Chapter 62: A Man Scorned

Richie wasn’t thrilled that Julianna decided to keep this from him. “I thought we had agreed on total honesty?” he said.

Julianna was a bit surprised at his tone, but really couldn’t blame him. Much. “I didn’t want to talk about it, “she said. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

Richie sighed. “It’s not that it’s a big deal, it’s that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me.”

“No, Rich,” Julianna insisted. “That isn’t it at all.” She started pacing. “Look,” she said, looking at him. “When he called, I was not exactly in the best place, if you’ll recall.” Richie nodded. “I didn’t want to talk about it. Sorry. Sue me.” Richie was a little surprised by her sarcastic attitude, but said nothing. Julianna continued. “I actually forgot all about his call until he showed up here.” She was trying not to get aggravated with him, but it was hard.

Richie looked skeptical. “You mean you never gave it a second thought? Really?”

“Really,” Julianna said. “Rich, he doesn’t mean anything to me. Not anymore. Not good, bad, or otherwise. He’s just a nuisance now, not part of my life, and I don’t want to waste another moment talking about him.” She crossed the room to take his hands. “You helped me make him powerless against me. End of story.”

“So quickly?”

Julianna sighed angrily. “Look, believe me or don’t, but don’t preach about trust to me if you don’t trust me yourself.” Her eyes searched Richie’s, darting back and forth between them. “Now,” she said, her voice softening. “I’ve got a lot of work to do this afternoon and need fuel. What’d you get for lunch? It smells delicious.”


All the way back to his office, Mark was livid. How dare that bitch attack him. Who the hell did she think she was? Just because she was screwing a rock star didn’t make her any better than him. He sat behind his desk and fumed. Then he plotted. He knew that she wouldn’t make a scene in front of the company – she never was one to do that. He’d simply take what he wanted. He wanted in on her show.

Later that afternoon, Mark presented himself at the theater. Since he had made himself scarce in the past weeks, nobody was really expecting him. He waltzed in like he owned the place, and sat quietly in the back of the darkish theater. Nobody said anything to him, and he smiled. This might just work out after all. He watched the rehearsals for a while, bored out of his mind. He thought the story line was insipid, the choreography simple and plain and the songs? Well he never did understand the appeal.

Still, his nose knew when he smelled something good, and given the popularity of this band, the show was sure to be a success. Any success was worth being a part of. He made his way out of the theater, and walked around the rehearsal rooms, being careful not to be spotted by Julianna. If his plan had any hope of succeeding, he had to make nice with everyone first, then let Julianna know he’d been around. That way, she’d look like the bad guy for sending him away when all he was trying to do was make nice.

Attack him? He’d show her. He’d get what he wanted from her, then she’d be sorry.


When Julianna left to go the theater, Richie sat and looked out the window, thinking. He knew that he was being ridiculous. Julianna had never given him any reason to doubt her. He was just being a jealous fool, and what was worse, he was being jealous of someone she hated. That was screwed up. Sighing, he decided he needed to apologize to Julianna. He didn’t want this to fester between them. Decision made, he slapped his thighs and stood. After cleaning up from their lunch, Richie went shopping.

When he arrived at the theater, Richie went in the back entrance, as he did the last time. He found someone to tell him where Julianna was working. Making his way to the rehearsal room, he smiled, patting his pocket. Nothing says “I’m sorry I fucked up” like jewelry.

Walking quietly to the door, he peeked in the window, and gaped. Mark was sitting there, talking to Julianna’s leads, looking as if he had every right to be there. Julianna was nowhere to be found. Fuming, he stalked around looking for her, but with no luck. He did run into Stan, and asked him why Mark was there.

“I guess Julianna decided he wasn’t hurting anything by being here,” Stan said.

“What about all the rumors and gossip he was trying to start?”

Stan just shrugged. “She doesn’t run all her decisions by me,” Stan said. “Maybe you should ask her yourself.”

“Maybe I will,” Richie said angrily, and left.