“Talk to me, Juliet. Tell me what to do.”
Her chuckle drifted across the line.
“I feel stupid for calling you and crying over the chat like this,” she whispered. “I’m not even a freaking crybaby.”
“Don’t feel stupid. We all have days when we feel low. Tell me how to make you feel better, love.”
“I just need time,” she said with a sigh. “In time, I’ll feel better. But tonight, I was planning to watch an anime until I fell asleep. Would you... like to watch it with me? From your own place, of course.”
“Yeah. Let’s do that,” I told her, willing to agree to whatever she wanted.
“For real?”
“Yeah. Let’s watch an anime together. From our respective homes, of course.”
“Thank you, Rome,” she whispered.
Anything for you, Juliet.
“You’re welcome. Now, what anime are we watching, and where do I download it from?”
She told me the name of the anime and what site it was streaming on. I wasn't a member. That problem took all of three minutes to solve. I created an account, paid for a subscription, and logged in.
Then we started the first episode together. I was a grown man sitting in bed watching anime with a woman I’d never met, while talking on a private call. To some, that would sound ridiculous.
And yet it was one of the best parts of my week. Maybe my month. Was it better than our sex chats? It was close. I found myself paying less attention to the show and more attention to her reactions.
The way she laughed at certain scenes. The way she cursed at others. The way her voice became animated when she talked about characters she liked. For the first time, I felt like I was getting something she'd never given me before.
Access to her world.
A small piece of it.
A piece she was willingly sharing with me. I treasured this moment because it allowed me a glimpse into who she really was. The hours slipped by, and I got lost in discussing the characters with her.
To my surprise, we both felt the villain of the story was being treated too harshly. He had a reason for being so cruel. The world had been cruel to him first. The anime continued. And somewhere along the way, I realized quiet nights in with her were exactly what I was missing in my life.
I was amazed at how excited she got during the fight scenes. My little cyber-criminal had a vicious streak. And when the villain let someone live, she called him foolish and said that decision would come back to bite him in the ass later.
I’d been thinking the same thing. It seemed we thought alike. Her commentary was becoming my favorite part of the show. I found myself waiting for her reactions more than I waited for the next scene.
A smile tugged at my mouth when one of the characters did something reckless, and Juliet immediately groaned.
“Oh, come on,” she muttered. “That was the dumbest thing he could've done.”
And when the romance arc started, she even giggled, sounding fucking adorable. She called out how sweet the villain was when he brought roses for the woman he had a crush on.
“I didn’t see that coming,” I told her, barely believing the same character who’d destroyed a village had left one street standing because the woman he loved lived on it.
“I didn’t either,” Juliet said. “But, love has a funny way of sneaking up on you.”
She was right. So damn right.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror across from my bed. I was smiling. Just yesterday, Cas told me I needed to smile more. He called me a sourpuss. Now look at me, unable to wipe the grin off my face.
All thanks to Juliet With Curves. We watched three more episodes together. It was during the fourth episode that the conversation stopped. Soft snores drifted through my speakers.
My smile widened. This woman had fallen asleep. I stared at the dark laptop screen. What I wouldn't give to see her right now. Curled up in bed. Asleep. Peaceful. Instead, all I had was a black screen and snores. It would have to do... for now.
