Everlasting Love (Now & Forever)

by Johns, Melissa

  Emily nodded slowly, realizing the conversation was going nowhere so she left him alone and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. She closed her eyes while she stood under the warm water, hoping it would wash away some of the pain and sadness she was feeling. Instead, it was her undoing and she started to cry which turned to sobs as she thought about how unhappy she was right now. She wanted Eric to have the perfect day but he wasn’t the man that she fell in love with anymore. He was only focusing on his football career and not his family.

  Her mind started to drift back to the last time he was home and they were discussing the party that he regretted attending. She was still convinced that something had happened that night that he wasn’t being honest about. She had tried on a few occasions to get him to open up about it, but with no luck. Her mind then shifted to the wedding. It was late April and they were supposed to be married in June. They hadn’t talked about it at all since news of the draft came out, let alone start any of the preparations. There was just no way they would pull off a wedding at this point, and with how things were going between them right now, that was probably for the best.

  Once the tears let up and her head cleared a bit, Emily stepped out of the shower and got dressed. She headed over to the night stand to grab her jewelry and peek at her phone. She had one new text message.

  Hope you had pleasant dreams last night, we will be here rooting for Eric today. – Alex.

  Emily didn’t respond as she placed her phone in her purse and headed back to the living room. Eric was in the kitchen leaning back against the counter drinking a bottle of water.

  “Hey.” Emily said as she walked over to him.

  “Hey.”

  “What’s the game plan for today?”

  “I have to meet Alan in about an hour to run through all the events. A limo will be waiting downstairs for you if you want to meet me over at Radio City later tonight.”

  “We don’t get to spend any time together during the day?”

  “That’s what last night was for, but I guess you had other plans,” Eric said turning his back to her and walking across the room.

  Emily took a deep breath. “Eric, we just had an off night. It’s going to happen, we can’t be happy all the time. Besides, I was really hoping we were going to talk when we got back to the hotel but you ditched me to go to the bar. You still haven’t even asked about what’s going on with me or our family. You need to be able to focus on more than one thing in your life if we are going to make any of this work – not just football.”

  “I will, just not right now.”

  Emily nodded. “Ok, then when?” She said more to herself because she felt like she had to give up at that moment.

  She heard her cell ring and reached in her purse to answer it. “Hi Mom,” she said trying to sound overly cheerful. “How’s Emma?”

  “She’s wonderful, she wants to say hi.”

  “Mommy!”

  “Hey, Sweetie, do you miss Mommy?”

  “Yes, you come home soon?”

  “Yes, Sweetie, did you want to say hi to Daddy?”

  “Yes!!” Emma squealed as Emily handed Eric the phone.

  “Hey Emma, how are you?”

  “I miss you.”

  “I miss you too Sweetie. I will be home real soon though, I promise.”

  “Ok. Bye.”

  Eric laughed as he handed the phone back to Emily. “Hey Mom. Is everything going good?”

  “Yes, we are fine. We will be watching tonight! How’s he doing?”

  “He’s excited, it should be a fun night,” Emily said as she looked into Eric’s eyes, searching for some sign of warmth and forgiveness. He smiled at her as she walked across the room and leaned against his chest. His arms folded around her.

  “I will talk to you later ok, Mom?”

  Emily hung up her phone and wrapped her arms around Eric. “I’m sorry that I’m not acting the way you want me to right now. I just have a lot on my mind.”

  “I’m sorry too. We will figure this all out. I just want to get through today, ok?”

  “Sure, why don’t you go take a shower and I think I will do some shopping after you leave.”

  “Good, I want you to have fun too,” Eric said as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. She softly moaned as she returned the kiss. He pulled back, smiled and headed toward the shower.

  Emily sat down at the table where Eric’s laptop was set up to check out where she should start her shopping spree. When she opened his computer, she saw that Eric hadn’t logged out of his email and all of his messages were listed in front of her. She hesitated before closing the program and instinctively glanced over all the subject lines to see if anything out of the ordinary caught her eye that would help explain his odd behavior lately, but most of it was from his agent. Then she noticed one email titled “Party.” She knew she shouldn’t open it but she couldn’t help herself. He had already opened it himself so whatever it was, he hadn’t mentioned it to her and he’d never know that she looked at it anyway.

  As she clicked the email, she saw a picture of Eric standing in the middle of two half naked girls. His arms were around them and he was kissing the one girl on the cheek. Her face started to get red as she read the message to him.

  Eric,

  Here’s the pic from the last party. I had a lot of fun with you and we should get together once the draft is over. Don’t worry I won’t say a word to anyone about what happened after the group left. It’s our secret. I will be watching Thursday night. See you soon.

  Nicole

  Emily couldn’t breathe. She read the email again so she could process the information that was in front of her. She slowly stood up and left the computer open. She grabbed the notepad from the desk and wrote:

  Eric,

  I need to leave. I can’t even think of the right words to say to you right now and I know I wouldn’t be able to trust a word out of your mouth either so I think I better go.

  Emily

  She placed the note on his laptop and left everything behind, she didn’t care. She grabbed her purse and headed out the door. As she passed through the lobby, she ran into Alan.

  “Emily, is Eric with you?”

  Emily shook her head and continued out the front doors. She hailed a cab and headed to the airport. She reached for her cell phone as she saw Eric’s phone number flash on the screen, she quickly hit ignore. She dialed her mom’s house instead.

  “Emily?”

  “Mom, I’m coming home.”

  “Emily, what’s wrong?”

  “I can’t explain or talk about it right now. I’m going to try and get a flight out of here ASAP. I will keep you posted.”

  “Take a deep breath, Emily and tell me what’s going on.”

  Emily started to cry again which is exactly what she was trying to avoid doing, but it was too late. Her mom’s concern made her crumble. “Mom, he cheated on me. I knew something happened at that party and he would never talk to me about it.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I saw an email on his computer, there even was a picture of her with him! Mom, I’ve been home taking care of our child and he’s out partying and cheating on me!” Emily yelled into the phone feeling her emotions spike out of control.

  “Did you talk to him?”

  “No, I left. I’m so sick of him lying to me and I just can’t be there to watch him have the greatest night of his life while I know the truth. Mom, this is why we broke up in the first place, don’t men learn?”

  “Emily, you need to calm down. Come home and we will talk about this later. Just be safe, ok?”

  The taxi dropped her off in the front of the airport and she headed to the ticket counter. She managed to get a seat on a two p.m. flight back in to Buffalo so she would only have to wait at the airport for a few hours. As soon as she found a chair and sat down, she grabbed her phone and sent Alex a text. At the airport now. I’m coming home today! – Emily.

  Emi
ly noticed a small snack stand and decided to get a bottle of water and something to eat.

  When she sat back down to eat, she heard her phone buzz. What’s wrong, Emily? R U OK? – Alex.

  Emily was going to text him back but her phone started to ring, the screen flashed Eric’s name again.

  “What?” Emily screamed into the phone, not caring who was around to hear her.

  “Emily, come back here. We need to talk about this. Don’t run away from me, not today, please!” Eric pleaded with her.

  “Eric, do you remember why we broke up the first time? Do you? I recall it being over another woman and lies and here we are back in the same situation now except this time, we have a small child at home. You have no idea how foolish I feel right to think I could trust you again.”

  “Emily, please come back here. We can talk about this.”

  “Did you sleep with her, Eric?”

  “Emily, please! It’s not like that.”

  She could hear the pain in his voice and her heart was starting to ache for him. “No, No. I’m sorry. I’m going to home to Emma because that’s where I need to be right now. I will wish you luck tonight but that’s all I can say.” Emily hung up.

  She looked back down at the phone. Call me. – Alex.

  Emily took a deep breath and called Alex.

  “Emily? What’s wrong?”

  “He cheated on me, Alex.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear that, Emily. I’m assuming this just happened?”

  “Sort of, I was trying to find some shopping information online and instead I found an email on his computer including a picture of him and another girl. He can’t really hide from what happened. She sent him the picture with a note referencing what they did.”

  “Oh God, I’m so sorry. When does your flight get in, let me pick you up from the airport.”

  Emily smiled underneath all the tears. “The flight is scheduled to leave here at two but my car is already parked at the airport. Thank you though.”

  Alex sighed. “I’m sorry, Emily. I wish I could apologize for my gender but we have a history of doing some really horrible things to those we love.”

  Emily softly laughed. “You don’t seem that bad.”

  “That’s because you don’t know me yet. Give it time.”

  Emily sighed. “I just want to see my little girl.”

  “I’m sure she will make you feel better. Just get home safe and we will talk soon, ok?”

  “Thanks again, Alex.”

  “Sure. Anytime. Goodbye Emily.”

  Emily sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. She continued to hear her phone ring and finally turned it off.

  As she sat on the plane waiting to land in Buffalo, she was watching the television in front of her. Despite how angry she was at Eric, she had on the sports network. Of course on draft day, it was all football talk, but the news was that Eric may not go first pick after all. Another quarterback had become a close competitor and worry started to fill Emily.

  He must be a total mess right now after how they left things this morning and now this. Emily heard the pilot announce the arrival into Buffalo. Her television turned off and she prepared for the landing. She was full of mixed emotions and she felt fresh tears sting her eyes and flush her face. She tried to reign in her emotions so she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and focused on the decent of the plane.

  She walked through the airport and headed towards the security gate since she didn’t have any baggage to claim. She kept wondering if she did the right thing by leaving him. She shook her head because she knew she was right. She was sick of being treated like an afterthought with him and the lies were unforgiveable, weren’t they? After all, he cheated on her while she was home with their daughter.

  She headed down the main corridor and stopped in her tracks when she saw a familiar figure stand up from the row of chairs and walk towards her. "Emily."

  She smiled for the first time in hours and felt a different kind of warmth move through her. "Alex."

  "I know you said that you had your car here but I wanted to make sure you were ok. You sounded so upset on the phone earlier."

  "Alex," Emily paused as she searched his eyes, "I don't know what to say."

  "You told me that you wanted to be friends, so here I am, your friend." Alex smiled at her. She stared into his eyes and started to cry again.

  "I'm sorry, Alex." Emily reached out and touched his arm. Alex quickly put his arms around her and held her. She placed her head against his chest and felt his strong arms embrace her.

  Alex whispered, "Come on, I will take you home to see your daughter."

  He walked her out into the parking lot. "We will get your car tomorrow. I can drive you back here to pick it up." Emily nodded in silent agreement.

  As they got into his Audi, she noticed how nicely the soft leather seats felt against her skin and was thankful for the comfortable ride. Alex turned and smiled at her as he drove off towards the expressway.

  Thinking back to the draft coverage she heard on the plane, Emily said, “Did you hear that Eric may not go first in the draft. I'm worried about him now."

  "Yeah, I heard that too. A young kid out of Alabama is making waves all of a sudden. Emily, you can't worry about him right now. Let his agent take care of that. You are here for a reason.”

  “When I saw that picture, I just knew that he cheated on me. Her email confirmed what I had suspected for awhile but just couldn’t get him to admit.”

  “Emily, I’m so sorry. I can only imagine how awful you feel right now, but I’m glad that we met and I very much want our friendship to grow. I want you to know that you can come to me with anything and I will do what I can to listen and help you figure this out.”

  She smiled at him. “Well, then, I think we will have a beautiful future together.” They both laughed as he pulled into her driveway. “Thank you for the ride home, you really didn’t have to do that.”

  “I wanted to make sure you were home safe, now get inside and see Emma.”

  “Talk to you later?”

  “Of course, I’m here if you need me.”

  Emily got out of the car and ran up the sidewalk. She glanced back and smiled at Alex as he pulled out of the driveway.

  She opened the front door and saw Emma running towards her.

  “Hi Sweetie, I’m home.”

  “Mommy! I’ve been waiting for you. Grandma said you were coming home.”

  “Yep, I missed you so much, Emma.”

  “Want to see my new toys?”

  “In a little bit. I need to talk with Grandma first,” Emily explained as Emma ran away. Her mother entered the room and came over to hug her.

  “Emily, tell me what happened.”

  “The whole time, from the moment I got there, he wasn’t himself. He never once asked me about my dinner with Alex or how I was doing. He was acting like only his life mattered. I understand today is a big day and I was going to give him my full attention, but is it too much to expect that he treat me with a little respect?”

  Her mom brought over a cup of tea for her as Emily continued, “We had a huge misunderstanding and it ruined the whole night. He deserted me for the hotel nightclub and I went to bed by myself.”

  Emily took a sip of tea and listened to Emma playing in the other room. “When I woke up, things still weren’t great, but we talked a little bit and I felt like we were going to be fine at least for the day and then I found the email. The picture of him so comfortable with her and her email to him, I just knew something had happened at that party. Every time I tried to ask him about it, he wouldn’t talk to me and became distant. Now, my suspicions have been confirmed and it was because he’s been hiding her from me.”

  “Honey, I know you are upset and I won’t tell you to feel something different. But, you need to talk with him, get the full story. I hope you didn’t make matters worse by leaving.”

  “Mom, I couldn’t stand by his side tonight. I’m sure he’
s mad at me but maybe it’s the wakeup call he needs.”

  “Hey, I have a question. I didn’t see your car outside, how did you get home?”

  Crap. Emily hadn’t planned on revealing the extent of her new friendship with Alex just yet. She needed to figure out a way to explain it to her mother.

  “Do you remember, Alex?”

  “The art guy?” Her mother asked suspiciously.

  “Yes, we have been keeping in touch since our dinner.”

  “Emily, what are you doing?” She asked in her judgmental mother voice.

  “Nothing, I have done nothing wrong. We have just been talking. That’s it, unlike my fiancée.”

  Her mother sighed. “I knew the minute I saw Alex look at you that he was taken by you. I understand Emily, he’s older, very attractive and you share the same interests. But Emily, don’t lead him on. You have responsibilities and I raised you better than that.”

  Emily smiled at her mother. “We are just friends, I called him to tell him that I was coming home early and he offered to drive me home because of how upset I was. That’s all.”

  Paul entered the room with a bag of potato chips as Emily gave him a weird look. “I can still watch the draft, right?” He asked.

  “Of course, I want to see if the rumors are true,” Emily responded.

  Emily saw it was seven p.m. already so she gave Emma a bath and put her to bed. As she picked up her purse, her cell phone fell onto the bed so she turned it back on. She had ten missed calls, four voicemails and a text. She started with the text. Try to smile tonight. You will figure this out. – Alex.

  Emily then dialed into her voicemail.

  Message One:

  “Emily, please try to understand. Yes, I messed up. I’m sorry. I should have been honest with you when you knew something was different about me. She means nothing to me.”

  The voicemail cut him off as she hit the next button.

  Message Two:

  “Emily, you are my life but I’m human. I messed up, I’m not perfect. I have had pressure on me since a young boy and if I mess up now, I ruin everything. I need you to listen to me.” End of message.

  Message Three:

  “You are probably on a plane heading home right now. You should be by my side right now. I’m staring at your stuff. Don’t worry I will bring it home with me. Of course, you probably won’t want to see me. Please don’t take my daughter away from me. She barely knows me now, I’m going to change, Emily.”