RedBalloon

Private

The thoughts running through Juliette’s head as Alicia cried on her shoulder were terrible. The walls of the apartment were paper thin and she could imagine how the little boy in the other room felt. She moveed away when Alicia pulled away. Being who she was, Juliette had a ‘natural’ calming affect for the people around her. “If I wasn’t here, you would continue on,” she told her gently. “I am just a small part in your life.”

Private

((I meant to put this in the last post lol, but Katherine is that vampire lady is telling u about))

Juliette pressed her lips together and gave Alicia a small smile. “No need to apologize, I have come to terms with my parents passing,” she assured the woman. She scooted a little closer to her, putting a hand on her shoulder blade.
“I know it’s hard,” she murmured softly. “It’s terrible for anyone to be going through this, but things happen for a reason. Sometimes that reason is never understood nor is it meant to be understood.” As soon as tears started to roll down Alicia’s cheeks, Juliette opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped herself. Instead, she leaned forward to wrap her arms around the other.

Private

Juliette reached her the braclett around her wrist as her eyes shifted to the side. “Well, I...” She faltered. She twisted the charm between her fingers. “I have, yes. When I was younger, my parents were murdered in our home.” Her speech was slow while she continued to stare at any object other than Alicia.

“After the...incident happened, I was very distraught and angry. I did things that I now very much regret because I was mad at God for letting something so terrible happen.” Juliette sighed softly. “Katherine* eventually got fed up with me and slapped some sense into me. I later realized that some things have to happen for the world to go on.”

Juliette managed to pull her eyes back to Alicia. “What I’m saying is: yes, i have lost my faith in Him once before. But it’s just a matter of understanding that things happen because they happen. Not everything He has in mind for us has to be good.”

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Juliette poured slightly at the news. “I’m sad to hear that.” She actually was sad, but not surprised. “I’m sure he’ll get better though! I pray for you two every night.”
She might not have seemed like a religious woman at first glance, but she was highly devoted. She wore a small, thin golden bracket with a cross charm around her left wrist everyday. The only time she wasn’t wearing it was during photo shoots, but most of hers were more scandalous shoots.

Private

Juliette grinned at her. “It’s no problem, really!”
She followed Alicia to the couch and seated herself. She crossed her ankles and placed her hands in her lap, the water bottle placed on the table. “That’s good that you got a day off,” she said. “How is Jake, by the way?”
She didn’t need Alicia to actually tell her how the boy was, she already knew. She could feel how he was. Every emotion and pain he felt, she felt. But conversating was part of human nature.

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“You’re very much welcome, love!” Juliette chirped with a tilt of her head, blonde curls sliding to one shoulder. Without a second thought, she whipped out her phone and speed-dialed her assist.
“Salut! J’ai besoin d’un radiateur ASAP,” she spoke quickly. “Merci!”
Once she was finished her that short task, she slid her phone back into her pocket and returned her attention to her friend. “It should be on it’s way soon! So, what are your plans for the day?”

Private

Juliette thanked her when she handed her the bottle of water. Twisting it open, she tipped some of the water into her mouth. She made a face at Alicia’s response. “It really wouldn’t be any trouble,” she insisted. “I wouldn’t want you guys to freeze in the mean time.” She lightly laughed at her words.
“How about a small space heater?” Juliette questioned carefully. “So that when it does get warmer, you can just stow it away!” The French woman tried to be optimistic when she spoke around Alicia.

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Juliette flashed her pearly whites. “That would be lovely, thank you,” she chirped. She walked over to the nearest table and placed her scarf on the surface. Taking a glance towards the heater, a small flicker of a frown crossed her features. She would’ve thought that after it was “miraculously fixed”, it would’ve stayed as such.
“Might I suggest,” Juliette moved towards the heater. “That I have someone come by to fix it?” She hated to suggest that she pay for things, but she hated it even more to see the two suffer.

Private

A smile spread across Juliette's face when Alicia opened the door. She gave a curt nod and quickly stepped into the apartment. It didn't feel any less cold than it did outside. At least it wasn't windy. She wrapped the scarf from around her neck, draping it over her arm. "Hello dearie," she greeted like a chirp. Despite being French, Juliette had learned English in Britain at her boarding school during her elementary days so she spoke almost perfect English with a posh, British accent.
"Did the heater stop working again?"
A couple of weeks ago, their heater had been working from some miraculous way. Maybe or not Juliette had a hand in it but no one would've suspected. But it felt as if it wasn't working again. She was tempted to offer to buy her friend a new heater, or just buying her one without telling her.

A small wave of emotions washed over Juliette, making her shiver. The feeling of sadness and sickness was always strongest when she was near her subject. The young, sick boy in the other room was the main reason she ever encountered Alicia. Her ward, the person she the most concerned with internally but never showing it. How her heart ached at the thought of what he was going to have to go through in the time to come. But she couldn't warn them. As much as she wanted to, no matter how much it hurt to watch these lovely human beings suffer in this way, she couldn't say anything.

Private

It was a gray afternoon. A type of gray that could be the beginning of a storm or the end. A floral rainboot splashed through a puddle that was left over from the nightly downpour. With bouncing blonde curls, a young woman approached the apartment complex through the damp parking lot. She was wrapped in blush pink petticoat and a white scarf concealing her neck to protect her from the biting wind. The woman had been back and forth to the small apartment of another woman her age, Alicia, and her younger brother, Jake. A couple months back, she had met the pair at a restaurant when Alicia couldn't afford her bill and she offered to pay. Rather, she didn't offer, she simply paid their bill after hers with a few kind words written on the receipt. Some way or another, the two encountered each other again in a grocery store as if fate had a play in it. A few more times of meeting each other, the two become friends. It was more than fate to the woman though....something no normal person could understand.
Shaking her head out of her thoughts, the woman raised her hand and lightly knocked on the familiar door.