Summer 1985
She was digging in a dirty, grimy canyon in south Italy, looking for a particular artifact that would hopefully get her financial status back to "good".
A somewhat familiar man walked up to Susan, Julia's employee.
"Hi, can I help you?" she asked.
"Yes, um, is there a Julia McAlister here?" the man asked.
"There's a Dr. Julia McAlister, yes."
"Were is she?"
"She right over there," said Susan, pointing off to the man's left.
"Thank you," he said.
"Wait a minute," she called after him. He stopped and turned around. "Who are you?"
"An old friend," he said over his shoulder. She seemed satisfied and let him go.
Julia heard footsteps crunching behind her.
"So it's Dr. McAlister now is it?" a male voice said from behind her It sounded so familiar, but maybe it was just her imagination.
"I'm kind of busy at the moment," she said, annoyed, standing up and wiping her hands on her pants. Then she turned around and did a double-take. There, standing in front of her, ironically in his Indiana Jones fedora, was Harrison Ford. She almost fainted. She was almost certain all the color drained out of her face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It's the heat, she told herself, it's making you hallucinate. But when she opened her eyes, he was still there.
"Well, aren't you gonna say something?"
"Wha-what are you doing here?"
"I'm filming another movie, on the northern coast of Italy."
"Yeah, yeah, right. Isn't that a way's away from here?"
"It's a short flight." There was silence for a moment or two. "I missed you Jules," he said. He was the only person on earth that had ever called her Jules, and she loved him for that, other things too.
She didn't respond. She couldn't look at him. She just couldn't. She had tried so hard to forget him, and almost did too, but then he came waltzing back into her life.
She finally got up the courage to look him in the eyes. That was a mistake. He looked at her for a moment, then quickly reached his hand out to her face and pulled it towards his, their lips meeting in a kiss. At first she tried to pull away, but she couldn't, she just couldn't.
He'd never kissed her like that before. He'd put so much passion and love into it, and Julia matched that passion and that love. It was like he'd been deprived, and he was, in a way. She was too.
She thought she had forgotten how he kissed. When she got together with Roger, it was clear that he didn't kiss like Harrison, but she got used to it.
They slowly pulled away and she hugged him.
"I missed you, I missed you so much!" she whispered into his ear.
"Hey honey? What are you doing?" a voice called from behind her.
"Oh God! Roger!" she mumbled under her breath and quickly pulled away from Harrison. She glanced down at her ring finger where their engagement ring rested. Stupid, stupid. Stupid, she kept repeating to herself in her head.
"He's, uh... just an old friend," she finished quickly, wiping the sweat off the back of her neck. She knew she had just confused Harrison, but that's all she had until she figured something out.
"I have some old friends too, but I've never kissed them when I see them for the first time in a while." Damn! He saw that?
"I didn't kiss him, he kissed me," she said lamely trying to defend herself. Now Harrison was really confused. "Look, I-I, um, I need some time by myself," she said and walked off, not letting either of them say another word. She pushed open the flap to her tent and paced back and forth. Why did he have to come? she thought to herself. If he hadn't come I would've married Roger and gone on with my happy, healthy life. But no, he had to come here and mess things up. Now I don't know what I want.
You know who you love, said that annoying little voice in her head.
No, I don't know, and that's the whole point.
Think for a minute. Was Roger ever there when you were sad? No, he was always off on some dig, but even if Harrison was filming, if you called him, he'd talk to you. Roger on the other hand...
But now Roger and I are working together, we're never apart.
And that gets to you sometimes.
No...no it doesn't.
Julia...
Okay, so he gets on my nerves every now and then.
Every now and then?
Okay a lot. So we have some disagreements. I still love him.
Do you?
I think I do...but I don't love Harrison either.
Meanwhile, outside Harrison and Roger were having yelling match.
"What do you think you were doing with my girl?" said Roger, pointing his finger at Harrison menacingly. Although his menacing intentions didn't look very much so, seeing that he wasn't a very muscular guy.
"Look, I didn't know she was your girl. Last I knew she was free," he said, arms spread out, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well you better get your news straight buddy! We are engaged. As in we're gonna get married!"
"Congratulations...I'm sorry for what I did. I didn't know."
"Well, I don't like other guys kissing my fiancée!"
"Hey, it's not like I forced her to kiss me! She wanted to! She liked it!"
"Don't give me that shit you big, macho movie star!"
"I'm just speaking the truth you little bastard!" Harrison said, getting angry.
"And I'm supposed to believe something from a dickhead like you?!"
"I don't expect you to! After all you're a son of a bitch, what would you know except how to hump other dogs?!" Harrison said.
"Takes one to know one," Roger growled.
Julia argued back and forth to herself for a ten minutes or so, then Susan walked in,
"I didn't know you knew Harrison Ford."
"We had a sort of fling 2 years ago," she said wistfully.
"Really, what was it like?"
"It was-look I'd rather not talk about it right now." Susan nodded her head and started to leave, but Julia stopped her,
"Susan?"
"Huh?" she replied, turning around.
"Is he still here?"
"Yeah, I don't think he and Roger are finished arguing yet."
"Oh God. See what I've done?"
"It's not your fault Julia."
"Yeah, whatever. Can you bring them both in here for a moment?"
"Sure," she said and walked out. A minute later, Harrison and Roger walked in, both with scowls on their faces.
"Please, sit down," she said, running her fingers through her dirty hair. "I'm sorry, both of you," she began, "I'm sorry for leading you both on. It was wrong of me. I don't love either of you."
They were both surprised, really surprised. Each was sure she was gonna pick them, but she didn't pick either, so they were utterly shocked.
"I know it must be shocking, but I'm sorry. It just won't work." She slipped the ring off of her finger and placed it gently in Roger's hand. "And Roger, this is my dig, but I won't tell you to leave if you don't want to." She was going to go on, but Roger interrupted her,
"I'll leave thankyouverymuch. I don't need to hang around with some bitch who broke up our engagement." With that he stormed out of the tent, leaving the flap swishing back and forth at the force it was dealt.
He stalked off to his car and drove to the airport with one of the interpreters. The interpreter helped him get a plane ticket to America that left in one hour. He sat down in the airport and waited, still fuming..
That left Julia and a stunned Harrison Ford alone. He didn't like the fact that Roger had called her a bitch. He could call Harrison anything he wanted, but not Julia. She didn't deserve it.
"I didn't know you were engaged Julia. If I'd known, I wouldn't have come," he said, finally.
"You know what they say, all things work for good. If you hadn't come, I would've married a man I didn't love." He looked at her quizzically,
"I thought we had something once, but I guess I was wrong. Goodbye Dr. McAlister," he said, tipping his hat. Then he walked out as well. She fell down on the makeshift cot, put her hands on her forehead an eventually fell asleep.
Harrison walked to the car he had rented and drove off. He didn't understand. When he kissed her, she definitely kissed him back. And it wasn't like she just did because he was kissing her. He felt something. He was sure of it.
He never had a girlfriend again. It wasn't because he was hoping she'd some back. It was because he knew he would never find someone that he loved as much as he had loved Julia.
She was digging in a dirty, grimy canyon in south Italy, looking for a particular artifact that would hopefully get her financial status back to "good".
A somewhat familiar man walked up to Susan, Julia's employee.
"Hi, can I help you?" she asked.
"Yes, um, is there a Julia McAlister here?" the man asked.
"There's a Dr. Julia McAlister, yes."
"Were is she?"
"She right over there," said Susan, pointing off to the man's left.
"Thank you," he said.
"Wait a minute," she called after him. He stopped and turned around. "Who are you?"
"An old friend," he said over his shoulder. She seemed satisfied and let him go.
Julia heard footsteps crunching behind her.
"So it's Dr. McAlister now is it?" a male voice said from behind her It sounded so familiar, but maybe it was just her imagination.
"I'm kind of busy at the moment," she said, annoyed, standing up and wiping her hands on her pants. Then she turned around and did a double-take. There, standing in front of her, ironically in his Indiana Jones fedora, was Harrison Ford. She almost fainted. She was almost certain all the color drained out of her face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It's the heat, she told herself, it's making you hallucinate. But when she opened her eyes, he was still there.
"Well, aren't you gonna say something?"
"Wha-what are you doing here?"
"I'm filming another movie, on the northern coast of Italy."
"Yeah, yeah, right. Isn't that a way's away from here?"
"It's a short flight." There was silence for a moment or two. "I missed you Jules," he said. He was the only person on earth that had ever called her Jules, and she loved him for that, other things too.
She didn't respond. She couldn't look at him. She just couldn't. She had tried so hard to forget him, and almost did too, but then he came waltzing back into her life.
She finally got up the courage to look him in the eyes. That was a mistake. He looked at her for a moment, then quickly reached his hand out to her face and pulled it towards his, their lips meeting in a kiss. At first she tried to pull away, but she couldn't, she just couldn't.
He'd never kissed her like that before. He'd put so much passion and love into it, and Julia matched that passion and that love. It was like he'd been deprived, and he was, in a way. She was too.
She thought she had forgotten how he kissed. When she got together with Roger, it was clear that he didn't kiss like Harrison, but she got used to it.
They slowly pulled away and she hugged him.
"I missed you, I missed you so much!" she whispered into his ear.
"Hey honey? What are you doing?" a voice called from behind her.
"Oh God! Roger!" she mumbled under her breath and quickly pulled away from Harrison. She glanced down at her ring finger where their engagement ring rested. Stupid, stupid. Stupid, she kept repeating to herself in her head.
"He's, uh... just an old friend," she finished quickly, wiping the sweat off the back of her neck. She knew she had just confused Harrison, but that's all she had until she figured something out.
"I have some old friends too, but I've never kissed them when I see them for the first time in a while." Damn! He saw that?
"I didn't kiss him, he kissed me," she said lamely trying to defend herself. Now Harrison was really confused. "Look, I-I, um, I need some time by myself," she said and walked off, not letting either of them say another word. She pushed open the flap to her tent and paced back and forth. Why did he have to come? she thought to herself. If he hadn't come I would've married Roger and gone on with my happy, healthy life. But no, he had to come here and mess things up. Now I don't know what I want.
You know who you love, said that annoying little voice in her head.
No, I don't know, and that's the whole point.
Think for a minute. Was Roger ever there when you were sad? No, he was always off on some dig, but even if Harrison was filming, if you called him, he'd talk to you. Roger on the other hand...
But now Roger and I are working together, we're never apart.
And that gets to you sometimes.
No...no it doesn't.
Julia...
Okay, so he gets on my nerves every now and then.
Every now and then?
Okay a lot. So we have some disagreements. I still love him.
Do you?
I think I do...but I don't love Harrison either.
Meanwhile, outside Harrison and Roger were having yelling match.
"What do you think you were doing with my girl?" said Roger, pointing his finger at Harrison menacingly. Although his menacing intentions didn't look very much so, seeing that he wasn't a very muscular guy.
"Look, I didn't know she was your girl. Last I knew she was free," he said, arms spread out, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well you better get your news straight buddy! We are engaged. As in we're gonna get married!"
"Congratulations...I'm sorry for what I did. I didn't know."
"Well, I don't like other guys kissing my fiancée!"
"Hey, it's not like I forced her to kiss me! She wanted to! She liked it!"
"Don't give me that shit you big, macho movie star!"
"I'm just speaking the truth you little bastard!" Harrison said, getting angry.
"And I'm supposed to believe something from a dickhead like you?!"
"I don't expect you to! After all you're a son of a bitch, what would you know except how to hump other dogs?!" Harrison said.
"Takes one to know one," Roger growled.
Julia argued back and forth to herself for a ten minutes or so, then Susan walked in,
"I didn't know you knew Harrison Ford."
"We had a sort of fling 2 years ago," she said wistfully.
"Really, what was it like?"
"It was-look I'd rather not talk about it right now." Susan nodded her head and started to leave, but Julia stopped her,
"Susan?"
"Huh?" she replied, turning around.
"Is he still here?"
"Yeah, I don't think he and Roger are finished arguing yet."
"Oh God. See what I've done?"
"It's not your fault Julia."
"Yeah, whatever. Can you bring them both in here for a moment?"
"Sure," she said and walked out. A minute later, Harrison and Roger walked in, both with scowls on their faces.
"Please, sit down," she said, running her fingers through her dirty hair. "I'm sorry, both of you," she began, "I'm sorry for leading you both on. It was wrong of me. I don't love either of you."
They were both surprised, really surprised. Each was sure she was gonna pick them, but she didn't pick either, so they were utterly shocked.
"I know it must be shocking, but I'm sorry. It just won't work." She slipped the ring off of her finger and placed it gently in Roger's hand. "And Roger, this is my dig, but I won't tell you to leave if you don't want to." She was going to go on, but Roger interrupted her,
"I'll leave thankyouverymuch. I don't need to hang around with some bitch who broke up our engagement." With that he stormed out of the tent, leaving the flap swishing back and forth at the force it was dealt.
He stalked off to his car and drove to the airport with one of the interpreters. The interpreter helped him get a plane ticket to America that left in one hour. He sat down in the airport and waited, still fuming..
That left Julia and a stunned Harrison Ford alone. He didn't like the fact that Roger had called her a bitch. He could call Harrison anything he wanted, but not Julia. She didn't deserve it.
"I didn't know you were engaged Julia. If I'd known, I wouldn't have come," he said, finally.
"You know what they say, all things work for good. If you hadn't come, I would've married a man I didn't love." He looked at her quizzically,
"I thought we had something once, but I guess I was wrong. Goodbye Dr. McAlister," he said, tipping his hat. Then he walked out as well. She fell down on the makeshift cot, put her hands on her forehead an eventually fell asleep.
Harrison walked to the car he had rented and drove off. He didn't understand. When he kissed her, she definitely kissed him back. And it wasn't like she just did because he was kissing her. He felt something. He was sure of it.
He never had a girlfriend again. It wasn't because he was hoping she'd some back. It was because he knew he would never find someone that he loved as much as he had loved Julia.