When Juliet had stayed in the bathroom long enough to get her point across to Peter, she finally came out and forgave him. After all the hell she was putting him through, she could understand how Peter would feel the way that he did and she also understood that he wasn't thinking straight when he'd said what he did. He explained the Christmas Ball to her and for a moment Juliet recalled the time she and Natalie had been in the shoe store and Juliet had helped her pick out the shoes for the Christmas Ball Natalie had told her about. 'It couldn't possibly be the same one,' Juliet told herself, 'and even if it was, Natalie wouldn't be there. She moved,'
The Christmas Ball was held in the ballroom of a fancy hotel and everyone there was dressed up in elegant gowns or fancy tuxes and was carrying on high-spirited conversations with each other. Juliet tried to enjoy herself but her mind kept slipping to Natalie and she wondered what might have been different if she hadn't stood her up that day. Peter saw Natalie standing alone against the wall sipping punch by the punch bowl.
"Are you thirsty?" he asked.
"No," Juliet replied as she surveyed the area. There were ice sculptures scattered throughout the ballroom and everyone was wearing expensive jewelry. She immediately thought of her bracelet. Peter had it last but she didn't know what he had done with it and she wanted it back now.
"I am, come get punch with me," Peter said. Juliet agreed and the two made their way to the punch bowl. When they got there Natalie was gone. Peter looked around for her as he got his punch and once he saw where Natalie had gone, he and Juliet walked towards her. Natalie saw Peter and Juliet and Peter stopped. Juliet had her back to where Natalie was standing and Peter nodded slightly to let Natalie know it was okay for her to come over to them.
"You can have your present now," Peter said handing her a gold box with a red ribbon around it that he had been carrying. She smiled when he gave it to her but he knew it wasn't a real smile and he knew she wasn't happy.
"Don't open it now," he told her, "open it once I leave." She wondered what he meant by 'once I leave' because she didn't know where he planned on going.
"Turn around," he said.
"What?"
"Turn around," Juliet did as she was told and turned to see Natalie behind her. She was wearing a tight-fitting white dress and a pearl necklace. Her hair was up in a graceful bun and she looked gorgeous.
"Juliet," Natalie said smiling, "it's nice to see you here, Peter, you as well," Peter smiled too. "Yes, it's very nice seeing you here too Natalie. If you two don't mind I need to take a trip to the washroom..." he said.
"Go ahead..." Juliet said sounding a bit mystified, beginning to think he and Natalie had planned this.
"I see you've already gotten a gift," Natalie said once Peter had gone. Juliet saw that he hadn't gone to the men's room he'd gone outside.
"Yes, it's from Peter he told me not to open it until..." Juliet began realizing now that they had definitely planned this, "...until he left..." she finished.
"So open it," Natalie said simply. Juliet took the red ribbon off of the box and opened it to see the bracelet sitting on top of an envelope. Natalie held the box while Juliet opened the envelope. Her mouth opened slightly when she saw what was inside.
"He wants a divorce," she managed to say once she had overcome her shock. She frowned and looked at Natalie, her eyes becoming red.
"He's divorcing me..." she repeated. "Excuse me," she said as she turned to go outside to where she'd seen Peter go. Natalie followed her and when they'd gotten outside it was raining. Juliet stood in the rain and looked for Peter but he was gone. After she'd given up looking for him she leaned up against the wall of the hotel and cried. She didn't care that her dress was getting soaked and she didn't care that her makeup was being smeared by the rain and by her tears. Natalie stood watching her; she too getting drenched by the rain. She went over to Juliet who had her head down, and put her hand underneath her chin and gently pushed her head up so that Juliet was looking at her.
"Peter and I had coffee together last night," Natalie began. Juliet didn't answer but Natalie continued. "He told me that you were in love with me...and that I made you happy...and he told me that he wanted us to be together because he loves you and he wants you to be happy," Juliet looked down again and didn't answer. "Is it true? Do you love me? Because..." Natalie paused before finally saying what she knew she needed to say, "I love you too Juliet," Juliet didn't say anything but then she smiled and started to laugh a little.
"What? Why are you laughing?" Natalie asked.
"I..." Juliet began laughing a little more now, "I can see through your dress," she said finally. Natalie's eyes got wide and she looked down. Juliet was right. Natalie laughed too.
"I feel like I've had this happen to me before," Natalie said.
"Yes, me too..."
"But it's slipped my mind what happens next,"
"Shall I remind you?" Natalie smiled and Juliet put her arms around Natalie's neck and kissed her. It was blissful to finally be in each other's arms again and to feel their lips touch.
"Come inside," Natalie said once they'd stopped, "I want you to dance with me."
That's all of Part 1. The story continues atww w . b r o k e n . r 8 . o rgif you're interested.