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“Well, if you’re not going to talk to me about it, then I hope you have back up somewhere?”
“Back up?”
“Yeah, you know you have to talk this through with somebody, Juliet. No woman can get through this stage without having her girl to back her up and to use as a sounding board. It’s all part of ….”
“Girl code.” Juliet nodded her understanding. As Layla added a heaping teaspoon of sugar to her coffee, Juliet thought about what Layla had said. While Juliet stood steadfast about not revealing the juicy bits of her relationship, it would be nice to have someone to talk to about the confusion Juliet had felt about P.J.’s most recent request.
“He’s going to go visit his family. I guess he has some business to do, and he wants to see them for the holidays.”
“For Christmas?” Layla puzzled. “That’s new. I’ve never known him to go home for Christmas. Actually, he usually spends the dinner with us. He’s always said that the hype is too much for him. I guess he has a zillion cousins and they all have kids and Christmas morning is like...well, I think it would be a blast, but then again, I thrive on confusion!” Layla as usual jumped from one thing to another. “Now that I think of it though, he does always go there about this time every year.”
“Yeah, P.J. said the same thing to me about the actual holiday, it drives him crazy and he claims that he never liked having a warm weather Christmas. But he sure isn’t skimping on gifts for everyone. He’s been having online deliveries every day for a couple of weeks now. He’s leaving Thursday. I guess he’s staying for a few days and he…” Juliet’s words fell away.
“Oh. My. God. Oh my god. Oh my god, oh my god!!!” Layla interrupted as she squealed out. “He’s asked you to go with him, hasn’t he? P.J. asked you to meet the fam? This is huge. Huge!”
“Layla.” Juliet gave her friend a sobering look. “I don’t know if I’m going to go. And I don’t think it’s like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I want you to meet my mom and dad kind of thing. It was more like…I’m going to go; do you want to come?”
“There is absolutely no difference.” Layla scoffed. “A guy like P.J. would not make it all flowery and romantic.”
“So, it’s a step?” Juliet asked.
“It’s definitely a step.” Layla confirmed.
“Then I don’t know if I want to go. I don’t know if I’m ready for a next step. I told P.J. that I’d let him know today. I was thinking I might go. But now that you put it that way, I’m not so sure.”
“I’m an idiot.” Layla smacked herself lightly on the forehead when she realized that pressing Juliet had been a big mistake.
The two women both concentrated on their salads for a few moments, Layla contrite and Juliet thoughtful.
“I think you could be right about this, but I think you could be wrong too. Not everything has a hidden meaning or agenda, Layla.” Juliet said with thought. “As the late Sigmund Freud once said, “Sometimes even a cigar is just a cigar.”
“So, you think that I might be making too much of this?”
“I think you could be, yes.” Juliet told her, partly because she believed it and partly because she realized suddenly that she really wanted to go. It would be fun to get away for a little while and she was curious about P.J.’s roots. “I think you just helped me decide though. I’m going to say yes. I’m going to go with P.J.”
“He’s a good guy, Juliet.” Layla said sincerely.
“I know, Layla. I know that.”
“So, you’re going? You sure?”
“Yes, I’m going and I’m sure.”
“Okay. I guess there’s only one thing left to do then.”
“And what’s that?” Juliet asked warily.
“Shop!” Layla gave her a wide smile, and this time Juliet couldn’t help but smile back.
Juliet felt the quick glances that P.J. threw at her as they made their way to the southeastern seaboard. It was as if he couldn’t believe she was there sitting next to him. Juliet knew how he felt because a big part of her couldn’t believe it either. But as the miles flew away, P.J. had proven himself to be a fun traveling companion. He entertained her with hilarious stories about his family and made the whole prospect of meeting them less intimidating.
They had decided to take P.J.’s truck on the trip. It would be a safe ride as they drove through what could be some swiftly changing weather and it also had a large comfortable cab. When P.J. would not even discuss switching off driving responsibilities, Juliet had been secretly relieved. But for both of their sakes, she had put her foot down on the amount of road time they would cover each day. As a result, they came to an agreement on eight hours of driving per day with that time broken up with stops for meals, pee breaks and leg stretches. As Juliet watched the landscape change from glittering frost to luxurious green grass, she couldn’t help but think about the last time she had taken a road trip and how this was so much different. How she was so much different. Now, on the final night before they reached their destination, they decided on a motel just off the highway. And as luck would have it, there was a well-lit restaurant just across the street. Since it was convenient and they were both starving, P.J. and Juliet decided to have their dinner there. It was Sunday and the place was packed. Unless they wanted to wait an obscene amount of time for a table, P.J. and Juliet had been advised by the hostess to grab a seat at the bar. Juliet followed hesitantly as P.J. made his way through the crowd to the back of the room. After a long day of driving, Juliet did not relish having her dinner while eating on a stool. But to her pleasant surprise she found that the bar chairs were highbacked and cushioned. In Juliet’s opinion, that made all the difference in the world.
It turned out thatThe Stadiumwas more of a sports bar than a restaurant. It seemed to be a local watering hole and the kind of place where everyone knew everybody else. And it appeared to Juliet that at least half of the people there were wearing a Washington NFL jersey. The bartender was busy taking bets and when P.J. put a hundred dollar bill on the counter, Juliet looked at him in alarm. It was not the money…the money was his to spend after all, and after spending the last couple of months in a relationship with P.J. she had come to learn that money was definitely not an issue for him. But although Juliet actually liked football, there was no way she wanted to sit in a bar all night and watch a game. Not after driving all day.
