pills. She had not touched the meds in months, but she had held on to them for emergency purposes. And this was definitely an emergency. She slipped three of the small white tablets under her tongue. When Juliet looked up at the screen again, Kenny’s face was gone and had been replaced by the NFL’s starting lineup.
“Hey, Babe.” P.J. sat down on the stool next to her and reached for a wing. “Sorry that took so long. Hey, are you okay? You’re white as a ghost. And you’re shivering.”
“No, I’ not okay.” Juliet said weakly, still trying to gather her wits. “My stomach’s upset. I think all that driving and then the spicy chicken…excuse me.” Juliet put a hand over her mouth and shoved her way passed P.J.
P.J. and the bartender watched as Juliet beelined it to the restroom.
“Do you have any idea what that was about?” P.J. asked.
But Tom Brady had just been sacked by the defensive lineman, and the question was lost in the loud cheers of the customers.
Juliet ran with shaking legs into the restroom. She went right to the sink to splash some icy water on her face. Then she moistened several paper towels, sat on the bench, put the wet wad on the back of her neck, and her head between her knees. Juliet breathed in deep while the image of Kenny ricocheted through her mind like a rapidly fired bullet. If it hadn’t been for the network who flashed Kenny Brewster’s name on the ticker tape at the bottom of the screen, Juliet would not have ever believed that that was him.
All at once Juliet was filled with a sudden and unpredictable emotion. She sat straight up as she felt an extreme weight lift off her shoulders. The realization hit her in full force and served to shine a light into all the shadows and dark corners of her mind.
She hadn’t known who he was.
Juliet couldn’t explain it. She couldn’t rationalize or define why, after one suicide attempt and months and months of being treated at a high priced insane asylum, that it was ultimately that picture of Kenny that finally released her.
Juliet had always believed that the man had been trapped inside the monster, but now, Juliet realized that the monster had been trapped inside the man. For the first time ever, Juliet felt sorry for Kenny. And she forgave him. Not for the slaughter of the innocents, those sins were not hers to forgive.
But for the rest of it, she forgave him.
And that forgiveness set her free.
P.J. looked over at Juliet as she slept with her head propped against the car window. His chest puffed out just a little when he thought about their lovemaking the night before. Ha…lovemaking he let out a soft chuckle. It was a good phrase, and one that he had never, ever, thought would apply to what happened between himself and a woman in his bed. P.J. could think of a whole bunch of other names he had used for it, but the word love had never crossed his mind.
What happened between Juliet and P.J was like nothing he had ever experienced before. In truth, P.J. had never known that kind of depth of feeling existed. When he thought about it, like he was doing now, it amazed him. Looking across the seat to her, he really thought that they might have a chance. It almost made him regret sending Juliet’s wallet to Jules.
That night that P.J. had found her wallet in the mud it had almost been game over. He had reached for the wallet, had meant to open it, but then the strangest feeling had come over him. The story of Pandora and her box had been the one thing that he remembered from high school English class.
As P.J. remembered it, the story had been about a god named Prometheus. Prometheus had thought that he was a badass and stole fire from heaven to give to a world of men. What Prometheus had done totally pissed the rest of the gods off. So, as payback, they created the first woman, a beauty named Pandora. The king of the gods, Zeus gave her a gift. It had been a pretty box, but the gift had come with a catch. And the catch was that she couldn’t ever open that box. No matter what. But Pandora, being a badass herself, was having none of it. As soon as Zeus was out of the picture, Pandora took that