Juliet's Tryst

Chapter 29: Dinner

"Your Dad is perfect for this trial! Imagine, he could be one of the first humans ever to have early onset dementia completely reversed."

"Oh my God, Sarah! You could get him in? The website was completely down when I tried to sign him up." 

"Well, my advisor is actually one of the leads on that study. I could pull a few strings here and there."

"I love you! I love you!" 

"I know, Jules. I know." 

...

"Sarah, what do you mean? You are being unreasonable."

"Juliet, you know you can't handle needles. Don't get this piercing. Doctor's orders."

"You can't tell me what to do with my body," Juliet rubbed her temples, cursing inwardly at herself for telling Sarah anything. 

"I'm not, I'm just looking out for what's best for you. You told me that you have a tendency to get infections with these things. Unless I'm the one doing it, don't."

"Babe-"

"We wouldn't want your Dad being pulled out of that study because of a conflict of interest," There was a long, condescending pause. "Do we?"

Her shoulders slumped. 

"No. I'll cancel." 

...

"But Sarah-"

"No buts, we are too far apart. You don't want to make the move here, and I don't want to make the move there."

"Don't want to? I cannot afford it. I would be there in two seconds if I could."

Tears streamed down Juliet's face, her chest felt like a crack upon the Earth's surface; jagged, deep and more painful than anything she remembered. 

"You want me to spend  my hard earned money to come live with you? And lose my residency?"

"I never said that," Juliet replied. She sounded like an echo, not a person. 

"Well. Sorry. It's over."

"Nothing? We can't figure anything out? I thought-" I thought I was worth fighting for. 

The third glass of wine tasted sweeter.  Dee watched her carefully, but didn't say a word. No one wanted to be the first to speak. For the Kyrion, Sarah's presence was a show of sexual superiority. For the human, Sarah was a specter that haunted her memories. Juliet had spent so much time shoving Sarah and all the things she made her feel into a neat cardboard box in a corner of the attic in her mind. 

The trial ultimately proved unsuccessful in reversing the dementia, but it was successful in pushing the clock back just a little bit. Her father had many more years before the disease would take him. This was something Sarah never let her forget. Juliet long abided by never owing anyone anything, because that meant that they didn't have anything to hold over you. However, Sarah was different. Juliet fell so hard for her that it was impossible to see any flaws in her. She gave everything to Sarah. Her father. Herself. It wasn't enough.

She spent so many nights wondering what she could have done differently. In what way could she have rearranged herself? What could she have done to make her stay?

"What is troubling you," Dee asked, an offering of peace in the heavy air. Juliet tried to smile, to hide the complete change in her demeanor. 

"Oh, um. Nothing. Just, taking it all in, you know?" Her brain was starting to buzz. Her stomach was becoming as heavy as a rock. She lazily shoveled a third piece of pizza in her mouth. The food was divine. She grieved how emotion and ambience did not meet in this moment.