Quartet: Julie Ch. 02

"There, Julie," Eleanor said triumphantly. "I think that almost does it."

"Wow, Aunt Eleanor." Julie exclaimed in wonder. "What else could there possibly be?"

"A spare key to the apartment." she said. "There's a little kiosk just around the corner, so we can get that done now and we're finished for the day."

"Oh, Aunt Eleanor, how can I ever thank you." the young woman gushed. "You've been so kind and generous. I don't know how I could ever repay you."

"You can repay me by getting back to being that lovely young niece I had a few months ago. I never had any children of my own, Julie. You're like a daughter to me and I want to help you in any way I can. I also want you to help yourself. I think you've gotten off to a great start here. Now, if we can find you something useful to do during the daytime, you'll officially be off the endangered species list." she exclaimed as they walked back to her apartment building.

Julie was tired from all the walking they had done that day. She wondered how her Aunt could still be fresh and ready to go out for the evening, much less have the energy for what would come later. The fitness club must be the answer, she thought.

Eleanor had her shower and carefully applied her makeup. About six o'clock she walked into the living room in her new outfit. She looked stunning and Julie said so. She had an unerring eye for what looked good on her. Her colors, on paper, were dull; black, grey, red and silver. But the effect on her was pure elegance. No wonder she had captured Roger's heart. What man could resist her?

"Are you going to model the other thing you bought today?" Julie asked impertinently.

"Not for you, young lady." she replied with the now familiar arched eyebrow. "Private viewings only."

"It's going to be a noisy night tonight on the fourteenth floor!" Julie laughed.

"You are getting a little too cheeky, young lady!" Eleanor said a faux stern voice. "Just watch yourself, now."

"OK, sorry." Julie said contritely. "I guess I'm getting a bit personal, eh?"

"Just a bit." Eleanor replied. Secretly, she was delighted with the changes in Julie in a few short days. She was happier now and she wasn't afraid of quite personal conversations between them. The suggestive movie and their friendly banter had been the evidence that she was recovering her sexuality a little more each day. "A step at a time; no need to be in a rush." Eleanor thought.

-0-

It was almost eight months later that Eleanor realized the changes that Julie had undergone.

"Julie," Eleanor announced one morning at the breakfast table. "You have made great progress since you've been here and I'm proud of you. You have lost most of the excess pounds you needed to lose and you look a thousand percent better. You've got a job and you're attitude is much better too. Now it's time to decide what to do next."

Eleanor had been thinking about this for a while. She was pretty sure Julie could manage now. Over the past year, most of the ghosts and demons had been let loose and slain, one by one. From a dispirited, bedraggled, overweight young woman she picked up one November day at the airport; she had become another person entirely. She had taken to the fitness club with a vengeance. She began with stationary running, then abdominal lifts, then on to weights. She had a new physique that was entirely different than the young high school girl of seventeen. She hadn't lost her femininity, but she displayed more mature, developed body. She presented herself with much more confidence and self-awareness. She had gone through two potential 'boyfriends' that her Aunt knew about; wearing both of them out with her single mindedness and sense of purpose. She had no time for unfocussed young men. Eleanor had begun to wonder if she wasn't over-compensating. Her attitude was positive and she hadn't lost her sense of humour or her sense of mischief, so perhaps her concerns were unnecessary. She had a job as a supervisor at a local restaurant chain. Not bad considering she started as a waitress. She would like to have taken credit for the changes, but she was unsure just what the catalyst for this transformation was.

Julie, herself, wasn't sure what had turned her on to a new life-style. Probably her Aunt, she thought. She was truly enjoying herself with Aunt Eleanor as her 'roommate', mentor and authority figure. Her discovery that her Aunt had an active sex life and a bawdy sense of humour took a great deal of pressure off the young girl. It humanized her. Julie began to realize that she wanted to be like her Aunt. She wanted to be a person of style, elegance and self-confidence. All she needed in addition to that was a wealthy late husband to leave a multi-million dollar fortune to her to make it all happen. Her Aunt had told her about her disastrous first marriage as a cautionary tale; a lesson to be learned; a model never to be followed. Her second marriage was, however, the antithesis of the first.

Robert Thompson was a big, bull-of-the-woods type man who, along with his brother, had built a successful bridge construction company from virtually nothing; selling it to a large, international competitor for many millions of dollars. It was his plan to take his bride, Eleanor, on a world tour, everything first class! They had met in Calgary several years earlier and it was a case of love-at-first-sight. They were polar opposites; he was the rough, unpolished giant and she was the elegant, worldly business woman. His giant frame and rough background belied his gentle nature and his unquenchable hunger for Eleanor. She succumbed willingly to his persistent advances and they were married less than three months after they were introduced. He loved her with a passion he never knew he possessed. She loved him equally; mystified when she thought of how little they might have in common. She was deliriously happy for the eleven years they were married. He had not planned to retire, but when the offer from the New York based corporation was placed before his brother and him, they signed. Eleanor now had her husband all to herself and they meticulously planned their celebratory around-the-world trip. Fate intervened when Robert fell ill just before the trip was to begin and was ultimately diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. He was gone in three months. Eleanor was devastated. When the will passed probate and she was secure financially for the rest of her life, she packed a few personal items, sold the house in Calgary and moved to Toronto. That was seven years ago.

Julie envied her Aunt's personal life. She had been married to a man she truly loved and who loved her equally. When he died, she had ultimately found another man; different in every respect except one: Roger loved Eleanor as truly and deeply as Robert had. Eleanor had confided to Julie that Roger had asked her to marry him several times and she had put him off. It wasn't that she was unsure of her love for Roger, but she had developed an irrational fear that her marriages were cursed or jinxed in some way. It was a singular phobia that Eleanor could not explain, but could not shake off. For now, the relationship would remain as lovers, not man and wife.

As Julie's new life began to take shape, she found a job in a nearby coffee shop/restaurant as a waitress. The pay was low, but the hours meshed with her personal life. She was able to go to the Fitness Centre first thing in the morning and head back to the apartment for a shower and breakfast. He shift began at eleven a.m. and run through the balance of the work day until the place closed at seven p.m. She found it an easy to learn job and since most of the customers were local business people, their tips were reasonable, the customers generally polite and well dressed and finally, there was little stress. She mastered the new job in a matter of days and enjoyed the fact that she had the evenings free for herself. As her fitness program developed and her body began to return to a more attractive form, she was surprised to find a few of the 'restaurant regulars' were complementing her on her appearance and even occasionally asking her out. At first, these requests frightened her. After some conversations with Aunt Eleanor, she began to realize they were complements and not threats. Her nightmares had subsided dramatically with time and she began to think fleetingly about dating. She was envious of the relationship that Roger and Aunt Eleanor displayed. They refused to hide their passion for each other and on more than one occasion, Julie had revisited her hallway eavesdropping in the middle of the night.

Three months after her arrival in Toronto, Julie accepted the offer of a date from a young man who had been frequenting the restaurant since she had been there. She knew he was a junior accountant at some large firm and he was invariably polite and friendly toward her. His name was Warren Phillips and he was three years older than her. He had a college degree in Business Administration and was just starting out on his chosen career on Bay Street. He had asked Julie a couple of times already and she had declined; offering excuses at the time. She talked to her Aunt Eleanor and, in typical fashion, didn't tell her what to do, but had her review each of the plus and minus factors before making a decision. They both came to the conclusion that it wasn't a risky proposition since he was inviting her to a play at one of the downtown theatres. Julie knew she would see him the next lunch hour and lay awake in bed wondering how to tell him discretely that she would go to the theatre with him. The next day, she was nervous and luckily, didn't have to wait long before Warren arrived at the lunch counter. She waited until there wasn't anyone within earshot and told him she had changed her mind and would like to go with him to the theatre.

Warren went red, then white and began to stammer.

"Uh, Julie, uh, er ... I uh, asked someone else and they, uh, kind of ... said yes." he stammered. "I'm sorry Julie; I'd still like to take you out and everything. Maybe next time?" he concluded hopefully.

"Oh, that's OK Warren. I understand. Yah, maybe next time." she said as carefully as she could. She realized she was disappointed and had looked forward to the date after all. She hoped there would be a next time. When she told her Aunt that evening; Eleanor laughed and said:

"Well there you go. You have to be quick these days, girl. Better luck next time!"

There never was a next time with Warren. He didn't come to the restaurant for lunch after that day. Julie wondered if he had fallen for the girl who he had invited to the theatre. She learned from some of his fellow accounting juniors that he had been transferred to a branch office in Guelph. Julie suggested that it must have been a sudden transfer, but no, the other juniors said he had known about the transfer for a couple of months. Julie felt depressed. Luckily, a few days later, another of the juniors asked her out and she accepted right away. They were to go to a concert on Saturday night. Her date, a young man named Brian, arranged to meet her in front of her apartment building at seven thirty and catch the subway to the concert location. Dress was casual, which was fine with Julie. She didn't really have much in the way of party clothes. Brian met her at the agreed time and walked with her to the subway station nearby. The concert was noisy and the music wasn't really the kind that Julie enjoyed, but she was happy to be out with someone he own age for a change. Brian was clearly into the music and was clapping and yelling out the lyrics, such as they were, with each offering. After the first half of the concert, the break finally restored some of Julie's hearing. Brian reached into his pocket and produced a handkerchief. He opened it to reveal several small yellow pills.

"Try this and you'll really get in the groove, girl." he shouted.

"No, no thanks." Julie replied, wide eyed.

Memories of that night of the grad house party flooded back and she panicked. Brian looked away and then back and she was gone. She ran as fast as she could for the door and out into the cold January night air. She stopped and looked back to see if Brian was following her and then began walking rapidly toward the subway station. She had to escape. She paced the subway platform for what seemed like an eternity before the next train arrived. It wasn't until she was on the almost empty train and it was moving away from the station that she began to feel safe. She realized she had been hyperventilating. She willed herself to calm down. By the time she arrived at the station near her Aunt's apartment building, her panic has subsided. She unlocked the door to the apartment and closed it quickly behind her. Eleanor was out, as she almost always was on Friday and Saturday. She was close to tears and angry that her first date ended so badly. She flung off her coat and scarf and went to her bedroom and threw herself on the bed. She was angry and frightened and frustrated. She wanted someone, her Aunt, her Mother, anyone to talk to. She picked up her cell phone and dialed her parents' number. It rang five times before she gave up. Slowly, she undressed, went across the hall to the bathroom and within a few minutes, was lying in her bed. She couldn't sleep; the events of the evening had put a hold on that idea. After lying in bed for almost an hour, she got up and went into the living room and turned on the T.V. She surfed the dial looking for something worthwhile when she found another of the explicit movies that only played on weekend late night cable channels. She became fascinated with the sexual scenes that were played out before her. She put her head back on the cushions at the end of the sofa and within minutes, was fast asleep.

She awoke early Sunday morning with the sound of a key in the apartment door lock. Her Aunt walked in and was surprised to see Julie on the sofa.

"Have you been there all night, Julie?" she asked.

"I guess so; what time is it?" she asked groggily.

"Five to eight. How was your date?" she asked brightly.

"Oh, Aunt Eleanor, it was a nightmare." she moaned. "He had drugs. I ran away from him."

"Oh brother! Julie, I'm so sorry." she sympathized. "You deserve better than this."