Julia
Chapter 10Julia came running out of Orlofsky's as soon as Stu pulled up. "Where's your car?" she asked.
"Jeff has it." There was no further information. Stuart looked grim; he didn't turn to face her and he was chewing on his lower lip. That's what he did when he wanted a cigarette but couldn't get one for some reason. Or when he was disturbed. Or both.
"Why do you have each other's cars?" She tried another question. "And why is the top up?" That was one of the things he appreciated about her, she liked the feel of the wind in her hair as much as he did.
"Julia . . . " He started, and when she heard the tone in his voice she knew.
"It's Harvey, isn't it? Something's happened with Harvey."
"Yes. Can we wait until we get to my place?" Stu wanted to be sure he was paying close attention to everything going around them, and he couldn't do that if he was explaining to her what happened. Just in case Harvey or someone else was following them.
"We're going to your place? But what about . . . ?"
"We'll get something."
She knew he wasn't going to tell her anything more right now, so they rode in silence back up to Hollywood. Stu kept a close eye on everyone who followed him, and by the time they reached his apartment he knew they were safe, for tonight at least.
He parked the car and hurried around to the passenger side to open Julia's door. Once he'd gotten her out he put his arm around her and pulled her close. It was a short walk to Stu's building, and then up in the elevator to the third floor. He kept her behind him as he opened the door and turned on the light. Once he was certain they were alone he pulled her in and closed and locked the door. It was a lovely apartment, beautifully decorated and yet comfortable, and she took a seat on the couch. Stu sat down across from her and lit a cigarette, then seemed to remember something. "Do you want a drink? I could really use one. I have some white wine, if you'd like."
"What are you having?" she asked.
"Scotch," he answered, knowing full well that his drink choice was a clear warning to her how serious his news was.
"The wine, please."
When he was finished he brought their drinks over. She sipped hers slowly; he practically tossed back the whole scotch in one swallow. He put out what was left of his cigarette and leaned back on the couch. "Julia, Harvey came to see me today."
"Did he still want you to find me?" she asked, hoping against hope that he'd come to call off the search.
"Yes, he did. I fired him as a client, Julia. I told him I had too much corporate work to do and I couldn't handle his case."
She took another swallow of wine before she asked him another question. "How bad was his reaction? Did he try to hurt you like he did Jim Thomas?"
Stu shook his head. "No, that was the strange part. He asked if I could refer him to someone else, and when I told him I couldn't he shook my hand and left."
"Then what is this all about? Why are we here instead of my place? Something's wrong, I know it, Stuart."
Julia was right, something was wrong. Stu just wasn't sure how wrong it was. "When he retrieved his car from Kookie, Harvey was muttering to himself. Kookie couldn't hear all of it, but he heard 'found her' and 'bastard.' Harvey didn't buy what I told him for a minute. I wasn't sure what he'd do after he left, so we had Kookie put the tops up on the convertibles so the drivers would be harder to identify, then we switched cars. Just in case Harvey had decided to follow me."
"But why would he . . . oh, to find me. Do you suppose he knows? About us, I mean?" She set the glass of wine down on the coffee table and began to wring her hands.
"I don't know, Julia, but I wasn't willing to take any more of a chance than I had to. We . . . we have to stop seeing each other . . . "
"NO! No, Stuart. I can't! I won't!" She jumped up from the couch and practically threw herself into his arms. "I won't give you up. Don't even ask me to! You're the only thing that's brought joy into my life." Then, as he held her, she whimpered first, like a little child, and began to softly cry. "I . . . I love you, Stuart. I don't want to be without you. Don't you know that?"
He held her close and kissed the top of her head. He wanted to say the same words to her, to tell her what he felt inside, but he just kept kissing her hair until she raised her face up to his and their lips met in a gentle kiss. He wrapped her tightly in his arms and kissed her again, more forceful this time, and her lips met his with the same pent-up desire.
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"Stuart?" she questioned quietly.
"Hmm?" was his reply.
"What time is it?"
There was just enough light in the apartment to read his watch by. "Four-thirty."
"You have to take me home. I can't go to work like this."
They were lying on the couch, wrapped up in each other's arms, where they'd fallen asleep some hours ago.
"Okay." He made no move to get up, and in just a minute she could feel his breathing on her neck and hear his soft snoring.
"Stuart, we have to get up." She tried to unwrap her arms from around him and all that succeeded in doing was to rouse him enough to pull her close again. This time she pushed him away and extracted herself from his embrace and he finally opened his eyes and looked at her.
"Must we?" he questioned.
"Yes," she whispered.
"Why can't we stay here forever?"
"Because we both have places to be this morning. And I'm starving. Do you have any food in this apartment?"
"Certainly."
"What is it?"
He had to think for a minute before he answered her. "Coffee."
"That's not food," she told him.
"Alright. You make the coffee and I'll get ready for work, then we can leave here and stop for breakfast before I take you home. How does that sound?"
"It sounds wonderful. Hurry."
He tried to get up but they were too tangled up in each other. "You have to let me up if we're going anywhere." Finally both were able to sit. Stuart got up and helped Julia off the couch. He kissed her softly and she headed for the kitchen while he headed for the shower. Thirty minutes later he was dressed and ready to go. She handed him a cup of coffee, took one for her own, and they left the apartment.
There was a little coffee shop about a block away and he stopped there so they could eat breakfast. "Do I look presentable?" she asked.
"No, you look beautiful," and he kissed the hand he was holding.
"I could eat a horse," she told him.
"Mmm, I don't think horse is on the menu."
Instead, she ate eggs sunny-side up, bacon, hash browns, toast with grape jelly and more coffee. Stu settled for oatmeal and coffee. "Is that all you're eating? No wonder you're thin as a rail."
"I have a luncheon meeting today," he explained to her.
In twenty minutes they were on their way again and, since they were driving against the traffic, in no time at all they were at her apartment. "You can go ahead and leave for your office now," she told him as she kissed him goodbye.
"Oh, no," came his reply. "I'm waiting here until you're ready to go and I'm taking you to work."
"You don't have to."
He gave her an odd look. "Yes, I do."
"Alright."
In just a minute he heard her shower, and the sound of her singing. 'Is this what it's like to be married?' he wondered. If so, it was enjoyable. Maybe . . . if they got through all this. But then that was the problem, wasn't it? Getting through all this.