All Of Me

2. I have a guardian angel?

“Sweetie? Hey, wakeup!”

Juliana felt someone shaking her lightly by her shoulders. Then she felt light slaps on her cheek.

“Open your eyes. Come on.”

Juliana tried to open her eyes but could only manage a tiny slit.

“Ummmm…….I’m sleepy. Go away!” Juliana mumbled and closed her eyes again.

Someone pulled her up to a sitting position. Juliana opened her eyes and glared at that person.

“Stop it! I want to sleep!” Juliana shouted. Then she blinked a couple of times when she saw that the person disturbing her was Diane.

“Diane? What are you doing here?” Juliana looked around and her jaw dropped open.

Juliana turned her head to look around her. What was she doing sitting on the sidewalk? She saw that some of the outlets have closed for the night.

Then she gasped aloud and looked up at Diane.

“Yes, sweetie. You fell asleep here. Come on, let’s get you home.” Diane reached out to pull Juliana up.

Juliana wobbled slightly. Her head felt heavy and she found that she could not balance well on her own two feet.

Diane wrapped her arm around Juliana’s waist as she slowly walked Juliana to her car which was parked by the roadside.

“You reek of alcohol. How much did you consume?” Diana asked as she reached over to put on the safety belt around Juliana. “And where is Eric?”

On hearing the name ‘Eric’, Juliana felt tears filling her eyes. Then she started to bawl aloud.

Diane quickly swerved the car to the side of the road and the car came to an abrupt stop as Dianne pressed hard on the brakes.

“Why are you crying like this? What happened? Did Eric hurt you?” Diane’s voice raised a decibel as she leaned over to look at Juliana.

The two women sat in the car, one bawling her eyes out, the other waiting patiently. When Juliana stopped crying, her chest was still heaving as she took deep gulps of air.

“Di, Eric cheated on me tonight. He cheated right in front of my eyes!” Juliana’s eyes were ablaze with anger.

Diane’s mouth made an ‘O’. Her eyes widened before she squinted in anger.

“I confronted him and…..and…..he dumped me! Just like that!” Juliana snapped her fingers before hitting the dashboard with her palms.

“He dumped you because you confronted him?” Diane asked in an incredulous tone of voice.

“No! The bastard dumped me because he said I was fat and frumpy!” Juliana raised her arms as she looked down her body.

“I was not always this size. So, I have put on a couple of pounds……all right, I admit maybe a few pounds but love should be about the inner person right? True love is not about a person’s outer image but what is in our hearts.”

Juliana started crying again but this time in soft sobs, no more wailing.

“I feel sick……” Juliana quickly opened the car door and rushed to squat by the gutter. She vomited until there was nothing else to vomit.

Diane pressed some tissue into Juliana’s hands. After Juliana had wiped her mouth, she stood up unsteadily.

“I need to go home and rest.” Juliana mumbled as she was assisted by Diane into the car again.

***

Juliana opened and eye and peeked around. Why was she sleeping on a couch? Where was she?

She slowly pushed herself into a sitting position. Oh, she was in Diane’s house.

“Good morning. How are you feeling?”

Juliana turned her head gingerly towards the voice. Diane was standing by the kitchen counter. She poured a cup of coffee and brought it over to Juliana.

“My head hurts.” Juliana was holding her head in her hands.

“Good! How can you drink so much alone? Your situation last night could have been much worse. You could have been kidnapped, r***d and body dumped into a lake where nobody would ever find you!” Diane ranted.

“Hey….I got dumped, okay?” Juliana raised her head and her voice but lowered her head again into her hands.

“Anyways, how did you know I was at the pub? I don’t remember telling you where I was.” Juliana peeked at Diane.

“Well, I received a call to come pick you up.” Diane said in a nonchalant way as she stood up and walked to the kitchen.

“Wait, you received a call? From who?” Juliana asked as she picked up the cup and sipped slowly at the hot coffee.

“Oh…..from someone. Would you like some breakfast?” Diane answered and quickly changed the subject.

“Who someone?” Juliana persisted. “I was not with anyone that knew you last night.”

“Enough with the questions. Let’s just call this someone your guardian angel, okay? Without that phone call, I think you would be in a terrible, terrible situation now.”

Diana took a couple of eggs and bacon from the refrigerator. When Juliana opened her mouth to ask more questions, Diane raised a finger to her lips.

“Enough with the questions. Just thank your guardian angel for being around last night. Can we do that?” Diane said as she placed a few slices of bacon in the skillet pan.

Juliana’s thoughts of last night were a little murky. But she remembered someone sitting beside her by the roadside. She remembered feeling warm and comfortable (even though she was sleeping on the road). She remembered being covered with a sheet of material, perhaps a jacket.

When Diane placed a plate of fried eggs and bacon in front of her, she picked up the fork and proceeded to eat. Halfway through the breakfast meal, Juliana looked down at her hand.

Her thoughts were fuzzy but she remembered punching someone last night. She vaguely remembered the grunting sound the person made. It was a man!

Her guardian angel last night was a man!

As she continued eating, Juliana thought of how she could thank this person who sat with her until Diane arrived to pick her up. She must have looked terrible last night. She was wearing a short tight skirt and spaghetti-strapped blouse. She wondered how much of her underwear she had shown the world when she passed out drunk.

“Di, did you see anyone with me when you came to pick me up last night?”

“Nope, why?” Diane casually asked as she ate her breakfast and read the newspaper.

“Oh no reason. I thought it would be polite to thank this person for last night.”

“I think this person will be greatly rewarded for his kindness. Don’t you worry, okay?” Diane placed her fork on the plate. “The more urgent thing is what are you going to do about Eric? Are you just going to allow him to get away with what he did to you?”

When Juliana blinked at her, Diane gave a sigh.

“Ju, it is not right to be treated the way Eric treated you. He disrespected you. He called you names. I won’t stand for that!” Diane said angrily.

“I know. He had no right to use me and dump me. All he had to do was let me know that I was getting overweight. I would have gotten back into shape. He didn’t have to shout it for all and sundry to hear what he thought about me…..fat and frumpy.”

Juliana could feel tears start welling up in her eyes.

“Stop!” Diane raised and waved her forefinger at Juliana. “No more tears. You are a beautiful woman. Any man would be proud to have you.”

“Like this? Fat and frumpy?” Juliana laughed through her tears.