Why Romeo Hates Juliet (26 page)

After supper, Romeo announced that he wanted to go for a walk on the beach with his wife. At first, Juliet had squawked, saying she was just too tired right now, but when he’d commented that it might help him to remember if he was able to relax more, she had quickly agreed to accompany him.

Outside, the sun was low on the horizon and dusk was fast approaching. A gentle breeze sliced through the warm air and the ocean tide kept lapping at the shore. It was a perfect summer’s evening and as they walked towards the water, Romeo unexpectedly grabbed her hand and intertwined his fingers through it. He felt a resistant tug from her at first, having caught her by surprise, but then he felt her relax into the moment. Her delicious body heat enveloped him as they lazily strolled through the warm, soft sand and Romeo felt at peace with the world, as if this moment with her was exactly where destiny intended him to be. He’d felt a lot of moments like that with her lately and he didn’t know why, but it felt good and he wasn’t going to question it.

Walking hand-in-hand, they slowly approached the water’s edge and spotting a starfish on the beach, he started walking towards it, tugging Juliet along with him. “Look at that starfish. These waters around here must house millions of them,” he said, transfixed by the marine animal.

Juliet suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, a good six feet away from the shore. “I think this is far enough,” she announced and then began walking paral ell to the water’s edge, pulling him with her. Her eyes kept darting to the lapping ocean, making sure she was far enough away from the incoming tide.

Romeo noticed her apprehension right away. In fact, he was noticing everything about her lately and her emotions were becoming almost an extension of his. He’d felt how her body had suddenly tensed the second she’d approached the water, and even now as they were strolling along the beach, her eyes were glued to the ocean’s movements. As each gentle tide brushed up on the sand, she kept scooting out of its way even though she was in no danger of having it reach her feet. What was all this about, he wondered?

“You don’t like the water?” he asked casually, as if he was only half-interested in her response. But he was interested - very, very interested. In fact, he wanted to know everything about her, like someone who’d just developed a new hobby and wanted to learn all there was about it.

Juliet glanced at the water and a shiver of fear ran down her spine. “The water and I have an understanding. It stays over there,” she pointed to the vast, expansive ocean, “And I stay over here.” She pointed to the sand under her feet. “Can we talk about something else, please?” Romeo sensed that she was on the verge of shutting down on him, so he changed the subject quickly. “It’s a beautiful evening, isn’t it?”

“I guess,” she responded, still too preoccupied with the water’s movements to notice how Romeo was intently studying her.

“Who lives next door?” Romeo nodded towards Sara’s in-law’s beach house. “I haven’t seen any neighbors.” Juliet looked up to see them approaching the house. “Umm - that’s Sara’s house. She’s only staying with us for awhile to help me out with your amnesia. Which reminds me, are you remembering anything yet? Does any of this look familiar?” She turned to him with a glimmer of hope twinkling in her eyes.

“Nope, not yet,” he announced.

Juliet’s shoulders slumped with dejection. “Tommy called today and said that he and Dr. Burrel are coming by tomorrow to check up on you and take you to the hospital to have your shoulder looked at.”

They’d reached the edge of the girls’ property and turned around to walk back. This time Romeo was closest to the water’s edge and he felt Juliet let out a sigh of relief.

“Okay,” Romeo agreed, as he kept watching her under his lashes. “Maybe a session with Dr. Burrel will jog something in this hard head of mine.”

She laughed suddenly. “Sara thinks Dr. Burrel should use a shovel instead. She says that’ll jar something loose in there alright.” Romeo loved to hear her laugh - except when she was laughing at him, of course. “Your sister is not one of my biggest fans, is she?” Juliet immediately stopped laughing and turned to him. “Why did you use that word - ‘fan’?” she questioned.

Damn it, Romeo thought. He’d better stay on point with his amnesia story and be careful not to slip up again. Nonchalantly, he shrugged. “Just a figure of speech. I just meant she doesn’t like me very much. It’s the vibe I get from her.”

“Oh,” a disappointed Juliet mumbled. For a moment, she’d hoped that Romeo had remembered that he was someone who did have ‘fans’.

Maybe subconsciously, little bits of his true self were starting to finally come out? She made a mental note to ask Dr. Burrel about that tomorrow.

Regaining her composure, she continued. “It’s not that my sister doesn’t like you, it’s that she loves me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Romeo, Dr. Burrel said I’m not supposed to be giving you any information. You’re supposed to remember on your own, so we’ll just leave it at that, okay?”

Hand-in-hand, they strolled quietly for a few seconds before Romeo broke the silence. “There is one thing I’ve been meaning to ask you. Why don’t either of us wear wedding rings?” Okay, let’s see how she answers that one, he thought, as he looked down at their empty ring fingers on each of their left hands.

Juliet followed his gaze. On no, she hadn’t thought about wedding bands. How could she have missed that? She’d have to think fast and come up with some sort of explanation for him.

“I…umm, neither of us like wearing rings, so we keep them in the safety deposit box at the bank,” she fibbed. “Look Romeo, like I said, you’re supposed to be remembering these things on your own,” she admonished, silently hoping that her stern tone of voice would prevent him from asking anymore questions.

“Okay, okay, don’t get mad, I was just wondering, that’s all.”

An awkward silence enveloped them both as they continued their stroll along the beach. Juliet peeked at him from underneath her lashes. He was facing forward and deep in thought. Was he remembering anything, she wondered? She looked down at their intertwined fingers and she could feel the pressure he was exerting on her hand. It was almost as if he never wanted to let her go.

But of course, that was how a husband would feel about his wife, wasn’t it? And he believed she was his wife, the woman he loved and was committed to. Only she knew the real truth, and as Sara had told her many times, she shouldn’t be encouraging him too much because soon he would remember everything and he’d hate her all over again.

Juliet suddenly tugged her fingers free. “It’s getting a bit chilly,” she muttered. “I’ll see you inside.” She turned then and trudged back towards the house, a lonely figure in the dusk light.

Frowning, Romeo watched her leave, none too happy that his plans for her had been cut short. After all, he hadn’t even had a chance to kiss those soft lips of hers again - which he’d been about to do, if she hadn’t left so unexpectedly.

~ ~ ~

It was 2:45 in the morning and Romeo was drinking a scotch on the rocks by one of the patio tables out back. The night had settled and the house was dark and silent, the girls having gone to bed a little after he’d come in from his evening stroll on the beach.

Juliet had been very quiet after he’d come back to the house and she’d mumbled a quick good-night to him before disappearing upstairs. Sara had followed her sister an hour later, after making sure he was fine for the evening.

Not feeling the least bit tired, Romeo had instead stayed up and wandered around the house. He’d gone upstairs after awhile, but after tossing and turning for an hour, he’d gotten up and come back down for a drink, hoping that that would have helped him fall asleep. He’d stopped taking his painkil ers earlier because he was scared of getting addicted to them, but now without the medication coursing through his system, his shoulder was bothering him - as was his conscience - and he was hoping the strong whiskey could help with both.

He suddenly heard a rustling sound behind him and thinking it was Juliet, quickly hid the glass of alcohol he was holding in his good hand behind his back as he spun around, but it was only Sara.

A glimmer of a smile flitted across Sara’s lips as she confronted him. “Don’t worry. It’s only me, but isn’t that going to interfere with your meds?” She pointed to the drink he was hiding behind his back as she plopped down into one of the patio chairs at the table and pulled the lapels of her housecoat tighter around her to keep her warm against the evening breeze.

Romeo smiled and brought the glass around, as he too slid into one of the chairs opposite her. “Why swallow painkil ers when you can drink them?” He lifted the glass high in the air and toasted her. “You’re not going to rat me out to your sister, are you?” Sara laughed. “No. It’ll be our little secret.” She noticed then how he was awkwardly trying to massage his injury after he placed his glass on the table. “Is your shoulder bothering you tonight?”

“A little. I guess I didn’t realize how much pain those little pills were masking. But I’m a big boy, I can take it.” He gave her one of his best and most dazzling movie star smiles and Sara shook her head at him. She could see how millions of women around the world could fall for his handsome, charming spell. Even with all that hair on his face and unkempt hobo appearance, he still exuded a raw sex appeal that shone through him like a light that burned from within and made him stand out in a crowd.

She could also see how her big sister could fall for him. Heck, if she wasn’t already married, she could have been brought under his magical spell too. But she knew that with Juliet it was different. Her sister was beginning to have genuine feelings for him and Sara could sense that Romeo, confused and lost in forgotten memories as he now was, was beginning to have real feelings for her too. It was just a very messy and very dangerous situation all around and Sara was so afraid that Juliet would end up being the one who got hurt once he remembered everything and left her to go back to his big-time, Holl ywood life.

Romeo broke into her thoughts. “Is your sister afraid of the water?” he asked her outright as he nodded towards the ocean.

Sara was taken aback. “Why do you ask?” she questioned.

His eyes lowered to the drink in his hand and he swished the whiskey around causing the ice cubes to tinkle as they hit the glass. “I don’t know.

I kinda got that impression tonight when we were walking on the beach together. She was scared…” he paused and looked up at Sara then, before continuing, “No, not scared - she was terrified anytime the water got near her. I saw it in her face. What’s up with that?”

“Look, Romeo, your doctor told us that we’re not supposed to tell you things because…” He interrupted her forcefully, “Save the speech, Sara. Juliet gave it to me a few times already. I want to know. Why did I see sheer terror in your sister’s eyes tonight?”

Reluctantly sighing, Sara sensed that he wasn’t going to be put off easily. She figured knowing why Juliet was afraid of water wasn’t in any way going to impede his recovery, so she might as well tell him the truth.

“When Juliet was eight and I was six, we spent some time at a family friend’s cottage. Between us, we call it the ‘summer of hell ’ because our parents split up then and Juliet nearly drowned.” She stared into his baby blue eyes which were intensely fixed on her and not blinking. She continued, “Juliet couldn’t swim and she got pushed into the lake by one of the other kids. No one had seen it happen until the kid that pushed her - I guess after she realized that my sister wasn’t coming back up for air - ran to her mother for help. The mom dove in and found her lifeless body at the bottom of the lake and pulled her out. She gave her mouth-to-mouth and brought her back. When Juliet got fished out though, she wasn’t breathing and it took a while for her to wake up. We all thought she was dead. I was crying, my mother was screaming; it was horrible.” Romeo felt like he’d just been punched in the stomach as he listened to Sara recount the story. My God, he had never expected this. No wonder he’d seen the terror in her eyes tonight as the tide had kept creeping towards her. Now it all made sense.

An overwhelming urge to protect her from any bad thing ever happening to her enveloped him. He never wanted to see terror in those beautiful eyes of hers again. The impulse coursing through him right now was so powerful that he wanted to leap out of the chair, go wake her up and hold her tightly in his arms until every awful, painful memory was erased forever. But he did no such thing because his conscience, at how he was playing her, suddenly reared up within him. A wave of guilt immediately hit him as he admitted to himself that he was the one creating the bad memories for her now. Feeling ashamed, he lowered his eyes from Sara’s questioning ones.

“Can Juliet swim now?” he mumbled, as he stared into the amber liquid in his glass, already knowing the answer to that.

Sara shook her head, “No. She refuses to learn. I’ve begged her for years to take lessons so that she can get over this fear, but she won’t. She thinks she knows better.”

He gave a short laugh. “Typical,” he muttered.

Sara smiled. “To know my sister is to know how stubborn she is.”

He nodded in agreement, and as he kept staring into his whiskey glass, the two fell into a pensive silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

~ ~ ~

Romeo had been very quiet the next morning after their stroll on the beach the night before and Juliet wondered why. He hadn’t woken her up early as he’d done the day before and he hadn’t asked her to help him with his bath or make breakfast for him or anything else. He’d barely mumbled a good morning as she’d passed him in the upstairs hallway. Why was he avoiding her?

Downstairs, while making breakfast, she’d told her sister about Romeo’s moody behavior and Sara had shrugged her shoulders. “I saw him on the patio last night when I couldn’t sleep and it was really late. Maybe he’s just tired this morning?” At breakfast, Romeo had eaten in silence and had kept his head down, avoiding Juliet’s eyes after mumbling a quick ‘thank you’ to her for making his eggs over easy this morning. She’d tried to engage him in light conversation, but he wouldn’t budge and only gave her one word answers. What was wrong, she wondered? Yesterday she couldn’t get him to shut up and stop bothering her, but today he wouldn’t even look at her.

Had she done something to upset him? Was he angry with her? Or was his shoulder injury more painful than before and he was refusing to admit it?

She knew that he’d stopped taking his painkil ers last night. Maybe that was it? Was the pain becoming unbearable?

Well, at least he had the doctor’s appointment at the hospital later this morning and they’d be able to do something for him there. Tommy had called a half hour ago and told her that he and Doctor Burrel would be by soon to pick Romeo up and drive him to his visit. Juliet had asked if she should accompany him too, but Tommy had laughed and insisted that Romeo would be just fine in their capable hands and they’d bring him back in one piece. Juliet stared at his bent head again as he silently ate his food. What was going on with him???

What was going on with Romeo Boyd was that guilt was eating him up alive and he could barely stand to look into those beautiful eyes of hers for fear that he would see his own rotten, lying, scamming reflection staring back at him. In the greater spectrum of his life, today was not one of his proudest. How could he be deceiving her like this? Yeah, sure, she’d shot him and he was mad about that, but two wrongs never did make a right and what he was doing to her now was wrong - absolutely and irrevocably. She believed he had amnesia and truth be told, she was holding up her end of the bargain and doing everything she could to help him get better. Maybe she hadn’t shot him on purpose, as he’d originally believed, and it had in fact been an accident. It was obvious from the minute he’d come home that she was sorry for what had happened. She’d cooked for him, cleaned for him and helped him in every way that he’d ask her to, hoping that she could help him get his memories back and atone for her mistake.

And what had he done? He’d lied to her, scammed her, played her; and used the guilt he knew she was feeling over the shooting to manipulate her even more. There were no gold stars being offered for his behavior either and if he was honest with himself, he knew that he was just as much to blame for it all as she was.

After Sara had gone to bed last night, Romeo had made himself another drink and walked the beach in the dark, alone with his thoughts. What she had told him about Juliet nearly drowning as a child had made everything seem so real. Juliet was a real woman with real feelings, both light and dark, and to think that she’d nearly died all those years ago sent a shiver of fear down his spine. If she’d been at the bottom of that lake another minute or if that kid hadn’t told her mother about what had happened, eight-year-old Juliet would never have grown up into the beautiful, exciting woman she was now. Her life would have been cut short, the world would never have known her special light, and he would never have had the chance to meet her - his Juliet. Funny that he was starting to think of her as ‘his’ Juliet, but that’s the way he’d been thinking of her lately. Even when he’d been furious at her, he’d been furious at ‘his’ Juliet.

His eyes flew up from his breakfast plate then and he stared at her hard, as she sat across from him at the table drinking her coffee. “You look beautiful today, Juliet,” he whispered, the words tumbling effortlessly from his lips.

Surprised, Juliet lowered her mug. “Thank you,” she mumbled, caught by his enigmatic and intense gaze.

“You’re an amazing person, helping me and caring for me like you’re doing. I just wanted you to know that…” Suddenly, his speech was halted by the sound of the front doorbel ringing.

She held her breath and when he remained silent, she prodded him. “You want me to know what, Romeo?” But the moment had passed and he broke the spell with a quick, casual smile. “That I appreciate everything that you’re doing for me,” he stated politely.

She frowned, sensing that he’d been about to say something else, but what? Were some of his memories returning? Was that it? She was just about to question him further when she saw Sara leading Faith into the kitchen, both girls carrying bags of groceries from their friend’s store.

“Hi, Faith,” Juliet smiled. “I don’t think you’ve met my husband, Romeo Boyd.” She gave her friend a quick wink behind the movie star’s back, as if to say ‘remember he thinks I’m his wife’. She continued, “Romeo, this is Faith, a new friend of ours. She and her husband, Brad, own the Cavendish General Store.”

Romeo quickly got up from the table and gave her a devastating smile. “hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, as he came forward to give her a strong hug.

Faith was dazzled and practically speechless. She was actually getting to meet a real, live, genuine celebrity from Holl ywood and not just any celebrity, but a sexy, hot, action hero, A-lister whom she’d drooled over in countless movies.

“Romeo… Romeo Boyd,” she gasped out, half choking out his name in between gulps of air. “I can’t be - believe it!” she gushed, as she reluctantly let him go.

“So you’re a friend of Juliet & Sara’s?”

In a catatonic state, Faith nodded, her wide eyes focused on his gorgeous blue ones. “Ro - Romeo - Bo - Boyd…” she half mumbled to herself again.

Juliet frowned at Faith’s display of being star struck. Had she forgotten that Romeo had amnesia and didn’t know that he was a Holl ywood celebrity?

Romeo was grinning at Faith. “I guess that means you like me?” he teased.

“What Faith means is that she’s never met you, but has heard a lot about you from Sara and I, isn’t that right, Faith?” Juliet gave her friend a

‘watch-what-you’re-saying’ scowl.

On seeing her friend’s frown, Faith snapped out of her dreamy state. “Oh - right, I mean I’ve never met you, Mr. Boyd, only Carrie Ann and Kristen…” then realizing that she shouldn’t have mentioned the two girls by name, she tried to backtrack. “I - I mean, the two girls that…” She caught Sara scowling at her then and saw Juliet shaking her head ‘no’ behind Romeo’s back, “I mean - I don’t know what I mean. I’m just confused this morning.” Faith sighed, surrendering to her big blunder.

Romeo laughed. “Well, that makes two of us,” he cracked.

At that, the girls all stared at each other for a split second before bursting into laughter, joining him in his little joke.

He really did have an incredible sense of humor, Juliet thought, as she caught him glancing her way. And she also liked the fact that he never seemed to take himself too seriously. And he had such a positive outlook about his amnesia, never getting down on himself about it, but always hoping for the best. She liked that about him too. But most of all, she liked - no loved - how he loved her, his wife. His love for her was always there, like a third person in the room. You could feel it, anyone could. It was palatable, a living, breathing emotion that colored everything everywhere. Only

- she wasn’t really his wife, was she? And he really wasn’t Romeo Boyd, the used car salesman and charming husband, was he? And he didn’t really love her either. Juliet stopped laughing and turned away so that no one could see tears misting up in her eyes. Sadness enveloped her as she realized that she would never know that kind of love from him, and it was all an illusion to be played out until his true memories returned which could be at anytime.

But what if they didn’t return? What if they could stay together like this forever? What if they could just live the fantasy - husband and wife - in love forever? But even as she was thinking it, she knew it could never be. That was just plain crazy. He deserved to remember the truth and his true self, and she deserved to have someone who loved her for real and not a relationship based on illusion. Their fairytale love right now was just a sand castle and everyone knew what happened to sand castles. They eventually got stomped on.

Juliet gave her head a slight shake that grounded her back down to reality. She looked down at the elastic rubber band encircling her wrist that she’d worn constantly since her sister had given it to her. Sara and Nana had both been right. Thinking like that was dangerous and she needed to

‘snap’ out of it. And the sooner Romeo remembered who he really was, the better for everyone. Suddenly, she couldn’t wait for him to remember so that she could have her own life back. It couldn’t happen soon enough!

As the laughter in the kitchen was subsiding, Juliet turned to the movie star. “Are you having a session with Dr. Burrel today?” she asked in a business-like tone.

Immediately noticing the change in her, Romeo frowned slightly. What had happened with her from one second laughing with them to now this?

He nodded, “Yes, I am and…” he stopped in mid-sentence as the back door opened and in walked Tommy and Nick. Romeo continued, “Speak of the devil…” he quipped as he turned to Nick, “Good morning, Dr. Burrell.”

Nick nodded back, “Morning, Romeo. Ladies…” he acknowledged the women in the room with a sweeping glance. He turned back to his patient. “And how are you feeling today? Have you made any progress?”

“None,” Romeo replied with a steely glare, irritated at having his conversation with Juliet interrupted.

Nick nodded. “We’ll have a session after your hospital visit this morning.”

Juliet stepped forward. “Faith, this is Romeo’s psychiatrist, Dr. Zack Burrell, and that’s Tommy, Romeo’s best friend.” She turned to the boys.

“Faith owns the general store in town.”

Faith smiled at Tommy. “You I’ve met before. You’ve been in my store, right?”

Tommy acknowledged her. “That’s right. You sell some of the best fresh baked bread I’ve ever tasted.”

“Thanks!” Faith turned to Dr. Burrel then and smiled. “And you’ve been in my store too, haven’t you?” The soap actor was taken aback. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve only been in town a couple of days.” Faith’s eyebrows lowered in a quizzical pose. “Are you sure? I know I’ve met you somewhere before. You look very familiar to me.”

“We’re staying at The Charlottetown Hotel. Maybe you’ve seen me there?”

Faith nodded. “Could be. We provide their restaurant with fresh pasta, so I’m always delivering to them.” Nick gave her an interested but slightly lewd look. “Faith, if I’d met you before, I would’ve remembered. I never forget a pretty face.” She blushed at the compliment. “That’s so nice of you to say, Dr. Burrell,” she gushed.

“It’s Zack to you.” He gave her a cheesy wink.

Romeo, on the other hand, was frowning dangerously at Nick’s obvious interest in Faith. Damn it, that guy was always on the prowl, wasn’t he?

“Sorry to interrupt the lovefest, but I’ve got a hospital appointment to get to,
doctor.
” The words ripped out of him impatiently.

Nick focused on his paymaster’s irritated expression. “Oh, right. We can leave now if you want.”

“I want. Let me just make a bathroom stop and I’ll be right back down.” Romeo left the kitchen.

As soon as he disappeared upstairs, Juliet approached Nick. “Doctor, can I speak to you privately, maybe outside?”

“Certainly, Juliet.” Nick put his hand behind her back, as he followed her out. Faith was beautiful, the soap actor was thinking to himself, but Juliet was exquisite. In fact, all the women he’d met so far on Prince Edward Island were gorgeous and Juliet was the cream of the crop. He was very interested in finding out what she wanted and how he could ‘give’ it to her.

Walking side by side along the sandy beach, Juliet finally stopped when they were a fair distance from the house. She turned to him then, her eyes getting misty. “Doctor, he’s not getting any better and I don’t know what to do anymore,” she suddenly sobbed, as tears began to cascade down her cheeks.

Nick put a comforting arm around her shoulders, giddy that he was finally having an excuse to touch her. “You’ve got to give him time, Juliet. It’s only been a few days and he’s still adjusting to his new state of mind. It’s all very confusing for him right now.” His hand began to slowly caress the length of her arm.

Juliet innocently gazed up at him with her wet eyes. “But - everything is so confusing for me too, and I don’t think I’m helping him very much.” More tears fell and she lowered her head, trying to wipe the wetness away as much as she could.

“Juliet,” Nick gently lifted her chin up with his finger so that she was forced to look into his eyes. “You’re doing an amazing job. I can tell because Romeo already looks stronger and healthier physically, and mentally is just a matter of time. Take heart. He’ll recover sooner than you think. And I’m here to help you, never forget that.”

She smiled at him and suddenly, as a wave of gratitude engulfed her, she threw her arms around him and gave him a big hug. “Thank you so much, Dr. Burrell. I’m glad we’re not alone in this.”

Nick, of course, hugged her right back, reveling in how fantastic she felt in his arms. And her hair - God, what did she use to wash it? It smelled wonderful and fresh and pure. Not like the typical female head of hair in LA which smelled like cigarettes and desperation. A woman in his arms hadn’t felt this right since his ex-wife, Viv. He smiled to himself as seedy thoughts of him and Juliet, together in bed, streamed through his brain.

* * *

Romeo Boyd had been watching the little display on the beach from his upstairs bedroom window and he was none too happy. In fact, he was practically snarling like a rabid wolf, overcome with sudden and gut-wrenching jealousy.