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“Why are you thanking me?”
“For being honest with me. I don’t think that I could have handled it if you told me that everything would be fine, or that I’d just bounce back next season.”
“You will bounce back!” I exclaimed. “You are the strongest person I have ever met. This isn’t going to end you.”
That I was sure of. Ever since we’d met, I’d envied Julia. She was strong. When life threw a curveball at her, she hit it out of the park, and I really was sure that she would bounce back.
She sighed. “I know you mean that genuinely, but I can’t hear it right now. I need to mourn.”
I nodded. I wanted to assure her that her career really wasn’t over, but I understood her desire to wallow in it for a minute. After Nikolai died, I’d mourned the life that I thought had been stolen from me. For years, I’d envisioned myself the wife of the Pakhan. I’d thought that becoming that was the only thing I was due in life. Now, I knew better. Not marrying Nikolai Petrov had been the greatest gift life could have given me. After all, his mother, Katarina, had lost her mind.
“What can I get you?” I asked, pulling my mind out of the past and focusing back on my friend. Looking closely at her leg, I noticed that her knee was wrapped tightly, and the skin above was tinged slightly purple. Her leg was obviously swollen, and I winced as I thought about the pain she was in. “How the hell did you get up all the stairs?” I asked. “Mark?”
Julia snorted. “Mark and I broke up.”
“What?” My jaw was nearly on the floor at this revelation. “When?” I racked my brain trying to figure out if I’d missed something. Julia had been home a lot lately, but I’d assumed it was simply because of her early morning rehearsals. Mark always complained when she had to be to work early
Julia shrugged. “It wasn’t going anywhere. He wanted a housewife who was going to fawn at his every word, and I wasn’t interested in someone who can’t muster up the passion for my dreams.”
I wanted to push back and ask more questions, but I could see that she didn’t want to talk about it. Whatever happened was ultimately her business, and I wouldn't ask too much more about it. It wasn’t for me to know.
“Sit,” Julia ordered. She moved aside slightly in order to make room for me on her bed.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I don’t want to hurt your leg.”
Julia patted the space next to her, gesturing for me to take a seat. At the sight of her open invitation, I felt my exhaustion hit. It was barely noon, and I felt as though I could sleep for days. Of course, I couldn’t. Things were a mess, and I needed to figure out what to do next.
“Why are you home so early? Normally, you aren’t back until nearly midnight.” She wiggled her eyebrows, and I felt a flush creep across my face. I wasn’t sure if it was from my anger or embarrassment. I knew what she was implying–that I’d been spending late nights with Ezra, which was true but not in the way she meant.
Sighing, I prepared myself for the bad news that I was about to deliver. “I was fired,” I said.
Julia moved too quickly, the action caused her knee to fall off the pillow it had been laying on, and she yelped slightly. “Be careful,” I exclaimed.
“It’s fine,” Julia said, but I noticed tears in her eyes. She was clearly in a great deal of pain. Even as she tried to shift, I noticed that she was doing what she could to try and keep herself from moving her leg.
Reaching out, I did my best to help her resituate herself without too much pain.
“Ezra wanted me to come on full time,” I explained. “But I wasn’t able to pass the background check.” I was intentionally vague because I didn’t want Julia to worry. “I’m sure that I’ll be placed somewhere by the agency soon enough.”
The problem was that I wasn’t so sure of that. The agency hadn’t called me, which made my stomach turn. I’d hope that I would simply be placed into another position. Maybe it wouldn’t pay so well, but this was New York, and there were ways to find additional income under the table.
“What aren’t you telling me?” Julia asked.
My brow furrowed. “What do you mean?” For the most part, I told Julia everything. Though she didn’t know the truth about what brought me to her that night a year ago, or my family, she knew more about me than almost anyone else on the planet.
Julia examined me closely, and I wondered what she saw. We’d been fast friends when we met, but sometimes, I wondered if that was because she was someone who needed to protect others, and I had definitely needed protection. Not only had I been shot and nearly frozen, but I also knew nothing about the world. I had been sheltered my whole entire life. I’d never worked or taken care of myself. I hadn’t even been able to do laundry on my own.
“You have a lot of secrets,” Julia reminded me.
I sighed and pressed a piece of my hair out of my face. “You know everything important about me.”
“Do I?”
I shifted uncomfortably on the bed.
“You’ve never told me about what happened to you that day you wandered into the doctor’s office,” Julia said.
The wound Nikolai left in my shoulder was starting to itch as the memories of that time started to play in my mind. I shuddered.
