Dinner next to the ocean was always romantic to Jules, especially when the sun was in between the flowing blue blanket. Sitting by a table for two, she found herself in deep conversation with Eames over just about anything. It was their second date if the gym date didn't count. For the first time, Jules got to wear her mint Betsey Johnson dress.
"Tell me how you met Ariadne." Eames queried.
"Well how did you meet her?" Jules slowly took a sip of champagne.
"Ladies first." Eames smirked. He needed to get his mandatory lie out strait.
Jules smiled at the old memories. "We met in preschool, first day. She came up to me and asked me why my hair was so red. I told her I didn't know but mentioned my mom really liked it. She said, 'I think it looks funny'. I looked for some feature on her for me to point out but couldn't find one. She was this little brunette with freckles all over…"
"She had freckles?"
"Still does. They're so light you can't notice them. So I asked her what her name was and she had trouble pronouncing it. I said 'You don't know your own name?' and she snapped back, 'I know my name, it's just tricky!'"
Eames chuckled. "I wouldn't blame her. It must have taken her a long time to learn how to spell it."
"It always confused her. We officially became friends at recess one day. It was really hot and Ariadne was playing in the sandbox, making a sandcastle. Three girls in our class came up to her, all of them blondes wearing pink, and they kicked her castle down. I was sitting on the merry-go-round when I saw this. The leader said, 'What kind of stupid name is Ariadne?' and her friends were all like, 'Yeah!' The second one said, 'It's spring, why are you wearing a scarf weirdo?'"
"And she put up with it?"
"She didn't learn how to fight until after her mother died." Said Jules. "So these girls were pissing me off, so I went over in front of Ariadne and told them to leave her alone. The leader said, 'Bite me!' and I did. I bit her in the arm so hard that she screamed bloody murder. It's too bad she didn't bleed."
"I can see that." Eames praised. "And you became friends with her that day?"
"I got a big timeout, but it was worth it. She even joined me for it. And that is why we despise blondes." Jules grinned and picked up a piece of calamari. "Now it's your turn."
"Uh… actually, I want to say something else." Eames turned the topic around. Instead of making up a lie about how he became acquainted with the architect, he wanted to be truthful about something else. "I need to be honest with you because you're a very smart woman and you don't deserve to be messed with."
"Are you about to tell me you're a womanizer?" She predicted. "I sorta figured it out for myself."
"And still you asked me out?"
"Well my first impression on you was that you are definitely not a virgin. The harder a man is to get, the more I want him."
"I'm just afraid I might hurt you." He said. "I've been trying my hardest to stop for six years."
"So what makes you want to stop and commit to one woman?" The Ginger asked. Eames sighed.
"Lucy." He began. "I let her spend the night with me since her house was burned down. Yes, I had sex with her and I almost regret it. She called me a few days later and said she was pregnant. She was yelling at me because she hated kids and I promised her it wouldn't happen. That's when I felt bad. It made me wonder if I had other kids I didn't know about."
"So what did you do?"
"The day she went into labor, I decided to go to the hospital. She was still very angry with me that she wouldn't let me comfort her. The moment my son was born, she told the doctor to take him out of her sight."
"She said that about her own baby?" Jules was slightly vexed.
"I wound up being the one to name him Michael. Since I had no idea how to take care of a baby, I got him a foster family. Whenever I could, I visited him. He's five years old now and he is one of the coolest kids you'd ever meet. He takes after his dad." Eames explained calmly. "He's encouraged me to clean up. I just want to be his hero now and not some whoremonger."
"Wow…" Jules ate the last piece of calamari. "And I thought you wouldn't be sensitive enough to tell me that."
"Well you don't come up to me like other women and tell me how perfect I am." Said Eames. "You reminded me that I'm a screw-up. For that, I say thank you." He raised his glass of beer to his lips.
Ariadne gazed at herself in the full-length mirror. In a few minutes, she would go to Arthur and Joe's suite. A little intervention was going to come in play. Ariadne knew she had nothing to be afraid of; Joe was guilty in every way. But would some harsh words be enough to keep the blonde monster back?
"If I were you, I'd tell her." A wise voice called upon her, making her jump. The illusions were back! In the mirror behind her was a new one; the last time she saw the illusion as the real person, she was wearing gold fishnets, a green tank top and a pair of aggressive skates.
"Lioness." Ariadne turned to face her. "I thought one of these days you'd come."
"Your rare disorder called me." The other short brunette placed her hands on her hips. "This Joe character is a bitch."
"You're going to tell me to destroy her." Ariadne guessed.
"I'm not the real Lioness, remember?" the imaginary roller girl reminded her, skating over to the bed. "The only way Joe will back off is if you tell her what happened between you and Jean. If she's planning to treat Arthur the same way, let her know that you'll be onto her."
"I already am."
"You sure do want to beat the shit out of that whore." Lioness prowled. "I love a good blonde-brunette brawl."
"You know I can't. Arthur would be mad." Ariadne ran her fingers through the present he gave her.
"And you don't want to make him mad." Lioness skated beside her, almost making contact with her. The illusions blue eyes lit up the room. "You know you have feelings for him."
"I don't." Ariadne sneered.
"You do." Lioness told her. "And you're going to steal him under Joes nose job."
"Just because…"
"You don't really think he kissed you to scare off those projections, do you? While he had you in that little secretary costume." Lioness leaned against the wall, her chestnut mane falling to the side. "Grab him while she still feels sorry for you."
Ariadne faced her, looking the illusion in the icy eyes.
"No."
She grabbed her suite key and left.
"I'm having someone over." Arthur told Joe strictly. "Someone you know. And you're not leaving this room until we get some problems fixed."
A knock came on the door and Arthur immediately answered it. "Ariadne, do come in."
"Thank you, Rodger." Ariadne stepped into their territory with a smirk.
"Can I get you a drink?" he offered.
"Just coffee, thank you." Ariadne sat down. "Hey Joe."
"You invited her?" Joe looked over at Arthur. "What's going on?"
"You should know." Arthur started the coffee maker. "That's why she's here."
"I told Rodger about what you said to me." Ariadne sneered. "He's really pissed off at you."
"I just want to get to the bottom of this." Arthur sat between them at the edge of the bed as coffee started dripping into the pot. "I don't want my girlfriend and female friend fighting."
"Just because we're complete opposites does not mean you have to fight me." Said Ariadne.
"So Joe, Ariadne told me you said some things to her." Arthur started, sounding like the host of an intervention show. "What did you say to her?"
Joe shrugged. "I told her that I didn't want her flirting with you."
"Is that true Ariadne?"
"You told me to not speak with him at all." Ariadne snapped.
"And is it true you went looking for her after I instructed you clearly not too?"
Joe sighed. "Yes."
"And what did you say to her?"
"The same thing I said to her before." Joe's voice was growing shy. "Ok, I admit that I was being a bitch to Ariadne. I was worried that she would steal you during the trip and that you wouldn't want to spend time with me!" she stood up and paced in front of them.
"Actually, I'm here to spend most of the time with Jules." Ariadne replied simply. "The last thing I want right now is a relationship."
"Joe, I told you Ariadne had a little bit of a tough past." Arthur put his arm over Ariadne's shoulders and brought her to him for comfort. "I'm not going to tell you exactly what, but if you want to know, you can ask her."
"I got beaten up by my last boyfriend." She muttered. "He was obsessive. I almost didn't get out."
"Oh my God." Joe grew wide-eyed. "You're serious?"
"I had two surgeries because of him. And I almost didn't graduate."
Joe placed her hand on her heart, her fingers encircling the diamond cross. "My God, how awful." Ariadne simply nodded, for she felt like it was the only thing she could do then. "Ariadne… God, I'm so sorry! I didn't know."
"Of course you didn't know." Ariadne almost snapped. "You can't look into somebody's eyes and see their lives in a flash. You probably don't know what date abuse is like."
"I don't." Joe admitted. "And I shouldn't be so selfish. I just really hope we can start over… can we?" Her last question was pretty shy of pitch. Ariadne stood up.
"I'd like that." Ariadne straitened her spine. "But if I catch you abusing Rodger in anyway, I will throw you off the ship. So, anyone for coffee?"
