Page 4 of Julian's Curse

He’d gone silent, but an answer came eventually.

“No, don’t be a stranger. I miss you like hell, especially when I go out to eat sushi.” He effortlessly shifted the conversation into a lighthearted one.

Way to tease me. The two of us could crush pounds of sashimi together.

“Overnight me some Zippy’s,” I joked, my craving for the homestyle restaurant’s mac salad still strong from my visit to Honolulu. “And those butter cheese sandwiches they make; they are still in my vivid memory.”

I heard a laugh, then the phone connection started to get spotty. He spoke, but I couldn’t understand it.

“Bradley, you’re cutting off. Maybe try another part of your house?”

There was a fleeting moment of silence like he was walking to a new area.

“No, it’s not that. I am in Kauai.” Bradley’s deep, husky voice rumbled through the phone.

“Wait, you’re visiting?” I still had the expectation that he’d be back in San Diego at some point.

“I’ve decided to move here.”

I couldn’t help but feel a punch in my gut. I’d wanted him to be closer than that. Kauai, it was beautiful, known to be the Garden Isle and the greenest of all Hawaiian Islands, but it was also rural and remote. But what led to this decision? He built custom cars for a living and now it seemed like he had no interest in that anymore. It wasn’t something he could do on a large scale there.

“What about you and your ex-wife?” I couldn’t hold back the question any longer.

He went silent for a moment, his voice dropping lower when he finally responded. It was rich and gravelly, like he was carefully weighing his words. “She’s moved on, and I realized that I have too.” The words felt final, but his tone carried an undercurrent of something more—a quiet, unresolved pain.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he replied, his voice steady but still tinged with a trace of exhaustion, “my godfather lives here. He invited me to help with his construction project. He’s a retired owner of a successful IT business in California. And I liked it enough to stay. It’s home now.”

I wanted to say something encouraging, but it still came as a huge disappointment. After so many changes, this was just another one to get used to. But I couldn’t be selfish. If this was right for him, it was right for me.

“I hope you visit me in time. What about your shop? Are you selling it then?”

“I’ll have a couple guys run it for now, then we’ll see.” He left it open-ended.

I guessed there was always a chance he’d reconsider.

“You know, Valentina keeps asking me when the hot Hawaiian guy will come back,” I teased him with a half-truth. She’d used a way raunchier term to inquire about Bradley. My best girlfriend from college, a former model, had relocated to California to start a now successful clothing brand calledPoshbabe Boutique, and never looked back.

“Tell her she can come here and keep me company anytime,” he responded, his voice low and inviting, a familiar warmth in the way he said it. His tone made it sound like he was grinning, even though I couldn’t see him.

It seemed like a serious offer, especially since Bradley wasn’t one to joke around. Hardly anyone ever turned down Valentina, unless she wasn’t their type. At least he wasn’t so heartsick as to dwell on it—thankfully, that was a relief. His casual response gave me the sense that he was finding a way to move forward, not weighed down by the past, and that was something I hadn’t expected.

“How are you and Julian?” He switched subjects.

It had to be hard for him to even ask this. The two of them never got along—or, better said, they’d been subtle enemies, each avoiding the other whenever possible, never comfortable in the same space. Aside from their conflicting lifestyle values, they often had opposing opinions about what was best for me. “I am happy,” I assured him. Certain that he hadn’t been reading any tabloids, this seemed like enough to share.

“But?” He prodded, his tone light but insistent, as if he knew there was more to the story.

I didn’t know if this was something I wanted to get into with him. He still didn’t trust that Julian’s intentions had been sincere, and even if he did, he certainly didn’t believe the relationship was good for me. But now that I’d mentioned it, I knew I’d have to explain myself.

“Well, you’ll laugh,” I started, trying to keep it light. “We’ve had the best three months of our lives, so I’m trying hard not to look for something negative in a great situation. Not after everything I’ve been through. But this happiness just feels unfamiliar compared to what I remember of us.”

I hesitated, realizing how much of it came down to trusting this new sense of peace, a feeling I hadn’t been able to connect with before. Would it last? Was I overanalyzing again?

“Dark thinking?” he asked, but I couldn’t miss the hint of sarcasm in his tone.

“Julian used to be depressed about his family much of the time, but now it’s changed. I haven’t seen him down at all. He seems more confident, and his mood has been great too.”

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