They sat in silence for a moment, both of them trying to figure out what to say next. It was somewhat awkward as they both felt the tension. Oddly, neither of them wanted to be away from each other; Todd was enjoying being in her presence, just the two of them. However, Emma felt like she was stepping on Kelly’s territory now. Todd was no longer hers.
Emma took a deep breath and blurted, “So, how are you and Kelly doing? Seems like things are going great for you two.”
“Things are good,” Todd replied matter-of-factly. “We really get on well. She was planning to go back home to Canistota, South Dakota to visit her grandparents this weekend. So, she invited me to accompany her to meet the rest of her family there.”
Emma smiled, which was merely a blanket over her true feelings. If Todd had looked close enough, he would have seen that there was a longing in her eyes. A sort of sadness as she looked at the one person that she wanted to be with, but she couldn’t have. However, Todd didn’t notice as he tried not to look at her for too long. If he did, he knew that a rush of desire for her would come flooding back.
“How about you? I haven’t seen you with anyone in particular…are you…dating?” He asked with curiosity. The truth was, he always kept a lookout to see if Emma was with anyone. But, so far, no new faces had shown up at the Manor, and her relationship with Zachariah seemed to be the same. They were an odd pairing; together, but not together. They were partners in crime and she was his maker, with a relationship that spanned for over a hundred and fifty years.
“No,” she answered with slight embarrassment, looking down at her hands folded neatly in her lap. He had moved on, but she hadn’t. “I haven’t really had much time since I’ve been helping Daniel get accustomed to his new life. And frankly, I’m just really not that interested in anyone right now.” She looked up at him and shrugged.
“What about you and Zachariah?”
“Zachariah and I will always be attached at the hip for as long as I’m his maker and he’s my offspring. But,” she looked off to the side and slightly shook her head. “He’s not my boyfriend. I don’t have one of those at the moment.”
“How does someone as lovely as you stay single for this long?” He cocked his head.
She grinned bashfully at what she took was a complement. “Oh stop!” She laughed as she swatted his knee. She blurted the words before she could think, “There’s only one person I could see myself with, but…” She shrugged, stopping herself and preparing to insert her foot into her mouth.
Surprise spread across his face as he wasn’t expecting that response from her. However, he couldn’t find the right words to say, and too much had time had passed, which made her really regret her mouth diarrhea. She flashed an embarrassed smile and leaned over the side of her chair to pick up her bags.
“Well!” She over-exaggerated as she stood up. “Now that I have completely embarrassed myself, I’m going to go inside and put the stuff away.”
Todd slowly began to rise as well, still not finding the words that he wanted to say. He was still dumbstruck by her almost-revelation; she wasn’t over him and all this time he had no idea. He had thought she had moved on. His towering body stood facing her, and he locked his eyes with hers for a moment.
“It was nice chatting with you,” she forced a smile with a hint of forlorn in her voice. As she walked past him she gave him a little nudge with her elbow. She didn’t know why, it was just an excuse to make physical contact with him.
“You as well,” he quietly replied as he watched her walk past him. He stood motionless, only turning his head to watch her walk away. Just as she was about to walk in the door, he blurted, “Emma!”
She turned around and looked back at him, her hand on the doorknob. His mouth was open, but he didn’t speak.
“What?” She shrugged.
“I…we should…catch up more often,” he stammered.
She smiled, “Yeah, we should. Don’t be a stranger, we live under the same roof you know!”
She disappeared into the house and he found himself alone once again. Instead of following behind, he sat back down and continued to drink his coffee. His phone began to buzz on the table beside him, a familiar ring tone accompanied it. It was Kelly.
He held the phone in his hand for a moment and had an inner debate on whether to pick it up or not. He blew out a deep breath, and set the phone back down on the table, allowing it to go into voicemail. He loved Kelly; he loved everything about her. She was kind and genuine, and he always had a great time with her. But, at the moment, he had no interest in talking to her. There was a tiny candle inside of him that had Emma’s name written on it. It always had a soft glow. And after their conversation, a can of gasoline was just poured on it, causing a bonfire.
Later that evening after Kelly got home from work, she began to prepare chili in bread bowls for herself and Todd. Besides Brianna being there occasionally, they were the only humans that lived in the house and the kitchen got the most use from them. Todd was upstairs taking a shower before dinner, and the resident vampires were amusing themselves by playing card games in the parlor. It was an odd living arrangement, but it seemed to work for everyone.
Todd eventually came downstairs and joined Kelly in the kitchen. They opted to eat there instead of the formal dining room; it was more quaint and, quite frankly, easier to clean up with the dishwasher right there.
“So, how was your day?” Todd asked.
“Good! Everyone there is so nice, but I’m the baby. Luckily, I have Sarah as a friend there, who is just a couple of years older than me. I have someone to gossip with about The Vampire Diaries! Every Friday morning we discuss the previous night’s episode.”
Todd chuckled as he chewed. “Little does she know that you’re living it!”
“Yeah, no kidding! Do you know if the vampires are going to come out into the open? I haven’t heard Emma talk about it at all since the Kings and Queen left.”
“Ironically, she and I were just talking about that today,” Todd replied as he sat his fork down. “They decided not to do it at this time, which kind of sucks. I know Emma is tired of hiding what she is. And I have no doubt that Zachariah is tired of being what he is. But, since he can’t change it, it would probably be easier for him to accept it if he was able to be open about it.”
Todd continued to explain what Emma had once told him. It was starting to get close to the time when they would once again have to become reclusive. Zachariah had perhaps ten to fifteen years before he would have to disappear from Hollywood. People would start to notice that he wasn’t aging. Emma had been out in the open around the town of Davenport for quite some time and her time was even closer.
“Are you busy tomorrow?” She asked as she pushed her near-empty plate off to the side. “I was hoping you could come by my work and we could do lunch in town.”
“I could do that,” Todd smiled, glad he had an excuse to leave the house the following day. He wasn’t able to push Emma from his mind all day and knew thoughts of her would continue to linger.
“I want to show off my movie star boyfriend to my coworkers! Some are still skeptical if I’m telling the truth.”
Todd furrowed his brow, “What do you mean ‘show me off’?” He always feared that Kelly was only with him because he was famous. Her statement caused his imaginary wall to fly upward.
“You know, I’m proud to be with you,” her stomach took a nosedive as she tried to do damage control.
“Are you with me only because I’m famous?” Todd asked without sugarcoating it.
“No!” Kelly exclaimed. “Oh my goodness, no! I would love you no matter what you did for a living.”
Todd remained silent, staring down at the table in deep thought, his brow furrowed.
“Plus, it wouldn’t be any different than you wanting to be with Emma because of what she is,” Kelly spoke without thinking first. Jealousy had finally reared its ugly head. She was always so afraid of saying the wrong thing and trying t
o be the ultimate girlfriend, that she often didn’t speak her mind.
Todd’s head snapped to attention and he glared at her, exasperated by her idea.
“What? You think I don’t know?” She felt her heart beat faster as adrenaline rushed through her. Her hands began to shake as she was about to blurt out everything that she felt. “I know the only reason why you’re not with her is because she’s going to live forever and you’re not, but not because you didn’t want to be together. I see the way you look at her – or rather try not to look at her. You have said her name in your sleep…”
“I can’t help what I dream about! You can’t hold that against me!” He shouted, interrupting her midsentence and standing up. It was his natural reaction to use his height as his defense; sitting down he felt like he was under attack.
She knew he was right; she had numerous dreams about ex-boyfriends before, not at all meaning she wanted to be with them again. But, nonetheless, she wasn’t going to back down. Kelly knew that Todd still had feelings for Emma.
“I know you still love her…you’re just trying to push it aside. But, you do, I can tell…”
The vampires in the parlor stopped their card game as they overheard the argument taking place in the kitchen. Zachariah looked at Emma and raised an eyebrow, smirking, wondering if it was true. Of course, Brianna couldn’t hear the conversation from so far away, and was confused as to why they stopped playing. Daniel was giving her a play-by-play of everything that was being said.
They continued to listen intently as Todd tried to hush Kelly, telling her that the vampires could hear everything. Their arguing carried on, becoming louder as it became more heated with accusations.
“Have you cheated on me with her?” Kelly yelled as she slammed the dishwasher door shut.
“No!” Todd hollered back, stunned that she would even doubt his loyalty. “I have been nothing but devoted to you since we got together!”
“You sure? No kissing? No sex?”
Todd eyed her with disgust and replied, “No! I have been completely faithful to you! I don’t appreciate you accusing me of cheating on you when I haven’t given you a reason to think that!”
He grabbed a bottle of wine from the refrigerator and poured himself a glass. Both of them were still buzzing from their fight and keeping tight-lipped. He placed the bottle back in the fridge and calmly shut the door. He lifted his head high and simply said, “I want to be alone tonight, please stay in your own room.”
Kelly slumped into her chair and gaped at him, “Todd…”
He held his hand in the air to stop her from talking, and walked away shaking his head. He angrily strutted down the long hallway that led to the foyer, where he knew the vampires were right there in the parlor. He knew they heard everything. He had to pass by the doorway to get to the stairs and knew the atmosphere would be awkward.
He was right. As he walked by, he glanced to the side and saw the four of them trying to act casual. Emma was the only one actually looking at him and caught his eye for a moment.
“You okay, Todd?” She called out, causing him to back up for a second. He stood in the door way and she gave him a look of sympathy. She felt bad that he and Kelly had an argument because of her, even though she had nothing to do with it. It wasn’t like she instigated it, but she was definitely the source.
“No,” he flatly answered. “No, I’m not. I’m going up to my room.” He gave them a short wave before continuing on up the stairs to lock himself away in his bedroom. His defense was on high, mostly because what Kelly was spouting was true. He did still have feelings for Emma. He always would. But, after their conversation that morning, it put his feelings for her back up front and center. It was like he was busted, but he really didn’t do anything wrong. He never acted on his feelings for her, he just kept them tucked away. He had never betrayed Kelly, except in his mind during “private” times, but those didn’t count. Everyone fantasized about other people during those times, no matter how much some may deny it.
They heard Todd slam his door shut (and lock it!); he certainly meant it when he said he wanted to be alone. In the kitchen, they could hear Kelly trying to cry as quietly as she could. The four of them looked to each other; they felt bad for her, but none of them wanted to be the one to go in there. Emma knew she was probably the last person Kelly wanted to see at that moment. Zachariah would almost relish in the conflict, offering up snarky advice. That left Daniel and Brianna.
“I’ll go talk to her, she probably needs some girl time right now,” Brianna offered up without hesitation. She placed her cards fanned out and face down before heading toward the kitchen.
After she was out of ear shot, Emma looked to Daniel and matter-of-factly said, “You know, I’m liking her more and more. You must have really scared the pants off of her that day. She’s like a whole new person.”
Daniel beamed, happy to hear that Emma was finally accepting Brianna.
“She’s not bad,” Zachariah chimed in. “I never thought I would actually not hate her. But, she’s pretty cool.”
They waited patiently for Brianna to reach the kitchen and fell silent, waiting to hear their conversation. Discussions were never private in a house full of vampires, even when they tried not to eavesdrop. However, this time, the three of them had no shame and were eager to hear what Kelly would say to Brianna, a fellow human. A fellow girl to confide in.
Brianna rarely stayed at the Manor, but rather Daniel would spend time at the condo downtown. She had kept to her word and changed her ways, making her a completely different person than she was before. It took some time for Emma to warm up to her, but eventually they settled in to a friendship. It wasn’t an easy one as Emma always had her guard up, but she wanted to make Daniel happy by being on good terms with his girlfriend.
“Hey, are you okay?” they heard Brianna’s voice ask in the kitchen amidst Kelly’s sniffles.
“I don’t know what happened,” she croaked. “We were having a nice dinner together, I told him that my coworkers wanted to meet him, and the next thing I knew, we were fighting. I accused him of cheating on me with Emma.” She buried her face in her hands and shook her head, angry with herself for flipping out like that.
“What set you off? Why would you accuse him of that?” Brianna asked with genuine concern in her voice. “I can safely say that I don’t think he has cheated on you. I never even see them together, let alone talking to one another,” she assured.
Brianna ripped off a paper towel and handed it to Kelly as a makeshift tissue. She wiped her face dry and blew her nose, realizing what a mess she was.
“I don’t know what it is, but I know he still has a thing for Emma. I see the way he looks at her, or rather doesn’t look at her. It’s like he can’t bring himself to. But, when he does, his eyes just linger on her. He probably doesn’t even realize he does it.”
Brianna sat across from her at the table, not saying a word or offering advice. She just simply listened.
“I’m so insecure around Emma, even though she is always nice to me. How can I complete with someone like her? She’s a queen…”
“You can’t think like that. Emma…all of them…they’re all fascinating creatures. There’s a sense of pride when dating one of them. They’re so unique. However, there’s no future with them – at least not for a human.”
“You’re with Daniel…” Kelly pointed out.
“True, and he’s amazing. He’s like human Daniel times one hundred. But, he and I are just living in the now. I’m fully aware that he and I won’t be together until I’m old and gray. I can accept that—eventually he will tire of me. It will break my heart, but it will happen.”
“Todd and Emma broke it off so they didn’t delay the inevitable,” Kelly said as she got up to toss her soaked paper towel in the trash.
“Todd’s a good guy. Don’t blow it over jealousy, it’s not worth it,” Brianna plead.
Kelly nodded while blowing her nose once again.
“You’re right,” Kelly agreed as she stood up. “Thank you for lending me your ear. I needed someone to vent to.”
“Anytime,” Brianna stood up as well and reached out for a hug. “Now, go back upstairs and get your man!”
In the parlor, the three vampires had listened closely to their conversation. Daniel was most impressed with Brianna’s kindness toward Kelly. Emma didn’t know what to feel; jealous? Nonchalant? Regret?
Zachariah simply sat back on the sofa and snorted, “Humans…”
CHAPTER 8
The following morning, Emma’s phone rang, and the name she saw on the caller ID was one she hadn’t seen in months. Vivienne. She had only spoken with Vivienne just once after Declan’s death. Not for lack of trying; Emma often tried to check in with her best friend to make sure she was doing okay. However, it was difficult for Vivienne to speak with Emma after all that had happened. Declan had tried to overtake the Queen and paid the price with his life—a life that was taken by Todd in self defense.
“Viv?!” Emma exclaimed as she answered the call.
“Hey girl! Sorry, long time, no talk. Just needed to sort things out,” Vivienne responded.
Emma had asked her how she was holding up, and the typical small talk you have with someone whom you haven’t spoken to in ages.
“So, the reason I’m calling is because I was hoping to come to Chicago for a visit. I need my girl time with you.”
“You have no idea how happy that would make me!” Emma exclaimed. She needed nothing more than her best friend during her emotionally awkward time with Todd. “Are you going to be okay here?” She was concerned since it was going to be Vivienne’s first time back at the Manor since Declan died. And she would ultimately have to face Todd, who was the one to took Declan down during his quest for power.
Revolutions (Davenport Manor Book 3) Page 10
