The Photographer Pt. 03

Hank stood there with his hand in his pockets, still deeply upset at the tragic loss of their friend David. Sophie was trying to comfort him, but he was giving her the cold shoulder, something Justin thought odd given how comforting they were to each other when Bethany passed away. Still, everyone grieves in their own way and perhaps this was Hank's way of grieving for David and Julia.

Justin looked at Julia and saw her standing there stony faced. It seemed like she was in shock since there were no tears to be seen. He walked over to her and she smiled softly, holding out her hand which Justin took and then hugged her. She trembled slightly and hugged Justin tighter as the people paying their respects began to disperse. The one part of the service that got to most, including Justin was when the coffin descended into the grave. Seeing that coffin disappear brought back the memory of just how hard it was for Justin when he buried his wife. It was probably the hardest thing he had ever had to do, and yet here he was again, burying a friend but this time in the role of support. He knew it had to be hard for Julia and wrapped his arms around her to make sure she knew she was safe and supported.

Unbeknownst to Justin, Sophie looked on, conflicted with emotions given that they were burying David, but Justin was hugging Julia. Part of Sophie wanted it to be her, in his arms right now receiving the comfort and affection he had to offer. But alas it wasn't, and Sophie had to sit there wondering how she could be with Justin instead of Julia. It wasn't the nicest of thoughts, given that they were all there for Julia, but Sophie couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Ever since he hugged at Julia at home the other day it had been on her mind. Sophie quickly looked away hoping to let it go but her mind started wandering about how she could achieve her wish of being in Justin's arms.

Justin felt Julia let out a big sigh and he moved away, letting her go slightly so that he could see her face.

"Are you okay?" Justin asked wiping the lone tear off Julia's cheek.

"Yes. Thank you," Julia replied with a weak smile. "Just going to need some time to process it all."

"Well I'm here for you if you need to talk. Need a shoulder to cry on, get angry at, have dinner together, whatever you need, okay?" Justin said giving her a knowing squeeze before letting her go.

"Thank you, I appreciate it," Julia said kissing him on the cheek softly. "I've got some things to take care of and then..."

Julia's lip started to tremble, and Justin could see she was using all of her will to compose herself and stay calm.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Justin asked knowing just how hard it was to be in a situation like this.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you," Julia replied after pushing all her emotions down and composing herself. "I'll talk to you later, hope that's okay?"

"No problem. Absolutely," Justin replied with a smile before Julia lingered and then moved away slowly. She looked back at Justin and gave him a small wave before heading to her car. He watched and waited as the cemetery slowly emptied and only Hank, Sophie and himself were left. Sophie had walked over to the large tree near her car and stood there looking off into the distance as Hank looked down at the hole in the ground.

Justin knew that it was going to take time for everyone to heal. Hell, he needed to as well. It was never easy when someone passed away, especially someone who was a big part of your life. But, he felt like he had the energy and will to be there for his friends as they were for him in his time of need. Julia in particular. She was the one that needed support the most and he felt now that he was ready to bear the burden of support. He was willing and able.

"Hey," Hank said snapping Justin out of his thoughts about how to support everyone.

"How are you going?" Justin asked seeing Hank was distraught at having just said goodbye to David. This whole service seemed to be like something annoying a wound and not letting it heal.

"I'm okay, I guess," Hank replied softly. "I'm taking some leave. Need to regroup."

"That's probably a good thing. How can I help?" Justin asked putting his hand on Hank's shoulder to comfort him.

"Just look after Soph for me. I just need some space and time to think," Hank replied with a sombre nod. "I want to disconnect, be left alone for a while. I think I need the peace and quiet."

"Heading off somewhere?" Justin asked knowing what that meant. Hank and Sophie had a holiday house near the coast. They would often holiday there and invite Justin and Bethany over with them so that they could enjoy the beach.

"Just going to the harbour. The water is always calming," Hank replied before putting his hand on Justin's shoulder and giving a knowing glance. It was that look of thank you and everything will be fine. Justin knew that look and had used it himself religiously on everyone after Bethany had died.

"Be safe," Justin said before Hank nodded again and walked away.

Justin watched Hank meet up with Sophie, take her hand momentarily and then walk to the car. Sophie then looked over at Justin, gave him a weak smile and headed towards him. Justin's attention was taken when he heard a car come to life and saw Julia sitting at the wheel sobbing heavily. The car lurched forward and then took off which had him concerned but Julia slowed down and took it easy as she drove off. Sophie pulled up beside Justin and breathed a sigh of relief.

"She'll be okay," Sophie said turning her attention to Justin. They both looked at each other and then the car as it left their view.

"I know, I'll make sure of it," Justin said before Sophie moved in and hugged him also.

"Me too. I think we were all hoping we wouldn't have to go through this again so soon," Sophie said letting out a tortured sigh.

"I know. Old age looks good right now," Justin said which drew a smile from Sophie.

"Yeah it does. Are you okay? Is this bringing back any memories, I mean it wasn't that long ago that," Sophie said but Justin cut her off politely.

"I'm fine Soph. It's all good. Jules is the one we need to worry about now, okay?" Justin said giving her a warm touch with his hand on her arm. Sophie placed her hand on top and nodded, knowing he meant what he said.

"Okay," Sophie said kissing him on the cheek. "I'm heading home. If you need anything, call me..."

"Will do, thanks Soph," Justin said squeezing each other's hands. He watched her walk away, a quick glance over her shoulder at him, a knowing look and then she disappeared into her car.

Justin again said goodbye to his friend, mentally acknowledging all that they had done together and as a group. It was the end of something, but also the start of a new phase in their lives. He just didn't know how things were going to turn out. No one did.

Chapter 4

Justin was tired. It had been a long night. He had tried to get onto Julia all day, leaving her messages to call him. He had been around to her house, but she wasn't there. Justin had even contacted all their friends, with Sophie even unsure as to where Julia would be. They all figured she'd show up at some point, but Justin could tell there was concern in all their voices. The worry was starting to set in for Justin, when there was a knock at the door. He quickly rushed to answer it and feeling an immense sense of relief when he saw who it was.

"Julia, hi," Justin said letting Julia into his house. He needed to play it calm so that he wouldn't upset Julia any further. "What brings you here?"

"I came to talk," Julia said clutching her purse in front with both hands.

"Are you okay?" Justin asked leading her to the couch in the lounge room. It felt good to have her there with him and he was intent on keeping Julia with him as long as possible.

"Surprisingly, yes," Julia replied with a nod as they both sat down. "Is that a strange thing to say?"

"Not at all. We all grieve in different ways," Justin replied putting his hand on top of hers. She smiled at him warmly. "You need to remember to go easy on yourself."

"How well did that work out for you?" Julia asked in a way that, while not cutting, had the unintended effect of doing just that.

Trying not to show how it hurt, Justin scrambled for an answer while also trying to be honest. There was no point in lying, since Julia had seen first hand how he reacted.

"I didn't do a great job of that. But it's important to try," Justin replied giving her hand a squeeze.

"I've made such a mess of things," Julia said her eyes welling up again. It was a roller coaster ride of emotions that Justin knew all too well.

"It seems that way now. Simply because things turned out differently to how we expected. That's all," Justin said sitting back a bit. He figured if he could appear calm that perhaps that would help Julia relax as well.

"David and I were going to trial a separation," Julia said blowing out a breath slowly. It was a big admission and Justin was in shock. "I found out he had been seeing someone. And we weren't exactly seeing eye to eye lately. Well more like the last six months..."

"I'm so sorry Jules," Justin said leaning into the couch to face Julia.

"It's okay. I mean, what's not okay is that," Julia said but started to break down in tears. Justin moved closer and hugged her as she wept.

"Jules. It's okay," Justin said rubbing her arms for comfort.

"No. It's not," Julia said sitting back a bit. "I confronted David and we had a huge argument. I put it out there that I wanted to separate, and he flew off the handle! He got in his car and took off."

"Oh Jules," Justin said as Julia broke down in tears. "I'm so sorry. That's not how anyone would want to leave a conversation. Shit."

"It's okay. I'm not upset about my marriage. I pretty much knew it was over and have for some time. I just... I just can't get over that I caused the crash!" Julia said sobbing into her hands.

"You didn't cause the crash. How could you?" Justin asked holding onto Julia tightly. "You had no way of knowing that a car would come out of nowhere and hit David's car. That's impossible."

"I know you mean well, but," Julia replied taking some deep breaths. "I was going to come and see you about it earlier. I don't know why, I just wanted to talk to you about it, since Hank is your best friend. I wanted some advice on how to handle it."

"You knew about David and Hank?" Justin asked understanding why she felt so bad.

"Yeah. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't talk to Soph. That would have been catastrophic," Julia said moving back and wiping away her tears. "I just couldn't take that risk."

"I'm sorry Jules, I should have listened. It's just that Margy, look, never mind, it's not important," Justin said comforting her by putting his hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, really. Like I said, I wasn't worried about my marriage. I just went home and laid it all out there. I guess I was a bit harsh," Julia said taking a deep breath and letting out a long sigh.

"We all say things in the heat of the moment we don't truly mean. It doesn't make us bad people," Justin said knowing full well he had said things he wish he hadn't in times of anger.

"I'm sure you're right. But when you call someone a despicable human being, I'm pretty sure I," Julia said crying again but Justin cut her off.

"Is that all you called him? That's it? Man, I should get into an argument with you more often," Justin said with a laugh which seemed to lighten Julia up slightly.

"You think so?" Julia asked wiping away the tears. "I should go, I don't want to..."

"You came here to talk. It's late and I'd rather you stay over. We can talk as much or as little as you like," Justin said warmly. He wasn't about to let her go home, not in her state. It was going to take some time to talk through this and he had all the time she needed.

"Really? You don't mind?" Julia asked seemingly picking up at the thought of not having to go home.

"Look, I want you to stay here as long as you need. I'll talk with Sophie and we will be here for you, okay?" Justin replied rubbing Julia's arm as a way to comfort her and make her feel welcome.

"Thank you, I... I can't go home at the moment. It just doesn't feel right," Julia said sniffling and taking a deep breath. This wasn't the confident Julia that Justin knew.

"That's alright. We'll make it work," Justin said with a warm smile.

"Am I a bad person? Did I do the right thing? Oh god, please Justin, tell me what to do," Julia said gripping his arms and pleading with him. The flip flop of emotions was normal and he simply had to go with it. Justin stood, gently pulling Julia up with him and holding on to her to let her know she wasn't going to be left all by herself, without support.

"I want you to go and have a nice long, hot shower," Justin said taking her hand and leading her down the hall to the bathroom. "I'll get you a robe. There are some big fluffy towels in there and I'll get the spare room ready for you. I want you to relax." Justin looked her right in the eyes and smiled. "And, to answer your first question, no, you're not a bad person, at all. You're wonderful in fact. I've always known you to do the right thing."

"Did I do the right thing? Should I have confronted him?" Julia asked her voice quiet, yet hopeful.

"Yes," Justin replied rubbing her upper arm gently.

"Thank you," Julia said touching his face gently and lovingly. She leaned in and kissed him softly on the cheek.

"You did what you felt was right. Now get in there and enjoy the shower," Justin said putting his hand in the middle of her upper back and guiding her through the bathroom door.

"Yes sir!" Julia said with the smallest glint of happiness she could muster. Her weak smile a nice change from how she had been.

"Good girl," Justin said with a laugh. "Do as you're told."

Julia mustered a small laugh and then started into the bathroom again before turning back and kissing him once more. She lingered a moment and looked into his eyes. Justin nodded which was all the approval she needed.

"I'm glad I'm here," Julia said turning back to the bathroom.

"Me too," Justin said warmly. "If you need anything you come and see me, day or night. Now, get in that shower little lady!"

Julia saluted Justin playfully and then disappeared into the bathroom leaving the door wide open. Justin knew how she felt and knew he needed to make sure she was comfortable and safe. He went to the spare room to make sure it was ready for Julia and ensure she had a comfortable stay. After all, she was going to need a lot of comforting over the coming days and weeks.

Chapter 5

Surprisingly it had been an uneventful day. Justin had been hanging out with Julia all day, keeping her company and tending to any needs she had. It made him feel better about himself, doing something for someone else for once, and it didn't hurt that it took his mind off his own problems. Justin sat down on the couch across from Julia, happy that the day was almost over and that he could relax somewhat. The dishes had been done, the clothes had been washed and Julia had even vacuumed the carpet which he had no control over considering Julia wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. He didn't want to argue with her about it given it probably took her mind off everything.

Justin looked at the television and then again at Julia who was sitting there, legs tucked up beside her on the chair, wearing a large t-shirt which stopped halfway down her thighs. That's what she wore to bed and was most comfortable in it, with Julia assuring Justin that she would wear underwear whilst around him. Her bath towel was piled up beside her on the arm of the chair, whilst her hands and attention were taken by a book. She looked like a model, sitting there with a lamp behind her giving Julia an angelic glow, even if it did seem clichéd.

"Good book?" Justin asked noticing Julia was enamoured with whatever it was she was reading. He could tell it was having an effect on her, if her flushed appearance was anything to go by.

"Yes. I can't seem to put it down," Julia replied lifting the book up to show Justin. It was called The Concubine and had an artistic cover of a woman and a man, much like an oil painting. "You should read it."

"Maybe. What's it about?" Justin asked politely.

"Well, in short," Julia replied taking a moment to gather her thoughts. "It's about a woman who gives herself willingly to someone. For pleasure. She fulfills all the needs of this other person and in doing so fulfills herself. Very sensual, very erotic, but also very loving."

"Really?" Justin asked surprised at the response. He hadn't known Julia to be like that and considering how much of a control freak she was, found it interesting she liked the story so much.

"Oh yeah. It's more than that, there's a lot of detail here. And I'm probably not doing it justice, but it's a very good book," Julia replied warmly. Justin could see she was serious and meant every word she said. "They both help each other. I don't want to give away anything, but the relationship building between them is wonderful."

"I might just have to read it then," Justin said which drew a pleasant smile from Julia.

"I'd love to be able to discuss it with someone," Julia said happily. "Thank you for taking an interest." She felt a sense of excitement at the possibility that someone was taking an interest in what she liked. Julia didn't expect it to be Justin but was happy that it was.

"Any time," Justin said with a nod and a smile that Julia reciprocated. "I might head to bed, you staying up for a while?"

"No, was going to go to bed myself. Hope that's okay?" Julia said shifting forward on the chair and placing her feet on the floor.

"Of course. No problems here," Justin said warmly, which Julia took as her signal to stand up and move in front of Justin. She looked beautiful in the oversized shirt, her toned legs sexily jutting out from underneath. She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek before slowly looking into his eyes and standing back up. Julia moved back and grabbed her towel before stopping in front of Justin again. This time he decided to stand up out of courtesy.

"Thank you for letting me stay another night, I appreciate it," Julia said holding onto her towel. It was as though she wanted to say something more or do something, but she held back and smiled.

"It's my pleasure. No pressure here for you to go home, stay, it's all good," Justin said before Julia took his hand in a friendly gesture.

"Great, thanks. Well, I'm going to bed," Julia said kissing Justin warmly on the cheek again. "Night." She smiled at him and slowly made her way to the bedroom she had been staying in.

"Night," Justin said with a little wave. He felt good that he could offer her his support and had already noticed a slight change in her. Julia seemed to be more upbeat and optimistic. He watched her walk slowly down the hallway. With a quick look over her shoulder, she looked at Justin before disappearing into the depths of the hallway and into her room.

Justin began to turn some lights off when there was a soft knock at his front door. It seemed odd at this time of night for someone to show up selling something, so he quietly opened the door to find Sophie standing there with her handbag pulled tightly by both hands in front.

"Hi, I ah, just wanted to make sure you're okay," Sophie said in an odd tone, which Justin had noticed.

"I'm fine. Come in," Justin said warmly letting Sophie into the house before he locked the door and walked her to the sofa.

"Thanks, I know it's late, but," Sophie said but stopped when Justin grabbed her hand. She immediately flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly, her body trembling as she tried to contain her emotions.