Julius & Juliana

CHAPTER 11

When Juliana learnt that a suitor had brought her a gift, at first she refused the gift and made it clear to her parents that she doesn't want a rich and proud man to become her husband and moreover, she's already in love with someone. But when her mother talked to her about meeting the suitor first before deciding, she reluctantly accepted it.

James smith had called for a date with the princess so that they can get to know each other better and the king concurred with the idea. Her mother however encouraged her to go to the date with the suitor but she was very hesitant to agree. She explained that she was in love with someone else and shouldn't be having a date with another man. Her mother elucidated her point that she should have the date to enable her know which of the men is more suitable for her.

On the said day, James arrived king Duncan's palace with a luxurious car towards evening. He was richly dressed and was accompanied by a guard who opened the door of the car for him to come out. He met with the king who told him not to spend too much time out with his daughter as he wouldn't want her to come back late at night. For the first time, Juliana saw the suitor who was also handsome but she wasn't interested in having any relationship with him from the onset. Also for the first time since she became a teenager, she left the palace without any guard. It was after they left that her father secretly sent two guards to follow them and monitor their activities without being noticed.

James took Juliana to a classic eatery for dinner after he had introduced himself to her during their ride. They were seated at an executive dining table and he asked her what food she cared for. At first, she said that she wasn't hungry while turning her face away from looking at him. He didn't realize that she was only putting him through a test to see how caring he was. He chuckled and taking it as a joke, he asked her again but she remained adamant that she wasn't hungry. "You can't have a date with me and not allow me buy you anything. If you aren't hungry then at least let me buy you a drink" said James but she replied that she wasn't thirsty for a drink either. He got angry and raised his voice on her "what do you mean? Why are you doing this? This is the best eatery in the country and every food and drink here is very appetizing but yet you're refusing to take anything. Don't get me angry because I'm very rough when....." At this juncture, he realized that he was yelling at her and quickly comported himself. "Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you but please allow me buy you something."

At this point, a waiter approached them and asked if they were all right due to the loud voices that got some customers attention. "You can see you're making a scene. I didn't come here to eat and drink with someone I'm just meeting for the first time" said Juliana. After picking his favorite drink from the menu, he also picked one for Juliana and the waiter left and came back with the drinks. Then he brought out a cigarette and was about to light it to calm his anger but a security personnel spotted him and took the cigarette from him "sorry sir but you can't smoke in this place. It's an eatery not a night club." Juliana frowned at him. He felt ashamed of himself but cheered up with his alcoholic drink. Juliana managed to accept hers but she made sure it wasn't alcoholic. He told her that he admires her and would like to be her one and only lover but she told him that she had a boyfriend already. He became angry once more and showed his proud nature. "A boyfriend? Oh come on, are you kidding me? That thing that can't even take care of himself? Your father told me of how poor he is and the worst of it all is that he lives in the slums. It's because you are a princess that's why he's in love with you so that you can take him away from his abject poverty. Like your father rightly said, you deserve men like me who can take good care of you" he concluded. "And who told you that I'm after rich men? Truth be told, even if I weren't a princess or from a rich home, I would still accept any man whether rich or not who has good attributes, not those that can only take good care of a girl with money and expensive things. Love comes from the inside and not the outside and moreover, a rich man is more likely to cheat than a poor man because he has the money to get whatever he wants at all cost" she concluded.

James anger became worse "what the hell are you saying? You haven't even given me a chance to express my love for you and you are indirectly accusing and suspecting me already. I can see that you lack good manners but I can assure you that I'm a man who gets what he wants at all cost just as you've said. I believe with time you will change, you're just a teenager. I hope your eyes get open soon to realize that I'm the right man for you. Girls out there are craving just to have my contact as a rich and handsome guy. I may be harsh in speech and behavior but I can't hurt a fly and when I'm in love with you, I'm in love with you" he concluded. Juliana didn't utter any more word as they continued drinking. Suddenly she became pressed and excused herself to urinate.

As soon as she left, her phone began to ring. James looked at the number that was calling as the phone was on the table. It was 'my love' that was calling her line. He decided to answer her call. Julius was surprised that it was a man's voice he heard and he asked about her whereabout, thinking it was one of her guards. She didn't inform him that she was going out on a date with a guy, neither did she tell him about her new suitor. "Listen to me peasant, I'm her one and only lover and she's bethroted to me, guess her father told you that? Now if you don't stay away from her, I will personally deal with you. I will make your poor life miserable and just so you know, I'm capable of committing murder so beat it." Julius was gobsmacked and didn't know when his phone fell from his hand. At this juncture, Juliana was returning from the public toilet where she had gone to ease herself and have caught sight of James talking to someone on phone. On sighting her, he quickly blacklisted Julius's number so that he won't be able to reach her on phone again, then he dropped the phone back at where he took it from but Juliana saw him doing that.

She sat down and asked why he had touched her phone. He replied that her boyfriend called and he told him that he should call back later that she wasn't around. Juliana didn't believe him and feared that he must have said something bad to Julius. They left after a few minutes and it wasn't so late when they arrived back at her father's palace. James left after sometime having discussed his desire to have a private meeting with just himself, the king and the peasant. Juliana was so frightened as she wondered what James must have said to Julius on phone. She blamed herself for not telling Julius about him and the date on time.