Part 11

Looking around the room one saw many people mingling and chatting amongst themselves. There was talk of work and talk of travels, and all the while there was wine and fondue going around. Though these people had been her friends for the past two years, Juliet constantly felt a little nagging feeling inside her. There was always something lacking in their conversations. She went on numerous outings with them and invited them to dinners and dancing as well.

Often times Juliet attributed it to their different backgrounds. An English major in the den of engineers. Two opposite worlds meeting and closing in. Talks of work included talks of rockets and satellites and programs on computers with bugs that needed to be fixed. In her college career she had never once picked up a computer science nor engineering course. Walking through the halls of the science building on the strange occasion when her English literature discussions would be scheduled to meet there, she would look at the displays of computer chips and charts and programs of the different classes with blank curiosity. The running joke was always that English was a fuzzy major and that it wasn’t something that you’d truly major in. And if you did it was your second major or your minor rather than your one and only. Nevertheless, the written language was the source of Juliet’s pleasure.

“Juliet, I’m so excited for you! I can’t believe that you’re heading off to France in just a few weeks! Aren’t you excited?”

“Yeah I’m really excited, though I think the excitement’s starting to turn into anxiety. I mean who does this kind of thing? You know, who drops everything and moves to another country for a year?”

“Oh come on Jules, it’ll be awesome!”

“Yeah I truly wish I had the time to do something like this. I’m so amazed by you, Juliet.”

Juliet smiled. “So how’s work going, John?”

“Haha, it’s okay. It’s pretty slow right now, lots of paperwork being taken care of. Though we have been doing some cool ignition tests which have been the highlight of my days at work.”

“Oh wow that sounds awesome!”

“Basically the test that we were doing is just ‘cold flow test’, but in a couple of weeks we get to attach the actual chamber so it’ll look like a proper rocket and do the hot fire test.”

“Haha sounds fun.”

“Hey John, you know we can actually hear you guys playing with your rockets over at my office! Your rockets are so loud! Where do you guys test them out at?” Daniel chimed in.

“We’re out by Faber Field, which is actually still pretty far from you isn’t it? Man, we’re that loud? Awesome!”

Other conversations went about throughout the room.

“Kathy this is such a great party, but why on earth do you have so many fondue pots?”

“So how is that start up company of yours going? Have you guys launched your website yet?”

“We’re going to test our rocket out in Kansas next week, so right now we’re making sure everything works and whatnot.”

“Do you know where in France you’ll be teaching at?”

“When are you headed to France? I’ll actually be in Italy in a few days; you should move up your flight and spend some time in Italy with us!”

Mark drove the conversations that night like every other night. Juliet smiled half-heartedly and nodded through most of the conversations while her mind and conversation wandered off to other conversations. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in the conversation Mark was pushing. It was that she had heard it before on multiple occasions. Juliet had wondered on several occasions whether or not he realized that he was repeating his stories and comments. She was sure there was a time when such conversations interested her. The talk of work, the talk of events, the talk of people who were in the same room together. She had felt this feeling before, she had felt herself tuning out of conversations and quieting down. Her comments weren’t as elaborate, and she tried hard to hide lack of interest. What was it that caused her to draw away from the people she used to spend so much time with? She didn’t resent the people. No, she loved the people in the room. They were here to celebrate the beginning of a new chapter in life. They were here to talk and socialize with other people over food and drinks. She resented, instead, herself and the feeling that was brewing in her. How could she be pulling away and disengaging herself from her friends? These people that have shared events and celebrations with her? She couldn’t explain the reasoning for it, but she knew herself that her life here was coming to a slow end. She was leaving not only to fulfill a dream of hers, but to start fresh once again.