Page 54 of A Shot at Love
Jules – 3:39PM
Hey, I would really love to but Cam just signed a new sponsorship deal and we’re all going out to dinner with the brand rep’s to celebrate.
I’m so sorry!
Frankie sighed, unable to mask her disappointment, and tossed her phone to the side. She glanced out the window at the water, at one of the only harbours that somehow never froze in the winter. Her eyes landed on a large tugboat that seemed to glide across the surface. The image of it was mesmerizing and before she knew it, the sight of it was lulling her to sleep.
The condo was pitch black when the sound of someone knocking on her door stirred her from the nap she’d accidentally taken. She opened her eyes and groaned, reaching around in the dark on the couch to find her phone and when her hand grabbed hold of it, she tapped the screen, squinting at the brightness. It was 10:45pm and she had a pile of unread texts and two missed calls from Jules.
Whoever was at her door knocked again and she pushed herself up off the coach, her body groaning in protest after sleeping in the uncomfortable position for hours.
“I’m coming!”
She flicked on a few lamps, bringing light back into the room, before she rubbed her eyes and walked to the door, turning the lock and pulling it open without a second thought.
Jules stood in the hallway, cradling a paper bag soaked through with grease in some spots. Her parka was still zipped up to the neck and her toque was falling off her head as she huffed out of the corner of her mouth to blow hair out of her eyes.
“You haven’t been ignoring me, right?”
“Uh…no?”
Jules didn’t wait for Frankie to welcome her in, and she pushed past her instead, setting the paper bag down on the kitchen island. She turned back to face Frankie and put her hands on her hips. “It’s just that it’s been hours since my last message to you and then you never replied to any of the others I sent. I thought maybe you were upset because I couldn’t come over tonight but I called and you didn’t pick up.”
“Hey.” Frankie closed the door and walked to Jules. She cupped her face in her hands and smiled, making a point of inhaling and exhaling deeply. “Take a breath.”
Jules seemed to relax at that and tugged the hat off her head, tossing it behind her on the island. Her hair stuck out in every direction thanks to the static and Frankie couldn’t stop a laugh from bubbling up at the sight of it.
“I love what you’re doing with your hair these days.”
After a beat of silence, Jules started laughing too and she stepped into Frankie’s arms, melting against her.
“You really thought I was ignoring you?”
“No.” Jules sighed and looked up at Frankie. “...maybe.”
”I promise you that’s not the case. I just had a tough day and accidentally fell asleep on the couch.”
Concern filled Jules' eyes and her brows pinched. “What happened?”
Frankie tried to shrug it off, because it’s what she was used to doing. With Sydney in Sweden, no close relationship with her family, and a life in a city still so new to her, she didn’t really have anyone to talk to about her day or about the stresses of her job.
It had been like that for a long time and as supportive as Sydney always had been, neither of them could deny that the distance of an ocean and living on separate continents made it hard to rely on one another consistently.
So it was hard for Frankie to really open up about what she was managing in her day to day, preferring to keep things light, to leave her real problems in the hallway before she got into her apartment at the end of the day. And she wanted to be comfortable enough to open up, she wanted a partner who understood, who listened and didn’t judge, but it was scary to admit she needed someone, that she wanted communication when she’d never had it before.
“It’s nothing, really. Let’s just —”
“It’snotnothing. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t talk to me about work. If this,” Jules motioned between them, “is going to work, we need to be able to talk to each other, right?”
Frankie had to look away, because she wasn’t used to a romantic partner being so forthcoming, mostly because she’d never before allowed something to bloom from a friendship first, and she didn’t know how to let all of her walls down.
But Jules had managed to soften her edges, had gotten Frankie to speak about her family issues – a part of her life she’d kept in the dark for years because the only people in her life that mattered already knew. There hadn’t been anyone else, no one who'd been around long enough to want to know, to even ask.
Until Jules.
“You’re right, I’m just used to dealing with this all on my own.”
“You’re not alone anymore. Let me carry some of the weight of your world for you.” Jules softly put a knuckle on the side of Frankie’s chin, turning her head so they were looking at each other again. “Okay?”
