Authors: Casey McMillin
They talked for an hour before leaving to grab lunch and a cup of coffee.
Julien felt like he was getting attached to her, and couldn't stand that he wouldn't be able to help her if she needed him while she was in France. As the time grew near for her to leave, Julien could feel the tension and nervousness building inside him. It was so bad that after they separated at the coffee shop, he actually searched flights to Paris. He didn't get a ticket, of course, but even searching was a big step for a guy like him.
Julien got a text from Shea later that evening asking if she could come by his house for a few minutes. He was expecting a couple of friends to come over later to play video games, but he was just chillin' for the moment. He told her she was welcome, and she said she'd come by within the hour. The author was standing there wearing an ugly Christmas sweater and the nerdiest glasses on the face of the earth when Julien opened his door less than thirty minutes later. He laughed as he hugged her.
"I'm only
gonna be here a few minutes," she said. "I just wanted to come by and let you know Chris and I have hired an investigator to check out that girl named Nadine." She sighed. "I know you like her and all, but the birthday thing was just too much for me and I sort of wanted some closure on what's going on."
Julien
believed Nadine. He knew in his gut she wasn't lying, but he could see why Shea was worried, and knew she was only doing it out of concern for him. "I see why you'd want to do it, because the whole thing seems crazy. I just happen to believe her and wish you'd spend the money on investigating that guy Pierre."
"
Don't tell me there's a
Pierre
," she said, incredulous to the point of laughter.
Julien had forgotten that was a fact Shea wasn't privy to yet. She knew there was an ex, but hadn't heard his name. "Yeah, her roommate says she gets letters from him."
Shea breathed a defeated sigh. "God, Julien, I have no idea what to make of all this."
"Neither do I."
"But you believe her?"
"Yeah I do. We were together all last night and I believe her now more than ever."
"You spent the
night
together?" Shea's eyes were huge. For some reason, that news hit her like a bomb.
"We slept
next to
each other. She left for France. She's on her way to Baton Rouge to catch her flight right now."
"She's going to France? That's not in the book," Shea said.
"I've already thought of that," Julien said. "I don't know if I should take comfort in that or be scared that she's traveling there and will be closer to him."
"You don't think he'd try to hurt her do you? What did she say about him? Is he a freak in the letters he sends? The Pierre in the book didn't send letters."
Julien shrugged, not knowing what to say really. "She said most of the time she just throws them away without reading them. And believe me, I noticed there was no trip to France in the book. There was something else that was inconsistent, and I wish I could remember what it was." Julien thought for a second. "Oh yeah, I remember. The real Nadine has a job as a bartender."
"So did the one in the book," Shea said.
Julien gave her a confused look. No she didn't. The only job ever talked about was being a teacher."
"No, she was a bartender for fun. That's where she got into the altercation that made her seek out MMA."
"I just read the book, Shea. I read it like three times
recently
trying to get a grip on what's going on. There is
no
mention of her being a bartender."
Shea shrugged. "Maybe I didn't
mention
it because it didn't pertain to the storyline. Maybe I thought it was enough information to just say she got into an altercation without explaining that it was while she was working. I don't honestly remember exactly
how
I worded it in the book, but in my head, which is what counts here, Nadine had a part-time job bartending."
Julien ran his hands over the side of his head like he always did when he felt frustrated.
"Shea, I'm sorry, but it feels like you're just fucking with me here. Why are you coming here telling me random facts that were
in your head
about the character—facts you didn't even bother mentioning in the book."
"I'm telling you because
you
brought it up. You're telling me it's an inconsistency and I'm telling you that was part of the character Nadine."
"Well next time just don't fuckin
' tell me stuff that didn't even make it to the book. This whole thing is messed up enough without additional freaky information."
"Well, if we know what's
consistent, it might be easier to figure out if we have anything to worry about on her birthday. We can't just ignore the similarities and hope they go away."
Julien sat on a
n ottoman and put his head in his hands. He stared at the floor for a minute before responding. "You're right, I guess. Are their any other facts you know about Nadine that weren't published?"
"Of course. There are
all sorts of things
I know about her and all my other characters that never make it into my books. There's a lot of background stuff makes them who they are, but doesn't make the cut."
"Does she have siblings?
"
"Sisters. I thought the book mentioned that."
"I don't think so."
Shea shrugged. "She has sisters. Both older."
"Do either of them have kids?"
"Yeah, I thought they had boys, but now I'm doubting myself."
"Does she play the harmonica?"
Shea looked at him like that was about the most off the
wall thing he could have asked. She shrugged. "I guess it's possible since she likes R&B, but I never really thought abou—"
"It doesn't really matter. D
o you remember
anything
that would help us figure out if she's in danger?" he continued.
"If I could sort something out, you'd be t
he first to know, I promise. You must know how bad I feel about all this, Julien. That's why Chris and I are hiring Ray."
"Ray's the investigator?"
"Yeah, I'll just let him go ahead as planned. He's looking into her background, and I'm sure that information could only help."
"You still don't believe her."
"Not a hundred percent, Julien, I'm not gonna lie. It's much easier for me to believe she's scamming you than it is to believe she's real."
"I know
. I can't say as I blame you," he said.
"But you still believe her?"
she asked.
"You've already asked me that exact same question earlier in this conversation. My answer isn't changing. She's
never read the book, and she's not lying about who she is."
Shea gave him a sweet, thoughtful smile as if to tell him she hoped that were true.
Really, either way, they were screwed. If Nadine was real, that meant they really needed to worry about Pierre.
"We'll find out more here soon. Ray assured us he'd g
et on it as soon as possible."
"I'm starting to doubt my decision not to tell her about the book. What if something happens in
France that could have been prevented if I would have told her?"
"That's your call. I honestly don't know what I would do if I were in your shoes."
Julien ultimately decided to keep the secret for the time being. If there was something specific he could warn her about or the tragedy in the book had happened in France, he would have reconsidered. He'd already told her to be wary of Pierre, and aside from that, there was nothing else he could do. He tried not to worry about things that were beyond his control.
Julie
n spent Christmas at his mom's. He was sitting on the couch in the middle of the afternoon when he heard the phone vibrate. He thought it was a text, but he picked up his phone to see that it was an email. It was from Nadine, and there was a photo attached. It was a picture of Nadine holding her baby nephew. She looked happy, and Julien smiled just looking at it. It was the second email he'd received from her since she'd been gone, but the other one didn't have a picture attached. He stared at it, feeling like he'd never wanted a girl like he wanted that one. His thoughts roamed to the book and he thought about the way Julien in the book had fallen head over heels for Nadine. He was just freaking like that guy. He couldn't wait for her to get home.
Christmas came and went, and in a flash, it was New Years Day
. It didn't surprise Julien when everything Shea's investigator came up with was consistent with who Nadine claimed to be, and he wished Shea would have asked him to focus more on the ex-boyfriend. At least nobody could doubt Nadine's honesty anymore.
****
Meanwhile, Nadine was having a ball in Paris, seeing her family and catching up with them. Her new nephew, Tristan, was so adorable, and she spent hours holding him and cooing over him in French.
Nadine's oldest sister, Pascal,
had inherited two stepchildren when she married her filthy rich investment banker of a husband. The romance was fast and their wedding was fairly recent, so Nadine had only met the kids a couple of times. They were really sweet and everything, but this new baby instantly had a special place in Nadine's heart. It belonged to her middle sister, Emile, who married her long time boyfriend a year before. Nadine loved Eric like he was her own brother, and thought Tristan was the luckiest baby in the world to have Emile and Eric as parents.
The whole family had
eaten a big New Year's lunch but Pascal and her crew had long since gone home. At that very moment, Nadine's mom and her sister Emile were in the kitchen warming up leftovers for dinner, and Nadine was sitting in the front family room with Eric, watching Tristan sleep in a bassinette.
"You seem well," Eric said.
"I'm doing well," Nadine agreed.
"Emile said you were getting into fighting. Did you see that fight where that guy broke his leg?"
"I wouldn't say I'm
into
fighting, but I'm going to this really great gym, and I'm sort of seeing, I, well, not really seeing, but, there's a guy. He's a fighter."
"Do you have a beau?" Eric asked with a teasing grin. "Emile didn't tell me."
"I didn't mention it to her." Nadine said. "I guess it still felt too new."
"I won't say anything if you don't want me to, but she'd
want to hear all about it, I'm sure."
"I know," Nadine said. "I'll probably tell her before I head back to the states."
"Oh, and speaking of boyfriends, you'll never believe who Emile and I ran into the other day," Eric said.
Nadine knew before he told her the answer that he was going to say Pierre.
"Who?" she asked.
"Pierre Bellard."
She sighed. "He still writes."
"I'm not surprised," Eric said. "He's still crazy about you."
"Crazy how?"
Eric laughed. "I don't know. H
e was just sort of
dying
to hear how you were doing. He kept asking like a thousand questions. Finally Emile told him we had to be going."
"Did he seem dangerous or anything?" Nadine asked, thinking of Juilien's warning that she should
be watchful of Pierre if she came across him while in France.
Eric laughed again. "Pierre?" I think he might be the
least threatening
person I've ever seen." His amusement made Nadine feel better.
She let out a laugh. "I know, right?"
"You might as well tell your sister you have a boyfriend because she's going to figure it out."
"He's not my, I mean not that I wouldn't, because I definitely would, but he and I aren't, there's nothing official at least
…"
Eric's eyebrows rose at her ramblings, and she know she was digging herself deeper with every word, but couldn't make herself shut up.
"What's his name?" Eric asked.
"Julien."
"Is he French?"
"He's Cajun French by blood, but he doesn't speak the language or anything."
"What's his last name?"
"Breaux."
"French for sure. Your papa would be proud."
"Don't tell them," Nadine said.
"I'm not sure if I'll tell them about it on this trip. You know how they worry."
Just then, Emile
called Eric into the kitchen to tell their parents a story.
"I'll stay in here with Tristan. I want to check my email anyway.
" Nadine said.
"Expecting something from
Julien?" Eric said with that teasing grin.
"
Noooo
," Nadine said, even though that's
exactly
who she was hoping to hear from.
He turned to walk to the kitchen, and Nadine found herself alone with a sleeping baby in a quiet room. Her laptop had been
lying on the floor charging, and she unplugged it and sat on the couch with it. There was no email from Julien, which made her feel a little disappointed. Talking about Julien's last name made Nadine remember something. When they were in that bar after the fights that night a guy asked him if he thought he was Julien something or other. He mentioned a last name that was Saint-something. St. John, St. James? She typed Julien St. John into Google images, and pictures of several different random guys came up, none of which looked like they pertained to Julien.