Inseparable: A New Adult Erotic Romance Read online

  ***

  That evening, Julie and Jack walked through the door of the little bar near the pawn shop where her mom worked. The sign just said "Bar", which made Jack chuckle a little.

  "What is this place really called?"

  "We’ll have to ask Mom." Julie took his hand and pulled him over to the table where her mom sat."Mom, this is my boyfriend Jack Brousard. Jack, this is Lily Polk, my mother."

  Lily pushed herself up out of the chair with her thick arms, stepping close to give Jack a big hug. "It’s great to meet you, Jack. I’ve heard so much about you."

  Jack bent down slightly to hug her back, grinning at Julie over her shoulder. "It’s nice to finally meet you, too."

  "Well, only believe about half of what she says. Sometimes she acts like she is the Mama and I’m the little girl, but I only let her get away with it to keep her happy. That girl isn’t happy unless she is in charge of someone."

  "I’m right here, Mom. You don’t need to sugar coat it," Julie said.

  "Well, I’m here to spend my last $20, so let’s get started. What do you want Miss Lily?"

  "I’ll just take whatever’s on draft. It’s usually Natural Light."

  "OK, what about you, my dear?"

  Julie sighed. "How about some water to start."

  "Be right back!"

  The two women watched him go before Lily spoke up. "Oh, Sugar, he’s so good looking. I approve!"

  Julie grinned, watching him get their order from the bartender. "He sure is. I’m glad you like him."

  "So when are you going to leave the nest and officially move in with him?"

  "Not for a while yet. You’re stuck with me for now."

  "Stuck with you? Hell, I haven’t seen you in a week. Bobby said you brought the computer back, but other than that no one has seen you around. You could call me more often." Lily gave her a look that made Julie angry.

  "I told you I got a job painting some more murals like I did for Jack. I’m working more than ever and there is more going on right now than you know. Just cut me a break, please?" Julie said it with a tense smile, but when Jack came back he seemed to notice something had happened.

  "Here you go, let’s have a toast. To new friends, quiet nights, and peaceful dreams." They touched cups and drank together, but the mood had changed.

  "So, Lily, what do you do for fun?" Jack tried to get things going back in a better direction.

  "I hang out here mostly. Sometimes I sing a little karaoke if they bring in a DJ. There are a bunch of us rejects from the 80s who play cards, listen to our old club music, and reminisce about being young and skinny."

  "You were a club kid in the 80s?"

  "Yeah, there was this great place called NRG we used to go dance. We saw lots of club bands down at Numbers or Cabaret Voltaire. Sometimes we’d go out to hear rock bands play at Cardi’s or Fitzgerald’s."

  "Really? I love that old stuff. Did you ever meet anyone famous?"

  "No, I wasn’t willing to blow the doorman just to meet someone, or get forced into mediocre sex on the green room sofa. I had some friends who did, but I was more interested in the music then. I wanted to be like Madonna when she was still good, or Wendy O. Williams, or Annabella Lwin." She had a faraway look as she smiled. "I did sing for a couple of bands, but no one really took girls seriously as musicians back then. You’d always get pushed to be in some kind of over-produced novelty act like the Bangles or the Go Go’s."

  Jack seemed to perk right up. "Hey, I’d love to hear you sing! Julie, why didn’t you tell me your Mom was a musician?"

  Julie had been watching them talk with a weird kind of fascination. "Well, I knew, I guess, but I never really heard her speak of it like this before."

  "I was too young to club in the 80s, but my older brothers used to come back from going out in Houston or New Orleans with great stories about seeing Zebra, Kings X and Beat Temple. I still have some of those old cassettes back at my parent’s house. I’m going to have to rip them and put them on my phone." Jack seemed to get lost in his happy memories for a moment.

  "We have some of that old 80s stuff on the jukebox if you want to check it out." Lily grinned as she gestured to the digital jukebox stuck to the wall near the door.

  "Seriously?!" Jack was up in a flash to scan the jukebox’s listings.

  "Oh, Julie, he’s a keeper," Lily gushed. "You have to bring him around more often, too."

  It was easy to forget that he was ten years older than she was. The fact that Jack and her mom had hit it off so well made Julie feel very uncomfortable. Before she found herself in her current situation, she had intended to wait to take their relationship further. She felt rushed both by her body and by Jack speaking to his mother about her. As she sipped her water, she heard a song start that her mother played all the time.

  "Oh, my god, I can’t believe you picked Under the Milky Way," Lily shouted over the music. "This is my favorite song in the world."

  Julie listened to the acoustic guitar beating the circular chord progression as the vocalist started singing about a loveless fascination. Jack came back to the table dancing, and pulled Julie out of her seat to spin her around the room. She held on and tried to follow his steps, but it ended up just falling apart and making him laugh. When they sat back down, Julie leaned against his arm with a sigh, but her stomach was in knots.

  "So I think I know where the rest of my money is going to go. At least it will after I get us a round of shots! What’s your poison, Lily?"

  "Oh, tequila works for me. Julie and I got wasted one night a year or so ago and ended up playing truth or dare. It was a hoot! Want to do it again, Sugar?" Lily was flushed with excitement.

  Julie smiled weakly and shook her head. "Not feeling up to it tonight, sorry."

  Jack sat her back up and said, "I’m not taking no for an answer! Let me get us a round."

  "Jack, no. I’m not going to have one."

  "Why not, Julie? This is my last night for two weeks. Please just have a drink with me."

  "Jack, I can’t." She felt compressed, like a spring under too much pressure.

  "Oh, Sugar, stop being a party pooper." Lily pushed her arm playfully, but it made her rock back in her seat.

  "Damnit, Mom, I said I can’t have a fucking drink." Both Jack and her mother were taken aback at her emotional outburst. "Believe me, I’d rather be drunk than pregnant!" Julie’s hands flew to her mouth to try and stop the words.

  "What?" Lily whispered, looking between Julie and Jack with a confused expression.

  Jack turned white and his brow furrowed, then his mouth opened slightly like he wanted to say something. Instead of speaking, he shook his head slowly, took a step backwards, then turned around and walked out into the night without looking back.

  Lily looked panicked. "Julie, go after him. You have to go after him!" she said.

  Julie sat with her hands over her mouth for a moment longer, and then dashed to the bathroom to throw up. By the time she was able to go outside, Jack’s truck was gone. She walked out towards the feeder road for the freeway, watching the car lights flying past in the night.

  Her car was back at her Mom’s apartment, so she took the shortcut under the freeway interchange. She felt strangely numb as she walked under the towering supports for the overpass. She paused for a moment by the pillar that had been her thinking spot since she was a teenager. She rested her head against the cool cement and let the tears fall, practicing what she wanted to tell Jack.

  "I’m sorry I never told you before. It slipped out. I’ve been so afraid, but you’ve been under so much pressure. If you don’t want to be part of our lives I’ll underst—" Julie broke down completely, great sobs convulsed her and made her sink to her knees. "Jack, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry."

  It was some time later when Polly found Julie. "Come on, Baby, get up. As soon as your Mom said you left your car back at her place I knew where you’d be. This isn’t a good place for you to be right now. Come on, that’
s it, I’ll get you home."

  "I need to find Jack. I have to talk to him."

  "Then I’ll take you over to his apartment, come on. This place always gives me the creeps."

  ***

  When they arrived at Jack’s apartment his truck was gone. Julie let herself in with her key and saw he had taken his duffel with his clothes. "He must have left for Morgan City already," Julie said without any emotion. "Let me get my things. I don’t think I’ll be coming back here."

  Polly touched her back. "Don’t say things like that right now. He probably just needs some time to get over the shock of finding out he’s going to be a Daddy again."

  "No. I’ve been afraid this was going to happen for weeks. It’s almost a relief that it’s over."

  "Stop this right now!" Polly was suddenly incensed. "It’s obvious to everyone else that you two are great together, but you can’t get past your own fear to just let it happen. You sabotaged this, Julie! Don’t you put this off on him! Hell, it’s no wonder he left the way you hurt him!"

  Julie looked like Polly just punched her in the stomach. "Why are you saying this to me?"

  "Because I’m your best friend, you twat! You finally found someone worth being with so you go and fuck it up before he can hurt you. It’s not the first time you’ve done this, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit back and let you do it again without calling you on it." Polly stopped and took a deep breath. "You hurt your mom pretty bad, too."

  "She just grates on me sometimes. I don’t know why I get so angry at her for little things, but I do. She and Jack were getting along so well. For some reason it bothered me so much I lost control of my mouth. She wouldn’t shut up about me having a shot with them."

  "She wouldn’t have done it if you’d told her the truth!" Polly was still frowning in disapproval. "You’ve made your pregnancy into something it never had to be. Your Mama would have been supportive if you’d let her. She pressed me for all the information from the doctor’s visit, wanting to know every detail while I waited for you to come back. She was telling all her friends in the bar she was going to be a grandma when I left to find you."

  "She probably just wanted them to buy her drinks."

  "And so what if she did? It’s her life and she doesn’t owe you anything, no matter what you think. You’re both grown women, but I swear you seem to be stuck in some kind of a time warp with her. I don’t know where this anger towards her comes from, but you need to let it go. It’s going to eat you alive if you don’t."

  Julie sighed, and decided to change the subject. "Would you mind if I stay with you for a few days? I know I need to talk to Mom, but not now. Not today. I can’t stay here either." Her eyes filled with tears. "Not until he forgives me."

  "Of course, you’re always welcome in my home, but you have to stop stealing the damn sheets all night," Polly said, a wry smile on her face telling Julie that it would all be alright.

  Chapter 13: Jack

  The heavy bow of the transport ship lifted with each wave, making Jack grimace and hold tight to the back of his uncle's chair. He'd spent the last two days suffering as his lingering anger kept him silent. His mother knew something was wrong the minute she'd seen him, but he had refused to tell her. He'd kept to himself until the time came to catch the boat to the platform where he worked.

  His first reaction had been shock, but then he'd begun wondering why Julie hadn't told him about the baby. Thinking it must not have been his, he'd rushed to leave the bar before his temper ran away with him. After boiling about it for two days, he'd finally remembered that first night they hadn't used protection. As the shore disappeared and his anger burned out, he was filled with regret and a black depression. Biting his lips, he turned to look out past Uncle Charlie to the surging swells ahead.

  "Wha's eatin' you, boy?" his uncle said as he spit sunflower hulls into a paper cup.

  "Nothin'," Jack muttered.

  "Claire tol' me you been chewin' on something hard the last couple a' days. Why don't you let it out? It's just gonna fester you keep it in there."

  Jack sniffed and wiped his nose. "That girl I been seeing since Sophie left, she's gonna have a baby."

  "Yours?" he asked and picked up another sunflower seed from the open bag next to the throttle.

  "Maybe," Jack admitted with a frown. "Probably. I don't know for sure."

  "You love her?" he asked, looking at Jack with a shrewd expression. Jack never said it, but eventually nodded while he stared at his shoes. "She love you?" Jack kept nodding and sighed. "Well, your mama tol' me she made you light up like there was a candle in ya."

  "Oui, ma lumière," he said, slipping into French. He sniffed again and looked out the side window.

  "Jackie," he sighed, saying his name with a soft starting consonant, making it sound more French than English. "You been down a hard road lately. Dat Sophie, she done took enough. If you got a' one willin' to love you, don't throw her away."

  "What the hell do I do, Uncle Charlie?" he whispered. "She was the only thing keeping my life together."

  "You tell her dat?" he asked, spitting out another hull. "Maybe you start there."

  Jack nodded and turned to where he'd stored his gear. When he opened up his big duffel, he realized what he'd done. "Son of a—", he muttered as he dug through the clothes and other necessities.

  "What's wrong?" his uncle asked.

  "I left my phone and laptop back in Houston," he groaned. "Can I borrow your phone?"

  Uncle Charlie pulled his phone out from his coverall pocket and looked at its face. "No bars," he said. "We too far out. You can use the phone on the platform when you get there. It ain't private, but you can at least tell her you ain't so mad no mo'."

  "Shit. I don't remember her phone number. It was stored on my phone," he buried his face in his hands and growled in frustration. Just then the radio squawked and a voice began cursing a hot stream of French. "What's he on about?" Jack asked his Uncle who was more proficient.

  "Something about a trawler dragging up some cables. Prolly nothing."

  ***

  Two weeks later the door to Jack's apartment opened and he stumbled in. After flipping on the light, he knelt on the floor next to the couch and pulled out the case with his laptop and phone. The phone was totally dead, so he dumped the bag out on the floor and dug for the charger. When the phone had power, he booted it up muttering, "Come on, come on!"

  The phone didn't display missed calls if they came in while it was turned off, but he was excited to see three voice mail messages waiting for him. The first one let him know he was still in the running for one of the sales positions he had interviewed for. He saved it quickly to move to the next one.

  The second message asked him to call back to schedule a meeting with Human Resources to discuss an offer. He saved it quickly, then pressed the wrong key and accidentally went back to the main menu. "Damn it! Come on!"

  "Jack, this is Julie." He fell against the wall taking deep shuddering breaths as he listened to her tearful voice, rocking his head back and forth. "I'm so sorry about the way I told you. It happened that first night at your house, but by the time I knew for sure... I just couldn't find the right time to tell you. If you want to speak to me when you get back, I'll be waiting for your call. If not, I completely understand. I miss you so much."

  "Oh, Baby, I miss you, too," he whispered, pressing the button to save it before calling her back.

  The phone only rang once before she answered with a hesitant whisper, "Jack?"

  "Please forgive me," he begged. "I was wrong when I walked out of that bar and have regretted it every day since."

  "Oh, Baby, why didn't you call or email me? I was going so crazy that Polly was about to throw me out!"

  In the background he heard Polly yell, "I was not!"

  Chuffing a laugh, he said, "I didn't call until now because I forgot my phone and laptop here in my apartment and couldn't remember your phone number or email address. Then a trawler managed t
o cut the cable to the rig killing the phone lines and Internet. Just come home, please. I'm lost without you."

  "I'm on my way. I have so much to tell you!" Just before she hung up he heard her squeal with excitement.

  Jack shut his eyes and leaned his head against the wall for a moment to just breathe in relief. Knowing how close he'd come to ruining his life made him grateful beyond words she wasn't still angry.

  Sitting there, he began to notice the smell of the sea and hard work coming from his body, so he got up to shower. Fearing Julie would arrive while he was in the bathroom, he showered quickly and returned to the living room to check is email while he waited.

  After he cleared out the junk email, he skimmed the remaining emails until he found the one with his offer letter. He knew Deep Drilling Supplies was a competitor to his old company, so he hoped his professional reputation would help get him in the door.

  When he opened the attached offer letter his heart skipped a few beats. Salaries for sales people don't appear all that good on the surface, but the commission details that go with them can make the difference between average and amazing.

  Jack made a low whistle as he mentally calculated what his old sales would have generated with this commission structure. The second page of the offer letter was a scan of a hand-written note from the company CEO giving Jack a personal invitation to join the company. The P.S. mentioned the figure for the signing bonus. "Mother Fucker!"

  Just then there was knock on the door, making Jack leap to open it. Julie stood there holding a small bag grinning like she'd won the lottery. "Can I come in?" she asked. Jack picked her up and spun her around in circles while he kissed her hard and deep. When he put her back down, dizzy and happy, she touched his face with her palm.

  "Come here, I want to show you something," Jack said as he took the bag from her hand and drew her by her hand to the couch. "I got a job offer from the company that I really wanted to work for."

  When Julie sat next to him, he pointed at the screen. She frowned and asked, "What does signing bonus mean? Is that your salary?"

  "No, that's the check they are going to write me if I agree to start working there."