Julia froze the second the door opened. Brian didn't know what to do, just stood there, defeated, motionless. There was this super dark, dangerous feeling inside him. He hadn't realized yet that he'd have to kill Julia, but he had no other choice. If Julia found out, the chance she'd report him? Not even on Brian's radar.
"Love." Brian whispered, softly, like he was shouting his daughter's name one last time—but quiet. His right hand was on the door handle, and the bathroom Julia was in was right across from him, just beyond the door to the left of the couches. Julia peeked out the door and said, "Hey, I forgot to grab the spare towel."
Brian snapped out of it for a sec. "I'm getting it, wait there." He bolted upstairs, looking for the spare towel. His hands and feet were all tangled, and the towel that he'd normally grab in a second eluded him in his nervous state. The thought that Julia could stick her head out at any moment terrified him even more.
"Shit, shit, where the fuck is this damn towel." Brian muttered, turning the place upside down, finding everything except the towel in the process. Just as he was about to give up, he found it. "Hah!" He yelled briefly, then dashed downstairs.
As he went down the stairs, he first saw the body, then looked at the door—it was still slightly ajar, like it hadn't moved.
"He-hey Jul, got your towel." Brian said, out of breath from panic and running, stammering at the start of the sentence.
Julia stuck her hand out from the door, grabbed the towel, and said, "Thanks, babe." Then closed the door. Brian stared at the door for a moment, then took a deep breath. "Let's get this over with." He said, hoisting the body, opening the door, scanning the area. Nobody around. Then, suddenly, a guest came, and Brian was shoved inside in a hurry.
"Shit," Brian muttered, closing the door behind him. He carried the body back to the basement and dropped it hard. Then he ran upstairs, trying to lock the basement door, panicking even more when the front doorbell rang.
"Brian! Door!" Julia called from the bathroom. "I got it," Brian shouted back, still trying to lock the door. Just as he secured it, Julia came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, glanced left, and saw Brian near the basement door.
"Hey, you gonna see who it is?" Julia asked, towel wrapped, wondering why he hadn't opened the door yet.
"I was checking on Love, I'm opening it." He opened the door to see Vivian's boyfriend, Marcus.
Brian poured Marcus a glass of whiskey; Julia chatted with him. After pouring himself and Julia a glass, Brian sat beside Julia, listening to Marcus. Marcus looked super sad, leaning back into the couch, legs crossed, one hand on the armrest, the other fiddling with his beard.
"I didn't wanna end like this," Marcus said, "but, you know, she needed some alone time." Brian understood from that that Marcus and Vivian had broken up, and the reason was just explained.
"Understand that," Brian said, handing the whiskey glass toward Marcus, silently telling him to clink. After the clink, Brian set his glass on the coffee table. "She's going through a rough time, man. Be understanding, be patient. I'm sure she loves you." Julia, not knowing Vivian, didn't get involved but listened carefully, trying to understand.
"Yeah, I'll do that, but I wanna be there with her. I don't wanna leave her alone through this. I don't know… I just don't know. Ugh, ugh," Marcus said, his voice loud, uncertain.
"Be there, don't cut off the conversation completely, check in every now and then. But don't call constantly, give her the alone time she wants."
"Okay," Marcus said, thanking Brian for the whiskey and conversation. "I'll go, it's still a long night." He smiled at Brian, Brian smiled back, and let him go.
Later that night, both felt better; their conversation had peaked. But the serious talk they were having was far beyond any normal date talk. Brian avoided some of Julia's questions but wanted to answer. After a long silence, Julia finally asked, "I gotta ask… Did the Michelle thing hit you hard?" Brian stared ahead for a moment, then remained silent. He turned to her.
"Of course," he said. "Whether I wanted to or not, it hit me deep. After all, she was once my wife." Julia nodded understandingly. "I'm sorry for you. I can never truly get what you went through, nor do I want to, but I wanna help. If you wanna talk, let it out. At least it might ease it a bit, huh?"
"We were married, we were happy… at least I thought we were. One day I came home from work, Love was alone at home, crying. She'd cried so much her eyes were swollen. Then I found a note explaining why she left me." Brian took another drag from his cigarette, continuing, "At first, I didn't believe it. You know, thinking she wouldn't leave me… but I guess I was wrong."
"I guess," Julia said, listening carefully. She wanted to understand and help this new man she felt something for.
Hours passed. Brian gave the gist of things, not all the details. He wanted to trust Julia and give her trust. "I snapped, couldn't hold back. What could've ı done? Seeing that bastard with my wife, I'm not gonna lie, it hurt. That's why they suspected me of murder. But I proved I didn't do it."
"You're right," Julia said, placing her hand on Brian's. "Thanks for trusting me and telling me." She smiled warmly, then laughed. Brian was looking at her with smile too but he didn't know what she was smiling for.
"You followed Theo's mom, huh? Like Joe Goldberg, hahahaha," Julia teased. Brian laughed, trying to read her reaction. "What? Why're you laughing?"
"Didn't expect you to do something like that, just laughed," she said. "Don't get me wrong, not that ı don't believe it,it's just-just like what I've seen in movies."
"Movies, huh? My life's a movie. I killed three people, one's still locked in the basement. If you knew you were sitting next to a guy like that, what would you think?" Brian thought, smiling at her as he spoke, slowly moving closer. Julia didn't back up; she came closer, and just as they were about to kiss, the doorbell rang like a movie cliché.
It was Maria, furious and panicked. "Julia here?" she asked. "Who are you?" Brian said. "Who am I?? Who the fuck are you?" Maria snapped. Julia realized immediately that it was Maria, her twin. "What are you doing here?" Julia asked.
"Think it's smart to leave after fighting? Are you dumb?" Maria snapped, ignoring Brian, yelling at her sister.
"Let's talk later, Maria."
"No, we can't! Nothing to talk about later. Are you a teenager, leaving the house, not answering phones, going to some random guy's place? Dumb, huh?" Maria stepped toward Julia, raising her voice. Brian understood Maria's points, even if he didn't like them. He had been accused of murder, so people's opinions made sense.
"Calm down! I said we'll talk later!"
"I'm saying we can't, pack your stuff. We're leaving now."
"I'm going nowhere! Leave me alone!" Julia shouted. Maria grabbed Julia's arm, dragging her. "We're leaving this guy's house, together!"
Brian hesitated, then said calmly, "You can't force her like that." Maria glared, heading for the door, but Brian grabbed her arm. Maria, in a flash, let go of Julia, grabbed Brian by the throat, pushed him against the door. Her blue eyes locked on his, danger written all over.
"If you touch me again, I'll break your hand!" Maria said, right hand on his throat, left on her hip.
"Pull your hands off me or I'll break that hand of yours!" Brian shot back, equally angry, glaring at her.
"Maria, let go!" Julia yanked her back. Maria reluctantly released Brian, but her left hand stayed on her hip, like she had a gun or knife.
Even pulled back, they still glared, tense but silent.
"Brian, sorry, I'll make it up to you later," Julia said, embarrassed. Maria nudged her sister, "Let's go." They headed for the door, and Brian warned, "If you ever come to my house yelling like this again, wake my baby, the only thing that'll break is not just your arm, got it?"
"Brian, okay, we're leaving, sorry." Julia looked back, then they left, shutting the door.
"Fucking Maria!" Brian fumed inwardly. "Who the fuck do you think you are, acting like that in my house?!" Hands on the counter, he realized Love had woken from crying when he heard upstairs. He tried to put her back to sleep, but she wouldn't go down easy. "Fucking Maria!" he cursed again, soothing his daughter.