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Chapter 9

Juliette sat on the couch watching television. She was bored and there wasn't anything interesting on. Not that she was really watching the TV; her thoughts were on Nick and Adalind, not whatever crappy reality TV show was on.

Since their last conversation, she had not heard from Nick. It was something she was still getting used to... they used to speak, in one way or another, every day.

Her phone rang, breaking her out of her thoughts. She was irrationally annoyed at its interruption and nearly threw it in the trash. These days it was usually Kenneth; calling her, texting her. It was really getting on her nerves.

She nearly let it keep ringing, let it go to voicemail. But—it could be Nick... Still annoyed at the chance it could be Kenneth, she grabbed her cell phone, ready to let it keep ringing if need be. But her features went soft with a small smile when she saw the name and hurried to answer the call before it could go to voicemail or the caller gave up.

"Hey, Trubel," she answered, sitting back and muting the TV. "Sorry about that, I couldn't find my phone," she said, excusing the near miss. A tiny lie, but she didn't think it would hurt anything. Trubel didn't have to know she was avoiding someone...

"Hey, Juliette," Trubel greeted, a smile in her voice. "No problem. Is everything okay with you?" she asked, voice full of curiosity and concern.

"Yeah, things are good," Juliette said, tone as bright as she could muster. "Nick's at work, though. How's it going with you?" she asked back.

She didn't bother mentioning that Nick being at work was only a guess; she didn't really know what he was doing at the moment, but she didn't want Trubel to know that. Not yet. It was just easier to keep things as they were—as far as Trubel knew, anyway—so that the young woman wouldn't be unnecessarily worried.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Things are good," Theresa said. "It's nice to hear your voice again. I wish I was with you guys now."

Juliette frowned slightly; Trubel sounded a little different than usual. Nothing that Juliette could pinpoint, just that it wasn't quite right. Juliette swallowed, feeling bad about the lie, but what else could she do? She didn't see many options. She didn't want to confuse Trubel or overwhelm her with their drama. The Juliette that Trubel knew was different now... And she didn't want her to get suspicious and call Nick.

She knew Trubel cared for both of them, and Juliette really didn't want to give her this sort of news over the phone. She figured a few white lies, or just not saying certain truths, would be OK. She kept conversation light and friendly, Juliette filling Theresa in on the more mundane goings on, until they made their goodbyes and hung up a few moments later.

xxx

After her telephone conversation with Theresa, Juliette wrote a message to Nick. She considered calling him, but decided against it. A text would have to do; it wasn't anything serious after all.

"Hi, Nick. I spoke with Trubel. I didn't tell her about what was going on. Or about our separation. I didn't want to worry her or tell her anything you weren't comfortable with. If you want to, go ahead and tell her anything you want if you talk to her. I'll leave it to you.

How are things with you?

-Juliette"

xxx

Nick sat in his chair at work when he received a message. He fished his cell phone out and his eyebrows shot up with surprise when he saw it was from Juliette. It was a bit curious, but they have decided to stay friends, so maybe it wasn't so weird to still be getting texts. He tapped it to read it.

He wrote back to her. "Hey, Juliette. I'm fine—thanks for asking. No, don't worry about Trubel, I won't tell her anything at the moment. I'm glad we could agree on that—together. I think this is the better option. Is everything okay with you?

-Nick"

xxx

Juliette's phone was still in her hand when she got Nick's response. It was almost like old times, she thought with a small smile. She quickly shook off those thoughts and opened the message, reading it quickly before tapping out another response.

"Thank you for asking, Nick. I'm doing good... considering. Everything is still so unfamiliar. I'm happy to go along with your suggestion, and we'll not tell her about it. It's nice to hear from you..."

She smiled as she tapped send and leaned back against the couch.

xxx

Nick looked at his cell phone when it buzzed with another message. He read it and clicked the screen off, satisfied. He caught Hank's quizzical look, "It was Juliette." He waved the phone in demonstration before tucking it back in his pocket.

Hank nodded in acknowledgment, then turned back to his work.

To be Continued?