she still wanted to have some connection to the past so she continued to, well, have the apartment. She'd come here when she was stressed and would paint. Once Adam got older, she'd let him stay here and have some friends over. Such as Finn or myself. So you're wrong. This isn't Adam's apartment. It's his mom's. Just thought it was funny that you didn't even know that.”

“who are you?” Stephanie asks. Venom dropping off each syllable.

“I'm Finn Snyder, Adam's best friend.” Finn, being the gentleman he is, put out his hand for her to shake but she just stared at it like it was a disease.

“and you know who I am. I'm Juliana Skye Richards, your fiances white trash ex.” I decided to add in 'white trash' just for the fun of it.

“and what are you doing in Jacqueline's apartment?”

“well, I ran into Katelyn and she didn't feel like it was okay for us to stay at a hotel for the time we were here so she got her mom to allow us to stay here. Simple as that.”

“Why were you with Adam the other day?”

“at the park? Well, we used to date and I thought it would be rude to come here and not at least see how he was doing. Katie, my daughter as you know, loved hanging out with Adam when he was in Maine so we just had a fun time together. No harm done.” I tell her, “he's not cheating on you if that's what you're worried about.”

“Adam would never cheat on me, unlike you, he actually loves me.”

“um, okay...” I was confused why she added in that last part. Especially since it wasn't even true. “can I ask the questions now?”

She smirks, “what questions do you have?” she was acting like a snotty bitch and I really didn't like it.

“well, question number one, who's the father of Tristan?”

“since I know you won't tell...his name is Ben Davis.”

“and just so we're clear. Next time you want to call someone white trash, just look in mirror.” Finn covered his mouth to keep from laughing while Stephanie's jaw just dropped.

“what did you say to me?”

“I said-”

“I know what you said!” she stomped her foot and then left angrily. I laughed and walked over to the window to watch her leave.

Finn came next to me and what we saw was perfect blackmail. The guy in the car she cam in got out and kissed her as she came up. They started making out and Finn pulled out his phone, taking a picture.

We closed the curtains and he showed it to me, “what am I supposed to do with this?” he asks. It was a good picture, clearly showed that Stephanie was kissing another guy.

“you keep it to yourself.” I tell him and then walk into the kitchen.

Finn followed quickly, “Wait, why?”

I think back to the words Adam had said to me. How he had called me white trash and told me I was lying about Stephanie. “because, I don't want your guys' relationship ruined like mine was. It will be best if he just finds out on his own.”

Finn dropped the subject and I made us some food.

Only eleven days until the wedding.