Julian: A Dark Angel Series Companion Novella (Dark Angel #3) (14 page)

“I need to get Andy home. It’s past his bedtime.”

Slightly offended, I offer to round up Ash and help take him to her car.

She buckles Andy in who is exhausted from the running around; shutting the door behind her, she turns to face me.

“Thank you, for being a friend,” she whispers.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. Take care of yourself, Adriana.”

She nods, and moves towards the car. I want so much to embrace her, but she needs her space and I can’t push her.

“Bye, Julian. Take care of yourself as well, okay?”

Her eyes don’t lie; I see something, and this time it is not my imagination. I’ve learned from my mistakes, and forcing her to feel the same way about me is not an option.

Adriana is just like a wilted flower: with the correct love and attention, she will blossom again. I may not be that person for her, but one thing I know for sure is there is no one else who deserves to find happiness as much as Adriana. She is a warrior; she experienced love and loss, wearing her battle scars as a reminder that her love cannot be forgotten. Anyone who comes close to that will never replace him.

But a close second is all I can hope for.

The fast bustle of the travelers disguised me as I sat on the row of seats, ticket in one hand and a heavy heart in the other.

This was the right thing to do.

My heart was sobbing like a lovesick fool, but it was my head that waved its flag saying, “Listen to me for once.”

And so I did.

She deserved better. She deserved a man who would love her and Andy unconditionally, together as a whole.

Did I love her?

I felt something, but I was in denial. You see, Julian Baker had a habit of falling head over heels in love, but always to forget.

Adriana didn't replace anyone; she stood her own. 

And I needed to walk away to makes sure my feelings were justified.

The announcement is made for final boarding call, a thousand mile across the ocean; I honestly couldn't be going further away from her. I grab my carry-on and join the line. Slowly, like a marching order, we walk, filing into one line. I hear my name being called but it’s an illusion.
Just move on.
It's getting closer, and as I turn around I see Adriana running towards me, pushing others out of the way until she is in front of me. She places her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

"Adriana? What are you doing here?" I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

She attempts to talk but is halted by the lack of air in her lungs. "Oh my god, I am so unfit!"

I let out a laugh; putting my bag down, I gently say her name again. With her big brown eyes she stares back at me, a deep stare that makes me feel as though I'm looking into her soul. Moments are spent lost in a trance, a feeble attempt to read her thoughts.

"I don't know what will happen. I can't make promises. There is only one thing I'm sure of. I want to live to see Andy grow. And..." She watches me as she speaks, her eyes wide. “I want to see where we can go.”

My heavy chest lightens as she says the words I so desperately want to hear, yet never realized how much until this very moment. I wipe the tear falling down her face. "I have to do this, Adriana. I have to go find myself, but..." I search her face and she smiles. "I want to see where this can go, too."
She stands there shuffling her feet with a huge grin on her face. Her body relaxes, but I know not to take this too far. As Hazel said, she is living and breathing. There are ways to make this work; I don’t need to rush fate, or whatever the hell it was that brought us into each other’s lives.

“Promise you’ll email?” she asks.

“I promise to email.” I smile.

“Promise you’ll call?” she adds.

“I promise to call.”

The announcement blares over the speakers and the line is becoming shorter. With only minutes left, I think carefully about the right move to make.

“I don’t expect you to wait for me…in fact, if you find someone, you know…like to…”

I cut her off and place my hand into hers. “
Adriana…you’re worth waiting for.”
And with that, I raise her hand towards my lips and tilt it sideways, placing my lips on the scars that cover her wrists. Kissing them sends a warm feeling rushing inside me, and in that moment I know why everything that happened before this moment happened. All in that one kiss I know I want nothing more than to show her how strong my feelings are, and the best thing I can do for us right now is to heal on my own.

“Thank you,” she mouths, the beautiful smile on her face rocking me to the core.             

I let go, not forever but for right now, and walk away knowing good things come to those who wait.

And Adriana is a
great
thing.             

Sneak Peek into
Adriana

The concierge escorted me to the private area that looked out onto the harbor. I thanked him, offering a tip, but he kindly refused. Gosh, what a swell fella.

I had an awful habit of crossing my fingers whenever I was nervous, childish as it may be, and right now nervous would be a huge understatement. Behind these doors lies a feeling that frightens me. A feeling that I have desperately tried to push aside because the moment I allow the thought to linger, the guilt will eat me alive.

I turn the corner, my heart hammering in my chest. My airways close in and I think I am going to run out of air, until I see him, standing by his lonesome staring out into the harbor.

He is perfectly still, dressed in his black tuxedo, hair styled to perfection. Deep and lost in thought, he makes no move and fails to notice my presence.

Still thinking about my opening line, I watch him pull his cell out of his suit pocket, frantically typing away. The vibration in my clutch makes me smile.

Did you know the Queen Mary 2 is the largest boat ever to enter Sydney harbor?

I want to burst out laughing at his text. As much as I told him that his random facts served no purpose, I loved these texts purely because I never knew what to say and guess what, majority of the time I had no idea and actually learned something new. He was like a walking encyclopedia.

I quickly think of a witty response.

You’d be surprised with how educated I am in boat trivia. Did you know that Dionne Warwick sung the theme song to Love Boat?

He reads the text, and I see his shoulders move up and down as he quietly laughs to himself. He quickly responds.

Now that you’ve mentioned it, it’s stuck in my head. If I sing it out loud at the party, I think they’ll ship me back to the States. I guess it’ll distract me from this extremely uncomfortable suit I’m wearing.

It’s now or never, no turning back, especially since I flew fourteen hours to get here. I had to grow some lady balls, that’s all there was to it.

Stop complaining like a girl, you look very handsome if I say so myself.

As he reads the text, his body stiffens and even from behind, I can see his chest rising and falling. He tilts his head slightly, allowing me to catch a glimpse of his profile. His eyes are closed, and with bated breath, I wait anxiously for him to notice I am standing right behind him.

Like a flicker of a switch, he eyes open and his body turns to face me.

My heart is now in overdrive, beating excitedly as the smile widens across his perfectly chiseled jaw.

“
Adriana,”
he says, barely a whisper.

My body moves towards him, my knees threatening to buckle. Only an arm’s reach apart, I stop.

“You said you needed a plus one. It was either me or Penny, and trust me, it was not that easy to convince Penny to stay home.” I am unable to stop grinning as I watch his expression.

He places his hands in his pockets, almost like he’s trying to stop himself from physically reaching out to me. It’s the small gestures like this that make me want him even more. He has understood me, seen me at my worst, accepted me for who I am and who I will forever be bonded to.

He walks over to the table by the window and pulls a flower out of the large vase. Walking back towards me, he grabs my wrist and ties the stem into a knot, making a corsage. “Thank you,
plus one.”

It could have been my heart thumping so loud or the blood pumping in my veins that made me do the unexpected. The one thing I knew would change everything about who I was and what we were… I jump onto my tippy toes and place my arms around his neck, embracing him tight.

At first he is still, then his body relaxes, and he moves his arms around my back.

Everything about this feels right, yet everything about it is
so
wrong.

How could I fall in love with a man who hated my brother and loved my best friend?

Worse yet, how could I fall in love again?

And just like that, the pang of guilt hits me as the tears I try to hold in fall freely onto Julian’s shoulder.