ten

[final installment of the story - the complete story can be read at Liquid Desires. Start from the bottom of the blog. The installments are 1-10.]

On the way back, I keep asking Julie what happened at the party. Why she was so upset when I saw her. She refuses to tell me.

Just before I drop her off at her apartment, just as she’s opening the door to get out of the car, she stops. She starts rambling. Apparently, she and Richard were college sweethearts. I hadn’t told her his last name and, in college, he was known as Wu Chung, not Richard. They had been engaged and she had called it off because she hadn’t felt ready. She was only twenty-four at the time.

She had been drinking non-stop since she saw him. She didn’t tell me because she didn’t want to spoil the party for me. She was fine, completely relaxed, until Richard reached out, impulsively, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. He apologized. She accepted. And to prove that she wasn’t angry, she accepted an invitation to meet him for lunch. They were talking about where to meet when a woman in a turquoise dress walked onto the terrace and he walked away from Julie as if she has a contagious disease. Julie had noticed Richard’s wedding ring and could tell from the woman’s attitude that she was Richard’s wife. I found Julie sitting alone in a dark corner, nursing her fifth Cosmo, after he had walked away with his wife to give his little toast.

There is nothing I can say. It would be hypocritical to lecture her on the virtues of flirting with a married man. I don’t know why she agreed to meet him. She probably doesn’t know either. She’s not the type to have an affair. Perhaps my attitude, my affairs, made her curious.

As I drove away from Julie’s apartment, I felt nauseous. I hadn’t had much to drink but I felt an urgency to throw up. I stopped my car and got out and looked for bushes. But no matter how much I tried, nothing came out. The feeling of nausea stayed with me though. Even when I woke up the next morning.