Before I Ever Met You

“No, I mean—I know what happened…” He lowers his voice over this last part, leaning in slightly, as if handling a secret.

“Well I know what happened too,” I tell him. “And he’s a dick. It’s completely his fault if their marriage fell apart.”

He straightens up and frowns. “That’s a bit harsh. How do you figure?”

I look at him blankly. “Uh, because he cheated on her.”

“Juliet?” Daniel asks.

Oh shit. Did he not know that?

“Yeah,” I say slowly. “Logan cheated on Juliet. I don’t know who with. I already asked him if it was that Charlotte chick but he denied it. He did not deny cheating on her though.”

Daniel stares at me for a few moments before tucking a piece of hair behind his ear. “Wow. Okay.”

“What?” I lean forward, pressing my hands on the table. “What?!”

Daniel takes a furtive look around and leans in. “Where did you hear that from?”

“From my own sister.”

He seems to think for a moment, then he straightens up and shrugs, turning his attention back to the bottles behind him. “She was lying,” he says simply.

It takes all of my strength to keep my next words to a whisper. “What the hell are you talking about?”

He exhales loudly and then turns around. “Look. I was there okay? It was my client.”

I can only blink at him, my heart pounding in my head. I feel like I’m about to have an out of body experience.

“Listen, I shouldn’t be the one to tell you this because it’s none of my business, but I thought you knew so you can see I’m in a bit of a predicament.” He looks around as if we’re being bugged and starts wiping down the bar. “Jared Bellamy. That was my client. A hot-shot lawyer from LA. You know, the type that takes on celebrity and high-profile cases. He was here looking to buy a house on the north shore. Says his buddy Ben Stiller loves it here and he had to do the same.” He rolls his eyes. “Anyway, he comes here to the bar and I say I’m also a real estate agent. I give him my card. Juliet comes in and, well, you know what happens when Juliet walks in a room.”

I don’t say anything, I’m too enthralled. I nod at him to keep going.

“So Bellamy, he’s got it hard for her, obviously, and I point out that’s the boss. You know, she and her husband own the hotel. And it’s like he doesn’t care. But whatever, not my problem. The next day, I pick him up and show him around. He hangs out at the bar later. Juliet takes a seat. They’re talking most of the evening. Nothing weird about that, right, because Juliet always liked talking to guests and people. Kind of a politician in that way. But then he’s here every night. Even on the days when I’m not showing him houses. And she’s here too. Like clockwork.”

My throat feels thick as I try to speak. “Did anyone else notice?”

“No,” he says. “But Logan did eventually. One night. It got kind of awkward. Walked on over and gave Bellamy the look like he was going to murder him. I had to make all the introductions and play it off, but Logan knew there was something wrong. And me, I only suspected.” He pauses. “You sure you want to hear the rest?”

“You’ve gone too far to stop,” I whisper.

He takes in a deep breath and leans in closer. “So Bellamy is staying at the Westin Princeville resort. Has his own little hut. I’m supposed to pick him up at four to show him some houses on my day off, but Lucia calls in sick, so I can’t. And I can’t get a hold of him on the phone either, so I decide to drive up there.”

I feel like I’m watching a movie. A terrible movie playing inside my head and the climax is building and building and building. I’m on the edge of my seat, the edge of something that will change everything. If I stop Dan from speaking, I can preserve the world as I know it. If he keeps talking, my world will fall apart. I know this now.

And I let him keep talking.

“The door was open. I still knocked. It’s a two-bedroom condo, he would have to hear me. I step inside the front door. I hear the shower going and figure I’ll leave him a note. I go into the kitchen and pick up a pen and paper and I write him a note about the change of plans. As I do so I notice a purse on the counter. Normally I would think, hey Bellamy, good for you. But the purse is familiar. Juliet had a designer bag, Kate Spade or something I think, with lots of palm trees. It was the same bag. And then I notice the woman’s underwear on the floor, a skirt, a man’s polo shirt. A trail of clothes leading to the bedroom. And that’s when it hits me…this is Juliet here. He’s showering with her.” He sighs sharply. “I’m not proud of what I did next but I had to be sure in my mind. I opened the purse, found her wallet. It was her.”

I don’t know what’s wrong with me. The truth is laid out plain and clear and I’ve been a complete fucking fool but even so, the hero-worshiping illness I have with my sister is too strong. “That doesn’t mean anything,” I say feebly. “She could have left it there…and been there for another reason. You don’t know it was her in the shower.”

He nods, a placating smile on his lips. “I got out of there. A few days later, Logan brings me aside. Asks me all about Bellamy. Breaks down and says that Juliet has been cheating on him. I’ve never seen him cry, Ronnie. But he did. I’m not saying his marriage with Juliet was full of love and roses. They were an odd couple and they had problems. But I know Logan was at least faithful. Juliet was not. She was still seeing Bellamy the day that she died. She was driving back from his place up on the ridge.”

I’m stunned. I’m stunned but I don’t feel anything at all. I’m just this grey, numb mass, and all the things I should be feeling are bouncing off me, deflected.

Everything had been a lie.

Juliet. Perfect Juliet. She had cheated on her husband and then turned around and made it look like he was the one at fault, not her. And oh my god. I believed it. So did my mother. So did everyone. She made Logan out to be the villain and we were all so blinded by her, we all believed her.

And then the strangest emotion comes crawling to the surface.

Anger.

Not over Juliet. No, I’m too numb to feel anything about her. If she’s a bomb shelter, I’ve taken some of that armor when I swooped overhead as the hurricane.

No. I’m angry at Logan.

“I have to go,” I tell Daniel.

“Oh fuck, please don’t say anything,” he says.

“I won’t,” I tell him, though I know I probably will. I want to keep Daniel’s trust and I don’t want him in trouble, but this takes precedence.

I storm out of the restaurant and head over to reception, the rain warm and steady, streams of water forming in the parking lot. I fling the doors to the office open. But it’s only Shannon there, the nightshift worker.

“Aloha,” she says in her throaty voice. She always looks like she just broke out of women’s prison.