Why Romeo Hates Juliet (7 page)

The door opened and Sara rushed in. Quickly looking around, her eyes came to rest on the couch and spotting her big sister lying underneath some strange man, she assumed the worst. Letting out a high-pitched scream, she lunged forward and landed on top of Romeo’s back and started hitting him with her fists. “Get off her, you creep,” she started wailing, as her balled fists flew into him.

Romeo immediately started screaming in pain, unable to defend himself. Juliet started screaming herself, yelling for her sister to stop but Sara kept pounding away at Romeo’s back - punching, kicking and pulling his long hair, anything to save her sister from what looked like a fate worse than death.

“Sara, stop, stop!” Juliet yelled at her.

“What are you doing to my sister?” Sara kept screaming. “Get off her! Get off!”

“Sara, it’s okay. Stop it, stop it. I’m okay. He’s not hurting me.” Juliet tried to deflect some of Sara’s blows to Romeo’s head and back as best she could but many of them hit their mark. “Sara, stop it!”

What her sister was saying finally registered in Sara’s befuddled mind and she immediately stopped hitting Romeo, but remained on top of him. “What’s going on here?” she shouted. “I saw you come into this house and then you weren’t coming out, and it was a long time, so I came over and saw him on top of you and I thought he was - attacking you. Juliet?”

Romeo’s teeth were clenched in pain and his face was turning red. “Please, get off me,” he whispered softly, as he tried to control the new pain that was shooting out from his spine.

“Sara, he hurt his back. Get off of him!”

Sara quickly climbed off of Romeo’s back and he grimaced in pain as that action sent more shards of pain coursing through his system.

Out of the blue, all three suddenly heard a strange voice say “hello” from the open front door. Turning, they saw a woman in her mid-twenties, dressed in a short mini-skirt, matching halter top and thigh-high boots.

“I’m Rosie,” she stated flatly and when that didn’t get any response from any of them, she turned to Romeo, the only male in the room. “Are you Romeo?”

Confused at who she was exactly, Romeo gave her a quick, “yeah, that’s me.”

“Tommy sent me but he said this was going to be a private one-on-one session. If these women are going to be involved, then I’ll have to charge you extra,” she announced.

Shocked, Romeo turned from Rosie to Juliet, who was still pinned underneath him, and back up to Rosie again. “
You’re
the stripper?” Rosie huffed. “Excuse me, the word is exotic dancer.”

Romeo turned his stunned gaze back to Juliet. “I thought you were the stripper.”

“Me? Do I look like a stripper?” Juliet glared at him, as parts of their strange conversation over the past half hour began to suddenly make sense to her.

“Yeah, you do,” he defensively challenged, feeling like a fool about everything that had just happened.

“You’re a moron,” she pronounced. Angry and not caring whether he died from the pain or not, Juliet squirmed and pushed at his chest with her arms, managing to get out from under him.

“Ow, oww, owwww,” he winced, as his back pain returned with a vengeance. He valiantly struggled to maneuver himself into a sitting position as Juliet moved off the couch to stand beside Sara. Romeo glowered at the both of them before turning his attention to Rosie. “If you’re the dancer…” he turned back to the sisters, “then who the hell are you two crazy broads?” Juliet turned her nose up at him, “I told you before - I’m Juliet and this is my sister, Sara. We’re your neighbors.” Drawing in a deep breath to steady his rising temper, Romeo slowly raised himself up off of the couch. Funny thing about anger, it was better than any painkiller the pharmaceutical industry had ever invented because all he could feel right now was his red, hot fury at this wildcat of a woman standing before him.

“Why are you in my house - Juliet?” he menacingly gritted out.

“We don’t like your music. It’s too loud and it’s disturbing us. So, if you and your other loser friends can keep it down, we’d appreciate it -

Romeo.”

Romeo smiled dangerously and began to hobble towards his stereo system. With one click of a button, he suddenly changed the soft melody it had been playing to a heavy metal song. Turning the volume knob even more, he began to blast the music at a deafening decibel again.

“Do you mean that music - Juliet?” he yelled over the loud racket.

Knowing that he was challenging her and furious because of it, Juliet glowered at him. “Turn it down - or else.”

“Or else what? You’ll kill me next time instead of just maiming me?”

Her eyes narrowed even further on him. “Just do it, mister.”

“No! The music stays, so get used to it, lady.”

Giving him one last evil look, Juliet turned to her sister and imperiously proclaimed, “Let’s go, Sara,” before marching towards the front door.

“Oh, sweetcakes?” Romeo called after her. Juliet turned back to him then and he pointed to his damaged flat screen TV. “You’re paying for this,” he declared.

“In your dreams, asshole,” Juliet answered, before stalking out of the house.

Sara sheepishly turned to Romeo and gave him a genuine smile. “Sorry about jumping on your back and beating you up and - everything.” She then nodded a quick good-bye to Rosie and followed her sister out.

~ ~ ~

“I can’t take this anymore, Sara; I just can’t,” Juliet winced, as she brought both of her hands up to cover her ears. The loud music from next door could clearly be heard through their walls and she was at the end of her rope.

Both sisters were sitting on their living room couch. Juliet had just finished telling Sara everything that had happened since she’d knocked on Romeo’s door a half hour ago and she was now beginning to feel the panic of her predicament. She’d have to declare bankruptcy, for God’s sake, if she didn’t get to finish her book - bankruptcy - and her writing career would be over. What if she never got another book deal again?

“What if you went over there and apologized? Maybe he’d turn it down then,” Sara sheepishly asked.

“Me say sorry to that creep? Sorry for what? That he mistook me for a stripper? Or for him making my life impossible with his frat-boy, drunken lifestyle? The answer is a big, fat, hell no.”

Sara giggled, “It is pretty funny that he thought you were a stripper. Maybe you can switch careers if the book thing doesn’t work out.” A sly smile played on Juliet’s lips, as she thought back to all the craziness that had happened. “I don’t think I’d get any referrals from Mr. Romeo to help me grow my new business, do you?”

“No, he was pretty steamed with you,” Sara cracked. “He was kind of cute though, don’t you think?”

“Cute?” Juliet gawked at her little sister as if she’d just sprung a set of overgrown donkey ears. “Sure he’s cute, if you compare him to a gorilla.” Suddenly, those gorgeous, hypnotizing blue eyes of his flashed through her mind and she remembered how they had softly crinkled up at the corners when he’d called her beautiful; and how their intensity had seemed to pierce into her soul when he’d stared at her as she’d tried to help him up; and how they’d focused on her lips when they’d fall en together on the couch; and how her heart had raced at the feel of him on top of her. She gave herself a quick shake. What was wrong with her? He wasn’t cute. No - he was a complete idiot and a hard-partying mess.

Sara’s eyes twinkled mischievously at her sister. “Maybe you should try being nice to him. Nice girls always finish first, you know. Nana always said that, remember?”

“If Nana was in this situation, she would have marched on over there, conked him over the head with a frying pan - cast iron, of course - and that would have been the end of it.” Juliet laughed. “Maybe I should listen to Nana, after all.”

“Judging from the furious look Mr. Romeo gave you when you left his house, I doubt he’s going to let up on the music anytime soon.” Juliet nodded. “I know what he’s doing. He’s playing a game of chicken but it won’t be me who’s giving in first - bet on it.” She stood up then and as she walked past the large expanse of windows overlooking the ocean, she suddenly spied her noisy neighbor near his pool, leaning against the back of a lounge chair for support. He had a beer bottle in hand and she watched as he took a long swig of the alcohol as he stood there like a statue, his gaze focused on the glorious sunset before him.

“He’s out there now,” Juliet mumbled, before purposefully walking towards her back door and flinging it open. Stepping outside, she yelled out, a “Hey you!” at him. As Romeo turned to her, Juliet shouted “Turn it off!” to him, trying to make herself be heard over the loud racket. But all he did was to proudly flip her his middle finger and smile wickedly, challenging her with a ‘what-are-you going-to-do-about-it’ stance.

Juliet’s temper flared at his impertinence. So that’s how he wanted to play it, was it? He wasn’t going to back down and as God was her witness, neither would she. If he wanted a war, then a war was what he was going to get and she knew exactly which cannonbal to lob at him next.

She turned and marched back into her house, slamming the door behind her. “I’m calling the police,” she announced boldly.

~ ~ ~

Romeo eased himself into the hot bath water and let out a sigh of relief as the heat began to relax his sore back muscles. Reaching across the tub for a washcloth, he dunked it into the water and wringing it out, placed it over his black eye. He let out another long sigh and slid lower into the bath. He’d found some Epsom salts underneath the sink that Carrie Ann had brought with her and he’d liberally thrown a cupful into the water as the tub filled. They were now working their magic and his back was beginning to feel better. At least those shooting shards of pain had subsided and he was able to walk around without screaming obscenities.

Romeo’s mind began to wander over what had happened. What a big bitch that Juliet Next-Door Neighbor was. He’d never met a woman who was more cold, nastier and meaner than she had been. If only she’d been polite about the whole thing and asked him in a nice way, he would have complied and turned it down. After all, he wasn’t a complete asshole. He suddenly smirked to himself. Well, maybe he was 99% bastard, but if she’d only appealed to his 1% nice guy, he would have been neighborly and complied.

After Juliet stormed off in a huff, Rosie had wanted to start her ‘show’ but the mood had been completely destroyed for him and considering the excruciating back pain he’d been in, he knew he wasn’t going to enjoy anything. So he’d paid Rosie off and sent her on her merry way. He’d given her twice her going rate anyway and she’d been pretty happy about that.

Romeo dunked his long hair into the soothing hot water and then ran his fingers through it, slicking it back. The water felt so good on his skin and all he intended doing for the next 30 minutes was to lie here in peace. Tommy, Chace and the girls wouldn’t be back until the clubs closed in the wee hours of the morning and he was going to enjoy this time to himself while he had it. He still had the rock music blasting downstairs, of course, and it would stay like that until ‘he’ decided to shut it off. He certainly wasn’t going to be told what to do by a sharp-tongued, bossy bitch from next door.

Man, what a piece of work that woman was! But he had to admit that she was pretty hot. He could still feel those long, luscious legs of hers pinned beneath him, and the way her firm breasts had felt against his arm when she’d been helping him walk across the room brought a delicious smile to his lips. She was definitely beautiful, stunning even, in a fresh, sweet sort-of-way; until she’d had to spoil everything by opening up her big mouth. Romeo frowned to himself. Why did she have to have the face and body of an angel and the tongue of a she-devill- and have to live only forty feet away from him? This was karma, plain and simple, and life was paying him back for all of his past sins because one thing he knew for sure -

that demon witch next door was trouble, big trouble. Look at all the damage she’d done to him in one night. His back was still killing him and his eye was throbbing like a mother.

Slowly, Romeo shifted his weight in the bath water and winced as a sliver of pain reminded him again of what had happened. Yup - that evil woman may look like a sweet dream, but he had an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach that somehow she was going to be his nightmare instead.

~ ~ ~

Juliet glanced up at the wall clock near the stairs and her stomach fluttered with anticipation as she watched the second hand move into position at the 11:00 p.m. mark. Finally! It was time! Yes, the music was still blaring next door and yes, her walls were still thumping to the beat - and yes, it was now time to call the police on the troublemaker and have them actually do something about the monstrous noise still going on next door.

As best as she could tell, his friends still hadn’t returned from wherever they’d gone and Romeo was alone, unless he’d kept the stripper, of course - which would give the police something else to discuss with him.

Annoyance flashed through her system. Had he kept the stripper? Had she taken her clothes off for him tonight, teased him and cajoled him, given him a lap dance and then finished the evening off with a ‘happy ending’ in his bed? The loud music certainly sounded like there was a party still going on over there. Was there? Was he still having sex with Rosie, using that hard body of his to give her pleasure? Her mind whirled at the racy images and for some strange reason, it made her madder.

* * *

Sara walked into the living room carrying a tea tray with empty mugs and cookies. Placing it down on the coffee table, she turned to stare at her sister who had positioned herself at the front window watching the road intently, like a faithful dog waiting for its master to return.

“Did you call the police?” she asked.

Not moving an inch from her post, Juliet responded with a “Yup”.

“And they’re coming?”

“Yup.”

“When they get here, promise me that you won’t go over there and cause more problems.” Sara was worried her sister was going to make a bad situation even worse.

“If the police do their job and the music is turned off, there’s no reason for me to go over, is there?” Juliet mumbled, with her fingers secretly crossed behind her back. And why were her fingers crossed? Because as soon as she saw the police drive up, she had every intention of going over there at the speed of a just-fired cruise missile. After all, she needed to make sure that her side of the story was heard and her complaint taken seriously.

At that moment, the kettle on the stove began whistling. “Good. I’m glad you’re being reasonable about this,” Sara said, before disappearing into the kitchen.

Sara had no sooner left the room when Juliet saw the police cruiser drive up and park in the jerk’s driveway. Rushing out the door, she reached the car just as two burly PEI police officers were getting out. “Hi, I’m the neighbor who called you about the noise.” The music could still be heard going on at full force in the background.

One of the officers checked his notebook. “You’re Juliet Soma?”

“Yes, sir, that’s me.”

“Have you asked your neighbors to turn it down, ma’am?”

“Yes, I did and he refused. It’s after eleven and I have every right to have this stopped now.” She breathed an inward sigh of relief. Finally, somebody was going to do something about that creep.

* * *

After his hot bath, Romeo had waddled downstairs and placing several pillows on the couch, he’d positioned himself carefully in the middle of them, relieving some of the pressure off of his sore back. Dressed only in his white terry towel bathrobe and with the alcohol he’d drank earlier to all eviate the pain still coursing through his system, he’d fall en asleep, even with the loud music on - which he was still playing to annoy Juliet.

The doorbel rang, sounding insistent and breaking into his relaxation. still groggy from sleep, Romeo slipped his feet into a pair of nearby flip-flop sandals. “I’m coming, hang on,” he shouted. Had Tommy, Chace and the girls forgotten their key?

Shuffling to the front door, Romeo opened it to find two PEI police officers positioned there and a defiant Juliet standing behind them. His eyes wandered from one face to the other to finally rest on hers and they narrowed dangerously.

“You had to call them, didn’t you? You just had to call the cops on me.”

Juliet threw him a haughty smile. “Maybe if you had shut down your party at a decent hour like most respectable, considerate, mature people then I wouldn’t have had to, you jerk.”

One of the officers, the shorter of the two, turned to her then. “Ma’am please, we’ll handle this,” he instructed. He turned back to Romeo and from his vantage point at the door his eyes began to scour the insides of the house to determine if there were other people there. As police officers, they were trained to always be thinking ahead to what a normal, innocent, everyday situation could suddenly turn into. During his years on the force, he had seen many simple disputes turn into nastier situations in the blink of an eye, and personal safety was always on their minds.

His eyes came to rest back on the man standing in front of him who had opened the door. He appeared to be in his late twenties, with a disheveled appearance, dressed in a white bathrobe and his left eye was a deep shade of grey/black. It was practically swol en shut, possibly from having been punched. The officer’s eyes again scanned the interior of the house beyond the homeowner but there appeared to be no one else there.

“Sir, we’ve received a complaint about your music being played too loud,” he stated flatly, then watched as the man in front of him turned to glare at Miss Soma standing behind them before his eyes came back to rest on the officers. The officer continued, “City ordinance declares that excessive noise cease after eleven or else you can face a fine.”

The man gave them a tight smile, “I’m sorry, Officer. I fell asleep on the couch and didn’t realize what time it was. Of course, I’ll turn it off immediately.” He turned and walked gingerly, or so it appeared to the police, to the stereo system on the wall and shut the music off. Sudden silence permeated the house.

“Thank you, sir. In the future, please remember that all loud noise must stop at 11 p.m.,” the taller officer detailed.

“No problem, and it won’t happen again. I’m always willing to do my civic duty.” Romeo gave them a friendly smile.

“Thank you, we appreciate that,” the shorter of the officers intoned.

Juliet’s face suddenly dropped as she heard the pleasant, accommodating, exchange between Romeo and the policemen. Everything it seemed was being resolved amicably, Romeo was not going to get into trouble and it appeared she was going to have to live with the constant, loud partying of her neighbors every day until 11 p.m. at night. How was she ever going to write her book with this going on all day? This wasn’t fair and the police had been so nice to the big jackass that he hadn’t even gotten the proverbial slap on the wrist. No - this wasn’t fair, at all!

Pushing herself in between the officers, she boldly shouldered past them, past Romeo and into his house. She rushed to the stereo system and pointed at it. “Officers, you don’t understand. This went on all day today and I can’t take it anymore.” Angry, Romeo approached her and the officers followed him across the threshold into the house. They were now all standing in Romeo’s living room and the police began to scan the room with their eyes, always on the lookout for trouble.

Romeo gritted his teeth as he faced her. “Gee, Juliet, you want more of my blood tonight? You didn’t finish the job you started earlier, so you’re here for my balls now too?” This woman was just too much, he thought to himself - a real troublemaker!

“Okay, everyone, let’s calm down. The problem has been resolved tonight, Miss Soma and that’s all we can do. If it should continue, then please give us another call,” the taller of the two sternly told her. The shorter officer was casually walking around the room, taking in everything and still trying to discern if anyone else was in the house.

Juliet wasn’t about to be dissuaded. “No, you don’t understand, Officer. He’s going to keep this up all day, everyday until eleven p.m. just to annoy me, I know it. You’ve got to help me now. I mean - look at him,” she gave Romeo’s rough appearance a disgusted once-over, “he’s got to be guilty of something.”

“Are you kidding me?” Romeo shouted back at her, as he invaded her personal space. “How dare you come into my house accusing me and trying to cause problems, all because her High and Mighty Majesty wants things her way.” Juliet ignored his insult. “Where’s your stripper friend, by the way? Did you enjoy her wares tonight? Or maybe you’re still enjoying them?

Maybe you have her stashed in your bedroom?”

“That’s none of your business, unless you’re interested in joining us? Maybe you’re into threesomes?” Juliet noticed how he hadn’t answered whether Rosie was still there or not and her lips thinned with irritation. “So, you’re saying she’s still here?” she piped up.

He threw her a lopsided, sexy smile and inched closer. “I wonder what a big bitch like you is into?” he challenged, again ignoring her question.

“Do you like to be tied up? Do you like to watch? Do you like girls?” He leaned into her more, so that only she could hear his next words. “Tell me and I’ll arrange it for you. Don’t be shy.”

Juliet felt her cheeks turn crimson just as her heart began hammering in her chest. She could feel the sexual magnetism coming off of him, like heat coming off of black tar on a sweltering summer day. What was happening to her? Each time she saw him, the pull was stronger and it was making her crazy.

She took a step away and reeled in her wandering thoughts. “You’re a disgusting pig. Stay away from me and stay away from my sister,” she declared, as she straightened herself with dignity.

Romeo burst out laughing. “Gladly, but it seems you’re the one who can’t stay away from me. After all, this is the second time today that you’ve come to my house to see me. I wonder... what exactly should I read into that?” Juliet took in his wild, unkempt appearance and immediately wondered if the stripper had had anything to do with it. Annoyance lit through her at the thought and for one crazy second, she felt pea-green jealous of the exotic dancer. But why should she be feeling like this about him, of all people? It was insane and the ear-splitting racket she’d had to endure all day was probably to blame. She lifted her chin, proudly meeting his waiting gaze head on. “Sorry to burst your overly inflated opinion of yourself mister, but the caveman look doesn’t do a thing for me. Why don’t you try a shower and a shave sometime?”

“You really are a big bitch, aren’t you, Juliet?” he snorted with a short laugh.

While the pair had been bantering back and forth, the shorter of the two officers had noticed a plastic baggie partially hidden behind the lamp on one of the end tables beside the couch. It contained what looked like dried leaves. Curious he picked it up, opened it and smelled it. He motioned to his partner to come over, who also smelled the contents. They both frowned at each other.

“Sir, is this yours?” the shorter of the two held up the bag towards Romeo.

Both Romeo and Juliet turned then and a silence permeated the room, as their eyes all glommed onto the plastic baggie and its contents.

Romeo knew immediately that he was in big trouble. Those looked like marijuana leaves and it probably belonged to Chace or one of the girls.

Damn it! He had told them that he didn’t want that garbage in his house. Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! And now he was going to have to answer for it to the police.

He flashed them his best movie star smile. “Officers, I’ve never seen that before in my life.”

“So you’re saying it’s not yours?”

“No, it’s not mine.”

“Then whose is it?”

“I don’t know, but it’s not mine.” No matter what, Romeo was not going to rat out one of his friends. Besides, he didn’t even know exactly who it belonged to but if he had to take a guess he would say it was Chace’s.

“Are you the owner of this house?”

“Yes, I am.” Romeo turned slightly and took in the small smile playing across Juliet’s lips. Suddenly, his blood pressure soared. Boy, would he love to wipe that smug look off of her face.

The officers gave each other a knowing look before turning back to Romeo. “Is there anyone else in this house right now?”

“No, I’m here alone,” he responded. Shit, Romeo thought to himself, as he started to feel droplets of sweat appear on his forehead. This didn’t look good for him; this didn’t look good at all.

Both officers straightened to their full height and the taller one reached for his handcuffs. “Sir, you’re under arrest for possession of marijuana.

You have the right to remain silent…”

Romeo backed away and shook his head, “No, it’s not mine, you don’t understand, it’s not mine.”

“Sir…”

Suddenly, Romeo exploded, “No, you can’t arrest me for drugs, you can’t!”

In a flash, the entire room went wild. Before Juliet could process what was happening, she saw both officers barrel down on Romeo and in a second, he was down on the ground with the two cops twisting his arms behind his back and handcuffing him. One of them had his knee in Romeo’s back and Romeo was screaming in pain.

“My back, my back,” he shouted but the officers didn’t care. Their first priority was their own personal safety. As the cuffs clicked into place, the shorter of the two started frisking Romeo’s prone body for any hidden weapons.

Romeo started chanting half to himself and half to the police, “No, you can’t do this. I’m not like him. I’m not like him. I’m not like him. I’m not like him.”

Both officers hauled him up, each grabbing an arm and then one of them shouted, “And we’re adding resisting arrest to your drug charge too.” They held him up, with hands cuffed behind his back. His hair had gotten even wilder because of the scuffle, his black eye looked blacker still and his bathrobe was disheveled and starting to part open. He looked a total mess.

Romeo wasn’t even paying attention anymore. He seemed to be in his own little world where he kept mumbling to himself, “I’m not like him. I’m not like him,” and he kept shaking his head ‘no’. He looked like a little boy lost and a shot of sympathy coursed through Juliet. But why should she feel sorry for him? The drug charge had nothing to do with her and if he was doing drugs, which he probably was, then he deserved to be arrested and going to jail.