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JULIUS
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Julius sat, unmoving, on the edge of his stool, thinking. After he had seen Zoe in the carpark he had stalked straight home, heart pounding. The thought of his Zoe, pregnant, was unfathomable. On some level he knew that he should be happy, a baby would tie them together for life, irrevocably, but there was a far larger picture to think about than just his ego, having his baby could very well prove deadly for Zoe, he knew that.
If only there was a way to let her know that as well. He had acted badly, he knew that. although it had been clear that she hadn’t intended to tell Julius about the baby in the carpark, she had nonetheless, and he had been a jerk. He wasn’t blind, he had seen the hurt flash in her eyes when he had said that he didn’t want the baby, he hadn’t missed the way that she took a slight step backwards, away from him, away from his rejection.
It was like a slap in the face, one which he deserved, he realised. He knew about her past, he could only imagine how vulnerable and alone she was feeling right now, and he had only made it worse for her. He should have been there. He should have been the one Zoe had come to when she had first suspected she was pregnant, in another life, he would have been.
They would have taken the test together, celebrated together, and dreamt together. They would have been together, making plans for their future, instead of them being as far apart as it was possible for two people two be mentally and emotionally.
Julius needed to get out, he needed to talk to someone who would understand his side, someone that he could trust to tell him what to do. He had to see his father. He crossed to his study and fired up the laptop, waiting while his video call was connected.
“Julius! How lovely to see you.”
“Hi mum, is dad around?”
“He’s just here,” his mum gestured his dad over to the screen and after they had exchanged pleasantries, Julius got straight to the point.
“She’s pregnant, and I told her I would take care of it, but I’m not sure what to do.”
“Okay, firstly, tell me exactly what you said to her.”
“I told her that the pregnancy was a mistake, one that can be fixed, and not to worry, that I would take care of everything. I, ah, also told her that it was not what I wanted.”
“Julius.” Julius could hear the disappointment in his father’s voice. “How could you say that? I thought you cared about this Zoe?”
“I do, dad, but it’s complicated, you know that.”
“Why are you letting something that might happen ruin something that has already happened?” His father questioned him.
“You know I can’t tell her.” Julius was firm.
“Why not?” Seriously? His father was infuriating at times.
“It isn’t that simple, you know that.”
“Of course, it is,” his father disagreed with him. “I told your mother, and look how that turned out.” He smiled indulgently off-screen, where Julius presumed his mother was standing.
“And if Zoe can’t accept me as I am, what then dad? I’ll lose her forever.”
“It seems to me son that you already have.” His father’s words stayed with him long after the conversation had ended. Could his father be right? Could he have a chance with Zoe, a real chance, if he just told her the truth? Although it hurt to admit it, he knew he had already lost her, he knew that the moment he left her standing in her doorway wearing only a towel. He decided his dad’s advice wasn’t as bad as it seemed, after all, what else did he have to lose?
The following day Julius was up early and stalked through the hospital, looking for Zoe, finally finding the student nurse that Zoe was working with yesterday, who informed him that Zoe had called in sick.
Never in the decade of knowing her had he ever known her to call in sick for a shift, not even when she should have. Leaving the hospital he drove to her apartment, parking out the front next to her car.
He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel while he thought about his plan of action. He considered phoning her to see if she was home but realised that was a cowardly way out, instead, walking up to her door and knocking loudly. The door was yanked open, the sight of a scowling Zoe staring out at him.
“What?” She all but spat at him.
“Good morning, Zoe,” Julius wasn’t going to let her mood deter him. “Can I come in, please? I want to talk to you.” He stood there smiling at her, half expecting her to slam the door in his face, but instead, she merely turned and went inside. He closed the door and walked through to her lounge room, sitting opposite her on one of her sofas.
“So, speak.” She crossed her arms over her chest and Julius found it hard to forget the feeling of having them pressed up against him.
“What I have to say is hard for me Zoe, and it will be pretty hard for you to listen to as well.” He cleared his throat. “My costume at the party last month wasn’t a costume, it was my real skin. I’m an alien.” Julius wasn’t sure how he had expected Zoe to react, but it certainly wasn't like this. She threw back her head and laughed until tears ran down her face.
“Seriously?” Her tone was mocking. “You have a one-night stand with me and then can’t get away fast enough once you’ve finished. You ignore me for weeks, and then when I find out I’m carrying your baby, you tell me that the baby is a mistake, that you can supposedly fix, although we both know you mean get rid of, and that you never wanted any of it. And now you try to tell me that you are an alien as if that somehow excuses your jerk behaviour. Well, go on then, prove it.” Zoe sat back and waited.
Taking a deep breath, Julius removed his shirt and reverted to his original form, his skin covered in lime green iridescent scales.
“Zoe, are you okay?” Julius looked over at Zoe, her mouth hanging open at the sight of his skin.
“I thought it was body paint, I thought it would be all over me,” she muttered to herself. “I guess this explains that. So, you lied to me, for a decade.”
“Zoe, it wasn’t like that, I couldn’t tell you.”
“Really? Why not? I thought we trusted each other Julius, I thought...I thought you were the one person who would never hurt me, and now it seems that I didn’t know you at all.”
“Zoe, please don’t say that.”
“From now on Julius, whatever happens to me is none of your business, do you understand? I don’t need you, I don’t need anyone, I’ve been taking care of myself my entire life, I’ve gotten pretty good at it.” She stood and started walking down the hallway. “Get the hell out of my house, I don’t want to see you or hear from you again.”
