Dean went back to Chicago a very sad man. He hadn't heard a peep from Julie and Charlie and Connie weren't speaking to him.
He'd tried to tell them that it was all his fault and for them not to be mad at Julie but they wouldn't hear any of it.
"She knew what she was doing" Connie had said through clenched teeth.
In the end Dean had just hung his head and left, telling Fulton he'd be back for the wedding. Fulton had understood Dean's side of things but even he said it was a stupid thing for them to do. Tammy of course took Charlie and Connie's side since she didn't really know Julie that well.
Dean sighed heavily as he opened the front door to his apartment and set his bags down with a loud thud. At least the apartment had stayed the same since he'd left.
He just wished he could say the same for his relationship with Julie and the Ducks.
Julie checked her answering machine. Four messages.
Three were from Dean urging her to talk to him and one was from Fulton also urging her to talk to Dean.
Deleting them she flung herself on the couch and tried to become distracted by a cheesy TV movie.
"Julie are you here?" Amy her roommate called.
"Yeah in here" Julie called back switching the TV off.
"I brought some comfort food" Amy entered the room holding up a large tub of Ben & Jerry's Cookies 'n' Cream.
"And I didn't forget the Doritos" Amy held up her other hand when she saw Julie's face drop.
"You're the best" Julie smiled for the first time in days.
"Oh and I took the liberty of getting some DVDs, I figured that Johnny Depp would only remind you of whatever his name was so I got the blond haired, blue eyed Brad Pitt instead" Amy fished into the bag and pulled out three DVDs and handed them to Julie.
"You are a legend!" Julie exclaimed seeing that she'd rented Fight Club, Troy and Snatch instead of his more soppy, romantic movies.
"I know but I'm gonna hate him in Troy because he looks better in a skirt than I do" Amy laughed.
Julie grinned happily accepting the big bowl of Doritos Amy handed to her.
"So shall we turn the phone off and get started?" Amy suggested.
"Hell yeah" Julie replied feeling a little better.
This was exactly what she needed to take her mind off of Dean, Charlie and Connie.
Dean picked up his toolbox ready to start work for the day. It was the fancy job his boss had told him about a few weeks earlier and some prestigious law firm that strangely reminded Dean of the snobs from Eden Hall.
He glared back at what seemed like the millionth dickhead dressed in an overpriced suit who'd taken it upon themselves to let Dean know he wasn't welcome in such a nice building.
You know what? Screw them! Dean thought following the workers to a ground floor office that was being renovated for a new tenant.
"Plans are on the table, bathrooms are behind the elevators, no smoking in the building and for the love of beer, no swearing. These are the preppiest people I've ever had the unfortunate opportunity to meet but they're paying top dollar so keep your pie holes shut and we'll be fine, now get out of my face and go do some work" the foreman whose name was Trevor gave his little 'pep' talk.
The group dispersed and got started on what they were meant to be doing. Dean's job was dismantling the complex glass doors so that the building supplies could get through without anyone breaking the glass.
Laying a sheet down to catch the loose screws and hinge brackets, he got to work.
"What's my case load today?" Julie was in the back of a cab on the phone to her assistant Claire.
Claire was explaining that today required several court visits as well as a few client meetings.
"Okay, look I'm about ten minutes away, start on the Masterson Tax Evasion claim and I'll check it when I get in. I think that needs to be filed today" Julie instructed before hanging up.
She placed her cell phone in her briefcase and pulled out her palm pilot checking that she hadn't double booked anything. Today looked like it was shaping up to be a busy day.
Just how I like it Julie decided.
The cab pulled up outside her building and she grabbed her briefcase and paid the driver.
Throwing her coat over her arm she walked into the building, the heels of her black leather court shoes clicking on the marble floor.
She didn't even notice that there were construction workers working on the empty office space as she headed straight for the elevators with her nose buried in her case notes.
Most of the construction workers noticed her though, all except one that is.
"Dude are you blind? You just missed the hottest blond walk in" one the guys ribbed Dean.
"Huh?" Dean looked up from the door he was working on.
"The. Hottest. Blond. Just. Walked. In. and you missed her you idiot!" he accentuated each word with a pause.
"Sorry, this door is glued on, every time I think I've taken the last screw out I keep finding more" Dean wasn't in the mood to talk about hot blonds. He had his hot blond last week and now he'd lost her, possibly forever.
"Whatever man" the guy wasn't impressed with Dean's lack of enthusiasm and let him be.
"Maybe he's gay?" one of the other guys suggested not so quietly.
"Nah, he's been dumped. You can see it in his face" another one concluded.
Dean slammed the tools on to the floor.
"I'm taking my break" he said through clenched teeth letting the others know that he was pissed off before storming outside.
Once outside Dean took a deep breath of slightly fresh Chicago air and stretched his hands above his head.
Closing his eyes he gently rolled his neck around. For the past hour he'd been crouched over this stupid door trying to work out how some complicated bastard put the damn thing together in the first place. He'd never seen anything like it.
Thinking more about the work at hand rather than where he was actually going he was snapped out of his thoughts when he ran into someone.
"Oh god I'm sorry" he said immediately bending down to help pick up the papers he'd just knocked out of the person's hands.
"It's okay, I wasn't really looking either" the sweetest voice he'd ever heard in his entire life replied.
Dean rose to his feet handing over the papers when he came face to face with the girl of his dreams.
"Jules" he exclaimed.
Julie's eyes widened in shock.
"Dean" she answered in a voice that sounded foreign to them both.
Snapping out of it she snatched the papers back from him "I have to go I'm late for Court" she told him as she practically ran down the sidewalk in her heels.
"Julie wait!" he called after her but she ignored him. He thought about following her but he didn't want to get her into any trouble if she had to be in Court. Instead he settled for watching her run away from him, again.
He couldn't help but stare at her ass in the tight-ish black suit skirt that had a split up the back as she walked though.
She has to come back some time Dean thought realising his break was now over.
He went back inside and settled into the job at hand keeping one eye on the front door for any sign of Julie Gaffney returning.
A/N - thanks for the reviews, I hate to break it to you guys but they're not back together just yet - nor will they be in the next chapter.