A/N: Hye guys! Hope you like this next chpater ... I stuggled a bit with it but I do have a clear idea of where I want this story to go so I hope you can stick with me :) Review if you like it!!
James twiddled with his thumbs while he waited for the blonde with no name to return. His heart very nearly stopped when she finally did, and as brilliant as her poker face was, he somehow knew the smile she was wearing was nothing if fake.
"Are you okay?" He asked, uncertainly.
Juliet stared down at him, praying her expression was unreadable because inside her heart was shattering ... slowly, piece by piece and the pain was utterly consuming. He didn't remember ... did that mean she was crazy? Clearly, James had absolutely no idea what had just happened to her ... and now she thought about it, neither did she. She had been struck with the world's worst headache, and when it had finally subsided, she could very clearly remember two lives. It worked, only setting off the nuclear bomb seemed like the absolute worst thing she could have done. It couldn't have gone off, surely? If it had she'd definitely be dead.
But I AM dead, she thought ... perhaps this was heaven; or hell. Right now she couldn't work out which. Heaven because she could very vividly remember the daily phone conversations she had had with Rachel, heaven because she was going to see Rachel and little Julian in just a few days, heaven because, despite knowing it had only been hours since last hearing her sister's voice, Juliet could now feel the separation of six years between them.
Hell because here she was, staring down at the man she hopelessly in love with, and to him, she was a complete stranger. Hell because she now had three years worth of memories and reasons of exactly why she loved him, and couldn't do one damn thing about it. Hell because, even though she knew he was the exact same man (because she was the exact same woman), part of her felt like even if anything with this James did happen, she would be cheating on the other James.
"Hey, Blondie?" He said, looking utterly perplexed and waved his hand slightly in front of her eyes.
"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry ... I was off in a bit of a daze there ... yes, thank you, I'm fine now ... I, erm, I have migraine attacks sometimes ..." she lied, taking the seat opposite him.
"Oh ... that's too bad. We can do this another time if you ain't feelin' well?" he suggested, moving as though to leave his chair, which horrified Juliet and she snatched his hand.
"NO!" James looked down at their hands, this Blonde was holding on to him for dear life before pulling away and looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me ... but I'm fine. Really."
"Okay ... so, erm, do you have a name or shall I just keep callin' you Blondie?" He asked light-heartedly.
"Juliet," she said, leaning back into her chair as so to look more relaxed. "And yours?" She waited for his usual con.
"James," he smiled and Juliet silently thanked the lord for giving her the skills of an unreadable expression. Something wasn't right. He never used his real name.
"J-James?" She questioned, eyebrow raised.
He nodded, opening his mouth to reply when suddenly, "FORD! What the hell-" Miles' voice hit her ears with a bang and Juliet felt the colour drain from her face. This wasn't right. She turned slowly, hoping her ears were deceiving her. They weren't; and Miles sighed slightly upon seeing herself and James together. Nope ... he definitely didn't remember either. "I'm sorry, excuse me," he said looking down at Juliet, who managed a small nod. "You know how long I've been waiting for you? I was right outside, man! All you had to do was come and tell me you were calling it a day!"
"My bad, chow mien, I forgot 'bout you," he said smugly. Miles huffed.
"I can see that much," he turned back to face her and held out his hand, "Miles, I'm James' partner."
"James' partner?" she questioned, feeling anxiety build in her chest, like butterflies, yet she was excited about nothing.
"Yeah, Miles' and I are federal agents," James told her nonchalantly before frowning when he met her eyes. "Are you sure you're okay, Juliet? You look like you've seen a ghost."
No, she wasn't okay. Federal agents? Nope ... something was very wrong, and then it occurred to her that her two lives were actually very different. In this life, in this world, her parents had never gotten a divorce ... Edmund remained her boss a few years back, and though he had tried it on with her more than once, they had never been in any kind of relationship ... let alone married.
"Yh-yeah ... yes, I'm fine really ..." she smiled, knowing that tears were now shining in her eyes. "You know what, actually I'm not okay. This headache is just ..." Juliet stood as James did, a worried look on his face. She gathered her things together after pulling her card our of her purse. "My flight isn't until late ... call me," she said, pushing the card in his hands and then hurrying away from the shop.
James cast a look at Miles', who looked embarrassed. He sighed heavily.
"Well ... erm ... that went well."
-
She was shaking by the time she finally got home. It took little over fifteen minutes, but she felt as though she'd been stuck inside the car for years. Juliet tried to steady her breathing as she poured a sizable glass of rum that had been sitting in her fridge of god knows how long. The liquid ran, hot, down her throat, a feeling which shouldn't be all too familiar. Except it was, because she'd done the exact same thing when watching the freighter blow up ... the tears fell then, and Juliet tried all she could to swallow the ache that had risen in her throat. It didn't work, and she felt her legs give way under her as she let the sobs take over her body. Juliet lent against her kitchen counter, going over and over in her head what was happening to her.
It was a while before she finally calmed down enough to set things straight inside her mind, and after thinking about it constantly, Juliet decided the best way to look at it was to view both her lives as two separate pieces of string ... both just as real as the other, but now suddenly they've been laced together. And then the scientist in her thought about her little theory and Juliet felt a giggle escape from her lips. The bottle of rum was now sitting beside her on the floor, and the prospect of Juliet having two different lives, one of which seemed so ridiculous it just couldn't be true just made her laugh even more. Perhaps being away from Rachel, Miami ... all that was familiar to her was finally going to her head. Maybe a cat scan would be the best thing.
Of course, deep down she knew the scientist in her was very wrong. She wasn't crazy in the slightest. She was probably the only person in the world right now who knew that somewhere out there was a co-exsisting universe where she had died in the arms of the man she loved ...
And then it hit her.
She had died ... "oh my god," she breathed. That's exactly why she remembered. It was because she had died ... after hitting the bomb ... which had evidently created this separate string in the first place. At least, that was the only thing which came to mind. The only way to know for sure would be to check each person who had been on the island when she had hit the bomb ... James hadn't died, obviously ... neither had Miles ... or they would have remembered. She thought hard, when suddenly Sayid popped into her mind. He was so close to dying when they had left to help Jack, but she couldn't be sure if he had actually died, having died herself and so finding him was the only thing Juliet could think to do.
The sound of the telephone jumped her, and she looked up at it as though it would tell her who was calling. She let it go to her answering machine. Her voice rung out in her apartment.
"Hi, you've reached Juliet Carlson. I can't take your call right now but leave your name and number and I'll get back to you."
"Erm ... hi ... it's me," Juliet stood up and walked cautiously towards the phone. "James, from the coffee shop. Erm ..." she smiled slightly because he seemed nervous. "Anyway, I hope you're feelin' better ... and I'm sorry I'm callin' so soon I just ... wanted to make sure you were okay, is all ... erm ... call me back,"
She snatched up the phone before he hung up. "James?"
"Oh ... hey, you're there," he said, sounding surprised.
"Yeah, I'm sorry I was just putting my key through the door when you called," she lied, hoping she wasn't slurring after realising just how much rum she'd consumed. That was probably the exact reason she'd picked up at all. Dutch courage.
"No worries ... how ya feelin' now?"
"Better, thank you. I'm so sorry I bailed though ... I feel really rude."
"It ain't your fault you got sick, Blondie," Juliet smiled at her old nickname. "So, how long did you say you were in Miami for?"
"I'm supposed to be going for 2 weeks ... but something's come up and I might come back here after the weekend," she said slowly, thinking of getting a jump start on finding Sayid when an idea shot into her head. "Actually, you might be able to help me ..."
"Oh yeah? What with?"
"Well I'm trying to find this guy ... an old friend of mine," she added quickly, "his name's Sayid Jarrah ... he's from Iraq ..."
"Oh, erm ... okay sure ... when did you last see this guy?"
"Oh I haven't seen him for ... ages. A friend of mine in Australia called me and said he was on his way to L.A. and I have no idea where I can find him ..."
"Damn, Blondie ... you got a lotta friends in all parts of the world, don't cha?"
Actually, no I really don't ... I'm just lying through my teeth ... she thought before laughing nonchalantly. "So you think you could help me?"
"Tell ya what, I'll look up the Arab if you let me take you to dinner when you get back next week?"
"It seems we have a deal Sawy- ... erm, James," she coughed, feeling her heart pounding at his silence.
"Well alright then, I'll call you."
She sighed with relief. "Sure ... bye, James."
"Bye Juliet."
Juliet felt guilty as she hung up. She hadn't lied to James in years ... of course, this was a completely different situation ... one which required her to be the con artist. Well, she thought, it's a good job I learnt from the best.
