by Traci Sek
"So, Emily," his father began. Gulping down what little saliva I had left, my eyes met his fierce ones. They held so much power yet at the same time were distant, almost as if he were wearing the same mask Jake did. The tension is palpable as my palms sweat. "Where are you from? Where did you meet my son?" His intimidating eyes bore into mine and I felt my hands start to shake.
"She's from a few blocks over, you know the area that you fought me on for revitalization? And I told you, we went to school together." Jake piped up as relief washed over me. His dad teared his eyes away from me to look at Jake as if he had forgotten Jake was even there, but landed back on me in an instant.
"Jake, I think Emily is perfectly capable of talking."
"I'm just shy is all," I managed to get out. His smile grew wide.
"So, then you are fully aware that my son has a hefty inheritance with a multibillion-dollar company. But let's be real, that's not why you are staying here correct?"
"No sir, of course not."
"Then why is it you are here?"
"Dad! You are being rude."
"No. It's a perfectly good question!" Flinching at his ever growing tone, I resisted the urge to get up and run. Deep breathes Emily, deep breathes.
"Emily you don't have to answer his rude questions." Jake shouted, shooting daggers at his father.
"May I remind you, this is my house and I want to know who stays under my roof and why!"
"Then take your house back! Because I seem to remember you giving me the house as an inheritance."
Hot tears pricked the corners of my eyes as my hands found their way to my ears, covering them with all my strength. My eyes snapped shut and my breathing became labored. Panic set in as images of my father invaded my thoughts.
"Please stop!" The room became deadly silent. I jumped at the slightest touch of a hand on my shoulder but I didn’t dare open my eyes.
"Emily, it’s ok. You can open your eyes." I heard Jake’s soothing voice from behind me. Peeling one eye open slowly, I looked around before opening the other as my hands slipped away from my ears. The look of bewilderment sat on his father's face before he quickly masked it with a blank expression.
“I’m sorry Emily, that escalated really quickly. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
"No it’s my fault. I was trying not to panic but it all happened so quickly."
“Can someone tell me what the hell just happened?” His father asked exasperatedly.
“Dad, this is not the time or place. Just let her be for a few minutes. She’s had a rough past and when people start to shout it bothers her.”
“I see. Well I apologize for my obnoxious behavior and it will not happen again. My son and I get into heated arguments quite often lately, but I assure you it is nothing to be concerned or upset about. Now Jake, sit back down and eat. We shouldn't waste a perfectly good meal.”
Another bout of silence ensued as I stared blankly at my plate. Although everything looked delicious, I couldn’t seem to bring myself to eat any of it. I had completely lost my appetite. Shame, guilt, and sadness consumed my soul. An overwhelming urge to vomit followed close by.
“I’m not staying.” Forcing my eyes to move upwards, both men came into my vision.
“Emily…”
“I don’t want to be an inconvenience anymore to anyone and I certainly don’t want to come between a father and a son. That's not my intention and for that I’m sorry.”
“You are not getting in the way of anything! I invited you and I want you to stay. Please.”
My eyes darted to him and I instantly saw that little boy in the painting. He wasn’t happy anymore, instead he looked vulnerable, lonely, and in despair.
“I’m afraid my son is right. Don’t leave because of my overbearing behavior. As a parent it is my duty to make sure that my children are safe at all times. Sometimes I find myself getting carried away. You’re welcome in my house as long as you promise not to hurt my son. It seems he’s a bit smitten with you.”
“Dad!”
“What?”
A smile found its way onto my face as I looked at Jake. His cheeks flamed red as he cleared his throat a few times.
“Anyway, bottom line is you don’t have to leave.” He shoveled in a mouth full of food as I stared at him in awe.
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
The rest of lunch went smoothly without any more craziness which I was thankful for before we said goodbye to his father.
"So how about we try that movie again?" He asked, relieving the tension.
I faintly smiled. We headed back to the pool house and got situated. He placed the dvd into the small box before coming over to the bed.
“What’s this called?”
“Back To The Future. I used to watch it with my sister and brother when we were kids.”
I pulled my legs up towards my chest as I often did when I was uncomfortable or when my shyness kicked in as he sat down. If I were to imagine my childhood in a different way, this is how I would have seen it. We smiled at each other once more as the movie started to play, instantly consuming me into laughter.
Chapter Sixteen
Jake
Occasionally I heard her gasp and giggle, which made me do the same. I couldn't help but steal glances at her. After the movie was over, we decided to watch one more so I flipped through Netflix and found Back To The Future part two. We agreed on it as she seemed eager to find out what happened next. I pulled a blanket up over her legs and in turn she rested her head on my shoulder. I really like this. My brain repeated over and over again to me.
I tried to focus on the movie when I heard lightning and light tapping on the window. The rain was falling steadily outside making it perfect weather for the current situation. I looked over at her sleeping form. Her mouth slightly agape.
She looked peaceful and I hated the thought of moving her. I didn’t want to scare her in any way and against my better judgement, I stayed still making sure that she didn't wake up. I felt my eyelids start to give out on me and before I knew it, I was consumed by the darkness.
I was suddenly jolted awake as Emily squirmed against me. I rubbed my eyes for a minute and looked around. It was completely dark and nothing but the heavy rain against the window could be heard. A crack of thunder rattled the windows as Emily began to moan louder. She started to yell, scaring the shit out of me.
"No! No, no, no, don't! Please don't!" Her hands came up instinctively making me spring into action. I shook her lightly pushing her arms down.
"Emily! Emily, wake up! It's just a dream." She jolted up, nearly smacking my head in the process and looked around. She doesn't say anything as her chest rose and fell rapidly, droplets of sweat covered her forehead.
"Emily are you ok?" I gently asked and touched her back. She flinched and quickly glanced at me. Without warning, she jumped off the bed in a haste towards the bathroom.
I quickly got up and followed her. She was gripping the toilet as the contents of what she ate earlier came up full force. Kneeling down next to her, I reached for her hair to hold it back. When she was done, she began to sob.
"It's ok Emily, I'm here. It was just a dream," I told her as calmly and quietly as I could. I didn’t know what else to say. I wasn’t good in these types of situations. She looked up at me and for the first time since I met her, I saw true anguish in her eyes. Not the type of anguish someone feels from external injuries, but the internal ones that are easily camouflaged. I didn’t make any sudden moves fearing that I’d scare her again but to my surprise, she thrusted herself into my arms knocking me off my knees and wrapped her arms around my neck in a tight embrace.
"Don't let me go," she whispered, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention. I was crumbling under the effects of this girl and I didn't know why. My mind was racing, but there was never a doubt that I would ever let her go.
Emily
After that terrible night, Jake had made sure that
I was asleep each night before he left. I felt like a baby being rocked to sleep. He would sit in the arm chair and watch a movie or a television show, sometimes even bringing his laptop in. The embarrassment that consumed me at first was slowly fading away, replaced with a comfortableness that I loved. I tried my hardest to convince him not to stay, but he wouldn't have it any other way. Now I can't imagine falling asleep alone.
"Good morning," I said as I entered the large dining room for breakfast.
"Good morning," Jake replied as he looked up from his newspaper. His twinkling eyes make my cheeks heat. His tight-fitting, navy-blue suit, with a matching colored tie made me blush even harder. Looking down at my fluffy pink pajamas with big white slippers, I internally scolded myself at how ridiculous I actually looked.
If I looked in the mirror at that moment, I would probably faint. Why in the world did I decide to come down in my pajamas? I quickly took a deep breath and a seat next to him. Aida came up and placed a full plate of eggs, sausage, toast, and pancakes in front of me complete with a cold glass of orange juice. I was never able to eat all of it, but I was thankful for the gesture.
"How are you feeling today?"
"I’m ok. You don’t have to ask me every time you see me as if I were some fragile doll ready to fall apart at the seams.”
He nodded in response and then put the paper down. “Sorry. It’s become a habit.
I smiled at him as I stuffed a piece of pancake in my mouth. I savored the sticky warm sugary taste and refrained from groaning.
"So, one of our big time clients hosts a Christmas party every year and I was wondering if you would like to join me and my family tomorrow night?"
I looked at him in horror. "Do you think that would be a good idea? I mean, I haven't really met most of your family and I've never been to a big fancy party before. What if I screw up or worse fall! I mean the lunch with your dad wasn’t exactly what I call fun and I have no idea what your sister thinks.”
"Emily, calm down. It's not that big of a deal. It’s better if you meet the rest of my family this way then if you were to meet them by surprise don't you think?”
I thought about this for a while, finishing up my pancakes. He did have a point. I was going to have to bite the bullet and meet his family eventually. Could I handle all the eyes staring at me? All the makeup in the world couldn't hide my scars inside. Against my better judgement, I agreed.
Chapter Seventeen
Emily
The next morning, I was at it again. Jake had sent over another hair stylist and makeup artist right after breakfast to paint my canvas. This time, however, I didn't feel so special and I couldn't figure out why. I was beautiful there was no doubt about it as I looked at my face and hair in the mirror. But past that, I could still see the abused, foster child. Bringing up the past yesterday was like opening an old wound. Except this time it was out loud instead of in my nightmares. Who knew if they would put more labels on me.
A beautiful sparkling cocktail dress had arrived a few hours later. I slipped it on feeling the fabric form to each curve on my body. The back was wide open and had a sweetheart neckline, which flowed all the way to the ground. It was complete with silver high heels that I didn't think I would be able to walk in.
I made my way down to the front door where Jake had stood waiting. Just when I thought he couldn't get any more handsome, he proved me wrong. A black and white tuxedo covered his lean body with a little black bow tie. His hair a bit disheveled in just the right spots completed his look. My breath caught in my throat as he smiled at me.
"You look stunning tonight." He said as I approached him slowly.
"Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself."
He extended his arm out for me to hold as we made our way out into the wintery cold night. As we sat in the limo staring out into the night, I couldn’t help but glance at him every so often. For once he wasn’t on his phone and every time I saw him start to move his head my way, I would look back out the window. That is until he cleared his throat and started to speak.
“Emily, I need to tell you something before we get there.”
I turned towards him so that I was completely facing him. “Shoot.”
“So these past couple of weeks have been interesting,” he fidgeted with his fingers and cleared his throat a few times before continuing.
“I have to be honest with you because I don’t want anything to be weird between us.”
“Jake just spit it out already you’re making me nervous. Is it something I did?”
“No! I just want- well, you see that night you had that nightmare where we talked about things once you were fully awake, was the night my feelings changed for you. I know I said you could leave whenever you were ready but the truth is, I don’t want you to leave.”
I looked at him confused. But I didn’t answer him.
“Emily I like you alot more than a friend and I guess it really started that night. I just didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want you to think I was crazy and scare you.”
My mouth fell open. I was not expecting that to come out of his mouth, yet here we were right before a company Christmas party that I was already on edge for. Not to mention being nervous to meet the rest of his family.
“Jake, I don’t know what to say. Where is this going?”
“It doesn’t have to go anywhere, I just needed to get that off my chest,” he quickly averted his eyes back to the window. I found it hard to breathe, to get my thoughts in order, and to tear my eyes from him. What could I say to him back? Did I feel something for him? My mind raced back through these past few weeks.
Memories of us watching movies together and eating breakfast together. His dad’s comment rang loudly in my head, ‘my son is obviously smitten with you.’ and Jake’s voice following ‘dad!’ The look in his eyes everytime we looked at each other. At the thought of every memory my heart accelerated just a tad bit more. But what did that mean? It was true after that night something did change between us. I just didn't think it was this. I looked down at his hand that was spread out on the seat next to me, and my hand seemed to have a mind of its own, sliding over slowly as our fingertips touched.
His head whipped around as his eyes zeroed in on our fingertips but he didn’t move. My hand continued to crawl up his hot soft skin igniting my fingertips on fire. All the time my heart was beating at the speed of light but I didn’t dare take my eyes off of his hand. Too afraid to see his reaction. My fingers interlocked with his, moulding perfectly into each space. Only then did I force my eyes to look up at his smoldering ones.
He twisted his hand so that his large palm was now engulfed in mine as he smiled at me. Before anything could be said, we had arrived. We let go of each other's hands and my once burning fingers were now ice cold and I suddenly longed for his warmth. But I didn’t have to wait long as he extended his hand back in just as he did the same day I had arrived at his house, and I gladly accepted it. I stumbled a bit losing my balance as I leaned into his chest. Our eyes locked before I came to, pushing myself away from him. I felt his warm hand grasp mine again fitting as perfect as a glove would. It sent a rippling effect of butterflies from my heart down to my stomach.
“May I?” He asked, making me focus back on his face. Smiling, I nodded.
The minute we walked in holding hands, all eyes were on us. The once butterflies were now replaced with peer angst as I gripped his hand.
“Ignore them.” He whispered. I glanced up at him, a fake smile was plastered on his face.
"Mr. Williams!" A burly old man with salt and pepper hair came strolling up to us. Almost every man in the place had a tuxedo on including this man. His eyes looked over his glasses that pinched his nose in a rather uncomfortable way. I wondered if he could even breathe.
"Mr. Peters! How are you this fine evening?"
He chuckled lightly and shook Jake’s other hand as he wouldn't let go of mine.
"So glad you could make it! I just saw you
r father over there. He wasn't sure if you were coming as you were preoccupied with other matters." His eyes snake to me assessing me rather carefully.
"Oh, my father's always making silly jokes. Mr. Peters, I would like to introduce you to my girlfriend Emily." Girlfriend? The whole room spun momentarily before zoning in on the man called Mr. Peters.
"Oh! Miss Emily. It's such a pleasure to meet you. He grabbed my free hand making me feel uneasy and placed a wet slobbery kiss on the back of it.
"It's nice to meet you too." I didn't like the way this guy was eyeing me. Guys like him, scared me.
"I must admit, I never would have thought Jake would ever find someone. He's such a loner." Now he lets out a hearty laugh. I looked at Jake as he gritted his teeth while the old man finished laughing, quickly plastering on a fake smile as the old man sobered up.
"You're a funny one Mr. Peters. Anyway, please excuse us, I must say hello to my family. Merry Christmas!" He gently pulled me away as the old guy yelled back a Merry Christmas.
"Idiot." Jake murmured under his breath. I tried to stifle a laugh but it came out louder than intended. Jake glanced at me, giving me a genuine smirk.
"He's the host of this party. I swear he does it just for attention because lord knows he can't handle business accounts very well. He also has no class." I nodded in agreement as we neared his dad. I secretly prayed he wouldn't hate me after our lunch the other day.
Before we could reach the table, a tall woman appeared in front of us. Her golden hair laid nicely on her shoulders with tight curls. A small wine glass in her hand as she smiled wide at us.
“Jake!” She screeched in an ear splitting tone. I almost cringed but fought the urge. I could feel Jake tense beside me as his grip went from relaxed to tight in my hand.
“Jessica. Hi. What are you doing here?” Her sickly sweet smile faltered just a smidge as her eyes flashed something unreadable.
“Silly. I’m here with my boyfriend Alex. His dad just bought some shopping space from Mr.Peters and naturally we were invited.” Her eyes traveled down to our linked fingers before traveling up to meet his eyes. She still hadn’t even glanced my way almost as if she were infatuated with Jake, or just plain rude. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Jake cleared his throat as he looked in my direction.
