“Oh for God’s sake.” He said annoyed.
“Answer it Julian.”

“No Eve, there is no way in hell anyone is ruining this very moment between us.”

He began to kiss her once more, but Eve stopped him.

“You better answer it just in case.”

“In case of what?” he asked.

“Just answer it please.”

“Fine then, hello, this had better be good.” He said bluntly.

“What do you mean it had better be good, is that anyway to talk to your future wife?”

“Rebecca!”

Eve moved him off of her and sat next to him, pulling the blanket over her.

“Julian, what’s going on? You sound like you are pissed off.”

“Pissed off, me? Nah, not at all.” He said rolling his eyes at Eve.

“I am coming home in about half an hour, just so you know. I think Gwen and Ethan will be able to work it out.”

“Gwen and Ethan, that’s good, well see you soon.” He said and hung up the phone.

“Rebecca huh?” Eve said.

“I swear to God, that woman has the worst and I mean the worst timing.” Julian said frustrated.

“It’s okay Julian.” She said rubbing his back.

“No Eve, it’s not, why can’t she just go away, even for one night?”

“Well, that’s the way it has to be I guess, this was the first real challenge.” Eve said

“You aren’t kidding, but Eve…um, I’m so sorry dear.”

“You don’t have to apologize Julian, it’s not your fault, I mean hopefully it doesn’t mean that it’s a sign that we aren’t meant to be.” She said looking down.

“Not meant to be? No Eve, don’t even say that!”

“Well we don’t know Julian right?”

“No sweetheart, listen to me, I have wanted this for so long, I have waited years and years to be with you. Now I have my chance, Eve, we just about made love, and it would have been so beautiful. I don’t want this to have been the only chance. I love you so much, nothing will ever change that and I will fight for you, whatever it takes, we are going to be together. You do want that don’t you? You do love me right?” Julian asked.

“Of course I do and it would have been so special, it just means, I guess, that we will have to try another time.”

“Another time Eve, there will be another time I guarantee that, I want to please you, make you happy.”

“You do make me happy Julian, I love spending time with you, being with you, and I do love you.” Eve said.

“I love you too, but still that damn woman has such bad timing, I can’t say that enough.” He said annoyed.

“I know Julian, well, for now, we will just have to call it a night then. If she is coming home soon, then I have to be home before she arrives.”

“I wish it was you who was coming home to me, not Rebecca, that would be so great.” Julian said smiling.

“Hopefully one day soon.”

“Yes hopefully Eve.” He said kissing her.

They got dressed and headed downstairs.

“Well thank you for dinner, it was lovely and for…the rest of the evening, it was still great Julian.” She said smiling.

“It would have been greater if I could have made that possible, but your welcome Eve, glad you liked the dinner and thank you for showing me how to cook, it was really wonderful.”

“Well I have to get going, I am not going to risk getting caught by Rebecca, so I will talk to you later then?”

“Of course Eve, I will call you, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He kissed her goodbye and held her hand for one brief moment before she closed the front door. Julian sighed and then plopped himself down on the sofa with the remote. A little while later, Rebecca opened the front door.

“Hi Pookie!” she said excitedly.

“Hey.” He said.

“I really think Ethan and Gwen are going to get back together, I convinced Gwen to give him another chance, oh this will be so great won’t it Pookie?”

“Yeah, great.” He said rolling his eyes.

“What’s wrong with you Julian, you sound so bummed out.”

“Nothing, I am just tired, I am going to get ready for bed.”

“Well I will be up in a minute.”

“Sure, whatever.”

Julian lay there in his bed, on the edge as far as he could to keep away from her. He frowned when he saw her climb into bed next to him. She snuggled up close to her and he hated every minute of it. Why did it have to be this way, Eve should be the one he shared his bed with every night, not Rebecca. He had no desire for her at all, yet so many unfulfilled ones he wanted to share with Eve. He would have fulfilled every one of them that night had it not been for her. He felt like he was living like a prisoner in his own home, doomed to a life with her. From once ice princess to another is how he thought of it. Yes he used to be a mean and nasty person and at that stage, Rebecca was perfect for him. But he wasn’t that person anymore, he did not love her at all, she was more of a nuisance to him than anything else. He believed that if Eve could get out of the marriage with T.C., it would be okay, he would protect and take care of her. But the real dilemma lied with Rebecca and how he was going to get her out of his life. She was the real challenge.

“Julian, I want to do it.” She said bluntly.

“Leave me alone, I have a headache.” He said to her.

Rebecca sat up and turned on the light.

“Listen to me, you are going to make love to me right now or I am going to call Luis!”

“At this hour? He will think you are a bit loony and probably won’t take you seriously anyway.”

“Why do you treat me so badly Julian, what did I ever do to deserve this?”

“The question is what didn’t you do deserve this? You are forcing me into marrying you, just to get my money and you expect me to have sex with you as well? Not to mention the fact that you are blackmailing me! What kind of a freaking marriage do you think this is going to be? It was hell with Ivy and it will be hell with you. I don’t love you, how many times can I tell you that?”

“You are never going to have Eve.”

“She is the only woman I have ever loved and will truly love. Even if I marry you, I will never love you like I love her, that may be mean to say, but it’s the damn truth!”

“At one point you wanted to marry me.”

“Okay maybe I did, but I am not the same Julian you knew before, I don’t want to be evil, I don’t want to cause people hurt and pain, I only want to do the right thing and I only want to love Eve.”

“T.C. would have a problem with that Julian.”

“Yeah sure, he would just love to kick my ass, I know he hates me and he may be married to Eve on paper, but we are married in our hearts.”

“That was just so sappy, married in your hearts? Julian Crane, you are a fool!”

“And you only think it’s sappy because you wouldn’t know what true love was if it was coming right at you. All you think about is money and sex, to be honest, that sounds like the job of a lady of the evening.”

“I can’t believe you just said that, I have never been so insulted in all of my life! Oh forget it now for sure; I don’t want you to make love to me, I am too angry. Just roll over on your side of the bed and stay there!” she yelled.

“Gladly.” He said dryly.

Eve had returned home to find T.C. asleep in the chair, the television blaring. She turned it off and looked at him, he was quite peaceful then. How she wanted to tell him everything, but she just couldn’t. She knew it was wrong to lie to him, she had been lying for so many years, but saying the words, “Julian Crane and I used to be lovers.” She knew that would send him over the edge, she loved T.C. very much, but he wasn’t going to love her the same back once he knew she wasn’t the perfect wife and mother. She left him there, not wanting to disturb him so she got ready for bed. Once she was under the covers and cozy and with the lights off, she was surprised when she felt T.C.’s arms around her waist.

“I love you Eve.” He whispered in her ear.

“I love you too T.C.” she said with a frown.

She lay there, quite still, a few minutes later, just settling in for a sleep, when she opened her eyes at the touch of T.C.’s mouth upon the back of her neck.

“Eve, sweetheart, I want you.” He said kissing her neck.

Eve bit her bottom lip at the thought of it. She was very rigid and tense.

“Baby, turn around, you need to relax and I know just how to make you happy.”

“Um, T.C., can we do this another night?” she said sounding hopeful.

She hated to feel so cold towards her own husband, but the fact that she was only in Julian’s arms a short time before that made it very difficult to be close to him.

“But Eve, I thought you wanted me to be more affectionate with you, and now I want to, come on sweetheart, let me make love to you, let me show you how sorry I am for being such a jerk lately.”

“Oh T.C.”

“I promise to try really hard to control my temper and I promise to be a better father, a better husband and a better lover.” He said kissing her firmly.

“I don’t know what to say.” Eve said hesitating.

“Just say you will let me get close to you again, I have been so mean and to be honest, I am even sorry that I got into a fight with Julian, it was wrong and I’m sorry. He just pisses me off so much Eve, why does he have to hang around us and annoy us? We don’t want anything to do with him and so help me, if he ever comes near you, I will kill him.”

“T.C., you just said you want to control your temper, so don’t think bad thoughts like that, don’t get so angry with Julian. Life is too short and you should just learn to be friends.”

“Friends, are you insane Eve? Hell no, that will never happen, Julian Crane is a bastard, a pervert, and a loser!” He said angrily.

“Julian saved my life, don’t call him names!” she said annoyed.

“There you go defending him again, would you just stop that Eve? What is your problem lately? All you do is support him, what about me? I am your husband or did you forget that?”

“I told you T.C., he saved my life and if it wasn’t for you losing your temper, I wouldn’t have been outside of the plane in the first place!”

“You know what Eve, I thought we could have made some real progress tonight, I wanted you so bad, I missed you like crazy, but now I don’t really want to have sex, so just forget it!” he said and rolled over to the other side of the bed.

“Fine then T.C., since you are being so childish, we will talk again when you have learned how to become mature.” She said in a huff.

“Whatever.” He said coldly.