(Revised 6/15/22)
Chapter 9: Bad Timing
Julie had spent half of the night with Donovan, tending to Sean's hallucinations and violent outbursts, and the other half tossing, turning, and thinking about Donovan, wondering why he insisted on playing an emotional game with her. She did not want to be with him again, why couldn't he accept it and not try to confuse her as she mentally prepared herself to leave. She realized she could be partly to blame for her confusion and that she should not have played along, light jokes about making him dinner last night… light, yet seemingly seductive jokes.
What have I done? She wondered, preparing breakfast the next morning. It's supposed to be over, and there we were flirting with each other. He still loves me Do I still love him?
Julie put three plates on the small, square table, one for her, one for Thelma, and one for Willie. Donovan would have to tend to Sean's food when he returned from the local convenience mart. Julie took a seat and scooted her chair in. She observed Thelma poke at scrambled eggs with a fork.
"I've never eaten cooked food before. This should be interesting." Thelma lifted a forkful up into her mouth, then chewed carefully and smiled. "This is good, Willie, you should try it."
"Thanks. I am fine," said Willie as he pulled apart one of Donovan's uneaten grapefruits.
There was a rap on the front door and Julie looked up to see Steve Maitland peering at her through the window.
My God, he found me…
"Excuse me," she muttered quickly getting up from the table.
"Who is that?" Thelma asked.
Julie reached the door and unlocked the deadbolt. Steve did not hesitate to sweep her up and hug her as hard as he could. She coughed on the overpowering scent of Polo.
"I've missed you," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her earlobe.
"How did you find me?" she asked, disengaging herself from the embrace. She could only imagine Donovan returning right now, not that he would say or do anything, not until after Steve left. But she envisioned the look on his face.
"I contacted Philip yesterday. He told me you were here." He looked into her eyes and pecked her full on the mouth, but she darted out of his aim.
"C'mon, Steve…" she pleaded.
"I haven't stopped thinking about you since we met again," he said. "And you're just as beautiful as you were on that day."
She stared at him, not knowing what to say. She could only speculate as to what he was about to ask her, and sure enough…
"Do you want to come and stay with me? We could really get to know one another again, start over from the beginning, like we were never separated to begin with."
He ran a hand through her hair, making her uncomfortable.
"I still love you, Julie."
I don't know how I feel about you, Steve. She knew it was not the time to be with him. "I can't leave right now. I have a patient to take care of."
"Well, then let me come see you every day," he said. "At least we can spend a little bit of time together." He chuckled to himself. "I'm sorry I should've guessed; we should take it slow."
"I can't right now."
"What? You don't want to see me?" A look of disappointment washed over his face.
"No, I have too much going on. This isn't a good time."
"Well, do you have a pen and a paper? Let me leave my number. You can call me when you're ready."
She nodded and went to her room, to her desk, and located a writing tablet. There again she saw Chris and Ham's number and was reminded of Maggie's impending call. She could not wait to get away from all this.
After she allowed Steve to write down his information, he left, and not but a few minutes later, Donovan pulled his truck in front of the building. Julie went to meet him, hoping that Willie and Thelma would keep quiet about her guest.
Donovan stepped down from the truck with two K-Mart bags, stuffed with what looked like clothing.
"I stopped and picked up Sean some clothes," he explained. "I'm sick of seeing him in that damned red uniform."
He pulled a Chocolate almond Hershey Bar out of the bag. "A little something extra for you. The clerk said a new shipment came in this morning."
"I bought one yesterday." She took it from him.
"I figured, but you deserve more."
"Well thank you, Mike." She found herself grinning from ear to ear, and at the same time was annoyed with herself for letting him get to her like that. "How about some eggs and toast?" she asked, trying to distract herself from the awkwardness.
"Anything from you would be great." He winked.
"I'll uh …get right on it."
She watched him disappear into Sean's room, and not long after, the shouting match began…