"Tommy likes it." Jenny made a strained attempt at a smile and looked to Julian for some sort of response. She was disappointed, but I could tell what it cost Julian to not say or do anything.
"Sweety, we should really get going." Julian laced his fingers through mine and tugged gently.
"Okay, here." I quickly wrote my phone number using a piece of paper and pen Julian had produced from somewhere with a wave of his hand. Tom's eyes, to my vast amusement, had nearly leapt out of his sockets at this.
"Call us sometime." I could practically feel Julian's approval as I implied that we lived together. Which, we sorta did. "Bye!" I waved back at them as we walked out.
A feeling of shame infused me as we walked to the door. I really had treated Jenny, who I had just met in a sense, really badly. It was a not-so-good feeling. I really didn't like guilt. Some people loved it, languished in it until it became self-pity. I prefered not to feel either emotion.
Stealing a glance to Julian, I took in the, well, perfection of his profile. No guy was allowed to look that good, I thought almost bitterly. An image of Damon as I had last seen him popped up in my head. An image of him walking away after first laughing at my small declaration of love.
As soon as we got outside the restaurant, Julian let go of me and got a somewhat pensive look in his eyes. I felt relief as he let go of me, but also regret. There were bigger things at hand, I'd think about that little emotion later.
"What's wrong, Julian?" I touched his arm lightly, unable to help myself. As he started at my touch, I felt a flash of hurt go through me. I let my hand drop to my side and looked at him.
"So, when do we get to see the famous Damon?" He seemed to spit out Damon's name.
"We need to locate him first. I think he may be in Italy..." I trailed off seeing that her was no longer listening. We walked in silence from then on.
