Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, guys. This is the chapter when you find out a little more about Julie Maxwell (AKA Hermione). We find out what she's been doing in these past four years. This is a short chapter, but it does give you insight into her character.
Chapter Two
"Everything You Want"
"Somewhere there's speaking
It's already coming in
Oh and it's rising at the back of your mind
You never could get it
Unless you were fed it
Now you're here and you don't know why"
"He's everything you want
He's everything you need
He's everything inside of you
That you wish you could be
He says all the right things
At exactly the right time
But he means nothing to you
And you don't know why"
("Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon)
Julie had spent the majority of last night tossing and turning in bed. She'd slept on and off all night, no doubt due to the troubling events of the night before. She'd finally given up on getting any peaceful rest when she saw the sun peeking through her blinds. She turned her clock radio on and got out of bed. Instead of hearing music, she was treated to the sounds of the obnoxious morning show deejay telling his listeners it was going to be a beautiful day.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth. This summer had been quite a scorcher; one of the hottest she could remember since she'd lived in North Carolina. The idea that she'd experience a day without longing to be inside in the comforts of air conditioning did brighten her mood somewhat.
She was wound up way too tight this morning. As she often did when she was stressed out, she decided to go for an early morning run. After brushing her teeth and running a brush through her tangled hair, she quickly discarded her nightgown and put on a sports bra, tank top, shorts and her sneakers. She pulled her shoulder-length brown hair into a sloppy ponytail and grabbed her walkman and keys and headed for the out the door of her apartment.
She decided to take one of her favorite running routes which would lead her into Franklin Street and through the main part of the campus. It was only just past eight in the morning, so the streets weren't too crowded. Of course, it helped that students had yet to return from summer vacation.
As she jogged along the sidewalks, the only sounds she heard were the sounds of her feet hitting the pavement and the syncopated rhythm from her headphones. She had so much on her mind. She tried to block it all out and concentrate solely on her run, but it proved futile.
This afternoon, she had to complete telephone registration for next semester. She also had to work the late afternoon to closing shift at Billie's Restaurant & Grill.
Billie's Restaurant & Grill was one of the best places to grab a sandwich, watch the Tar Heels on one of the big screen televisions or just to meet a friend or a date for a nice evening out. It was located near campus and was frequented by both students and the town's locals. The cuisine was mostly American food---hamburgers, sandwiches, soups, and salads.
The proprietor was a woman named Billie Scanlon, who was in her early forties. She did most of the cooking herself. Her father had owned and operated the restaurant for years, but had left it to his daughter when he'd died. Billie, who had no children of her own, treated all her employees from the busboys, wait staff, bartenders and kitchen crew as her surrogate family. The majority of her employees were college students, but there were a couple of locals, or townies, who worked there as well. The restaurant was like home, not only to the employees, but also to the customers, whom everyone seemed to know by name.
Julie had worked as a waitress at Billie's ever since she'd been a freshman. Billie had been somewhat reluctant to hire her, being as Julie had no prior experience waiting tables. Now, three years later, Julie was one of the best waitresses Billie's had ever seen.
Julie had been like a mom to Julie these three years she'd been at UNC. She couldn't remember the number of times Billie had listened to her drone on about her problems and provided a shoulder to cry on.
Truth be told, Billie had been the only mother-figure in Julie's life. Well, at least that she could remember. She had lost her own mother a few years ago to cancer. Tragically, Julie had no memories whatsoever of her mother. When she was 16 years old, Julie had been involved in a car accident that had totally wiped out her memory. Over the years, she'd visited countless specialists, psychiatrists, and therapists who were just as baffled as she was about the cause of her amnesia and why she had yet to regain any of her memories of her previous 16 years. Eventually, she'd had to resign herself to the fact that she was simply not going to get them back. She hadn't been happy about it, but she'd accepted it.
Her dad had been a big help. He'd sat with her for hours, going over photo albums and sharing stories with her about their family. He'd told her how she'd grown up in East London. He amused her with stories of her always wanting to go to the library, or the museums or to art galleries. Her dad didn't like to talk too much about her mom. He always seemed to change the subject whenever Julie broached the subject. At first he'd been more than willing to share recollections of her, but lately he'd been downright evasive about her. Julie chalked it up to his lingering grief, so she hadn't taken it too personal.
She'd basically started her life from scratch when she'd woken up in that hospital bed four years ago. Now, her life was pretty much normal as could be. She'd created her own memories.
Summer was now fading away and pretty soon the fall semester would start. Julie hadn't taken any courses this summer, but she'd decided to stick around in Chapel Hill. This was in part mostly to the fact that her boyfriend, Robert Chandler Michaels III, better known as Trey, had asked her to stay behind. This fall, he would be entering his first year of medical school and Julie knew that his schedule wouldn't allow for much free time once classes started again. As their relationship was still somewhat new---they'd only been dating for six months---she'd decided to spend the summer with him in Chapel Hill, taking it easy and working at Billie's.
She had met Trey at Billie's. She'd noticed how he's come in every night for a few weeks and always sat in her station at the restaurant. He was quite handsome in an All-American, clean-cut sort of way. He was about 6 feet tall with an athletic build. He had short, closely cut brown hair. He grew up in Virginia and was two years older than Julie. He wanted to be a cardiologist and was about as driven and ambitious a man as she'd ever met. She enjoyed spending time with him, but something had always made her hold back with him. She didn't know what it was, but something had caused her not to be as open with him as he probably would have liked.
Instead of dwelling on that, for now, she focused on her run. She had embarked on this run to forget her problems, after all. She couldn't help but wonder, why did they always seem to follow her?
She walked into Billie's a little before four o'clock. Her shift didn't start officially until five, but she'd wanted to try again to get through on the telephone registration system. She'd only been marginally successful earlier in the afternoon. Sheer boredom at listening to the monotone computerized voice on the telephone had caused her to give up and watch a little television.
The restaurant was pretty much deserted, save for a few scattered patrons who were enjoying a late lunch. She waved hello to Chloe and Tim, two of her coworkers, who were engaged in a conversation at the bar.
She made her way quickly to the back room where employees had lockers to store their belongings. The back room was actually quite cozy. It was a small room, but it had a table and chairs, a telephone and a comfortable sofa. It was a great place to eat your dinner or lunch when you had a break or to catch a nap before your shift began. Julie had used it a number of times as a makeshift study hall.
Julie sat her backpack on the floor and took a seat in one of the chairs. She took her course catalog from her backpack and picked up the telephone.
Nearly an hour later, she emerged from the back room, somewhat tired. She'd changed into her work clothes. Billie wasn't big on uniforms. She'd only insisted that employees stick to a simple black and white theme-black pants, white shirt. Julie had changed into a white camisole top and a pair of black linen Capri pants. She'd pulled her hair back into a French braid.
She nodded hello to Billie, who was standing at the grill.
"Miss Julie," Billie said warmly. "How the hell are ya, darlin'?"
Julie laughed. "About as good as can be expected, I guess. You know they say telephone registration is supposed to be easier, but I swear it's about as frustrating as standing in a line."
Billie nodded. "You get all the classes you wanted?"
"Just about," Julie said, her nose crinkled up. "All except one, really. It was booked solid. Well, there's always spring semester."
"Sweetie, can you take this tray of food out to table 6?" Billie asked her. "I swear that Chloe goes on more cigarette breaks than anyone else I've ever known."
"Sure," Julie said, tying her half apron around her waist. She grabbed a tray from the counter and loaded the plates onto it. She took the tray out to the customers, who happily dug into the food.
She walked back into the kitchen a few seconds later.
"You better go ahead and eat your dinner while you can," Billie said. "We've got a busy night tonight. I fixed you a sandwich. There's a bag of chips over there, too."
"Thanks," Julie said, eying the food hungrily. "What's going on tonight?"
"Don't you remember?" Billie said. "They're having some big shindig at the Biology Department and they're welcoming a bunch of international horticulturists or something like that. They booked the banquet room."
"Oh, great," Julie said, smiling as she took her sandwich and chips and headed out to the bar. Billie followed her and they both took seats at the bar. "I hope they tip well."
"Well, you know big groups, they never do," Billie said.
Julie frowned. She took a bite of her sandwich.
"You sure you're okay?" Billie asked her. "You look a little preoccupied tonight."
"Well, I'm okay, I guess," Julie said thoughtfully. "Well, not really."
"You want to talk about it?"
"Yeah," Julie said. "It's two things really. I'll go with the bizarre one first."
"Always good to get those out of the way," Billie said laughing.
"Okay, I had the strangest dream last night," Julie said. "I mean, really this totally random dream."
"Okay," Billie said, prodding her on.
"Well," Julie began uncertainly. "I was in this castle, or at least I think it was a castle. I was walking through this corridor and I was with these two other people, but I didn't get to see their faces for some reason. Anyway, we walked up this staircase and into another corridor. I don't think we were supposed to be there because we heard something and started to run. The only problem was, we ended up in this room, staring right into the eyes of a three-headed dog. And we're not talking about some miniature schnauzer, Billie. I'm talking about this huge behemoth of a dog. Luckily, we ran out of the room in time and shut the door on the dog. Then, I woke up."
Billie stared at her, speechless.
"I told you it was bizarre!" Julie said. "You think I'm insane, don't you?"
"Honey, if you've run a restaurant for as long as I have, you hear some pretty outlandish stories. I've heard it all, whether I wanted to or not. Your little three-headed dog dream probably just means that you're stressed out. You probably just need to take it easy."
"Take it easy?" Julie said, incredulously. "Yeah, with classes starting back and working here, those words will not exist in my vocabulary."
Billie laughed. "Well, what was the other thing on your mind?"
Julie slumped in her chair. "Well, it's more troublesome, actually."
She paused for a moment and took another bite of her sandwich and a sip of her soda.
"You know how Trey and I went out to eat last night? Well, we were sitting there, talking and enjoying the food. He reaches over the table and takes my hand and says the three little words."
"He did?" Billie gasped.
Julie nodded; her expression quite sullen.
"Well, why do you look like you just lost your best friend?" Billie asked confused. "I thought hearing those three little words from the guy you've been dating would be music to your ears."
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Julie asked. "Not for me, though. I really screwed things up."
"What did you do?" Billie asked. "I'm almost afraid to hear it."
"Well, he said it and I froze," Julie said. "I mean, I just sat there for what seemed like an eternity. When I finally regained my voice, do you want to know what I said? I told him I had to go to the bathroom!"
Billie put her hand to her mouth.
"So, I got up and practically ran to the bathroom," Julie related. "I nearly hyperventilated in the bathroom. He looked so horrified as he watched me walk away, Billie."
"So, what happened when you got back to the table?"
"Well, he didn't mention it again, and neither did I. It was so polite and awkward after that."
"Why do you think you reacted that way?"
"I don't know," Julie said, shaking her head.
"Do you love him?"
Julie was silent. She looked very thoughtful as she considered the question at hand.
"Well, he's really nice. I like him a whole lot. I mean he's warm, sensitive and sweet."
"You sound like you're describing a cocker spaniel, not your boyfriend, Julie," Billie said bluntly.
"I know," Julie said morosely. "What's wrong with me? I have this great guy who cares about me a lot and I can't help thinking that something's missing."
"Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with you," Billie said. "I think you shouldn't have said it, if it wasn't what you felt in your heart."
Julie nodded. "I know. It's just sometimes I think I have this over-inflated view of romance. I mean, I know it's not all candlelight dinners and walks on the back, but I just always felt that when I fell in love with someone, I'd have no reservations. I'd feel it from head to toe, you know? I'd be able to tell that person that I loved them and not have any doubts or reservations. I just don't know if I'm at that point with Trey or if I ever will get to that point with him."
"You hold on to your ideals," Billie said, patting her on the arm. "You're still young. You're Mr. Right is out there. It might be Trey or it might not be. You just don't do anything until you're ready. Trust me, I know from experience."
Julie nodded. "Thanks, Billie."
"Anytime," Billie said, getting up from her seat. "I better go and get started on that food for that banquet. You finish up, okay?"
Julie smiled.
"Oh," Billie said, before walking into the kitchen. "Remind me that I've got to put that ad in the paper about the bartender job."
"You got it," Julie said.
As she sat there finishing her sandwich, she couldn't help thinking that her life was about to get even more complicated than it already was.
She had no idea that before the night was over, a chance encounter with a face from her past would set off a chain of events that would change her life forever.