My name is Julie Rodriguez.

Everyone else knows me as

Julien Rodriguez and to be honest I don't even know who I am anymore.

As far as I know I am a girl, but I have no recollection of ever wearing anything girls wear. I'm always in a baggy jeans and a large t-shirt.

My hair has never grown longer than my neck line and most times I usually have it in a faux- hawk or tied up.

I'm about 5 foot 3, 'yeah I know,I'm short' because of how small I am ,I don't stand out much, which is good .

For as long as I can remember,my father and I have been on the move.

All I know is that I have to keep moving. I keep asking about my mother but all he tells me is "she's dead" and "it's best if you don't know", I know he always says that to protect me , but sometimes I just want to know what I'm hiding from. So because of that the most we've stayed in one place was for two years.

I'm not much of a social person, it makes more sense when you don't have to sever ties or become close to anyone, especially when you are not what people think you are. 'A girl pretending to be a boy.'

My original language is Spanish, but because me and my dad were always on the move , he had me home schooled in the language of what ever country we were in ,by the time I was nine I was fluent in three different languages, now i'm seventeen I could speak six in total. My dad also had me trained in martial arts and I could dismantle a gun in ten seconds or less.

My life suddenly changed when I was given a gift for my seventeenth birthday.

Julie age 16

One day before her birthday

I'm pretty excited my birthday is tomorrow and dad said he has a present for me.

Strange because I don't really get gifts from him and my birthday is usually when we pack up and leave for a new country. How I wished I could spend another year in the Philippines but with March the 20th only a few hours away, there's nothing much I could do but hope we settle in the next country.

I was in my bedroom packing up my little belongings, mostly a few t-shirts, some jeans and a few pairs of shoes. As I was almost done I heard a light knocking on the door " Julie are you up?" my dad asked.

"Yeah I'm up." I answered as I walked over the room and opened the door. "Wats up dad ?"

I asked as he stood in the doorway with an envelope and a small box in his hand.

" I see you are all packed up sweetie." He said, he had a bit of disappointment in his voice. I understood where it was coming from as this was the life we were living , we were always moving.

"Yeah I'm just about done." I replied.

"Come to the kitchen." He quietly said and walked away.

When I got to the kitchen I saw a small chocolate cake with white frosting edged around it and the numbers 17 candles burning in the center, there was also a small container of ice cream which read vanilla and chocolate fudge.

Dad had taken a seat on the table and was waiting for me to sit down, I sat down and started to smile .

"Make a wish." He said.

' I wish we could stop moving and just settle in one place' I said in my head before blowing out the candles. Grabbing a fork I dug into the cake and we started eating.

After we finished our feast of cake and ice cream, dad handed me the box he held in his hand, I looked at it strange ,mostly because he has never really given me gifts .

When I opened the box I saw a jade bracelet with gold trimmed around the ends and a gold chain also with a gold trimmed jade pendant. My eyes immediately widened and my hands covered the gasp that escaped my mouth. "Its beautiful dad !" I squealed and ran over to him giving him the biggest hug.

I quickly put the bracelet on my left hand and looked at it with adoration. I stopped staring at my hand and glanced over to dad and  I decided to ask the question that popped up in my head.

" How come you're giving me jewelry ??"

"Well its part of your gift." he answered.

"Part??" I queried.

He the placed the envelope on the table and took out it's contents . There was a map , two passports and four identification cards . " We're going to America and it's going to be the last place we move to. I know how much you want to settle in one country. So the question now is where do you want to live ?" He said, placing the map in front of me.

Studying the map for a few minutes ,I finally decided.

"SAN FRANCISCO." I shouted wit excitement.

"San Francisco it is."

Ten months later

6:45 am

"Oh crap I'm late!!" I shouted to myself as I shot out of bed and headed straight for the bathroom, to get myself ready for work. About two months ago dad decided i should get a part time job to keep me occupied while he was away.

I heard him talking on his phone a few times with someone and the conversations are never pleasant\, soon after those phone calls he told me he had to head to Miami to *handle some business*. I know he hides whatever it is from me and I know not asking has kept me alive for all these years .Let's just hope it's nothing serious.

Dressed in my usual work attire of a white long sleeved shirt and baggy jeans pants, grabbing my blue jeans jacket,backpack and keys off the chair,I left the apartment and ran out the door making my way down the stairs to the busy street. I had ten minutes to reach the coffee shop before it opens . "Of all the days I over slept,it had to be payday."I muttered to myself as I ran down the street. The only good thing was that the coffee shop was only three streets away from the apartment ,so there is no need for me to drive my bike .

As I bent the corner near the shop,I ran into a wall, ricocheted and then fell flat on my ***, at least I thought it was a wall, "que mierda ,ah....... what the hell did i hit"I groaned as I rubbed my backside. When I looked up to see what I hit, I saw a tall well built man in a three piece suit, he had raven black hair and green eyes, his skin was slightly tanned. He looked like he was in his early twenties. I couldn't help but stare at the masterpiece of a man that stood in front of me.

He smiled and extended his hand to help me up .I snapped out of my gaze and took his hand. 'you're supposed to be a guy ,remember' I said to myself. "Are you alright miss ?" he asked.

"I'm fine thank you........and i'm not a miss." I snapped letting go of his hand.

"Really?.....Julie is not a name for a guy." he said as he stooped down to pick up my ID cards which fell out out of my bag, I quickly snacthed it away from him and stuffed the items back into my bag "That is of no concern to you!" I snapped at him and started to walk away. "I'm Marcus by the way." He said.

"I don't care. I'm late for work." I answered ,continuing my way to the shop.

When I walked into the shop I looked at my watch and saw it was 7:05 "Great Tony's gonna have my *** this morning" I said to myself. There weren't any customers at the moment so I quickly went to the back room and grabbed my apron and threw it over. I usually make the coffee , Zach and Lisa handles everything else.

Zach had already set up the coffee makers , which I was more than grateful for, " Thanks Zach you're a lifesaver." I told him.

" No probs Julien." He answered while giving each other a fist bump.

I usually pull up my sleeves until they reach my elbows , then it dawned on me .

" Hey where's Tony?"I asked , noticing it was Friday and he was not here. He's usually here first thing in the morning to make sure i'm early and also find a way to shorten my money .

"Haven't you heard ,someone bought the entire building and Tony's been negotiating with them to keep the coffee shop at least." Lisa answered .

"Oh ." was all I could answer.

About two hours later Tony walked in the shop, clearly he was pissed off by the results of the negotiations, he made his way to the office in the back and slammed the door. There were a few customers who looked in the direction of the slammed door and started to whisper amongst themselves.

I was preparing an espresso for a customer, I turned around to place the cup on the counter when I noticed the guy who I bumped into earlier this morning walked in and again I couldn't help but stare at him, he glanced over to me and he had a mischievous smile on his face. I stopped staring and put on a serious face , he walked over to the counter and leaned on it ," So this is where you work."

"What would you like to have ?" I said in a stern voice.

He chuckled a bit. " You know the one where you add the milk and make the little heart on it ?"

"A cappuccino?" I asked.

"Ah yes ............that's it. Can I have one of those with a really big heart on it." he asked playfully.

"Sure. Anything else you would like?" I asked. "No that's all." he replied.

He paid Lisa who was working the register and walked over to a table and took a seat.

I finished making his coffee and placed it on the counter for Zach to serve it to the customers , I glanced around and noticed he was the only customer at the time and Zach went in the backroom to do something, so after a few seconds of contemplating I took it upon my self to carry the coffee.

"Here's your coffee." I said placing the cup in front of him. As I began to walk away he placed his phone on the table and called out to me. "Hey J" he stopped and I turned around "Its Julien." I replied.

" I'm sorry about this morning ." he smiled as he said it and he picked up his phone and continued to do what he was doing.

Marcus's POV

I had a meeting with the new owner of the building and the tenant who runs a coffee shop at seven this morning . I really thought it was too  early for a meeting but I wasn't interested in a meeting as I was just going to lease the two floors he was going to convert into apartments, the owner agreed with my decision and said he was just going to let me sign the contract .

As I jumped out my car and began to walk to the corner of the street where the entrance was , I was suddenly hit by something or someone .

I rubbed my chest from the impact of  the person who hit me ,when I looked down and the person exclaimed "que mierda ,ah....... what the hell did I hit".

If my spanish was correct that was a curse and if my hearing is also that's a girl voice I hear , she was dressed like a boy , she had her hair cut short with shaved sides and the rest tied up, the only thing I noticed on her that was feminine on her was a jade pendant on a chain around her neck .

 She looked up at me and began to stare for a few seconds as if she was captivated by my appearance.    "Are you alright miss ?" I smiled and  asked her gesturing out my hand to help her up , she was rubbing he butt where she fell down, she grabbed my hand and got up.  "I'm fine thank you........and I'm not a miss." She snapped letting go of my hand , some of her belongings fell out of her bag and I noticed her ID card read Julie on it, I crouched down to pick it up and the other items from her bag , I also noticed there was another one with a different name on it , I didn't question it .

  "Really?.....Julie is not a name for a guy." I said to her.

  "That is of no concern to you!" she snapped as she grabbed the items and stuffed the items in her bad ,as she began to walk away,"I'm Marcus by the way." I said.

"I don't care. I'm late for work."  She said as she headed down the street and walked into the coffee shop.

'Well that was interesting '  I thought to myself and continued on my way to the meeting.

When I got to the room for the meeting room there was one other person sitting at the table , I said morning took a seat opposite the man who seemed discourteous , he didn't even accept my presence . A few minutes later another man walked in holding some documents , he placed the documents on the table and made his introductions.

"Good morning, I'm Mr.Henry Mendez, I am the attorney representing the owner of the said property who does not wish to be disclosed ."  He then placed a folder in front of me and the other person who by now I assumed was the owner of the coffee shop.

Reviewing my contract , I found all the details were acceptable all I had to do was sign it and be on my way. When I finished signing the contract the other man stood up and started to argue with the lawyer.

"You cant do this! ......I've run that shop for years. " he snapped .

"I'm sorry Mr. Archer the owner is going to use the space for his personal use and is willing to pay you for all the items . All you have to do is sign the contract."Mr. Mendez replied.

" But I don't want that all . I could just continue to pay rent ." Archer replied .

I should've left at least two hours ago but this Mr. Archer was not letting up on his argument with the lawyer , I was ignored most of the time as the quarrel just went on with the same results. Mr. Mendez made  a phone call for a few minutes , he glanced over to me and continued to speak, "Ok.........Understood sir." as he hung up he walked over to me,

"I'm sorry Mr. Wayland ,I've talked to the owner ,he said you may start your renovations as soon as your ready ." he said. I got up and started to shake his hand , " Tell him thank you and I shall start right away ." I started to walk away as he went to Mr.Archer "His decision is final and this meeting is over , he will not be purchasing your inventory and you have six weeks to move out." Mr. Mendez said with a stern face  as he packed up and walked out of the room.

I headed back to my car to make preparations for my apartment , after a few minutes on the phone with my contractor I got out of the car and headed to the coffee shop,he said he would meet me in a few minutes to show me the plan for the apartment, when I walked in there weren't much customers and Julie was behind the counter preparing the coffee , there was another girl working the register ,right at that moment she turned around and stared at me with the same look as she did earlier. I smiled and made my way over to the counter near her and leaned over " So this is where you work." I teased her.

She got serious and asked what I wanted , in that moment it tried to lighten the mood a bit .

 " You know the one where you add the milk and make the little heart on it ?"I asked her hoping to get a smile , but nothing.

  "A cappuccino?" she asked.

 Ah yes ............that's it. Can I have one of those with a really big heart on it." I said in a playful tone ,but it seemed she was still upset with me .

  "Sure. Anything else you would like?" she asked. "No that's all." I replied as I walked over to the cashier to pay for my coffee and take a seat , I pulled out my phone to make a few more calls and to check my messages.

After a few minutes I saw my coffee being placed in front of me 'she really made a big heart' Ithought to myself.

  "Here's your coffee." she said and began to walk away. I saw she was still angry so I called her  "Hey J" she stopped and turned around to reply  "Its Julien."

  " I'm sorry about this morning ." I said, she gave a small smile while walking away and I went back to what I was doing .

I must say though her coffee was very nice.