"She's a lesbian," Mark said finally.
"A what?" Peter asked wondering if he'd heard Mark correctly.
"A lesbian! She came into the gallery the month we were doing the showcase on the female body!"
"Oh please Mark, just because she went in to look at a showcase featuring naked women does not mean she's a lesbian!"
"No that's not all. I saw her with her girlfriend. I knew they looked a little too friendly in the gallery but when they left I saw them kissing and...feeling each other,"
"Feeling each other?"
"Yes! Feeling each other!"
"Well do you think Juliet knows?"
"Well of course she knows. That's why she didn't want you to know! I'm so sorry Peter,"
"Don't jump to conclusions..." Peter began trying to comfort himself, "Juliet might not know. I'll ask her about it,"
"Alright, if you say so..."
"What is it now? Do you think Juliet is... with Natalie?"
"No...no of course not, well, I don't know!"
"Well I can almost assure you Juliet isn't, and I'll ask if she knows later,"
"Ask me if I know what?" Peter jumped and spun around to see her standing in the bedroom doorway.
"Jules, you-you keep popping up behind me, don't scare me like that," Peter said stuttering.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"I'll call you back Mark, alright?" Once he hung up with Mark Juliet asked him, "What were you going to ask me if I knew?"
"I uh...was talking to Mark," Peter began.
"Oh..." Juliet was scared Peter might know about Natalie. She didn't want him to know about her and now she knew why. She hadn't known it before but the more she saw Natalie the more she liked her and she was beginning to realize and come to terms with the growing crush she had on Natalie.
"Mark says ran into you and your friend there today,"
"He did."
"You and your friend, Natalie is it? It is Natalie right?"
"Yes.."
"This is who you've been spending so much time with?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Nothing, I was just wondering if you knew..." Peter began.
"Yes..?"
"If you knew that she was a lesbian." Peter finally blurted out. Juliet's eyes got big. "A lesbian?! Natalie most certainly is not! Who told you that?"
"Mark told me—"
"Oh did he? Mark told you? And what is Mark? A little bird that flies around spying on people? Is that why he was at the bookstore staring at me this morning? I'd hate to think you put him up to this because I'd think that you'd respect my privacy!" Juliet said getting angry. She was angry with Mark and getting into her business and she was angry with Peter for believing what Mark had said but most of all she was angry at herself for developing a crush on Natalie.
"I'm sorry darling, but you were acting so strange about your meetings at the coffee shop and when you lied and said you were meeting Mia I got suspicious, I thought you were meeting another man," Peter said. Juliet was touched by his sincerity and felt horrible for yelling at him. He had a right to be suspicious.
"Jules?" he asked timidly. She didn't answer but her eyes told him to continue.
"Are you...a lesbian? Do you love her?"
"Do I what?! No! No peter I am not a lesbian why would I have married you if I was a lesbian? I don't love Natalie I love you Peter. I love you!" Juliet exclaimed but she found the words she has saying hard to believe herself. She felt a lump begin to rise in her through and chocked down tears. Peter approached her and hugged her. She cried into his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I should have trusted you and I'm sorry I didn't," She still continued to cry. Peter let go of her and held her face, wiping away her tears with his thumbs.
"Shh...don't cry Jules it's okay,"
"I'm not Peter," she sobbed, "I'm not a lesbian and Natalie isn't either we're just friends, honestly. Peter saw us! Peter saw us and all we did was talk!"
"I know, I know, I believe you,"
"Would you feel better if I stopped meeting Natalie at the coffee shop every day?" Juliet asked.
"No. Don't stop seeing Natalie, it's good for you I think, to have another woman to talk to," Peter told her hating what he was saying. He didn't want her to see Natalie he wanted Juliet to confide in him, not Natalie. He hugged her again realizing everything now. He knew Juliet better than she knew herself and he knew what was going on and what to do about it.

In bed that night Juliet lay in Peter's arms as he slowly ran his fingers through her hair. Juliet couldn't stop thinking about what Peter had said. 'Natalie is not a lesbian, she's not, she's not, how could she be?' she told herself repeatedly. The more she told herself the more she began to consider the possibility that Natalie might be and then her thoughts really ran wild with fantasies about how amazing it would be if Natalie was interested in her. As she fell asleep all she could think of while she was laying with Peter was laying with Natalie.

-----------------

"Wow...." Juliet breathed. She and Natalie had decided to take a walk together because Natalie had to return some things to a shoe store. Juliet was staring into the window of a jewelry store at a beautiful diamond-incrusted silver bracelet.
"It's breathtakingly gorgeous. Imagine if I could afford something like that," Juliet said longingly.
"Maybe your husband will get it for you," Natalie suggested.
"Peter? No, I doubt we have the money for that," Juliet said sadly. Natalie looked at the bracelet. Juliet it was right, it was gorgeous.
"Why not? It's a beautiful bracelet. Beautiful people deserve beautiful things. I'm sure Peter knows that." Juliet was taken aback by Natalie's comment but forced herself not to get too excited about it. To her, it was unlikely that Natalie could possibly be interested in her.
"No..." Juliet sighed listlessly, "I'll never own anything like that,"
"Well then, there's no use in getting your heart set on something you can't have, is there?" For a second Juliet thought Natalie could read her mind. Was this a sign? Natalie was right; it was no use having a crush on Natalie because Juliet knew she could never have her. She sighed and began walking away from the jewelry store. Natalie gave the bracelet one last glance before following Juliet.
"It's right here," Natalie said showing Juliet where the shoe store was.
"There's a fancy Christmas ball going on at the Hilton in conjunction with the office I work at and I've got a dress but I can't seem to find the proper shoes," Natalie explained. "These," she said pulling a shoebox out of her plastic bag and placing it on the clerk's counter, "Are way too small." Juliet looked around the shoe store. "What color is your dress?" she asked. "It's white," Natalie told her as the handed the clerk her receipt. "How about these," Juliet suggested showing Natalie a pair of beautiful white high-healed shoes. "Ooh... those are lovely," Natalie said walking over to where Juliet was. "I'll take these!" Natalie said to the clerk. After buying the shoes Juliet and Natalie walked back to Natalie's car.

-------------------------------

A couple of days later after Juliet had returned from the coffee shop she and Peter watched a movie together. Juliet lay in his arms once again and once again began to think about Natalie. Everything about Natalie amazed Juliet and she'd never met anyone so perfect. Natalie was the definition of perfection. She was flawless, as flawless as the bracelet she had seen in the jewelry store the other day. As Juliet began to think about the bracelet Natalie's words entered her mind: 'There's no use in getting your heart set on something you can't have, is there?' Just then the doorbell rang. "I'll answer it," Juliet volunteered. She got up and opened the door. There was a delivery man holding a small box.
"Is there a Juliet here?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm Juliet," she replied.
"Sign here, if you will," he said holding out a clip board and pen. Juliet complied. He handed her the box as she handed him the clip board and pen back.
"Good day, Miss," he said as he left.
"What is it darling?" Peter asked.
"I don't know," Juliet said sitting down on the couch again and removing the packing tape from the box. When she had removed the brown paper and tape she was left with a small white box with silver writing on it. "To my dearest Juliet, Merry Christmas." it read. Juliet smiled at Peter but Peter looked befuddled. He watched as she opened the box and pulled out its contents.
"Oooh God!" Juliet exclaimed. It was the bracelet. She put it around her wrist and gave Peter a hug. "Thank you, Peter!"
"Jules," he began, "I didn't buy that," Juliet looked confused. "You didn't? Well then who did?" She asked.
"I don't know, you tell me,"
"I don't know, that's why I assumed you had,"
"I'm going to call Mark..." Peter told her. He got up and went into the kitchen to use the phone. Juliet watched him get up, worried that this might be the end of Mark and Peter's friendship and she hated to come between them.
"Hello Mark, how are you?.....Good, good. I thought I told you not to make any moves on Juliet..." Then it clicked. Maybe Natalie was a lesbian and maybe she was interested in Juliet. Too many thoughts went through Juliet's head as she realized that it had to be Natalie who bought her the bracelet. Juliet jumped up from the couch and grabbed the telephone from her husband.
"Mark? I'm so sorry, Peter's been mistaken. We'll talk to you later alright?" Juliet said to Mark. She hung up the phone.
"Juliet.." Peter said waiting for her to explain.
"It wasn't Mark it was Natalie," Juliet said. Peter was quiet. Without a word Juliet grabbed her jacket and left the flat. She wasn't sure what to think now about Natalie now. Thick grey clouds began to appear as Juliet got into her car and drove to Natalie's flat in a fury. She felt confused, flustered, and tense but most of all, scared. She was afraid of herself and what she was becoming. Thoughts came to her, troubling her. It began to rain outside but Juliet didn't put on her windshield wipers thinking that maybe if she was lucky enough she wouldn't be able to see and she'd crash and end everything right then and there. She didn't know what she wanted and she didn't know why Natalie had gotten her the bracelet or how her feelings for Natalie came about in the first place. She didn't know how she could love Natalie and love Peter at the same time. Her vision became blurry as tears began to fill her eyes. Wiping them, she convinced herself to get a grip so that she wouldn't be crying when she confronted Natalie. But she didn't know how to talk to her or what to say to her. It was raining hard by the time she pulled up in front of Natalie's flat. She sat in the car for a moment not sure if she was going to get our or not but eventually she gathered her confidence and got out. She stood in front of Natalie's flat just staring at it. She walked towards the door but stopped and walked back. 'Jules what are you doing? She doesn't want to see you like this,' she thought. 'But she bought you the bracelet why wouldn't she want to see you?' 'You fucking lesbian you should go home to your husband where you belong and stop chasing after a woman' 'Just go talk to her. She'll understand if you just talk to her,' 'Don't talk to her! Get as far away from her as you can before you turn into a fucking lesbian! A dyke! You're a lesbian and you know it!' Juliet stood upon Natalie's doorway now, crying, soaking wet and shivering as rain poured down on her. She hadn't decided whether or not to knock when Natalie opened the door.
"Juliet?" she said bewildered.
"Oh God, I should go," Juliet said.
"Rubbish Jules." Natalie told her, taking her arm. "Come in and get dried off. I've just put some tea on the stove, it'll warm you up."
"No, I.. really should just leave," Juliet protested.
"I'm not letting you leave until you come inside and get dried off," Natalie told her giving her that breathtaking smile that put Juliet in a haze. Natalie led her inside and gave her an oversized t-shirt to change into. Juliet went into the washroom to change and when she came back Natalie handed her a cup of tea. Then she and Natalie settled down on Natalie's couch.
"Juliet, what's wrong?" Natalie asked in a concerned tone.
"What's wrong?!" Juliet practically shouted. "You know what's wrong, Natalie!"
"You bought me that stupid bracelet is what's wrong!" Juliet exclaimed. You've ruined my marriage! Was that your intention all along, to cause trouble for me and my husband? You MADE me have feelings for you and I..." Juliet stopped now and looked down and began to cry again.
"Shh..." Natalie said giving Juliet a warm hug. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry about all of this, I really am, I didn't mean for that to happen," When they released their faces were only inches away from each other as they stared into each others eyes. They were being drawn to each other and Juliet was aching to feel Natalie's lips touch hers. Coming to her senses, Juliet pulled away.
"I can't do this," she said. She got up and headed towards the door.
"I'll give you your clothes tomorrow at the coffee shop," Natalie told her, "We're still on, right?"
"Of course," Juliet said. Her voice was weak as if all the energy had be drained from her.
"Alright, see you tomorrow," Natalie said closing the door behind Juliet when she left.

When Juliet got home Peter was waiting for her. They didn't speak; they just looked at each other. Juliet hugged him deeply inhaling his scent. She did love him but it was a brotherly love now and she hated to hurt him.
"Peter, I want you to know, no matter what happens..." she began.
"I know," Peter said to her. "I love you too,"

FROM THE WRITER: Hopefully you've caught on to what's happening and now's your chance to decide whether or not you want to keep reading. We really hope you want to continue reading but we encourage homophobic people to stop reading now.