"Well you definitely smell better" Miles said as Sawyer came down the steps to the security building.
"Yeh, thanks Enos. " He held up the leftovers and then set them on the counter by the coffee maker before moving to set Juliet's pistol and the rifle down on the main table- along with her work keys to the Motor Pool.
"Remind me later to return this stuff so it ain't still missin' tomorrow wouldja?"
"Sweet! Is that Juliet's soup? I mention lately that she likes me?"
Jin gave a smile and a nod of approval at the food- as he looked up from the security stations grid map.
"How's the English coming along Jin-bo?"
Jin glanced at Sawyer as his face crunched a bit questioningly.
"Amy told Juliet- you been sittin' in on grammar classes a few days a week at the school."
Jin lowered his eyes.
"Ain't nothin' to be ashamed of man. I been here my whole life and I still ain't got English figured out. Only other piece a language I know revolves around gettin' a beer an findin' the toilet in Spanish."
"Nice." Miles said rolling his eyes at Sawyer.
"English is much inflection base... different to Korean. Writing is not bad- I am familiar with... Latin letters, but verb tense and order is... not same.
"Well, good fer you Kemosabe."
Sawyer moved to grab himself a cup of coffee, swung by the stack of files and pulled Bill's off the shelf- dropping into his seat as Miles shot him
an exaggerated look.
"Still goin' on about that guy huh?" Miles teased.
"What? Feel free to do some light reading of yer own and help a man out." He flipped through the pages until his eye stopped on a government form. DDT 214 :9th Medical Battalion (9th Infantry Division) 18 August 1969 - Vietnam.
"Well, I'll be damned. EMT my ass- Billy boy was an army medic."
"Really? Damn. Go figure- that explains the funny looks he was giving us." Miles said looking to Jin as he moved to glance over Sawyer's shoulder.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Sawyer spat.
"Just sayin' maybe a couple of Asian dudes yelling at him while he was sleepwalking probably isn't the best way to wake up, under his circumstances. Maybe that's why he went so crazy the other night. Hell, even you thought I knew Korean when you met me." Miles continued.
"It make sense" Jin interjected agreeing with Miles.
"Well, yeh! but...Tha's just great, you two yahoos really think that's what this is all about? Ain't you been listenin' to what we said. It ain't about rice cakes vs American pies- it's about the damn night terrors. He's clearly havin' em."
"Right. Then I guess we better keep a closer eye on him. Ya know, from a distance." Miles stated seriously.
...
Juliet held the wine bottle under her arm as she twisted two thin pieces of hair back and tied them together leaving the majority of her blonde waves down which were still partly damp from her shower. She was wearing her usual jeans and plain scoop neck T-shirt combination. She looked back over her shoulder as she knocked on Amy's door. She had a strange feeling someone was watching her. Amy smiled widely and Juliet followed her inside moving into the kitchen. She handed the bottle of wine to Amy then took her usual seat at the kitchen table.
"Thanks! This might sound weird but I kinda miss our chats." Amy said as she opened the wine and filled a glass for herself and one for Juliet."
"Yeh- me too Amy. It's really nice to have another woman to talk to."
"I know! and lately everything's been so busy and chaotic. With the hostiles, the new recruits, Jim moving in with you, me starting to date Horace. It's almost the holidays already. It's just insane to think that in a couple of months it'll be 1975."
Juliet shook her head in disbelief laughing lightly as she sipped her wine "You have no idea"
Amy paused and gave her an inquisitive girly look sucking in a breath and rolling her shoulders up tightly.
"So... You and Jim? Things are going well I take it?"
Juliet blushed, nodding in embarrassment "We're getting there. As it turns out we both have some issues we're working through. Okay- it's more me." Juliet said with an honest smile as she played with her earlobe. Amy relaxed her posture and held up her glass for Juliet to toast her statement. Juliet laughed and clinked her glass against Amy's as Amy spoke
"Yes. Cheers to us! I can understand that... I mean, Horace has been great but I still have this strong sense of... guilt over Paul, you know? We're just taking it slow. Do you think your issues are because of Goodwin?" Juliet paused smiling softly and shook her head. She'd almost forgotten she'd told Amy about him, she was surprised Amy remembered his name.
"No- Goodwin was actually probably very instrumental in helping move forward. He was a good person. We just had the wrong timing... and then he was gone." Juliet took another drink passing the conversation back to Amy.
"So- there was someone else? Before him?" Amy inquired curiously.
Juliet's fingers traced the base of her wine glass, a nervous habit of hers. She'd been spending a lot of time thinking about Edmund lately. She'd never really sat down and analyzed that phase in her life out loud. Even with Rachel- she didn't have the heart to tell her the whole truth most of the time. Here on the island, there'd always been something to distract her, keeping her at arms length from it.
"Yeh... There was..."Had it had been almost 4 years ago already?
"It was back when I was a brilliant and equally awkward professional book-worm. He was... Well... He was... uh..." Juliet voice faded to a whisper and she couldn't find the right word. Self-involved, controlling and an abusive narcissist.
Amy's face drained of emotion as she started to connect some of the puzzle pieces of Juliet's personality- her timid mannerisms and random ruminations. Juliet's body language was clearly giving her away.
...
"Seriously Juliet, read this. Rachel said plopping Juliet into her computer chair and spinning her to a website titled "How Abusive Narcissists Get Inside Your Head"
Juliet sighed and looked at Rachel with a standard "Are you really going to make me read this?" face. Rachel gestured stubbornly at the screen.
"*The idealization phase: consists of putting you on a pedestal, making you the center of his/her world, being in constant contact with you, showering you with flattery and praise.
*The devaluation phase is subsequent to this idealization phase, The narcissist will suddenly start to blow hot and cold, criticizing you, covertly and overtly putting you down, comparing you to others, emotionally withdrawing or giving you the silent treatment when you've failed to meet their "standards."
*The discard phase, the narcissist abandons his or her victim in the most horrific, demeaning way possible to convince the victim that he or she is worthless. This could range from: leaving the victim for another lover, humiliating the victim in public, being physically aggressive and a whole range of other degrading behaviors.
-The manipulative, conniving charm that existed in the beginning is no more – instead, it is replaced by the genuine contempt that the narcissist felt for you all along."
Juliet hadn't realized she was holding her breath or that tears were falling from her eyes until Rachel reached over and captured the mouse from her hovering, shaking hand- minimizing the webpage.
"I'm so sorry Juliet"
...
"I'm sorry..." Amy finally said when she realized Juliet wasn't going to finish her sentence.
"If you ever want to talk about it... It might help and I'm here-right across the yard- pretty much- whenever" Amy tried before reaching a hand out to touch Juliet's. Amy's eyes froze on the bruised flesh that had formed on Juliet's wrist from Bill the previous night. She hadn't even seen it herself until now. Her eyes met Amy's and she was suddenly embarrassed. Her face flushed as she tried to play it off. She had no idea how long she had been sitting there speechlessly. She let out a huff.
"Clumsy." Juliet said simply, implying she'd done it to herself accidentally. Amy gave a skeptical nod.
" I'm sorry, Uh... It's been a really long day." Juliet continued
Amy looked at Juliet sensing her discomfort- she got up and opened the fridge "Cheese? I hear it goes great with wine."
"Sure" Juliet said blankly.
As Amy turned back she stopped and sighed.
"Well, since I've already ruined the evening I guess should tell another reason invited you over. Bill stopped by this afternoon at the school house. He was asking about you... again. I swear he's only nice to me so I'll talk to him about you."
Juliet's face dropped with a strong look of anxiety. A sketchy breath fell from her open mouth.
"Wha-How long has he been...?"
"Pleasssse. Don't be mad- I didn't say anything, and I didn't tell you the first few times because he seemed so casual, but since you guys all came back he's been more... I don't know... I think his crush is a little borderline, If you know what I mean."
Juliet didn't say a word. Her eyes darted around landing on the clock. The Motor Pool would be closing in a few minutes. She tapped her fingers on the table briefly then tipped her wine glass- drinking the rest of the glass. Amy's eyes went wide.
"Uhm, wow. You okay? I upset you- I'm sure... it's nothing. Juliet?."
Juliet put her fingers to her lips as the alcohol burned down her throat and let out a harsh breath. She was going to need all the liquid courage she could get. Juliet used a soft calming tone as she silently pushed her chair back and stood up.
"I need to go. There's something I have to do. I am so sorry, Amy. Can we try this again later this week? Please?"
Amy's face looked panicked and Juliet took a step in and half-hugged her- Amy still holding the cheese plate as she nodded.
"Okay... Juliet?"
Juliet moved to the door and stopped giving Amy a compassionate glance- she knew she was leaving Amy feeling guilty over having told her.
"I'm fine...Really. Don't worry."
"Why do I have the feeling Jim is going to kill me?"
Juliet looked back to her with a weak smile before slipping out into the dark.
...
Juliet's long stride took her to the Motor Pool. She had no idea what she was going to say yet. She pulled the door open and Kevin immediately rolled out from under a bus.
"Hey-o Juliet. Wha's up? Didn't get your daily dose of exhaust today?" He said greeting her with a snarky smile.
Juliet let out an amused humming sound as she tipped her head to look down at him with a smile as her hands moved to her hips. She was glancing around as she greeted him.
"Hi Kevin. Just you here?"
"Yeah, but I'm finishin' up. Bill left about a half hour ago. Whatcha need?"
Juliet paused- she clearly hadn't planned any of this. The wine was doing it's job though because she felt the lie roll right off her tongue.
"I...forgot my second jumpsuit. In my locker. I'm working on laundry tonight and realized I left it... here. yesterday." Not an entire lie.
Ahh, cool well- if you're bored later - it turns out- Jerry, from security has this buddy that's got a hook up on the sub. He stashed some fine Hippi Letace...ya know?... Weeeeed? -You want in? Gunna be twitchin'."
Juliet let out a laugh, Kevin certainly was consistently entertaining. She paused briefly as she recognized the record playing over the intercom.
"Not tonight, but thank you- maybe another time. Didn't realize you were an Elton John fan." She said to Kevin as she opened her locker and reaching down to grab her fallen jumpsuit off it's floor.
"Alright Alright. What? Oh yeh- I'm not. Bill's had that crazy album playin' all afternoon- be thankful you missed it" Kevin said as he wiped his hands and started packing up his tools.
"Really?"
Juliet said freezing briefly before arching an eyebrow as her hand flinched recoiling out of her locker suddenly "Ow!" She looked at the tip of her finger which had started bleeding. She sucked the blood off her finger as the truth sunk in. Her eyes glazed over as she pulled the jumpsuit out and found herself staring at a single red rose. She checked over her shoulder before bundling it in with her clothes.
"Have a good night Kevin." she called coolly to Kevin who'd gone into the office before furrowing her brow and heading out the door.
"Peace Juliet." He said sticking his two fingers out the office door to her.
...
"LaFleur... Hey- LaFleur" Miles shook Sawyer's arm. He'd fallen asleep at the security camera counter.
"Dude yer in the way- go take a nap in the holding cell or something- I can keep an eye on this. Nothing's happening anyways."
"What time is it?"
"10." Jin replied.
"Only 10?! Jeezus"
Sawyer stood up and stretched his legs then looked around. He groaned and then moved to the holding room, grabbing onto a cell bar before swinging himself around and dropping onto the metal bed frame. Jin moved to the doorway.
"So- today?"
"Yeh? What is it man? I'll be honest- you been lookin' at me weird for two days now. It's startin' to freak me out."
"Juliet? She talk to you? About Bill?"
Sawyer's expression quickly turned into a frown over the use of Bill's name.
"You mean bout his dreams? She mentioned it. Yeh."
"Nothing else?" Jin said questioningly.
"You got somethin' to add Bruce Lee? Let's hear it." Sawyer shifted dropping his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward, watching Jin.
"Yesterday, I went to get Juliet. I open door and see... I can't be sure but I see him, Bill, holding Juliet against the counter until he hear me- there was a stool- lying on the floor."
Sawyer tipped his head his expression pinched in anger.
"Tripped over a stool at work. Fell back and hit the counter." Juliet's words echoed back to him.
"What? What were they doin? Why the hell didn't anyone tell me?!"
"Juliet say nothing- ask me to let her talk to you." Jin replied.
"I thought maybe she talk to you out in jungle. I am sorry. I don't mean to make fight, it's just..."
"Why wouldn't she... tell me"
"She is maybe afraid?" Jin said as Sawyer stood up
"All the more reason she shoulda told me!" He stormed past Jin as Miles spun around in his chair. Sawyer was rifling through a nearby filing cabinet.
"Fastest nap on the planet. What? What I miss? What. are. you. looking for LaFleur?"
Sawyer held up a piece of paper and growled. "I'll be right back."
Sawyer bounded up the stairs letting the door slam behind him.
"Igeon Johji anh-ayo. This is bad." Jin said quietly in Korean then translated himself into English as Miles stared at him.
"Maybe it is Sawyer that she is afraid of." Jin continued sighing and rubbing his hand to his temple- as Miles stood up and gave him a more pronounced "Hello? Care to let me know what the hell is goin on?" face